While we’re slappin’ five over musical highlights from the Summer of 2008, I was reminded of this old thread, one that examines the other side of the anticipated high five. Let’s call this phenomenon Musical Opinions Go Wrong in the Real World. For those of you who weren’t around when this first ran, maybe you’ve got your own examples of Musical Opinions Go Wrong in the Real World. For those of you who shared the first time around, maybe you’ve got some new experiences to share since then.

This post initially appeared 10/16/07.

For those of you who’ve spent some time here at Rock Town Hall you’ve probably taken for granted the freedom to express your musical opinions freely, sometimes even pompously, without shame. In fact, here in the Halls of Rock, a bold and well-pitched expression of an opinion on a band, song, album, or genre can be met with delight and a round of electronic high-fives. In fact, more than a few of you over the years have expressed thanks for the dynamic we afford such passionate thoughts on the music we love. You’re welcome!

In the “real world,” however, some of these opinions we harbor are not met with as much anticipation and support. Who hasn’t been asked for an opinion on a band in work or at a party that’s not populated by fellow rock nerds and forgotten to bite his or her tongue, or at least temper a response?

“Do you like Meat Loaf?” a well-meaning colleague may ask me on any given day, knowing that I am a music lover and probably seeking some approval from an “expert.”
Continue reading »

My promised Trippin’ report on my recent visit to Seattle’s Experience Music Project is forthcoming. Until then, let’s get some Dugout Chatter going around some thoughts I had during that trip. As always, your gut answers are what matter. Don’t think too hard!

To recall a question from our last Dugout Chatter, in which I quizzed you regarding the music being played in a Boston hotel’s public bathroom, which three of the following songs did I NOT hear playing in the lobby during my recent stay at a downtown Seattle hotel?
a) Billy Bragg, “Levi Stubbs’ Tears”
b) Brian Eno, “Sombre Reptiles”
c) The Cure, “Boys Don’t Cry”
d) XTC, “Ball and Chain”
e) Psychedelic Furs, “Love My Way”

Does it compute that an intelligent 24-year-old I know would have, in the same conversation, expressed enthusiasm about both the tickets she bought for an upcoming Journey show as well as a series of shows she recently attended by emo-type bands I’d only vaguely heard of if at all?

What’s your favorite album produced by Jack Nitzsche?

What classic garage tune have you finally tired of hearing?

Has any well-regarded band been listened to less in the last 25 years than The Wipers?

Which well-known favorite of a particular Townsperson was on my return flight?
a) Billy Gibbons (per Hrrundivbakshi)
b) Lou Reed (per Mr. Moderator)
c) The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn (per Oats)
d) Peter Noone (per E. Pluribus Gergely)

I look forward to your answers.

As the parent of a newborn child, I’ve been singing a lot of songs to the little bub. During diaper changes, I am fond of “I’ve been workin’ on the railroad,” mostly because it’s long enough to last for the whole process. Except one thing bother me about the song: Nobody works on the railroad “just to pass the time away.” Seems to me that people worked on the railroad for a number of mostly miserable reasons. This reminded me of Fleetwood Mac‘s song, “Dreams”, which hinges on the completely erroneous notion that “thunder only happens when it’s raining.”

Another number that comes to mind is Rhett Miller‘s song, “Four Eyed Girl” (terrible video, but all I can find) in which he claims that NYC deli “Katz’s never closes.” But it isn’t open 24 hours, as anybody who has spent a late night in the East Village would’ve seen it shuttered, shattering dreams of midnight pastrami (uh…).

Here are The Posies with a cover of The Hollies’ tune, “King Midas In Reverse”:

“He’s King Midas with a curse, he’s King Midas in reverse.”

The idea of King Midas was that he thought it would be sweet if everything he touched to gold. “So Midas, king of Lydia, swelled at first with pride when he found he could transform everything he touched to gold: but when he beheld his food grow rigid and his drink harden into golden ice then he understood that this gift was a bane and in his loathing for gold cursed his prayer.” In this song, everything he touches “turns to dust,” the implication being that having your foot and drink turn to dust is worse than having them turn into gold. (Okay, I know it’s more metaphorical than that, but you probably get my point.)

What other tunes can you think of that contain factual or conceptual errors?