50 for 50: Love and Hate Across the Wrinkles on My Hands

Jun 192013

Happy birthday to me. I have turned 50 years old.

50.

Before receiving my AARP card a couple of weeks ago, I had been thinking my 50th birthday would mark the beginning of my middle-age period. Statistically speaking, though, I should have gone middle-age crazy 10 years ago. I’m two thirds gone if I’m reasonably lucky. Shit.

Saigon…shit…

So, I’ve blown my middle-age period feeling like an overweight man in his early 30s, but with the frequently curmudgeonly attitude of a septuagenarian. No sports car. No hot tub. No Tommy Bahama shirts. No island getaways. No golf. Just more records and guitars and rehearsals and recording sessions and baseball games and family and friends and food and Dugout Chatter on Rock Town Hall. There could have been worse ways to spend one’s 40s.

I’m 50, and despite the aches and pains of my first season with neighborhood friends in an over-35 baseball league I’m in consciously better shape than I’ve ever been in my life. Even when I was a kid and playing sports as frequently as the day allowed, I only played to compete. I was never conscious of my body and how prepared it was for whatever game. Stretch? Sure, when there’s a close play at first I’ll stretch like Willie McCovey. Jog? Only if the coach makes us. Lift? Sure, a hoagie or a cheesesteak—or both—to my mouth.

I wanted to share some really deep thoughts about reaching this milestone and how it relates to who I am as a music lover, but I’ve realized that no matter how happy I am with my life, when it comes to music I still hold to many of the same views about things that most people would not stop to consider. Even some fellow music lovers wonder how I can hold so deep a LOVE or HATE for specific musical details. Just last week my close personal friend and drummer, Townsman Sethro, was learning the arrangement for a new song with me when he stopped playing a rhythm on the ride cymbal and said, “Wait, you hate when I do that.”

“What do I hate?” I asked.

“You hate when I do this,” he said, as he tapped out a fancy, dancing pattern on the ride cymbal.

“Do I hate that?” I asked.

“You hate everything,” he said lovingly.

It actually sounded good at this particular point in the song, so I told him to carry on with it, but to avoid not getting too cute. Only in rare cases, I suddenly realized, am I cool with what I consider to be a “cute” pattern on the ride cymbal.

Much is made about the kinder, wiser, gentler moderator I’ve become since launching Rock Town Hall with a group of like-minded friends in November 2002 (when I was only 39 and probably acting like a mature 26 year old), but time has not broken me of some of my didactic approach to musical experiences. On this, my 50th birthday, I will share 50 didactic thoughts on the first 50 musical topics that come to mind. Enjoy, learn, and thank you for your part in making my life about as much as I could have hoped it would be.

Low Blow or Concert Surprise?

Posted by funoka

Jun 182013

There’s a mini-rock brouhaha going on in my hometown of Minneapolis about a festival concert over the weekend which included Metric, Sliversun Pickups, Bob Mould, and Low.

Low raised a bit of a stink with a 27-minute, 1-song “set” that they dubbed “Drone, Not Drones” — kind of a political statement. You can listen to the performance and read more about it here: http://blog.thecurrent.org/2013/06/the-audacity-of-low-what-does-a-band-owe-us-when-we-pay-to-see-them-perform/

This show was outside the Walker Art Center, which houses and hosts contemporary and performance art. I’m surprised people can get so worked up over a “slowcore” band like Low, especially at a festival event where you can just go get a drink or food if you don’t like something and come back for the next act. I’m not a big fan of slowcore, but I’ve enjoyed zoning out to it at times.

The whole thing does raise a good question — have you ever gotten ticked off at an artist for a performance that was totally unexpected . . . or out of the norm for the band?

I’ve seen people pissed at Springsteen (Tom Joad tour), Neil Young (Greendale), and Dylan (pick ’em) — but they should have known what they were getting into on those tours. I’ve personally gotten pissed only a few times — John Doe, Marshall Crenshaw, and New Order — where I thought they didn’t give a damn. How ’bout you?

Thrifty Music: in Tribute to the Father of RTH and His Challenges Dancing in Public

Posted by hrrundivbakshi

Jun 162013

Greetings, fellow seekers of the rare, the unusual, and the putatively worthless. On this Father’s Day, I come before you in humble tribute to the father of RTH, our very own Mr. Moderator, whose singular accomplishment in the field of Rock community I shall celebrate through a choice slab of dusty vinyl.

Specifically, today I share a track that will hopefully nurse him through his legendary fear of dancing in public spaces. The Flares recorded a song for just this problem in 1961 entitled “Foot Stompin’, Part 1.” Though it climbed to number 25 in the charts that year, I heard it for the first time when combing through a haul of 45s I found at a local flea market. It’s infectious, foot stompin’ good fun, and it makes dancing easy!

So here’s to you, Moddie — long may you stomp.

https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/01-Foot-Stomping-Part-1.mp3

HVB

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: Under The Covers

Posted by Slim Jade

Jun 152013

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

Cover versions are funny things; a familiar face seen out of context. Sometimes they’re inspired, sometimes lame, sometimes just downright silly. I rarely think a cover version is better than the original, even if the original isn’t all that great to begin with. I might enjoy the novelty of the cover for a while, but eventually it all goes back to respect for the source.

Still…compare, contrast & have fun listening.

SNSI_ Under the Covers

[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]

Last Man Standing: Enough Already, I Can’t Wait Until the School Year Is Over!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jun 142013

Just a couple more days to go for my wife, who is a teacher… Just a week to go for my boys, including a few pointless half days… School is just about OUT FOR SUMMER! Although I still go to work, a household including 3 people without daily responsibilities has its merits: no complaints about tests, no reminders about homework, no disrespectful kids other than our own. In honor of the final days of school, which may have come already for some of you in other parts of the country, let us count the ways we are fed up with school…in song. LAST MAN STANDING: Not just any old song about school, no, we’re talking songs about being sick of school!

Go!

Beatles, Stones Make Win-Win Trade

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jun 132013

TRADED!

Let’s play Rock ‘n Roll General Managers, shall we? You are the GM of The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Your mission is to put together a trade with your respected and beloved rival band that benefits both bands. It can be a one-for-one trade or a multi-musician deal. The bands can even trade trademark songs. As Rock ‘n Roll Fantasy League Commissioner, I may even approve a 3-band deal, involving personnel from one of the other big British Invasion bands. My role in these decisions, of course, will be guided by the Best Interests of the Game.

Although longtime friendly rivals, The Beatles and The Stones do not have a long record of musician transactions. The lads from Liverpool did help launch the career of the the scruffy London upstarts by dealing them “I Wanna Be Your Man” to for future considerations. John Lennon and Keith Richard barnstormed in The Dirty Mac. Brian Jones took batting practice with The Beatles’ on a silly B-side. Art dealer Robert Fraser shows up in the biographies of both bands. I believe a young American photographer named Linda Eastman was scouted by The Stones before landing in Paul McCartney’s pad. Billy Preston is probably the one musician closely identified with both bands. Therefore, Preston is NOT eligible for any trade between these bands. Regarding another man closely identified with both bands, The Stones have already declared “No trade-backs!” on Allen Klein.

Stones’ GMs may trade from their band’s full array of “other” guitarists along with dedicated sidemen, like Ian Stewart and Bobby Keys. Stones’ wives and longtime lovers are not untouchable. Even outright hangers-on, such as drug dealer “Spanish Tony” Sanchez, are in play. Likewise, Beatles’ GMs may select from their deep roster of engineers, sidemen, wives, hangers-on, and hagiographers.

Let the trade talks begin!

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jun 132013

State your case!

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