Mr. Moderator

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

Help Jonathan Papelbon Select His New Walkout Anthem

Mar 062012

Walkout anthem. I just learned that term for a baseball closer’s theme music when he enters a game from the bullpen. Phillies new closer Jonathan Papelbon needs a new walkout anthem because the Dropkick Murphys won’t let him take “Shipping Up to Boston” out of Fenway. Red Sox fans can have that song! They can have the entire Dropkick Murphy’s catalog, if you ask me.

I’m hoping I can warm up to Papelbon, whose keee-raaay-zeee eyes routine and that stupid jig in a kilt to the Dropkick Murphys’ song after the Sox won the 2007 World Series put me off. Clearly the guy is a top-notch closer. In 1979, when my Phillies acquired Pete Rose, I suddenly loved the guy for all the things I hated about him the day before. In the early ’90s I even warmed up a bit to former Mets hero Lenny Dykstra, but I still thought he was a juiced-up jerk.

A cool walkout anthem might go a long way to helping me like this guy—no yahoo rock for jocks or Riverdance music, please. I think my wife is right in her belief that that style of Irish folk dancing is the lamest dance style ever. Let’s pull together our sports-rock expertise and help Jonathan Papelbon select a new walkout anthem. This venture may help Papelbon, but most importantly it will help me. Thank you.

Final Four of Rock’s Greatest Backing Band Tournament Asks, “Is It Time to Jump to the Finals?”

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 052012

The Final Four in Rock’s Greatest Back Band Tournament poses the question, “Is it time to jump to the Finals?”

Consider the remaining matches:

The Crickets vs The JBs
Crazy Horse vs The Attractions

Is there any doubt that The JBs and The Attractions will face off to determine—once and for all—rock’s greatest backing band? Is there any point in holding this round of play?

The JBs think there is, if only to prove their dominance. They have thrown down the following challenge: If fan voting for The Crickets and Crazy Horse combined beats the total votes received for The JBs, The JBs will concede defeat. In a show of solidarity The Attractions have announced that they will do likewise.

So there you have it. Cast your votes for the Clear Favorites (The JBs and The Attractions), The Underdogs (The Crickets and Crazy Horse), or any combination thereof. Let the games begin! (Voting runs through March 8th at 11:59 pm.)

The Final Four: The Crickets vs The JBs and Crazy Horse vs The Attractions

The Clear Favorites (The JBs and The Attractions) (62%, 21 Votes)
The Underdogs (The Crickets and Crazy Horse) (18%, 6 Votes)
The JBs and Crazy Horse (18%, 6 Votes)
The Crickets and The Attractions (3%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 34

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Song Swap

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 052012

In response to our recent thread asking us to imagine what a once-planned double-album Monkees release showcasing each band member’s individual personality per side, Townsman mrclean recently shared the following observation and proposed an excellent thread, to follow. Check it out:

An online acquaintance of mine stated: ‘You know, I could totally hear—and I mean this in a really good way—the Buzzcocks and the Monkees swapping songs.’ For the record, I can agree with that.

What two artists/bands do you think were meant to swap songs?

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Demos, Alternate Takes, Outtakes, Bootlegs, and the Like

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 032012

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

In this week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In a busy Mr. Moderator let’s the music do the talking. There will be words; they just won’t be coming out of your host’s mouth. Almost all the tracks played tonight are demos, alternate takes, live bootleg records, and so forth. There’s even an unreleased rehearsal recording. Enjoy. Hopefully this busy stretch will ease up and I can grab time with our long-promised guest Townsman.

[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-69.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 69]

[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 032012

What’s on your mind? The All-Star Jam is the place to do your thing. It’s a great way for newcomers to break the ice and share something/anything that’s on their mind. Let it all hang out.

Imagine The Monkees’ Double Album, With a Side Dedicated to Each Band Members’ Personal Vision

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 022012

Check out this Head-era Monkees interview with longtime Philadelphia DJ Hy Lit. At the 4:07 mark, Mike Nesmith starts talking about the band’s next album, a proto-KISS solo album concept, in which each Monkee leads a side of a double album through his personal musical vision. Mickey Dolenz joins in with a note about his interest in electronic music and his Moog synthesizer, which goes way over Lit’s head. Soon after Peter Tork starts calling for an end to the interview. The late Davy Jones looks really cute.

Rock Town Hall asks you to imagine the track listing, in descriptive terms, including sequencing and real and/or imagined song titles, for this planned double album.

If you can manage any of that challenge, how would your Monkees double-album concept release have stacked up against the KISS solo albums?

If You Can’t Say Anything Nice About…Jedward

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 012012

Today’s exercise in playing nice is courtesy of Townsman chergeuvarra.

We here in the Halls of Rock Town are sometimes taken to task for being overly negative, snarky, hyper-critical, and all too often, just downright rude. As part of our collective efforts to bring a bit of sunshine and light to the world wide web, we occasionally make an extra effort effort to find something good to say about, you know, stuff that is clearly godawful.

It is in that spirit that we embark on yet another effort to bring some positivity to our proceedings. Please spend some quality time with the video above, then—if you can—please find something nice to say about it. You’ll feel a whole lot better, I promise you.

I look forward to your comments. Just remember, if you can’t say anything nice about this video… please don’t say anything at all.

Previously…

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