What artist completes the Mount Rushmore of Rock?
It goes without saying that The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan constitute three quarters of this soon-to-be historic monument, which the U.S. National Park Service is planning to sculpt in an undisclosed location. Who’s the fourth and final artist (solo or band) to be chiseled into stone?
In honor of Peter, Paul, and Mary’s Mary Travers, who died last night, what’s the first “drug song” you were aware of as a child? By “aware,” man, I mean, like, cognizant of the fact that adults around you were mumbling about the song’s true meaning. As a young boy, I was aware that “Puff the Magic Dragon” has something to do with smoking…something. A couple of years later, I started hearing about the “true” meaning of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
Considering the demographic of our regular participants, it wouldn’t surprise me if these two songs end up being the first two gateway drug songs for the majority of us. However, rumor has it that some of you may not have been shaving until 1980 or later. What would younger folks’ first gateway drug songs have been in the second half of the ’70s, the ’80s, or – if our youngest Townspeople care to participate – the ’90s?
If you’d also like to take this into Last Man Standing territory… Continue reading »
I’ve written about my love for the Burt Bacharach/Hal David song “Trains and Boats and Planes” in the past. For me it’s a “can’t fail” melody, impervious to any cover treatment imaginable. Here’s yet one more example of the song’s strength. (Plus, you’ve gotta dig the piper’s Look at the setting of this performance.)
Check out this 1981 performance by Kevin Ayers and John Cale. They don’t make ’em like that anymore, do they?
What I’d like to discuss is whether, aside from your personal musical tastes, this is a good or a bad thing. In other words, have any useful rock building blocks been abandoned along with this particular style of music and performance? In other words, have we thrown the baby out with the bathwater?
Love is in the air.
Here’s my own personal They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To gripe. I’m at the point of my life where I mourn the passing of 120 Minutes‘ ’90s heyday, when they showed videos by weirdo bands that had managed to snare major-label contracts.
Arguably, there is no weirder album from this era than Shudder To Think‘s Pony Express Record (Epic), which mixes glam, prog, hardcore, pop, beat poetry, and rock ‘n’ roll, probably in that order. It has a twisted sensibility which gloriously sets it apart from a lot of the painfully earnest rock of that era. Also, this is an album that you have to hear a couple of times to understand. (I actually picked it up in a used bin about 2 years ago.) The album doesn’t present itself as a mass-pleasing easy-to-love hook-fest. You have to meet it on its terms, and I’d argue it’s a rewarding experience.
I bet the above video will piss off a number of you for any number of reasons. (These comments from lead singer Craig Wedren make for a good read.) So tell me about your favorite Way Weird Albums From Major Labels, all the better if, like Pony Express Record, they were perhaps-inevitable commercial failures. Also, am I wrong in thinking these kinds of albums don’t come out anymore?
A few other notes:
1) Shudder To Think reunited a year ago, and have just released a live album, which you can stream for now here.
2) If you can track down their rendition of “The Ballad of Maxwell Demon” from Velvet Goldmine, you can hear the best fake Bowie song ever. Sadly, the version on YouTube is from the film, featuring the band’s backing track, but with that unfortunate lead actor singing lead instead of Wedren.
With tomorrow’s re-release of their catalog looming, this is as good a time as any to broach a seldom-discussed topic on Rock Town Hall: The Beatles.
Specifically, as the topic indicates, we’re looking for your opinion on what the actual most underrated Beatles song is. In a song line up as well-known as this, you might think it difficult to decide, but I’m sure such a straightforward question will allow us to easily reach a consensus.
I’ll ask you to observe two qualifiers for this discussion. First, let’s keep things limited to the music you could find on the original albums, Magical Mystery Tour, and the first half of Yellow Submarine (unless you feel strongly that, say, “Pepperland Laid Waste” is the answer), plus all the singles-related material you could find on the Past Masters collections. Second, you can not choose “Rain.” As arguably the most famous least famous Beatles song, it is my firm belief that “Rain” has so thoroughly acquired a reputation as the most underrated Beatles song over the years that it is no longer truly underrated. Protest if you want, but any running and head-hiding will not change the fact that “Rain” is off the board for this discussion.
As always, you are encouraged to show your work on Rock Town Hall, so please explain why you think your particular nomination qualfies as the most underrated song in the Beatles’ catalog. Thank you in advance.
