Why? Today, I suggest we celebrate Yoko’s unfulfilled promise – or should I say the unfulfilled promise of the Plastic Ono Band. While The Back Office works to set up Rock Town Hall’s first official listening party, giving rock nerds who shockingly have not yet heard either of the Plastic Ono Band albums a chance to do so while sitting cross-legged in a semi-circle with the rest of us, let’s contemplate why anyone ever suggested to Yoko that she ever try to sing like a regular human being, why John stopped making records that had the excitement of real musicians playing in real time, and so forth. Why.
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All right brave, hardened Townspeople, I am asking you to open your heart today, on Valentine’s Day. I know with the rich experience with matters of love that diehard rock nerds like us typically have it might be hard to dig back into your memory to share over the question I’m about to ask, but as the Cub Scouts motto says, Do your best. Are you ready?
What’s the first love song you recall associating with an actual object of your desire?
This song may or may not be associated with your first crush, but it’s the song you first remember associating with any crush. Beyond listing the song, you may share as much as you feel comfortable sharing. But let’s respect that ancient flame and leave surnames out of it.
The first one I can remember is Gallery’s “Nice to Be With You”. As I recall, the song had been out for 2 or 3 years, for those of you trying to guess Mr. Moderator’s age, on an afternoon spent hanging with the daughter of one of my Mom’s friends and realizing what the song – and my time increased interest in hanging with young Kim – was all about. We were at my grandparents’ farm, and I was showing her the horses that my grandfather bred and raced. The song just came into my head. For all the things I forget on a daily basis, I’m surprised I remember this particular moment. Love songs from my early childhood that made a big impression on me in a merely conceptual way, such as The Beatles “She Loves You”, took on added meaning.
Can you handle the truth? In honor of the Roger Clemens-Brian McNamee showdown on Capitol Hill, today’s burning questions require not only your gut answers but your honest answers. There’s no need to swear, though – nor is there a need to work blue! Just tell it like it is.
Have you ever trashed an album – literally – that you didn’t like rather than traded it in or offered it to a friend?
What supporting musician – past or present – who’s never gone solo or started his or her own band, to date, do you feel is best equipped to make such a move?
What’s the last band or album you pretended to like – at least just a little – to a) keep peace in a social or business situation among non-rock nerds, b) impress a potential romantic partner, or c) stay in character for an acting role?
What cover version of a Bob Dylan song do you like much better than the Dylan original – and considering you might have more than one answer, if you had to choose one beloved cover version of a Bob Dylan song, which one would you choose above all others? Honestly.
Pere Ubu fans: Which of that band’s many distinctive members over the years do you most miss? Which one now-departed band members, I should clarify. Be both selective and honest!
What’s the most memorable song you ever dropped a quarter in the jukebox to play? NOTE: What made this experience memorable could be the song itself, the time and place, the ass you kicked in the parking lot shortly thereafter, etc.
That Nico album you once took the plunge and paid import prices for – honestly – when’s the last time you spun it?
What band leader – past or present – who’s never gone solo to date do you feel is least equipped for leaving his or her band and striking out on his or her own?
I look forward to your responses.
The time has come.
The GRAMMYS coughed up its 21st-century entertainment hairball, complete with glowing sunglasses, embalmed Beatles producers and — God help us — Kid Rock scatting with Keely Smith. Meanwhile, in the Rock Town Hall Neutral Zone, Captain Oats of the Starship Rockulon sparked up one glowing dilithium crystal in the communal love bong and posited the question: “which rock artistes deserve both our love for having succeeded so mightily on their first album… *and* our scorn for then having let us down — continually, perennially, and depressingly — in that one brilliant album’s aftermath?”
I say again: the time has come!


In last week’s Carl Newman thread, our passionate and highly knowledgeable friend Homefrontradio, the Thunder Down Under, wrote about his disgust with modern-day dependence on compression. Among other things he wrote:
Basically, as you play the song loud, there’s a random noise field being generated on top of the song that’s a is physically-disturbing to how our ears are designed to hear music.


Maybe that’s not his most representative comment from this thread, but it struck a chord with me. It reminded me of our ongoing examination of Lou Reed…as his music was meant to sound! Seriously, I highly recommend going back and checking out what Townsman Homefrontradio has to say on these issues of compression. It’s great stuff that musicians and fans of new and old music can get into. And learn from. And trust me, Homefrontradio’s displayed a gear geek side, but he’s got a sense of humor about his quest and he’s what we call Good People!
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