This Last Man Standing competition may be wide open: we’re looking for songs with lyrics that spell out one or more words in the song’s title. The reason we’re limiting this to words within the title is to create at least some difficulty for this challenge. Three songs immediately come to mind for me, led by the following and its amusing video clip:
Yesterday, while flipping stations in my car, I was faced with an extremely challenging Morton’s Fork; that is, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. All of the stations I had programmed in were on commercial break except for our local Oldies station and our local Classic Rock station. The Oldies station was playing Billy Joel‘s “Still Rock and Roll to Me”; the Classic Rock station was playing Boston‘s “Rock and Roll Band.” I really felt like listening to something on the radio with a beat. That’s right, the local AAA station, which is commercial free, was playing some acoustic thumbsucker with a whiny voice: “N/A.”
Usually, when faced with any Joel vs Boston choice I’d go with the well-crafted but not smug Boston selection, unless it was Joel’s “Uptown Girl” on the radio, the one Joel song I kind of like. I’d never considered that any other Joel song could have a chance when stacked up against any mediocre Boston song until this match up. Continue reading »
As we’ve contemplated Rock Town Hall’s MVJRP, some of you may have recalled our examination of the series of legendary Japanase tv ads starring Charles Bronson for the deodorant/talcum powder/sex aid Mandom. Well, at least that’s where my mind wandered. An extensive YouTube search for further Mandom ads turned up this most-shocking find, a hit song (in Japan) centered around the concept of Mandom. Check it out…after the jump!
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Well, the World Series is over, and I send out my condolences to all you Philly Phans in the Hall. Speaking for myself, I felt like the Series was a mediocre one; I dunno, it just sort of sat there.
One bright spot for me was the selection of Hideki Matsui as World Series MVP. I like sports that actually have a global reach — sports where when the winning team says “we’re world champions,” the world actually cares. So I was happy when a Japanese dude kicked major, Mr. October-caliber ass and was able to hoist the MVP trophy up high. And I can only imagine how totally ape-shit crazy the sports media in Japan must be going right now.
This got me thinking: rock and roll is certainly an international game. I think we’d all agree that the World Series of Rock trophy basically gets passed back and forth between England and the United States year after year — but there have been valuable contributions from other nations.
But I don’t want to start a “United Nations of Rock” thread here. I want to focus on something a bit more specific. In honor of Hideki Matsui’s achievement, I want to know: Who’s the Most Valuable Japanese Rock Player?
Note: Native-born Americans (or English dudes) with Japanese features or surnames don’t count — sorry, James “William B. Williams” Iha!
Just tell me the answer is *not* Tetsu Yamauchi!
I look forward to your responses.
HVB
It’s been a little more than 11 months since I first posted this controversial view. One of the characteristics I most admire in our Townspeople is our ability to reconsider past views and objections. Now may be as good a time as ever for each of us to reconsider our initial opinions and for newer members of Rock Town Hall to chime in on this issue.
Frankly, I was surprised at the lack of support my query elicited. I didn’t expect the majority of Townspeople to hear things as I heard them, but I surely didn’t expect that the closest thing I got to agreement was a vote for plain, old Starship! Why don’t you join me in reviewing our first discussion of these matters, replaying the supporting video clips, and sharing any new insights that may have resulted from your growth as a music listener? I look forward to your comments.
This post initially appeared 11/30/08.
Granted, Jefferson Airplane is a favorite whipping band among certain segments of Rock Town Hall – and I don’t believe anyone who’d hang here like Jefferson Starship, but when you really think about it, Jefferson Starship may have produced a stronger quartet of songs than any four songs by Jefferson Airplane.
I speak specifically of a quartet of mid-70s Jefferson Starship songs:
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Listening to a Nina Simone compilation yesterday, a strange rendition of a tune caught my attention. I looked up this song, “Everyone’s Gone To The Moon,” and found the the original rendition of the song was more tuneful than Simone’s (though less campy, and thus, entertaining to me). But as I listened, the song began to remind me of something else….
Is it me?
Or does this song sound remarkably like…
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Before you make the jump, please consider the following question:
Who is this man, a musician who in the proper context is highly conspicuous by his presumed lack of influence within his best-known group?
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