Sweet Leaf
RTH Labs believes it has uncovered Björk‘s first professional acting appearance. See if you can’t pick her out…after the jump! (NOTE: Some might find the following a bit, shall we say, European—for viewing at work.)
Sep 142011
Sep 122011
Thank the iPod Shuffle gods for re-introducing me to The Wallflowers. I was a big fan of their universally ignored 1992 debut album (s/t The Wallflowers) and 4 years later was surprised that they got another shot, Bringing Down the Horse, and that it was a huge hit record. The two singles, “One Headlight” and “6th Avenue Heartache,” were good Adult Rock tunes (aka Dad Rock) in an era where there were plenty of them to choose from (Counting Crows, Hootie, Better Than Ezra, The Rembrandts, BoDeans, Cracker, and CU beneficiaries The Gin Blossoms), and since the record is so front loaded with hits, I tended to move on after my first 5-song fix. That was my mistake.
My iPod must be a big Wallflowers fan, because I hear them all the time, and not the singles usually.
Jacob Dylan sounds more or less like the other “sons of Dylan” (eg, Springsteen, Petty, Mellencamp, Knopfler), in fact his clean Tele strum sounds very Petty-ish and the organ, from Walflowers’ MVP Rami Jaffee, is “Like a Rolling Stone” meets the bands that wish they wrote that one (see list above). Jacob writes a good sad song, not quite to the level of Dire Strait’s “Romeo and Juliet,” but in that vein. He has some Elvis Costello in him as well; there is some anger behind his sadness.
Sep 102011
Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!
Our planned live Shakedown at Urges in Atlantic City has been postponed due to damage the club suffered from recent flooding along the east coast. We will make it down to Urges for one last summer jam before summer is too far in the rearview mirror. Meanwhile, enjoy tonight’s studio broadcast.
In this week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In Mr. Moderator reveals the identity of yesterday’s Mystery Date and generally gets lost in the music. Get lost with him, won’t you?
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-44.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 44][Note: The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player. In fact, you can even set your iTunes to search for an automatic download of each week’s podcast.]
Sep 102011
Leave it to a Townsperson to know what’s wrong with this ad’s voiceover…a patented RTH No-Prize is at stake!
Sep 102011
Pink Floyd: The "The" Years
The Kills. The Killers. The Liars. The White Stripes. The Hives. The Ravonettes. The Black Keys.
Mr. Royale and I have noticed that many of the new garage-y bands have affixed a “The” to the start of their name. It seems to be a nod to some previous rock era (’50s–60s) when band names began with “The.”
But then there is another retro era (late-’60s–’70s?) when bands started to dispense with “The” as a start to their name. Cream. Fleetwood Mac. Procol Harem. Iron Butterfly. Love. Pink Floyd. Steppenwolf.
What happened to take away the “The?” And how radical was that? Am I missing something here or was there a paradigm shift? Who was the first band to go it alone and ditch the “The?”
For the musicians among us, how did you decide whether to append the “The?” Was it a way to create a “look” or signifier to a previous rock era? A friend who was in a pseudo-well-known band in the ’90s shared that it was very important that the “The” not be attached to the start of their name. Ditto Pixies, Talking Heads, et al.
And then there are the bands whose names start with Thee…
I look forward to The Commentary.
Sep 102011
I’m not a great fan of J. Geils Band. They have all the elements of a band I should love: Jagger-esque singer, tough guitars, all the swagger rock ‘n roll can handle, but usually their songs leave me flat. “One Last Kiss” is a giant exception…at least for me. I love this song. When I was a kid and it was a very minor hit on FM radio I used to wonder why I didn’t hear it more often, like as regularly as one of Blue Oyster Cult‘s hits. It’s the only song by them beside their super-charged cover of “I’m Lookin’ for a Love,” that holds my interest and doesn’t get bogged down in Peter Wolf‘s jive act. It sounds like any number of anthemic Graham Parker & the Rumour songs that I love. Passion is no ordinary word, but I don’t think I’ve ever run into another rock nerd who will go to the mats for “One Last Kiss.” Does anyone like this song as much as I do?
What song do you possibly like more than anyone else you know? What typically unheralded song do you suspect you like more than anyone else on the planet?
Sep 092011
This week’s Mystery Date was submitted by Townsman misterioso.
Let’s review the ground rules here. The Mystery Date song is not necessarily something I believe to be good. So feel free to rip it or praise it. Rather the song is something of interest due to the artist, influences, time period… Your job is to decipher as much as you can about the artist without research. Who do you think it is? Or, Who do you think it sounds like? When do you think it was recorded? Etc…
If you know who it is, don’t spoil it for the rest. Anyone who knows it can play the “mockcarr option.” (And I’ve got a hunch at least one of you know this one.) This option is for those of you who just can’t hold your tongue and must let everyone know just how in-the-know you are by calling it. So if you know who it is and want everyone else to know that you know, email Mr. Moderator at mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com. If correct we will post how brilliant you are in the Comments section.
The real test of strength though is to guess as close as possible without knowing. Ready, steady, go!
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Mystery-Date-090911.mp3|titles=Mystery Date 090911]
