It's a provocative statement. I know. Fact is I like about 1/2 of that first album. But I'm calling Bullshit On The New York Dolls' legendary status.

Let's face it. The Dolls were a product of a place and time and heavy shtick. And ya know what, I dig the shtick but when all is said and done, the music is moderately interesting at best.

Rolling Stone called "Personality Crisis" the 267th best rock song of all time. Really?! Granted this was 2006 and doesn't include anything the Raconteurs did but...

K-Mart Stones in drag, man. And yeah that's cool but c'mon, legendary? Bullshit.

Here's the greatest thing The Dolls ever did:

I'm not talking about the album, I'm talking about the image on the cover. I maintain that without this cover, The New York Dolls would not have attained legendary status. And though this doesn't have the balls, it did come 2-3 year before.

What say you?

I'm listening to Neil Finn's first solo album, Try Whistling This, right now. There are fine songs spread all across the disc, but the last five songs are especially strong, and flow especially well together. Can you name other albums save most or all of the strongest songs for the end?

(Incidentally, I believe Neil Finn is one of the best songwriters around, and I will fight you on this.)

"I wrote it before I met her, but it's Kate's song."

Those of you who voted for Kate in the Who's Your Angel poll may want to grab another Townsperson's hand and let the healing begin!

There's no way I'll have fun with this death. This guy got all the slings and arrows coming to him, deserved or not, during his life. Those half dozen great Jackson 5 songs, topped off by this historic robot dance, which debuted on the above performance of "Dancing Machine," are more than any of us will ever do in our lifetimes let alone before we reached adulthood. That Off the Wall album had some songs I liked, then came Thriller. Most of that stuff bored me, but I was in quite the minority. All sorts of nonsense and horrible accusations followed, but I kind of liked that "Black or White" single. It seemed to me the last time he ever dared letting it all hang out.

I'm sure more dirt than ever will be uncovered. Meanwhile I'll contemplate my Farrah poster and replay this robot dance sequence.

Link: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/celebrities/20090625_Farrah_Fawcett_dies_at_62.html

My inner horny 13-year-old has lost a special friend today.

The Seeds' Sky Saxon has also died. It's hard to beat "You're Pushing Too Hard" for original Nuggets tracks.

NEXT: Rock Town Hall's Official Eulogy...

Read more

Sleater-Kinney came up on the iPod today, and once again I had the same internal conflict that arises every time I hear them. I love the guitar playing, the songs, the drumming, the arrangements, the production, the guitar tones, and the overall sound. Plus, I love rooting for an underdog so a three-chick rock band with no bassist holding their own in a dude-heavy genre appeals to me. But I just can’t seem to make my peace with that voice.

On the old RTH, I recall someone suggesting that the reason some of us couldn’t handle the voice was because we were uncomfortable with strong women or some such nonsense. But I don't think that's the case. The voice sounds like Geddy Lee’s shrill younger sister to me. And I can’t stand his voice either.

I’m not giving up on them just yet because the good is really good, and I'm hoping this is one of those acquired taste things. But I’m not optimistic that I will be able to get over the hump on this.

Does anybody else have a band/artist that is otherwise perfect for them, but for a huge and possibly deal-breaking flaw?

As an aside, there’s also a great Last Man Standing here: Intra-band hook ups. Hell, Grace Slick could keep that going for weeks. SK would have been my trump card.

Early Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band may be among the the only rock musicians in to make the hat work for them on stage and in publicity shots. The Specials are the only other band that come to mind from the highly scientific top of my head. Am I missing someone obvious? Most of the hat-wearing rock musicans I can think of look silly: all those truck driver chic sorts from Brooklyn and other non-farming communities in high-resting John Deer caps; anyone who's tried rocking a baseball cap on stage; rockers in cowboy hats (which work quite well on actual country musicians); the guy from Modest Mouse in his G.I. Joe cap... The beret is inherently silly looking, so Dr. John and Mink DeVille look as silly as anyone else who's ever worn a beret.

With the hat's rich tradition in blues, country, soul, jazz, and other building blocks of rock 'n roll, it's a wonder the hat hasn't fared better in rock. For a rock musician to look good in a hat, is it necessary that the musician is playing a hat-appropriate form of rock 'n roll, such as ska or horn-fueled R&B-based rock? Note how the E Street Band dropped the hats once they moved past their early horn-fueled era.

As a side thought, is it a coincidence that country music's most rock-friendly musician, Johnny Cash, didn't wear a hat?

What is the best father-related song, anyhow - totatlly negative ones like "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" excluded? "Daddy's Home" is the first that comes to mind for me. I liked this John Hiatt song as well, but man does that guy possess a troubling Look!

Courtesy of Townsman cherguevarra. News of this astounding find was first posted within a recent All-Star Jam. I knew you wouldn't want to miss it. An alternate Beatles "Butcher Cover" has been found in among a private collection of Beatles memorabilia in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Check it out...after the jump!

Read more

A couple of thoughts and questions in the minutes following a very enjoyable birthday:

• Please explain the psycho-drama that ensues at the 2:25 mark of this video.
• Is there a better "yolk" in rock than Bjork's?
• Were you surprised that the second song in this clip was not actually a continuation of the first song?
• Is the guy at the 2:46 mark contemplating Bjork's yolk or the psycho-drama of the guy in the powder blue ruffled shirt?
• Is the guitarist's Look the logical step after Rick Nielsen or the inspiration for Ali G?
• Is the "ax man" joke funnier in Icelandic?
• At the 5:13 mark a guy in the audience can be seen yelping in unison with Bjork. Is that a common practice at her concerts to this day, the way audience members sing along to, say, Tom Petty's "Breakdown?"