Pilot opening for The Monkees. Kewl.
Jul 202007
Jul 202007
An album cover that would not have been possible…
Townsman Al posed the following question that I think is worthy of each of us taking a break or two in this busy day and allowing for some hypothetical discussion. Dig:
Let’s look at it a different way (and Mr. Mod, this may stray from this thread so feel free to move it elsewhere), would the Beatles be what they are today (and I don’t know that we need to or I want to define precisely what that is) if they started with Sgt. Pepper? I don’ think so.
Before you say, “Well that’s a hypothetical question I don’t think any of us are fit to answer!” Give it some thought. Then comment. Here.
I look forward to your responses.
Jul 202007
If you’ll recall, Townswoman Citizen Mom recently wrote of an upcoming guest editor stint for Philadelphia radio station WXPN’s countdown of the 885 Most Memorable Musical Moments. The “upcoming” part has now arrived. Here’s what she posted. Mom knows there’s lots of important work to get done in the Hall today, so she’s bringing the rock to us. Thanks!
Welcome to my first turn as Guest Blogger for the XPN 885 Most Memorable Musical Moments Countdown, where today I offer some significant female musical moments, all of which helped make me the rock and roll mami I am today. No particular order, and some will be more, er, universal than others. But like the lady says, great moments are made of small ones. And a tip o’ the bra to Michaela Majoun, who keeps it real for the rock broads every Friday.
Patti Smith on SNL, ’75. Gloucester County, represent! To my sisters, Terrie and Susan, who as my teenaged babysitters let me stay up way past my bedtime, I remain in your eternal debt.
Chrissie Hynde in the “Brass in Pocket” video. Life handbook of the girl who’s never described as "You know, the pretty one."
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Jul 202007
Drummers, would-be drummers, and non-drummers alike are welcome to chime in on today’s question: Is there room for complicated kick drum patterns in a great rock ‘n roll song? Simple question. No tricks involved and only ONE EXCEPTION: songs by Led Zeppelin and anything in the “funk” and “prog” arenas are excluded from this discussion. If the answer to this question is Yes (the answer, not the band, whose songs are disqualified), please provide examples. I look forward to your enlightening responses.
Jul 202007
Ringo, for my money, has always had the greatest understanding of who he is in the pantheon of popular culture and embraces it perhaps better than anyone.
Jul 182007
Excluding bands that suddenly lost key members and 1-hit wonders, who are rock’s most spectacular flameouts? That is, which artists, in the course of one release, lost it, to date, for good? Let’s be honest; no Mr. Nice Guy objections!
Jul 172007
I know we’ve got a lot of hip tastemakers wandering through the Halls of Rock, but I’m gonna assume that there aren’t a lot of you who own this Ghostface Killah album, More Fish, that my buddy dropped on me. I don’t say this to brag and to pretend that I have any hip-hop cred, but to introduce four songs from this album that I want you to hear. Check ’em out. The first one begins with a good 2 minutes of X-rated “What’s Going On”-type banter. To save Mr. Moderator the task of crafting another warning, let’s just say these songs are best checked out in seclusion. (And if it starts to get too hot in the kitchen, click on the video, above.)
“Ghost Is Back”
“Miguel Sanchez”
“Good”
“Josephine”
As I wrote earlier, compared with the depressing Young Jeezy and the cynical Nas, this foul-mouthed CD from Killah was a breath of – if not fresh – organically pungent air. All the stuff I objected to in the other CDs – the bitches, the hos, the ice, the F-bombs, the N-grenades – went down relatively easy because the music is so good and the guy’s delivery is so confident, so together. I couldn’t help but think that it’s all about the music, it’s only rock ‘n roll, more or less. If all that socially inappropriate stuff that’s in Killah’s music is a part of the groove, is an integral part of what he’s putting out there, then maybe there’s no point in worrying. Crap is crap or crap can be valued as fertilizer depending on the context.
