Rock Town Hall • Rock Music Discussion

Line, Please

Apr 172014

Hey, gang! It’s time once again for another thrilling installment of our longstanding RTH fun-n-games activity called “Line, Please” – in which we seek to answer probing questions of the day through carefully selected rock and soul lyrics from years past.

In previous editions of this activity, we’ve looked for lyrical explanations for various issues – news trends, political/religious movements, sporting events, etc. — which have been top of mind for us as our collective human experience has unfolded. Today, though, I want you to search the annals of rock lyriciscm to find answers to personal struggles of the human condition. I want answers, mind you – not just references. So, for example, if I ask:

“I am tired of my boring, pointless nine-to-five existence — yet family obligations keep me shackled to my empty, unrewarding career. Is there a way I should approach at my professional life to give it purpose?”

You might answer:

“Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend!”

Get the idea? Good. Here are the perils of the general human condition I hope Rock can address:

I am growing old, and am deeply concerned that I have yet to accomplish anything of any substance. How can I accomplish something meaningful with my life – or be happy with my meager achievements to date? Line, please.

My children are growing up so fast, and as they develop into independent people, they see less and less relevance in the things I believe. How can I best avoid judging them as they grow? Line, please.

I love my wife/husband, but sometimes fear that the “spark” has gone out of our romance. How can we recapture it? Line, please.

There’s no denying it; my body is aging, and I have reached the point where growing older means working harder to simply stave off sickness and death. What can I do to stay truly healthy, in mind and body, as I grow older? Line, please.

My career has afforded me the luxury of buying many of the things I want most. Yet, this materialistic pursuit of things brings me no joy. How can I best turn my earnings into true satisfaction with my life? Line, please.

Feel free to add any life challenges I may have omitted. I look forward to your responses.

HVB

The Mucked Up Early Who Albums

Posted by funoka

Apr 152014

This may be well-known around these parts, but Chris Charlesworth is re-running a Crawdaddy piece on his blog that The Who tweeted out this week. He says:

The Who had blazed a trail with their state-of-the-art amplification but as home stereos became more sophisticated in the early seventies their records somehow lacked the clarity of their rivals. To remedy this, for the Who’s Next sessions they bypassed Kit Lambert in favour of the technically more accomplished Glyn Johns, who produced nine tracks of such sparkling clarity that The Who sounded like a new band.

It always bugged me as a kid that Beatles and Led Zep albums just sounded better than The Who albums that were released about the same time. Now I see that the finger is pointed at Kit Lambert. Does anyone know if there are any good remastered versions of the early albums to be found?

AC/DC Blows Fuse?

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Apr 152014

He doesn’t want to make it cry or sing.

Townsman hrrundivbakshi may want to take a seat before reading this. If there’s a fourth member of his Holy Trinity of Rock (ie, ELO, Prince, and ZZ Top), it may be AC/DC. Here goes…

Reports are flying around that the band is going to call it quits in the wake of rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young‘s recent stroke. This is sad news, obviously. Although I’ve never been a big fan of AC/DC, years of prodding by my close personal friend Townsman Sethro, finally turned me onto the genius of their economical hard rock production power. The band has good hooks to boot, that I came around to enjoying as long as I could block out either of their meathead singers. Watching their videos over the last 15 years of my semi-enlightenment regarding the band’s merits, I was always struck by the dedication and focus of Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar. He seemed to define all that is right in a dedicated rhythm guitarist. He’s the rhythm brother that John Fogerty probably wished Tom would have been, or Mark Knopfler’s would-be rhythm brother, the one who “doesn’t want to make it cry or sing.” The guy was a rhythm machine, with seemingly no need to hog the spotlight. He just kept his head bobbing, his forearms pumping, and the band chugging ahead.

I’ve never known much about how AC/DC operated. I found this passage in the story linked above especially meaningful:

Mystery Date

Posted by cherguevara

Apr 132014

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 at least one of you 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

Say what you will about this song. And if you know who or what it is, mum’s the word, m’kay?

Natalie Merchant Can Kiss My Ass

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Apr 112014

Natalie Merchant interrupts her set at World Cafe Live to take her first selfie.

At a recent performance at Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live, former Michael Stipe separate tour bus buddy Natalie Merchant stopped performing to personally confiscate phones from members of her audience.

Merchant did lose patience with cellphones, however, as she confiscated multiple phones (even getting help from Dye) between “Texas” and Ophelia’s “Kind & Generous,” an apt ending for Big Day Out. Asking why it could not still be 1998, when people did not feel the need to be on phones and take pictures all the time, she took a stance rarely taken by performers at a show. And the crowd seemed to be fine with it, as they were joyously partaking in the familiarity of an old tune.

http://thekey.xpn.org/2014/04/07/stirring-spunky-and-sublime-natalie-merchant-enchants-the-crowd-at-big-day-out/

That’s right, Natalie Merchant actually confiscated phones – and had venerated WXPN DJ David Dye help her. She doesn’t have better things to do onstage, like sing and perform? I’m cool with artists having their say about people’s inability to “be in the moment,” but leave it at that. It’s 2014. Revive the Latin Casino or Palumbo’s (two long-closed Philadelphia-area “supper clubs” from the pre-rock age) if it’s that hard to perform in the modern age. She annoyed me when she was relevant. She should be grateful that anyone cares to tweet a photo from the show, or whatever nonsense is important to people these days.

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Intros and Outros

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Apr 112014

Quick: What are the first rock ‘n roll intros and outros that come to mind for you! It doesn’t matter if they are from live or studio recordings.

The first intro that just came to mind for me (not my favorite) is the alternating 2-singer count-in to The Rascals’ “Good Lovin'”. That is what’s going on at the start of that song, right?

The first outro that just came to mind for me (possibly my favorite) is Ian Hunter’s “I’ve wanted to do this for years!” during the fade of “All the Young Dudes.” WHAT is it he’s wanted to do for years? That always sticks with me.

KISS Alive I & II are loaded with classic intros, that even I would recognize if I had to hear them again.

Sometimes the outro can come via a show’s MC: “Elvis has left the building!”

All-Star Jam

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Apr 112014

It’s the weekend! Tell us what’s on your mind, where you’ll be somehow, somewhere Friday night.

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