Mr. Moderator

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

BREAKING NEWS: Saturnismine Wants You to See This Image…Lord Knows Why

Feb 212013

Earlier today our your friend and mine saturnismine hi-jacked my Facebook page to ask why he was unable to post the following image here in the Halls of Rock. Then another old friend, dbuskirk, took this opportunity to pile on, insulting our entire community with the following snide remark:

The Brain Police forbid The Dream Police.

I was hurt. Before I had a chance to look into sat’s sincere question dbuskirk has to shame me on my very own Facebook page. A lot of my inner self is expressed there. Here, in the Halls of Rock, you may fire away at me. Here, you will find the Public Me. On Facebook I bitch and moan about my favorite sports teams and the annoyance of seeing Lena Dunham pop up on every magazine and interview show I check out. That’s deep shit, man, and I don’t need to have my RTH moderation skills attacked in that forum!

As a show of just how big a man I am, the image that saturnismine wants you to see follows…after the jump!

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 202013

Do your own thing!

Last Man Standing: Rockers With Presidential Names

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 192013

A day late, but I don’t believe we’ve ever done a Last Man Standing on Rockers With Presidential Names. Of the 41 (?) distinct United States President surnames, is there a rocker who shares each surname?

For the purposes of this Last Man Standing—and to avoid, say, 392 rocking Washingtons—let’s limit ourselves to one rocker per Presidential name.

Ex-US Townspeople are invited to add the names of rockers who share the name of one of their own country’s political heads of state, but keep it to names of heads of state, please.

As always, don’t bogart that thread: limit yourself to 1 entry per post. Thank you.

Lou Reed…As His Music Was Meant to Sound!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 182013

I’ve been making my way through Neil Young‘s memoir, Waging Heavy Peace. It’s rambling and slow going but not without its charms. Every 10 pages Young turns from the story of his life and music making to what I gather are his main concerns: toy trains, energy-efficient old cars, and some new audio technology that will enable drivers of these green behemoth vehicles to listen to Lou Reed’s latest music as it was meant to sound. Shoot, not even Lou will know how his music is actually meant to sound until he rides around in Neil’s 140-acre ranch in his souped-up 1952 convertible Cadillac with his high-tech audio delivery device cranked to the high heavens.

I love how Young and Reed go on at great lengths about their high-minded audiophile dreams when their legacy has been established with some of the most primitive-sounding records to appear on a major label. T-Bone Burnett is also working on some mind-blowing audio technology that will allow his purposely pristine-yet-primitive, “pure” productions to sound as if they are being broadcast directly from Plato’s Cave. At least Burnett’s recordings actually sound about as accomplished as he would like them to sound, even on our inferior delivery devices.

Someday I expect to run across an old Chuck Berry interview, in which he bemoans the state of late-1950s recording and playback technology.

SHOWDOWN
Once and For All: Who’s the Biggest Asshole in [the] Eagles?

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 182013

Choose one.

Last night I made the mistake of watching the last 2/3 of a new Eagles documentary that’s been running on Showtime. It put me in a real bad mood.

Who am I kidding? I knew I was going to watch this thing at some point, and I’m sure I’ll catch the first hour at some point. I actually watched the final hour on the band’s long, painful (for me, at least) reunion activities just so I could hear what the final straw was in our friend Don Felder‘s participation. How pathetic is that?

I knew this documentary was going to drive me into a deep, dark mood. I hate the Eagles. Hate. Even as I calculated the couple of songs by them that I can appreciate/enjoy to some extent, the bile churned.

What was most remarkable was seeing how, after all these years, Glenn Frey and Don Henley‘s take on the band’s importance to Western Civilization has grown by leaps and bounds. These guys never lacked confidence and cockiness, but any time their modern-day selves were on camera and speaking to the band’s legacy I had to hit the Program Guide button to make sure I wasn’t actually watching a Beatles documentary.

Have any of you watched this thing yet? It’s time we determine, once and for all, the Biggest Asshole in [the] Eagles. This is a 2-horse race.

SHOWDOWN (choose one): Once and for all, who's the biggest asshole in the Eagles, Don Henley or Glenn Frey?

Frey. (63%, 31 Votes)
Henley. (37%, 18 Votes)

Total Voters: 49

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Once and For All: Jed Hoile Named Least-Essential Sidekick of ’80s Rock

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 172013

Jed Hoile (in chains).

Despite opening the landmark decisions of Once and For All February to The People, one particular Townsperson has made such a strong case for settling a topic that we are compelled to suspend the RTH Poll on that topic and be done with any further debates on the matter—once and for all!

That’s right, thanks to a write-in nomination by Townsman cherguevarra, Rock Town Hall has determined—once and for all—the Least-Essential Sidekick of ’80s Rock.

Congratulations, Jed Hoile, better known as the mime who initially served as the sidekick for Howard Jones.

The Townspeople have spoken. Let this be the end of all debates on this subject.

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 172013

Tomorrow’s NBA All-Star Game marks the 30th anniversary of Marvin Gaye‘s spine-tingling take on our national anthem. Here’s a great little piece on that performance (and a 1968 version by Jose Feliciano) from Grantland. Enjoy.

In the spirit of the No-D NBA All-Star Game, feel free to use this space to get your jam on—and check out Gaye’s earlier takes on “The Star-Spangled Banner”…after the jump!

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