Mr. Moderator

Mr. Moderator

When not blogging Mr. Moderator enjoys baseball, cooking, and falconry.

Dugout Chatter: Rolling Stones Edition

 Posted by
Jul 202012
 

It’s time for a little Dugout Chatter, when Townspeople provide gut answers to a handful of probing questions. You know the drill, right? In case you’re not sure, there’s no right or wrong answers, just honest ones. Today’s Dugout Chatter questions will test the honesty of even the most candid Townspeople. Here goes!

  • What’s Mick Jagger‘s finest hour (or 30 seconds) as a vocalist?
  • What’s Charlie Watts‘ finest hour (or 4 measures) as a drummer?
  • What’s Keith Richards‘ finest hour (or 5 strings) as a guitarist?
  • What’s Bill Wyman‘s finest hour as a bassist, which depending on how late a recording session started actually may have been Keith Richards’ finest hour as a bassist?
  • What’s Mick Taylor‘s finest hour as a guitarist, which if you’re like me and get who plays what on those records confused actually may have been Keith Richards’ finest hour as a guitarist?
  • If Brian Jones had lived long enough to experiment with a new hairdo, what might he have tried?
  • Finally, if Andrew Loog Oldham didn’t have that “Loog” stuck in the middle of his name would he have been able to have made a career out of doing almost nothing substantial? He seems to be the least-consequential manager of a major band ever.

I look forward to your responses.

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This Is Your Rock Town Hall

 Posted by
Jul 182012
 

This is your Rock Town Hall!

If you’ve already got Back Office privileges and can initiate threads, by all means use your privileges! If you’d like to acquire such privileges, let us know. If you’ve got a comment that needs to be made, what are you waiting for? If you’re just dropping in and find yourself feeling the need to scat, don’t hesitate to register and post your thoughts. The world of intelligent rock discussion benefits from your participation. If nothing else, your own Mr. Moderator gets a day off from himself. It’s a good thing for you as well as me!

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Return of the Pumpkin: Is the End Near for ’70s Mainstream Bands That Became Hip Long After the Fact?

 Posted by
Jul 172012
 

Last week a guy I only know through Internet means but really enjoy “seeing” posted something about how much cooler Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac are than Bruce Springsteen. I’m not a fan of either band, but thoroughly dig 6 to 8 songs by each band. Stevie Nicks solo, however, is atrocious. What’s that “Tears Like a White Winged Dove” song, or whatever she’s going on about? She should have been gagged once that thing hit the airwaves.

I can understand Boss Backlash as well as anyone, but although I once did a few weeks’ time trying to convince myself of the “genius” of Lindsey Buckingham, the long-running mystification of Fleetwood Mac baffles me. They were a pretty cool, pretty weird mainstream band with a half dozen killer songs. However, I’m too old and was too-cool-for-school as an outwardly dorky teenager to pretend these days that “Landslide” and deep cutz from Buckingham’s Go Insane album should get me looking off into the distance or reflecting on missed opportunities to snort mounds of cocaine.

Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, ABBA, and Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band have been discussed here before, I’m sure. Who approved their Critical Upgrades? Each band has its charms. I’m not immune to the best songs by those bands in small doses, but for the last 20 years their stature as Important Mainstream Rock Artists Who Were Hipper Than We Originally Thought has exploded. I can’t buy into this. There were hipper bands then, and there have been hipper bands since. The fact that they were relatively hip doesn’t make them hip. I’ve scoured enough used bins to find relative gems from an era’s music I generally (and probably rightfully) ignored.

What I want to know is which of these bands will lose their Cinderella powers first? Whose limo will turn back into a pumpkin? I think the clock is ticking on at least 2 of the following 4 artists, while 1 artist’s belated hip status is ascending. What do you think? What other bands fall into this category, and what perhaps rightfully looked down-up (by music snobs) ’80s artists are now becoming unfathomably hip?

Which '70s mainstream band that became hip long after the fact is due to revert to its previously uncool status first?

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All-Star Jam

 Posted by
Jul 142012
 

An All-Star Jam is the place to do your thing. Tell us how you feel! If you do nothing else in this spot, please tell us how this video makes you feel. (And I’m counting on Happiness Stan to fill us in on this band’s probable experiences in EuroVision contests.)

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Last Man Standing: All Right!

 Posted by
Jul 072012
 

I’ve long counted on rock ‘n roll’s ability to provide comfort, to make me feel all right. Think about how many songs there are that involve a lyrical hook around the idea of feeling all right. (Whoops, I just gave away an entry!) Two of my Top 5 favorite songs of the 20th century contain segments that drive home this phrase and feeling.

Think about it. Then—one entry at a time—submit rock ‘n roll songs that involve a lyrical hook involving repeated use of the phrase “all right” (or, “alright,” in the case of a song associated with logging onto Rock Town Hall’s home page—Damn, just gave away another entry!)

To be clear: the song must contain a key refrain, coda, or verse with repeated use of the phrase “all right.” I’m not looking for any old song that just happens to use the phrase one time.

I’ll kick things off with one of the 2 songs among my Top 5 ever that bring home this feeling: The Velvet Underground’s “Rock ‘n Roll.”

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