You’ve heard the story about Eric Clapton leaving The Yardbirds over the final straw of the band recording the pop ditty “For Your Love”. How dare the band forsake Da Blooz!
Now, however, I ask you to consider the costs of blues credibility, particularly as it applies to this Humble take on the number.
Next, consider the flipside, in a variation on this well-known theme… Continue reading »
By virtue of it having been in a supporting spot on another artist’s fine song, the above clip is the closest thing I could find to a “good” performance by Bon Jovi. I’ve not come to bury Bon Jovi, however, but to celebrate what might be their unique mark of distinction. Continue reading »
Here are a few tracks from the latest album by Marah. Our Philly Phaithful are likely rolling their eyes, huffing, and lining up to take sides.
Marah, “Old Time Tickin’ Away”
I have no idea how this band actually plays outside of my hometown. They’ve been praised to the high heavens by a lot of cooler Establishment members, but do they play to The People? I picked up the band’s latest album, Angels of Destruction, and although I’ve never been the band’s greatest supporter (and have been guilty of all of what I describe below), this album has its strengths. There’s no reason to hate this stuff, Philly brothers and sisters. Can we get over it?
Marah, “Angels of Destruction”
For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, here’s a band that had the good fortune of breaking from my hometown to a greater degree than most Philly bands ever break. Their perceived arrogance; constant firing of rhythm sections; overt Boss-isms; Boss, Nick Hornby, and Stephen King blessings, move to England to record with Oasis‘ producer, and now move to Brooklyn have earned them constant back-biting in the brothers’ hometown, but a lot of it comes down to old-time jealousy, doesn’t it?
Have you ever experienced feelings of jealousy over the success of a local band? Do tell.
Yesterday I heard the following song on the radio for the first time since it came out and was part of a popular album owned by college freshman girls I might have been trying to date. In fact, I’m certain that I tolerated the playing of this album in my presence a half dozen times for the greater good of enjoying the company of the young woman in whose dorm room I was sitting. The singer’s voice was good for this kind of stuff, but still…
This audio-only clip should give you a fair idea of what I heard in the car yesterday. You won’t be distracted by any annoying ’80s video slo-mo techniques and asymmetric hairdos.
For the good of Rock Town Hall, I made myself listen to this Yaz song, “Situation”, yesterday, with no college freshman riding shotgun. (You’re welcome.) As the stereo synth tricks settled down and the song got underway, I thought to myself, Where was INXS when I needed them? Had I entered college a few years later, that college freshman may have been playing me her INXS album instead of Yaz.
Do you see how the structure of this Yaz song is so like the structure of any INXS song? As a songwriting template this is a recipe for ’80s MIDI-mediocrity, but INXS always had the good sense of satisfying the streak of Rockism that was already settling deep within me. By putting some Roxy Music-based rock arrangements into the ’80s equivalent of dimestore garage rock song structure, I could hear this type of boring song without feeling so antsy in that college freshman’s room, without wanting to drive off the side of the road while listening to the Yaz song just yesterday. Can RTH Labs develop a program that runs just about all ’80s synth-pop through the INXS Rockist Cow-Tow Filter?
You know the drill: Please share your gut answers to the following questions. Let your hair down. Tell it like it is. You may have the answer. Yeah, I’m pretty sure you do.
Who’s your favorite Santana vocalist?
Where do you typically prefer to stand at a small club show, up front, in the middle, to the side, in the back, in the next room?
I’m often struck by where Sly Stone and Public Image Ltd were taking rock ‘n roll before they dropped out/retreated, as if they’d flown too close to the sun. You may or may not agree with me, but is there an artist or band you felt was pushing boundaries before suddenly backing off? Artists who suddenly died do not count.
Name a critically acclaimed artist or album you’re not sure that you’ve ever heard. It’s OK, I doubt any of us is perfect. (Speaking of which, The Great 48, have you heard the first Plastic Ono Band album yet? If not, we’ve got to host a listening party on your behalf.)
What’s your favorite rock t-shirt, whether in existence to this day or not? Please tell us what made it special or how it made you feel to wear it.
I look forward to your answers.
Shades are supposed to be cool, right? Often enough in life and film they are cool. Because of this, one might think that shades in rock ‘n roll would be Super Cool, but how often do shades fail miserably in the context of rock ‘n roll?
Great rock ‘n roll shades make me think of The Velvet Underground and the shots of Brian Jones in big, Sofia Loren-style shades and Keith Richards tuning up in round shades in the gatefold photos of Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass). Dylan knew his way around a pair of shades. Inscrutable. Vicious. Cool.
The mystery-inducing quality of shades is best represented by Roy Orbison. The shades alone made Orbison, maybe rock’s earliest rock star lacking any natural sex appeal beyond his voice, cool. Without the shades he’s like the big, deep-voiced guy in The Righteous Brothers, Bill Medley – great voice, sure, but nowhere near cool.
Before we move on, let’s look within. Musicians, surely you’ve tried taking the stage wearing shades. Has it ever been even halfway as cool as you’d imagined it would be? I bet not. Never has been for me. The lifestyle commitment is huge. You can’t just decide to wear shades one night and come off looking Super Cool. In fact, I’d bet that statistics would prove that it’s almost guaranteed that your big idea of playing a gig in shades will result in a lousy, disappointing show. Beware. Lord knows how many gigs the rare shaded greats had to play in shades before they got it right. Even then, a number of factors can conspire toward killing this seemingly foolproof fashion statement.
Seriously, is it worth investing in a Suzi Quatro Greatest Hits? Whenever I revisit her stuff I like it much more than a lot of other “girl power” artists from the ’70s forward. Similar to my question regarding The Mars Volta, is this mainly a result of my having revisited her music via YouTube clips? Or is it that bass she’s playing? Or the matching leather jumpsuits worn by her bandmates? Or the ‘luded out audience? Fascinating.
