Smells like a theme around here.
Sep 172007
Sep 152007
Townspeople:
Other than an early, head-scratching introduction to the band through periodic spins of my Dad’s copy of “Lark’s Tongues In Aspic” (not bad for a guy born in 1930!), my experience with King Crimson is limited, and I am wary. A recent flyer at a used copy of “Beat” didn’t do much to make me like the band more — but I did spin 30 seconds of the title track from “In the Court Of the Crimson King” on iTunes and liked it well enough. Oh, and lest ye think I’m a knee-jerk prog hata, I can also put a check-mark next to the “saw Robert Fripp deliver lecture on Frippertronics at Georgetown University and liked it okay” box.
What I really want to know is: are King Crimson really Great, and — well, if so, why?
I look forward to your responses.
HVB
Sep 142007
Is it the band or the singer?
Sep 142007
Feel free to ask me 20 questions, one at a time, before venturing a guess. If you know this already, go right ahead and show us just how smart you are!
The answer may shock you!
Hint: This musician is NOT known for his saxophone playing.
We have a winner! (Scroll down in Comments.)
Sep 142007
Listening to The Singles Collection this evening, I’m reminded just how cool this photo is. Showing a group that is surly, smart, and smart-ass, this pic says nearly all you need to know as to how this band could ensnare the pre-teen me, living in the Philly burbs in the late ’80s.
I know you can’t post photos in the comments section, but links, please. What kind of stuff constitutes your Iconography of Cool.
[Mod. – Tell you what, this is a great topic put forth by Oats. Submit your links and we will see that they get activated and, at least over the weekend, collect and presented. One word of caution: try to send no more than a couple of links that you REALLY care about. Don’t be a wuss and try to cover all possible bases with a post containing 47 examples!]
Sep 132007
Good God — this teevee performance is pretty much sheer rock and roll perfection. Fellow Townsmen and Townswomen — use your eyes and help me spot all the things that make it so wonderful. Seriously, the TV industry should’ve just hung it up after this was broadcast, so they could go out on top.
I look forward to your responses.
HVB
It’s Rare That Anyone Longs for the DVD Release of Circa 1980 Late-Night Alternative to SNL, Fridays
Sep 132007
Remember Fridays, the circa 1980 late-night challenger to Saturday Night Live? Remember a pre-Seinfeld Michael Richards and his mostly unfunny Ronald Reagan impersonation? Remember almost anything else from the show? As it turns out, there were some things I’d forgotten about and some other things I didn’t have the chance to forget because they never made an impression on me in the first place.
I remember getting to see a couple of my favorite New Wave bands, bands that weren’t big enough or cool enough to make it to SNL. Specifically, I remember Graham Parker and the Rumour, right before Graham dumped them and lost the oomph to back up his narrow range of song topics.
I also vaguely remember seeing The Jam, who were smack in the middle of my favorite period of their music.
Not all the bands featured on Fridays were underappreciated and worth my staying up late to watch…
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