Can you find a more comprehensively bad collection of All-Star Hairdos? I bet you can. There may be few hideous cuts in this relatively tasteful late-’80s jam, granted, but the regrets do pile up as cultural and racial boundaries are wiped clean.
Choose one.
It’s been a few years now, hasn’t it, since Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl added a full-on beard to his Look, and his band’s popularity has only continued to soar. Nevertheless, watching the GRAMMYS last night I remembered an unwritten rule I meant to write down about 10 years ago, while watching another band led by a thickly bearded singer who also wore glasses. I’m going to write it down now, and I urge lead singers the world over to consider this:
Fleet Foxes with J. Tillman (the bearded one).
As you certainly heard a few weeks ago, Fleet Foxes drummer J. Tillman has announced he is leaving the band after their upcoming tour of Japan to concentrate on a solo career. Tillman, like most other members of Fleet Foxes, wears a beard.
Although the band has not announced its plans for replacing Tillman, it is believed they will pick another bearded drummer. Beards play a major role in the music of Fleet Foxes, adding to the depth of the band members’ tightly woven Rug Harmonies. The challenge will be finding an appropriately bearded drummer, one whose beard compliments the beards of the other band members. This promises to be no easy task. It’s no surprise that the continuing members of Fleet Foxes have called on Rock Town Hall to consult them in the selection process.
Built To Spill, featuring Doug Martsch on Lead Beard (Foreground) and Brett Nelson on Rhythm Beard (Background)
Any long-term follower of discussions in the Hall will note the ongoing importance of discussing Look as a factor in the success of musical acts. Today, we’re exploring a lesser known but nonetheless important Look phenomenon: The Rhythm Beard. Continue reading »
Don’t worry, Bryan’s all right.
This is not to make light of the Zeebrugge Disaster, involving the capsizing of a ferry in 1987, which killed 193 passengers and crew. I hope this effort raised money for the families. Cause aside, however, there are things you might find humorous in this (mostly minor) star-studded Ham-Off. What I’m curious to know, in the chronology of these “Aid” extravaganzas, is whether this is the last original Aid song of the genre? If the Aid Era started in 1984, with “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” and the 1989 Band Aid II version doesn’t count because it’s not an original Aid song, what Aid event marked the end of this era? Live 8 wasn’t quite the same. It’s a “8” event, not “Aid.”
But all that aside, who won this particular song?
I’m probably the last person in America to have seen this clip of President Obama singing a bit of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together,” but the American President’s Got Talent! Aside from candidate Bill Clinton playing sax on The Arsenio Hall Show so many moons ago, has any presidential candidate displayed his or her musical chops before? Has any sitting President or candidate come close to Obama’s display of musical talent, even caught on camera singning along in a church or something? Who cares about a candidate’s personal life, their stance on controversial issues, or how “presidential” their hair is? I want to know if a candidate’s got any musical chops!
Among our current crop of presidential candidates (and leading political figures), in the US or your own nation, what song would you most like to hear tackled by a particular politician?
That's cheating, man!
These days politics pretty much disgust and depress me. Growing up I wanted to be Mayor of Philadelphia. No joke. I read books about my hometown mayor, Frank Rizzo; Chicago’s Richard Daley; and those corrupt big city mayors from earlier in the 20th century. I wanted to learn from their successes and mistakes. I wanted to wield power for the good of The People, shape civic pride, throw out the first pitch on Opening Day… I wanted to shake hands with strangers and kiss babies… I wanted to call out Public Enemies for my political gain now and then. Most of my priorities were in the right place. At some point in the mid-’80s, the dream ended along with so many other idealistic notions from my youth. The ’80s were a dream assassin, man.
As politics revealed itself as a world too cynical for even me, Ronald Reagan did usher in one fascinating trend: Presidential Hair. Harkening back to the idealistic coif of JFK, Reagan’s ‘do set the tone for future political campaigns. The humble strands of hair remaining on a candidate like Paul Tsongas would forever be at a disadvantage. The team of scientists and architects behind Joe Biden‘s hairline would be only Vice Presidential in reach. Presidential Hair does not ensure a seat in the Oval Office, but since the triumph of Reagan, each election sets a new crop of hair-hoppers across American campaign trails.
If we ever get around to conducting Townsman alexmagic‘s long-promised election of an international President of Rock, we should prepare for the role that Presidential Hair might play in the race. Simply put: What rockers have the most Presidential Hair? How do we define Presidential Hair as it applies to our future President of Rock? Is Elvis the JFK of Rock Presidential Hair? A particular era in Beatles hair styling?
Chances are the book has yet to be written, but it won’t hurt us to see if we can’t take a peak at the outline.
