Oct 102011
 

Little-known fact (at least for casual visitors to the Hall): One of the rock nerd community’s never-ending insider conversations revolves around which rocker would be most entrusted to grill a steak. In the right—or wrong, depending on how you look at it—circles, it’s a question that is sure to spark heated debate. Disagreements over this issue are typically so intense that the discussion has never been broached in a public forum before. For the first time ever, Rock Town Hall pulls back the curtain on this topic and encourages Townspeople to play out this topic for all to see.

What rocker would you most entrust to grill your steak?

Years ago a similar debate raged over which rocker would be most entrusted to prepare sushi, but near-unanimous agreement was reached as soon as the first rock nerd suggested Brian Eno. When the discussion turns back to rockers entrusted to grilling a steak, however, agreement is not in sight over even obvious rockers who might be considered trustworthy steak grillers, such as Ted Nugent or Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett. “What about Roxy Music’s Paul Thompson?” some mouth breather is sure to exclaim.

What about Paul Thompson, or Nugent or Garrett, for that matter? Do you have a rocker ready to enter the squared circle, ready to take on any one of these grill masters? Bring it on!

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Oct 102011
 

Our lead-off song contains a number of specific references to classes in school. It’s OK to cite songs that repeat any of the examples contained within. I wonder how many other rock ‘n roll songs refer to specific classes commonly found in school.

Remember: songs that mention specific classes in school (eg, algebra, history, and french class), not any old song about school or songs referring to teachers of unspecified classes. Thanks!

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Oct 082011
 

Curious what the Hall feels about this little number—made exclusively to promote Sour Patch Kids. I, for one, think it’s brilliant. Someone posted that “selling out” is when you compromise your vision and skills for the paycheck. But I would argue that Method Man does no such thing here. Perfect in my ad-brain eyes for so many reasons. But also just for making a pretty awesome song that could live on any rap album.

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Oct 082011
 

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

In this week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In Mr. Moderator works out his feelings over an aprupt end to his baseball fantasy life, as his beloved Philadelphia Phillies are knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. As part of the healing process, he feels the pain of New York Yankees fans, Boston Red Sox fans, and even San Francisco Giants fans. Can there be more to ROCKTOBER than the march to the World Series? Will Phillies fans ever get their taste of the “Dynasty Sampler?” We urge all baseball fans looking ahead to next year to join us in this special early edition of our weekly podcast.

[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-48.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 48]

[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.]

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Oct 072011
 
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/01-Stoplight-Roses.mp3|titles=Nick Lowe, “Stoplight Roses”]

This is terrible, this may be the worst attitude I’ve had about a new release in years. It’s been 2 weeks since I purchased Nick Lowe‘s new album, The Old Magic. I’ve yet to spin it. As anyone who knows me and my Insta-Reviews can tell you, “KingEd don’t sit on new releases for 2 weeks.” OK, I sat on a pile of Robert Pollard-related releases sent to me by Townsman kpdexter for too long, but that was because life was crazy busy, not because I had a bad attitude about listening to Pollards then-latest 19 albums.

I’ve got a real bad attitude about this new Nick Lowe album. Let’s start with the first contributing factor:

Continue reading »

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Oct 072011
 

For someone who was sooo in love with everything Elvis Costello & The Attractions, it’s amazing I never picked up the solo effort (can it be “solo” with three guys?) by the greatest backup band in the world. A high school buddy of mine had it and we derided it—probably without really listening to it with an open mind.

So, besides The Band, is there a backup outfit that has had any success on their own. Would you buy The Rumour without Graham Parker? The News without Huey? The Heartbreakers without Tom Petty?

And should I give The Attractions’ “solo” album another chance?

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Oct 052011
 

We all have one somewhere in our collection. An album that we love but the would-be tastemakers of rock and roll say we should shun like the plague. Some think Dylan‘s Self Portrait is a masterpiece. There are people who like the StonesDirty Work. Why, I know someone who actually thinks that Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford, and Howe is the greatest Yes album ever. I question his sanity, even as a devoted Yes fan myself, but there you are.

The year is 1987. Things were ugly in the Pink Floyd camp. Roger Waters and David Gilmour were no longer on speaking terms, Richard Wright was tooting up coke on his sailboat, and Nick Mason was polishing his prized and enviable classic car collection. Nothing had been done since the release of  the tepid and strained The Final Cut, in 1983, and Floyd seemed to have come to a bitter and acrimonious end. However, something unexpected happened. Gilmour had been working on a solo album, but he changed his mind and devoted his efforts to a revived Pink Floyd. Against admonishments by Roger Waters, he brought Mason and Wright back on board, brought in The Wall collaborator Bob Ezrin to produce, and released A Momentary Lapse of Reason in September. Waters snorted in derision as he prepared a lawsuit over Gilmour’s seemingly unauthorized use of the Pink Floyd name. Reviewers were not kind but buyers didn’t care: the album was a multi-platinum smash and the subsequent tour was a monster.

To this day, people have written off A Momentary Lapse of Reason as weak and unimaginative fake Pink Floyd,a glorified Gilmour solo album, and a patchwork affair overly dependent on outside help. Never mind that Pink Floyd used soul-sister vocal sweetening, guest vocalists, and horn players since Dark Side of the Moon, not to mention an orchestra on The Wall. Ignore the fact that The Final Cut was basically a Roger Waters solo album with Mason and Gilmore as backing musicians and Wright left out in the cold. Me? I think Reason, while not perfect, is a pretty good album overall that largely manages to capture the grandeur and weight of latter-day Pink Floyd at its best. I’d rather listen to it than The Final Cut, Atom Heart Mother, and at least half of The Wall.

So what do you folks think about A Momentary Lapse of Reason? Also, what other album do you love that you’re supposed to hate?

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