Townsman Andyr, aka the Velvet Foghorn, aka “Velv,” suggested the following:
I’d say the banker in London who called the police and got the [Beatles’] rooftop concert stopped was the biggest douche!
He may have a strong case there. But how about other fan faves? Mike Love, anybody? Allen Klein? I’m not tossing my hat in the ring–yet–but I have some definite thoughts on the matter. For now, the question is: Who’s the biggest douche in rock history?
I look forward to your responses. For now, Velv has the belt!
Tonight’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In is bigger, better, and longer than ever! The roughly 33 minutes and 33 seconds of a typical episode can’t contain our year-end festivities. We’ll look back over the past year of growth and rock analysis. About midway through the program Mr. Moderator will conduct an exclusive telephone interview with a former Beatles’ associate and Apple Corps division head! Then Mr. Mod will make one final effort at interesting even a single Townsperson in the humble delights of Be-Bop Deluxe. All along the quest to reach 100,000 distinct visitors to Rock Town Hall in one month rages on. Tune in and see if you can’t do your part to push us past this goal!
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-9-2.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 9]
[Note: The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player. In fact, you can even set your iTunes to search for an automatically download each week’s podcast.]
Thanks to Townspeople who played along with, in my opinion, the biggest dud of a Mystery Date to date, and thanks to Townsman dbuskirk for the album, which I believe he thought sounded like a trial run for Boston. But as someone pointed out, Flower Travellin’ Band‘s “Slowly But Surely” at least unintentionally delivered David St. Hubbins-worthy chuckles. This song was from 1973’s double-live set, Make Up. Don’t worry, as with all Revealed posts we’ll leave you with at least one more track.
The band, first known as Flowers, was founded in the late-’60s by Yuya Uchida, who by this time had become friends with John Lennon after touring with The Beatles in 1966. Inspired by the likes of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Jefferson Airplane, the band’s first album was, in fact, nothing but covers of their newfound-favorite psych-blues-rock bands. The album cover, as I learned while composing this piece, would have qualified for an old Last Man Standing/giveaway competition.
Buns!
The Make Up tour, you will be interested to know, what recorded on a tour that, originally, was supposed to have featured the band opening for The Rolling Stones. The Stones had to cancel, however, because Mick Jagger was facing a drug bust. Lucky Mick! There are some other odd facts to be found about the band, including mid-’70s work with Frank Zappa, one guy doing a 1980 album with The Wailers, a 2007 reunion and 2008 reunion album, and a planned 2010 tour, which was canceled when one of the members died.
I know you want to hear more from this album. Why not a long track that showcases all the band’s musical strengths and emotional range?
Flower Travellin’ Band, “Look at My Window”
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Look-at-My-Window.mp3|titles=Flower Travellin’ Band, “Look at My Window”]
After the family party I attended Saturday night wrapped up I waited through a couple of seemingly horrible skits (I had the sound turned off) on Saturday Night Live to see what Paul McCartney had in store for viewers. I was treated to a sluggish, pointless version of “Jet,” then I went to bed rather than wait out more cue-card reading from the likes of Bill Hader and that one-trick pony of a poor woman’s Carol Burnett, Kristen Wiiiiigggg, or whatever her name is. (I’m no fan of mugging, self-satisfied Mr. Nice Guy, Paul Rudd, either.) Ugh! Then I learn that I missed some other McCartney goodies, just days after missing what sounded like an interesting appearance on Jimmy Fallon‘s show. Did he play the additional four songs at the end of the night, 1975-era SNL mini-concert style, or did he do stuff before I turned on, at 11:50? What did you think?
What’s the most Lennonesque song by another artist since John Lennon‘s death, 30 years ago today?
Which artist, if any, since that time, has best embodied the Lennon spirit of lifetime achievement?
Did Paul McCartney‘s unfortunate reaction to John’s death solidify the lifetime of backlash Paul has since suffered?
Was “Watching the Wheels” John’s effort at initiating Kokomotion?
Had John not died, which newer generation artist would have collaborated with him first in the 1980s? Which newer generation artist would have most regrettably collaborated with him in the last 10 years?
This RTH Glossary entry was developed by Townsman alexmagic, who did the heavy lifting, as he often does, in a comment on an earlier thread. As a side benefit of this entry, the term may satisfy the rock world’s need to claim its own version “jump the shark.”
Kokomotion: The inevitable late phase of an artist’s career trajectory, in which they nakedly attempt to recapture the sound that made them initially famous.
The “Magic Man” illustrated this phase by comparing Paul McCartney’s “Silly Love Songs” with The Beach Boys’ “Kokomo”:
Taste and quality issues aside, I think there is a key difference between “Silly Love Songs” and “Kokomo.”
“Silly Love Songs” was written by a guy who was still in the middle of being an active, successful artist. It’s positioned as a statement of “you can bag on my songs all you want, but look at how rich they keep making me!” Some hubris, there.
“Kokomo” was written by a band long past its prime making a last-ditch effort to get any kind of traction. That it somehow worked is a testament to the commanding presence imparted by the authority of a captain’s hat.
McCartney’s Kokomotive moment, then probably would have been the Give My Regards to Broad Street album, where he was redoing actual Beatles songs. I guess a case could be made for the “Tripping The Live Fantastic” tour, where he started to re-embrace his arena rock status, only with his Beatles’ numbers more heavily in play.
I prefer to think of Broad Street being his “Kokomo,” though, because that would mean that Bryan “FX” Brown would have the distinction of being in both Broad Street and Cocktail, where “Kokomo” itself found its place.
