“This quartet has never been so tight.”
Critics often point to The Clash singing “No Elvis, Beatles, or The Rolling Stones” in “1977” as some spot-on representation of the mood that fueled punk rock, but I think this 1977 promotional clip for the Pablo Cruise song “Whatcha Gonna Do” says a lot more about the times and the need for the already-ongoing punk rock reaction. What do you think, is there a more accurate representation of the nation’s mood, in rock terms, circa 1977?
A number of our Founding Townspeople migrated to this Rock Town Hall blog from our humble, spirited origins as a Yahoo Groups list. Although it’s no longer well trafficked, the old list is still active. I refer to it as “The Basement,” out of respect for our Rupert Pupkin-like origins, while a disgruntled handful of RTH founders call the old list the “Chess” edition to our current “Mercury” edition and still refuse to join us in the brilliant light of day. Regardless of all that nonsense, a few Townspeople still feel comfortable drifting from one spot to the other, dropping notes of upcoming releases and wiseacre responses, when appropriate. I check in there now and then to see what raw power still ferments. The other day I found the following nascent thread, which I think needs to see the light of day. First the initial post:
1. Re: Springsteen to perform more albums in entirety
“[name removed]” wrote:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091104/music_nm/us_springsteen_1
NEW YORK (Billboard) – Bruce Springsteen is dusting off his catalog once again, as he and the E Street Band have announced two more full-album performances this coming weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York.
On Saturday (November 7), the group will play the Boss’ 1973 album “The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle” in its entirety for the first time; on Sunday (November 8) they’ll tackle the 1980 double record “The River” from beginning to end for the first time.
And the follow-up, posted shortly thereafter:
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You may recall my unexpected gift of 50 bonus downloads from eMusic a couple of weeks ago. I was 9 selections into my bonus downloads when I realized that I couldn’t figure out what to download next.
I’m constantly unimpressed with the indie rock selections eMusic suggests that I try, like all those bands with album covers featuring a folk-art painting of a sparrow perched on a branch. Man, that thumb-sucking, hushed-tones crap really needs to be banished to the same eternal $1 bins alongside discarded copies of Asylum Choir II.
Thanks for your suggestions. A couple of Townsmen suggested I add to my scant Sun Ra collection. Geo, I believe, recommended “Disco 3000,” a long, swirling track that he thought would satisfy my late-blooming enjoyment of Krautrock. I downloaded it, and it’s pretty good, but it started to lose me when it got into a ’60s jazz trick that really turns me off: the “A Love Supreme”-style jazz chant! Some of the more concise tracks suggested by Geo and BigSteve, however, are very cool. Here’s a cool Sun Ra track from Jazz In Silhouette. It reminds me of the fully arranged yet loose qualities I like in the music of Charles Mingus.
More goodies…after the jump!
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You’ll recall our recent poll concerning rockers in need of a new hairdo. Your choice of Queen guitarist Brian May was inspired. According to Rock Town Hall Salon’s stylist Toby Wetland, “Brian’s facial structure and skull shape present so many options. It’s a wonder he didn’t change hairstyles every few months!” In fact, Wetland and his staff envisioned so many options that they used a specially develop RTH Labs computer modeling program to determine the best option. Before we tell you what exciting new Look was decided upon, how about you tell us which option you would have chosen?
Digital modeling by RTH Labs and The Back Office.
From the fertile desk of Townsman chuckflack comes the following thread.
Supposedly Peter Grant introduces himself as the manager of Led Zeppelin to Bob Dylan at a party. Dylan responds: “Look man, I don’t come to you with my problems, do I?”
Fresh off the stage, Neil Diamond goes up to Bob backstage at The Last Waltz concert and says, “You’ll have to be pretty good to follow me.” Bob replies, “”What do I have to do, go on stage and fall asleep?”
John McEnroe tells the story of going backstage at a Dylan concert in London in 1994. There are five people in the room: Dylan, Chrissie Hynde, George Harrison, Harrison’s son Dhani, and somebody McEnroe doesn’t recognize. McEnroe introduces himself to the unknown individual and asks who he is. Van Morrison responds: “I’m Bozo the Fucking Clown.”
After a show in Cleveland in the early 1990s, Grant Hart is talking to a few fans outside at his van. Someone asks him what he thinks of the Rock Hall being built in Cleveland. Hart says, “The only Hall of Fame rock needs is everybody’s individual record collection.”
Lester Bangs on Elvis Presley: “He was the only male performer I have ever seen to whom I responded sexually; it wasn’t real arousal, rather an erection of the heart, when I looked at him I went mad with desire and envy and worship and self-projection.”
What are the other great rock one-liners?
As part of RTH’s ongoing series of “CHOOSE SIDES!” posts, in which you, the reader, are required to stop dickin’ around and just choose sides in an ongoing Rock argument, disagreement, or feud, please consider the following. Then, pick the Aerosmith member you believe to be less deluded: Steven Tyler or Joe Perry. Yes, it’s your turn to… CHOOSE SIDES!
Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry confirmed rumors that singer Steven Tyler has left the band. Tyler, who suffered a broken shoulder at an August concert in Sturgis, SD, said recently that he planned to “work on the brand of myself.” Said Perry, “We’ll probably find somebody else and then we’ll be able to move Aerosmith up a notch.”
In a recent thread Townsman jungleland2 had the following reaction regarding my report of Billy Joel‘s “Still Rock ‘n Roll to Me” being played on a Philadelphia Oldies station, WOGL 98.1 FM:
I can not have a record that I bought with my own money be old enough to be an OLDIE (so same goes with Mr. Roboto and Start Me Up)
A lot of us are getting old enough to start running into these feelings. Nobody told us there’d be days like these!
To his credit, jungleland2 quickly slapped himself out of his anxious feelings and turned the situation into a worthwhile topic for discussion:
Question for the Townspeople..
- Where does “oldies” start/end
- Where does “classic rock” start/end
- Where does “modern rock” start/end
a year? a song? a sub-genre?
What do you think?
