Mr. Moderator

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

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: The Attractions, The JBs, and What Does One Like When One Likes Jazz?

Mar 172012

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

In this week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In Mr. Moderator reviews some of the underrated strengths of The Attractions and The JBs, our finalists in our long-running tournament to determine—once and for all—rock’s greatest backing band. He also spins some new purchases and wonders what it is that he likes when he likes jazz. Enjoy.

[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-71.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 71]

[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 172012

Go Green. Drive Compact. The All-Star Jam is a place to do your thing.

Sound Off!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 162012

This one goes to zero!

Rock Town Hall has a long and honored tradition of rock video analysis, with Townspeople often incorporating the distinctive technique of commenting on videos with the sound off. In honor of alexmagic‘s recent analysis of a video of Tom Jones performing with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, we are instituting a new feature, Sound Off!

The way a Sound Off! thread works is simple:

A video is posted for us to view with the sound off.
We comment on what we’re seeing with the sound off.
We most likely share in the sense of wonder that there’s much to learn about music with the sound off.

You will be entrusted to view the following video with the sound off. If we could disable the video’s sound we would, but something tells me the copyright holder of the video might object to that. Trust us, for the purposes of this thread the sound will get in the way. Beside, you may be viewing this at work, in which case coworkers will only be distbured by your giggles; you won’t have to worry about the artist’s music leaking into their cube.

After the jump, why don’t you turn the sound off and watch the following video!

How Can You Say “Hotel California” a “Horrible Song?”

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 152012

I’m not sure how much more can be said on this topic, but the discussion that ensued when it was first posted is still a joy for me to read. Hopefully those of you new to this thread will feel likewise. And maybe you’ll share in my undying hatred for (The) Eagles.

This post initially appeared 4/24/07.

Townsman Mwall has requested that we take the following question to the Main Stage, and now we heed his call.

I’d love to hear the reasoning about “Hotel California” as a “horrible song.” Here in southern California, it’s the absolutely essential song for defining the whole pop culture of the place. I look forward–I mean this really–to hearing what’s horrible about it.

In case you can’t recall how that number goes (after some touching backstage moments)…

WANTED: Rock Town Hall Glossary Term to Describe Tom Jones’ Approach to Singing Anything

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 152012

Big-hearted, booming Welsh show-stopping singer Tom Jones (not his real name, I just learned, so BigSteve was not joking in our recent Last Man Standing) may go from “0 to 60” in intensity quicker than any other singer in (relatively) modern music. There’s a special approach to his burst of intensity that I feel exemplifies a certain type of male singing. It’s as if he takes a guttural scoop toward any material put in front of him. You can hear it on the opening lines in one of his early hits, “It’s Not Unusual.” Jones comes right at the listener like a firm handshake:

There’s no denying Jones’ aggressive approach to such a swinging song, but what makes him special is his ability to dig in on a tender waltz-time ballad like “Delilah.”

Last Man Standing: Novel Band Names

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 132012

I’m shocked that we’ve never done a Last Man Standing on the following subject: bands named after novels, including characters in novels. Bands named after works of non-fiction do not qualify. Bands named after plays, a short story, and poetry collections do not qualify. Bands named after works of literary criticism do not qualify. The band name must come from a novel, excluding the name of the author of the novel.

Beside Soft Machine, I’m sure you can think of a few bands who do qualify. Game on!

Once and For All…You Decide Rock’s Greatest Backing Band Ever!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 132012

The JBs vs The Attractions...Once and for All!

Talk is cheap. This one’s for all the marbles. The JBs vs The Attractions. Cast your vote—once and for all—for rock’s greatest backing band ever!

Once and for all...who is rock's greatest backing band ever, The JBs or The Attractions?

The JBs (53%, 25 Votes)
The Attractions (47%, 22 Votes)

Total Voters: 47

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Polls are open through Sunday, March 18, at 11:59 pm EST.

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