Mr. Moderator

Mr. Moderator

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

May 012009
 


Townspeople,

This is your Rock Town Hall! Make your own kind of music!

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 make your voice heard, 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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Apr 302009
 

In a recent Dugout Chatter, Townsman pudman13 asked the following question, and ended his question with another question, which I’m answering here, on The Main Stage! (Some editing and styling have been applied to the initial comments posted.)

Are there any truly great albums (top echelon) that are not by songwriters? When I think of the albums that rank at the very top of the critical canon, none of them is packed with cover versions (and I think that it should be that way). A few that are not by songwriters are still full of “new” material, much of which was written for the performer, creating a coherent record (eg, Dusty In Memphis).

Is this question worthy of a new thread?

Yes, I think it is. Let’s get it on!

To be clear, we’re discussing whether it’s possible to have a great (ie, stone-cold GREAT) album that is not powered by a songwriter who is in the band.

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Apr 302009
 


Check out the mic-swapping that kicks off this clip! I was trying to imagine who might follow the third set of singers. Wild stuff from start to finish!

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Apr 292009
 

It’s been a slow week so far – or should I say a quiet week. What we need is a little Dugout Chatter! If you’ve yet to partake in Rock Town Hall’s occasional Dugout Chatter, it’s easy: you’re about to be presented with a handful of puzzling rock queries that require your gut response. Don’t think too hard. There are no wrong answers, although I’ll occasionally credit you for a right answer. Engage!

What’s the last concert t-shirt you remember buying?

Is there another undeniably great ’60s band other than The Who that never produced an original album in that decade (ie, not a hits collection) that a majority of even that band’s fans can agree on as being great?

Which rocker would you be most interested in reading a novel by, whether that rocker has ever authored a novel or not?

What favorite artist’s new Look was so distasteful to you upon first seeing it that you briefly questioned whether you should continue liking said artist’s music?

In these tough economic times, let’s say even The Boss has to do some belt-tightening and issue a layoff. If you’re The Boss, which member of The E-Street Band do you layoff and why?

Which novelist would you most be interested in hearing a rock ‘n roll record by, whether that novelist has ever recorded a record or not (and whether rock ‘n roll and records even existed when the novelist wrote)?

I look forward to your responses.

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Apr 292009
 

The previous year, Polydor had rejected the fifth full-length Style Council studio album, the house-influenced Modernism: A New Decade, and John fought Paul’s corner, lifting head of Polydor David Munns out of his chair during a particularly fractious meeting and telling him: “You don’t talk about my son like that.”

One of rock’s coolest dads, John Weller, who supported and managed son Paul‘s career from his earliest rock aspirations as a teenager through The Jam, The Style Council, and his rebirth as a solo artist, has died. I don’t know a whole lot about the guy, but I’ve seen interviews with him and read some stuff and I’ve always thought that if either of my sons wants to be a rock musician, I’d like to be as willing as John Weller was to be in his son’s corner and help him achieve his rock dreams. Pere Weller had excellent hair to boot!

NEXT: Rock Town Hall’s Official Eulogy…
Continue reading »

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Apr 282009
 


Have you ever put together a mix tape for that special someone only to have the intended message(s) be taken the wrong way or otherwise flop miserably? I have. Maybe 3 months into the dating period with my wife, by which time things were getting serious, I was off from work one day and I thought it would be a good time to put together a killer mix tape that would help her know just how I felt! When we got together that night I slyly inserted said tape and pushed PLAY. Within 2 or 3 songs Lou Reed’s “My House” came on and, taking no prisoners, my wife made a face reserved for a plate of liver or a fart cut in a small space and said, “What the fuck is this?!?!” It was the beginning of the end of my attempts at wooing my future wife through mix tapes is what it was. She was also a Lou Reed fan, but she would be no fan of The Blue Mask. Good thing I was able to muster up a personal reserve of love vibrations to seal the deal with a proposal and an engagement ring a few months later. Lou and whatever other artists I put on that tape would be of no help.

Please feel free to share your own mix tapes gone wrong.

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