Talkin’ Baseball Walk-Up Music

 Posted by
Oct 082009
 


Those of you who frequented the Halls of Rock during last year’s baseball playoff season will recall some groundbreaking analyses of the role of players’ walk-up music in determining the outcome of a playoff series. The 2008 Phillies collective playlist was accurately predicted to contribute to wins of both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays. Looking back, who can’t recall the damage inflicted on the Dodgers’ playoff hopes by Derek Lowe‘s choice of intro music? Remember how we identified the flaws in master baseball DJ Joe Maddon‘s management of his team’s playlist? Rock Town Hall’s tracking of this stuff is probably the next wave of baseball analysis, now that SABRmetrics is becoming established.

In the coming weeks, Rock Town Hall will resume its analysis of the role of walk-up music in the playoffs. We encourage you to begin taking notes on this subject and preparing your own analyses.

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Last Man Standing: Songs About Car Crashes

 Posted by
Oct 072009
 

To help distract me from the major annoyances that have followed skidding out on a slick road this morning, barely hitting the back of an SUV, then getting hit in the back by a car that did likewise to my back end, I’d like to throw down this Last Man Standing challenge.

We can include songs about motorcycle and bus accidents, but not surfing wipeouts, plane crashes, train derailments, or nuclear rocket sled explosions.

If you’re interested, the SUV suffered the slightest nick that may cost me a couple of hundred dollars to buff out (the driver was extremely cool about the whole thing, so hopefully there will be no additional problems from him). The back end of my car bumper has yet another tiny nick that’s no problem for me, regarding the woman who skidded into me. The hood of my car, however, is badly damaged thanks to SUVs having to sit so high up. Ugh. Most importantly, everybody’s healthy and the Phillies kick off their defense of their 2008 World Championship.

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Lay Down Your Lazy Pen, My Friend: Rhymes I Never Want to Hear Again

 Posted by
Oct 062009
 

Rock requires rhyming. Relinquishing rhyme requires retaining regular rhythm regardless.

Ok, I’ll stop.

My point is that any rule, such as the one stipulating that rock lyrics must use end-rhyme, can seem like a straitjacket, and it will lead you to write things you wouldn’t write if the rule were not there.

And it’s too easy to lean on examples you’ve heard before, which leads to hackneyed lyrics that are just there because you need to fill up the space with words if you want to sing rock music. It’s often been noted that English is not a great language for rhymes, compared to Romance languages, but that’s no excuse for laziness.

One of my least favorite rhymes is found you/around you. It usually takes the form of “I’m so happy that I’ve found you/I’ll build my world around you,” but perhaps the most famous version of this rhyme is in The Foundations‘ song:

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I’ve never liked this song, though I’ve got to admit that’s a pretty cool video. One of things I had problems with was the “now that I’ve found you/I can let you go” concept. Looking up the lyrics now, I see that it’s “I can’t let you go,” and suddenly the whole song seems too much like a domestic abuse scenario.

Another rhyme I hate is change/rearrange.

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In this case it’s made more annoying by the chaayaange/rearraayaange pronunciation. Changing the world is a tall order, especially for a scrawny English dude with such elementary skills on the piano.

We had a thread recently where we talked about the lazy lyricist who rhymed a word with itself. That’s bad, but reaching into the grab bag of pre-existing obvious rhymes is just as bad.

What are some of your least favorite hackneyed rhymes?

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Excluding Sleater-Kinney, Has a Top-Flight Band Had Less Success With Facial Hair Than The Rolling Stones?

 Posted by
Oct 062009
 


The Beatles‘ “Penny Lane” b/w “Strawberry Fields Forever” single is rightfully acknowledged as one of the finest pairings of songs ever committed to 7 inches of vinyl. What’s less often acknowledged is the band’s landmark display of facial hair, as presented on the promotional films for each song. Although rock facial hair had already been in bloom in the rock underground, John, Paul, George, and Ringo busted out an astounding array of complimentary moustaches (and one Van Dyke) to support their dazzling new sonic achievements. Paul will forever get his share of grief for being the most ambitious and glib of the Fab Four to reach old age, but along with all the praise due to his musical abilities, let’s not forget to recognize the perfection of the man Sgt. Pepper’s-era ‘stache.

While The Beatles were experimenting with mind-expanding sounds and drugs – and fashion-expanding facial hair – The Rolling Stones were searching for an appropriate response. Their Satanic Majesties Request was such a poor attempt at psychedelia that they would be bested in their efforts to follow the times by the likes of The Four Seasons‘ Genuine Imitation Life. I’m not kidding, and Frankie Valli and the boys put their thick, dark Italian follicles to great use, helping to launch the overlooked genre of Goatee Rock. The best the Stones could manage was Brian Jones‘ fabulous mutton chops.

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Burly Rock

 Posted by
Oct 052009
 


I don’t know that we’ve ever put a name to the “big-boned” offspring of classic boogie and arena rock until now: Burly Rock. Did any band display the strengths and weaknesses of this genre better than Bachman-Turner Overdrive?

Of course the genre dates back to an early band featuring Randy Bachman, The Guess Who. Continue reading »

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What We Talk About When We Talk About The Who

 Posted by
Oct 052009
 

In a recent thread, Townsman jungleland2 raised an interesting point that I’ve heard raised many times over the years:

Just got the 2-disc The Who Sell Out. I know this is their “great” record of the 60’s but I am not connecting to it so far

Have you had this feeling? Have you heard this feeling expressed by other rock-loving, Who-loving friends when they finally get around to checking out this critically acclaimed Who album?

I love the album, myself, and I’ve recommended it to aspiring rock nerds through the years. However, there must be a half dozen friends who love The Who, whom I thought would surely love Sell Out, but who felt the same way jungleland2 does. It’s made me wonder what we talk about when we talk about The Who.

We don’t ask this question about The Beatles or The Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan, do we? Factoring in all artistic progressions, we still seem to find a common thread through their music, despite the fact that some of us prefer early Beatles or pot-smoking Beatles or Exile-era Stones or feel comfortable writing off the last 30+ years of Dylan’s output.

With The Who, however, an acknowledged titan of rock and contender for the Mount Rushmore of Rock, fans of the band seem to have more wildly varying notions of the band’s essence. Some fans feel the band is best defined by the early singles. Some feel it’s the epic stuff from the early ’70s. Most seem to be uncomfortable with the legacy of one of the band’s best-known works, Tommy, and all seem split on Sell Out and Live at Leeds. The funny thing is, I don’t think their music changed that much over the years, just the parts they emphasized at any given era.

What do we talk about when we talk about The Who?

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