Stick with me for a minute: I’m going to ask us to determine whether some musical phenomena were full-on early arrivals from the future or merely a musical equivalent of Secretariat‘s 1973 Belmont Stakes capper to his Triple Crown run. But first, a little background on what the hell I am talking about…
Let’s list them, Last Man Standing style! But remember, don’t bogart this thread: only one entry per post, please.
I paid very little attention to the 2012 GOP Convention. I plan on paying about as little attention to the Democrats’ upcoming pep rally as well. In the little bit I’ve watched, however, I have been attuned to the event’s musical references.
The first night I only watched my adopted homeboy, New Jersey’s Chris Christie. He made a reference to The Boss within his opening sentence or two. Mad props—and respect—to the new Big Man for citing Darkness on the Edge of Town rather than a popular choice like either of the Born… albums. Man of the People and would-be popular guy Christie sure as hell wasn’t going to cite some loner critical darling like Nebraska. Good opening move by the Republicans, if you ask me: +8 points.
Tonight I watched Clint Eastwood make threats against our President. I didn’t notice any music associated with his speech. The Clint of Play Misty for Me seemed long gone: -2 points.
Next I watched way too much of Mitt Romney‘s speech. Politics aside, that guy bores me. It’s as if John Kerry came back to life a Republican. During the 40 minutes of fluff and 4th-rate SNL jokes I heard Mitt made some reference to his iPod playlist being better than running mate Paul Ryan‘s. Something tells me a comparison of their playlists would not be a Clash of the Titans, nor even include a lame Clash song like “Should I Stay (or Should I Go).” The whole “playlist” thing gets on my nerves too: -7 points.
I did hear Michael Jackson‘s “Man in the Mirror” playing while Mitt took the stage. I kind of like that song when the chorus kicks in, the way I kind of like “Kokomo.” I felt good for Michael. In the afterlife he has achieved acceptance as a white person: +4 points.
A friend on Facebook said that Romney also played James Brown‘s “Living in America.” Supposedly Al Sharpton was pissed about that. I’ve always thought Sharpton was an opportunistic fraud, and I always thought “Living in America” was an opportunistic, fraudulant JB record, so much so that it’s not worth worrying over: 0 points.
What did I miss (musically)? Please rate the GOP Convention’s musical moments on a +/-10-point scale. We will hold the Democrats to the same degree of scrutiny.
This one puts me in a Cold Sweat…or…makes me wanna put your ray gun to my head. Either way you figger it, someone seriously ripped someone off here and the guilty party is either David Bowie or James Brown.
A couple of weeks ago Mr. Moderator made a west coast trip to The Back Office to discuss some Q3 RTH ventures. As part of this company retreat we attended a taping of Conan, complete with VIP tickets (true story).
Proof
As we enter the final hours of voting in Rock Town Hall’s tournament to determine—once and for all—rock’s greatest backing band I bring you the videos Mr. Moderator doesn’t want you to see!
An anonymous source reports that he has been contacted by Mr. Moderator regarding his publishing company’s broad “web-scrubbing” abilities. “The Moderator wanted to know,” said the anonymous source, “how my company manages to claim copyrights on videos in which I have little to no involvement and get them pulled from the web.” The source continues, “I didn’t put 2 and 2 together until you called, but it was weird when he asked, ‘How would you, for instance, go about scrubbing a James Brown video from YouTube?’ He’s a weird fucker—and I’m not referring to James Brown.”
Here’s one of the videos Mr. Mod allegedly attempted to have removed from YouTube:Following the jump is a video he pursued for removal even more vigorously.
Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!
In this week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In Mr. Moderator reviews some of the underrated strengths of The Attractions and The JBs, our finalists in our long-running tournament to determine—once and for all—rock’s greatest backing band. He also spins some new purchases and wonders what it is that he likes when he likes jazz. Enjoy.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-71.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 71]
[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]
The JBs vs The Attractions...Once and for All!
Talk is cheap. This one’s for all the marbles. The JBs vs The Attractions. Cast your vote—once and for all—for rock’s greatest backing band ever!
Once and for all...who is rock's greatest backing band ever, The JBs or The Attractions?
Total Voters: 47
Loading ...Polls are open through Sunday, March 18, at 11:59 pm EST.
