Is it the band or the singer?


Listening to The Singles Collection this evening, I’m reminded just how cool this photo is. Showing a group that is surly, smart, and smart-ass, this pic says nearly all you need to know as to how this band could ensnare the pre-teen me, living in the Philly burbs in the late ’80s.
I know you can’t post photos in the comments section, but links, please. What kind of stuff constitutes your Iconography of Cool.
[Mod. – Tell you what, this is a great topic put forth by Oats. Submit your links and we will see that they get activated and, at least over the weekend, collect and presented. One word of caution: try to send no more than a couple of links that you REALLY care about. Don’t be a wuss and try to cover all possible bases with a post containing 47 examples!]
Good God — this teevee performance is pretty much sheer rock and roll perfection. Fellow Townsmen and Townswomen — use your eyes and help me spot all the things that make it so wonderful. Seriously, the TV industry should’ve just hung it up after this was broadcast, so they could go out on top.
I look forward to your responses.
HVB
It’s Rare That Anyone Longs for the DVD Release of Circa 1980 Late-Night Alternative to SNL, Fridays
Remember Fridays, the circa 1980 late-night challenger to Saturday Night Live? Remember a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards and his mostly unfunny Ronald Reagan impersonation? Remember almost anything else from the show? As it turns out, there were some things I’d forgotten about and some other things I didn’t have the chance to forget because they never made an impression on me in the first place.
I remember getting to see a couple of my favorite New Wave bands, bands that weren’t big enough or cool enough to make it to SNL. Specifically, I remember Graham Parker and the Rumour, right before Graham dumped them and lost the oomph to back up his narrow range of song topics.
I also vaguely remember seeing The Jam, who were smack in the middle of my favorite period of their music.
Not all the bands featured on Fridays were underappreciated and worth my staying up late to watch…
Continue reading »
My fellow Townspeople, this is a call to scribe!
On a lark I Googled “online petitions” and found a place that we can actually put one up. I need some help writing it though. Here’s what I have so far:
As the self-proclaimed guardian of all things rock, the music discussion blog Rock Town Hall-
What next?
(No fair telling me that I “need to free my mind instead”.)
In re-reading an old Robert Quine interview, I got to thinking about how much fun he would have been with us, here in the Halls of Rock. Since he can’t be here with us, I thought I’d pass along this link. Enjoy. Imagine.


