Main Stage

Rock and Roll Travers-ty

Jun 212011

I’m far from a Pat Travers fan, but I really dig his live version of “Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights).” It’s from Live! Go for What You Know. Real catchy title, right? It’s an average blues boogie that 1,000 other bands probably play, or there are 1,000 similar songs you could play instead. Their version is kind of sludgy and proggy, so there isn’t a lot going for it yet. Regardless, when this live version came out in 1979, I found it a huge FM radio treat. I really enjoy how well the audience holds up their end. I love how each time Pat hits the payoff line Boom Boom, he guides the crowd with a “right here,” “what is it?” and the audience hits it mark perfectly with a clear and clean “Out go the lights!” Maybe they all got together beforehand to practice. I asked the audience if they had room for another member, but they never got back to me.

What other songs come to mind where the live version is far superior to the studio version? Any others where the crowd energy or participation gets a big part of the credit?

Let’s Revisit Mighty Like a Turd

Posted by misterioso

Jun 202011

Mighty Awful or Mighty Underrated? You Make the Call!

This year marks the 20th anniversary of EC’s Mighty Like a Rose. I haven’t listened to it in, oh, I don’t know, 10 years or more. Maybe Mod, with his new-found respect for Mitchell Froom, will find it a heretofore neglected masterpiece. Maybe it will have more than the one song I remember thinking was any good. (Couldn’t Call It Unexpected.) Let us rethink Mighty Like a Rose, and revisit Bearded Elvis of the summer of 1991. (I saw him twice–twice!–on that tour, with the Replacements opening.)

How To Be Dumb?

What was it about this record? The dodgy production? The ugly cover? The beard? The overwrought arrangements? The unwelcome presence of Marc Ribot? The undercooked songwriting? I mean, for instance, did it really take Elvis Costello and Paul McCartney to come up with “So Like Candy”? Let the critical reassessment/feeding frenzy begin!

Let’s All Laugh at Paul Weller’s Hair

Posted by hrrundivbakshi

Jun 202011

Come on... seriously?

Storm the Faculty Building! It’s Shitstravaganza Time!

Posted by hrrundivbakshi

Jun 202011

Look, I think we’d all agree that our beloved Moderator does an admirable job keeping this place thoughtful, and pleasant, and positive, and — well, you get the idea. Here’s what I say: While Mr. Mod is half a world away, let’s take this opportunity to make Rock Town Hall as snarky, combative and generally unpleasant as possible! Fuck yeah (fist pump)!

I’ll get the new, stomach-churning version of Rock Town Hall off to a nauseating start with this perormance by British one-hit wonders Our Kid. Filmed on Top of the Pops in 1976, here they are with their UK hit “You Just Might See Me Cry.” Pretty good, huh?

Think you can top that level of awfulness? Now’s your chance to try. Mod unwisely left me with the key to the No-Prize closet, so I can reward as many people as I want for their tasteless contributions to the general badness I hope to promote. Let your churning stomach juices be your guide! Let no worm-eaten corpse go unturned,and no hopeless, hair-less reunion go unexamined. Let there be smarm! Let there be cheese! Let there be offense!

I look forward to your responses.

HVB

Please Explain: The Beach Boys Live in Paris, 1969

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jun 202011

Happy birthday, Brian!

You know me when it comes to post-1966 Beach Boys: I’ve had it with any further examinations of Brian Wilson’s psyche, the possibilities left hanging in the unfinished SMiLE album, and the occasional decent tracks found on the albums following Pet Sounds. What I want to know is what exactly was going on in the band proper during the period captured for posterity in this 1969 Paris performance.

Has anyone ever sat down with one of the band members and asked them to look back specifically at this period? Not in broad terms of them hitting a commercial nadir, because that’s only a set-up for the triumphant return to the charts with Mike Love’s “concept album,” Endless Summer. Not even in terms of the band having reached its cultural nadir of irrelevance, because that would also be an easy set up for them to talk about how Endless Summer aided in healing a nation torn apart by Vietnam, Watergate, etc. No, what I want to know is if anyone simply asked Carl or Al what was going through their minds when they looked over at Mike. What discussions led to everyone wearing white while still allowing more than enough rope for a certain band member to hang himself in his own sense of personal style? What went through Carl’s mind the first time he caught a glimpse of his fat ass in those tight white slacks? What defined “success” for the band during that awkward stretch? I want thought bubbles atop these performances!

These performances of stomping hits from their past and stomping would-be hits of their then-present is pretty noble and poignant, if you ask me. Much more so than the detrius that’s more commonly put under the rock-nerd microscope and dipped into the critical wishing well of hidden riches. Maybe following my week in Paris and brushing up on my barely remembered French the narration accompanying the following 1970 Paris show will answer some of my questions…after the jump! Continue reading »

Be Good to Pops

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jun 192011

Happy Fathers’ Day, dads in the Hall! Kidz, be good to Pops, today. Feel free to share you rock ‘n roll father stories, on the giving or receiving end. Cheers to Pops Staples, Paul Weller’s dad, and all other dads who’ve supported their kids playing music. Moms who have to do it alone get props today, too!