The recent rifts over Billy Joel had me yearning for something that we all could agree on. I stumbled across this series of videos from an episode of Eight Days A Week, a British music talk show. Not only did it offer a well-spoken and coifed Green Gartside, a grey but tactful Nick Lowe, and rock critic/pseudo groupie Janice Long, but the discussion covered such a wide assortment of musicians circa 1984 that it seemed that we all could find something to love.
In part 1, we have the conundrum of a whether a member of Culture Club‘s solo attempt is any good. We move along to some footage of The Clash at Shea Stadium and discussion of the jettison of Mick Jones.
In part 2, we have fun the Liverpudlian way, with Echo and the Bunnymen.
And in part 3, we hear about Pogue Mahone and other pub bands of the time.
Along the way, we are also treated to references to Neil Diamond, Elvis Costello, The Moody Blues, and the latest band to jump the pond, REM.
Takiff’s admission follows in the wake of the super-deluxe reissue of Joel’s Piano Man, featuring a bonus legendary and oft-bootlegged 1972 WMMR live-in-studio broadcast. For many area listeners this historic broadcast gave first airing to songs from Piano Man about a year and a half prior to the album’s 1973 breakthrough release date. A former WMMR DJ, Takiff describes the rush of excitement that swept the Delaware Valley on the night of this broadcast and lasted long into the ’70s, when a Philadelphia teens like a young Mr. Moderator first heard a rebroadcast of Joel’s intimate performance. Takiff describes a “special song”:
That special song was “Captain Jack,” a pungent, pitiless appraisal of wasted suburban youth. As it had at the Point, the tune killed during the Sigma radio concert. “Captain Jack” dares to murmur the word “masturbate,” a sexy shocker I’d never heard uttered in a song before. And then there’s that rousing chorus, “Captain Jack will get you high tonight.”
By the early 1980s, hip Philadelphians would feel a growing sense of shame over their role in feuling the artist’s skyrocketing journey through MOR radio. “We clutched ever so tightly to our similar role in kick-starting the career of Springsteen,” says Joey Sweeney, local tastemaker and editor/founder of the popular, hip lifestyle blog Philebrity. “The Boss maintained a bit of cool cred, whether he was getting all serious with Nebraska, dancing in the dark, or even playing with that thick-thighed guitarist from Lone Justice.”
“I was down with Piano Man and even Streetlight Serenade,” says Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, “but I couldn’t relate to ‘New York State of Mind,’ from Turnstiles. I mean, what kind of ‘Thank you’ was that to the city that first took him to her bosom?”
The Mayor promised to offer a formal apology from the City of Philadelphia for its role in Joel’s continuing pop music presence once today’s Election Day activities have settled down. “Listen,” Mayor Nutter continued, “I’m willing to let bygones be bygones, but I’d rather think of Philadelphia in the early ’70s as the town that first embraced politically minded artists like Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne.”
You know the drill: Dugout Chatter is Rock Town Hall’s rapid-fire thread that requires nothing more than your gut answers! Don’t think too long. Don’t think too hard. Perhaps you shouldn’t think at all. No one’s an expert on the topics that follow. Just answer the questions.
If you have to listen to one, do you choose “scary” music (eg, Vampire Rock) or “funny” music?
If you could add a dedicated second musician playing a particular instrument to the works of a 1-man band album (eg, some McCartney and Rundgren albums), which instrument would you have played by a second musician on which artist’s release? (Sorry, that may be the most convoluted question in Dugout Chatter history.)
Which musician should consider sticking to his or her secondary instrument (eg, as Phil Collins did after becoming a lead vocalist)?
With its frequent use in advertising campaigns it could be argued that The Faces‘ “Ooh La La” is not the band’s best-known song. This song was sung by the band’s tertiary vocalist, Ron Wood. Can you think of another band whose best-known song is sung by even a secondary vocalist?
If we were to design a Rock Town Hall app what would it do?
Speaking on behalf of Oats and bostonhistorian, I look forward to your answers.
The recent post about the critical downgrading of concept albums has been an interesting read, hasn’t it? One album that was proposed for a downward revision was The Who‘s Tommy. Now, stalwart RTHer machinery stated that record only has two (2) good cuts. I’m not about to go that far, but there is undeniably some filler. Perhaps it might be possible to cut Tommy down from a double album to a single. I’m personally somewhat skeptical about that since it would probably torpedo the storyline as well as leaving out some good music. However, some of you folks might have ideas on what should be trimmed to make Tommy a really strong single album, running somewhere in the 40- to 45-minute range. So get out your scissors and razor blades and have at it! What would you snip? The full track list follows…after the jump!
The challenge is rather simple. Which critically acclaimed album is overvalued and therefore in need of a rating downgrade? I ask for only 1 album per Townsperson. In this case it will be for late ’60s, early 70s “concept” albums. I use the term “concept” loosely here. A good starting point is somewhere around S.F. Sorrow or Freak Out!, all the way through to Ziggy Stardust give or take a couple years. Perhaps you may want to take on either Arthur, Ogden’s Nut Flake Gone, Forever Changes, or Sgt Pepper . For this exercise you are free to use AllMusic.com, any Rolling Stone Album Guide, or whatever resource material in your library as long as it rates albums.
No easy targets. It would be too simple to pick on some band or artist that you don’t care for personally. The challenge is to pick an artist/band you actually tolerate.
Can you believe it’s been a year of weekly Saturday Night Shut-In podcasts? Well, it has. This week Mr. Moderator and special guests bring you a very special broadcast coming at you LIVE from Urges in Atlantic City. He’ll share a rare, recently acquired slab of Thrifty Music and be joined by special guests Billy Bob Thornton, who’s written a fun, little ditty especially to commemorate our anniversary, and Andy Rooney.* He’ll end tonight’s episode with all the News From Rock Town Hall.
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-52.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 52]
Saturday Night Shut-In is the Hall’s attempt at creating a virtual listening party. We talk a lot about music, but how often do we get to listen to it anymore—together? To date Townsman Hrrundivbakshi has manned the board for a few Thrifty Music editions, and next week promises a very special episode curated by the Royales, ladymiss and Mr. with a playlist hand selected by Friend of the Hall Simon Reynolds. I know the Web is loaded with high-tech virtual playlists tapped into Facebook, Twitter, and whatnot, but I continue to invite Townspeople to put together their own SNSI episode to share here in the Hall.
Thanks to all who contributed to this week’s anniversary episode and to those of you who have contributed to shows in our first year. You’ll probably want to share tonight’s episode with the family, maybe even invite a few neighbors over while you’re at it. Enjoy.
[Note: The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player. In fact, you can even set your iTunes to search for an automatic download of each week’s podcast.]
*NOTE: It’s unlikely Mr. Rooney will be able to join us tonight.
