once and for all

Rock Town Hall Seeks Field of 64 Specifically Named, Dedicated Backing Bands for Competition to Determine…Once and For All…Rock’s Greatest Backing Band Ever!

Dec 072011

#2 seed Silver Bullet Band with some guy named Seger.

In what promises to be one of the most-definitive Once and For All tournaments ever, Rock Town Hall seeks a field of 64 specifically named, dedicated backing bands for a competition to determine—once and for all—rock’s greatest backing band ever! Before the competition can take place, we need YOUR help in determining the field.

Entry criteria are simple:

The backing band must have an official name, used on an album cover or other branded piece, and be tied to a specific artist, such as Bill Haley & The Comets.
The backing band cannot be merely a backing band for hire and/or studio backing band (eg, Booker & The MGs).
The backing band’s official name must have been officially in use while it was backing its lead artist (eg, The Band was not officially known as “The Band” until after having backed Bob Dylan, so they would not qualify).
Unless the leader and his or her backing band are an a capella group, strictly vocal backing bands do not qualify (eg, Smokey Robinson’s Miracles).
Additional criteria may be added, as necessary.

Backing bands will be bracketed into 4 conferences of 16, as follows:

The Legacy Conference
The Expansion Conference
The Classic Conference
The Rebel Conference

Only one backing band has been seeded at the start of this process, The Silver Bullet Band (Bob Seger), drawing a #2 seed in the Classic Conference. They were offered the top seed, but chose to begin play at a slight disadvantage.

Let us begin the selection process for the remaining 63 contestants. You may suggest a conference and any supporting documentation with your nominations. Following seeding, which is expected this weekend, the tournament will proceed!

Last Man Standing: The Cowbell

Posted by ladymisskirroyale

Dec 022011

Our recent wake for Andrea True and her disco classic, “More, More, More,” exposed one of the finer things about the song: its use of the cowbell. This lowly instrument has been the butt of Saturday Night Live skits but over time has made a resounding impact on the rock world. I ask you, can we list all songs that feature a cowbell? And can we determine, once and for all, what was the first song to highlight its use?

I’ll start us off with Ian Drury‘s “Reasons To Be Cheerful”

Once and For All: What’s the Most Popular Non-Hit Single Ever?

Posted by misterioso

Sep 232011

The single stiffed, but…

Every once in a while I get to thinking about songs that everyone knows–or, at least that have achieved huge popularity and recognition–that were not hit singles. My case in point is The Romantics‘ “What I Like About You.” Everybody knows that song. It didn’t make the Top 40, though.

There are various reasons why such a song might take off later rather than sooner: maybe it had poor distribution or bad PR in the first place, maybe later it gets used in a commercial or movie or (now) videogame.

I have a few criteria in mind.

I am talking about songs that were released as singles only–so no “Stairway to Heaven” and what have you. No album tracks. That’s a separate category.
By “not a hit single” I mean it didn’t make the Top 40. I know that the invocation of Top 40 skews the discussion away from modern times when the Top 40 as we knew it has ceased to have any meaning whatsoever. Special pleading is welcome.
Most subjective is “everyone knows it.” Use your judgement. Polling data are not required. A once-obscure song that is later used in a movie or commercial does not necessarily translate into a song that everyone knows. The 13th Floor Elevators‘ “You’re Gonna Miss Me” is known by a lot more people because of its use in High Fidelity, but most people don’t know it. We’re looking for major penetration into people’s brains here.

Once and for All: What’s the Best 20th Century Decade in American Music?

Posted by cdm

Sep 092011

Back in the listserv days of Rock Town Hall, a Townsman once asked us to consider the best decade in American music.

I’d love to get an update on this, and to hear from some of the folks who have joined since then, such as tonyola, ladymisskirroyale, and the members of the Beantown Rock Mafia. I’m not sure if the Townsman who originally posted this is still an active participant, so I suggest that we forego giving points for the strength of the argument. [Mod – It wasn’t Al? It was mwall.] Perhaps the Mod could create a corresponding poll. [Mod – Why of course!]

The original post is as follows:

The Rock Town Hall Interview: Lenny Kaye’s Nuggets of Inspiration

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Sep 092011

As our recent playoff series to determine, once and for all, the Best Song on the Original Nuggets got underway and Townsfolk began debating the essential “Nuggetness” of the entrants, I thought to myself, Wouldn’t it be funny if, like Woody Allen pulling Marshall McLuhan out from behind a wall to correct a pontificating moviegoer in Annie Hall, I could pull Lenny Kaye out to set us straight on our interpretations of the Nuggets collection he compiled for Elektra Records under the direction of Jac Holzman? Of course the regulars at Rock Town Hall are not the type to pontificate unduly, right? We keep it all in perspective, but still, Lenny Kaye had struck me as a sort of godfather to our shenanigans. He’d get where we’re coming from.

In short time he wrote me back, saying he’d be happy to chat. “Sounds like fun,” he wrote. “Went to the link, seems everybody has different ideas on what actually is Nuggets…” I was psyched.

A week later we were on the phone, waiting for the near-hurricane that swept through the northeast to hit. Lenny was as cool and friendly as his work and stage demeanor would suggest. His enthusiasm for his work in compiling this landmark collection of oddball psych-pop singles 40 years ago was impressive. Nuggets wasn’t some youthful fling for Lenny Kaye; the experience was clearly a springboard to and, to this day, a guiding light in his work with Patti Smith and beyond.

On our best days, as I see it, much of what we work to culture and share in the Halls of Rock is our initial, personal sense of love for music and the role it’s played in our lives. I couldn’t help thinking, while talking to Lenny Kaye, of my initial experiences with Nuggets in my late teens, how the album helped validate my childhood take on music and give me and my like-minded rock friends a toehold in developing our musical identities. My childhood friend and musical partner in crime Townsman andyr and I knew the significance of his old Disco Teen ’66 hits collection, which we used to analyze as yon’ teens. By freshman year in college, however, a thousand miles away from my blood brother, that album meant nothing to the new rock nerds I was befriending. Nuggets spoke to all of us, regardless of shared experiences and regional differences. The hyper kid from North Jersey, the wiseass from the suburbs of Chicago, and the long, lanky, laconic kid from Colorado all found this collection as stimulating and inspiring as I did. It was a happening.

As for my silly Annie Hall fantasy, fear not: Lenny’s not the type to put down any of us. I hope you’ll enjoy this chat at least half as much as I did. Read on!

Once and For All: “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” and “Psychotic Reaction” Square Off to Determine the Best Song on the Original Nuggets Compilation

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 302011

With the Nuggets Divisional Playoff Series completed, only 2 songs remain to determine—once and for all—the Best Song on the Original Nuggets Compilation. The Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” outlasted a fierce field on Side 1 and then beat The Nazz’s Side 4 winner, “Open My Eyes” to progress to this round. Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction,” won Side 3 before readily dashing the dreams of enthusiastic supporters of Side 2’s “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” by The Thirteenth Floor Elevators.

Two songs remain. This Friday, September 2, 2011, only one song will be deemed—once and for all—the Best Song on the Original Nuggets Compilation. For the sake of rock history, please make your vote count!

Once and for all: What's the Best Song on the original Nuggets compilation, "I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night" or "Psychotic Reaction"?

"Psychotic Reaction" (Count Five) (66%, 31 Votes)
"I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night" (The Electric Prunes) (34%, 16 Votes)

Total Voters: 47

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The Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” Progresses to Finals in Rock Town Hall’s Playoffs to Determine, Once and for All, the Best Song on the Original Nuggets Compilation

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 262011

By a 2:1 margin, The Electric Prunes’ “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” beat The Nazz’s “Open My Eyes” in the Side 1 vs Side 4 Nuggets Divisional Playoff Series to progresses to the Finals in Rock Town Hall’s playoffs to determine, once and for all, the Best Song on the Original Nuggets Compilation.

While the rock world patiently awaits the outcome of the album’s other Divisional Playoff Series, between the Thirteenth Floor Elevators’ “You’re Gonna Miss Me” and the Count Five’s “Psychotic Reaction” (voting runs through 11:59:59 pm this Saturday, August 27), chew on this great little story that Prunes’ singer James Lowe passed along last week, when notified of his band’s inter-division showdown:

After I left the EP I engineered the next 2 Nazz albums, Nazz Nazz and Nazz III (and 4 subsequent Todd Rundgren albums after that).

Todd played me “Open My Eyes” to show me what they had done on their first album. I had never heard it. Good record. Small world!

Thanks for remembering.

jAMES

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