Bowie & Balls: If He Can’t Have Them, No One Can

 Posted by
Apr 062007
 

OK. It’s a salacious headline and the fact is I like a lot of Bowie. Mrs. Maudlin is a huge fan, and over the years I’ve really come to appreciate his music. I share his influences, I dig his theater, I love his collaborators…

What bugs me about Bowie is his, perhaps unconscious, need for balls. [CLARIFICATION] His need for balls. Not his lack of balls. I’ve got no beef with his lack of balls.

Exhibit A. He got his nom de rock from another effeminate man who’s need for man-junk led him to carry around his own ten and one-half inches long and two inches wide knife.

Although I’ve never read anything about Jim Bowie using his blade to castrate anyone, I have my suspicions.

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All-Star Jam

 Posted by
Apr 052007
 


OK. So I was all set to make some comment about how “this has nothing to do with rock but its Turist Ömer Uzay Yolunda? C’mon give it up!” or something like that when I got about 2:15 into the clip (6:23 remaining) and I hear an old Pink Floyd song. Is it Echoes off of Meddle?

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Rock Town Hall Fantasy Rock Band League Rosters Set!

 Posted by
Apr 052007
 

It is accomplished! Even the Developmental Talent Pool picks. Following are the lineups for each of our inaugural Fantasy Rock Bands. Thanks to all GMs who participated and all the Fantasy Rock Band fans who followed each highly anticipated pick.

Mockcarr, GM: John Lennon (gtr/voc), Paul McCartney (b/voc), Mitch Mitchell (dr), Mike Campbell (gtr)
Rolling Stone’s Cabo Wabo Party Machine (sponsored by the new AT&T), Andyr, GM: Pete Thomas (dr), Prakash John (b), Paul Shaffer (keys), Sammy Hagar (voc), Brian Emch “B” (gtr), George Harrison’s “Chewy” horn section, Jack Ashford (perc), “Colored girls” from “Walk on the Wild Side” (bv)
Bob Seger and the New Dynamic Superiors; Hrrundivbakshi, GM: Al Jackson (dr), Bob Seger (voc), Keith Richards (gtr), Jack White (b), Alan Toussaint (keys), Memphis Horns, Robed Choir
What It Is!, Geo, GM: Prince (everything), Benny Benjamin (dr), Art DiFuria (b), Terry Adams (keys)
5. Even Worse Wizard, Saturnismine, GM: Roy Wood (gtr/voc), Mo Tucker (dr)
6. The Subwoofers, BigSteve, GM: John Entwistle (b/voc), Al Anderson (gtr/voc), Garth Hudson (keys/sax), Ron Tutt (dr)
7. Meanstom, GM: John Bonham, Jack Bruce, Tony McPhee
8. American Metal, Sally Cinnamon, GM: Keith Moon (dr), Tim Rogers (gtr/voc), Peter Buck (gtr), Adam Schlesinger (b/voc), Phil Spector’s Wrecking Crew (everything else)
9. The Death Rattle, Scottrodgers, GM: Bill Kreutzman/Mickey Hart (dr), Bernie Worrell (keys), Buck Dharma (gtr/voc), Rick Danko (b/voc), Sneaky Pete Kleinow (pedal steel), Nancy Wilson (gtr), Brad Whitford (gtr)
10. Division By Zero, Sammy, GM: Andy Gill (gtr), Jah Wobble (b), Stewart Copeland (dr), Tom Verlaine (gtr/voc)
11. Afterschool Special; Mr. Mod, GM: Bruce Thomas (b), Roger Daltry (voc), Mick Jones (Clash) (gtr/voc), Paul Thompson (dr), Jimmy Page (gtr), Steve Nieve (keys)

Now the real work begins!
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Bowie’s Third-Most Distinctive Contribution to Rock

 Posted by
Apr 042007
 

Following his realization of Andy Warhol’s vision for the Velvet Underground and his mastery of the pop culture art of shape shifting, David Bowie’s third-most distinctive contribution to rock is his use of backing vocals. Typically overdubbing his own backing vocals, Bowie took unique approaches to backing vocals that may have been original to rock and have barely been used by others since his work.


Letting his vibrato shine boldly and without regard to the timing of his vibrato on double-tracked recordings, Bowie’s lead vocals have always been distinctive enough. Surrounding his lead vocals, which often feature disorienting effects of their own, are highly personal backing vocal techniques, such as the “drunken sailors” backing vocals, as heard on both the Mott the Hoople hit (Bowie on backing vocals) and his own live verion of “All the Young Dudes” as well as tracks like “Five Years”. He also does more humming than anyone else in rock, maybe featured most prominently on “Moonage Daydream”. On “Ashes to Ashes” the mumbling call-and-response parts during certain verses become key to the song’s atmosphere. Large parts of Station to Station and Low exist for his unusual backing vocal workouts. Maybe the only singer who’s had a comparable “inner” approach to backing vocals is Marvin Gaye, as best represented on What’s Going On and Let’s Get It On.
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Prime Dave Edmunds, 1977-1981

 Posted by
Apr 042007
 

When the desultory video performance of “Girls Talk” was running on this site last week, some people mentioned that they were unfamiliar with Dave Edmunds’ work and would appreciate a selection of Edmunds tracks. I offered my services, since I have all of the Rockpile-era Edmunds albums in versions transferred from my old LPs and Mr. Mod was busy with moderating.

Right before this era, Edmunds was focusing on letter-perfect recreations of earlier styles — Phil Spector, Sun Sessions, Chuck Berry, etc. – on the album Subtle As A Flying Mallet. But Edmunds had produced the last Brinsley Schwarz album, and he started working with Nick Lowe again on his next album Get It. The first 8 tracks on this selection are from that album.

The opening tack is the Bob Seger nugget “Get Out Of Denver”, and the album is a mix of old and new songs. Nick Lowe fans will recognize “I Knew the Bride (When She Used to Rock ‘n Roll”, but the record also features two fine Lowe-Edmunds originals – “Here Comes the Weekend” and the lovely “Little Darlin’”. Edmunds was always more of a traditionalist than Lowe (Graham Parker’s “Back To Schooldays” gets a nice rockabilly treatment here), but “Little Darlin’” shows the “pure pop” side of the Edmunds-Lowe collaboration.

Also from Get It:
“Worn out Suits, Brand New Pockets”
“Ju Ju Man”
“Git It”
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