LAST CALL: Rock Town Hall Talent(less) Search: My First Demo

 Posted by
May 082010
 

This could be your first demo tape!

You may remember the call for submissions to what should be a remarkable Rock Town Hall experience of shame, laughter, self-awareness, and (yes) healing. Rock Town Hall’s My First Demo Talent(less) Search will provide Townspeople and Friends of the Hall an opportunity to reveal their one or two of their earliest demos or live recordings in an anonymous, streaming fashion. Townspeople will then be invited to comment on these early works, see if they can identify the young and innocent artists, and so forth. Prizes will be awarded, long-lost bandmates will be reconnected, we will all feel more deeply something about the music-making experience. At the appropriate time the artists can choose to reveal themselves and provide background on the making of their classic tracks.

In short, this should be a very meaningful activity, and it will only be more meaningful with your first demo in the mix! I know some of you have been digging through your archives for that elusive recording. I know some of you may be reading about this activity for the first time and are already thinking about what you might submit. I know some of you are chicken. [Mr. Mod makes juvenile, taunting chicken noise.] Don’t be chicken!

We’ve received 9 submissions to date. This will work best with a baker’s dozen (ie, 13 for our Townspeople on the metric system). The bravery of folks who have submitted to date will not go unrewarded, and those of you who submit a revealing, youthful recording by Monday, May 17, will also experience the spiritual rewards promised by this exercise.

If you’d like to submit an early demo or live recording for Rock Town Hall’s My First Demo Talent(less) Search, please write me at mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com. Thanks!

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Once and For All: What’s the Coolest Studio Gimmick in a Led Zeppelin Song?

 Posted by
May 072010
 

The current SHOWDOWN poll asks What’s the cooler studio gimmick in a Led Zeppelin song? Along with the choices of the pre-echo in the breakdown of “Whole Lotta Love” and the dueling guitars bouncing from the left and right speakers at the end of “What Is and What Should Never Be” you’ve been given a rare third option, which allows you to add your choice for coolest Led Zeppelin studio gimmick here, in this thread. Your entry must be a studio gimmick of some sort, not a cool riff or something like that.
Continue reading »

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Fall-Back Plan

 Posted by
May 072010
 

Dr. Robert

What aspiring musician hasn’t been lectured by at least one parent to stay in school and make sure to have a “fall-back plan” if rock ‘n roll dreams don’t come true? I’m sure I’m not the only once-aspiring rocker among you who maintained the slightest connection to some, at best, some half-assed fall-back plan. Thank goodness, because I’d dug myself into enough of a financial and emotional rut during my years of chasing The Dream.

We know that some successful rock ‘n rollers had a full-blown fall-back plan, like London School of Economics student Mick Jagger. We can be certain that the founding members of Genesis likely were prepared to fall back on paths leading to eventual seats in the British Parliament. Chuck Berry and Ringo Starr were prepared to be hairdressers or something, right? Skunk Baxter could turn to designing weapons of mass destruction if the rock ‘n roll thing didn’t pan out.

What might the fall-back plans of any of the following dyed-in-the-wool musicians/rock icons have been? Perhaps you really know what alternate skills they had in their back pocket, or perhaps you’d like to speculate…after the jump! Continue reading »

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Dugout Chatter

 Posted by
May 062010
 

Let’s get a little chatter going! Most of you know this drill by now, but if you’ve been following along from the sidelines and want to make your initial splash in the Halls of Rock the following questions require nothing more than your gut answers! There’s no better way to jump into the fray! Nobody’s an expert!

What do you consider John Cale‘s main instrument?

Does anyone but American artists write telephone number songs (eg, Tommy Tutune’s lone hit)? I can only think of song titles by American artists with 7-digit numbers.

If tv actor Ted McGinley is the “patron saint of shark-jumping,” who’s his rock ‘n roll equivalent?

Do you tend to favor “dry” or “wet” production? (NOTE: The answer “It depends” is not acceptable.)

Granted production will play into our answers, but what artist typically projects the most “arid” sound and what artist typically projects the most “humid” sound? Care to explain?

Moebius or Roedelius?

What does the answer to the previous question say about one if one answered Conny Plank?

I look forward to your answers.

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Mystery Date Revealed: Alice Cooper

 Posted by
May 052010
 

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So your Mystery Date was “Shoe Salesman,” off the second Alice Cooper album, 1970’s Easy Action. As I figured, a few of our more rockin’ Townsmen knew this song right off the bat. Meanwhile, a number of you worked hard to get your heads around this awkward, highly unexpected (considering the artist) take on mid-period Beatles-style song structure.

According to Wikipedia’s entry on this album, the guitarists were NOT Hunter and Wagner, later of Lou Reed‘s Rock ‘n Roll Animal fame, but what do I know (and what does Wikipedia know, for that matter)? I thought the Townsman who guessed that there was a Lou Reed tie-in was onto something. At least that mis-clue probably helped the smartest man in the room, bobbybittman, hone in on his eventual correct, offlist guess.

As it turns out, the producer of this album was David Briggs, from Neil Young’s camp, so Mad Props! to the Townsperson who suggested the track sounded a bit like Neil Young. Neil Smith, the drummer from Alice Cooper, had this to say about Briggs:

David hated our music and us. I recall the term that he used, referring to our music, was “Psychedelic Shit.” I think Easy Action sounded too dry, more like a TV or radio commercial and he did not help with song arrangement or positive input in any way.

Whatever. Although not a masterpiece by any means, I thought this song sounded better than all the popular shit I’ve ever heard by Cooper beside “School’s Out.” I downloaded a couple of other tracks from this album and plan on checking out some more of the really early stuff, just in case it’s half decent. Growing up, Cooper always bugged me as being one of rock’s most fraudulant ka-raaay-zeeeee! artists. In recent years, however, whenever I see him interviewed I respect his self-awareness and obvious sanity. More power to him for making a career for himself with very little musical talent!

Here are two more tracks from the album Easy Action. Enjoy.

Alice Cooper, “Return of the Spiders”

Alice Cooper, “Below Your Means”

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Mystery Date

 Posted by
May 042010
 

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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 that there are a lot who 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!

Mystery Date 050410

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