Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel!

 Posted by
Aug 122011
 

Here’s an oldie but goodie that first ran a little more than 4 years ago. A few longtime Townspeople struck up a nice dialog, trading personal stories. I suspect so many more personal stories are out there, waiting to be shared by folks who weren’t pacing the Halls of Rock in our nascent days as a blog. Here’s your chance to dazzle!

This post initially appeared 8/7/07.

A friend of mine is a die-hard Police fan, and he’s been to three of the shows on the reunion tour currently ongoing. He’s enjoyed the shows but told me that they’ve been playing exactly the same set and telling exactly the same jokes/stage patter each time. Sting even takes a little walk away from the mic at exactly the same time in exactly the same song.

Back in my touring days, the Dead Milkmen made it a practice to pass the setlist duties around in rotation. The set was always different every night. This made the shows a little more interesting for all of us and hopefully for the folks who saw us multiple nights (we even played different sets for the two reunion shows we did in 2004). Sure we played some key songs every night but chances are you were going to hear a couple different tunes and different stories/stage patter based on who made the setlist that night.

Maybe the Police like other “bigger” bands have lightshows and camera angles for the big screen TV’s to worry about but c’mon! Mix it up a little and take a few risks!

So my questions to the Townspeople are as follows:

  • Have you been to see bands multiple nights on a tour and have they always played the same set and told the same jokes each night?
  • If you’re a musician, How do you approach the setlist? Do you try to get into the comfort zone and play the same set each night?
  • For all of you, How do you feel about bands playing unreleased material and new songs? Or maybe you just want to hear the hits.
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The Alive Theory of Rock and Roll: Nilsson Schmilsson Considered

 Posted by
Aug 112011
 

Ever read that book Alive, about the Uruguayans who crashed in the Andes and were so desperate for food that they resorted to cannibalism? I suffer like that once in a while as well. Sometimes I get so hungry for something new to listen to that I’ll plop just about anything on the turntable, literally anything: The Damnation of Adam Blessing, The Beacon Street Union (Boston, by the way, is hands down the all time worst town for rock and roll), The Fort Mudge Memorial Dump, etc. It’s been ages since I’ve unearthed a single gem. There’s damn good reason why all those obscure psych bands never got anywhere. They blow. The world would be much better off if some kind soul would root out all that crap and bury it in a landfill. Too much precious time is wasted trying to find studs of corn in those turds.

About a week or so ago, I decided to call it quits with the whole psych thing to spend time with a bunch of records that did well on the charts but never made it to my turntable. Hence, my visit with Nilsson Schmilsson. Over the years, I’ve had the thing for sale at least 30 times. It always sells. I just assumed it had to be bad based on the fact that Nilsson was responsible for it. Simply put, Nilsson meant “dogshit.” For years, I told myself I wasn’t gonna get screwed by him again. I pissed away good money on his first two records based on the fact that John and Paul high fived the efforts. They were both yawners, filled with lots of neat sounds that didn’t add up to anything.

That said, I loved and still love “One” and “Everybody’s Talkin’.” How can you not think those songs are absolute winners?

Probably because I was too tired to look for anything else as well as the two winners cited above, I decided to remove the Nilsson Schmilsson ultrafloppy RCA Dynaflex disc from its jacket and give it a spin. What follows is my take on the thing:

Continue reading »

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XTC (A Personal Struggle)

 Posted by
Aug 102011
 

Listening to XTC (again). Mummer. It’s a really really good album.

I bought most of XTC’s catalogue when I worked at a local independent record store. Someone must have unloaded their collection and I got them used really cheap. My thought at the time was, “Hey, here is a band I’ve only heard good things about, so I should check them out.” Of course my OCD tendencies do not allow to buy one or two CDs, so I spent about 50 to 60 bucks and bought the whole batch. Looking at their discography, it’s most of their proper albums and all the major ones.

I listened to them then and have given them a spin a few times since. XTC is one of those bands that has just never made an emotional connection with me. I remember enjoying English Settlement, but by the end of it, I couldn’t tell you a damn thing on it. I know Skylarking is supposed to be a masterpiece. The early records have a punkish frantic quality that make for interesting listens. I know the hits and like those songs fine enough.

I know hardcore XTC fans will tell you that they were several bands: a punk group, a new wave band, a pop band. I’m sure they fit somewhere in the vein of Talking Heads and The Cars. I know Andy Partridge is good writer and their records feature some strong production.

So, I am listening to Mummer right now (at work) and thinking, Why I don’t love this band like everybody else in the world does? I am thinking that this a very very good album. And I’ll probably listen to more, hoping they’ll finally stick. Maybe I’ll finally connect with these records and feel compelled to listen to them more than once every 5 years or so.

So, what am I to do? Your help is appreciated…

TB

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An Open Letter to Bono

 Posted by
Aug 102011
 

Winner!

I may have mentioned this once before, but my mom first hit the nail on the head regarding Bono and U2 a few years ago, when the band played the halftime show at the Super Bowl. She called me the day after.

“Jimmy,” as she still calls me, “what do you know about this band U2? Do you like them?”

“They’re OK,” I said. “I like a few of their songs. They’ve been around since I was in high school.”

“Mmm,” she said, noting correctly that she didn’t recall me ever talking about them when I was living at home. “That little singer,” she continued, in this most unexpected telephone chat, “really makes that band. There’s not much to their music, but he works overtime!”

My first thought was, “Jeez, as if enough girls haven’t dug Bono, now my mom’s under his spell too!” As she continued extolling the virtues of “that little singer,” however, the years of hating Bono in his mullet, then ponytail and salt-of-the-earth hat and vests without shirts and those godawful late-’80s efforts to weave his way into the fabric of every strain of American roots music under the sun started to wash away.

After I got off the phone with Bono’s Newest Admirer, I remembered how much I liked the good bits of the band’s first two albums, before the grandstanding of War and the rhythm section’s clear musical limitations began to drive me away; before those serious videos involving ponytails, bare shoulders, and salt-of-the-earth hats put me way over the edge. I pulled out my copy of Achtung Baby, the band’s first attempt at winning back my muted admiration, which I came around to liking during the year my wife and I lived in Hungary. That album gave off a cooler, more UK ’60s vibe that put the band’s sepia-toned Americana wannabe vibe in the rearview mirror—but not out of sight. I still spent more time than any adult should spend cutting up on Bono and his mates. I still found myself watching bits of Rattle and Hum, whenever I came across the movie while flipping channels, just to sharpen my blade. Just thinking of that period of U2 again almost makes me want to take back what I’m about to say. Continue reading »

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Last Man Standing: Car Talk

 Posted by
Aug 092011
 

Nothing cures the summer time doldrums like hopping in the car for a road trip.

I’m looking for songs containing the sounds of a car/motorcycle revving up and/or pealing out. The automotive sounds may be real or artificially created.

I’ll start off with the number one Billy Joel song that I love to hate: “Moving Out.”

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