Forget about chicks and cars, I suspect this is why we pick up an instrument and dream of making it big!
Mar 312009
Mr. Moderator
Mar 292009
Trust me, it has nothing to do with the music. I immediately had this thought while watching it with the sound turned down. I barely turned the sound up about 30 seconds into it, and that part of the clip made no impression on me one way or another. I don’t recall ever seeing a performance – lip-synched or not – that so uniformly bugged me in this way. Can you identify what bugged me so?
Mar 292009
Saturday morning, while watching the 1944 film The Lodger (a remake of a 1927 Hitchcock film), starring my man George Sanders, I had a few Whaddayouknow?!?! moments, that I’ll take the liberty of sharing.
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Mar 272009
Medallions not included.
There was a ’60s party band called The Swingin’ Medallions, a great name says this medallion lover, but a quick search turned up no photos of them wearing medallions. Other “Goatee Rock” bands of the second half of the ’60s surely wore medallions, but rock ‘n roll and medallions were never as closely related as I would argue they should have been. Urge/Overkill wore medallions, but similarly they never caught on as part of rock fashion in the early ’90s.
Rock fans have long been ready to adopt the Look of a favorite rock star, and rock ‘n roll artists have a long history of dressing up for both the stage and photo/video shoots. However, for all the influence rockers have had on fans in the areas of hairstyles, clothing, and makeup, I believe there is a dearth of rockers who can make a claim for inspiring any fashion trends around jewelry.
Think of rock ‘n roll and jewelry, and who’s the first rock artist that comes to mind? I asked a couple of colleagues in the Halls of Rock before drafting this piece, and one suggested this guy.
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Mar 272009
What’s your feeling on between-song stage banter? I usually dread it, but every once in a while I see an artist who’s good at it. Richard Thompson‘s banter was highly entertaining when I saw him with a band in the late-80s. RTH contributor Rodney Anonymous from the Dead Milkmen used to talk like crazy, but he was like a punk rock George Carlin and his rants added to the energy of the band’s shows. I’ve seen Pere Ubu more than any other non-local band, and although David Thomas is usually awkward and miserable, he’s highly entertaining.
On the other hand, there’s Elvis Costello, who’s not bad but overstays his welcome. Most other performers mumble stuff half-heartedly, making me wish more bands would play nonstop segues like The Ramones. Then there’s Bruce. His long, corny raps about his Dad at the breakfast table, giving him hell for his long hair and rock ‘n roll are cherished by his fans, but when I saw him live in 1980, they almost single-handedly threatened to ruin what little I enjoyed about the show. The Boss is also big on the rah-rah stuff, the “Hello Cleveland!” incantations. It all reminds me of some of the reasons I don’t attend any kind of church.
As I said, I don’t dislike all between-song banter and I’d love to recount a specific story that made the concert experience better than it already was. However, I’m not one of those guys who can recite quotes from favorite movies that I’ve seen a dozen times, so I’m definitely not one of those guys who can recount a particularly good piece of between-song banter. But I’ve heard more than a few of you spit back Monty Python routines and the like. I’m sure you’ve got a particularly good and/or bad stage-banter experience to recount.
I look forward to your thoughts.
Mar 272009
I had no idea Dan Seals of England Dan & John Ford Coley fame – and a successful country music singer-songwriter in his own right – died this week, at 61. Thanks for pointing that out Townsman Al.
For that matter, I had no idea Seals had a successful country music career following his duo’s big soft-rock hit.
For that matter, I don’t recall ever knowing that he was brother to Jim Seals, of Seals & Crofts. If ever there is a Battle Royale to determine the First Family of Soft Rock, the Seals boys are going to earn consideration alongside the Taylor clan.
There’s so much I never knew about England Dan despite the fact that his duo’s big hit has been stuck in my brain for 30-some years. Did you know he was poised to have a #2 hit song as an artist in a band signed to Stax?
It’s only fitting that we pay the man his proper respects…after the jump!
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Mar 262009
See ya later, alligator!
What’s your favorite planned farewell album? Final albums by bands that simply broke up for whatever reason, including death of a key member, do not count. I’m talking albums that were released with clear knowledge that this would be the band’s swan song. I’m not sure how many albums there are that fit in this category, such as Cream’s Goodbye Cream, so we’ll count any album that was released as a “final” album before any one of David Bowie‘s “retirements.”
