When was the last time you caught a live performance where the band was working it so hard, was so focused as a unit, that it was like witnessing a steam engine with the throttle open wide? A performance that induced in you a giant shit-eating grin? I’ve seen a lot of great performances, and many great recent one’s to boot, but I have to go back a-ways to land on a show that meets this criteria. Here are some examples of what I’m talking about.
Go All the Way
A band that’s been wildly popular through 3 lead singers, a record-setting run of bad taste, and dozens of hissy fits is usually not thought of as being in need of a world famous Rock Town Hall Critical Upgrade, but while watching the movie Argo this weekend and hearing “Dance the Night Away” crank up during a scene it occurred to me that I might have been more receptive to Van Halen in their time, if not even liked them a little better, if they had been marketed as a power pop band rather than some kind of badass hard rock act featuring a lead guitarist who was taking the next giant steps after Hendrix.
They were marketed as some kind of badass hard rock act featuring a lead guitarist who was taking the next giant steps after Hendrix, right?
Maybe I missed the point. Maybe they were supposed to be taken as some sexually charged version of The Raspberries. Pull down Eric Carmen’s bellbottoms and you’d be looking at the smooth, plastic crotch of a Ken doll. You know David Lee Roth, on the other hand, was packing heat inside his Spandex tights. I don’t think he needed plugs down there.
Is that what the little girls have understood all along? Should I have been grading Van Halen as a power pop band more than a hard rock act? Thought of in those terms were they actually kind of great?
As I get stuck on the intro to “Dance the Night Away” I am, probably fortunately, not having much luck recalling how their other songs go except for a few key bits, like the talking blues intro to on song and the chorus of “Panama,” at least the opening line of the chorus, when they sing the song’s title. Come to think of it I just heard “Jump” about a week ago and realized how decent a power pop song that was.
A few weeks ago I stumbled on a wealth of videos of artists performing some song called “Mamy Blue.” I don’t recall ever hearing this song before. The first performance I decided to watch featured a catalog of Rock’s Unfulfilled Fashion Ideas.
I did not like the song one bit, but with all the covers I thought I’d try another.
Get up!
As we tussle in one-upmanship over each other on yet another LMS, what better theme could there be than the act of standing itself? This time around, get up on your feet and enumerate song titles with “stand” or whatever participle or variation you’re into. Don’t take it lying down!
“Sunday morning…”
I didn’t realize the last time this discussion came up in the Halls of Rock was prior to the launch of the public blog. Few of you remain active from those days, so I’ll raise a question I’ve still not received a satisfactory answer to here: Who in The Velvet Underground actually sings “Sunday Morning?”
Wikipedia, which is usually 100% accurate says it’s Nico. I’ve seen elsewhere on the Web, those parts aside from Wikipedia, which are usually 97% accurate, that although the song was written for Nico, Lou sang it. There are even other folks beside me who are not sure about this question.
Personally, I think it’s neither Nico nor Lou. I think Doug Yule actually made his first appearance with the Velvet Underground a few years earlier than his official entry on the third album. We’ve tried to get Doug to do an interview with us to no avail. Maybe he fears being confronted with this question. There’s not a trace of Nico or Lou’s distinctive accents and difficulties with “sealing the deal” on notes. How many recordings of Lou Reed exist, and on how many of them does he sound anything like the person singing this version of “Sunday Morning?” I believe the answer is “0.” It’s got to be Doug! Or Bernard Purdie.
Is anyone willing to step forward to clear this up?
Beside Linda Rondstadt and Billy Joel, did any established rock artists of the late-’70s attempt to cash in on New Wave and Punk music? I can’t think of any others beside The Rolling Stones‘ “response to Punk” album (a phrase they now embrace but a notion I believe they rejected at the time), Some Girls. I’m sure there are a few other examples beyond Townman alexmagic‘s long-imagined, never-delivered Bob Seger New Wave album.
Let’s face it, there wasn’t much cash to cash in on regarding New Wave music of the late-’70s and early-’80s. If this music had caught fire, however, like Disco did a few years earlier, can you imagine the New Wave single big bands of the ’70s might have released? Can you imagine KISS‘ cash-in New Wave single? Can you imagine the Eagles‘ cash-in New Wave single? Instead of “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” Rod Stewart could have ripped off “Dancing With Myself.” And what about Seger’s long-imagined, as-yet-undelivered New Wave nugget?
