healing

Soundtrack: The Movie

Nov 012010

This is a concept that’s been bouncing around in my head for a few months, ever since an old discussion we had concerning the sometimes obtrusive use of rock songs in movie soundtracks. The degree of difficulty is high, but I have faith in us. What if a movie was composed solely around a soundtrack selected by members of Rock Town Hall?

Perhaps some movies have been developed on the bare bones of a soundtrack, such as that Beatles-based movie from a couple of years ago, Across the Universe, which I still haven’t had the nerve to see. But that’s just a movie pieced together around a soundtrack from a single band. Similarly, that old Ralph Bakshi animated turd, Heavy Metal, may have been developed according to as suspect a plan as I propose, but that was an animated film. I think we could put together a cinematic masterpiece (or disaster, if that’s what the job calls for) by using a rock soundtrack to construct the guts of a film.

Can we work together to develop the feature-length film Soundtrack: The Movie, using a 3-act structure, as described here, by the legendary and recently deceased television screenwriter and producer Stephen J. Cannell (The Rockford Files, 21 Jump Street, Silk Stalkings, The Commish)?

In Act 1 we should be introduced to the main characters and learn what the problem of the story is.
In Act 2 we introduce the complication, that point in the plot that makes the problem even trickier than expected. By the end of Act 2 the protagonist should be nearly defeated in his or her plight.
In Act 3 the protagonist rises from the ashes and achieves a resolution, or what you may be more familiar with as The Healing, in Rock Town Hall terms.

Think about this. See if we can’t piece together a coherent film that is told almost entirely through a rock soundtrack.

Lou Reed…As His Music Was Meant to Sound

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 122010

I take it that Peter Gabriel covered this song on his recent album of cover songs, called I’ll Kiss Your Ass If You Kiss Mine, or something like that.

As one of the YouTube commentators said:

Please remember that Peter’s version would not EXIST without Lou’s vision and that Peter was INSPIRED by Lou to create his masterpiece.

However, that doesn’t mean you should disregard another commentator’s words:

This version sucks big time. I know he wrote it, so I give him credit. But seriously, this sounds horrible – like something William Shatner would sing. Peter Gabriel took it to a whole new level and Lou Reed’s version just sounds awful by comparison.

Whaddayaknow, here’s Peter performing the song live. Continue reading »

Hey 19, or Badge of Honor

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 312010

As of this writing I’m 47 years old. Hopefully a day will come when someone reads this and I’m 48, 49, or even 79. The point of stating my age is that I’ve been listening to, loving, and discussing music for a long time and any kids reading this owe their elders the time of day to attempt to understand what we may be getting at! I know what makes me tick, and I do my best here and elsewhere, whether by written or spoken word, to articulate that. If I fail to communicate what I intend to communicate now and then, I’ll do better next time. Today I want to take a misguided complaint someone made about a piece I wrote elsewhere and blow it up into a potentially more interesting thread for discussion.

On a personal blog that I started years ago and now very rarely update, Overlooked Gems of My Lifetime, some pipsqueak reacted to a piece I did on Tom Verlaine‘s Dreamtime. He misunderstands a reference I make to the guitar work on some 1960s records I love and goes into this badge-of-honor rant about how I’m not capable of appreciating Tom Verlaine and how he was so inspiring despite his lack of popularity. He also pulls out a reference to My Bloody Valentine, a one-trick pony that also is frequently lauded for being “fucking inspiring” despite the fact that few people ever bought their records, to further tear down my stodgy, mainstream point of view. Here’s the full text of Pipsqueak’s reply:
Continue reading »

Rock ‘n Roll Responsibilities of Big Siblings to Little Siblings

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 302010

“Punk rock’s for pussies!”

Yesterday a friend and I were discussing the responsibilities big siblings have toward their little siblings when it comes to building a strong rock ‘n roll foundation. Actually my friend initially termed what his big brother did for him in terms of rock ‘n roll guidance as “giving shit.” As a big brother myself I explained to my friend that his big brother was actually looking out for his little brother’s best interests. He was upholding his responsibility to guide him in the ways of rock ‘n roll, just as I had long ago upheld my responsibility to my little brother to steer him away from the aesthetic evils of KISS.

Big brothers and big sisters aren’t always “right” in their advice, but it is helpful nonetheless to get advice from an older sibling. If nothing else it can give younger siblings a firm sense of what music he or she doesn’t like. There’s nothing worse than getting through college and still questioning whether you like Jackson Browne, for instance. Sometimes I wish I had an annoying Jackson Browne-loving older sibling to strengthen my gut feeling that Jackson Browne’s music is not for me.

So how about you? Are you a big sibling? Did you fulfill your responsibility to provide rock ‘n roll guidance to your younger sibling(s)? Did your advice fall on deaf ears, as my heedings against KISS to my little brother did?

Are you a younger sibling? Did your big sibling fulfill his or her duties? Did you give a shit about the “shit” he or she was giving you? Did his or her bad taste strengthen your resolve against the likes of Jackson Browne, Wishbone Ash, or whatever?

If you are a middle child, how did it feel being on each end of this key responsibility?

I look forward to your thoughts.

See also: Letters from the KISS Army.

Severe Embarassment.

Posted by hrrundivbakshi

Aug 132010

Why, oh why do some of us feel compelled to dance and sing in front of others? And why does that desire frequently force us to act, you know, really stupid?

In college, I was in a band with townsman kcills, in which we wrote music with no words. By which I don’t mean that it was instrumental music — it was just music to which I would make words up, on the spot. If they were good, they might make it to the next show — or they might not, if I forgot them between one gig and the other.

Now: I was madly in love with a girl on the crew team at the time (oh, Emily! If you only knew how I pined for you! If you only knew how I yearned to kiss you! If you only also knew how disgusted I was when I discovered my best friend had plowed your bean field in a drunken stupor at a frat party!)

Anyhow — because I was a seething cauldron of pain and romantic confusion, I would frequently get up on stage and, for lyrics, just shout out some unintelligible nonsense about how tortured I was by my unrequited love for this girl. It was absolutely, completely pathetic. One day, it dawned on me that the only thing separating me from a screaming lunatic in a tinfoil suit was that I had a guitar and a microphone in front of me. I started getting a bit more serious about lyrics after that.

But I can’t be the only one with an embarrassing story to tell. Do share. I ask you: Musicians! Tell us your most embarrassing moment on stage or in studio. Listeners! Please share the most excruciating musical moment you’ve ever witnessed. Let the healing begin!

Oh, Emily!

HVB