Sep 202007
 

Hey Townsperson,

As I browse a few of the finer blogs out there, I got to thinking of you. In particular…

Townsmen Hrrundi and Saturnismine may be interested in a piece on Chaka Khan‘s upcoming covers album, as covered on Silence Is a Rhythm Too. There are clips of her covering Hendrix and – get this, Hrrundi – a Prince song. (No word on whether she covers the rest of Hrrundi’s Holy Trinity, ELO and ZZ Top.) I’ll let you make up your own mind, but it’s likely we agree that Chaka will never top the following piece of work.

Townswoman Sally C and Townsman Mrclean came to mind when I saw this.

Then I was checking in on Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage, and I thought about dbuskirk and BigSteve and their recent discussions regarding the Sly Stone box set.

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Sep 192007
 

Help me! My potato skins are almost here!

I picked up the new Okkervil River on eMusic last week. I’ve got mixed feelings about it, apparently as I feel ashamed for some reason to find myself enjoying it. But that’s my issue. This song, “Plus Ones”, has a premise I thought some of you might enjoy.

It uses song titles with numbers in them to emphasize a sense of “then what.”

Opening lyric: “No one wants to hear about your 97th tear, so dry your eyes or let it go uncried, my dear”

Loser Rock perhaps, but that’s not the point. The point is that there are a bunch of these number-song references and some of them escape me.

Take a listen and see if you can help sammy escape from the maze before your meal arrives.
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Sep 182007
 

Pulp, “Mis-Shapes”

As Townsmen Alexmagic and Oats mentioned yesterday, there’s a song by Pulp that they feel proves that even a Loser Rock artist can make successful Winner Rock. Check out “Mis-Shapes” and let us know if you, too, feel the thrill of victory!

Yet another important lesson about Winning and Losing follows… Continue reading »

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Sep 172007
 

For some time, dating back to its initial introduction on our old listserv – possibly in the midst of perhaps the last beating of a dead Elliot Smith that even those of us in the Halls of Rock could muster – the term Winner Rock – and its cohort, Loser Rock – have been met with great consternation and protest. This is understandable, but the day has come to clarify these terms for use in our discussions here and beyond.


Rock ‘n roll, on the deeply passionate and nerdy level with which it is discussed in places like Rock Town Hall, was not set up for life’s “winners.” Typically, life’s winners have been content to wrap themselves in cutting-edge consumerism and McMansions. In musical terms, we haughtily imagine these folks gathering over cocktails and throwing a CD by Phil Collins or Don Henley on in the background. It’s understandable why Townspeople like us, whose lives have been saved by rock ‘n roll, might object to the introduction of the term “Winner” in discussions of our faith. In the real world, the term has become laden with baggage we’d all like to leave behind. But we’re not in the real world. The connotations of Winner Rock (and Loser Rock, for that matter) are not beholden to real-world connotations. We’re here to transcend, through whatever means necessary.

I’ll leave the Rock Town Hall Glossary definition of Loser Rock to our esteemed colleague, Oats, but to define Winner Rock, let’s first review two main functions of rock ‘n roll: one that is centered around building community and the other that is centered around self-identification. Both points of view are essential to being a well-rounded human, so don’t get the idea that a fan of Winner Rock rejects Loser Rock out of hand, or vice versa. Winner Rock aims to win a community over to a point of view, a big beat, a cause of one sort or another. Winner Rock artists are clear about their objectives and the desire to fill a bandwagon of like-minded listeners.


Winner Rock isn’t about winning itself as much as it is playing to win. In a sense, it’s team-oriented rock. For example, a Winner Rock band that I believe few would feel embarrassed liking is The Clash. The music of The Clash is not made for individual listening. Physically, of course, any one of us can and has listened to the music of The Clash in isolation, yet even when listening to their music alone, we’re being addressed in the context of a group, or team, that has a goal of overcoming the odds. I believe that a lot of folks who have objected to this Winner Rock term feel like underdogs and want nothing more than to be associated with society’s notion of “winners,” but the term underdog assumes that you’re playing the game, that you want to win against all odds. The goal of an underdog is to WIN, so embrace it when the right artist comes along!

The Clash, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and many generally unobjectionable artists have practiced Winner Rock. It can be a great thing. It can also be a horrible thing. Journey might come to mind when you think “Winner Rock.” However, as in real-world sports, just because a team plays the game (to win) doesn’t mean you have to root for them. There are Winner Rock artists who you might feel represent what’s best about rock ‘n roll just as there are those who do, in fact, represent what’s worst. That’s OK. The term itself was created to identify a fundamental view of the role of an artist, the listeners, and their music, same as the term Loser Rock identifies another fundamental view of artists and listeners. When one of us says something like, “I love Winner Rock,” it doesn’t mean we love all bands who play with this mindset, just that we embrace the mindset itself and how it can color our listening experience. I hope this is clear.

When you have finished reading this entry in the RTH Glossary, I encourage you to read and review the official RTH Glossary definition of Loser Rock. As you have done here, please read carefully and appreciate the important role that rock ‘n roll can play in developing the self, apart from society. As I mentioned regarding the near impossibility of listening to the music of The Clash with a solitary point of view, consider listening to the music of The Kinks, especially Kinks Kontroversy-era Kinks, with the aim of feeling more a part of a movement, more a part of the whole. Try as you may, I suspect you’ll find yourself twirling that stray curl as you sit beside the bay window with a lone drop of rain running down the pane. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
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Loser Rock

 Posted by
Sep 172007
 


For many on RTH, Loser Rock is the ultimate musical bete noire. On the face of it, the words “Loser Rock” conjure the image of a broken, simpering man, venting his pain by cradling an acoustic guitar, mousily whispering words of a bottomless yet superficial despair, before finally collapsing in a pile of tears. Or perhaps the term summons the memory a doomed, slovenly, possibly soused twentysomething, howling against the elements, wringing a tortured sound from his Fender Jaguar, while a rhythm section plods along with a distinct lack of commitment.

Here in the halls of rock, Loser Rock can take on mythic proportions, often becoming the convenient scapegoat for the decreased popularity of party-rock, cock-rock… in fact, one could conceivably pin the decline of rock ‘n’ roll in the public sphere at the feet of Loser Rock. The ultimate sin of Loser Rock is that it ultimately encouraged listeners to equate rock with bad times, not good ones. And who honestly wants spend time at that party?

But of course in many ways this characterization of Loser Rock is a straw argument. Re-read the first paragraph; now, do you actually know any well-known musicians who are really like that, and nothing but that? I submit that the likes of The Smiths, Elliott Smith, and Belle and Sebastian are not Loser Rock so much as they are Alone Time Rock. (Paradoxically, The Smiths and Belle and Sebastian’s cult audiences have swelled to the size of their own social sect, practically. Of course, these fans are often cited as part of the problem by the anti-Loser Rockers. But that’s a whole other essay.)


That said, there is something called Loser Rock and it can be a positive or a negative. At its best – when acts like The Replacements, Aimee Mann, Nirvana, and Quasi are firing on all cylinders – Loser Rock owns up to reality. If Winner Rock thrives on the delusion that the odds can be defied (hence its frequent connection with sports), Loser Rock achieves catharsis by facing failure and articulating it accurately and perfectly. Sometimes, shit goes down and it’s best not to pretend otherwise. Loser Rock can allow you to wallow, and sometimes we all need a good wallow. But that’s not the only way. For a time, The Replacements showed us how to turn losing into a good party. Aimee Mann displayed the effectiveness of a precisely worded and dryly delivered summation of a losing situation. Nirvana wedded hopeless desperation to corrosive guitars and a rhythm section that frankly eats Winner Rockers for dinner. Quasi have entire albums that act as the indie-rock equivalent of Peter Finch’s famous Network speech, or perhaps Alec Baldwin’s in Glengarry Glen Ross. Get mad, sons of bitches.

In contrast, it seems to me, Winner Rock as Mr. Moderator defines it, is an almost abstract concept. The Clash addresses its audience as a whole? Doesn’t this tie in with that great band’s worst attribute – their rhetoric? I’m not convinced that Winner Rock is not, in fact, best represented by Survivor and Journey.

One final point, and an olive branch of sorts: An appreciation of Loser Rock does not mean one cannot also listen to Winner Rock. The point is that a person should be able to access a wide variety of emotions in their music collection, if they so choose. One day you might want to hear “Eye of the Tiger.” Another day you might want “Needle in the Hay.” Must every song be connected to “Satisfaction”?

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