Dugout Chatter: New Wave/Live at Budokan Edition

 Posted by
May 122011
 

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.

Cheap Trick or Bob Dylan Live at Budokan?

Phil Lynott could have been considered a “bridge” from mainstream hard rock to punk rock (eg, jam sessions and partying with members of Rockpile, the Sex Pistols, et al). Who was his mainstream rock American equivalent, an established arena-rock artist who offered a bridge to the US punk scene?

What’s the best “New Wave” album by an established, mainstream American rocker, Billy Joel‘s Glass Houses, Linda Rondstadt‘s Mad Love, something else?

Should all live albums be recorded in Budokan?

Who’s your most disappointing punk/New Wave-era artst, the one you most thought you would like but to this day cannot dig?

We tend to retain trivial knowledge of rock ‘n roll. What rock artist’s birthday do you have no business knowing?

I’m surprised at how many obscure and forgotten rock artists tour Japan when they rarely if ever play in their home country. Is there any artist the Japanese won’t go apeshit over?

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Last Man Standing: Non-Rock Musicians Known to Rock Music Lovers Primarily for Their Essential Overdub on a Rock ‘n Roll Song

 Posted by
May 112011
 

In honor of classical music trumpeteer David Mason, who overdubbed the legendary piccolo trumpet solo on The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” and who died today at 85 years of age, let us honor non-rock musicians known to rock music lovers primarily for their essential overdub on a rock ‘n roll song. I stress the importance of these musicians being known primarily to rock fans for their overdub to exclude an already legendary and likely known to rock fans non-rocker’s appearance on a rock recording, such as reknowned jazzman Sonny Rollins‘ solo on The Rolling Stones’ “Waiting on a Friend.” Got me?

Perhaps these musicians might say something similar to what Mason said about his unexpected claim to fame:

I’ve spent a lifetime playing with top orchestras, yet I’m most famous for playing on “Penny Lane”!

You may know these musicians’ names off the top of your head or you may look them up and list them here. But remember, this is a Last Man Standing competition, so don’t bogart that Comments box! You may enter as many entries as you like but only one entry per Comment, please.

UPDATED: Ever hear Mr. Mason’s famous “Penny Lane” solo in German True Stereo?

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RTH Confessional: Rock Schoolyard Bullying, on the Giving and Receiving Ends

 Posted by
May 102011
 

I would imagine we’ve all been on the receiving end of what I call Rock Schoolyard Bullying at some point or another in our musical development. Perhaps some Classic Rocker upper classman called you a “pussy” for liking punk rock or New Wave or Disco or whatever. Or maybe some asshole blogger once “outed” you for professing to like Bruce Springsteen‘s Nebraska while claiming you’re a cliche for professing to love that album while having long been too cool for school to admit liking any of The Boss’ popular works. Those rock bullies really get my goat!

I have, however, been guilty of acts of rock schoolyard bullying. I know this confession may shock you. To illustrate an experience I had on the giving end of this regrettable dynamic, here’s an excerpt from a longer piece I have in the works:

The rhythm of music has helped me better understand my own rhythm and the rhythm of others. “What makes that guy tick?” I’ve asked myself a few thousand times over the years. If he’s a music lover to any degree I may be able to quickly home in on his Inner Metronome and reach a level of intimacy that two dudes may not otherwise reach so easily. I have to tread with caution, though. Snap judgments and insults based on an artist he initially expresses as a favorite that I don’t like won’t help. I still regret walking into a party in my mid-20s, with a roomful of people I barely knew, being immediately cornered by a perfectly excited fellow music fan who wanted to make a connection, and then bluntly telling him his favorite local band of the moment “sucked.” It would have been better form had I simply shoved him against the wall and sucker punched him. Sorry, man.

Do you have a memorable moment of rock schoolyard bullying you feel needs sharing, be it on the giving or receiving end? I trust much healing will ensue.

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Battle Royale: Is the Syndrum the Lamest Instrument Ever?

 Posted by
May 102011
 

Did you know the Pollard Syndrum, the first electronic drum, was invented by a former studio drummer for The Beach Boys and The Grass Roots? I did not know that. That said, I propose that the Syndrum is the lamest instrument ever.

Has the Syndrum ever made a positive, essential contribution to any recording? The Cars‘ “Good Times Roll” is cited as a well-known example of the Syndrum in practice, but would you call that little tom-tom ping positive or essential? Would anyone call that noise both positive and essential? The good times are rolling just fine without it in this 1982 live performance of the song.

Furthermore, why did someone have to invent a synth that’s controlled by a drum pad? Why couldn’t Cars’ keyboardist Greg Hawkes have used his index finger to hit that blip on the downbeat of David Robinson’s tom-tom? Hell, he could have done it on a keytar, putting to rest any arguments that that lame instrument is more lame than the Syndrum.

Can you name one positive and essential recording driven by a Syndrum? Thinking of what that instrument did to the already lame Clash song “Ivan Meets GI Joe,” would you want to let the Syndrum off the hook by indentifying a lamer instrument?

Can you name an instrument more lame than the Syndrum? And don’t give me the Ovation Roundback acoustic guitar, because despite its aesthetic shortcomings thousands of hours on The Road have been logged playing perfectly fine music for The People.

(More about the Syndrum player in this post’s introductory video…after the jump!) Continue reading »

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So Chic!

 Posted by
May 092011
 

Just how many songs have utilized or sampled the bass/guitar riff from Chic‘s “Good Times?”

Yesterday, when I watched the videos included in machinery‘s  post, Everything Is a Remix, I was reminded that in addition to the Sugar Hill Gang, Queen prominently used it in “Another One Bites the Dust.” And then—synchronicity!—while looking up some videos by The Damned’s Captain Sensible, I was reacquainted with his “Wot,” another song to trot out that bass line. My beloved Orange Juice also used the riff in “Rip It Up.”

So, how many songs can you add to the list?

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Please Explain: The Damned

 Posted by
May 092011
 

Please explain The Damned—not their music, so much, because that’s easy enough to digest. I’ve got some of their records and like them well enough. They’re often a little too RAWK for my tastes, but at their best they deliver like a poor man’s New York Dolls or, on their surprisingly ’60s-rooted album Strawberries, a melodically challenged version of The Undertones or some other poppy punk band more up my alley. What I really want to understand is how singer Dave Vanian fits into everything. Did fans of the band’s typically rockin’ music need to make allowances for that guy? Were his bandmates initially accepting of his Count Rockula Look? Was he a “gateway drug” to goth? Their music never sounds that goth despite being sung by a lead singer in a cape and dyed-black hair.

Then there’s the issue of the band’s Clown Prince, Captain Sensible, whose schtick I better understand but whose schtick I also find distracting. Is the fact that The Damned was formed so early in the history of punk rock the reason for their lack of stylistic cohesion? Is their lack of stylistic cohesion key to their Collective Rock Super Powers?

Rock historians frequently bring The Stranglers up on charges of lack of stylistic cohesion and bandwagon jumping in the punk era, but The Damned are portrayed as “cool.” What gives, beyond the usual tie-ins to a pre-fame Chrissie Hynde and the legendary London SS, a band that seemed to exist for 3 days while containing, for at least an hour or two, a dozen members of eventual real bands?

What makes The Damned tick? I don’t recall ever focusing on an interview with any of the band members. What makes fans of The Damned tick? Do you pick and choose the songs and band members that appeal to you, or is there a significant run of albums under which Damned fans can rally?

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