In an effort to pay our respects to deceased Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band member Danny Federici, whose chugging keyboard parts probably added more down-to-earth fun than anyone else on the supposedly party music of The Boss, I instead came across the following, puzzling performances and an even more puzzling clip from god knows where. We’ll miss you, Danny.
Puzzling
Puzzling and disturbing
Thanks to all the well-hung who laid their opinions on the table. Without further ado- The Urban Verbs.
From The Trouser Press:
URBAN VERBS
Urban Verbs (Warner Bros.) 1980
Early Damage (Warner Bros.) 1981Fascinating but tragically overlooked, Washington, DC’s Urban Verbs were an arty quintet whose lead singer was the brother of Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz. And therein lay the Verbs’ problem: while guitarist Robert Goldstein guided the band through striking modern instrumental pieces of depth and quality, Roddy Frantz’s urban-alienation lyrics, delivered in a fair approximation of David Byrne’s vocal style, typecast the group as second-string imitators. The Verbs’ records showed great potential, but this needless flaw prevented them from being taken seriously.
Mystery track #1 is Ring Ring from their first album and #2 is Frenzy from the same album.
More treats after the fold.
A little over a year ago, on April 9, 2007, Rock Town Hall proposed a bold, blind CD swap known as Hear Factor. Over the next week, subjects enrolled in this experiment and study methods were fine tuned, as follows:
Rock Town Hall members will be sent anonymous mix CDs lovingly (sincerely) compiled by other Townspeople that may be inappropriate to a recipient’s usual tastes. For 3 days, each participating Townsperson will listen to no other music but the possibly inappropriate mix CD they have received. They will report back to the list. Highlights of their mixes will be posted for all to experience and chime in on.
A press release was sent to major media outlets on April 19, 2007, as anticipation built.
On May 2, 2007, BigSteve and General Slocum reported on their anonymous, alien CD mixes. Hear Factor was off and running.
A year later, we think it’s time to stage season 2 of Hear Factor. If this is new to you, take some time to visit last year’s activities in the links provided throughout this post. If you lived through – and especially if you participated in – last year’s inaugural Hear Factor, feel free to share your reflections with newer members of the Halls of Rock.
Let me know, either in the Comments section of this post, or directly by e-mail (headstache [at] gmail [dot] com) if you’re interested in taking part in this year’s experiment. If we get a dozen or so participants, we’ll take a couple of days to further streamline the process before moving forward. I’m thinking we limit mix CDs to 10 songs or 45 minutes, whichever comes first, to allow participants the opportunity to better focus on a set of possibly alien music. Let me know if you have any questions.
Meanwhile, links to each of last year’s Hear Factor exchanges follow, including selections and full zipped files of the mixes our Townspeople lived with for 3 straight days.
Continue reading »
Beside “point guard” Marty Balin, do the members of Jefferson Airplane even know they’re on the same stage together? Watch Balin try to engage Grace Slick in a give-and-go before Slick drifts off into her own lane. There’s only one rock, Grace, no matter how many vocal mics are set up. Paul Kantner checks himself into the game to sing a verse – or is he performing a different song? Compare and contrast the teamwork of this band with that of CSNY in the previous clip.
Skeptics of Winner Rock take note!
A-1 Steak Sauce!
Gelatinous canned meat.
I look forward to your comments.
