last man standing

Last Man Standing: Novel Band Names

Mar 132012

I’m shocked that we’ve never done a Last Man Standing on the following subject: bands named after novels, including characters in novels. Bands named after works of non-fiction do not qualify. Bands named after plays, a short story, and poetry collections do not qualify. Bands named after works of literary criticism do not qualify. The band name must come from a novel, excluding the name of the author of the novel.

Beside Soft Machine, I’m sure you can think of a few bands who do qualify. Game on!

Last Man Standing: Going Postal!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 172012

I just heard a brief report on the news that the US Postal Service is considering raising its regular letter rate to 50 cents and discontinuing Saturday deliveries, among other cost-cutting moves, to stem an estimated annual loss of about $18 billion per year by 2015. In honor of the rapidly diminishing old-time practice of sending and receiving physical letters through the mail, I declare a Last Man Standing on songs centered around the practice of sending and receiving letters, including the practice of mail delivery. A mere reference to a letter is not enough; the postal service and its deliverables must be central to the song.

I’ll kick it off with one of my favorite childhood rockers, “The Letter”!

Last Man Standing: Songs That Directly Reference Other Songs By the Inclusion of a Performed Excerpt

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Feb 102012

At the end of Stephen Malkmus‘ long guitar jam “No More Shoes” he begins singing the chorus of the KISS disco atrocity “I Was Made for Loving You,” a direct musical reference to another song through a brief performance within the contemporary song. That’s what I’m talking about! Songs that merely mention other songs don’t count; the referenced song must be included as part of the performance, be it a direct vocal (with original lyrics) or key instrumental passage. Got it?

Beside the Malkmus reference I can immediately think of 3 other examples, 2 of which are by the same band (and 1 of those 2 is a reference to one of that band’s own songs). Collectively, you are much smarter than me, so I trust we’ll come up with at least 5 entries in this difficult challenge.

Two more exclusions:

The referenced excerpt must be performed specifically for the newer recording; the inclusion of previous recordings, such as the early Buzzcocks records heard on the “radio” at the beginning of “I Believe,” do not count.
References to songs within the same album on any concept album/rock opera DO NOT QUALIFY. Sorry, those of you who were planning on loading up this LMS with Who self-references from their rock operas.

As always, don’t bogart this thread: one entry per post, please.

Make me proud!

Last Man Standing: I Want to Be a Politician

Posted by cdm

Jan 272012

Inspired by the Hall’s search for a Rock and Roll Cabinet, I’m looking for politicians who are mentioned by name in the title or lyrics of a song.

What counts: actual elected officials, cabinet members, monarchs, dictators, etc.

What doesn’t count: album titles, such as Disraeli Gears; made up characters, such as the Mayor of Simpleton, the Lizard King, King Everything, etc; and those involved in politics but who don’t hold some official position, such as Lee Atwater (I’m not sure if there are any examples of this last instance but I thought I’d weed it out to be on the safe side).

An individual’s name may only be used once.

As always, please limit your posts to one answer at a time.

I’ll start off with “Even Richard Nixon has got soul” in Neil Young’s “Campaigner.”

Last Man Standing: Five Years

Posted by tonyola

Jan 122012

Congratulations are in order to Mr. Moderator; the Rock Town Hall crew; and all the wackos, looneys, and yahoos who populate and litter the Hall. Even though I’ve only been year less than a year (since last March), it’s been a really fun time for me, and RTH is a frequent must-check. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I get pissed off, sometimes I learn stuff, and sometimes I scratch my head in utter bewilderment at aberrations like Mr. Mod’s mancrush for Mike Love. However, I am always entertained and that’s the whole point, isn’t it? In the spirit of fifth-anniversary things, I’d like to submit a Last Man Standing challenge with one simple rule…find a song that mentions “five years” either in the title or lyrics (album titles can count too). I’ll start things off with this:

David Bowie – “Five Years” Live on Old Grey Whistle Test 1972

Last Man Standing Speed Round Edition: Songs Featuring the 12 Months…In Order!

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jan 062012

Consider this a Last Man Standing Speed Round of sorts. I’ve kicked things off with Pilot’s “January.” Now, in order, can we list—one song per post, in our well-established “don’t bogart that Last Man Standing thread” tradition—songs featuring the next 11 months?

To rule out cover-all-angles fall-back songs like Neil Sedaka’s “Calendar Girl,” the first month mentioned in each song is the ONLY month that can be used.

Last Man Standing: Songs Featuring Radio Broadcast Sounds

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Dec 282011

Today we seek songs featuring radio broadcast sounds, either real or created and including the sound of someone turning the dial. You know this device. I will start with The Beatles’ “l Am the Walrus,” featuring some broadcast of Shakespeare’s King Lear.

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