In re-reading an old Robert Quine interview, I got to thinking about how much fun he would have been with us, here in the Halls of Rock. Since he can’t be here with us, I thought I’d pass along this link. Enjoy. Imagine.
Sep 112007
Mr. Moderator
Sep 112007
In thinking about how cool Robert Quine was, and in searching for a killer live clip of Richard Hell and the Voidoids, I was reminded of how weak Richard Hell’s career was beside that first Voidoids album. Oh, the second album has a couple of good tracks, especially a cover of Them’s “I Can Only Give You Everything”, but the truth is Hell got a ton of mileage out of a couple of good ideas, a great Look, and lord knows how many Sugar Daddies and Sugar Mommas.
For starters, who funded the making of this film, entitled – with prescience of the man’s severely limited supply of greatness – Blank Generation? I don’t recall it having been released back in the days when I was young enough to have run out to see it. Have any of you seen this? Check out the plot synopsis from IMDB:
Nada, a beautiful French journalist on assignment in New York, records the life and work of an up and coming punk rock star, Billy. Soon she enters into a volatile relationship with him and must decide whether to continue with it, or return to her lover, a fellow journalist trying to track down the elusive Andy Warhol.
By the time I was 20 I didn’t need any more proof that Hell was one multi-untalented dude.
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Sep 102007
The 101ers (live), “Lonely Mother’s Son”…ring a bell?
In the recent Last Man Standing: Suitcase Songs thread, I made mention of Joe Strummer having salvaged a song by his old band, The 101ers, for use in The Clash’s “Jail Guitar Doors”. Then, after 2000 Man called me on it, I started to doubt myself. Surely I’ve been wrong at least once before…but not this time. Here’s “Lonely Mother’s Son”, which features the entire chorus that would be used in “Jail Guitar Doors”. The verses ring a bell too, like something that might have been used on a song I usually skip on Sandinista. Let me know if you figure it out so I can save myself the effort of dropping the needle on one of those stinkers. Thanks.
Finally, some of you may know how much I dig The 101ers’ Elgin Avenue Breakdown album, which was a holy grail of sorts for me and my bandmates in our much younger days. “Lonely Mother’s Son” really sucks; there’s good reason it didn’t appear on the original vinyl release of this album. Rather than leave you possibly thinking “Is that all there is?” here are some of the tracks that give this album its pitcher-full of pub rock value. The last two tracks, covers that will ring a bell, were recorded live on a crappy cassette recorder. I love the sound of them, and through Strummer’s final 15 years of wandering, I wished he would have recorded a batch of kick-ass, low-fi pub rock recordings rather than waste his time name checking Ethiopian DJs on those ponderous Mescaleros albums.
“Letsagetabitarockin'”
“Keys to Your Heart”
“Motor Boys Motor”
“5 Star Rock ‘n Roll Petrol”
“Shake Your Hips”
“Junco Partner”
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Sep 092007
Sep 072007
Every once in a while, when we discuss the merits of a particular song or album on a deeper level, I’m reminded of the fact that the range of emotions covered in rock songs typically covers only so many emotional dynamics: new love, heartbreak, friendship, humor, sexuality, religion, burnout, politics, and mortality. We’ve discussed the fact that some of these dynamics, such as humor and politics, can be more challenging to write about successfully in the rock song medium than others. However, this morning, as my heart beats faster with the approaching fall soccer season (I’m a coach of a boy’s team), I’m wondering if there are uncharted rock terrains? For instance, I often think there are too few, if any, songs that capture the spirit of competition (not necessarily athletic).
So, there are at least two questions I hope to answer today: 1) Am I wrong? (not about everything, wiseacre!), and 2) What uncharted rock terrains would you like to see explored more deeply?
It goes without saying that I look forward to your responses.
Sep 062007
Let’s put an end to the nonsense over whether the last half-decent “Mick Taylor-era” Stones album, Goats Head Soup, or the first solid “return to form” Stones album, Some Girls, is better. The former couldn’t be more boiled down from the picked over bones of the Exile on Main Street era; the latter, upon its release, was of the here and now. Sure there was a good deal of 2-chord filler, but it reeked of late nights at Studio 54 and Truman Capote’s locomotive breath. The band sounded refreshed and committed to its mostly humble tunes. To boot, the album included the band’s best-crafted, Brazillian model pick-up single of the ’70s, one that actually managed to sound worth jumping into the sack over. We’ll get into the particulars of Some Girls in a bit. Let’s start with an initial shot at Goats Head Soup.
Jagger’s best solo album.
I’m not going to waste time. What’s Goats Head Soup‘s catchiest song, the horribly named “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)”, but the 6th or 7th dip into the well that initially flowed from Let It Bleed‘s “Monkey Man” and “Live With Me”. Hell, it’s even got the brief Carlos Santana guitar interlude first used in “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”! This song, possibly the best of the best-known songs from Goats Head Soup, is representative of the album’s self-satisfied, burned-out, proto-Classic Rock approach. This song was made for parking your Camaro near Pennypack Park to meet up with some buds for a kegger in the woods. This song is the rock equivalent of going home with the “other” girl you met in the bar, not the one you wanted to get to know better. Cheap! Wake up with her in the morning and all you’re left with is “Can You Hear the Music”.
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Sep 052007
My wife and I were asked this question tonight. He did not want to hear about “Yesterday” or “Something” being the most covered song (whatever that may have meant to him). He wanted to know what their most famous song was, what we would call a “signature” song, such as The Who’s “My Generation” or Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”.
Perhaps we can help answer this boy’s question as follows: Had The Beatles continued playing live through their recording career and maybe even another 10 years of possibly declining releases, what would be the one song the fans had to hear in the encore?
