Mr. Moderator

Mr. Moderator

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

Bullshit On: Livestock Claims Regarding ZZ Top’s Worldwide Texas Tour

 Posted by
Jan 272010
 

Here’s an excerpt from ZZ Top‘s Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame page that repeats the claim I’ve heard for as long as I can remember that ZZ Top did a Texas cattle ranch-themed tour that included real livestock on stage with them:

ZZ Top carried stagecraft to elaborate heights with its Worldwide Texas Tour: Taking Texas to the People. For this mid-Seventies extravaganza, which came between Fandango! and Tejas, ZZ Top lugged 75 tons of equipment and animals native to Texas, including a buffalo, a longhorn steer, buzzards and rattlesnakes. They also performed on a Texas-shaped stage.

That’s from the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, remember, an actual, industry-approved museum with dedicated curators! I’ve never been there, but if a fruitless community-wide, 3-day search of the Internet indicates anything I bet the Hall of Fame doesn’t even possess photographic evidence of this rock myth!

Following is the photographic result of our search of ZZ Top pictured on stage with even a single, living buffalo, longhorn steer, buzzard, or rattlesnake.
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My Imaginary French Movie Girlfriend Is an Actress

 Posted by
Jan 262010
 


French actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, whose acting talent, no-frills sex appeal, and overall European sense of cool in foreign films suited to subtitlephobes (eg, My Wife Is an Actress and The Science of Sleep) should already have been enough to gain your attention, has released a new album, IRM. In case you’re not already hip to this woman’s charms, the album is getting heavy coverage as something more substantial than the typical actor’s vanity record release. Understandably, this may be in equal parts because the album was produced and written by Beck and because Gainsbourg is the offspring of kitsch appeal-gone-horribly hipster worshipped pervert/Svengali Serge Gainsbourg and his actress/model wife Jane Birkin.

I could live with those reasons, but the slew of reviews, interviews, and concert reviews I’ve seen on this release go way over the top and tell a story that’s really not that interesting. Meanwhile the publicity machine for Gainsbourg’s new release fails to examine two important details:
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All-Star Jam

 Posted by
Jan 262010
 


While you’re searching for photographic evidence of ZZ Top‘s tour with livestock (making sure it’s not the road crew you’re confusing with cattle), can you also help me confirm that Baretta’s bird, Fred, was eaten on one episode by a homeless Puerto Rican boy Baretta took in? While you’re at that, feel free to use this space to post any other thoughts that need to be shared. Thanks.

Hey, let’s make this a Twofer Tuesday, shall we? After the jump… Continue reading »

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Rock’s Most Memorable Stage Props

 Posted by
Jan 252010
 


The recent selection of The Rolling Stones‘ lips logo as Rock’s Greatest Logo of All Time got me thinking of images from album covers, videos, and musical motifs suggested by an artist’s recent release that were developed into memorable stage props.

Pink Floyd‘s flying pig, from the Animals record sleeve, is the first stage prop that comes to mind. The Residents have made significant use of thematic props in their rare live performances.

Less memorably, the Stones have wheeled out cheesy inflated versions of the lips logo and giant supermodels, possibly related to some ’90s video of them and the supermodels overtaking Manhattan. Then there’s some legend of ZZ Top touring with cattle on stage. Did this actually happen? Not that I’ve looked too hard, but why have I never seen a photo or video from this tour?
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Once and For All, Judgment Day Edition: Are You Experienced? Is the Greatest Debut Album Ever

 Posted by
Jan 252010
 

Congratulations are due to the Jimi Hendrix Experience‘s debut album, Are You Experienced?, for being determined as the Greatest Debut Album Ever by the members of Rock Town Hall.

This historic consensus pick followed days of rigorous discussion and on-the-fly development of stringent criteria. Congratulations are also due to the runners-up who merited serious consideration.

Finally, the field of rock criticism thanks you, Townspeople, for tacking this challenging question head on.

In other matters serving the betterment of rock criticism… Continue reading »

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Once and For All: What’s the Greatest Debut Album Ever?

 Posted by
Jan 222010
 

Townsman Andyr wondered if we’ve ever attempted to determine the Greatest Debut Album Ever. I don’t think we have, so this is as good a time as any to investigate this subject.

As we pondered this subject last night, a dozen debut releases immediately sprang to mind, including those by the The Specials, Jimi Hendrix, Television, The Undertones, The Clash… However, if we’re to consider The Clash, we agreed we should only consider the original UK release, which I don’t find as strong as the later US version. Before we move forward, let’s agree that delayed, alternate releases in other-than-native markets are not open to consideration.

As we talked about this topic, just as many debut albums by beloved bands were far from qualifying. Probably all debut albums released prior to 1967 wouldn’t make the grade. Artist that went on to have long, innovative careers may find that their debut album is overshadowed by the albums that followed. Captain Beefheart may be an example of this. Safe As Milk is an excellent debut and the one album by him that most rock fans have a fighting chance of digging, but what Beefheart fan is going to put the necessary effort into making the case that it is the Greatest Debut Album Ever?

It’s only fair that you take some time to think about this and that we discuss it as a community, but I will tell you that, after discounting Roxy Music‘s debut for running out of gas on side 2, I’m presently considering the merits of two debut albums that I feel are stunning in their own ways: Continue reading »

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