Covering the Division Series in both leagues is too much for one man, so I offered to relieve Mr. Moderator of the burden of analyzing the walk-up music selections of the four American League contenders: the Tampa Bay Rays, the Minnesota Twins, the Texas Rangers, and the New York Yankees. In doing so, I also hope to steer clear of Mod’s Rockist NLDS analysis and pay attention to the relative strengths of the hip-hop and modern-rock selections that many of the sport’s contestants choose. I don’t want to harp on this, but it was probably Mod’s Rockist bent that caused him to overlook the threat of the Yankees against his beloved Phillies in last year’s World Series.
Surely you recall some of the groundbreaking analyses we’ve performed since 2008 in predicting baseball’s postseason play according to the power of each team’s walk-up music. With the 2010 Division Series playoff matches about to begin, it’s time we get our first look at this year’s most-rocking contestants. Let’s start with the National League, and then we’ll catch up with the American League tomorrow. We’ll keep this initial overview concise to allow us room to drill down as less-musical teams are eliminated.
See if you can hang on through the hyperventilating woman interviewing The Buzzcocks in Toronto, in 1979 (following a set up by some more recent Toronto VJ). As your reward, a little past the 5:00-minute mark, there’s a pretty clean performance of “What Do I Get?,” a rarity among the typically sloppy Buzzcocks live cuts from ye olden days that I usually come across.
What I really want to get at, though, is the inanity of media members who expect musicians to aspire to STARDOM and the whole “star treatment” routine. How intoxicating that can be for young musicians, but what a pain! I can think of at least one Townsperson who I bet has been through this type of interview. Anyone else to any degree? It’s one thing for a musician to humbly or secretly desire some form of success – or even to gun for it without prompting, but it’s quite another to be expected to act like you want to be the next Mick Jagger, like you should be oozing stardom and secretly hitting on the interviewer while he or she is sticking a mic in your face. This woman seems to be trying too hard to lead The Buzzcocks into acting like they’re something other than they are, missing the opportunity to talk to what seem to be a fun, interesting bunch of guys. I guess anyone on the other side of an interview has been guilty of feeding into an expected routine with an interview subject, but this style of interview strikes me as especially cheesy. I’ve got no beef with rock musicians who actually possess and/or attain star power, but the expectation for musicians to fall into that pattern can be…icky. It’s awkward to watch The Buzzcocks squirm through these expectations, no?
John Lennon would have been 70 this week. As you may have heard, the entire solo Lennon catalog is being reissued, remastered, reboxed, rebought. There will be countless reassessments of the man’s solo career, with references to long outdated terms like primal scream therapy and lost weekend. These reassessments will likely include seemingly outrageous defenses for generally considered turds, like Some Time in New York City and Rock ‘n Roll. There are bonus discs involved in these reissues, including demos from the Plastic Ono Band debut and a stripped-down Double Fantasy (“But not stripped down enough, not stripped of Yoko’s songs!” I hear some of you cackling). Best yet, if my reading retention was on, you can buy these CDs, including the bonus discs, individually rather than being tied to shelling out for the 11-CD box set, as is too often the case in these massive reissues.
As Lennon’s solo career is reconsidered, some of us in the Halls of Rock may find ourselves rolling our eyes and snorting over the original Lennon Pass. However, it’s hard to argue that Lennon is not a deservedly a beloved and missed figure. Who can blame any of us for having interest in re-examining a solo catalog that was mostly disappointing in its time? To spark this week’s inevitable reassessment of John Lennon’s solo career, let’s hear your gut answers to the following Lennon-oriented Dugout Chatter questions…after the jump!Continue reading »
John Wetton: yet another good egg enters the Halls of Rock
Following a tosssed-off aside in a recent analysis/appreciation of a Lark’s Tongue in Aspic-era King Crimson performance an immediate groundswell of support gathered around the previously inconceivable notion that John Wetton (Asia, King Crimson, Roxy Music, UK, Family, Uriah Heep, and much more) was the Sexiest Man in Prog-Rock.
To clarify, it’s not that Wetton’s good looks had previously been inconceivable but that good looks ever played a part in the brainy, challenging progressive rock scene. In the wake of this discussion Townspeople were polled, and between the results of nearly 1000 voters and a panel of rock experts, Wetton was officially deemed – once and for all – The Sexiest Man in Prog-Rock.
That’s the silly part of the story. We managed to contact Wetton for his thoughts on this distinction (“I’m delighted to be deemed a cute pig in the litter,” he replied). Better yet, he agreed to an interview with us. It’s the following interview, one focusing on his musical experiences rather than beauty tips, that’s the most appreciated thing to come from a silly notion and an unexpected encounter with Wetton and a broad swath of prog-rock fans.
As you probably know, if this is even your second day in the Halls of Rock, Rock Town Hall regulars tend to be deeply immersed in the music we’ve lived through. Musicians like Wetton, whose careers have woven through a broad swath of rock history, can be especially enticing as interview subject. We spend more time than the average person contemplating Rock’s Big Issues, and who better to hear from than musicians who’ve straddled eras, genres, and band responsibilities? In the following interview, John Wetton provides insight on these issues and displays an enthusiasm for and confidence in his musical ventures and colleagues that I found refreshing. I hope you do, too.
RTH: How is your health, John, and what are you working on these days? Did I read correctly that been at work on projects with both Asia and Eddie Jobson?
John Wetton: My health is good, thank you—having survived (with enormous help on both counts) two life-threatening conditions, I’m being a little more circumspect, but still have a lust for life and a desire to enjoy the journey, regardless of the destination. I’ve just completed 50 dates with Asia–in Europe, USA and Japan—we complete the world touring for 2010 with a 5-date UK tour before Christmas.
I played 3 dates in Poland with Eddie Jobson last November, “for old times’ sake.” It was generally regarded as a UK reunion and was great fun, but we have no plans to extend that run right now. It was a terrific band–myself, Eddie, Marco Minneman, Tony Levin, and Greg Howe.
[NOTE: Mogul Thrash would spawn not only Wetton but two the founding members of Average White Band, which Townspeople also know as the band that gave us RTH hero Hamish Stuart.]
RTH: Your career must be a dream for writer Pete Frame and his Rock Family Tree books. The earliest band I knew of that you were in was Family, but I learned that you were in an earlier band that recorded an album, Mogul Thrash. The music sounds in the jazz-rock vein of Soft Machine and Colosseum. Prior to Mogul Thrash, were you already rooted in jazz and improvisatory music?
JW: I guess my name would have cropped up on many of Pete’s Family trees, but I did most of my band-hopping in the ’70s—since then I’ve done side projects, but the bulk of my work has been either with Asia or as a solo artist.
Jazz was never really an influence until I was in my early 20s, when I started to listen to some fantastic players–John McLaughlin, Miroslav Vitous, Herbie Hancock. My huge early musical influence from around age 5, was my brother, a church organist and choirmaster. Piano is my first instrument.
RTH: At the same time, you’ve also displayed a strong pop sense through your career. As a boy, were you more a Beatles or Stones fan?
One could make a strong case that Anthony BurgessA Clockwork Orange has had a significant impact on the literature scene (vocabulary, style, etc.). And I think many of us would agree that Stanley Kubrik‘s movie also has lasting cultural significance. But what about that novel’s impact on music? As recently mentioned in a recent RTH post, Heaven 17 is the name of a band referenced in the novel and in the movie. Other bands have also acquired their “eemyas” from characters or vocabulary in the book (see “Devotchka,” “Moloko”). The Echo and the Bunnymen label out of Liverpool was named Korova, in reference to the club, Milkbar. And The Libertines have a song called, “Horrorshow.” Blur also referenced the look of the movie in their video, “The Universal.”
Can you think of other A Clockwork Orange references in music? Are there other novels that have had an effect on Rock (eg, J. G. Ballard’s “Crash.”)?
