I thought there had been a thread about this subject awhile ago, but I guess not. If not, then the time has come to honor the iconic drum intro to The Ronette‘s “Be My Baby.” You know the one: Bum-ba-bum-BOOM!
Phil Spector added echo to drummer Hal Blaine‘s bass drum, and everyone’s tried to imitate it and capture its Wall of Sound grandiosity ever since. How many imitations, renditions, samples and variations are there?
MacRayMan
Is there a better movie still available on the Web from a rock film than the above shot of Kyle MacLachlan as Ray Manzarek from The Doors? If so, post a link to the superior rock movie still.
A few things jump out, particularly wigs and sideburns. Wigs and sideburns hell, I should say. – Kyle MacLachlan, on his participation in The Doors
I look forward to your gems.
Every song 49 cents or less!
After a recent excursion to our Ann Arbor campus for our annual brand planning meeting, we turn over a new format on tonight’s episode of Saturday Night Shut-In, something we like to call Cheap Cutz. Rather than our usual mix of obscuro collectors’ gems, German True Stereo recordings, and outtakes from expensive box sets, your newly budget-conscious Mr. Moderator spins nothing but tracks costing 49 cents or less. Stay tuned for an important announcement about our launch on satellite radio. Meanwhile, tell us what you think of the new format. We’ll be reading your best tweets on the air!
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-88.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 88][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.]
This one goes to zero!
Rock Town Hall has a long and honored tradition of rock video analysis, with Townspeople often incorporating the distinctive technique of commenting on videos with the sound off. In honor of alexmagic‘s legendary analysis of a video of Tom Jones performing with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, we are instituting a new feature, Sound Off!
The way a Sound Off! thread works is simple:
You will be entrusted to view the following video with the sound off. If we could disable the video’s sound we would, but something tells me the copyright holder of the video might object to that. Trust us, for the purposes of this thread the sound will get in the way. Beside, you may be viewing this at work, in which case coworkers will only be distbured by your giggles; you won’t have to worry about the artist’s music leaking into their cube.
After the jump, why don’t you turn the sound off and watch the following video!
Crooner Andy Williams, best known for his rendition of “Moon River,” his yearly Christmas special, or his role in standing by former wife Claudine Longet as she faced charges for killing of her lover, some skier with the unforgettable name Spider Sabich, has died at 84. I’m sure you know that by now. For some reason, the first thing that came to mind for me when I heard of Williams’ death, even before his version of “Can’t Get Used to Losing You,” which gained some credibility in my mind following the version I first loved by The English Beat, was his endless supply of great sweaters.
"A different crowd feels more at ease with a light sweater on."
I love sweaters. As we enter the fall season and I get to pull out my sweaters, let us take a moment to appreciate some of Mr. Williams’ finest sweaters…after the jump.
You’ve probably heard that visionary Beach Boys leader Mike Love fired Brian Wilson, Al Jardine, and David Marks from his band following the Boys’ amazing 50th Anniversary Tour. Happy anniversary. You’re fired. Only original replacement member Bruce Johnston remains on the Good Ship Love.
I’m disappointed and can’t understand why Love doesn’t want to tour with Al, David and me. We are out here having so much fun. After all, we are the real Beach Boys. – Brian Wilson
I’ve seen a few friends bemoaning this sad state of affairs on Facebook. It’s one more chance to state that Mike Love is an asshole. You know what I think?
Townsman trolleyvox asked if we could talk about this 1969 promotional film for David Bowie, Love You Till Tuesday. Time has come today, and while we’re at it feel free to talk about a 1976 film starring Bowie, Nicholas Roeg‘s The Man Who Fell to Earth, which I finally watched all the way through.
My main thought about the promotional film is that the ’60s could not contain Bowie. He had no available space to occupy. Everything he tried to do in a ’60s vein, including whimsical gnome pop, UK pop balladry, and soft-shoe/mime routines, had already been done better by Syd Barrett, The Bee Gees, and Davey Jones (The Monkees’ Davey Jones, that is), respectively. The scenes with him playing alongside his buddies are really awkward. David did not play well with others. He had to be his own man. He had to help shape the next decade. It was a matter of survival.
Speaking of matters of survival, Bowie is really good in The Man Who Fell to Earth. I’ve mildly enjoyed him in other small acting parts, but he does fall into self-consciousness more than a real actor should. In Roeg’s film he gets to play a variation on his musical character. He’s even an alien space traveler who misses his wife and is named Thomas. (No word on whether he ranked as a Major on his home planet.) As an added bonus, I got to see way more of Candy Clark‘s acting talents than she was able to display in a movie from my childhood that did much to shape me: American Graffiti.
When I was younger Roeg’s visual-heavy style left me unsatisfied, but since seeing this movie and re-watching Walkabout a few months ago I’m willing to see him as more than a Thinking Man’s Ken Russell. Maybe I’ll revisit Performance or Don’t Look Now or even the one about Einstein and Marilyn Monroe. Jeez, I’m turning into Buskirk!
