Rock Town Hall • Rock Music Discussion

1-2 Punch!

Mar 212011

Let’s try another 1-2 Punch, shall we? Top 10 lists are too much; Top 5 lists invite too many opportunities for throwing in a hipster, obscuro choice to distinguish oneself from the raging masses. What I’d like to know is what TWO (2) songs you would choose from an artist’s catalog to say as much about that artist that you believe represents said artist’s core as possible? In other words, if you could only use TWO (2) songs from an artist’s catalog to explain all that said artist is about to a Venusian, what TWO (2) songs would you pick to represent said artist’s place in rock ‘n roll?

I’ll pose two artists and you—love ’em or leave ’em—give me each artist’s representative 1-2 Punch. Dig? Here goes!

We Have a Winner: RTH No-Prize Available Every Friday at 5:00 pm!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 212011

Happy Monday. We have a winner in last week’s Shitty Songs You Can’t Get Out of Your Head contest: “Everybody’s Working for the Weekend.” Better yet we have this “candid” interview with Loverboy that I’ve never seen until now!

As my wife and I spent Friday night and all day Saturday preparing for a dinner party this song crept into my brain and wouldn’t leave. I realized this must be the winner, because it’s a really well done terrible song with a chorus that actually starts out strong and full of simple hope and idealism that’s up my alley before shifting gears to that horrible “You wanna piece of my heart” part. As much as I still hate this song and the video (and that headband!), it kind of makes me feel all right about the possibilities and aspirations of the lowest common denominator in our pop culture. Bravo, Loverboy!

Rock Town Hall’s Saturday Night Shut-In: A Dip Into the “Milk” Crate

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 192011

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

In this week’s edition of Saturday Night Shut-In Mr. Moderator dips into his so-called “Milk” crate, that is, his stack of rarely played, cheaply acquired used records that as much as 30 years ago he hoped would pay off. Rather than dump these records, he revisits them every few years in hopes that they will have aged properly and, as boring, old milk can age into something delicious, like cheese or yogurt, finally reveal their subtle delights. Why don’t you tune in and hear the results of this taste test, which is capped off by a sampling of a very deep Richard Harris album?

[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/RTH-Saturday-Night-Shut-In-20-1.mp3|titles=RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 20]

[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.]

Dallas Frazier: Country Funk

Posted by BigSteve

Mar 192011

Mention of Jim Ford and Joe South recently reminded me that I’ve been meaning to write something about Dallas Frazier, who is another one of those artists who was adept at blending country and soul. Frazier is the man who wrote “Mohair Sam,” which was a big hit for Charlie Rich.

This is the record that is part of Rock Lore, because the time the Beatles met Elvis, he was obsessed with it and supposedly played it constantly during their visit, even playing along on the bass. I’d never seen this clip before today, but here’s Rich singing it on Shindig in 1965:

He looks so uncomfortable there, but here is singing it again during his ’70s phase.

He was one of the biggest stars in Nashville at that time, and he’s gotten much less stage-shy. Nice shirt.

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 192011

Man, I finally finished watching This Sporting Life, which I recorded a few weeks ago and watched over 3 sittings because it was so damn depressing, even by my standards! I really liked it. Now I need to go back and rewatch the director’s commentary on Raging Bull to see if Martin Scorsese and his collaborators consciously referred to this film. I tell you, that Richard Harris was more than just a sensitive pop singer. Check out the deep thoughts he and Burt Bacharach share in this clip and see if you don’t feel like sharing some deep thoughts of your own.

Dugout Chatter

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Mar 192011

You know the drill: please provide your gut answers to the following questions. Today’s Dugout Chatter centers around topics likely to be commented on by musicians in interviews. Let your gut be your guide!

What musician quote first comes to mind for each of the following topics?

Sex
Drugs/Drink/Food
Fame/Fans
Politics
Critics
Elvis Presley or any other 1950s rocker

I look forward to your memories of memorable musicians’ quotes on these topics.

Shitty Songs You Can’t Get Out of Your Head

Posted by hrrundivbakshi

Mar 182011

A sadist in my office pointed me in the direction of Rebecca Black‘s Internet smash hit “Friday” today, proclaiming it the worst song he’s heard this year. I can’t say I disagree with him—but, having heard it once, I now can’t get the steaming pile out of my head.

So let’s all engage in a mass orgy of musical sado-masochism, shall we? I want to know what song you feel possesses the most insidious balance of catchiness/shittyness. Feel free to post web links to torment us. When this thread peters out, Mr. Mod will judge the “winner” by reporting on which of our songs got lodged in his head the longest. Pity the poor man—talk about taking one for the team!

I look forward—sort of—to your responses.

HVB

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