Rock Town Hall • Rock Music Discussion

Hear Factor, deux: A Bit Off

Aug 182009

Here’s another mix that hints at a type of Olde Time music, but of the English variety. For some reason, this nation’s old-fashioned music seems less foreign than my own country’s pre-rock music. Must be something about English envy.

This is a collection of rock music, mind you, but I think some of you will find it challenging.

A Bit Off (~61 MB)

For this mix, I SUMMON none other than one of our proudest Americans in the Halls of Rock, Townsman Mwall.

The rest of you are also encouraged to dip into this mix and share your experiences.

What’s Hear Factor?

Artists Suspected of Performance-Enhancing Drugs

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 182009

Nothing suspicious in their cocktails.

Townsman Andyr raised this question with me last week concerning J. Geils Band, a long-time, hard-working, journeyman, Boston party rock band best known for its Jagger-esque frontman and energetic live shows but always underachieving in the studio that suddenly turned out two albums of polished, radio-friendly hits.

At first I dismissed my friend’s suspicions as the result of the dangerous practice of mixing love for rock ‘n roll with love for baseball. Over the next few days, however, I went searching for possible ties to members of J. Geils Band and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).

Although the band was tight with San Francisco promoter Bill Graham and played the Fillmore West numerous times, I did not find any ties to the Bay area’s nascent BALCO labs scene. J. Geils himself was always a sturdy looking guy, but judging by estimates of his head size over the years, there were no changes. In fact, with one exception, each member of J. Geils Band seemed to maintain a pretty stable Look and role within the band.
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Mal Evans Had More Charisma Than the Lesser Stones

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 172009

I love The Rolling Stones, but when confronted with the all-important Are you a Beatles or a Stones guy? signifier, I go with The Beatles without hesitation.

I’ve never been a “comic book guy.” Rock ‘n roll has always been my comic book scene. I know some of you crossed over to rock from the comic book scene. That’s cool, but my super heroes have always been drawn from rock ‘n rollers and athletes – ’70s baseball players, in particular. The Beatles may have had more Rock Super Powers than any band in history. The only thing they were lacking was a magnetic manager, although Brian Epstein was dedicated and tragic enough of a figure to fit into a super power dynamic.

The Rolling Stones, which at best contained maybe 3 super heroes combined out of six or seven key characters (Jagger and Richards claiming a full share each with Brian Jones and Andrew Loog Oldham splitting a share in the early days), were never a match for The Beatles among rock fans seeking comic book-worthy super powers. Hell, Beatles’ lackey Mal Evans had more charisma than most of the Stones! Perhaps it’s no suprise that a lot of rock ‘n roll fans who call themselves Stones guys also have a childhood past collecting comic books. The comic book kids got their money’s worth of super powers before turning to rock.

For those of you who appreciate bands chock full of Rock Super Powers, what bands do you think rival The Beatles for top-to-bottom Rock Super Power strength? One band that immediately comes to mind for me, despite my not liking much of their music (sometimes that’s a secondary concern), is Cheap Trick.

Boogie Gone Bad

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 172009

As many of you know, I loves me some Brian Jones-era Stones and I loves me some boogie, but prepare yourself for boogie gone bad.

Really, if you’ve never seen this before, take it from me and don’t get your hopes up.

Hear Factor, deux: Live, Scratchy Vinyl

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 152009

Live albums…one of the rock industry’s key stopgap measures for bands lacking inspiration…one of rock band’s key moves toward quickly exhausting a contractual obligation. What rock nerd hasn’t bought a live album? What rock nerd spends much time spinning that live album within weeks of each purchase? They often came packaged in gatefold album sleeves back in the day, which had their use.

I was informed by our anonymous contributor that all tracks were burned from scratchy vinyl.

Live, Scratchy Vinyl (~75 MB)

For this mix, I SUMMON (relatively) young Townsman Oats and his main man, Townsman alexmagic.

The rest of you are also encouraged to share your virtual gatefold experiences.

What’s Hear Factor?

Acclaimed Live Rock Bands That Actually Turn Out to Be Studio Concoctions

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Aug 142009

WORLD’s GREATEST BAND! THE ONLY BAND THAT MATTERS!… I’m not going to make any claims on anyone else’s behalf, but for me, I found that The Rolling Stones and The Clash, Twin Towers of live rock ‘n roll credibility, were sorely disappointing live and actually seemed to derive as much as their legendary status and goodwill from studio wizardry as frequently derided bands, such as ELO and The Monkees. I never got to see the early Clash, documented at their ferocious live peak in the film Rude Boy (eg, the “Complete Control” footage above), but it seems to me that once they expanded their studio sound with the excellent London Calling and the rich Sandinista, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon couldn’t keep up, couldn’t present their newer music adequately in a live setting, and at the same time lost the focus to deliver the old stuff. Who knows, maybe that was poor Brian Jones’ fault too.

Have you ever felt this way about any band you love that was hyped up as having tremendous live cred? Do I just feel this way because I tend to be a “record” guy rather than a live guy, or have you too ever been psyched to see some “amazing” live band only to leave the show looking forward to getting back to their crafted studio records?

Summer: Live in the ’70s

Posted by mwall

Aug 142009

It’s been a little more than a year since this post first appeared and guess what: summer’s still here and summer concert tours are still going strong. That means a new crop of live albums is a-brewin’ – and what better Friday Flashback to set up our next Hear Factor collection, Live, Scratchy Vinyl (coming Saturday, 8/15/09). Without further ado, let’s send Mad Props in the direction of Townsman Mwall, and let’s get it on!

This post initially appeared 8/3/08.

It’s late summer now. I don’t know about you, but sitting outside on a summer night, for me not much is better than pointing the speakers out the window and playing some long live double album that during the regular year I’d have no time or patience for.

The ’70s were the best decade for live rock albums, and certainly the best decade for live rock albums you’d want to play outside on summer nights. It was the Era of the Live Album. There are lots of reasons why.
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