Here’s a Last Man Standing suggested by Townsman Mwall for those of you uncomfortable with The Beatles’ as-yet-unparalelled achievements in music. Here’s your chance to air out all the ways in which The Beatles suck. I look forward to what this short list will say about us!
I’ll start with “The Seeker,” by the Who.
RIP, indeed. Billy Powell was Great.
On One From the Road, Ronnie gives up a “Billy Powell on the piano” at the beginning of the piano solo on (I think) “Call Me the Breeze.” And I’m pretty sure that he introduced Billy’s solos on more than one occasion. (I don’t recall him introducing anyone else, I wonder if that was cause for inter-band tensions.)
What I’m looking for is other shout-outs that have been captured on an official release.
Please confine the shout-out to those which take place during the song, not in between. So, Mick’s introduction of the band in between songs on Love You Live does not count.
I’ll open with what I consider to be the gold standard: “Bob Mayo… Bob Mayo on the keyboards,” from Frampton Comes Alive.
I’m not sure we’ll get too far before there’s a last man standing, but you’ve surprised me in the past. By “aboriginal” touches I’m referring to overdubs or musical themes that are direct references to a country’s “native” culture. The “native” culture does not necessarily need to be in any way connected to the culture of the artist. I’ll start with a probably sincere-yet-silly example, a rock song centered around Native American-style chanting: Redbone, “Come and Get Your Love”
Go!
You know the rules: one submission at a time, last man standing gets a coveted RTH No-Prize. I’ll begin with:
“Baby Talks Dirty,” The Knack
… a rewrite of “My Sharona”
The Clash‘s “Wrong ’em Boyo,” from London Calling, begins as if the band is going to cover the chestnut “Stagger Lee.” Then the band breaks down and Joe Strummer instructs the band to “start all over again,” at which point, as we all know, the band breaks into another cover, “Wrong ’em Boyo,” by a Jamaican band, The Rulers.
The first time I spun London Calling this instance of songus interruptus was quite a thrill. In the following years it would be a gimmick I could usually do without. Little did I know until just now, however, that the original version by The Rulers had the same outbreak of songus interruptus!
So there’s a head start in this Last Man Standing, which I hope has more than the Motown song I have in mind. Well-known live television performances may also be considered, but live shows that only you may have seen among us, may not. Good luck!
For those who won’t – who can’t – wave the white flag, this Last Man Standing has returned to The Main Stage!
I was listening to The Who’s “Magic Bus” the other day and it occurred to me that I first learned the word queue while grooving to this song. To this point, who knows how many British terms and slang I’d learned from The Beatles and The Stones, but I distinctly remember becoming aware of this queue word thanks to “Magic Bus”. I was probably 13 or 14. In coming years I’d learn many more British terms and slang through rock songs. I’m sure you did too. In this week’s Last Man Standing, I ask that you recount British terms/slang and the specific rock songs that first exposed you to these words. It’s all right if more than one of you were first exposed to the word lorry, for instance, by two different songs.
Townspeople from outside the US are welcome to share the converse, American expressions first learned through specific rock songs.
