Dec 162009
 

Walk on by…

I was listening to the first two dB’s albums on my iPod the other night, and I forgot that the CD I burned to my iTunes had some singles tacked on. Years ago I landed a six-pack of early dB’s singles, which along with awesome cover art included some songs I’d never heard on the two albums I’d been playing to death in the year leading up to that purchase. Way back when and again the other night I was underwhelmed by the song “Soul Kiss.” I remembered how hearing that song became a Holy Grail issue for me when I was 18 years old. I remembered how finally hearing it didn’t live up to the advance billing I’d somehow accepted as gospel.

Another Holy Grail that I shouldn’t have bothered chasing was that first Buzzcocks ep, Spiral Scratch. It took me about 10 years to finally shell out for that bad boy, and it sucks. The Buzzcocks aren’t the Buzzcocks, to me, without Pete Shelley singing lead. I never minded Howard Devoto singing for Magazine, despite never finding that band half as appealing as the Shelley and Steve Diggle-led Buzzcocks, but Spiral Scratch is not an ep I’d ever recommend tracking down and paying top dollar for – or even buying at a reasonable price as a CD reissue with bonus tracks, as I did.

You may disagree with my particular nonrecommendations, but I’m most interested in hearing your own walk-on-by nonrecommendations.

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Mar 302009
 

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I can only think of a couple of good reunion (or post-reunion) albums. Cheap Trick’s Rockford is pretty good but I’m not even sure that counts as they never took more than 4 years between releases. Did they ever officially call it quits?

I digress.

The Buzzcocks Flat-Pack Philosophy is pretty good and clearly a post-reunion album.

I thought about this other day when Simply Saucer’s reunion album, Half Human, Half Live, (and actual only official album release) was recommended. I picked it up on eMusic and it is good, but not great.

Am I missing something obvious? Are there any great reunion albums?

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Apr 082008
 

My teenage rock nerd treasure hunt begins.

Some of you are aware of the profound influence issue #46 of Trouser Press had on my young rock nerd’s development. It was the first issue of the new decade, and my favorite underground rock magazine kicked it off with a snazzy, double-length issue that looked back at the decade that had just passed and looked ahead to the promise of the 1980s!

As some of you are also aware, the promise of the 1980s soon turned ugly for this once-young man’s dreams of a return to energetic, concise rock ‘n roll on the radio. Instead of The Clash, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, The Buzzcocks, The Jam, and The Undertones ruling the airwaves, the underground pop song movement would emerge victorious, Yamaha DX-7 synths in tow, as the synth-pop of mildly entertaining types like Thomas Dolby and Thompson Twins and finally the massively successful dance-pop of Madonna and Rock Town Hall flashpoint Prince. Despite the success of a few more commercial contenders from that scene, like The Police, The Cars, and Blondie (and Costello and The Clash, to some extent), the closing credits were rolling on the dream.

Trouser Press #46, “Some 1970s Albums You Might Have Missed” (~40 mb)

That didn’t mean I couldn’t spend the ’80s seeking out cool, underground albums from the ’70s that were mostly alien to me before I’d reached my late teens and became a loyal Trouser Press reader. I scanned what’s still my touchstone article from that issue, “Some 1970s Albums You Might Have Missed” (~40 mb; click to download). It’s a large file, but if you download it and print it out, you’ll have some choice bathroom reading! Then – after you’ve washed your hands – I’m sure you’ll want to log back into the Halls of Rock and share your thoughts on these albums, those times, your own significant moment that helped launch your personal rock nerd journey.
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