On behalf of Townsman hrrundivbakshi, who I believe is vacationing in England with the love of his life, and at the request of Townsman cdm, I am moving Townsman jungleland2‘s posted Night Ranger live performance of “Rock in America” to The Main Stage for our latest edition of If You Can’t Say Anything Nice About…
The rules are simple:
No potshots allowed at all the obvious targets in this clip. Rather, say something nice about the band, their performance, and anything else you may see, hear, or feel while watching this video. If you don’t have anything nice to say, that’s OK; Rock Town Hall offers the occasional thread to post a snarky comment.
I’ve been listening to a bunch of John Lennon interviews lately (4 hours with Jann Wenner in 1970, anyone?). They are quite fascinating when considered 40 years later. It did make me think of how many people there are who owe their fame to The Beatles or a Beatle. Hence this LMS.
Name a person who would be unknown were it not for the Beatles. What counts and what doesn’t? There are some fine lines here (in my head) but I’ll try and make some distinctions by example.
It doesn’t count if the person is a big part of the Beatles story. Brian Epstein, for instance, would be unknown without the Beatles but he’s too big a part of the Beatles to count. Ditto Yoko. By extension, let’s exclude all family members.
I guess I’m thinking more in the nature of hangers-on. Like my initial entry, Dr. Arthur Janov.
The journalistic artist feature article conceit of beginning the piece with a description of the artist’s meal in whatever swank LA/NYC/London eaterie has long bugged me. Do I in any way care that Brian Wilson was eating a “turkey Reuben” and sipping a “diet Dr. Brown’s soda” while discussing his new album of Gershwin covers with some hack from Rolling Stone? Do I learn anything other than the fact that a) Wilson’s a wimp for eating a turkey Reuben and b) the diet soda’s not going to offset jamming any kind of Reuben down his throat? I think not.
But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe these artists actually rock what they eat.
Please describe the meal and drink that any or all of the following artists would be “munching on” at a hip LA/NYC/London eaterie not if but when you interview them for Rock Town Hall.
Donald Fagan
The Boss
Sting
Chrissie Hynde
Chris Squire
Polly Jean Harvey
Nick Lowe
Craig Finn of The Hold Steady
Eddie Vedder
Rod Stewart
Hamish Stuart
Bob Seger
As a bonus question, what would be caked in Walter Becker’s Beard?
Here’s an old thread on a topic that perhaps only Rock Town Hall is fit to fully document. Sadly some of the videos Townspeople posted no longer exist where they once did on YouTube, but maybe we can find new postings of those clips. I wouldn’t be surprised if we missed some killer stage formations way back when, so feel free to flesh out the record. I’m also curious, in revisiting this post, if we might begin the necessary task of cataloging and naming these memorable formations, so that future generations can readily identify a shared bank of archetypal formations to try out and expand on themselves.
One final note: It may be this thread where the controversial ZZ Top bison and buzzards tour first came up in discussion in the Halls of Rock. Bless you, General Slocum.
This post initially appeared 7/24/08.
As distinctive as the wishbone formation.
Quick! Just like I’m sure you can envision the stage formation of The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, as pictured above, there must be other stage formations that are burned in your memory. Perhaps it’s The Rolling Stones on those risers, playing “Paint it Black” on one of their Sullivan appearances. Perhaps, like me, you occasionally take time to linger over the memory of Pere Ubu gathered in a philosophic group face off as they play “Birdies” in Urgh! A Music War.
What are the iconic rock stage formation that are burned in your memory? They can be alignments you saw in concert films, photos, or even live concerts you attended.
Remember when President Jimmy Carter admitted to Playboy to having committed adultery in his heart? Today I committed an unnecessary box set purchase in my heart. Here’s my story:
I don’t think I’ll ever see such a straightforward, lovely performance on television like this 1970 appearance by Aretha Franklin on the The Cliff Richard Show. That’s too bad.
At a dinner with my work colleagues tonight, a friend asked me why I hate Journey so. “I know you’re the musician,” she said, “but I think Steve Perry’s voice is so beautiful.” Maybe so, but everything about Journey felt so contrived to me. I didn’t say that to her. “It’s just a matter of taste,” I said as diplomatically as possible.
Earlier in the day someone asked me what I thought about Christina Aguilera. “I don’t care for her music,” I said without hestitation, “but I often find her voice surprisingly expressive. Just wish she weren’t so over the top.” She couldn’t say a little prayer the way Aretha and Dionne Warwick did first, in their prime.
