Once and For All February continues with the goal of determining—once and for all—Rock’s Greatest Stage Name! This topic was suggested by Townsman cdm. As with all Once and For All February threads over the coming weeks, polls will be kept open through the rest of the month. Then, we will have determined—once and for all—all kinds of stuff that causes rock fanatics to yell at each other in a crowded bar.
No further arguments will be accepted, so plead your case in this thread!
The nominees and the RTH People’s Poll for Rock’s Greatest Stage name follow…after the jump!
Let’s kick off Once and For All February with a subject that hits on a large segment of the Hall’s demographic, involving a favorite band, Rock Superpowers, and the all-important issues of Look. Let’s determine—once and for all—The Beatles’ Coolest Collective Look.
The nominees and the RTH People’s Poll follow…after the jump!
The Super Bowl is over. God has spoken. Pitchers and catchers don’t report for another week. To help ward off the February Blahs, Townsman Al has suggested we initiate Rock Town Hall’s very own Awards Season: Once and For All February.
To avoid the folly of trying to stay hip and current, the same folly that awarded Dances With Wolves and Christopher Cross, for instance, top honors mainly because they were new and voters didn’t have the necessary perspective to understand how quickly these works would wilt in the test of time, we will target only categories and entrants that are worthy of such a definitive honor. Once and For All February is an effort to get the year off to a regret-free start: settling age-old debates and giving credit where credit is due. As the year progresses, there may still arise a need to take a collective stand—once and for all—on a key issue in rock, but Once and For All February will put a number of debates that threaten to tear the fabric of the Hall behind us early in the new year, allowing 10 months of smooth-sailing consensus to come.
The first order of business includes identifying our categories and nominees. Targeting more than 10 topics to rule on—once and for all—in such a concentrated time, would be more than even our community could bite off. In the next 2 days, let’s determine 10 topics and 5 nominees worthy of settling—once and for all—the most heated, knowledgeable barroom debates. Once the topics and nominees have been settled we will discuss, debate, and vote on the winners. By month’s end we will know—once and for all—who’s who and what’s what.
Following are 6 suggested topics. Please suggest your own topic in need of a definitive, once and for all answer, and please suggest possible nominees for any or all of these categories. Through the month we will roll out individual threads dedicated to each of the categories.
Saddest Story in Rock ‘n Roll
Best Rock ‘n Roll Anthem
Best Band Under Another Name
Best Rock Instrumental of the ‘60s
Worst Album Naming Pattern
Coolest Beatles Look
Once and For All February will culminate in identifying—once and for all—Rock’s Most Recognizable Single Opening Note or Chord.
Cheap Trick‘s “Surrender” is the greatest late-’70s pure power pop/new wave song ever. This from someone who also believes it’s possibly the “Secretariat’s 30-length Belmont Stakes victory” relative to any other song in any band’s career. This is a testament to the song’s strength as much as it is my lukewarm appreciation for anything else Cheap Trick has released. But that’s another story. There’s nothing I’d like least than to distract you with my thoughts on Cheap Trick.
I would guess we’re all pretty much in agreement that The Records‘ “Starry Eyes” is the second-best late-’70s pure power pop/new wave song that made a dent in the US charts. (An important distinction for purposes of this discussion that rules out some of our personal favorites, such as my favorite song of this genre ever, The dB’s’ “Big Brown Eyes.”) That point settled, the time is long overdue that we settle—once and for all—a related topic that’s long stumped deep thinkers in the world of rock:Continue reading »
[If you’ve ever entered Rock Town Hall through its root URL: www.rocktownhall.com, you were greeted by a Townsman strumming the opening chord of “The Kids Are Alright.” Our apologies to anyone who’s ever jumped out of his or her seat at that automatically generated sound. Those of us in The Back Office typically don’t support such obtrusive devices, but I think you’ll agree that it’s appropriate for our lot. My apologies, more importantly, to Townsman Al for the long delay in posting an idea he put forth in an offlist message a few months ago. This is a worthwhile initiative to determine—once and for all— rock’s most distinctive opening chord. But first…let us develop the Field of 64. Here’s Al to take you home. – Mr. Moderator]
Rock seems to have any number of single opening note/chord that instantly identifies the song and gets you singing it immediately. “The Kids Are Alright” is one example. Another great example is “A Hard Day’s Night.” Or The Move’s/ELO’s “Do Ya”—or maybe that needs those 4 crunches (although one does it for me). Anyway, I’ve never figured out a good way to structure it.
How about a Battle Royale, using the Field of 64 playoff structure, like the recent backing band tournament? First, let’s identify 64 worthy competitors. List your suggested competitors in this thread and hash it out with your fellow Townspeople. Next week we’ll release the brackets and let the games begin!
In our recent Stones-oriented Dugout Chatter, Townsman Oats hit the nail on the head regarding the question in the thread that most interested me: What’s Mick Jagger‘s finest hour (or 30 seconds) as a vocalist?
Certainly it’s the verse in “Beast of Burden” that begins with “Now you can put me out on the street…”!
First of all, Mick is commanding. The tension for leadership within the Glitter Twins axis has always been a key feature to the band’s success. In this one moment Mick takes the wheel—and he doesn’t screw it up with one of his blackface or country bumpkin routines. Twenty-five years into his career Mick has finally become the soul singer he always wanted to be—on his own terms. This verse picks up on the work Jagger started in the ’60s, on songs like “Satisfaction” and “Under My Thumb.” Bravo.
Second, through the entire Some Girls album Mick’s voice is treated with the most-effective, straightforward vocal effects in the history of rock ‘n roll. If I could figure out exactly what effects are applied to that song and if I could apply to every song ever recorded I would. My apologies to all other great vocal effects ever used, but that’s the way I feel.
So there, Mick Jagger’s finest vocal hour is that verse from “Beast of Burden.” You’re welcome, in advance, for the role Oats and I have played in settling this debate.
Greetings. At the urging of Chief RTH Labs Liaison Hrrundi V Bakshi, my dedicated staff set about attempting to determine once and for all which of the two classic Kinks tracks — “You Really Got Me” and “All Day and All Of the Night” — is superior. This we attempted to do with the aid of some extremely sophisticated sound analysis machinery, decades of research notes and, of course, the patented, exclusive Stratomatic™ analysis and compositional software, to which only RTH Labs has access.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/01-You-Really-Got-Me-All-Of-the-Night1.mp3|titles=You Really Got Me All Of the Night]
Through the use of all the technologies at our disposal, we were able to produce a new piece of music, weaving both songs into one contiguous piece, that proved once and for all that — scientifically speaking — the tunes have an identical quotient of every required Rock Element. In layman’s terms, they are equally “good.” As always, I invite you to listen for yourself. You will find that your notions of categorical and/or overall superiority for your preferred song are quite irrelevant.
Thank you for your time, and your ongoing interest in the rational, quantitative analysis of rock and roll.
