Sep 232008
Please closely examine both of these videos (make sure you watch the first one all the way through), then answer the questions. I look forward to your responses.
Question: every band has one — what’s YOUR drummer horror story?
Question: Please share the most heinous misappropriation of ethnic/multi-cultural music you can think of.
HVB
…the most heinous misappropriation of ethnic/multi-cultural music you can think of.
Easy. That would be “Puff Puff Give” by neo-hippies Hannah’s Field.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgmGYeyPWPk
That second video is awesome. They must have been a model for No Doubt. The headless bass is great. I have finally found a way to mix my loves of Jesus and Ska
Sourbob, thanks, and Velv — that “I have finally found a way to mix my loves of Jesus and Ska” comment made me laugh out loud.
But, Sourbob — as heinous as that “Puff Puff Give” song is (and man, is it ever) — where’s the multiculturalism? I see Reggae fashion accoutrements in abundance, but that dopey hippy music is the same old crap they’ve been playing in stadium parking lots for years.
HVB
Whoops — belay that last comment, sourbob — I just watched the thing all the way through, and there is indeed some seriously awful cultural misappropriation going on there. Pee YOU!
Re: clip #2…there’s still a chance that cracks a top 10 or 20 list of non-gospel, non-country songs that namecheck Jesus, right?
Reggae seems perfect for heinous misappropriations of ethnic/multi-cultural music. I remember a review of the record where Linda Ronstadt sang Rivers of Babylon, where the writer asked “Doesn’t she realize that she IS Babylon?”
But my vote goes to John Mayer, bluesman.
Man, I’m getting a cramp in my jaw from smiling through these videos and the initial comments. Let me think about the answers to those questions. The Jesus Ska clip may top anything I’ve ever seen before. That Hannah’s Field clip was something else too. Sourbob, how did you manage to have that at the top of your mind? That must be a heavy burden to carry. Thanks for sharing the load.
Wow. Zap! And holy shite. Those two clips together just provided more honest joy than any SNL outing or “Waiting For Guffman” franchise film ever could. Those Koreans are like a smorgasbord of I Know Not What. It’s very near Third Reich and Roll in its almostness. And Herve Villechez on drums is beauty.
And the Jesus folks, well. Firstly the bass and drums with no one playing them are a stunning duet, no? They must have come out of the time-capsule in the cornerstone of a building – perhaps a particularly upscale Popeye’s? And riddle me this: if Jesus is the bunk, then how does he so consistently draw people to find the exact grain of any cultural plank, and go against it, truer than fingernails on a blackboard, with those strained non-peurile smiles and almost no self-doubt or self-awareness? Miracles DO happen, friends.
Things I like about that Jesus clip:
1. The pink set
2. The surprisingly interesting guitar solo
3. Zap!
and last but by no means least, the moment where something verrry interesting happens with Mr. creepy lead singer guy:
4. About halfway into the song, Mr. CLSG has a lapse in squeaky-clean-ness and we catch a glimpse of his secret leather-wearing, Bowie-and-Sparks-listening past/present when he sings “Jesus is a FRRRRIEND OF MIIIINE!” with near-operatic, Freddie Mercury bombast. It’s a momentary lapse, but a telling one.
Still waiting for the drummer horror stories.
Slokie riddles:
if Jesus is the bunk, then how does he so consistently draw people to find the exact grain of any cultural plank, and go against it, truer than fingernails on a blackboard, with those strained non-peurile smiles and almost no self-doubt or self-awareness? Miracles DO happen, friends.
I respond:
if Jesus is the bunk, then how does he so consistently draw people to find the exact grain of any cultural plank, and go *with* it, with music like Bach, Elvis, Sister Rosetta Sharpe, or Al Green? Miracles DO happen, friends.
Hrrundivie lays it on the Lord:
music like Bach, Elvis, Sister Rosetta Sharpe, or Al Green? Miracles DO happen, friends.
I respond:
Bach’s lyrics were not his own, and were as often God in the first person rather than the second. Even the great J. S. didn’t talk about having the Lord over for milk and cookies.
Elvis and Sister Rosetta both proved their mettle outside of the Bible Thump. (There is one of those boxes on the Proper label of her stuff I have yet to get, but I’ve heard some rockin’ tracks.)
Al Green’s best stuff was genuflecting toward the ladies, and not the Lord.
All that said, Jesus has historically drawn great things out of great people, but his elevation of the talentless, who may yet inherit the earth, to heights of dorky, unabashed whiteness is unsurpassed by any other source of inspiration. Or so I maintain. Feel free to have Youtube prove me wrong!
Slokie sez:
All that said, Jesus has historically drawn great things out of great people, but his elevation of the talentless, who may yet inherit the earth, to heights of dorky, unabashed whiteness is unsurpassed by any other source of inspiration. Or so I maintain. Feel free to have Youtube prove me wrong!
I respond:
I can’t prove you wrong, and I don’t want to. Everything you say here is correct. I just thought you were poking fun at the fat man with the anti-Jesus music stuff, and — while he’s an easy target — the fat man ain’t entirely stupid. Christian musicians are just like every other kind — but the Christian listening audience does seem to “lift up” more than its fair share of (pardon the pun) godawful music — LOTS of free passes are handed out, for sure.
Mind you, at the end of the day, that just means more people are happy with themselves, so what’s the harm? I don’t have to listen to it.
My Personal Drummer HORROR story: I’d have to say it was the first show ever by the proto-Nixon’s Head. We’d just met Sethro maybe a month earlier and signed him up to drum with our “band” of dorks who’d been playing instruments for maybe 6 months at most. Sethro was miles ahead of us. He auditioned by drumming along to Bad Company and Donna Summer records in his bedroom. Andyr will remember more of the details I’m sure, but what seemed like an hour before our first appearance, Sethro bagged out on us, telling us we weren’t ready. We sure as hell weren’t, but we were less ready with stand-in drummer, “Joe.” I can’t remember for the life of me how we found this Joe guy at the last second, and I can’t remember what gave us the strength to ever carry on and play in front of people again. It may have been the worst show ever, probably even worse than the time I saw The Lemonheads play a completely incoherent set after we opened for them at TT the Bear’s in 1987 or so. So my drummer horror story didn’t even involve the participation of our drummer, but it was horrible nevertheless!
I dont remember bagging out of the show that late in the game. I think the guys had more time to find someone. I was so right about the group not being ready for a gig. My horror story involves food poisoning and having to leave during the first set of a Nixon’s Head show at a frat in gettysburg college. Andyr had to finish the set for me. That must have been the horror part.I spent some time on the floor of the bathroom with the frat boys yelling at me to get out.
Sethro bagged out a few weeks before the gig but what I remember is Sethro playing with us during the sound check for the gig and it “clicking” and him rejoining shortly after our set finished
Sethro – your horror at Gettysburg and sitting in for you was one of my highlights
I was the drummer, so… once played a show at John and Peter’s in New Hope. Got there and unpacked my stuff. Uh, where are my cymbals?
I played the whole show clicking on the rim of a drum in lieu of hi-hat and leaning into a mic every now and then for a crash cymbal, “CHHHHSSSSSS!”
After the show, a friend told me he didn’t even notice I was without cymbals. He was probably being nice.
Andyr, where did we find “Joe?” I’m pretty sure that was his name, but it’s all such a blur that it seems appropriate to use quotes.
I must say, did you miss a beat in taking over the skins for Sethro that night in Gettysburg? There was talk that you poisoned the man.
cherguevarra – that is a recurring nightmare/dream scenario. You know the kind, your getting set up for the show and the kick pedal is missing and you spend the rest of the dream wandering the stage looking for it and wake up just as you’re supposed to go on…
I thought “Joe” was a Parkwood friend of you and Apice.
For the last time – I DID NOT poison Sethro. I myself had ingested something that allowed me to really see through the beats and instantly pick up where Sethro had left off.
Oh, and NEVER eat Mexican food before a show.
The Drummer said:
Yeah man, I can make all the rehersals, but I can’t make the gig.
6 months later, the same drummer made the band go on 45 minutes early and played everything fast and left us with all his shit(drums) so he could run over to another niteclub and play a set in his other band which was fronted by Joey Sweeney.
ouch