tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2039653726043674182024-03-04T22:00:18.146-08:00Ten Thousand Words In a Cardboard BoxA running commentary on the most obscure music possible.runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-37525776989307093742015-03-18T11:46:00.000-07:002015-03-18T11:46:27.219-07:00Beyond the Big Four: Thrash, Past and Present<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDGLsx1sXAMDyxQI7vlxXBwe9JCmVav0b0euv5S7zQN4y5RS0Tw_V5KQZIw7sdgLX0o_0fNfyUINgueBdrw2_G209HWyZkg9XpQIhO8pvQGK-O4aTAMNRvJPV60DkqH6icts2_j1qq2Dd/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCDGLsx1sXAMDyxQI7vlxXBwe9JCmVav0b0euv5S7zQN4y5RS0Tw_V5KQZIw7sdgLX0o_0fNfyUINgueBdrw2_G209HWyZkg9XpQIhO8pvQGK-O4aTAMNRvJPV60DkqH6icts2_j1qq2Dd/s1600/Slide1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joel Grind of contemporary thrash icons Toxic Holocaust</td></tr>
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As Maxwell Smart, the comedic detective on the 70’s TV show
“Get Smart” used to famously say, “Missed it by THAT much.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is how I often feel about the punk
revolution that unfolded in my lifetime and about 20 miles down the road from
me in Los Angeles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when punk hit big
in ’77-’79, I was 10-12 years old, living the suburban lifestyle of my parents,
and hardly in a position to experience punk first-hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am jealous now of kids like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Steve McDonald</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Redd Kross</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Harley Flanaga</b>n
of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cro-Mags</b> who started going to
punk shows when they were like ten years old and who literally grew up in the
punk scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reality was, there was
no way my mom was going to let me go out to dive-y punk clubs and seedy bars and
listen to a lot of loud angry, anti-establishment music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The punk movement might have been taking
place on another planet, or in another geological epoch as far as my personal
experience was concerned.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But even that is kind of a cop-out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, while Long Beach, California was
(and still is) kind of a cultural backwater, more repressive Orange County than
cosmopolitan Los Angeles County, Long Beach did have some punk
connections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cal State University at
Long Beach was right up the road from my various houses for my entire
childhood, and Cal State would occasionally host punk and new wave shows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometime in ’81 or ’82, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X</b> played some sort of all-day festival on Cal State’s campus; my
best friend then and now, John, wandered over with his father and younger
brother, mostly to make fun of the weird punkers and their freaky outfits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why I didn’t join them I have no idea, and I
could kick myself now given how much I have loved X for most of the time since
then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Black Flag also played at the Cal
State on-campus tavern at least once; I actually was going to drive down from
UCLA and see Flag in ’86 there but the gig was canceled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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The other great Long Beach punk institution was of course
Fenders Ballroom. Fenders opened in 1984, after the first wave of punk, but
still at a time when there was many great first-wave and second-wave bands
playing around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fenders was admittedly
across town from my parents’ house, on the fringes of downtown, which then as
now wasn’t the greatest area to be lurking around at night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my parents used to let me take the bus
after school to downtown to buy comic books from the used book stores there, so
its not like I wasn’t EVER allowed to go downtown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And besides, by 1984 my friends all had cars
and we could have driven down there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
yet we never went and saw a show at Fenders, not once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, we never attended shows at
Huntington Beach’s punk club, the Golden Bear, either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, I know, lame.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But in my defense, punk wasn’t exactly the most welcoming of
sub-cultures, especially to the obviously uninitiated like me and my
friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around ’81 I can remember there
was much discussion about who was a “poseur” or not when it came to punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can still recall the time when these two
punkettes who went to our junior high, Joanna and Letha, who sat by my friend
John and I in 8<sup>th</sup> grade science, actually called us both “poseurs”,
and I have to say, she was right!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
wasn’t until ’83 or ’84 that I really got serious about punk, collecting
cassettes and going to shows, so at that time I very much was a poseur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And its one thing to be called a “poseur” by
a girl in your science class; its another to get your ass kicked and your money
stolen by a bunch of violent punk goons because you brought your obviously
suburban ass to a punk show, which is what I was convinced would happen if we
actually DID attend a show in those days.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So when it comes to punk, I missed the boat by a few
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was, however more or less at
ground zero for the next “revolution”, although this one wasn’t so much an
innovative new breakthrough so much as a melding of two previously antithetical
sub-cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m talk of course about
the merging of hardcore punk and heavy metal to form its offspring,
thrash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I wasn’t front row center
when Metallica first took the stage or anything like that (which again happened
not 20 miles from my residence), I do feel like I got to see that movement grow
from fairly early on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
For me, 1985-1986 was the watershed year for this
movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was also perhaps not
coincidentally a watershed year for me and my freedom, as it was in fall of ’85
that I moved up to Los Angeles to attend college.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only did I have more freedom, I was also
closer to the action, literally and figuratively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was exposed to, and able to seek out,
more and different music then than I had been in high school.</div>
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<br /></div>
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To this day I am amazed that punk and metal managed to not
only co-exist but to meld into a new and better force, because in junior high
and high school punk and metal were anathema to one another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By ’80 or so, most of the popular,
college-bound kids were into new wave and to a lesser extent punk; the patron
saint institution of our junior high was the radio station KROQ, which would
play only “new” music, mostly new wave with a smattering of the more melodic
punk then available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only kids still
into things like classic rock or heavy metal were the stoners and loadies
taking metals shop for the third straight time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In addition, classic rock and metal were much bigger farther away from
the beach communities, and back then being an inlander was also considered
taboo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We referred to all heavy metalers
as “hessians”, after the hairy, bearded German mercenaries the British used
against America during the Revolutionary War; ignorant people misunderstood
this term and instead thought we were calling them “heshers”, which I never
understood—what the fuck is a “hesher”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Someone who heshes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is
heshing then?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But anyway to profess ANY
sort of liking for ANY heavy metal was to “out” yourself as a hessian inlander,
the absolute nadir of cool at that time.</div>
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Metal fans hated punk just as passionately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To them, we were a bunch of faggy, artsy
trend followers, falling all over ourselves to like any band with a British
accent and a funny band name and haircuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And to some extent, they were right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Things really DID get kind of cheesy back then, with so many legions of
one-hit new wave wonders clogging up the airwaves.</div>
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The fact that this divide was socioeconomic as well as
cultural didn’t help either; as mentioned, most of the kids into “alternative”
music were from the wealthier beach communities, college-bound kids from
suburban upper middle class homes, while most of the metalers were bused to our
schools from inland, more blue-collar communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These kids for the most part were NOT taking
AP American History but instead were shuttled into the trades—wood shop, home
ec, ROTC, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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On occasion this cultural warfare exploded into open
warfare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a couple of occasions my
friends and I got into scuffles with hessians hanging out smoking in front of
the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not much of a fighter so
I wasn’t directly involved in any fisticuffs (you can tell, because anyone who
uses the term “fisticuffs” is definitely NOT a fighter) but would mostly hang
with my friends out of solidarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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So for kids of my age, metal was verboten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You would NEVER admit to liking ANY metal
song EVER if you wanted to remain part of the “cool” crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And anyway the kids into metal came from
other communities both economically and geographically distant from mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But something funny happened around ’85-’86 at my former
high school:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>heavy metal, formerly the
last thing any sosh kid would admit to liking, suddenly became the dominant
paradigm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no idea how or why this
happened; I suspect some super-popular alpha-male kid or clique decided to like
it just for a new thrill and everyone else followed his/their lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the difference was startling, and VERY
generational.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the one hand,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>kids a few years older than me were so stuck
in the punk/new wave era that they still couldn’t evolve past their ingrained
hatred of heavy metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids like my
friend John’s brother Tom, who was 2-3 years younger than us, basically spent
their main formative years liking the music we found totally antithetical to
our own chosen culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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My “generation” of course fell in the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I grew up with an ingrained hatred and
contempt for heavy metal based not just on the sociocultural/popularity divide
it crossed but also because I found it to be very simplistic, meat-headed
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most heavy metal lyrics centered
on one of two topics:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1) fantasy themes
associated with sorcery and swordplay; (2) partying and sex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, it was musical escapism, which for
a variety of reasons has never appealed to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Quite the converse, in fact:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>one
of the things that eventually appealed to me about punk was the way it
confronted the hypocrisy and horrors of contemporary society head-on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was not ham-fisted escapism, it was a bold
and confrontational look at reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But by 1985-1986, change was in the air, and both punk and
metal were evolving along similar lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cutsey new wave novelty songs were rapidly diminishing in their ability
to entertain; we’d been there, done that, for far more haircut bands with a
synthesizer than we could count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1985
was the year I really started moving away from melodic, slickly produced music
and started appreciating the rougher edges of punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I moved from being a disciple of new wave
bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Depeche Mode, the Smiths</b>,
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Cure</b> into first discovering
the early punk classics by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Ramones,
the Pistols</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Generation X</b>
and eventually migrating into the harder, rawer sounds of bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">T.S.O.L., the Germs, Fear</b>, and, my
personal favorite, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flag themselves had evolved through the
early/mid 80’s from a brutal hardcore outfit to one as influenced by the
sludgy, slow noodling of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Sabbath</b>
as they were by the punk fury of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Pistols</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During that seminal year, I
found myself attracted more and more to the harder end of the spectrum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And this was a time when both punk and metal were evolving
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Punks who started bands barely
knowing how to plug in their guitars had evolved first into competence and
thence into mastery of their instruments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As they got better at playing, they started wanting to play songs that
were longer and/or more complex than the short fast bursts made famous by the
Ramones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If there’s one place that heavy
metal outstripped punk rock music it was in musicality and musicianship—metal
artists were into studio polish and technical mastery and filled their songs
with gaudy drum solos and blistering, multi-note guitar solos and fluid bass
lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is probably an
over-simplification to imply that all punk musicians became metal aficionados
when they finally learned to play their instruments, but it had to have been a
big influence on many punk musicians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Punk in its original Ramones-derived formulation was too simplistic and
short to challenge many truly gifted musicians for very long.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the metal side of things, in the 80’s there were many
metal fans and musicians who were simply not satisfied with pure musical
escapism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lyrical emphasis on
dungeons and dragons themes on the one hand and on booze and poontang on the
other was getting trite and overused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Where else can you take it that Zep or Van Halen hasn’t already taken
it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So some metal bands started writing
songs that explored grittier aspects of reality, including the horrors of war,
the anxiety of nuclear brinksmanship, as well as the stifling, conformist
attitudes of modern American culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These themes were much closer to the concepts that punks were writing
about than traditional metal artists were writing about.</div>
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Another thing that metal absorbed from punk was the whole
DIY mindset of putting together your own gigs and tours, fliers and
advertising, and recording your own record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first wave of punk from New York and England hewed to the
then-monolithic major record label corporate culture—<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Ramones, Pistols, Clash, Televisio</b>n, etc., were all signed by
major record companies and recorded their albums (though admittedly in shorter
time and at lower costs) at the same studios that the rock dinosaurs they were
seeking to supplant used.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the
wake of the explosion of punk, which really preached an “anyone can do it”
ethos, a wealth of smaller fanzines, record labels and recording studios
cropped up to fill the demand for the lower tiers of rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the 80’s metal musicians and fans started
co-opting some of that do it yourself mindset to put on small metal shows and crank
out limited pressings of metal records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Often these underground metal gigs and records were recorded
inexpensively and retained a more raw, punkish sound to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iron
Maiden</b> in England was one of the first big names in heavy metal to release
albums that retained a rough, streetwise edge to them that belied the usual
studio polish and slick veneer of most heavy metal.</div>
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In a variety of locations throughout the world, punkers were
becoming more amenable to metal, and metalers were becoming less hostile to
punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cultural differences were
eventually outweighed by a recognition of some of the things punk and metal
shared in common:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>both are well defined
anti-establishment subcultures, both have a distinct mode of dress emphasizing
leather and denim and distinctive hairstyles, both emphasize music that is loud
and fast and wild and young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In Southern California the first I saw of this merging of
the musical minds was the proliferation of patches, stickers, and painted band
logos on denim and leather jackets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Whereas before people would have the Pistols or the Clash painted on
their leather jacket, starting around ’85 or so I started seeing more bands
from that punk metal fringe, bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">English
Dogs, Discharge, Corrosion of Conformity</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charged G.B.H</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These bands,
while recognized as very punk, also seemed to be moving toward are more metal
sound as well.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the metal side I of course was entirely ignorant of the
revolution going on, at least at first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But starting in ’85 I started hearing about this new thing called “speed
metal”, although I didn’t yet know much about what it was (I could deduce from
the name that it was metal played really fast but didn’t know much beyond
that).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in 1986 I remember reading
more and more about this young, brash band that was kicking asses and taking
names.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had opened for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ozzy Osbourne</b> (and supposedly blew him
off the stage), and their fans had torn the seats from some arena in Texas to
make room to slam dance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slam dancing .
. . to metal???<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was certainly a new
development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In ’86 I can remember
reading an article in BAM (Bay Area Magazine) about them and about how they
were supposedly influenced by a number of traditional punk bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Misfits</b> (whom I had recently gotten
in to; I bought <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Legacy of Brutality</i>
when it first came out after reading about it in Spin magazine), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Exploited</b> (I had bought their best
of album in ’86), and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">G.B.H</b>., whom I
had also recently gotten into (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midnight
Madness and Beyond</i> was my first G.B.H. album, and one I still love).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A metal band that counts hardcore punk bands
as an inspiration?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This I had to check
out.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The band of course was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>
and needless to say they went on to bigger things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had just released what arguably was the
best album of their career, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Master of
Puppets</i>, but that was not the first album of theirs I bought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my perversely twisted reasoning at the
time, I felt I shouldn’t buy their most recent album because maybe it was too
polished and metal-y, and maybe I shouldn’t buy their first album because it
would be too raw, so I figured their second album might be the perfect
combination of punk and metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I
ended up buying Ride the Lightning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
must confess that at first I could not hear the “punk” in it—it just sounded
like squirrelly, fast metal, which I still couldn’t stand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it took me a few months to get past its
very metal veneer and see the punk at its core.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now I listen to this album and I’m struck with how UN-metal it
is—there’s no songs about booze or dragons or sorcery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the songs deal with real-world things
like nuclear war, death in battle, and capital punishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the chugging, violent riffs are so raw
and harsh, they owe far more to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black
Flag</b> than they do to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Deep Purple</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I often wonder what I would have made of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kill ‘Em All,</i> which I didn’t buy until
two years later, when it was reissued by Electra in the wake of Metallica’s
success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now this is one of my favorite
albums of theirs and it definitely is rawer and punkier than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lightning</i>. But would I have been able to
get past the metal flourishes that characterize it any more than I could on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ride the Lightning</i>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the time I was just still too fixed in the world of punk rock to
appreciate anything with even a whiff of metal to it.</div>
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Over the next few years, this new punk-metal hybrid, known
as thrash, exploded in popularity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the 1986-1987 school year I became a DJ at UCLA’s radio station, KLA, and was
exposed to even more of this burgeoning scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can still recall playing songs by punk crossover thrash artists like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">D.R.I., Crumbsuckers, Ludichrist</b>, and<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Carnivore</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually my hardline anti-metal stance
softened and I started getting into metal predecessors like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zeppelin</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AC/DC</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1988 I had also
bought <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slayer’s</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reign in Blood </i>and<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> South of
Heaven</i>, along with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica’</b>s
first album and their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Garage Days
Re-Revisited</i> EP of cover songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Until very recently, however, I hadn’t ventured much beyond
the “Big Two” of thrash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Napster
era I had downloaded “Peace Sells But Who’s Buying” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Megadeth</b>, a song I still consider to be one of the angriest, most
punk songs of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back in the 80’s
I had goofed along with everyone else to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Anthrax’</b>s
rap-metal crossovers—I would play “I’m the Man” on my radio show at KLA because
I loved the goofiness of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I never
got into them like I did the west coast thrash bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, recently I downloaded a number of
songs from two of their early albums, 1985’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spreading the Disease</i> and 1987’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Among the Living</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
especially like the frantic chugging metal mania of “Madhouse” and “A.I.R.” off
Spreading the Disease”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Madhouse” owes
a huge debt to the classic metal of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Judas
Priest</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iron Maiden</b>, especially
in lead singe <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joey Belladonna’s</b>
high-pitched cock rock vocals, but has the chugging and stop-and-start rhythmic
complexity of thrash and the shout-along choruses of NYHC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“A.I.R.” has passages of blistering speed
that match the best of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slayer</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Probably my favorite Anthrax song is “I Am the Law” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Among the Living</i>; the big build-up and
tribal drums create an atmosphere of anticipation that is more than met by the
wonderful main part of the song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
like the title track and “Caught in a Mosh”, which may be the first time that
“mosh” was mentioned on a recording.</div>
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At the same time they were recording <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spreading the Disease</i> in 1985, guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scott Ian</b> and drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlie
Benante</b> whomped together a recording with former Anthrax bassist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dan Lilker</b> and hardcore punk vocalist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Milano</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They called themselves <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stormtroopers of Death</b> and their album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Speak English or Die</i>, has subsequently been recognized as a thrash
classic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of the songs feature
lyrics that are politically correct at best or offensive at the worst, such as
the title track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The members uniformly
insist that the whole project was tongue-in-cheek and never intended to be
taken seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But songs like “March
of the S.O.D.”, “Sargent D and the S.O.D”, “Kill Yourself”, and “United Forces”
are even more raw and punk influenced (particularly Milano’s harsh, shouted
hardcore-style vocals).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They rarely last
more than a minute or two but contain a mighty wallop of fury and energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now this is one of my favorite albums
and bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Outside of the “Big Four” of thrash—<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, </b>and<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Anthrax</b>—a huge number of bands surged in their wake, and several
of these achieved some recognition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dan Lilker’s</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">post-Anthrax </b>and<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> S.O.D. band, Nuclear Assault</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their 1986 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Game Over</i> is
widely hailed now as a pioneering thrash classic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their sound was chunkier and had more bass in
it than most other thrash bands, and a rumbling sound that evoked <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead</b>, especially on songs like the
speeding “Live, Suffer, Die”. “After the Holocaust” has a more melodic intro
but eventually settles into a brutal double-kick onslaught.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rise from the Ashes” from 1988’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Survive</i> had more polish but retained
much of the angry force of their debut; this is very much one of the best songs
of their extensive catalog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
“Brainwashed”, lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Connelly</b>
actually sounds like a pissed-off <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sam
Kinison</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nuclear Assault released
two more albums in the early 90’s before folding up shop but then reformed in
the early 2000s and recorded <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Third World
Genocide</i>. The title track is a particular standout, slower and more ominous
than most of their earlier work but retaining a taut emotional power.</div>
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Moving west from the eastern seaboard, two bands were making
waves in the thrash world in Arizona.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sacred Reich</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Formed in 1985, their first release was
1987’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ignorance</i>, which regrettably
is not available on iTunes or any other commercial site but is uploaded to
YouTube.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first song, “Death Squad”
is a slow, ominous chugger that eventually of course rips into a lightning fast
assault; the vocals are not falsetto metal yowlings but are harsh punk shouting,
which I like a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The title track
starts with some major guitar melodies and noodling followed by some blistering
riffs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite song off this album
is “Violent Solutions”, a brutal assault that reminds me a lot of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Discharge</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Bones’</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">post-Discharge</b>
band, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Broken Bones</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Sacred Reich’s songwriting continued to evolve in this
highly sociopolitical way, and by 1990’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American
Way</i> had achieved a pinnacle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Crimes
Against Humanity” has a peppery, chattering drum/rhythm and a sing-song vocal
as lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Phil Rind</b> outlines horrific
war crimes in his lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“State of
Emergency” has a repetitive riff and a slow grind, but the title track really
is the standout cut here, chugging along like “Master of Puppets”; Rind’s
singing here contains occasionally falsetto elements but still hews more to a
hardcore shouting type of vocal that keeps this from being just another metal
retread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1996’s Heal, Reich had lost
some of their early fury, and this outing has a bit too much polish and more groove
metal influence for me to truly appreciate.</div>
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The other band that emerged from the Phoenix thrash scene
was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Flotsam and Jetsam</b>, who became
famous when the lost bassist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jason
Newsted</b> to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b> after the
death of Cliff Burton in 1986.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve only
just begun to explore the prolific output of this band, but so far I like the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Judas Priest</b> speed-pummeling of
“Desecrator” from their 1986 debut <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doomsday
for the Deceiver</b>, and the blistering but funky “Dig Me Up To Bury Me” off
2001’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My God</i>, and the odd, eerie
piano (!) driven title track from 2012’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ugly
Noise</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>F&J suffered even more
than most thrash bands from having a bewildering amount of member turnover, and
this has made their output highly uneven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am still trying to negotiate this bumpy territory and find the
nuggets.</div>
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Another thrash metal hot spot was obviously the Bay
Area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to pioneers like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Exodus, Metallica</b> (who moved there from
southern California when <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cliff Burton</b>
replaced <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ron McGovney</b> on bass), and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Megadeth</b> (formed when <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Mustaine</b> was kicked out of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b> and replaced by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kirk Hammett</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Exodus</b>), a couple of other bands achieved significant recognition
during their careers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Testament</b> is arguably grouped with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nuclear Assault</b> in being in the “second
Big Four” of thrash, along with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sacred
Reich</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kreator</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1987’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Legacy</i> features their blitzkrieg assault, especially on songs like album
opener “Over the wall” and “Curse of the Legions of Death”, which is
reminiscent of “Whiplash” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>
or “Angel of Death” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slayer</b>, two
of the hardest fastest songs in the thrash canon, and shows the power of this
band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The First Strike is Deadly” is
another song from this album that contains a blistering sonic assault that
harkens back to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ride the Lightning</i>-era
classics like “Creeping Death” or “Trapped Under Ice”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The song titles and lyrics on 1988’s follow-up, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The New Order</i>, hue more to the
fantastical/dark metal, unlike the heavily realistic topics of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Legacy</i>, but the playing is crisper,
the songs longer and more complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
song I like the most here is the title track, which sounds to me like a lost
cut from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Master of Puppets</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1989’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Practice
What You Preach</i> moved a little back toward more socially conscious lyrics,
on songs like “Perilous Nation”, “Greenhouse Effect”, and the title track, on
which lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chuck Billy’s</b>
vocals really evoke those of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James
Hetfield</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>.</div>
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As the 90’s unfolded, Testament continued to make excellent,
uncompromising thrash albums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b> themselves moved in more
accessible pop directions, Testament remained faithful to the original sound
and structure of thrash while adding some elements of the emerging nu metal
scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Billy’s vocals, especially on
songs like “Face in the Sky” off 1990’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Souls
of Black</i> and “Let Go of My World” and “Agony” off 1992’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ritual</i>, really bring to mind
Hetfield’s angry growl, though probably the best song in this regard is the
title track off 1994’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Low</i>; the
jackhammer riff here reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>’s
cover of “Free Speech for the Dumb” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Discharge</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On this latter album, however, Billy’s vocals
are starting to evolve into a throaty, rattling growl more similar to that of
most nu metal or death metal bands; by 1997’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Demonic</i>, this new death metal style vocal<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had become dominant, on songs like “Demonic
Refusal” and “The Burning Times”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Testament took a hiatus from 1999 to 2008, when they
released <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Formation of Damnation</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Billy had moved back a little from the growled
vocal style, and songs like “Henchmen Ride” recaptured some of Testament’s
early energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On 2012’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dark Roots of Earth</i> has several songs
that really move, including “Rise Up”, “Native Blood”, “True American Hate”,
and “Man Kills Mankind”; I like the first and last of these the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Another Bay Area band that achieved some minor recognition
back it the day was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Death Angel</b>,
which was formed by a group of Filipino cousins in 1982.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They members were renowned for their
youth—they were all under 20 when they released their first album in 1987, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Ultra-Violence</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought their second album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Frolic Through the Park</i>, when it came
out in 1988, mostly because I’d heard, and loved, their song “Bored”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not a fan of the vocals, which are wimpy and
pouty and metal-y, but the guitar playing (especially the crunchy lead riff,
which builds to a bludgeoning crescendo as the song progresses), and the
lyrics, are top notch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is a
worthy successor to punk concepts of boredom, such as “No Fun” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stooges</b> and the politics of boredom
espoused by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Sex Pistols</b>.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kreator </b>are,
along with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nuclear Assault, Sacred Reich</b>,
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Testament</b>, in the second tier of
thrash bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Originally from Essen,
Germany, Kreator, like many bands in general and thrash bands in particular,
have over the years had a revolving door of musicians, in this case the only constant
being vocalist/guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Miland Petrozza</b>
(drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jurgen Reil</b> has also been a
near-constant, leaving the band only for two years in the mid 90’s).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now Kreator is probably my favorite
thrash band, for two reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, I
have always liked Petrozza’s unique vocals, which split the difference between
metal shrieks and punkish howls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
sounds ANGRY, and I really feel this fits well with their whole image and
outlook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, perhaps because of
their European background, Kreator has some of the most politically radical
lyrics and song titles—“Violent Revolution”, “Ghetto War”, “Progressive
Proletarians”, “Radical Resistance, “Hordes of Chaos, “Extreme Aggression”,
“Riot of Violence”, “Pandemonium”, “World Anarchy”—all espouse a worldview
characterized by anarchy and violent revolutionary struggle that greatly
appeals to my highly radical political views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kreator appears to have taken
the leftist politics of much punk music to an even more radical extreme, and
their espousal of anarchy, chaos, and violence in particular really evoke the
spirit of first-wave punks like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Clash</b> as well as their even more radical followers in crust punk such as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crass</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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Like many thrash bands, Kreator exploded on the scene in the
mid 80’s with their albums <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Endless Pain</i>
(1985), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pleasure to Kill</i> (1986), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terrible Certainty</i> (1987) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Extreme Aggression</i> (1989).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their earliest material off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Endless Pain</i>, often evokes the
primitivist metal of black metal precursors Venom, especially on songs like
“Flag of Hate”, and the Judas Priest-infuenced “Tormentor”, and on the title
track, on which the vocals sound really Teutonic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like the angry energy of “Riot of
Violence” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pleasure To Kill</i>, even
though its lyrics seem pretty crude and simplistic and the vocals/lyrics sound
very foreign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“As the World Burns” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Terrible Certainty</i> and “Betrayer” and
the title track of 1989’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Extreme
Aggression</i> are also standout tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One of my favorite tracks from Kreator’s early phase is “People of the
Lie” off 1990’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Coma of Souls</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song has a fantastic surging rhythm
similar to “Ride the Lightning” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Terror Zone” off this same album has a
compelling, syncopated rhythm from drummer Reil, and “Agents of Brutality”
slowly builds to a frantic speed metal attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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Kreator’s four 90’s albums, 1992’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Renewal</i>, 1995’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cause for
Conflict</i>, 1997’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Outcast</i>, and
1999’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Endorama,</i> found the band
experiencing heavy member turnover and experimenting with genres beyond thrash,
including death metal, melodic metal, and even industrial metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Prevail” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cause for Conflict</i> is still hard and heavy but has more guitar
harmonies than previous Kreator songs as well as staccato drums evoking black
metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Progressive Proletarians” also
evokes black metal in its sound but its lyrics still adhere to the
sociopolitical perspective of much prior Kreator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On 1999’s appropriately titled Endorama,
songs like “Future King”, “Pandemonium”, and “Shadowland” all combine classic
thrash with melodic thrash with occasional industrial flourishes (such as the
channeled, repetitive vocals of “Pandemonium” and the processed, synth-like
guitars of the chorus of “Shadowland”).</div>
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In the early 2000’s, thrash underwent a renaissance, and
many of the first-run thrash bands either reformed or returned to their
“classic” thrash sound of the 80’s, only with vastly improved production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kreator vaulted back to the forefront of
thrash with their return to form, 2001’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Violent
Revolution</i>, which didn’t just recapture the “classic” Kreator sound, it
built upon it with better production and mastering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs like “Reconquering the Throne” and
“Servant in Heaven, King in Hell” are wild, loud energetic blasts of classic
punk-infused thrash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Petrozza’s vocals
are in fine form and the guitars roar and snarl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Servant” retains some of the melodic
elements of 90’s Kreator but fuses it with the angry surge of their punkier
80’s work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my all-time favorite
Kreator songs, and two of my favorite songs of all time, are “Ghetto War” and
“Violent Revolution”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Ghetto War” I
first discovered almost 15 years ago when it first came out; I was using
Napster to flesh out my music collection and wanted to acquire some
thrash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found this song and was blown
away by the feedback, the crunching roar of the guitar riffs, and Petrozza’s
fierce, angry yowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song had more
angry energy in it than <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Pistols’</b>
entire first and only album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
love the lyric “Out there in the shadows of suburbia, a gathering of mutants
and disorder”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A short time ago I
revisited my thrash collection and refound this song and album, which led me to
the phenomenal title track, which if anything is even angrier and harsher than
“Ghetto War”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This seems to me to be the
absolute, ultimate mosh song, especially the steady cadence of the first stanza
and those great opening lyrics, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Society failed to tolerate me, and I
have failed to tolerate society”, ending with “My only hope, my only solution
is a violent revolution”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song more
than any other right now encapsulates for me the merging of punk conceptual
ideals of violence, rejection of society, and even revolution, with the musical
power of raw metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kreator has continued to build on this
excellent new millennium work with its albums <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Enemy of God</i> (2005), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hordes
of Chaos</i> (2009) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Phantom
Antichrist</i> (2012).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like “Hordes of
Chaos”, “Escalation” (it has a great scream), and “Destroy What Destroys You”
off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hordes of Chaos</i>, though my
favorite is “Radical Resistance”, and “Death to the World”, “United in Hate”
(which has a gentle acoustic intro like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica’</b>s
“Fight Fire With Fire”), and “The Few, the Proud, the Broken”, and the title
track off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antichrist</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Kreator was part of the next tier of
thrash worldwide but are also part of the “Big Four” of German thrash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other three are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sodom, Destruction</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tankard</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have recently really gotten into <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sodom</b>, mostly because their music is if
anything even more rough and violent than that of Kreator, but there are two
things I don’t like about them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First,
their name is kind of cheesy, and second, unlike Kreator, they rarely sing
about political issues and instead mostly focus on gruesome or fantastical topics
closer to death metal in terms of subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, they not infrequently sing about the horror and insanity of
war, and most of their best songs are on this topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like the blitzkrieg blast of the title
track off 1999’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Code Red</i>; “M-16”, “I
Am the War”, and the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead</b> speed
of “Cannon Fodder” off 2001’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">M-16 (</i>The
title track has a great mid-tempo thump to it<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">)</i>; “Wanted Dead” (the bass is particularly nice here, as is the
crusty sounding rhythm guitar), “Axis of Evil”, and “Lords of Depravity” from
their self-titled 2006 release; and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“In
War and Pieces” and “Knarrenheinz” off 2010’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In War and Pieces</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I haven’t gotten much into <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Destruction</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tankard</b>; the former seems good but I haven’t yet sorted through
their extensive back catalogue, though I do own the triphammer onslaught “Metal
Discharge”, while the latter is just a little too goofball for me as all their
songs seem to center around drinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Meanwhile, over in Switzerland another
band was producing some extremely bizarre, almost progressive thrash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The band was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Celtic Frost</b>, and on their 1985 magnum opus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Mega Therion</i>, they crafted some extremely intricate and complex
song structures, such as on “Dawn of Megiddo”, which builds steadily from a
slow sludgy beginning, and the almost insane “The Usurper”, which shifts
tempos, keys, and everything else with frantic haste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Celtic Frost grew out of lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Warrio</b>r’s previous band, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hellhammer</b>, who, inspired by the
pioneering black metal band Venom started creating some truly insane
Satanically inspired music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This music
is usually as simplistic as Celtic Frost’s was complex, often consisting of one
repetitive riff played with maximum sustain and amplification to create an
almost mesmerizing drone of sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs
like “Maniac”, “Messiah”, and “Crucifixion” have an almost hypnotic
repetitiveness that actually reminds me of extremely early punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Maniac” for example evokes Pat Smear’s
simplistic loud blasts on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Germs’</b>
earliest work, things like “Forming”, while “Messiah” has the sludgy repetition
of things like “Rats Eyes” and “Wound Up” off <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag’s</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Slip It In</i>
album.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the late 70’s one of Denmark’s
first, and only, first wave punk bands, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brats</b>,
was transitioning to heavy metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
started by playing songs that bridged the gap between punk, traditional heavy
metal, and late 70’s hard rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Night
Riders (Pre-Curse of the Pharoahs” has that grinding, early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iron Maiden</b> feel to it; this isn’t
thrash but instead represents another fusion of metal and punk combining the
galloping guitar of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Randi Rhoades</b>-era
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ozzy</b> with the cheap production of
punk; the vocals sound like a combination of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kill ‘Em All</i> era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James
Hetfield</b> and early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Guns ‘N’ Roses</b>
demos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Punk Fashion” has better
production and sounds more like the melodic punk of a band like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Clash</b> crossed with blasts of hard
rock/heavy metal guitar soloing a la <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thin
Lizzy</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Zombie People” is another
great track, with its chunky pick slide beginning and feedback howls
transitioning into a terrific <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Maiden</b>-seque
riff and great pop punk vocals that evoke <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Generation
X</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Pinned on My Eyelids” is another
metaled up punk raver that has elements of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Deep
Purple</b> crossed with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Varukers</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While not a thrash band themselves, Brats
were a huge influence on Metallica; drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lars Ulrich</b> owned not one but two copies of their incredibly rare
first album. Eventually they merged with operatic singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">King Diamond </b>and became the melodic heavy metal band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mercyful Fate</b>, and these songs and many
others were transmuted into pure heavy metal songs on their first couple
albums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In Canada, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Voivod</b> eventually made a case for being one of that country’s
progenitors of thrash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is another
band I’m just getting into, and right now I just have their self-titled song
“Voivod” off their 1984 debut, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">War and
Pain</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their approach seems to
combine some of the sludginess of early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black
Sabbath</b> with the rough guitar and screaming vocal onslaughts and some of
the progressive technicality of their countrymen <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rush</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The title track, for
example, starts with an incredibly slow, ponderous set of riffs culled directly
from the song “Black Sabbath” but livened up with occasional speedy blasts of
pure noise a la <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In England, many of the punk and
hardcore bands that sprouted up in the early 80’s after the first wave of punk
crashed also incorporated elements of metal into their sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arguably the most influential of these bands
was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Discharge</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Discharge actually formed during the first
wave of punk in the mid/late 70’s but really achieved recognition for their
early 80’s albums <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothin</i>g
from ’81 and ’82, respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of
the songs on these albums reveled in the horrific imagery of warfare, while
others really tried to outline the hypocrisy of society<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hear Nothing</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in particular incorporated fast, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead-</b>inspired tempos and blasts of
metallic soloing over shouted lyrics, particularly on songs like “The
End”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“State Violence State Control”,
“Protest and Survive”, “Free Speech For the Dumb” (covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica </b>on their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Garage, Inc</i>. album), and the title track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tony
Bones</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> and his brother <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tezz</b> split from Discharge in 1983 and formed the band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Broken Bones</b> that moved even more in a
metallic direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Seeing Through My
Eyes” off their 1985 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bonecrusher </i>has
a rumbling bass straight out of punk but a proto-speed metal chugging main riff
and wailing feedback solos. Other standout tracks are “Decapitated”, “Wealth
Rules”, and “Death Is Imminent”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought this album in 1986 from a little
record shop on Hollywood Blvd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can
remember exactly when this happened because I’d just cheated on my then-girlfriend
with my former girlfriend, and feeling vaguely guilty and uneasy I’d hopped on
my Honda Elite 80 motor scooter and just started driving, ending up in the
depths of Hollywood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure what
drove me to buy this particular album but it was one of my first introductions
to the world of punk-metal crossover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was shortly after this that I bought <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica’s</b>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ride the Lightning</i>.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">G.B.H.</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
were another major influence on the punk/metal/crossover scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their early work, such as the singles “Sick
Boy”, “Slut”, “City Baby Attacked by Rats”, “Give Me Fire”, and “City Baby’s
Revenge” are really just fast, thundering hardcore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But by 1986’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Midnight Madness and Beyond</i> they had moved beyond the sound of punk
and had more metal elements, especially on the title track and songs like “Guns
and Guitars,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Future Fugitives”, and
“Too Much”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought this album sometime
in late 1986 or early 1987 and it remains a favorite to this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite track is “Limpwristed”, with its
fuzzy, blasting noise and galloping rhythm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Exploited</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> were another major player in the
English scene; in the 90’s Slayer covered several of their songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve liked their classic songs “God Saved the
Queen” and “Punks Not Dead” since ’86 or so but recently downloaded some of
their more recent work, including “Massacre of Innocents” from 1996’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beat the Bastards</i>, “United Chaos and
Anarchy” from 2001’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Death Before Dishonour</i>,
and “Fuck the System” and “Chaos is my Life” from 2003’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fuck the System</i>, which have a much more metal sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way a band that once influenced metal
bands has become influenced by some of them in turn.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A few years ago I got really into <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the English Dogs</b>, a band that started
as a pure hardcore punk band but that eventually transitioned into total
traditional heavy metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But another
lesser-known example of this is the band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sacrilege</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Formed in the English Midlands in 1984, in
addition to being one of the first bands to combine hardcore punk with thrash
metal in England, Sacrilege is also distinctive for being one of the few
punk/metal bands to have a female singer, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tam
Simpson</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their fusion of crust
punk’s grungy rawness and shouted vocals with black metal lyrical themes and
technical musicianship has caused some to consider them one of the major
progenitors of the sub-genre of blackened crust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their 1985 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Behind the Realms of Madness</i> is a treasure trove of
thrashcore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On songs like “Life Line”,
the slower, sludgier “Shadow from Mordor”, “The Closing Irony, and “Out of
Sight Out of Mind”, they blast through some of the hardest, toughest metal
riffs imaginable, and Ms. Simpson does a more than capable job of belting out
the vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is good stuff that I’m
just now getting turned onto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
like old songs like “Insurrection” and “Flight of the Nazgul” off their 2010
album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reaping the Demo(n)s</i>; these
songs have the manic, raw energy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kill
‘Em All</i> era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica,</b> which I
love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now these guys are a major
fave.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Speaking of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead</b>, a great band that tried to perfectly emulate their
blitzkrieg speed biker metal/punk power trio formula was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tank</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Formed by formed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Damned</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saints</b> bassist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Argy Ward</b>
in 1980, their debut album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Filth Hounds
of Hades</i> was a magnificent reproduction of the grungy rock of Lemmy and
company and was even produced by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead
</b>member <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fast Eddie Clarke</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On jackhammer songs like the title track,
“Run Like Hell”, “Shellshock”, “Struck by Lightning”, and their magnum opus
“Turn Your Head Around”, you’d be hard pressed to distinguish them from their
denim clad idols.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, like Brats,
these guys weren’t a speed metal or thrash outfit, but were influential on the
emerging thrash scene (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lars Ulrich</b>
was supposedly an early and avid fan).</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another band that hewed closely to the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead</b> biker metal spirit was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Warfare.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Warfare achieved legendary status for being
reportedly asked to open for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>
when the played at Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1985, but were asked to pay
their own expenses to get there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
protest, they supposedly played for free in the parking lot!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On songs like “Metal Anarchy” and “Electric
Mayhem”, both off 1985’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metal Anarchy</i>,
they occupy that middle ground between <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">G.B.H.</b>; lead singers <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Paul Evans</b> (who had spent time in punk
band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Angelic Upstarts</b>) sounds so
much like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Colin</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">G.B.H</b>. that it is scary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is cool stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I recently finished <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tony Rettman’s</b> oral history of the New
York City hardcore scene, NYHC, and was struck by how many different bands <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from that scene were also moving from hardcore
to metal during the mid 80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of
these, like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Agnostic Front</b> and the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cro-mags</b>, I’d heard of, but others,
like the crust punk band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nausea</b> and
the skinhead bands <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kraut </b>and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iron Cross</b>, I hadn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nausea had combined male and female vocalists
and crafted some angry diatribes against modern consumerist culture with a raw
punk roar like “Smash Racism”, “New Generation”, and “MTV (Feeding of the
Fortune 500)”, which can be found on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Punk
Terrorist Anthology<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Volume 2</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kraut achieved some attention for the fact
that former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sex Pistol Steve Jones</b>
laid down some backing guitar tracks for their early singles, such as “Getaway”
and “Last Chance”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Iron Cross were a
tough skinhead outfit from DC but played several successful gigs in NY; their
short, hard sons “New Breed”, “Fight ‘Em All”, and “Death or Glory” mostly
glorify their violent martial worldview.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Agnostic
Front’s</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> classic 1984 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Victim in Pain</i> yielded a number of great
proto-thrash nuggets, including “Toxic Shock” and “United and Strong”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Cro-Mag’s</b> 1986 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Age of Quarrel</i> is another monument of NYHC-inspired thrash, especially
singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Joseph’s</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bon-Scott</b>-meets-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny-Rotten</b> vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs
like the ponderous “Malfunction” and “Seekers of the Truth” have an almost <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sabbath</b> vibe to them that also evokes
the proto-grunge of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Flipper</b>, while
more up-tempo numbers like “Show You No Mercy” and “Street Justice” have a late
era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag</b> feel but with more
metallic guitar elements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite
songs currently are “We Gotta Know”, and the pre-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quarrel </i>“World Piece”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Several capable thrash bands evolve out
of the New York/New Jersey hardcore scene, including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ludichrist, Carnivore</b> (their songs “Inner Conflict” and “Race War”
are standouts), and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blitzspeer</b> (I’m
a fan of “Sonic Glory” off their album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saves</i>,
which almost reminds me of early grunge like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Melvins </b>but with some groove elements like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Liquid Jesus</b> and occasional goth/alternative flourishes a la <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Die Kruezen</b>), though currently my
favorite is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leeway</b>, particularly
their 1988 song “Enforcer”, which is true thrash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ludichrist</b>
received considerable attention for their cover of “Last Train to Clarksville”
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Monkees</b> and “Green Eggs and
Ham” from the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dr. Seuss</b> book of the
same name, both of which can be found on their 1986 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Immaculate Deception</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
actually like the title track best off this album of quick, short blasts (no
song last longer than two and a half minutes).</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I have posted about it previously, but
in Southern California one of the earliest pioneers of punk-metal hybrid was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suicidal Tendencies</b> and the bands
surrounding and supporting them like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beowulf,
Excel, Los Cycos</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">No Mercy</b>;
I sometimes include <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hirax</b> in this
grouping even though they technically weren’t from Venice Beach and thus
weren’t formally part of the “Dogtown” scene, but nevertheless played many
shows with these other bands at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of these bands but especially the Suicidals were combining three
till-then disparate youth counter-cultures:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>punk, metal, and gang culture, with a heavy skate element thrown in for
good measure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can still remember
seeing the video for their biggest hit, “Institutionalized” in 1983 or 1984 and
being just flat-out SCARED by it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure,
it was goofy and funny, but it was also stunning to see and hear them combining
these freaky, often antagonistic cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My recent interest in thrash has
prompted me to explore the “underground” world of thrash today, i.e., what are
the songs and the bands that are continuing to make punk-metal music?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did a little exploring on YouTube and
found a number of different bands from all over the world who have continued to
make loud, angry music with elements of both punk and metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, one band I really like right now
is Victorville, California’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Set to
Destroy</b>. They have a pretty sick logo/mascot that consists of two giant
gangster/zombie skeletons toking on a gigantic bong, with the smoke forming the
name of the band, and while I doubt they are going to put <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iron Maiden’s</b> “Eddie” out of business it at least gives a good view
of what their music is all about!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
particularly like their songs “Let’s Skate to Hell”, the guitar of which kind
of reminds me of early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hirax</b>, the
vocals are hoarse punk shouts that go well with the light speed riffing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like “Toke, Thrash, Beer”, which is
even faster and apocalyptic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This almost
reminds me of a 21<sup>st</sup> century update of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag’s</b> classic ode to beer, “Six Pack”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guys are doing the whole punk/crossover
thing even better than pioneers like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">D.R.I.</b>
or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crumbsuckers</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like these guys a lot, they are doing
thrash the right way.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another current American thrash band I
love is the oddly named <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Apathy</b>—odd
because this band’s music is far from apathetic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hailing from New Jersey, these guys have an
album out, 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Decade of Violence</i>
that is another great blast of hardcore influence metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like “Disciples of Chaos” and especially
the raw, chugging “Violent Nature”, which is fantastic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lyrics are angry shouting that reminds me
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rat Eyes</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fucked Up</b> and the guitar playing is fast and rough and owes a big
debt to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slayer </b>but they manage to
find their own musical voice nonetheless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is one of the top contemporary outfits I’ve found and I really like
their stuff a lot.</span></div>
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Arguably the band doing the most not just to carry the
thrash banner but to thrust it even farther upward is Portland, Oregon’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Toxic Holocaust</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toxic Holocaust is essentially a one man band
(with occasional studio drumming as well as touring assistance) run by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joel Grind</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grind has set the bar astoundingly high not
just musically but professionally, as everything about this venture screams top
notch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The band has slick professional
videos; their album art on 2005’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hell on
Earth</i> was done by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ed Repka</b>, the
artist behind album covers by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Megadeth</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nuclear Assault</b>; their 2009
album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An Overdose of Death</i> was
produced by legendary indie board meister <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jack
Endino</b> (who did <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nirvana’s</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nevermind </i>among many others); and the
production on every one of their albums is absolutely top-notch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the band’s look is cool, equal parts <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charged G.B.H.</b> and first album <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motley Crue</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grind has done nothing half-assed and it
shows, but nowhere more so than in the music itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toxic Holocaust’s sound is a magnificent
blend mixing the crisp riffage and tight tempo changes of first-run thrash
pioneers like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Megadeth</b> with the
hoarse vocals and raw punkish snarl of German thrash heroes <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kreator</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sodom</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Grind is a master
at adding bits of almost everything into his music stew, including occasional
forays into the hard rock sass of early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motley
Crue</b>, the blitzkrieg biker rock onslaught of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead</b> and latter-day Motorhead worshippers like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chrome Division</b>, the turbocharged
thunderslam of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pantera</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rob Zombie</b>, the bludgeoning punk of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Discharge</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Exploited</b>, and even the teenage bluster of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kill ‘Em All</i> era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grind’s gruff vocals never slide into the croaking
guttural parody of most black metal bands but instead retain a tough snarl more
in line with hardcore punk (Grind’s previous outfits were the horror punk band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Grave Mistake</b> and the UK82-themed
outfit <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Rapists</b> , and it
shows).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyrically, the Toxic Holocaust
apple doesn’t fall far from the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Venom/Hellhammer</b>/<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hell Awaits</i> era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slayer</b> tree, with its fascination with Satanism, horror, violence,
and warfare; in fact, if I have one single quibble with this band it’s that I’d
like to see Grind expand beyond this fascination with the devil<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(although I do have to hand it to him, he has
crafted one of the most amusingly blasphemous song titles ever in “Nuke the
Cross”) and into more socially conscious themes more often, so his lyrics could
match his otherwise impeccable musicianship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, another major point in Grind’s favor is that he hews to the
short-fast-sweet ethic of real punk in that very few Toxic Holocaust songs
clock in at over 4 minutes, and most are in the two minute range; he manages to
jam a dizzying assortment of riffs and rhythms into two to three minute songs
that would have taken <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b> 6-8
minutes to work through, which I really find impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, this is everything I love about
thrash, and about the 21<sup>st</sup> century thrash revival in
particular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each of Toxic Holocausts’
four albums—2005’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evil Never Dies</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hell on Earth</i>, 2008’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An Overdose of Death</i>, 2011’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Conjure and Command</i> (which added
elements of crust punk and blackened crust to their already potent thrash
attack), and 2013’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chemistry of
Consciousness</i>—is packed with fantastic songs, few of which sound repetitive
or boring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grind has established Toxic
Holocaust as the gold standard of today’s thrash, with few bands able to match
either the crisp professionalism or the amazing musicality of his band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, their albums have lost none of
their fire over the ensuing decade and their most recent album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chemistry of Consciousness</i>, is every bit
as uncompromising as their first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Off their first album, I like the songs
“War Is Hell”, the blistering “Damned to Fire” (which reminds me of another
fire-themed song, “Fight Fire With Fire” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>), the short blitzkrieg “Warfare”, and the slower,
chugging “Fallout”, all of which bring to mind the all-out assault of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slayer’s</b> classic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reign in Blood</i> (and that’s about as high a compliment as you can
pay to any thrash band).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Metal Attack” kind
of reminds me of “Mechanix” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Megadeth </b>(which
they actually cover on their 2004 EP <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Toxic
Thrash Metal</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Their second album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hell on Earth</i>, continues on in the same
vein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Metallic Crucifixion” clips along
like “Ace of Spades” and clocks in at a brisk one minute 48 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Send Them to Hell”, at over three minutes,
is an extended opus for Toxic Holocaust and has several slower breakdowns;
Grind’s voice on this one sounds almost like he has laryngitis, though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Hell on Earth” has some crisp chugging that
sounds like “Whiplash” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
their song<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Nuke the Cross” from their
2008 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">An Overdose of Death</i>, the
basic structure also owes much to “Whiplash” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b> but with the aforementioned hoarse, growly vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their song “Lord of the Wasteland” owes more
of a debt to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead </b>but still has
some crisp riffing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Future Shock” has
a great catchy riff and rhythm, as does the chugging “In the Name of Science”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like the raging “Feedback, Blood, and
Distortion”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As mentioned, 2011’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Conjure and Command</i> added a few new
wrinkles to the straight-ahead thrash of prior albums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Agony of the Damned”, for example, has a
slow, sludgy into that brings to mind the doom metal of bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Candlemass </b>before erupting in a furious
speed assault. The buzzing distortion of the guitars and bass here are more in
line with crust, or blackened crust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
slower but inexorable “Red Winter” has even more buzz and kind of evokes “For
Whom the Bell Tolls” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of my favorite songs by Toxic
Holocaust right now, along with “Nowhere to Run”, which is just straight ahead
thrash in the vein of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Testament</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Liars are Burning” is a great mid-tempo
rocker that makes me think of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chrome
Division</b>, while “Revelations” is a brutal assault on the ears.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The song titles on their most recent
album, 2013’s Chemistry of Consciousness suggest a movement away from the black
metal fixations of prior albums—“Silence”, “Acid Fuzz” being two examples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Out of the Fire” and “Deny the Truth” are
two more favorites of mine.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As mentioned, thrash is currently a
worldwide phenomenon, and there are many great bands outside the U.S. of A.
making terrific thrash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Canada’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Violator</b> is one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They remind me a bit of a cross between <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Anthrax</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Death Angel</b>; their songs “Addicted to Mosh” and “Thrash Maniacs”
off their 2006 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chemical Assault</i>
fuse caterwauling metal vocals with crisp musicianship to provide a very
satisfying mix, one that reminds me a little of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sacred Reich</b> in addition to the above-mentioned thrash giants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another of my current favorites is
Finland’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mosh Angel</b>; kudos to them
for managing to combine the beloved slam dance term “mosh” with the “angel”
that accompanied so many thrash metal band names in the 80’s (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Death Angel, Dark Angel, Morbid Angel</b>,
etc.).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On their song “High Speed Metal”,
they really sound a lot like a more <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motorhead</b>-influenced
version of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kreator</b>; vocals very
reminiscent Kreator’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Miland Petrozza</b>
and a frantic speed metal assault that relies less on rhythm changes and
technicality than on pure speed.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Toxic
Evolution</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> from Germany has a great song,
“Exclaim Anarchy”, that starts with an odd,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>chirping guitar riff before blasting into a wonderfully brutal sonic
assault.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This band adds melodic
elements throughout this song that enhance its power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another German band, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Skulled</b>, has a great anthem in “Fuck It, Thrash It” that also has a
brutal power.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Equally brutal are Italy’s almost
comedic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alkoholizer</b>, who sound like
an inebriation-obsessed version of early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their songs “Thrash Metal” and “Alkoholic
Metal” off their 2009 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drunk or Dead</i>
are wild, energetic romps, with goofy <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>booze-obsessed lyrics and shout-out choruses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very good stuff, but I’d love to see them
expand beyond the goofball booze fixation and write lyrics about something more
weighty.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Portugal has given the world the band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SubCaos</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve only managed to find one song by them on
YouTube (they don’t even have an entry on the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Encyclopedia Metallum</b> for crying out loud).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But their song “Metal Punk Death Squad” has
elements of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">G.B.H</b>. and a crudity
that seems almost like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hirax</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not sure if these guys are still around, but
I’m hoping they are still “metal punks for life” (as one of their lyrics
states).</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From Greece comes <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Omega</b>, who provide a straight-ahead early speed metal with elements
of hard rock taken straight off the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kill ‘Em All </i>template, but they do it
with much conviction and energy, and anyway, if you’re going to rip someone
off, why not rip off the best?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Speed
Metal Force” off 2013’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hell Patrol</i>
is like an updated “Metal Militia” for the teens. Their earlier work, like the
songs “Metal from Hell”, “Evil Rock and Roll” and “Hellhammer” off 2010’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Second Crucifixion</i> has a buzzing,
repetitive riff that sounds like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom
Warrior’s</b> work in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hellhammer</b>;
I’m not as fond of the lyrics on this one however.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still, this band shows tremendous promise. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Croatia’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Vortex</b> have a great early Metallica blast in their song “Thrash
Metal Holocaust”, off their 2009 demo of the same name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the only song I’ve found on this
band, and apparently they’ve been blacklisted from the Encyclopedia Metallum as
this is the only information I can find on them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From even farther afield, Chile’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Invierno Nuclear</b> have a terrific
buzzing guitar sound that brings to mind <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Venom</b>,
especially on songs like “Thrashing Metal Punk” from the 2012 EP of the same
name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like “No Mas Policia”
through the vocals here sound very death metal gurgly, which is not my
favorite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vocals on other songs are
a little tinny and the songs can be a bit repetitive but I like the energy, and
this band has another terrific logo/mascot:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>a spiky alien-like skull with a strange one-eyed gas mask on it; it
reminds me of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Corrosion of
Conformity</b> biohazard face but if anything slightly cooler.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Also from Chile is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Toke De Keda</b>, who really recapture some of the big beats and riffs
of the Dogtown bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Excel</b>, as
on their song “Liberthrasher” from their 2013 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Actitud Kaaos & Metalpunk</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This gets very ferocious very quickly; these guys must be VERY high
energy in concert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Uruguay has a couple of good thrash
bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rotten State</b>; their song “Full Speed Violence” off their 2013 album
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sick World</i> has great energy too.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Perhaps the wildest band I’ve seen and
heard is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tcukimay</b>, from Indonesia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guys look exactly like Exploited
worshipers, particularly their lead singer with his massive feet-tall
Mohawk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have a sound that combines
crust with D-beat/UK82 and elements of speed metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On songs like “Ngewa Anjing” (which I assume
means “city baby attacked by rats” in Indonesian) and the blistering
“Thrashpunk”, they hit like a sledgehammer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This latter is a GREAT song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t wait to hear more by them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Finding all these amazing thrash bands
around the world has given me a lot of hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are tons of great bands out there keeping this music alive and
relevant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the reasons I recently
got back into thrash was because my son, who is eight, has decided that he
likes punk and metal together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I
started playing him stuff by Metallica and Slayer, and that’s now his favorite
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now his top favorites are
“Fight Fire With Fire” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>
off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ride the Lightning</i> and “Metal
Militia” off their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kill ‘Em All</i>
album, two of the hardest, fastest songs Metallica ever wrote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His interest in this music prompted me to
search for stuff even more raw and underground than this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am definitely finding new stuff I really
like, and currently as mentioned above I’m really into <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nuclear Assault, Sacred Reich, Kreator, Sodom</b>, and many of the
international bands above, but especially <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Toxic
Holocaust, Apathy</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mosh Angel</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-70888349273660330662014-12-19T15:00:00.001-08:002017-01-31T10:08:58.032-08:00Music For the Jilted Generation: The Rise of Electronica in the 90's<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_LozTsNgoWsyIRsegubXf_Lh14YzDDNUKIpZxB0j-WO9p3amLXlA7ys3JgGVkhVaoGM0DlI0Yh4RAj6vLbta367e_jdZaNMMj2KhOzJDge6iiJptVj38pjK11xYZQjMUqiCDKEBFjHwka/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_LozTsNgoWsyIRsegubXf_Lh14YzDDNUKIpZxB0j-WO9p3amLXlA7ys3JgGVkhVaoGM0DlI0Yh4RAj6vLbta367e_jdZaNMMj2KhOzJDge6iiJptVj38pjK11xYZQjMUqiCDKEBFjHwka/s1600/Slide1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prodigy circa 1997</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I was born in the summer of love, May 1967, to parents
barely out of their teens, so rock music has been the soundtrack to my entire
life, but there was a time in the early/mid 90’s when I walked away from
rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ironically, this occurred exactly
at the time when “my” side of the rock divide had “won”, i.e., when the grunge
and alternative movements hastened the demise of the detestable trifle known as hair
metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone who has read any of my
other posts knows that there are precious few genres of music, and of rock
music in particular, that I DON’T like, but hair metal is indeed one of those
genres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the things I hated most
about late 80’s hair metal was how unoriginal and homogeneous it was,
especially compared to the new wave musical movement that immediately preceded
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New wave was all about having your
own unique look, sound, and band name, and extremely few new wave acts looked
or sounded that similar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hair metal, in
contrast, seemed to be all about imitating exactly the look and sound of the
bands that had already made it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
nearly every hair metal band had long, hairsprayed hair, spandex a la <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Lee Roth</b>, and/or leather and
studs in the manner of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rob Halford</b>
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Judas Priest</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And every group put out a watered down
version of the hard rock/blues of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">New
York Dolls</b> augmented with as much <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmy
Page</b>-style guitar pyrotechnics as they could cram in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, every album had the same tiresome
lyrics obsessed with “partying” and poontang, but of course they also always
had that one ballad to show off their tender side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watching MTV during this time was a tedious parade
of videos showcasing these pretty boys prancing around a giant stage while
girls in ripped acid wash jeans screamed and/or gyrated, and there was a
bewildering onslaught of groups—<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Poison,
Ratt, Warrant, Winger, Whitesnake, White Lion, Firehouse, Bang Tango, Dangerous
Toys</b>, and on and on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And then,
in 1990, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nirvana, Pearl Jam</b>, and
other “grunge” bands from the Pacific Northwest climbed out of the clubs and
took the charts by storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grunge
combined the rawness of the early hardcore bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag</b> with the slower, heavier, longer sound of 70’s metal
pioneers like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Sabbath</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Deep Purple</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flag themselves were one of the first to lead
this charge, starting with albums like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loose
Nut</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Slip It In</i>, which
showcased their increasing interest in pre-punk 70’s rock forebearers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At the same
time that grunge was capturing the ears of Middle American teens, “alternative”
was also gathering interest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alternative
music grew out of punk and new wave and what was also called “college music” or
“independent” or “indie” music in the mid to late 80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First-wave English new wave groups like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Depeche Mode, the Cure</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Smiths/Morrissey</b> had been gathering
popularity throughout the 80’s to the point where they were filling arenas by
the end of the decade, while groups like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s
Addiction, Sonic Youth</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">R.E.M</b>.
moved from small independent American labels to the majors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of a sudden, the music you used to only
be able to hear on college radio and see in small smoky clubs and read about in
zines like Flipside was everywhere.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is
exactly when I started to become disenchanted with, even disinterested in, rock
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1990 I’d been passionately
involved in punk and new wave for almost a decade, and while I was overjoyed to
see hair metal swept aside like the insignificant piffle that it was, I wasn’t
super excited by what replaced it either, for several reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First and foremost, even by the late 80’s I
was becoming bored with loud, angry music; indeed, as I have gone on about in
prior posts, by 1989 my favorite band in the world was the 70’s glitter
rock-influenced band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Celebrity Skin,</b>
who’s silly, feel-good music, outrageous costumery and zany stage antics made
them incredibly entertaining live, unlike most super-serious grunge and alternative
acts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Celebrity Skin broke up in
early 1991 (a few days after the death of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Freddie
Mercury</b>, appropriately enough) and that was a major blow to my desire to
see new bands or hear new music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
then-girlfriend/now-wife and I had spent much of the previous three years
religiously following the Skinners and their stablemates on Triple X Records
such as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Ultras, Pygmy Love Circus,
the Miracle Workers</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Liquid
Jesus</b>, through LA’s circuit of small clubs, but with Skin broken up, this
lost much of its meaning for both of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The only other band that came even remotely close to capturing the
entertainingly flamboyant nature of Celebrity Skin was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>, but by the early 90’s they were awash in drug
abuse and similarly self-indulgent rock star occupations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We saw Jane’s A one last time, at the
Universal Amphitheater, in 1992, and went away disillusioned with how far
they’d fallen from their exciting, revolutionary beginnings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were in our mid-20’s then but felt more
like 100 next to all the teeny boppers with their dreadlocks and nose rings in
perfect imitation of their hero Perry.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
problem I had with grunge music was how macho it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of it was loud, heavy, slow, and the
bands who created it seemed to revel in the post-hardcore machismo of the mosh
pit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike Celebrity Skin’s concerts,
which were filled with gorgeous, tall, skinny punky model types in vintage 70’s
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Halston </b>minidresses and platform
shoes, you rarely saw women at most grunge shows, which seemed filled instead
mostly with the same manly meatheads who a couple years before were holding
their lighters aloft during <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Whitesnake’s</b>
encore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t then, nor am I now,
much of a fan of anything particularly testosterone-laden, so that too turned
me off in a big way from grunge.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And while
part of me was happy to see bands I’d formerly liked such as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sonic Youth, the Meat Puppets</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Camper Van Beethoven</b> sign on to major
labels and release records, none of these albums ever captured my interest the
way their earlier work did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sonic Youth
is a particularly good example; quite honestly, I haven’t particularly liked
anything they’ve done since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evol</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t even like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daydream Nation</i>!!!!</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As the
early 90’s unfolded I became less and less interested in where traditional rock
music was going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In part for the reasons
above, and in part because in 1995 my girlfriend finished her Ph.D. in Los
Angeles and moved to Columbus Ohio to do postdoctoral research, I was going out
to see bands only rarely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, I was
focused on trying to finish up my own Ph.D. and move to Ann Arbor where I had a
postdoc set up and which was as close as I could get to Columbus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That year I worked incessantly, seven days a
week and was often out of town running additional experiments up at the NASA-Ames
Research Center at Moffett Field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the
rare occasions that I was in town and not working, I would usually just go to
Harvelle’s, the legendary blues club in Santa Monica, or I would go out with my
buddy and then-roommate Gil to clubs like Young Moguls and watch old flicks and
drink beer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My final
year in Los Angeles, 1996, I bought on a whim an album that set me at least
temporarily onto a slightly different path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The album was 1991’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lust</i> by
the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lords of Acid</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d been sort of keeping an eye on electronic
music for a while; I’d been a huge fan of first-run synth bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Depeche Mode</b> and early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pet Shop Boys</b> since 1983, but had lost
interest in that music in the mid-80’s as I’d gotten more interested in
hardcore punk and hard rock like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AC/DC</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew vaguely that some bands,
particularly in Europe, were producing an entire culture centered around
electronic dance music, but had never seen any of these bands live nor had I
really heard much of that music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
bought the Lords of Acid album mostly because I thought their name sounded
cool; I wasn’t then and am not now much of a druggie but I had to admire a band
that came right out and glorified hallucinogen use right in their name!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Listening
to this album now is almost embarrassing; while Lords of Acid would evolve into
a band of loud, brutal energy, this album sounds really cheesy and dated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The synths sound really simplistic, like
cheap Casios and the beats are pretty simplistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And almost every song is about sex—“Rough
Sex”, “I Sit On Acid”, “Pump My Body To The Top”, “I Must Increase My Bust”, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
later work developed more of a rock edge, and songs like “Drink My Honey”,
“Mister Machoman”, “Do What You Wanna Do”, the incomparable “The Crab Louse” and
the title track off 1994’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Voodoo-U</i>,
and “Slave To Love”, “Rover Take Over”, “Loverboy Lovergirl”, and “I Like It”
off 1997’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Farstucker </i>had a much
harder edge, almost approaching the violent industrial metal of bands like <b>White Zombie</b>.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But at the
time listening to this album was a revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was a whole new genre of music that I hadn’t ever explored, and as
always this was very tempting to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was particularly fascinated by the loud, grinding, chiming synths of songs like
“Rough Sex”, which very much reminded me of the rawness and stridency of
punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In June of
1996 I moved to Ann Arbor to start a postdoctoral research position studying
gene therapy in the Department of Human Genetics at the University of Michigan
Medical School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time I was
obsessed with learning some of the techniques of the still-somewhat-new field
of molecular biology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Splicing genes,
growing cells in a dish, and creating and studying genetically engineered
animals were my focus, and because these all seemed so futuristic, I was
extremely obsessed with anything that seemed forward looking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was around this time that I discovered
Wired magazine, with its focus on emerging technology and how it would change
our lives, and became a devoted reader (I still enjoy it today).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also started reading speculative fiction
books and short stories that centered on plausible science fiction.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So it
seemed only natural to also seek out music that wasn’t a throwback like most
rock was but that was also similarly forward focused.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still remember that for Christmas 1996 my
then-girlfriend and I went skiing with her family in Lake Tahoe, and on the
drive up to Incline Village from Long Beach I listened incessantly to a new electronica
compilation CD I’d bought just before leaving Ann Arbor called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wipeout XL</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even more than <i>Lust</i>, this CD really sucked me
into the burgeoning electronica movement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wipeout XL</i> was the soundtrack
to a video game, which in itself was a pretty novel concept at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It contained some of the best electronica
tracks of the mid-90’s, including “We Have Explosive” by another group with a
terrific name, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Future Sound of
London</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With it’s heavy, syncopated
breakbeat, robotic vocals, dub echo, guitar-like blasts, and especially the
atonal electronic noise that anchors the entire song, it was so incredibly
different from most rock music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet,
it also wasn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mostly what it seemed
like to me was a deconstruction of a typical rock song, a taking apart of the
basic elements of rock music—guitar licks, beats, bursts of lyrics—and reconstructing
them into something altogether different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The second song, “Atom Bomb”, by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fluke</i>,
had a similarly atonal, deconstructed manner as well that I also loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite, however, was the instrumental
version of “Firestarter” by <b>the Prodigy</b>,
with its squalling electronic feedback sample overlying what in essence was a
traditional rock song, albeit with a much heavier beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These bands seemed to be trying to cross the
divide between hard/pure electronic music on the one hand, and traditional rock
music on the other, and while I also liked other, more traditional electronic
songs on this album (like “Petrol” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Orbital</b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>and “Afro Ride” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leftfield</b>), I was most attracted to these heavier, more
rock-influenced electronica acts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My love of
the song by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Prodigy</b> led me to
explore this band’s output.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quickly
learned that this band had a rich history of work, mostly singles, stretching
back to the start of the 90’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
earlier stuff was much more straightforward electronic dance music at the heart
of English rave culture—repetitive, long, and very very electronic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But starting in 1995 their music expanded
beyond these simple beginnings and became much more compelling, at least to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1995’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Music
For the Jilted Generation</i> was a tremendous step forward, while at the same
time it was still anchored in the long drugged out songs of their past, like
the eight-plus minute “Break & Enter” and “The Heat (The Energy)”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But songs like the galloping, grinding
“Voodoo People” and the squawking “Their Law”, with its heavy breakbeat, were
pointing toward a new synthesis of rock and electronic music. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But it was
a single from this album that really blew me away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At some point early in 1997 I bought a CD
single of “Poison”, and this really floored me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is still to this day one of the funkiest, most danceable songs I
have ever heard; when <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Liam Hewlett</b>
drops in the hyperfuzzed bass line and super heavy breakbeat, after the pulsing
droning throb of the intro, it sounds like hip hop from the distant
future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The multiple vocal samples and
the coursing, competing synth blasts give this song a wild, textured feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This remains to this day one of my favorite
songs, electronic or otherwise, of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Prodigy of
course would go on to significant fame and success, although they never made it
as big as people predicted because of the inevitable backlash against
electronica that started in the early 2000’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But their album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fat of the Land</i>
was a total triumph in my opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From
the opening panzer-like bass rumble and breakbeat blast of “Smack My Bitch Up”
onward, this was music that grabbed you by the throat and never let go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ominous, almost creepy “Breathe” is
another standout, as is the lurching hip hop of “Diesel Power”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Funky Shit” harkens back to their rave
beginnings, pulsing and oscillating in pure dance mode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Serial Thrilla” merges metal guitar with big
beats and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Keith Flint’s</b> punky,
snotty vocals, while “Mindfields” is another eerie, slowly building electronic
masterpiece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Narayan” has a freaky,
Indian/psychedelic feel, especially the break, with it’s ominously chanted
vocals, and it eventually swirls into their smash hit “Firestarter”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Start to stop this is one of the very best,
most complete albums of the 90’s of any genre, with no real weaknesses
anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After this
I sought out as many electronica albums as I could find.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my next purchases, because I’d by now
read so much about it, was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Chemical
Brothers</b>’ 1994 release <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Exit Planet
Dust</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the funky, soulful
beginning of the very first song, “Leave Home”, this album had me hooked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And indeed, one of the things I enjoyed about
electronica then and still respect now is how album-oriented it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was clearly intended by the Chemical
Bros to be played as one long groove; you could put this on and just leave it
on for the entire party, and each song melds into the next without ever letting
the energy sag.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also loved the super
scratching on “In Dust We Trust”; these guys had clearly been listening to a
LOT of American rap music from the 80’s and were doing their part to push the
art of turntabling to the next level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it was the next two songs, “Song to the Siren” and “Three Little
Birdies Down Beats”, that just blew me away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Siren”, with its Indian-sounding samples layered over a dense mat of
beats, samples, and sounds was, and is, an amazingly complex and fascinating
song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But by far my favorite song was
“Birdies”, with its staccato beat that emerges from “Song to the Siren” along
with a blasting, airhorn-like synth line, which merges with two other wild,
flailing synth lines, that builds this song up from a simple beginning into
something that is raucous and strident, and yet somehow still danceable at the
same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, I was struck by how
they could take sound effects that individually were strident and unpleasant
and by layering them together over infectious beats could create music that was
totally enjoyable and, as mentioned, still super danceable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This too is one of my favorite songs to this
day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But in addition
to their wildly rocking side, the Chemical Brothers also had their mellow
side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of the rest of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Planet Dust</i> demonstrates this. “Chico’s
Groove” is spacy, sounding like something off the soundtrack for a “2001:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Space Odyssey” type science fiction
movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“One Too Many Mornings” pulsates
and soars, while “Life Is Sweet” explores hippie psychedelia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Playground of a Wedgeless Form” has a buzzy
throb and strange guitar-plucking samples/sounds placed over a big, heavy beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was their collaboration with folk
singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beth Orton</b> that ends the
album, “Alive Alone”, that also garnered some favorable attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Orton’s clear, sweet voice fit strangely well
over the Brothers’ pulsing, funky maelstrom of sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This too is a terrific song that has aged
incredibly well.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have
enjoyed every Chemical Brothers album since this, but to me this was always
their very best work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular, I
like “Block Rockin’ Beats”, the incomparably funky “Piku”, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beth Orton’s</b> dreamy “Where Do I Begin”
off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dig Your Own Hol</i>e;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the trippy “Sunshine Underground”, the funky
“Orange Wedge”, and the swirling “Asleep from Day” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Surrender</i>; “The State We’re In” from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Come with Us</i>, and “Come With Us” from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chemical Four</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
compilation album I purchased around this time (mid 1997) was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deconstruction Presents</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a hybrid collection of some of the
best DJ/electronica music created in the 90’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Much of this CD consists of house music, the less rock-y, more purely
dance style of music that had taken clubs by storm in the late 80’s and early
90’s, and while that isn’t my favorite type of electronic music, there are some
phenomenal tracks in this vein, including the sweet, trippy “The Gift” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Way Out West</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Miss Joanna Law</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sasha
& Maria’s</b> breathy “Be As </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
one”, “Anthem” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">N-Joi</b>,
which samples lyrics from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gwen Guthrie’s</b>
song “Peanut Butter” and “I Found Love” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Darlene
Davis</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best house songs here in
my opinion though are the two <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">De’Lacy</b>
songs, the mid-tempo herky-jerky“Hideaway” and the smooth as butter “That
Look”, both of which feature the incomparable <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rainie Lassiter</b> on vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Everybody Everybody” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black
Box</b> has the pounding piano and smooth vocals of classic disco, while “I’m
Rushin’” is a little funkier but has the same diva vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But to me
one of the strangest and most interesting dance songs of all time is “Swamp
Thing” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Grid</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A strange amalgam of southern banjo, blasts
of synth, and driving beats, this is unlike anything I’ve ever heard
since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Few bands have attempted a modern
take on square dance music, but this is as close as it comes to that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fantastic.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
song that really grabbed my attention on this album was the leadoff track,
“Landslide” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Harmonix</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, this isn’t a remake of the Stevie Nicks
classic, it is essentially a raved-up remix of “Where the Streets Have No Name”
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">U2</b>, and it is one of the most
beautiful, optimistic, joyful songs ever recorded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In terms of
more breakbeat oriented electronica, this album contains the utterly fantastic
“Dirt” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Death In Vegas</b>. Very much
cut from the same cloth as the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chemical
Brothers’</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Exit Planet Dust</i> songs,
this one consists of a mashup of huge heavy beats, surging synth lines, heavy
throbbing bass lines, and strange vocal samples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple years or two later I also acquired a
few songs from their album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scorpio Rising</i>,
including “23 Lies”, the guitar-based “Leather”, and “Scorpic Rising”, which
features <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Liam Gallagher</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Oasis</b> on vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my favorite Death in Vegas song, and a
song I still love to hear on my workout playlist, is “Song For Penny” off the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lost in Space Soundtrack</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the rising and falling alarm-like
sample that begins it, and the roaring, feeding back guitars layered over the
dense, galloping drums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is pure
punk rock, again taken apart and then re-constructed as a danceable but still
loud and raw song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I absolutely love
this song.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Another album I bought around this
time was one that has fallen off most people’s radar, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Endorfun</i> by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCD</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not the same band as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">LCD Soundsystem</b>, but rather is two
Swedish guys trying to create their country’s answer to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Chemical Brothers</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While
not quite as rock influenced as the Chemical Bros, this album nevertheless
flows along on a single continuous groove too and has many standout tracks,
including the incredibly funky title track (which is very reminiscent of “Leave
Home” by the Chemical Brothers); the slower but still funky “Elektronik”; “Gear
Boxing”, which reminds me of “Song To the Siren”; “Cry Baby”; and the more
purely electronic “Bank Robber”, “Suprime Weirdness”, and “Think Smart”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a terrific album top to bottom and
deserves to be recognized more for its quality.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In addition
to the Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers, two other bands rose out of the
electronica movement of the mid/late 90’s to achieve a measure of success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of these was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Crystal Method</b> from Las Vegas, one of the few American bands to
break into this genre dominated by European acts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their 1997 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vegas</i> was a smash hit that yielded several hit singles, though the
band also experienced a backlash when some of these songs were sold for
commercial purposes and resulted in immediate over-exposure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In particular, the song “Busy Child” was
crafted from the exact same blueprint as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Chemical Brother’s</b> “Three Little Birdies Down Beats”:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>simple vocal samples and huge, heavy, driving
breakbeat, over which strange buzzing, squawking, strident synth signatures
were layered progressively to create a sound that by the end of the song is
densely layered and almost harsh but still extremely danceable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is another of my all-time favorites
from this era and genre, though it did get a little over-exposed as it was used
for a Gap ad later that year.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vegas</i> is filled with excellent tracks
like this, such as the leadoff song “Trip Like I Do”, built around the sampled
vocals of a stoned young woman imploring someone that “I want you to trip like <b>I</b>
do”; its surging intro, with a spoken word overdub and dense, atmospheric
underpinning, ultimately blasts into a frenetic attack of beats and synth
bass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pulsing, syncopated “Cherry
Twist” and the spacy, guitar-riff centered “High Roller” are two other high
points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Keep Hope Alive” is another
standout; I purchased a maxi-CD-single of this that has some even better, trippier
versions of this song, like the slower, dub-heavy Trip Hope mix and the
Latin-tinged Dubeliscious Groove (Fly Spanish Version).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is another album that really has no
major weak spots; every song is pretty incredible.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>2001’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tweekend</i> was nearly as solid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starting with the huge, funky “PHD”, and
continuing through the nearly-as-funky “Wild, Sweet, and Cool”, this album gets
you up and dancing in a hurry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Roll It
Up” and the melodic “Murder” are much like the songs on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vegas</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite song on
this album, though, is “Name of the Game”, with its fantastic vocal intro
(“Attention all you motherfuckers!”) and pulsing bass and huge guitar riffs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I wasn’t as
big a fan of 2004’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Legion of Boom</i>;
in some ways I saw it as a step backward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Things didn’t pop and sizzle like they did on either of their first two
albums and there wasn’t a standout track or two like there was on those two
albums either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Starting Over” is
decent, and I like the hip hop flavor of “The American Way”, and the trance-y
“I Know It’s You” as well as the funky metal of “Weapons of Mass Distortion”,
but otherwise am not a huge fan.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The fourth
huge band to come out of the 90’s electronica movement is of course <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Daft Punk</b>, who last year won a Grammy
for their work with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pharrell </b>on their
album <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Random Access Memories</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven’t really gotten into this album much
because I’m still obsessed with their debut album, 1997’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Homework</i>, which I consider to be one of the greatest albums
ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An amazing amalgam of disco,
house, hip hop, and big beat electronica, this is yet another electronica album you
can just throw onto the CD player and leave playing till the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The distorted voice that begins
“Daftendirekt”, that eventually resolves into the words “<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Da
funk back to the punk c'mon”, gives a little indication of where this music is
going to take you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Revolution 909”
starts with party crowd noise, sirens, and traffic sounds over an insistent
disco beat sample and just percolates suggestively for over five minutes but is
one of the most danceable songs on earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is disco stripped of everything else:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>divas, even vocals, and all other
instruments, but it shows just how potent that disco beat is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Da Funk” was a major hit single, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Spike Jonze</b> even made a legendarily
strange video for it featuring a man with a giant dog’s head walking around a
New York neighborhood blasting the song from his ghetto blaster while he runs
errands and meets friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song too
is insanely danceable, especially when the Punks drop the big beat around the 40
second mark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a HUGE, bass heavy
beat that throbs in your chest when you play it at even modest volume, the very
distilled essence of funk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A yowling
synth line kicks in soon after, but the part of the song that really takes off
is after the break, where a squeaky, scratching synth line kicks in and the
beat drops back in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This part of the
song is just insanely fun to dance to; I once requested this in one of Ann
Arbor’s surprisingly good dance clubs and the place went WILD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My friend Gil once said this about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction’s</b> “Whores” but I think
it applies here too:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“This makes me want
to bang my head AND shake my ass at the same time!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Phoenix”
is another deconstructed disco song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Starting with just a polyrhythmic beat, it eventually adds a chiming
sample and scratching synth line and a meandering bass line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again it is amazing to me how simple but
effective this music is, and how much you can take away from a typical disco
song and still be left with something magical and danceable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Phoenix”
melds right into the next disco-house jam, “Fresh”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me another incredible aspect of this album
is how Daft Punk build their songs across the length of the album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Revolution 909” is the simplest, “Phoenix”
has a little more to it, and “Fresh” more still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song too follows a common pattern of
several other songs on this album, starting from a single sonic element,
progressively adding more elements to it, but then resolving back to
simplicity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Around
the World” starts with a muted beat and, like “Fresh”, builds this initial
sample up, eventually adding robotic “Around the World” vocals repeating before
fading out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
high point of the album for me is “Rollin’ and Scratchin’”, which begins with
an insistent, almost irritating beat, and adds a progressively more atonal,
screeching synth element and buzzing bass to it until the entire song is a
cacophony of wildly frantic noise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
also love how this song reaches a crescendo, drops back somewhat, but then
comes back just as forcefully as ever before resolving back to the simple
beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I once put <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Homework </i>on at a friend’s party in Ann Arbor and by the midpoint of
this song my beloved CD was forcefully ejected and I was banned evermore from
touching the CD player!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is
still hard to take for anyone not raised on strident, atonal music like I
was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Teachers”
is a funky run through a list of some of Daft Punk’s influences, including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">DJ Funk, Dr. Dre, George Clinton, Gemini,
and Li’l Louis</b> among many others, while “High Fidelity” has to be the only
song in history to sample “Just the Way You Are” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Joel</b>, and only goes to show that these guys can make ANYTHING
danceable. “Rock ‘n Roll” is another progressively building noise blast in the
same vein as “Rollin’ and Scratchin’”, while “Oh Yeah” sounds like robot hip
hop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Burnin’” and “Indo Silver Club”
are solid but not especially memorable, but Daft Punk end on a strong note with
“Alive”, a sussurating five minute dance groove that makes you just want to hit
“start” all over again.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1997 seemed to be the year that
electronica peaked, and after that it didn't really seem like there was much
innovation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I definitely have liked
some electronic music (which now is usually called electronic dance music or
EDM) since then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the same vein as
Daft Punk are Finland’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ural 13
Diktators</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs like “Tonight”,
“Techno Game”, and “Dream World” from their Disco Kings EP from 2001 are the
same melding of beats, disco, and house that flavored <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Daft Punk’s</b> <i>Homework</i>, as are “Still Alive”, “Victorious Night”, and
the title song from 2003’s Raid Over Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But my favorite song by them is the almost-terrifying “Laser Karaoke”,
with its HUGE bass-beat throb and loud, ominous foreign shouting “LASER
KARAOKE” vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is another one
that sends subliminal signals to your legs and ass to MOVE.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
weird European electronic band is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Junkie
XL</b> aka Holland’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Holkenborg</b>,
who split the difference between electronic dance music like the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chemical Brothers</b> and digital hardcore
in the vein of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alec Empire</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Atari Teenage Riot</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A great example is “Underachievers”, from
1997’s <i>Saturday Teenage Kick</i>, which starts with a record skip and a few weird
sound effects before dropping a beat and adding a few squealing and buzzing
synth lines, but then busts into a full-blown punk-metal guitar blast and
breakbeat before moving into Holkenborg’s rapid-fire rapping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a great song combining all of the
best aspects of modern music—dance, rap, metal/punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I especially like the scratching solo in the
middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Junkie Expanding Limits” evokes
the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beastie Boys</b> off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Check Your Head</i>, with its dense samples,
heavy beats, and scratching, and of course because of the rapid-fire rapping.
“Saturday Teenage Kick” is magnificent because it samples the guitar line from
“Divide and Conquer” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Husker Du</b>
off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flip Your Wig</i>, and crafts a
really rocking but melodic song from it to boot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing I’ve always loved in rap music is
when it samples classic rock songs; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Run
DMC</b> pretty obviously did this first with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Aerosmith’s</b> “Walk This Way” (which technically isn’t a sample and
is more of a remake), and the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beastie
Boys</b> plundered everyone from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zep </b>to
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AC/DC</b> to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Deep Purple</b>, and my favorite example of this is “She Watch Channel
Zero?!” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Public Enemy</b>, which
famously samples “Angel of Death” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slayer</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Melange” is reminiscent to the buzzing,
blasting breakbeat of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crystal Method</b>.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Holkenborg followed
up with 1999’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Big Sounds of the Drags</i>,
and the standout track here is “Action Radius”, with its swirling beginning that
resolves into yet another gigantic blast of guitar riffage before dropping into
a massive beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holkenborg’s rapping is
almost hectoring here, but the chorus is kind of big and sing-song-y.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Check Your Basic Groove” and “Love Like
Razorblade” are cut from the same cloth as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crystal
Method’s</b> “Keep Hope Alive”, while “Synasthesia” races along like “Fresh” by
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Daft Punk</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Zerotonine” has a sweet strings sample and a
milder rapping cadence, and “Legion” has a mellower acoustic vibe that sounds
to me like some of the stuff <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Everlast </b>did
after he left <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">House of Pain</b>.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another electronic
band I like are Denmark’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Junior Senior</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Michael
Jackson</b> sampling “Move Your Feet” is another gorgeous
disco/electronic/dance mashup, as is “Go Junior, Go Senior”, both off 2001’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">D-D-Don’t Don’t Stop the Beat</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">England’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fluke</b> seemed for a time like they might
join the “Big Four” of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chemical
Brothers, the Prodigy, Crystal Method, and Daft Punk</b>, and indeed their 1997
album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Risotto</i> is nearly as good as
albums by these groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to
the aforementioned <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wipeout XL</i> track
“Atom Bomb”, this album also has the hyper-rhythmic “Absurd”, the swirling,
romantic “Kitten Moon”, the pulsing, percolating “Mosh”, and the surging
“Squirt”, as well as the ominous seven minute album ender “Goodnight
Lover”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, other songs, like
“Amp”, “Reeferendum”, “Bermuda”, and “Setback” never really move beyond
enjoyable and often verge on repetitious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Two other English
acts, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fatboy Slim</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Basement Jaxx</b>, also had hit songs
during this period, Fatboy Slim with the fantastic bombast of “Right Here,
Right Now” and the Jaxx with “Where’s Your Head At”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like “Killafornia” by Fatboy Slim and
the disco smoothness of “Romeo” and “Just 1 Kiss” by the latter.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With respect to
contemporary electronic dance music, one DJ I especially enjoy is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Guetta</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple years ago they ended the Grammies
featuring performances by Guetta and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Deadmau5</b>,
and I thought Guetta, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Li’l Wayne</b> and
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Brown’s</b> version of “I Can Only
Imagine” blew poor little mousie out of the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is just fun and upbeat, and for
a while was my son’s favorite song (when he was six or seven); I just love how
the sweet piano pounding builds the chorus until it blows apart into a pulsing
fuzz bass and frantic synth.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve also tried to
explore other prominent current DJs and EDM musicians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have developed a fondness for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Skrillex</b>, especially the songs
“Bangarang” (this is my personal fave for obvious reasons, with its wild
screeching synth), “Kyoto”, “Rock n’ Roll (Will Take You To the Mountain)
(another favorite of mine), “Kill Everybody”, and “All I ask Of You”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nicky Romero’s</b> “Toulouse”, another great strident squacking synth
line set over a danceable groove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Afrojack</b> is another favorite
particularly the percolating “Prutataaa” and “Funk With Me”, and the
house-influenced “As Your Friend”, which feature <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Brown</b> on vocals.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Eventually I grew
away from solely listening to electronica.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, one of the things that prompted me to move back into rock was
the rise of Napster; it allowed me to sample, for free, many songs, artists,
and genres that I hadn’t before, plus it allowed me to acquire a ton of old
songs I used to like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slowly I moved
away from electronica, but I never completely lost my love for the songs
mentioned here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still think
electronica invigorated contemporary music in a major way, and helped to mix
together genres like hip hop, disco, and rock that hadn’t always been mixed
together well in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I recently
re-explored my old electronica songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Last winter we had a number of storms and cold snaps here in Colorado,
and were forced to spend a lot of time indoors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My then seven-year-old son and I, along with my wife, would put on a
playlist of electronica songs and dance to them to alleviate the boredom and
give us some physical activity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My son
developed a fondness for electronica that has continued to this day, though
currently his top favorite artist is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eminem</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But his second favorite artist is the
Prodigy, especially “Breathe” and most other songs on Fat of the Land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, he insisted that I make him a Prodigy
t-shirt, which I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also watched a
performance by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Prodigy</b> from a
European mega-concert from a few years ago that was really enjoyable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been fun to re-explore this music with
my son and I’m glad he appreciates it as much as I do.</span></div>
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runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-6297061322083517772014-02-20T13:45:00.000-08:002014-02-20T13:45:57.090-08:00Scream: Some of the Goth and Hard Rock Bands that Played LA's Legendary 80's Club<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrBex6aSbz_EAsca4RkL3VdFioocHnGIGSZMUCHpOIuRHKNth8M0jfOc8sYnX8DDdGV2UZSObO0G_ROWQO7kwytfu6Ed7xxxSDU81NbBjCg59jiqJM-ttgtoqK8bRiPIWRgON8vB3A3Yc/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYrBex6aSbz_EAsca4RkL3VdFioocHnGIGSZMUCHpOIuRHKNth8M0jfOc8sYnX8DDdGV2UZSObO0G_ROWQO7kwytfu6Ed7xxxSDU81NbBjCg59jiqJM-ttgtoqK8bRiPIWRgON8vB3A3Yc/s1600/Slide1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patrick Mata of Kommunity FK (left) and Johnny Indovina of Human Drama (right), two unsung heroes of LA goth.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In my last post I discussed the rise of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> from the point of view of someone who was there
almost from the beginning and got to see them live very early on in their
career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As mentioned in that post, Perry
Farrell had a band prior to Jane’s Addiction known as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never saw them live as they broke up before
Jane’s Addiction got started in fall of ’85 just when I was arriving up in LA
to attend college at UCLA, about 15 months before I first saw Jane’s A live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I recently tracked down some of their
music; unfortunately none of it is commercially available via iTunes or
Amazon.com but their first demos, recorded in March of ‘84 (a collection known
in the Jane’s A world as “Worktape 1”) are uploaded to YouTube, as are all of
the songs from their self-titled 1985 album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These paint a very interesting picture of Perry’s pre-Jane’s musical
inspirations and influences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perry has
stated in interviews that during this time he was listening heavily to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joy Division</b>, and there are definitely elements
of their music to be found in that of Psi Com, most notably the pulsing bass
lines and the introspective, almost morose tone of most of the songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music definitely sounds post-punk with
gothic overtones, but to me, Joy Division is less directly an inspiration here
than other post-punk bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Specifically, the shimmering, down-tuned guitars really remind me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John McGeoch’s</b> work with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Siouxsie and the Banshees</b> (such as
songs like “Monitor” and “Arabian Knights”) as well as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Keith Levine’s</b> on the first <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">P.I.L</b>.
album, most notably on songs like “Theme” and “Public Image”. The first song on
Worktape 1 is “Hopeful”, which lopes along at a brisk pace and has the
catchiest beat of the Psi Com songs I’ve heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perry’s vocals are kind of echoey—in the early days of Jane’s Addiction
he also used a lot of vocal effects, especially live—and mostly sung in a lower
register.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song and it’s grinding,
high register guitar lines and pounding drums sounds like classic post-punk to
me, a natural extension of songs like “Into the Light” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Siouxsie and the Banshees</b>, but with a dash of “Into You Like a
Train” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Psychedelic Furs</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Hopeful” is by far my favorite Psi Com
song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Them” is rawer, darker, and
slower but retains that sludgy post-punk feel of “Hopeful” while “Psi Com
Theme” is more atmospheric; here <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joy
Division’s</b> influence can be more keenly felt.</div>
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Psi Com’s self-titled 1985 mini-album continued in a similar
vein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Ho Ka Hey” also has that
shimmering, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">McGeoch-</b>like guitar
sound and a throbbing bass line, with Perry’s ululating vocals over everything;
this has an almost tribal feel to it and a frantic pace that makes it pretty
compelling to listen to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other
thing this evokes for me is “Antonin Artaud” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b> in its shimmery, grinding wildness. “Human Condition” is
more ponderous and its down-scaling guitar line after the chorus reminds me of
“New Dawn Fades” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joy Division</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the centerpiece of the album is the
surging, lurching “Xiola”, yet another tribute by Perry to his then-lover, the
underage trust fund artist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Xiola Blue</b>.
Perry’s alternately shrieking and howling vocals ride the swells and recessions
of the music like a surfer cruising a wave; this is as passionate as he seemed
to get with this band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The final two
songs of this album, “City of Gates” and “Winds” are long and turgid and don’t
really go anywhere, especially the slow, meandering “Winds”, but show that he
clearly was never shy about writing songs that broke the five minute barrier
(both songs exceed seven minutes in length).</div>
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Overall I’d have to say that I’m not a huge fan of Psi Com;
they never seem to break out of the post-punk sonic ghetto, and all of the
songs just sound too similar—too shimmery, too minor key.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing really sticks out here, except
perhaps “Hopeful”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Psi Com were part of a pretty large goth/post-punk scene
that thrived in LA in the 80’s, and many of these other bands both influenced
and played with both <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perry Farrell</b>
has mentioned (most recently in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brendan
Mullen’s</b> oral history of Jane’s Addiction, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Whores</i>) that one of the performers who most impressed him with both
his look and his sound when he first started getting into the LA music scene
was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patrick Mata</b> of the band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kommunity FK</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mata definitely had a distinctive look, equal
parts goth punk shock and New Ro Blitz Kid glamour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And his voice truly was evocative, not that
that is particularly easy to tell from Kommunity FK’s first album, 1983’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Vision and the Voice</i>, which would be
apt if only Mata’s vocals weren’t buried beneath layers of muddy production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On this earlier work the band hews very
closely to the goth punk of progenitors like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b>; songs like the appropriately named “Anti-Pop” and
“Bullets” snarl with raw guitar much like “Dark Entries” or “Stigmata Martyr”
off <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b>’ first album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Unknown To You” melds this slashing guitar
sound to a meandering bass and ominous vocals in a way that evokes the
epileptic post-punk funk of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gang of Four</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their “theme song”, “Fuck the Kommunity”
is an out-and-out punk song, sounding like the emotional hardcore of bands like
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Flower Leperds </b>or<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Dr. Know</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No Fear” again has a prominent, brooding
bass line and sustained synth drone that sets a gloomy tone; Mata’s vocals,
though buried in the mix, give one of the best examples from this album at
least of how powerful and emotive his voice could be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But to me, the standout track on this album
is the monolithic “We Will Not Fall”, which builds on the somber emotionality
of “No Fear” but is an even more effective song because of the catchy,
repetitive guitar riff offsetting the throbbing bass; to me this song brings to
mind some of the gloomy sludge of of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Stooges’</b> first album, notably songs like “Ann”, the similarly named “We
Will Fall”, and especially “Little Doll” (which is actually one of my favorite
Stooges songs).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is saved from
being merely dirge-y by the propulsive percussion and driving guitar riff, as
well as the shared chorus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
industrial touches remind me of some of the music that was being made in the
Bay Area in the early 80’s by acts such as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chrome</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Factrix</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll bet this song was a swirling punk-goth
miasma live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately the mix on
this entire album is just too dense, and arguably their greatest weapon, Mata’s
emotive vocals, is buried too deep in the mix to raise this material enough to
notice or appreciate.</div>
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By their second and final studio album, 1985’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close One Sad Eye</i>, the production
problems had been solved and Mata’s voice is refreshingly forward in the
mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this point the band had evolved
beyond their goth-punk beginnings toward a lusher, New Romantic new wave synth
sound, where the synthesizers are the most prominent sonic element and the
guitars have been scaled back and mostly used for effect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Other World” has a staccato rhythm and
rumbling bass but starts with a synth flourish before highlighting Mata’s
almost drag-queen like vocals, but the song just kind of meanders and never
really goes anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Something Inside
Me Has Died” is a step in a better direction, beginning with a morose bass line
before the guitars flash and slash into the song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mata here sounds almost eerily like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Phil Oakey</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Human League</b>, his voice highly dramatic and quavering with
emotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song seems perfectly
balanced between their punkier beginnings and their New Ro leanings on the rest
of this album.</div>
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The two best songs on this album are really just pure new
wave synth music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Trollops” is catchy
and has clever lyrics with evocative imagery (“I love your hair it’s black as
tires”) and the almost perfect mix of smooth synths and highly processed guitar
here reminds me of the stuff <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Berlin</b>
was doing at around this same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
always had really extreme feelings about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Berlin</b>;
I almost uniformly detest their better known songs but love the stuff nobody
ever heard or saw on MTV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, I
can’t stand the Euro-wannabe song (and video) “Metro”, which seems to be
striving for a kind of continental sophistication and ennui that it doesn’t
quite attain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I consider “Sex” (I’m
a . . .)” to be one of the lamest songs of the entire new wave era; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Terri Nunn</b> is without a doubt one of
the most beautiful and sexy women to emerge from the new wave era (I actually
find her more attractive now as a woman over 50 than I did then), but the lame
sexual moans and cheesily blatant sexual lyrics and entendres of this song just
leave me stone cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I vastly prefer
songs like the perky, percolating “Masquerade” off their first album as well as
the darker (yet sexier to me) songs “Now It’s My Turn”, “Touch”, and “When We
Make Love” off their 1984 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love Life</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m also a fan of “Rumor of Love”, where <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Crawford</b> takes the lead and Terri
provides sweet backing vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My two
all-time favorite Berlin songs are the harder, faster, more guitar-driven
“Pictures of You”, with Terri’s magnificently triumphant vocals on the chorus,
as well as the slower, lusher, super romantic ballad “Fall”, particularly the
end where Nunn repeatedly sings “Your star will shine again”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love
Life</i> is one of those albums I’ve loved since the very moment it first came
out and continue to treasure to this day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It has aged really well, unlike a lot of synth music from that era.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patrick Mata’s</b>
vocals on this album also remind me of another phenomenal singer from the 80’s
new wave scene, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alison Moyet</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moyet was of course the lead singer for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Vince Clarke’s</b> post-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Depeche Mode</b> band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yaz</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yaz was quite popular
at my high school though to my knowledge they never toured America before
Alison went solo just two short years later in 1983.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moyet went on to have a modestly successful
solo career (I like the song “Weak In The Presence of Beauty” off her second
album, 1988’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Raindancing</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Years after they’d broken up, around 1987, I
roomed for a summer in a frat house at UCLA because it was dirt cheap and my
roommate was this guy Paul from England who spent the entire summer working at
some film poster factor in Hollywood and partying insanely hard every night; he
was the only person I’d ever met who saw Yaz live in concert, although “live”
might be something of a misnomer since all the music was preprogrammed by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Vince Clarke</b>; Paul knew this because at
one point Clarke walked away from his synth and spent part of the concert
taking photos of the crowd!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway I was
never as huge fan of Yaz’s big club hits like “Don’t Go”, “Situation”, and
“Goodbye 70’s” as I was of their more romantic torch songs and ballads; my
favorite Yaz songs are “Too Pieces” off their album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upstairs at Eric’s</i> and “Nobody’s Diary” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You And Me Both</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m also
partial to “Only You”, “In My Room”, “Mr. Blue”, “Softly Over”, and “Ode To
Boy”, but it’s the quavering romanticism of Moyet’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>contralto on “Too Pieces” coupled with
Clarke’s lush, optimistic synths that really gets me, and Mata’s vocal work,
particularly on the songs off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close One
Sad Eye</i> come close to this in my opinion.</div>
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Anyway, the other song I love by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kommunity FK</b> off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close One
Sad Eye</i> is “the Vision and the Voice”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This song starts with a susurrating synth line yanked straight off
“Living on Video” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Trans X</b> before
moving into a gloomy, descending bass line that sounds like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scott Alexander’s</b> bass line from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stooges’</b> “Now I Wanna Be Your
Dog”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mata’s vocals on the initial verses
are sung in this odd, flat-affect, sing-songy method but this works as an
effective counterpoint to the smooth lushness of his voice on the chorus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The synth flourishes in the place of guitar
solos give this song a very new wave-y feel; as my wife recently said, “This
sounds like it was playing on the sound system at ‘Tech Noir’ right before <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Linda Hamilton</b> walked in to use the
phone in ‘The Terminator’”, and she’s absolutely right, and it’s why I love
this song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is extremely catchy
and had it been released in 1982 or 1983 it might have been a hit along the lines
of “Tainted Love” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Soft Cell</b>, but
by 1985 synth-driven new wave was falling more and more swiftly out of
favor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This lack of success probably
contributed to the breakup of Kommunity FK in the summer of ’85, supposedly
right after a show they played at the O.N. Club with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b>; their drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Matt
Chaikin</b> actually drummed for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s
Addiction</b> in their first months before <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stephen
Perkins</b> joined in March of ’86.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Another band that gigged around with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com </b>in the goth/post-punk community was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Screams For Tina</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
sound leaned much more toward the so-called “darkwave” end of goth/post-punk;
more ominous and, well, dark than even typical goth, which could often be kind
of lush, romantic and even optimistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
can recall seeing ads and fliers for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Screams
For Tina</b> around LA in the mid-80’s and they seemed to have a decent buzz
about them; indeed, according to Wikipedia they were voted as among the top
five vote-getters in the “Best New Band” and “Best Underground Band” categories
in the LA Weekly’s annual readers’ poll a couple of times in the 80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately their recorded output in their
heyday is scanty, with just the 1986 EP <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stobelight
Funera</i>l coming out during the 80’s. Alas, this EP is not available via
commercial MP3 sites though someone has put some songs up on YouTube.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Fool’s Gold” captures their atmospheric,
ominous sound, which like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b>
owes much to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Juju</i>-era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Siouxsie</b>; unlike Psi Com, however,
their sound isn’t as homogeneous in terms of the guitar, and the production is
definitely a notch or three higher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On
this song, the ominous, repeated guitar picking actually reminds me of the main
guitar line in the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bryan Adams</b> song
“Run To You”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Nightmare”, also off this
same EP, starts with a grinding, feeding back guitar line and heavy percussion
that eventually resolves into a lurching rhythm and swirling wall of noise
punctuated by occasional slashes of guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Simple Addictions” almost reminds me of a slowed-down version of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus’</b> cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Eno’s</b> “Third Uncle” only with a down-tuned variant of the
guitar from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Clash’s</b> “Police On
My Back”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vocals here sound really
processed too, another thing they seemed to share with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b>.</div>
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Screams For Tina didn’t release their first full-length
album until 1994’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Screams For Tina</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has more of the grinding buzz of “Dark
Entries” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b>, especially on
songs like “Judgment Day” and “In Her House”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The latter is probably my favorite song by this group; the vocals here
bring to my mind some of the “new wave revival” bands of the last 10 years,
people like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Editors</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its driving rhythm sets it apart from some of
the other songs, which like Psi Com’s tend to kind of run together for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Savage Republic</b>
is another LA post-punk band that focused more on atmospheric soundscapes and
near-drone sonics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Screams For Tina</b>, Savage Republic was
prolific in the studio, and several of their early albums are available on
iTunes and elsewhere commercially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
not a huge fan of 1982’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tragic Figures</i>;
this album is too intentionally strident and arty, sounding like a weird cross
between the dark post-punk meanderings of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Killing
Joke</b>, the angular funk of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gang of
Four</b>, and the harsh industrial clamor of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Einsturzende Neubauten</b>, especially on songs like “Machinery”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually like all three of these bands a
lot, but Savage Republic’s take on this same territory just doesn’t strike my
fancy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs like “Real Men” remind me
of some of the stuff <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sonic Youth</b>
were doing early in their career, or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kerosene</i>-era
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Big Black</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Much more to my liking is their smoother, more polished
sound on 1985’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ceremonial</i>,
particularly on instrumentals like “Andalusia”, “1000 Days”, and “Walking
Backwards”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The title song and “Year of
Exile” almost sound like the post-rock of bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rachel’s</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mogwai</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their 1988 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Customs</i> never really moved beyond what they accomplished here, and
the band broke up soon afterward.</div>
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Another band that trod the territory between goth and
post-punk was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Abecedarians</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both the Abecedarians and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> played regularly at
the LA’s goth-metal-alternative club Scream, and both bands were chosen to
contribute a song to the now-legendary “Scream Album”, a compilation of songs
by bands who frequently played the club, which came out in 1987.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can distinctly remember when that album
came out, because I was both going to the Scream club fairly frequently at that
time and because I absolutely loved the song “Rotten Sunday” by the grungy
blues/punk/hard rock band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Hangmen</b>,
who I saw play at Scream around that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Abecedarian’s song on the
Scream compilation, “They Said Tomorrow” is an exemplar of their sound, which
was not so much gothic as it was just crisp, tightly played post-punk with a
slightly morose edge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vocals, by
singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Manecke</b>, are particularly
good; like many of the bands on this post, they owe a debt to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bowie</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peter Murphy</b> but in this case Manecke is not trying too hard to
perfectly replicate the stentorian baritone of these singers but instead uses
their influences to enhance his own particular talents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sonically, the Abecedarians remind me a
little of a less depressed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joy Division</b>
or maybe a less stoned <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Echo and the
Bunnymen</b>, as mentioned less goth <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">per
se</i> and really more just atmospheric post-punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Off their 1987 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eureka</i>, I particularly like the crisp, driving “Beneath the City of
the Hedonistic Bohemians” and the quieter “Misery of Cities” and “The Other
Side of the Fence”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Savage Republic</b>, they sometimes trade
too heavily in textures and moods, like on the perfectly fine but rather bland
“Soil” and “I Glide”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Smiling Monarchs”
has a big clapping beat and swirling snyths that make me think of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thompson Twins</b>; this would have made a
great dance single to play at LA’s underage dance club 321 around the year 1984.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Benway’s Carnival” is too frenetic; “Switch”
sounds too much like a shadow of “Age of Consent” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">New Order</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am developing a
liking for this band but so far it has been a taste acquired with some effort,
they aren’t super accessible or catchy but, like another band I’ve come to like
from that place and time, Orange County’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psychobud</b>,
they do a solid job within the confines of their sound.</div>
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Another band featured on the Scream compilation, and one
that also played that club a lot obviously, are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Francis X and the Bushmen</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their sound is a crisp, produced arena post-punk with hints of hard
rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Francis X’s vocals move from deep
to keening much like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iggy Pop’s</b> in
his 80’s solo work, which is what the band also sounds like to me--I’m thinking
of songs like “Power and Freedom” and “Candy” by Ig.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Francis also sounds like late era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TSOL</b> to me too when he sings, before
they went hard rock, like on their album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Change
Today</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their only recorded foray
into the studio was the 1986 EP <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Soul
Incest</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Mirror Church” and “Come
With Me” have a polished post-punk sound with a hard rock edge to it.
“Harlequin” almost reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shriekback</b>,
with it’s shouted choruses and rangy rhythm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I like this band but want to like them more given how often I remember
seeing them advertised back in the day, especially at the Scream club, but so
far they just haven’t clicked for me, their sound is a little too sterile. I’ll
bet they were way better live.</div>
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A band that Francis X and the Bushmen sort of remind me of,
only less gothy of course, is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Sisters of Mercy</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, if the
Scream club had a patron saint band, SoM would definitely be it; their mix of
hardcore old-school goth—<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Andrew Eldritch</b>’s
voice literally SOUNDS skinny and pale, he sounds like an even more cadaverous <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Low</i>-era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Bowie</b>—with driving arena/hard rock that hits pretty much all
of the musical talking points of the Scream culture, so perhaps it is not
surprising to hear echoes of their sound and style in many of the 80’s LA goth
bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recently downloaded a bunch of songs
off their 1987 magnum opus <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Floodland</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can remember when this album came out; I
was a big fan of the song “This Corrosion”, partly because it is simply a
great, catchy song, and partly because the video extensively featured new
member and gorgeous goth pinup <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patricia
Morrison</b>, formerly of the seminal LA punk band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Bags</b> (and eventually to become Mrs. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Vanian</b> as well as a short-term member of his band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Damned</b>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bouncy synths and booming choruses of
this song are still amazingly catchy, but I’ve actually come to like some of
the other songs on this incredible album even more, including the sleek “Flood
II”, the grinding, tortured ‘Emma”, and currently my favorite is the dark,
driving masterpiece “Lucretia My Reflection”, a song that surely represents,
along with “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b>,
the apotheosis of goth as an artistic statement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crisp rhythm, the crypt-y vocals, and the
huge guitar riffs bring this song out of the caverns and into the arena in a
perfect way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eldritch continued to
explore this harder edged rock sound on 1990’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vision Thing</i>, and the title track, “Detonation Boulevard”, and “You
Could Be The One” are all magnificent.</div>
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Of all the bands playing at clubs like Scream in LA in the
mid/late 80’s, I have yet to come across one as interesting as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Human Drama</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human Drama was the brainchild of singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Indovina</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indovina’s first band, which he started in
New Orleans in the early 80’s, was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Models</b>; a performance video of their song “Fool To Try” is uploaded on
YouTube, and their sound is pretty standard new wave rock in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Fleshtones</b> mold and their look is a
very dated early 80’s image similar to that of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Romantics</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the song
is catchy and Johnny’s vocals are certainly impressive and hint at better things
to come.</div>
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Around 1985 Johnny moved to LA and changed the name of his
band to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Human Drama</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kommunity
FK, Savage Republic, Abecedarians</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Francis
X and the Bushmen</b>, they quickly became regular performers at Scream (they
too are featured on the Scream compilation).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 1988 they signed a major label record deal with RCA records and
recorded and released both an EP and their debut album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feel</i>, that same year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
two records are available as a combined album on iTunes and are, to put it
simply, staggering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human Drama lean
more toward the romantic, optimistic end of the goth spectrum, and unlike
pretty much every other band mentioned in this post, Indovina’s vocals do not
hew tightly to the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bowie/Murphy</b> mold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite the contrary; Johnny’s vocal range is
almost staggering, moving from a emotive whisper to a wild falsetto shriek,
often within the same song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At times his
voice does evoke a hint of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peter Murphy</b>,
especially at quieter moments, but during his more energetic periods he almost
reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Meat Loaf</b>, like on his
1993 smash hit “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)”, or even
British theatrical star <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Michael
Crawford’</b>s work from “The Phantom of the Opera” (like “Music Of The Night”,
for example, a song I love because I saw Phantom in LA in the early 90’s).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Musically the band sounds like a cross
between the hard rock of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sonic Temple</i>-era
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cult</b> and the slick, almost
over-produced arena rock of bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Outfield</b> (I recently scandalized all of my Facebook friends by admitting
that I am a HUGE closet Outfield fan; indeed, I would consider the Outfield to
be my most shameful secret love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I
can’t help it, I’m addicted to their sleek, over polished <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Journey</b> wannabe songs, and have been ever since “Your Love”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I absolutely love “Moving Target”, “All
the Love”, “Mystery Man”, “61 Seconds”, “I Don’t Need Her”, “Say It Isn’t
So”—probably my second favorite song next to “Your Love”—and Bangin’ On My
Heart”.) .</div>
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There are definitely times when <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Human Drama’s</b> arena rock histrionics, and Johnny’s vocals in
particular, go catapulting right over the top and become almost satirical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Never Never” for example, is just too
maudlin lyrically and vocally, too emphatic and overwrought, as is “Through My
Eyes”; Johnny just sounds too shriek-y here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Nothing I Judge” is fine, but the atheist in me recoils from the chorus
“You’re making me, run from Jesus” (yeah, so?) and I’m also not a fan of the
quasi-funky but overly processed guitar on this song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But honestly, these are just a couple of
minor low points on what is otherwise an incredible album; usually Johnny’s
sense of, for want of a better word, drama, brings his melodic and well-crafted
songs right up to the knife edge of emotional resonance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Death of an Angel”, for example, starts with
a gently picking guitar and some orchestral strings that immediately bring to
mind “Edie (Ciao Baby)” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Cult</b>
and builds into a magical chorus by Johnny, particularly at the end of the song
when Johnny shares the vocals with a magnificent female singer, who perfectly
counter-points Johnny’s chorus with her plaintive vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I Wish I Could See” starts out with a
strange pulsing synth line but bursts out into another huge bombastic chorus
straight out of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Meat Loaf</b>
territory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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To me the two best songs on this album are “Heaven On Earth”
and “Dying In a Moment of Splendor”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Heaven” is semi-acoustic, and Johnny does a terrific job of working
through his tremendous range without ever going over-the-top; in the chorus he
sounds a lot like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patrick Mata</b>, lush
and emotional in that perfect, goth-y New-Ro-y way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song has tremendous power for such a
relatively quiet song.</div>
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But “Dying In A Moment of Splendor” is hands-down the best
song on this album, and one of the best songs to come out of LA’s music scene in
the 80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It certainly starts mellowly
enough, semi-acoustic like “Heaven” but building to the most magnificent chorus
on an album full of magnificent choruses; here Johnny’s voice veers toward the
leather-lunged power of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kevin Dubrow</b>
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Quiet Riot</b> (I was always a closet
fan of theirs, and particularly loved “Mental Health”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the life of me I can’t even conceive of
hearing such a soaring, magnificent song/chorus in a grungy nightclub like
Scream; I’d give anything to see Human Drama there now!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is a little surprising and
disappointing that this song never received its proper due and sufficient
promotion by the record company; many bands with goth leanings were breaking
into the mainstream by the late 80’s when this came out, including the aforementioned
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cult, Depeche Mode, the Cure</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Morrissey</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could and should have been at least a
minor hit on KROQ and other “alternative” radio stations.</div>
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Indeed, because RCA put little to no promotion into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feel</i>, Johnny requested their release
from the label shortly thereafter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since then Johnny has continued to release exquisitely romantic,
emotional albums on independent labels like LA’s Triple-X Records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my favorite is 1992’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The World Inside</i>; I especially like the
jangly, sweet “This Tangled Web”, which reminds me of “Please, Please, Please
Let Me Get What I Want” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Smiths</b>
with a hint of the lush keyboards of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Goldfrapp’s</b>
“Number 1” mixed in for good measure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But my second favorite Human Drama song next to “Splendor” is the truly
sublime “Fascination and Fear”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everything about this song is perfect, from the repeating, trebly guitar
to the bongo percussion (particularly at the break) to the sweet synth
flourishes to the clavichord coming out of the break, and of course it builds
to a chorus of staggeringly under-stated power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patrick Mata</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kommunity FK</b> provides backing vocals on
the chorus, perfectly blending with Johnny’s own vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is wonderful to hear these two LA goth
luminaries harmonizing together in such perfect sync.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overall the song is sweet, lush, romantic and
beautiful, an almost perfect American counterpoint to “Human” by the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Human League</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such a fantastic song.</div>
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Another magnificent song is “Lost” off 1999’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Solemn Sun Setting</i>, with its martial
drumbeat and gently fuzzed out, humming guitar, the soft string accompaniment,
and Johnny’s gentle, sweet vocal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
only problem with this song, and much of the rest of Johnny’s work throughout
the rest of the 90’s and into the 21<sup>st</sup> century, is that he kept
getting farther and farther from the power and drama of his earlier work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love this song, but I would absolutely
adore it if Johnny just cut loose on it, and belted the final chorus out in his
legendarily powerful falsetto.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It stays
too understated for my tastes, and indeed most of Johnny’s post-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feel </i>work shied away from the arena
bombast that characterized his first album, and that’s a shame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Songs like “Lost” remind me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peter Murphy’s</b> post-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b>
solo work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like most alternative rock
fans, I loved his hit “Cuts You Up” off his third solo effort, 1989’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deep</i>, especially his rich, textured
baritone on the chorus, but only in doing some research for this post did I go
back and listen to his solo albums in more detail and discover how many
incredible songs he has recorded over the past 25 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From that same album I love the song “Crystal
Wrists”, with its pulsing synth intro and the swirling guitars-and-keyboards
wall of sound punctuated by Murphy’s distinctively deep and resonant
vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also really love the simple
torch song “My Last Two Weeks” and its dramatic piano flourishes, and the
delicate, shimmery “Indigo Eyes” off his second solo album, 1988’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love Hysteria</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Murphy waited three years before recording his follow-up to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deep</i>, spending that time touring on the
strength of “Cuts You Up”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1992 he
released <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holy Smoke</i>, which contained
another song that became a modest modern rock hit, “The Sweetest Drop”, but my
favorite cut off this album is the aptly named “Hit Song”, which, while
unabashedly pop in nature, is one of the best showcases for Murphy’s incredible
vocal range that he ever recorded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
me it is impossible to listen to this song and not start belting out the big
quavery chorus with Peter, this is just such a catchy, singable pop song.</div>
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1995’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cascade</i>
represents a high water mark in Murphy’s post-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b> work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The album was
bristling with edgy but catchy songs that captured Murphy’s fractured lyrical
bent and his magnificent voice at their very best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the synth-heavy and sweetly melodic
“Gliding Like a Whale” to the hard-edged guitar sound of “Wild Birds Flock To
Me”, the songwriting here is crisp and stellar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The arty tones of Murphy’s prior work have been ramped down, as have the
more nakedly pop aspects of his things like “Hit Song” in favor for a solid
alternative rock ambiance that fits Murphy’s beautiful voice perfectly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This album meets, and often exceeds, even his
work with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b>, which despite
their lionization by goth rockers because of their position as the godfathers
of the entire goth movement, was often too harsh or purposely avant garde to be
really enjoyable to listen to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The
Scarlet Thing In You” is another standout track, the mix of electric and
acoustic guitar and mid-tempo rhythm melding to create a pleasantly rollicking
song anchored as always by Murphy’s distinctive vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the standout track here, and easily one
of the top songs of Murphy’s long solo career, is “I’ll Fall With Your Knife”,
which starts with a percolating synth line but is quickly punctuated by
beautiful raw stabs of guitar that almost remind me of “Under the Bridge” by
the Red Hot Chili Peppers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Murphy’s
vocals are exquisite and the song eventually picks up some drive with a crisp
drumbeat midway through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is
just catchy and irresistible.</div>
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Murphy’s two subsequent albums, 2002’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dust</i> and 2004’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unshattered</i>,
did not resonate so well with me. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dust</i>
is a side exploration into Eastern and ambient sounds that is too trip-hop, too
mellow for my tastes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2004’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unshattered</i> veered back into treacly pop
and aside from the surging, almost funky “Idle Flow”, none of the songs really
reach out and grab me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in 2011
Murphy released the album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ninth</i> which
is a return to the delicate balance between pop, art, and alterna-rock
represented by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cascade</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like the propulsive rhythm and chugging
guitar of “The Prince & Old Lady Shade”, which has more bite than almost
any Murphy song since “Stigmata Martyr”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Memory Go” also has a tougher edge to it than most of Murphy’s
post-Bauhaus solo work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I Spit Roses”
is more delicate, while my favorite song off this album, “Seesaw Sway” combines
the mellower aspects of “Roses” in its verse portions with the harder rock edges
of “Memory Go” on the chorus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like this song and find the chorus to be
particularly catchy, it reminds me a lot of the propulsive, soaringly optimistic
singles <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">U2</b> has released over the
past 20 years or so, stuff like “Zoo Station”, “Beautiful Day” and “Vertigo”.</div>
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Getting back to 80’s LA post-punk, there is one other band
worth discussing here that shares links with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>, and that’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lions
& Ghosts</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Jane’s Addiction,
Lions & Ghosts were regular performers at Scream, but they also shared a
closer connection:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>vocalist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rick Parker</b> actually lived at the
legendary Wilton House, the Hollywood house that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perry Farrell, Casey Nicoli, Eric Avery, Jane Bainter</b> (the
inspiration for “Jane Says”) and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carla
Bozulich</b> (who would go on to form both the techno rock band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ethyl Meatplow</b> and the countrified <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Geraldine Fibbers</b>) all shared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Legend has it that Perry broke into Rick’s
room and started reading and making fun of some of his lyrics until he and
Parker got in a fistfight, then Parker moved out shortly thereafter.</div>
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If you were to pick one band out of the stew of bands
gigging throughout LA during the mid/late 80’s that would be the best bet to
make it big, Lions & Ghosts would almost assuredly be that band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike the other bands on this list, they
weren’t even peripherally associated with LA’s goth scene but were instead a
straight-ahead, if somewhat earnest college rock/bar band in the vein of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Replacements</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Alarm</b>, with a bit of the jangle-pop
sheen of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">REM</b> and psychedelia-lite of
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Church</b> tossed on top for good
measure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, they also remind me of
two other bands from about that same time that also share links with Jane’s
Addiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of them is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about the same time that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> was creating a buzz
and initiating a bidding war with record companies on the west coast, Tommy
Conwell’s hard-edged bar rock was packing ‘em in in clubs in the bars around
Philly and eventually he and his band got signed to Columbia Records at about the
same time Jane’s Addiction got signed to rival Warner’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Conwell’s first album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rumble</i>, was a blast of pure bar band blues and hard rock and
spawned a couple of modestly successful singles, the fantastic grinding rocker
“I’m Not Your Man” (a song that earned valid comparisons to the best of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Replacements</b>) and the earnest, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jules Shear</b>-penned ballad “If We Never
Meet Again”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember all of this for
two reasons: first, there was a huge article on the respective bidding wars
over both Jane’s A and Tommy Conwell at the time in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rolling Stone</i> magazine that I read (and subsequently kept), and second,
around this time my then-girlfriend, future wife went to some party at some
generic dance club/bar and they gave out promotional copies of Conwell’s album
for free and my girlfriend hated it and promptly gave it to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to the two singles, I also liked
“Half A Heart” and “Love’s On Fire” but the rest of the album didn’t break out
of its bar band mold enough to move the needle for me.</div>
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The other band Lions & Ghosts reminds me of is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Divine Weeks</b>, another LA band that
gigged around in the 80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Originally called
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Need</b> and more of a powerpop
band, Divine Weeks shifted their sound toward more of a college alternative
sound about midway between <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">REM</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Replacements</b>. I was very familiar
with Divine Weeks because most of its members, including leader <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bill See</b>, went to UCLA, although they
were a couple years older than me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, Bill’s then-girlfriend, and manager of Divine Weeks, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mary,</b> worked at the UCLA college radio
station KLA at the same time I did circa ‘86’-’89 and I can distinctly recall
seeing her in the offices of KLA many times (I believe at the time she had
bright red dyed hair and a nose ring but I could be wrong), and I can also
remember her setting up a free concert by them on the A-Level of Ackerman Union
sometime around ’88 or ’89.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple
years ago See published <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">33 Days</i>, a
memoir of exactly this period and his band’s first real tour, a self-promoted
swing up into the Pacific Northwest then east through Canada before swinging
around in a big loop through the Southwest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I greatly enjoyed reading this; in the summer of ’88 I was living up in
LA, working part-time on UCLA campus and spending most of the rest of the time
laying out at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center and working out at the on-campus
gym, so for me that also was a summer of freedom and exploration, and reading
Bill’s enjoyable account of his band’s trip was extremely pleasant for me given
his band’s close connection to institutions (LA, UCLA, KLA) that were close to
me as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toward the end of the book Bill
claims that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eric Avery</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Navarro</b> contacted him shortly
around this time to ask if he’d be interested in joining <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>; at the time, lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perry Farrell</b> was alienating the other band members by insisting on
a greater share of the writing credits and supposedly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rick Rubin</b> had offered to sign the rest of the band with any other
singer fronting them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>See passed up the
opportunity in order to remain with his own band, which I respect a lot.</div>
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Anyway, Lions & Ghosts had a tremendous buzz around LA
from about 1985 or ’86 until the end of the decade, gigging around with bands
as disparate as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction, Faster
Pussycat, the Unforgiven</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Guns
n’ Roses</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In late 1986 they signed
with EMI and entered the studio to record their first album, 1987’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Velvet Kiss, Lick of the Lime</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The album hits most if not all of the touch
points of mid 80’s music:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>big choruses,
jangly Paisley Underground guitars, occasional surging hard rock guitar riffs,
a raspy voiced singer, in a competent if not particularly memorable way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leadoff song “Passion” is mid-tempo and
melodic, and the “Live by passion, die by passion” chorus has a sing-songy
aspect that actually reminds me of “She Don’t Know Me” by Bon Jovi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Mary Goes Round” was a modest college radio
hit, and has more punch to it, with a driving bass and backbeat, slashing
guitars and a catchy chorus; it almost reminds me of a slightly less psychedelic
“Reptile” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Church</b>, but with
more of the bite of “Lay It Down Clown” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Replacements</b> in the guitar solo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Love and Kisses from the Gutter” almost reminds me of “Alex Chilton” by
the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">‘mats</b>, it’s got that kind of
shiny driving feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When the Moon is
Full” starts with some lush strings right out of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Electric Light Orchestra</b> before a guitar riff straight out of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Power Station’s</b> remake of “Bang a Gong”
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">T. Rex</b> kicks in; the slashing
guitar continues to counter-point the sweet strings throughout the song in a
very effective way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is probably my
favorite song off this first album by Lions & Ghosts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Wilton House” is Rick Parker’s nostalgic
look back at his time spent in this fertile abode, which launched so many great
bands; this is a tight, effective ballad that evokes “Here Comes a Regular” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Replacements</b> to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Album closer “One Theme” starts with some
backward tape looping before easing into a shimmery guitar piece that brings to
mind the work of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rain Parade</b>;
Parker’s vocal work here is reminiscent of that of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bono’s</b> to me, but this song lacks the fire or catchiness of most of
the other songs on this album, except for the big shiny “Sha na na, na na na,
na na na nah-na na” choruses at the end that reminds me of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rain in the Summertime” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Alarm</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Aside from some college radio interest, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Velvet Kiss</i> didn’t really go anywhere, and in 1989 Lions &
Ghosts released their second album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wild
Garden</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The title song is another
crisp, catchy blast of melodic college alterna-rock that is one of their best
songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The band really captured the feel
of late 80’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Replacements</b>, songs
like “I.O.U.” and again “Alex Chilton” off the ‘mat’s 1987 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Please To Meet Me</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Arson in Toyland”, however, just kind of
lurches along and never really catches fire for me; its not a bad song, but it
just doesn’t have much fire in it, unlike the next song, “Five and Dime”, which
lopes along nicely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Farewell in Hell”
and “Too Shy” are two other standouts, harnessing the energy and fire of the
band effectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Flowers of Evil” and
“Be Yourself” are a little too introspective for me, but “American Ghost” has a
wild rave-up sound close to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tommy
Conwell’s</b>, with some good harmonica to boot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Capture” almost sounds to me like the stuff <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Gin Blossoms</b> would take into the
top echelons of the charts in the early 90’s, or perhaps “She Don’t Know” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Bolshoi</b> (I saw that band for free
on the A-Level at UCLA around this time too). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Hourglass” is rootsier and acoustic before
cranking it up mid-song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I’m not sure why Lions & Ghosts never made it bigger;
they had a sound tailor-made to appeal to several broad musical constituencies,
with elements of hard rock, college rock, Paisley Underground pop, and so
forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For whatever reason they weren’t
ever able to break through outside of a couple of modest college radio hits and
broke up soon after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Michael Lockwood</b> arguably went on to
the biggest success of any LA 80’s musician, marrying the daughter of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the King</b> himself, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lisa Presley</b> in 2006 after playing in her band for a few
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bill See</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Divine Weeks</b> never made it much past
the early 90’s either, though Bill has continued to perform and to write since
then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that Divine Weeks had two
strikes against them that precluded their chance at success:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>first, they literally WERE college students,
so that probably caused some in the music biz to consider them less authentic
or street-cred than some of the grungier elements in the LA 80’s music scene,
who literally lived on the streets (in his memoir, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Duff McKagen</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Guns n’
Roses</b> recounts how the band lived in like a storage unit right off
Hollywood Blvd. before signing with Geffen).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Second, the inability of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lions
& Ghosts</b> to break out of the collegiate rock ghetto probably caused
other labels to be gun shy about making the same poor investment themselves.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patrick Mata</b>
continues to tour and release music and has become something of an underground
goth icon, appearing frequently in goth-centered magazines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Indovina</b>
has continued to perform into the 2000’s, first as a member of his first post-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Human Drama</b> band, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sound of the Blue Heart</b>, and then as a solo artist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His work, particularly with Human Drama,
continues to retain a fiercely loyal cult following, and is particularly big in
Mexico.</div>
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<br /></div>
runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-80619554677028720262014-01-27T14:41:00.001-08:002014-01-27T14:41:59.680-08:00Jane's Addiction and the Weird World of 80's Music in LA<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5kaL0dlYT7U3iWIG5ZZQoOfpGNeBlPrlOSX3Bj47ouQpukuMriALJ6VzURshUdp4acNAAIseRxf_bsC4msfj1Pdu5Houu81NSvlpx1UUnzf1l3UyS38kSAb6DXlP_T6CBD14_ykLsVlQ/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy5kaL0dlYT7U3iWIG5ZZQoOfpGNeBlPrlOSX3Bj47ouQpukuMriALJ6VzURshUdp4acNAAIseRxf_bsC4msfj1Pdu5Houu81NSvlpx1UUnzf1l3UyS38kSAb6DXlP_T6CBD14_ykLsVlQ/s1600/Slide1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early photo of Jane's Addiction, probably from '86</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It may sound pompous to say, but I have almost no regrets in
my life save one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh sure, there are
things I regret saying, and regret doing, and regret not saying and not
doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like everyone I’m sorry for times
I hurt someone through my action or inaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But by and large I do not look back and regret much in my life.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Except one thing:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wish I’d gone out to see more shows when I was younger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t go to my first concert until I was
17, in 1984, when I saw <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Idol</b>
at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in Irvine California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the next year or so I only saw large acts
at large venues:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Depeche Mode</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">General
Public</b>, also at Irvine Meadows in spring of 1985, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Madonna</b> at the Universal Amphitheater in 1985 as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Meanwhile 20 miles up the freeway Los Angeles was undergoing
a renaissance of small rock clubs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Los
Angeles may have arguably produced the greatest flowering of post-punk music
outside of England in the early to mid-80’s, at least in part because a
thriving network of clubs had sprouted up following the punk revolution of the
late 70’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When punk first exploded in
LA, there were very very few places where bands that played original music and
were not signed to a major label could play; established clubs like the Whiskey
and the Roxy did not open themselves up to the “new wave” of music until later,
and indeed the dearth of both rehearsal and performance space available to punk
bands in large part was the trigger for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brendan
Mullen’s</b> opening of the Masque in ’77.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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But by the early 80’s all that had changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Whiskey, the Roxy, The Olympic
Auditorium, and even the Troubadour hosted top-flight local and touring punk
and post-punk acts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Starwood, once
one of the only clubs in all of LA that would agree to put on punk shows,
continued to do so until it closed in 1985.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>New venues, including Al’s Bar, Raji’s, and the Anti-Club, all opened in
’79 or in the early 80’s dedicated to primarily showcasing punk and post-punk
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And after the final demise of the
Masque, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brendan Mullen</b> took over booking
for the Club Lingerie and it too began hosting underground music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the decade progressed, a host of dance
style clubs also arose that would either play records by local bands or would
occasionally host live performances by them, including Plastic Passion, Seven
Seas, Power Tools, and of course Scream, which I’ll talk more about below.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And while Slash, the original LA punk magazine, put out its
last issue in summer of 1980, by this time Flipside had risen to take its
place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile Scratch Magazine (not
affiliated with today’s hip-hop centered magazine) put out its first issues in
the early 80’s and was mostly dedicated to documenting the glitterati of LA’s
punk and post-punk scene much like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Craig
Lee</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pleasant Gehman</b> did in
the “LA Di Da” column of the LA Weekly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Finally, a raft of new record labels also sprouted up to
document the new music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slash and Bomp
continued to lead the way but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lisa
Fancher’s</b> Frontier Records, originally set up to release albums by the
Orange County hardcore scene, and Epitaph Records, started by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bad Religion’s</b> guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brett Gurewitz</b>, had also started
releasing albums by the early 80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Greg Ginn</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag’s</b> SST Records was also a flagship for the many acts
under his tutelage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Thus by 1985 or so LA had a thriving post-punk music scene,
and there were literally hundreds of bands along with clubs, zines, and labels
to support them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I arrived up in LA in
fall of 1985 to attend college but only sporadically went out to clubs until
about 1989 or so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my defense I did
have two fairly good practical reasons why I didn’t go out more often:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>first, I didn’t have a car, and as everyone
knows you can’t get anywhere without a car, and second, I was a student and
didn’t have a lot of time or money to be going out that often either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while I did get to see some good shows,
including free shows at the Cooperage and on the A-Level at UCLA, and cheap
shows at the Anti-Club, Raji’s, and the Roxy, I definitely regret not getting
out to see more shows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As soon as
someone invents a hot tub time machine I’m going to go back and check out about
1000 shows in LA in the 80’s, right after I catch the Ramones’ debut at CBGB’s
and the Pistols playing the 100 Club with Siouxsie and the Banshees opening.</div>
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What was particularly incredible about the LA post-punk
music scene was how disparate the artists were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Much like the CBGB’s scene in New York, where every band had a different
look and sound, post-punk in 80’s LA was characterized by a uniqueness of
vision of each act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No two bands looked
or sounded the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Part of this was no doubt due to the explosion in influences
in post-punk compared to punk; punk music, particularly in LA, hewed pretty
closely to the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ramones/Pistols</b> look
and sound—short, fast, sloppy songs played by performers in denim, leather, and
spiky hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But post-punk was
different:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>here the point wasn’t to hew
to some ideal version of the punk look and sound but to craft something
unique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Many different musical currents and inspirations were swirling
around LA during the mid-80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Paisley Underground bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Three
O’Clock</b> harkened back to the garage punk and psychedelia of the 60’s;
meanwhile, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Blasters</b> and other
bands were cranking out raw punked-up rockabilly and American roots music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heavy metal was not quite yet a major strain
or influence on the post-punk scene, but it soon would be, and several bands were
already integrating the hard, bluesy rock sounds and/or fashions of bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AC/DC</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stones</b> into their image, most notably bands like the Hangmen
and Tex and the Horseheads, both of whom combined punk, hard rock and country
rock/swamp blues for their sound.</div>
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One of the major musical currents in LA post-punk was goth,
sometimes also called horror rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>LA in
fact became the biggest center for goth music outside of England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why exactly this happened is a mystery; why
did Southern California, a region noted for the beach and sunshine and movie
stars and perfect bodies and suntans, become the second home for a music and
style that centered on darkness, despair, pale skin, and skinny bodies?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s the contrast effect but goth was
very big in LA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Goth of course had its
origins in England; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joy Division</b> was
arguably the first “goth” band (though the band broke up before that label was
really starting to be applied regularly) and set the sonic standard at least
with slow tempos, sterile production, plodding, morose bass lines, minor keys
and down-tuned guitars, and lyrics focused on negative emotional states like
depression and alienation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b> quickly picked up the banner
and melded these elements with the emotion and theatricality of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Bowie’s</b> work and became the first
true goth band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Southern California,
bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus, the Cure</b>, and
even <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tears For Fears</b> (particularly
their gloomy song “Mad World”) were tremendously popular, and many LA bands
emulated their looks and sounds.</div>
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One LA band I did manage to catch fairly early on in their
history, and which would meld many of these disparate musical influences into a
tremendously cohesive package, was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s
Addiction</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fall of 1986 I started
working as a volunteer DJ for UCLA’s campus radio station, KLA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t think of a single other event in my
life that had a greater impact on my musical life than this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d always been a person who was really into
music, but entering into this community of music obsessives was a total
education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought <b>I</b> knew a lot
about music, but compared to these people, especially the older jocks, I was a
babe in the woods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was proud that I
knew a few semi-obscure bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X,
Black Flag, the Replacements</b>, etc., but these people knew TONS of
bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also knew the names of band
members, what instrument they played, the producers of their albums, the
label(s) they recorded for, and so forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I tried to absorb as much as I could.</div>
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It was probably through one of the other disc jockeys at KLA
that I first heard of Jane’s Addiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jane’s A had first formed in fall of 1985 (just as I myself was arriving
up in LA to attend college) when <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perry
Farrell</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eric Avery</b> first
came together, initially to perhaps carry on with Perry’s first band, Psi Com,
but then ultimately to form a new band that became Jane’s Addiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, their real identity didn’t click
into place until <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stephen Perkins</b> and
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Navarro</b> left <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dizastre</b>, the speedmetal outfit they
were in, to join Jane’s in January ’86.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From that point on Jane’s gigged relentlessly in the clubs of LA,
building a massively giant buzz in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I can’t remember when exactly I first heard of them, or how, but it was
probably a combination of the talk of other DJs at KLA along with my increasingly
regular reading of the free periodical the LA Weekly, which from the start was
a major supporter of Jane’s Addiction and which carried extensive club listings
detailing when and where they and other bands were playing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also had CARTs (basically one-song
8-tracks) of “Jane Says” and “Pigs in Zen”, two demo songs Jane’s Addiction
recorded along with a handful of others at Radio Tokyo Studios in LA in March
of ’86 but I can’t recall if I played them then; I certainly did later, in
1987, when I’d become a full-blown fanatic for Jane’s A.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So by late fall of 1986 I’d started combing the LA Weekly to
find gigs of theirs to attend and one of the first I can consciously recall
wanting to attend was at a small club called the Lhasa Club in Hollywood in
December of 1986.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lhasa was an
interesting club:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it was very small but
had an eclectic range of entertainment, everything from poetry readings, small
acoustic rock shows, performance art, and art exhibits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few months later in 1987 I did manage to
get to the Lhasa where I saw <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Robert
Hecker</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Redd Kross</b> do an
acoustic show; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Steve McDonald</b>, his
band mate from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Redd Kross</b>, sat right
next to me and I drunkenly tried to converse with him during the show, which in
retrospect was really rude of me since he probably just wanted to hear Robert
play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Steve was cool about it,
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, the Lhasa closed soon
after, at the end of 1987, but owner <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jean-Pierre
Boccara</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> went on to found the equally eclectic
but longer lasting club Largo down on Fairfax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span>Anyway I ended up not going to the Jane’s show at the Lhasa
because it too was an acoustic show and everything I’d read was how Jane’s Addiction
was this crazy, heavy, funky, loud, psycho electric band and I figured that
energy would not come across in an acoustic setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I greatly regret not seeing this show but at
the time I had very little money and had to choose carefully which shows I could
afford to go to.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I finally got to see Jane’s A for the first time a few weeks
later in late January of 1987. They played a show at the Cooperage pizza place
on UCLA’s campus, and since I went to UCLA this was obviously very easy for me
to attend!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The concert ended up being
another galvanizing event in my musical life; it is pretty much the first time
I remember being that blown away by a live act I’d never seen or heard of
before, something that has thankfully happened a few times since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My first impression was of the CROWD; never in my life had I
seen so many of the disparate tribes of music fans in LA in one place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You had the punkers, the post-punk/goth
crowd, the metallers, the funk/black contingent, the hippie/folk people. This
heterogeneity was starting to characterize ALL LA shows—it was becoming
increasingly common for bands with wildly different styles and fans to play
together and for everyone to listen respectfully to the other bands—and would
eventually find full fruition in the Lollapalooza shows organized by Jane’s
Addiction frontman Perry Farrell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
this is the first time I can really recall seeing such integration at a single
rock show.</div>
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Jane’s Addiction did not disappoint; they were everything
I’d read about and heard about and more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their music was a bewildering blend of fierce punk energy, heavy rock
riffs, deep, groovy rhythm, tribal percussion, and Perry’s wild, shamanistic
shrieking and antics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in 1986 I was
finally at a point in my life where I could appreciate all of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up until late 1985 or so I’d been a punker
and/or new waver through and through, and the two things that were most
distasteful to me musically were heavy metal and classic rock, especially
hippie dinosaur shit like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led Zeppelin</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But starting in 1986 I began developing a
great appreciation for pre-punk musical and sociological movements and
forms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was driven in large part by
the changing times; punk and new wave were receding in popularity, but
post-punk bands in LA as described above and pretty much everywhere else too were
re-integrating other musical forms with the energy of punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even one of my favorite bands, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag</b>, had atarted creating music
that drew upon founder <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Greg Ginn’s</b>
favorite pre-punk bands, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Grateful
Dead</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Sabbath</b>.</div>
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My own experience with classic rock bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zep</b> was extremely limited up until then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because I grew up on Southern California in
the late 70’s and early 80’s, a time when Zep was close to breaking up and
newer musical forms like punk were ascendant, I never really experienced them
in any direct personal way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dad was
big on the late 60’s psychedelic/heavy blues acts like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cream, Bad Company</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Stones</b> but strangely I don’t recall him owning any Zep albums even though
Zep was obviously in the same wheelhouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course I’d heard their big hits—“Stairway to Heaven”, “Black Dog”,
“Whole Lotta Love”—occasionally on the classic rock radio station my dad
preferred, LA’s KMET.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But up until 1986
I’d never really listened to Zep myself.</div>
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One thing that started to change this for me was the fact
that my best friend John, who was attending UC Irvine at the time, moved in
with a older roommate named Ed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ed WAS a
classic rock guy; he HAD grown up with all of those classic rock bands and he
started playing more and more of his music for us (he had a big record
collection too).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometime that year I
believe is when I bought Zep’s first album; I was lukewarm on most of it,
though I loved “Communication Breakdown” and still do; the machine gun staccato
riffing and breakneck rhythmic pace of this song still make it sound like a
punk rock song to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, I’d
also started availing myself of the fairly impressive record library at KLA to
listen to some of these older albums myself, so by the time I saw them play I
had a much better appreciation for that aspect of their sound.</div>
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I am still not what you would call a connoisseur of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led Zeppelin’s</b> music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from the aforementioned “Communication
Breakdown”, until recently the only songs I owned by them were the acoustic
numbers “Going to California”, “Tangerine” and Brn-Y-Aur”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve also always loved the funky, funny
“Misty Mountain Hop”, and my all-time favorite song by Zep is “Nobody’s Fault
But Mine”, particularly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Robert Plant’s</b>
ferocious harmonica work and the lurching rhythmic structure of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m more appreciative of their huge, iconic
stompers now too, including “Rock and Roll”, “Black Dog”, “When the Levee
Breaks” (the intro of which <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beastie
Boys</b> stole for their song “Rhymin’ and Stealin’”), “The Ocean” (which <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beasties</b> took for “She’s Crafty”,
probably my favorite <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beastie Boy’s</b>
song of all time, at least in part because it reminds me of one of the
girlfriends I had in college around the time it came out; she didn’t rob me
blind like the girl in the story, but let’s just say that there were definitely
some cabbies that could have recognized her from the back of her head, so to
speak), and of course “Whole Lotta Love”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These were also the songs I was most into when I saw Jane’s Addiction,
the huge stadium stomps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway,
inspired by this post, I have gone back and downloaded pretty much every song
from their first six albums and have really enjoyed getting better acquainted
with the breadth of Zep’s work.</div>
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Anyway, when Jane’s Addiction launched into their first
song, “Whores”, at the Coop in January 1987, the place EXPLODED.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the very front, clinging to the Coop’s
small, low stage, was a fringe of hardcore metalheads (including Brent, a
long-haired guy from my dorm floor who was the first metal/hippie/peace punk
I’d ever met) banging their heads to the music in syncopated rhythm; behind
them was one of the largest and most frantic slam pits I’ve ever seen before or
since; and in the back were some wild/cool black funk type dudes (including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Angelo</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fish</b> from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fishbone</b>),
leaping wildly in the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
perfect geographical encapsulation of Jane’s sound:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>metallic, but punky and funky too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Jane’s roared through an electrifying set, punctuated by
Perry’s wild frontman act, throwing his skinny body around the stage while a
strobe light flashed chaotically, wildly shaking his dreadlocks and goading the
crowd, all while belting out his piercing vocals at high volume.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen few acts before or since that had
such a captivating front man, though from everything I’ve read this was similar
to how <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iggy Pop</b> was back in his late
60’s/early 70’s heyday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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After the concert I actually approached Perry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyone who has seen a show at the Coop knows
there’s no backstage—the performers typically sit in a booth in front before
going on, or come from the bathrooms out in Ackerman Student Union.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is, however, a door just next to the
right of the stage that goes out to the patio seating deck, and Perry and the
boys escaped out that door for some cool air after their set.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was at the show with my friend Patrick, who
was an extremely interesting guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Patrick was maybe the only REAL punker I’ve ever known, and by that I mean
he wasn’t just some college student guy like me who liked punk music, he was a
scratching-by guy who LIVED it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Patrick
was the boyfriend of my then-girlfriend’s friend (I’ll call her Tina), and Tina
and Patrick lived in a tiny, roach-infested studio apartment off Wilshire a few
blocks from MacArthur Park (and the Park Plaza Hotel, home of the clubs Power
Tools and eventually Scream).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Patrick
had dropped out of high school when he was about 15 or 16 and was then working
a variety of menial jobs but he was one of the smartest people I ever met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also had broad musical tastes; his primary
tastes were in punk and post-punk music; he especially liked the 60’s garage
punk sounds of bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thee Fourgiven</b>,
and he occasionally performed with the legendary (mostly due to their name)
art-damage-punk band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Grandpa’s Become A
Fungus</b> (I saw them with Patrick at one of the art schools downtown later
that year, and memorably had sex in a broom closet with my girlfriend during
part of the show).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Patrick was also the
only person I ever met who actually had seen Bauhaus live, in December of 1982,
which made him almost godlike to us since we all worshipped Bauhaus but they’d
broken up long before. But Patrick also was obsessed with gypsy guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Django Reinhardt</b>, and often would sit
up late at night picking out pieces of his works on his own battered cheap
guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Anyway at the time of the Jane’s A concert Patrick and a
friend were bouncing around the idea of starting their own club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It never came to fruition but Patrick wanted
to talk to Jane’s A about maybe playing their club so after the gig we followed
them out onto the Ackerman Patio behind the Coop.</div>
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As we exited the building, Perry was giving an interview to
a journalist (I don’t think it was a Daily Bruin reporter, maybe it was an LA
Weekly reporter) and that too was one of the most electrifying things I’ve ever
heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perry spoke in a rapid,
stream-of-consciousness voice about how Jane’s Addiction’s goal was to make it
big and then give vast sums of money away to the poor and downtrodden and so
forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d never heard anyone so charismatic
and so passionate before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, after
the interview, Patrick and I approached him and he was very personable—he
readily agreed to play Patrick’s club if it ever developed, and told him to
talk to their manager and blah blah blah.</div>
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But from that moment on, I was smitten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jane’s Addiction was everything I’d ever
wanted in a band—intense punk energy, heavy metallic/hard rock riffing, softer
acoustic jams, tribal rhythm, charisma, artsiness, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was a full-blown Jane’s Addiction fanatic.
Unfortunately for me, though, my timing sucked in that Jane’s had recently
signed a record deal with Warner Brothers, and as a consequence they were
gigging around LA less as Warner’s had them rehearsing in preparation for
recording their first studio album with them, and they also had Jane’s
Addiction opening for other acts nationwide in an effort to get them better
known outside the LA metropolitan area as they’d played very few shows outside
of LA proper at that point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So for most
of 1987 they were either out of town on these tours or were rehearsing and they
therefore played very few club dates in LA.</div>
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The other show I really wanted to attend of theirs was one
they did opening for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Dickies</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t a Dickies fan then (mostly because I
was unfamiliar with their music, I’m sure I would have loved it if I’d heard
it) but I was a HUGE X fan; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wild Gift</i>
was, and remains, one of my favorite albums ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this show took place in May of ’87 on the
Cal State Northridge campus, which was a good 15-20 miles from UCLA, and
moreover the tickets were “expensive”—probably 10 or 15 bucks—so once again my
lack of an automobile and sufficient funds came to bear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time I wasn’t working during the
school year but was instead trying to squeak by with whatever I’d saved up
working during the summer plus a tiny amount of cash my parents supplemented
that with; I can still recall “dates” where Patrick and I and our girlfriends
would pool our money (my girlfriend was doing the same thing I was doing and
Patrick and Tina were barely making ends meet with their menial jobs) and our
night’s entertainment would consist of buying a Duraflame log and a pint of
schnapps to share!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So needless to say
coughing up 10 bucks EACH to see this show was out of the question.</div>
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Anyone interested in what Jane’s Addiction was like live
then can find out for themselves by listening to their 1987 live album released
on Triple X records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This album was
recorded at the Roxy just a few days after I’d seen them at the Coop so
obviously it is pretty much identical to what they were like when I saw
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of all their albums, this remains
my favorite for that reason; while I enjoy their studio work, to me Jane’s
Addiction was first and foremost a live band, so this album is the nearest and
dearest to my heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My absolute,
all-time favorite song by them is “Whores”, which perfectly encapsulates Jane’s
appeal:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eric Avery’s lumbering, ominous
bass coming in first, followed by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave
Navarro’s</b> slashing, feedback-drenched guitar, before launching into the
massive, lumbering, surging core riff of the song, and Perry’s first lyrics,
“Way down low where the streets are littered, I find my fun with the freaks and
the niggers” was a shocking, un-PC introduction to the band’s ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Listening to this album today, as well as their two studio
albums for Warner’s, 1988’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nothing’s
Shocking</i> and 1990’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ritual de lo
Habitual</i>, I am struck by a couple of things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First is how central <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eric Avery’s</b> bass playing is to the Jane’s Addiction sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it is very easy to miss sight of his
contribution; after all, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perry’s</b>
psycho shaman lead singer qualities, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave
Navarro’s</b> obvious guitar genius, and even <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stephen Perkins’</b> tribal percussion are all so much more obvious on
first listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as I’ve gone back and
listened to their songs, I am struck by how often they either start with a big,
memorable bass line (like “Whores”, “Mountain Song”, Up the Beach”, “Three
Days”, “Ain’t No Right”, or “Summertime Rolls”) or have as their central
element one of Avery’s bass lines (like “I Would for You”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Pigs in Zen” or “Been Caught
Stealing”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time I appreciated
Avery because he seemed like the band member with the tightest connection to the
punk world (which is true), but he was such an integral part of their sound and
appeal and I’m disappointed that I missed that until recently.</div>
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The other thing that strikes me about <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> is how effectively they captured several critical
elements of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led Zeppelin’s</b>
sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jane’s A was frequently compared
to Zep in their early days, most notably for their bombastic sound centered on
massive, dinosaur guitar/rhythmic riffs (“Whores”, “Pigs in Zen”, “Mountain
Song”, “Ocean Size”, “Up the Beach”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But perceptive listeners also caught several other things as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First off, like Zep, Jane’s A was able to
switch fluidly between the heavy AND the light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With respect to Zep, for every “Whole Lotta Love”, “Good Times Bad
times”, “Moby Dick”, “Ten Years Gone”, and “The Ocean”, there was a “Going to
California”, a “Bron-Yr-Aur”, a “Lemon Song”, and an “That’s the Way”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of the greatest bands in history,
including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Velvet Underground, the
Stones, the Replacements, and Wilco</b> were similarly able to veer dizzyingly
between the rocking and the gentle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
addition to their rockers noted above, Jane’s Addiction also had some
incredible mellow songs too, everything from “I Would For You”, “Classic Girl”,
“Summertime Rolls”, and of course one of their songs that has had the broadest
and longest appeal, “Jane Says”.</div>
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A second and related thing to me was how Jane’s Addiction
was able to combine the heavy and gentle even within the same song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zep</b>
of course did this on songs like “Over the Hills and Far Away” and their
masterwork “Stairway to Heaven”, both of which start with quiet, gentle
acoustic parts but end with wild, heavy rock finales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On songs like “Summertime Rolls”, Jane’s
Addiction does exactly the same thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And on their magnum opus, the huge, majestic epic “Three Days”, Jane’s
Addiction creates the same drama and tension that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zep</b> created on “Ten Years Gone” or “Kashmir” off Physical
Graffiti.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
True, Zep could be ponderous and heavy, but what impresses
me the most today listening to their music is how often they were lithe as well
as muscular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to a song like “Black
Dog” or especially “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”—these songs are big, heavy, HUGE .
. . but not LUMBERING.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Paul Jones’</b> bass in “Fault” and it
sounds like an idling Panzer tank, and yet somehow this song manages to move
with a sinuous grace that is as unexpected as it is elegant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same with “Black Dog”; it would be easy for
this song to become plodding, but every time it threatens to do so it is pulled
in new, frantic, slippery directions by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmy
Page’s</b> endlessly exploring and meandering guitar lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s
Addiction</b> shared that same ability to move beyond the merely plodding and
thunderous, as on songs like “Ain’t No Right”, which also soars like “Black
Dog”, and on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Navarro’s</b> wild,
vicious guitar solos on “Pigs in Zen”.</div>
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The last thing that strikes me about the apt comparison
between <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led Zeppelin</b> is how unconsciously funky
both bands were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, Zep could be
intentionally funky, as can be seen in the throbbing bass and shimmering <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James Brown</b> guitar stylings on “The
Crunge”, the meandering bass lines of “Custard Pie”, or the lurching reggae
pulse of “D’yer Mak’er”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I’m
talking about is the way Zep could be funky without being obvious about it,
such as on songs like the phenomenally groovy “Misty Mountain Hop” (still one
of my favorite Zep songs ever) or the almost hypnotic, repetitive “Houses of
the Holy”; even “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” has a lurching booty shaking appeal
to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> could also be obviously or overtly funky, as on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eric Avery’s</b> popping bass on “No One’s
Leaving” but it's the almost effortless way they lay down what has to be the
funkiest jam of the late 80’s, “Been Caught Stealing”, that so blows me
away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Red Hot Chili Peppers based
their entire existence on trying to capture that same feeling of smooth, easy
funkiness but to me they never came remotely close to doing so as well as
Jane’s A does on this one song.</div>
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All of the members of Jane’s Addiction had played in other
bands prior to joining <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As mentioned, Dave and Stephen were in a
speedmetal group called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dizastre</b>;
supposedly in 1983 Dizastre recorded a three song demo containing two original
songs as well as a cover of “Killers” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iron
Maiden</b>, but sadly this has been lost in the mists of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be incredible to hear a sixteen year
old <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Navarro</b> shredding some <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Maiden</b> but this demo hasn’t surfaced
yet and chances are it won’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eric Avery</b> was in
a couple of different bands prior to Jane’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The first was a pop-punk, Paisley Underground type band known as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Flower Quartet</b>, who played a few
days in 1983 and 1984 at the Cathay de Grande club with other similar bands
such as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Pandoras, Wednesday Week,
and the Leaving Trains</b>, and then later in 1984 he played briefly with
Flower Quartet guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jack Gould’s</b>
subsequent band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yellow Dog Contract</b>
when Gould moved to Amherst to attend UMass in 1984.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eric
and Jack</b>, along with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jack’s brother
Herman</b> and mutual friend <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris
Brinkman</b> also formed a band called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scrunge</b>
in the summer of 1985, just prior to Eric’s hooking up with future Jane’s
frontman <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perry Farrell</b> in fall of
1985.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazingly, there are recorded
songs from all three pre-Jane’s phases of Eric’s career, though none are
available commercially.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Transitive
Times”, a paisley-pop-punk song, was recorded by the Flower Quartet at Radio
Tokyo with Rain Parade member <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David
Roback</b> in the producer’s chair sometime in 1983.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The song is a sweet, simple blast of poppy
punk with light jangle-pop elements and certainly wouldn’t have sounded out of
place on a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Three O’Clock</b>
record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither the lyrics nor the
vocals quite stand up to the music, but this band definitely had ability and
their sound fit well into the 60’s influenced scene of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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“Remembrance” is a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Flower
Quartet</b> holdover recorded around the same time that was also performed by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yellow Dog Contract</b>; here Avery sings,
and his vocals are very capable if not uber-impressive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song too has an early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">R.E.M.</b> feel to it musically, with a
repeating jangly riff and some solid if unflashy drumming; I do like the break
in the middle of the song and how it slows down then speeds back up, as well as
other places where Eric’s bass becomes more frenetic and popping.</div>
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From Eric’s S<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">crunge </b>days,
nothing was recorded alas, but the LA post-punk outfit <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Angel’s Death Song</b> did a cover of one Scrunge song called
“Shocker”; this version, or at least BADS’s version of it, is fast and punky,
with shouted choruses and rougher, less jangly guitar.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perry Farrell’s</b> also
performed in a band before <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s
Addiction</b>, the post-punk gothic ensemble known as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b>; I will discuss them in more detail in a subsequent
post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now the one thing that strikes
me is how different <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b> were
from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a few sonic similarities, most
notably the drumming, which approaches the big tribal feel that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stephen Perkins</b> brought to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for the most part there is very little
the two bands have in common other than Perry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This amazes me; I always think in terms of linear evolution, where an artist
or band will go through small, incremental changes, approaching asymptotically
some new style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Perry’s change from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b> to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> almost feels like a “punctuated equilibrium”
event, a totally new and rapid change in an entirely new direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of all the Jane’s Addiction songs in their
repertoire, even including the earliest songs, nearly everything <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> played or recorded
sounded totally different from the clanging, shimmering post-punk of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b>. Only the posthumously released
live song “Kettle Whistle” sounds even remotely like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com, </b>and even then the similarity is a remote one at best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Pigs in Zen”, which reportedly is the first
song Eric and Perry wrote together, is an entirely new sound from what Perry
accomplished with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b>.</div>
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It fascinates me that Perry took this bold leap into a
totally new sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll always wonder
what his motivation was; after all, by that time he’d invested several years in
making <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b> a respected and
viable act; like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>
they were a favorite of the LA Weekly music writers and always received
favorable press.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To take this bold new
direction, or more accurately bold OLD direction, away from goth and post-punk
and into a sound more rooted in classic rock, seems daring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was essentially starting from scratch,
taking only his own wild psycho vocals and stage style with him into this new
approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What made him do this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did he feel like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com’</b>s sound was just never going to break through beyond the
tight circuit of LA clubs and into something larger?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did he always want to have a band more like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led Zep</b>?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did he foresee that shift back toward hard
rock, prog rock, and heavy metal in post-punk that occurred as the 80’s
progressed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure but it still
impresses me that he made that move at a time when it would have been much
easier to just keep doing the same thing, maybe just replacing people who’d
left the band (Perry always claimed that certain members of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b> became Hare Krishnas and that’s
why Psi Com broke up, though there’s some debate about the veracity of this).</div>
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I also find this fascinating since I’ve always been the type
of person who has tremendous difficulty letting go of anything, even something
bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve continued to work jobs that
were horrid simply because I couldn’t get myself to quit what was obviously not
a good situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And only when they’ve
become utterly unsalvageable have I walked away from my prior romantic
relationships. To me, quitting a band, especially a modestly successful one,
would be unthinkable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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And there was definitely some risk involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jane’s Addiction ended up being the subject
of a massive bidding war between all of the major record companies before
signing with Warner’s, but there was definitely some uneasiness involved on the
part of the industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Keep in mind that
the Jane’s Addiction bidding war came just a year or two after <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Unforgiven</b> debacle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Unforgiven were this strange LA hard rock
outfit that dressed like extras in a spaghetti western, with dusters and bolero
ties and floppy hats, and there were like six guitar players in that band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There had been a huge bidding war for them
too, and by 1987 when Jane’s was being courted by everyone the Unforgiven’s
album had come out and stiffed memorably, so there were definitely some folks
concerned that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>
would end up being a similar bust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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So even within the bidding war there was definitely some
healthy, and valid, skepticism of how broad their appeal could be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember reading an article at the time that
quoted an unnamed record industry executive who predicted disaster from their
signing, primarily because the people who were fans of their sound, which was
this big classic/hard rock/heavy metal sound generally, were NOT particularly
enamored of the image <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>
projected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply put, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zep</b> fans were not likely to dig a guy
wearing a corset, dreadlocks, and a nose ring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course, this executive might have been under-estimating the abilities
of your average rock fan to accept something new; after all, plenty of heavy
metal lunkheads in Kansas and Ohio were into bands like Poison and Cinderella
even though they wore more makeup than supermodels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I also think it is to Jane’s Addiction’s,
and Perry’s in particular, everlasting credit that they were able to not only
overcome this but to bring their weird art punk image and appeal to the
masses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within a few years it was no
huge deal at all to see someone with a nose ring, or a white person with dreadlocks;
in fact, it became so common in alternative circles that that’s almost become
the cliché look for anyone with any “indie” aspirations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think few could have predicted such an
outcome at the time, and there was very real concern that their ability to
connect with audiences outside urban markets was probably very limited</div>
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As mentioned, I followed Jane’s Addiction avidly after
seeing them for the first time in January of 1987.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I played their demos relentlessly on my radio
station at KLA until their live album on Triple-X came out, and then I played
that relentlessly on my show and of course bought it myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By that time it was common knowledge that
they’d signed with Warner Brothers and were recording their first album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nothing’s Shocking</i>, which was released
in summer of 1988.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first I was a
little disappointed by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nothing’s Shocking</i>;
while I LOVED the three openers, “Up The Beach”, “Ocean Size”, and “Had a Dad”,
I was less impressed by “Ted, Just Admit It . . .”, which I felt was
ostentatiously controversial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
thought “Standing in the Shower . . . . Thinking” was kind of stupid, though I
actually like this song now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked
“Mountain Song”, arguably their biggest Zep riff ever, and I liked the mellow
introspection of “Summertime Rolls”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
I HATED the brassy horns of “Idiots Rule”, the cheesy lounge sound of “Thank
You Boys”, and the re-recordings of “Jane Says” and “Pigs in Zen”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So for me there was almost as much on that
album that I didn’t like as I did.</div>
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Still, I followed them, though by this time they had
departed on a massive worldwide tour to support <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shocking</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In April of 1989
they returned to LA for a massive five night engagement at the John Anson Ford
Theater in a weird cleft in the Hollywood Hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My then-girlfriend (now wife), my roommate
Gil, and I went to see them on the second night of their home stand, Friday
April 22<sup>nd</sup>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They put on an
incredible show although their opening act, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Buck Pets</b>, are one of the reasons why I’m partially deaf today;
they were so loud, one of the loudest bands I’ve ever seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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If I was less than impressed with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nothing’s Shocking</i>, I was in for an even bigger disappointment with
1990’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ritual de lo Habitual</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite Jane’s songs were always their
heavy <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zep</b> stompers and/or their punk
slashers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I definitely liked “Stop”
(which is the first song from the album I remember hearing; they recorded a
video for it that was released a little before the album itself was released),
and LOVED “Ain’t No Right” (I still love this song, especially Eric’s rumbling
bass), and was so-so on “No One’s Leaving”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also liked the majestic and beautiful “Classic Girl”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I found the shimmery “Obvious” and the
weird, Eastern European sounding “Of Course” to be boring and arty, and at the
time I HATED “Been Caught Stealing”, mostly because it just seemed kind of
contrived, almost like a novelty song for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Now I love this song but back then I detested it and the stupid barking
dog sample and the totally frat boy accessible goofy video.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also hot-and-cold on the albums bloated
centerpieces, “Three Days” and “Then She Did . . .”, both of which were written
about Perry’s onetime amour <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Xiola Blue</b>
(Xiola was the subject of a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psi Com</b>
song too, more about this in my next post) and specifically about her three day
threeway drug and sex tryst with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perry</b>
and his eventual wife <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Casey Niccoli</b>
and her eventual death from an overdose, respectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all the album felt indulgent,
overly/intentionally weird, too produced, and without the wild energy of their
live shows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless I bought this
album (it might actually be one of the first new albums I ever bought on CD,
since by that time my girlfriend/future wife and I were living together and she
owned a CD player), and on Halloween 1990 they played a “secret” show for fans
only at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood; my wife and I joined a huge scrum
of alterna-fans, frat boys, and LA scenesters in scrabbling for the tickets,
which went on sale at like 8 AM at the theater box office; by the time we
arrived around 7:30 there was already a massive line of folks camped out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The show was good but was more of a
spectacle, with cloth draped everywhere and Santeria candles, beads, votives,
etc., everywhere on stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>
returned to LA a couple of months later and played a multiple-night stint at
the Universal Amphitheatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife and
I attended but by this time Jane’s Addiction were arena rock stars and the
concert was about as personally involving as seeing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yes</b> at the Forum in 1974.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
can still remember standing and cheering when this perfect alterna-couple fell
into me coming down the stairs of the venue; they both had nose rings and
dreadlocks and perfect tans on their skinny bodies and they looked like they
were in heaven, seeing their diety in the flesh; they looked all of about 15
and they made me feel about 150 years old even though I was 24 at the time.</div>
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That to me was the beginning of the end of my infatuation
with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>; I moved on to
other musical interests and they broke up shortly thereafter anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was never a huge fan of Perry’s subsequent
band, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Porno for Pyros</b>; we bought
their first album but other than “Pets” I don’t remember any songs off it, and
I didn’t buy their second album at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dave Navarro went on to create some music with Eric Avery in a band
called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Deconstruction</b>, but I never
enjoyed their stuff either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor have I
been particularly impressed by any of their subsequent reformations and the
resulting albums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> will always be
primarily about the excitement they created in that first year and a half of
their existence, when all of LA was enamored with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I must say I have enjoyed listening to some of the
posthumous material that have come out since Jane’s demise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Cabinet of Curiosities</i> was especially enjoyable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the band’s demos, including the
aforementioned Radio Tokyo demos from March of 1986, are on this album,
including never-released songs like the funky and metallic “Suffer Some”, the
acoustic jam “City”, and the funky but arty “Maceo” (originally titled “My Cat
is Named Maceo”) as well as the aforementioned live version of the also
never-released “Kettle Whistle”.</div>
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There’s also a raft of cover songs, all of which provide an
insight into the sound of Jane’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There’s a capable but somewhat boring version of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Grateful Dead’s</b> “Ripple”; a turgid version of “Don’t Call Me
Nigger, Whitey” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sly Stone</b>
featuring <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ice T</b> and his metal band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Body Count</b>; a frantic, almost
unrecognizable version of “Whole Lotta Love” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led Zep</b>; a terrific blast through <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stooges’</b> “1970”; and the strange “Bobhaus”, which is a mash-up
of the lyrics of “Like a Rolling Stone” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob
Dylan</b> set to the music of “Burning From the Inside” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I of course loved
the covers of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lou Reed’s</b> “Rock and
Roll” and “Sympathy for the Devil” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Rolling Stones</b> they did on their first live album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my all-time favorite cover by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b> is something they
called “LA Medley”, which was snatches of “LA Woman” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Doors</b>, “Lexicon Devil” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Germs</b> and “Nausea” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recorded live in 1989, it starts with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Navarro’s</b> feeding back guitar
before <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Perry</b> says something like “I
was gonna say women reaching the age of menopause . . . that’ll do!”, at which
point Navarro drops into a blistering, chugging speedmetal riff before
launching into the iconic descending bass notes and soaring melody of “LA
Woman”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Navarro’s guitar remains a
vicious, slashing entity throughout this song, occasionally wailing in high
notes but returning to that fantastic chugging before launching out of the
lyrics and into a wild, noodling solo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The other two songs are great too, but this jackhammering,
lightning-fast run through the Doors’ stately classic is blistering and
beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song may best capture
their wild, frantic live energy the best.</div>
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While researching this article I have leaned heavily on a
phenomenal <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jane’s Addiction</b>
resource, the web site janesaddiction.org.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Set up by fans way back in 1995, it has been contributed to by many
Jane’s Addiction fans over the years and contains a comprehensive, almost
exhaustive (and exhausting) catalog of tours, gigs, playlists, song histories,
discography, and bootleg descriptions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is through this site (as well as my own memories and ticket stubs and
other Jane’s Addiction paraphernalia I’ve collected over the years) that I was
able to research the dates and specifics of this post so I am hugely grateful
to these folks and their obvious labor of love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The list of gigs, by both Jane’s Addiction as well as the various
members’ prior bands, that I found most fascinating, for two reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, it was fascinating to me to look at
the dates and locations of some of their gigs and try to figure out where I
was—where I was living, what I was into musically, etc., at that place and
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, most of the gig entries
are annotated with scans from fliers, ads, and club listings from the LA
Weekly, and these I found REALLY fascinating, and in fact were the reason for
my regretful malaise that started this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is stunning to see the variety and quality of gigs that were
happening in LA between about 1983 and 1989, and I found myself angry at my
younger self for not making more of an effort to get out and see more
bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I man shit, how great would it
have been to see a gig like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Hangmen,
Tex & the Horseheads</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Guns n’
Roses</b> at the Whiskey, or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">L7, Bulimia
Banquet, and Raszebrae </b>at the Music Machine?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>GnR was just getting revved up in 1985-1986
too, and like Jane’s would explode into international superstars, but back then
they were playing some incredible shows in tiny clubs with similarly bluesy
hard rock bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dwight Yoakam</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rosie
Flores</b> were playing regular gigs at Hollywood’s main/only country style
music club, the Palamino, and bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Minutemen</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X</b> were arguably at
their live peak and played places like the Anti-Club and the Lingerie
regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent an entire weekend
scrolling methodically through these magnificent entries on janesaddiction.com,
totally mesmerized by how many great bands were playing around LA then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I went to the
gigs I did get to go to, I only wish I’d gone to more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Butthole Surfers</b> famously said, “Its better to regret something you have
done than to regret something you haven’t done”, but unfortunately most of us
are guiltier of “regrets of omission” than the former.</div>
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runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-62340990629415121492013-10-25T12:58:00.001-07:002013-11-15T12:57:21.635-08:00The Knack--Greatest Band Ever?<style>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimVBemygSHPZWAJiw1k7Ae3cnJi7PK5yP4WEcLJQDMkrIpegF9PpByDvFd16uGXDlJ1bGYLHXL5sb5SmTHrc5i75EuAS8ac7hCXF1OVvflCv5SVdiPawVX5VSheUq9dNySlPcDY0tIAwFb/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimVBemygSHPZWAJiw1k7Ae3cnJi7PK5yP4WEcLJQDMkrIpegF9PpByDvFd16uGXDlJ1bGYLHXL5sb5SmTHrc5i75EuAS8ac7hCXF1OVvflCv5SVdiPawVX5VSheUq9dNySlPcDY0tIAwFb/s640/Slide1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Knack--one of the least appreciated bands of all time.</td></tr>
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Anyone reading my latest posts knows that lately I’ve been
in a nostalgic mood and in particular have been revisiting the earliest days of
my infatuation with punk and new wave music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the course of my re-explorations I’ve actually unearthed a somewhat
startling revelation:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Knack</b> was one of the greatest bands
of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like everyone, I was
quickly swept up in Knackmania at the time back in 1980, and in particular I
loved “My Sharona”—hell, EVERYONE did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That huge beat followed by the even-more-memorable, sinuous bass line
that start it, the crisp guitar counterpoint, the edgy, misogynistic lyrics—it
remains one of the catchiest songs of all time, no doubt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve also commented previously on how I
consider the second, longer guitar solo to be one of the greatest guitar solos
of all time, or at least one of the most enjoyable (I know all the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yngwie</b> fans out there are screaming in rage but those kinds of
technical solos, while impressive, just aren’t as fun to listen to).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I also loved their follow-up single, “Good Girls Don’t”,
another lyrically incorrect but sonically very catchy powerpop-infused
gem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The noodling guitar, the catchy
chorus, again the Knack just totally nail it on this song.</div>
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But for me, at the time at least, this was as far as I got
with the Knack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike pretty much
everyone else I knew, I never bought or received <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Get the Knack</i> as a gift.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
aunt owned this album on 8-track, and so I would listen to it when I visited
her and my grandparents in upstate New York in the summers, but I would only
ever listen to these two songs.</div>
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What a tragic waste, because it kept me from appreciating
the brilliance of the Knack for almost 20 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the late 90’s when Napster was going
strong I “acquired” “Your Number or Your Name”, which has in time become one of
my all-time favorite songs by them, surpassed only by “Sharona”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song leaves a little of the sexual
crudity and single entendres of their previous singles behind but instead is
propelled forward by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bruce Gary's</b>
as-always magnificent drumming and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Berton
Averre’s</b> sweet, jangly guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
time this song comes up on my “Favorites” playlist it never fails to put a
smile on my face.</div>
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More recently I’ve been going back and trying to mine both <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Get the Knack</i> as well as their
subsequent albums and perhaps not surprisingly I’ve found a veritable gold mine
of great songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“She’s So Selfish” slows
the tempo down a little but like “Sharona” it rides forward on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Prescott Niles’</b> slinky bass line and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bruce Gary's</b> efficiently
counter-pointing drumming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While not as
immediately catchy as “Good Girls Don’t” or “My Sharona”, it nevertheless
surges and fades in a way that is memorable and fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It just sounds so much like all the great new
wave of that period—twitchy, and yet strangely compelling.</div>
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“That’s What the Little Girls Do” is more jangle-pop in
sound, similar to “Your Number Or Your Name”, a short but sweet confection, but
you can hear the future echoes of stuff like LA’s Paisley Underground and the
jangly alternative music of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">R.E.M</b>.
in it.</div>
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“Frustrated” is more of a “Sharona” clone, mimicking the
surging bass line and stop-and-go rhythm of that hit but not quite capturing
the immediacy and catchiness of their huge hit. Still, it's a fun song.</div>
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“Let Me Out” is another barn burner, a wild, fast rave-up
that highlights the incredible musicianship of the band, while their cover of
Buddy Holly’s “Heartbeat” still manages to capture some of the innocence of the
original.</div>
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If there are any missteps on their debut, its when the Knack
slow things down too much, such as on ballads like “Lucinda” or “Maybe
Tonight”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The musicianship is still
top-notch, but there’s just nothing that makes these songs jump out of the
speakers like their up-tempo numbers.</div>
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By the time their second album, 1980’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>. . <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.
But the Little Girls Understand</i>, the Knack’s moment in the pop culture sun
was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thanks mostly to a tremendous
backlash based in part on Capitol’s attempts to position the Knack as the
second coming of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b>, the
Knack’s sophomore effort, while not a complete and utter failure (it did after
all reach #15 on the Billboard charts), was a tremendous step down from the
bewildering success of their debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is a shame, because again the Knack deliver an album filled with catchy and
memorable songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some senses one of
the least compelling songs on this album was the single, “Baby Talks Dirty”,
which seeks a little too effortfully to recapture the same magic of “My
Sharona”, including the lurching, syncopated rhythm and bass line-driven tempo.
While not a terrible song, it is a little too derivative and doesn’t seem to be
their best first pitch.</div>
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The song I love the most instead from this album is the
exceedingly odd “Tell Me You’re Mine”, with its clacking, clog dancing
beginning, which leads into a typically catchy bass and guitar sequence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The oddest thing about this song is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doug Fieger’s</b> strangely affected vocal,
which seems to be his attempt to mimic the sneery Southern drawl of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis Presley</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would be distracting if it wasn’t for the
fact that the music is so fantastic—the ridiculously tight rhythm, the crisp
riffing of Niles’ guitar work, all of it is fantastic.</div>
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Similarly terrific is “I Want Ya”—it seriously seems like
the Knack could just write catchy songs so effortlessly and this song is no
exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again it might be tainted a
bit by its familiarity with their other, bigger hits from the album, but this
is another song that fits well into the Knack wheelhouse, with all three
musical instruments competing to see which one is tightest, basss, drums or
guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kind of a three-way-tie for
first and this song is another winner.</div>
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“It’s You” is a fast-paced, almost frantic (it almost
reminds me of similar wild rides by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Oingo
Boingo</b>), and their cover of “The Hard Way” by <b>the Kinks</b> shows a similar
energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But too often the Knack seem to
be trying to prove their rock chops on this album, and many of the wilder
rockers like “Hold On Tight and Don’t Let Go”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“End of the Game”, and (Havin’ A) Rave-Up” sound both too familiar to
one another and not distinctive from the bar band ravings of any band playing
the local joint on a Friday night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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By their third album, 1981’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Round Trip</i>, the Knack had been permanently passed up in the great
rush to find the Next Big Thing, and this album sold much more poorly compared
to its predecessors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, this is a
pity, because the Knack definitely had some great gems here. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For better or worse, they expanded beyond the
simple formula of new wave/mod/powerpop that fueled their early hits, though
some of the most effective moments on this album still hearken to their early
sonic formula.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Just Wait and See” is
another jangly blast of pop fun, while “Boys Go Crazy” is a dizzy fun whirlwind
of energy like “Good Girls Don’t” (which it lyrically resembles as well).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most in-the-know critics consider “Another
Lousy Day in Paradise” to be one of the Knack’s best songs, and it certainly
warrants consideration for being in their top three; again, this song is just
so effortlessly catchy and fun it seems like the Knack are barely trying, nor
do they have to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly writing and
playing sweet catchy rock-based pop is something these guys were born to do,
and this song is a magnificent reminder of that. </div>
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After the failure of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Round
Trip</i>, the Knack broke up for several years, but reunited at the start of
the next decade to record 1991’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Serious
Fun</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While too slickly produced to
be as raw and innocent as their earlier work, this album showed the Knack to
still be fine fettle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some senses
this album seems to be a very belated answer to the pop metal movement of the
later 80’s in that the Knack combine big arena style riffs with slick harmonies
in a way that evokes (but greatly exceeds) similar work by bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Poison</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Warrant</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs like “Shine”,
“Let’s Get Lost” and “River of Sighs” have the big riffs and bump-and-grind tempo
of “Cherry Pie” or “She’s Only 17”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
song I like best here is the ham-fisted “Rocket o’ Love” (which has more
cowbell than anything outside a SNL skit), which nevertheless still manages to
prove that the Knack could still write circles around younger, less talented
metal bands.</div>
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The Knack would reunite occasionally throughout the mid-90’s
and in 1998 released <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zoom</i>, with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Terry Bozzio</b> replacing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bruce Gary</b> on drums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This album returned to the jangly new wave
rock of their early work and had several memorable songs, including the manic
“Pop Is Dead”, the mellower jangle of “Can I Borrow a Kiss”, and the utterly
brilliant “Smilin’”, which highlights all of the greatest strengths of the
Knack—magnificently tight instrumentation, propulsive rhythm, catchy
harmony-laden choruses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Ambition”,
while not quite as catchy, is another classic Knack song and another
highlight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Everything I Do” is a little
too Beatlesque for my tastes, but “Love Is All There Is” is another sweet
catchy blast of melodic energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Terry
and Julie Step Out” is fast and furious, while “Harder On You” is slower but
its heavy, thudding bass anchors it firmly in the traditional Knack canon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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In 2000 Knack frontman <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doug
Fieger</b> released a solo album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">First
Things First</i>, which contains a couple of real gems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Foremost among these is the leadoff track, “Nothing’s
Easy”, which sounds uncannily familiar to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is an acoustic song with a mid-tempo but you can hear the ghost of
what this song would sound like electrified and performed at a faster tempo and
I think it would be phenomenal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Without
You” is a devastatingly sad song countered by Fieger’s unbelievably sweet
vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately Fieger too often
goes to extremes on this album, either by making ballads that are too slow and
cloying or by rocking far too hard, and rarely hits that sweet middle spot the
Knack so often hit.</div>
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In 2001 the Knack released <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Normal As the Next Guy</i> (with David Henderson on drums) and again
there are flashes of their original brilliance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The guitarwork by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Berton Averre</b>
is fantastic as always throughout and the slower tempos and more introspective
lyrics suggest a Knack who have finally grown up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Disillusion Town”, another scathing look at
the Hollywood celebrity machine similar in theme to “Another Lousy Day in
Paradise” showcases this greater maturity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“It’s Not Me”, with its pulsing bass and driving guitar line is a fine
Knack classic, as is “Seven Days of Heaven”. But the big highlight, a song that
belongs near the very top of the list of greatest Knack songs of all time, is
“A World of My Own”, which despite occasionally dragging during the verse
sections, builds both vocally and musically to one of the most magnificent,
catchy, exquisite choruses of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This song right now is one of my very favorites by the Knack and showed
that they never lost their chops or their ability to craft sweet but crunchy
music that could move and inspire their fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If there’s one song I wish that the “Knuke the Knack” assholes of the
early 80’s could hear and that I think might change their minds, this is it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Knack may have moved off the pop culture
radar after the monumental success of “My Sharona” but they never truly went
away; they continued to write and record terrific, catchy music for people who
knew where to look for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for all
of the disparaging comparisons to the Beatles hurled at them by their
detractors, this song shows that they were nearly the equal of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Fab Four</b> when it came to writing
great songs.</div>
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Sadly, Knack frontman <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doug
Fieger</b> died tragically young at age 57 in 2010, forever silencing one of
the first, and best, voices of the new wave era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But since his passing a couple of rarities have surfaced on iTunes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the late 60’s, a lifetime before his
“overnight” success with the Knack, Fieger was a member of the Midwest band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sky</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their sound leaned strongly toward the heavy blues rock of bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Traffic</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Free</b>, as evidenced by the bump-and-grind raunch of song s like “Goodie
Two Shoes” and “How’s That Treatin’ Your Mouth, Babe?”, off their 1970
self-titled debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Take Off and Fly” is
a mellow ballad but Doug’s voice is in fine form and you can see why many
thought this band would be a huge success (including the Stones’ producer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmy Miller</b>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rockin’ Me Yet” has that olde tyme feel-good
boogie woogie piano vibe of the best of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ELO</b>,
as well as some honking sax.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Make It In
Time” is a delicate, feel-good confection more similar in spirit to songs like
“Going to California” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led Zeppelin</b>
or “That Would Be Something” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Paul
McCartney</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doug’s sweet voice evokes
the very best of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Freddy Mercury</b> on
“You Are The One”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“One Love” is another
rocker and it is probably the song that comes the closest to the catchy,
propulsive powerpop Fieger would eventually craft with the Knack and is a major
highlight of Sky’s catalogue—it still has elements of 60’s psychedelia,
sounding at times like something <b>Vanilla Fudge</b> or <b>Iron Butterfly</b> might have
crafted, but it still has a great, anchoring riff and a big singalong chorus
strung together by some nifty bass playing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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Sky’s second album, 1971’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sailor’s Delight</i>, continued on in the same vein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Make It Tight” is another lurching, grinding
rocker that evokes “Honky Tonk Women” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Stones</b>, as is “Bring It On Back”, while “Let It Lie Low” boogies along with
some terrific guitar work. “Come Back” sounds like an outtake from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let It Be</i> by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b> again with an almost eerie similarity to the falsetto
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Queen’</b>s front man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully Sky’s two albums are available on
iTunes and people can hear some of his early brilliance for themselves.</div>
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Several phenomenal documents of the post-Sky, pre-Sharona
era have also surfaced in recent years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 2012 Zen Records released <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rock
and Roll Is Good For You: the Fieger/Averre Demos</i>, a set of demo recordings
by the future Knack frontman and guitarist recorded between 1973 and 1975 or a
good five years before the Knack hit it big, utterly belying the popular notion
that the Knack achieved instant, overnight success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of their future classics are already on
display, a fun acoustic version of “Good Girls Don’t” which nevertheless
manages to achieve the catchiness of the fleshed out version from their first
LP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“That’s What The Little Girls Do”
from their second album is also here, even more sunny and perky in acoustic
form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Flower My Fate” hearkens back to
Doug’s Sky material, especially with its acidulous guitar work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But other songs like “Little Lies”,
“Corporate Shuffle”, and “(Here On This) Lonely Night” capture some of the
future magic of the Knack’s work; “Little Lies” in particular has a fun, breezy
feel that mirrors the direction their career would soon take.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Also in 2012 Omnivore Records released the live recording, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Havin’ a Rave-Up</i>, of a Knack performance
at LA’s Troubadour club from 1978 which illustrates their power and chops as a
live act—rumor had it that everyone from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bruce
Springsteen</b> to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Petty</b> caught
them live and/or jammed with them during their ascent to superstardom during
this period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The version of “My Sharona”
amply demonstrates how visceral and potent this song was in a live
setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another great song is their
cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jay & The Americans’</b>
“Come A Little Bit Closer”, which is one of the ultimate bar band songs, as is
their fiery version of “It’s Alright" by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Adam
Faith</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two unreleased songs, “Evil
Lies” and “Here On This Lonely Night” sounds like capable additions to the
Knack canon, it’s puzzling why they were never released.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a pity the sound is so muddy and dull,
which takes a bit of the sheen off these cuts, but to even have them at all is
a blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-75299596598518375172013-07-23T12:58:00.002-07:002015-01-05T09:49:09.426-08:00Raised on Radio, Part II: the KROQ Era Circa 1981<style>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFNkHgAfqoqqaZYn-KsxNggl8WlYE8555xuZw4LgkKQlJNoPyZshPbBcsFJfyfLj5i76KDD3wBs0P8PGUyG4W__Y0pYlJUAjiJk7PWcpDERvjVcwtKf0UDToXQ2uf-btGK1Tc96ewVS8g/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmFNkHgAfqoqqaZYn-KsxNggl8WlYE8555xuZw4LgkKQlJNoPyZshPbBcsFJfyfLj5i76KDD3wBs0P8PGUyG4W__Y0pYlJUAjiJk7PWcpDERvjVcwtKf0UDToXQ2uf-btGK1Tc96ewVS8g/s640/Slide1.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oingo Boingo, one of LA's first big breakout stars of the new wave era</td></tr>
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In my previous post, I discussed how in spring of 1981 I
made my first willful attempts to seek out new wave music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prior to this I liked the handful of new wave
singles that had broken through into Top 40/popular culture:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Heart of Glass” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blondie</b> (a new wave song in name only, a disco song in reality), “Candy-O”
and “Let’s Go” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Cars</b>, “My
Sharona” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Knack</b> (technically
powerpop), “Pop Muzik” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">M</b> (pop
dressed up in new wave synths and quirkiness), “Cars” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gary Numan</b> (one of the first REAL new wave songs), “Money” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Flying Lizards</b>, “Rock Lobster” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the B-52’s</b>, “Brass in Pocket” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Pretenders</b>, “Whip It” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Devo</b>, and “Turning Japanese” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Vapors</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the latter song that caused me to
actively seek out this music, first by buying the Vapors’ first album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Clear Days</i> on cassette and second by
trying to find stations that played new wave music on the radio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of these songs had crossed over into Top
40 radio and were easy to find, but I somehow knew or found out that there were
stations that played ONLY new wave music and I vowed to find them.</div>
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And, because I was fortunate enough to live in Southern
California, I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My first recollection
was of finding two stations on the far right of the dial that seemed to be
playing stuff that sounded different than the Top 40 stations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no sharp recollections of what they
were playing specifically the first time I listened to them but somehow I knew
I’d found what I was looking for.</div>
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The stations were, of course, the pre-metal KNAC, broadcast
out of my home town of Long Beach, and the now-legendary KROQ, and both would
become the de facto radio stations for me and pretty much all of my friends for
the next several years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KNAC, 105.5 on
the radio dial, has been much lamented by oldsters like myself because at this
point in the early 80’s they played a bizarre, free-form format that mixed new
wave and punk cuts with old rockabilly and blues singles, reggae and dub, and
other pre-punk musical forms in an eclectic mix not frequently heard anywhere
else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has since become super cool
among people my age who lived in that area to lament KNAC’s loss to metal in
1985-1986 and to claim that it was cooler than KROQ.</div>
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But the honest truth was, I and most of my friends listened
to KROQ more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the reason was that
KROQ, while still a pretty wild and unprofessional station in that day, had
achieved some stability after several tempestuous ups and downs through the
70’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1976 they’d hired <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rodney Bingenheimer</b>, the diminutive
bowl-cutted scenester from LA’s psychedelic and glitter pasts, and Rodney’s
show became a vehicle for artists from the emerging punk scenes in New York,
England, and even Los Angeles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rodney
was one of the first DJs in America to play <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Ramones, the Sex Pistols</b>, and other leading lights of those
scenes, and he would also famously play demos, singles, and tapes brought to
him by local bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to imagine
new music would ever have achieved the popularity it did without pioneers like
Rodney.</div>
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But Rodney was just one jock, and most of the other DJs at
KROQ were playing typical 70’s fare until about 1978, when they became
incorporating more and more new music into their repertoire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they still adhered to a so-called “freeform”
format, which gave most of the decision-making power of what to play to the DJ,
and things weren’t played systematically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An amazing artifact of this era is an hour-long tape of legendary LA DJ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Frazer Smith</b> from 1978 at the following
web site:</div>
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<a href="http://newstalgia.crooksandliars.com/gordonskene/newstalgia-pop-chronicles-fm-radio-197#sthash.sfWJu0Wm.dpbs">http://newstalgia.crooksandliars.com/gordonskene/newstalgia-pop-chronicles-fm-radio-197#sthash.sfWJu0Wm.dpbs</a></div>
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The artists being played represent predominantly OLD music (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZZ Top, Bob Seger, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith,
Led Zeppelin, Ace Frehley</b>) a few prepunk pioneers (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop</b>), a couple of acts that kind of
straddled the ground between the old and new (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cheap Trick, Tom Petty</b>) and from what I heard just a couple
examples of truly NEW acts, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis
Costello</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Devo</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But still, in 1978 NOBODY was playing Elvis
Costello or Devo on the radio (or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iggy
Pop</b> for that matter), so even this was pretty surprising.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually, to me what’s amazing is what a
smooth segue it is between “Communication Breakdown” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led Zep</b> and “Uncontrollable Urge” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Devo</b>; despite being separated by a decade and a seemingly
insurmountable musical gulf, they both actually sound eerily similar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a reminder both of how innovative and
raw Led Zeppelin were in their earliest days, and how much more prosaic
so-called “new” music really was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
also reminds me of the time I saw the legendary band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Krotch</b> (touted as “LA’s worst band” in the mid/late 80’s when I was
at UCLA) and they played as their encore (the only part of the gig I saw; it
took place in an apartment in Westwood after finals and we’d pre-partied too
long at our place before leaving) they played “Communication Breakdown” and
“Freedom of Choice” back to back and it sounded perfectly good and natural.</div>
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I have to say, if I’d have stumbled upon KROQ at this time
in the late 70’s, I probably would have liked it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked most of the artists they played even
if I wasn’t a fanatic about any of them—unlike most everyone else who lived
through the 70’s, at that time I was not obsessed with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led Zep, Aerosmith</b>, or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kiss</b>—and
there was enough “old and familiar” and “new and interesting”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And honestly, today this is VERY close to
what I like to listen to now, which is a mix of the best of both the pre-punk
and the post-punk era.</div>
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But at the time, the freeform format caused problems, most
notably that it didn’t allow listeners to get familiar enough with the new
songs through repetition that they would call in and request them and
eventually buy them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The radio industry
exists in a delicate synergy with the music industry—the music biz needs radio
to play their songs to make them known and popular and purchased, radio pays
licensing fees to the music industry to play their songs, but uses the
popularity of the songs to attract listeners, which of course lets them set
higher advertising rates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if radio
stations aren’t pushing new hits onto the public, the whole machine grinds to a
halt.</div>
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About a year or so before I started listening to KROQ in
winter of 1981, program director <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rick
Carroll</b> had been (re)hired to clean up KROQ’s act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carroll’s solution was simple but
effective:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he stamped the Top 40 FORMAT
on KROQ’s “new music” SOUND.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Top 40
stations are characterized by firm schedules that result in movement of songs
through “rotations”, from light to medium to heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carroll left a little bit of choice to the
DJ’s—they were allowed to play a certain number of songs every hour of their
own choice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially this was four but
eventually moved to one, and then of course went to zero when KROQ went all
corporate around 1990.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to
anecdotes told by KROQ jocks years later, many of these DJ choice cuts ended up
becoming hits by artists like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Depeche Mode</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Idol</b>.</div>
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Carroll’s “innovation” wasn’t exactly novel, but it provided
exactly the structure and regularity that had been lacking previously, and that
would continue to be lacking at their competitor KNAC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you were a listener tuning in to seek out
the latest new wave hit, you could be fairly assured that you’d hear it within
the hour, and you’d likely hear other top new wave hits you might have
encountered only occasionally on pure Top 40 stations, and of course you’d be
exposed to the newest hits-in-the-making as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People came, and stayed as the music struck a
chord with them so to speak.</div>
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Which is exactly what happened to me:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came in search of “Whip It” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Devo</b> and “Turning Japanese” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Vapors</b>, and eventually got hooked
in everything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In spring of 1981
KROQ was even then still sorting out what was truly “new” music and what
wasn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The web site below is a
compendium of the “Top 106.7 songs” KROQ would regularly compile and count down
on New Year’s eve, starting in 1980:</div>
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<a href="http://www.radiohitlist.com/KROQ/KROQ-main.htm">http://www.radiohitlist.com/KROQ/KROQ-main.htm</a></div>
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1980 is especially entertaining, containing as it does such
decidedly UN-new artists as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Lennon,
the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, Queen, Bob Seger, Genesis, Rod
Stewart, Heart, Roger Daltry, J. Geils, Paul McCartney, and Journey</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>JOURNEY, people!!! KROQ was playing JOURNEY
in 1980.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, they were also
playing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Devo, the Talking Heads, the
Police, XTC, the B-52’s, the Pretenders, the Clash, the Surf Punks, and the
Dead Kennedys</b>!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>KROQ may have been
the only non-college radio station in ANY media market to EVER play the Dead
Kennedys!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, my two “favorites,
“Whip It” by Devo and “Turning Japanese” by the Vapors were #1, and #14 that
year, respectively.</div>
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1981’s list was quite a bit more new wave-centric, but still
managed to contain the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rolling Stones,
King Crimson, Joe Walsh, Genesis, and Foreigner</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is something that I vividly remember as
well, this mix of new and not-really-new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, two songs I remember specifically hearing on KROQ around this
time were “Let’s Get It Up” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AC/DC</b>
and “Destroyer” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Kinks</b> (they
also played “Give the People What They Want” by the Kinks too).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Kink’s album came out in September 1981
and AC/DC’s in December of that year.</div>
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The first two new music songs I can explicitly remember
hearing on KROQ were “Bang Bang” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iggy
Pop</b> and “Red Light” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wall of Voodoo</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve already posted about “Bang Bang”, which
was released in June 1981 and came off one of Iggy’s least well regarded
albums, <i>Party</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Red Light” by Wall of
Voodoo presaged the memorable strangeness of their subsequent hit, “Mexican
Radio” and its accompanying video.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Red
Light” is majestic and quirky at the same time; its swirling synths and
syncopated beat recall the les strident elements of LA’s seminal synth punk
band, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Screamers</b>, but instead of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tomata Du Plenty’s</b> harsh, barking
vocals, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stan Ridgeway’s</b> western
drawl gives this song a country-ish feel despite the novelty of the
synthesizers and knocking, pinging drum machines.</div>
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There were several other songs from this era I can recall
hearing on KROQ early on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was “We
Want the Airwaves” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Ramones</b>,
which sounded dark and threatening to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I had no idea then about the Ramones’ critical role as one of the
founding touchpoints for all of punk music; I didn’t hear their buzzsaw
fast-and-furious first album for another 3 or 4 years when my friend John
finally purchased it circa 1984 or 1985.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Airwaves” is miles from the minimalist simplicity of their first (or
second, or even third or fourth) album; at over three minutes it was
practically “Stairway to Heaven” compared to the brevity of their early work—no
song on their first three albums was longer than two minutes and 45
seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what sounded ominous and
threatening to me in 1981 today sounds kind of desperate and even sad; by 1981
the Ramones were sensing that the window on their shot at the brass ring was
closing if not already closed; far from being a threat, “We Want the Airwaves”
was more an empty threat, a desperate appeal or plea to give them a chance,
which unfortunately they never really got.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also remember hearing “Do You Remember Rock n’ Roll Radio?” from their
prior, fifth album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">End of the Century</i>
from May 1980, and “She’s a Sensation” like “Airwaves” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pleasant Dreams</i>, on KROQ during this early era.</div>
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I also remember two <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">B-52’s</b>
songs being played back then, “Private Idaho” and “Give Me Back My Man” off
their second album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wild Planet</i>,
which came out in August 1980.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Man” is
very twitchy and twangy but unlike the shrill campy Farfisa on “Rock Lobster”
it has a knocking, almost industrial sounding keyboard but is most notable for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cindy Wilson’s</b> magnificent vocal, which
starts out almost chirpy but by the time it builds to her plaintive shout,
“GIVE! ME! GIVE back my man!”, is as passionate and heartfelt as anything from
this era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The odd lyrics stood out too:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I’ll give you fish, I’ll give you candy,
I’ll give you anything I have in my hand”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It bespoke of a strange world (one where at the very least people
bartered fish and/or candy for their lovers).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Private Idaho”, with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fred
Schneider’s</b> weird yelping and again the strange lyrics about potatoes, also
sticks in my brain from this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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My favorite B-52’s song, and indeed a song that makes my own
personal Top Ten (it might hover near the mythical Top Five), is “Planet
Claire” off their 1979 debut album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t really recall hearing it on KROQ at this early date, but I do remember
distinctly hearing it later, around ’84 or ’85, one night when I was driving
around with my friend Steve in his dad’s huge old Cadillac; the eerie 50’s
horror movie organ, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ricky Wilson’s</b> savage,
slashing guitar chords, and Fred Schneider’s increasingly agitated vocals all
melded with our cruising along in a giant smooth driving dinosaur car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the things I love about these early
B-52’s singles is how they often swing from campy 50’s cheese to punk anger in
a matter of seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In “Rock Lobster”,
it’s toward the end when Fred Schneider shouts “LET’S ROCK!” in a wild, angry
voice; the goofy beach blanket bingo party is over and things are getting
manic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In “Planet Claire”, its when Schneider
yells “BUT SHE ISN’T!”, which again signals a darker shift in the song itself.</div>
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One problem I have with my memories of this time is that,
like in the “Planet Claire” example above, KROQ continued to play these songs
for years afterward and so I’m never 100% sure if I’m remembering hearing them
from that time or from hearing them at a later date, when I was both listening
to KROQ more and was better versed in songs and band identities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, I can distinctly remember
hearing two <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Police</b> songs, “Don’t
Stand So Close To Me” and “De Do Do Do De Da Da Da” on KROQ but I can’t be sure
it was back then or later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I probably
did hear them at least once back then, but the first Police song I have a firm
memory of hearing on KROQ was “Spirits in the Material World”, which was
released in November 1981; I can still remember being puzzled by the way they
said “In Ma-ma-terio”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The Police ended up being one of the bigger success stories
of the new wave/post-punk era, delivering hit after hit from their first 3 or 4
albums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They quickly transcended the new
wave “ghetto” and their songs were played on both Top 40 and classic rock
stations (like KMET and KLOS).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not
sure to this day what it was about their sound that melded better with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rush</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Seger</b> than the music of their new wave brethren but somehow it
made that leap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find it interesting to
see bands in the 21<sup>st</sup> century who are incorporating <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Police/Sting</b> influences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two obvious ones are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gotye’s</b> “Somebody That I Used To Know” and “Locked Out of Heaven”
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bruno Mars</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latter is so similar to the lite reggae
sound of early Police that perhaps not surprisingly the Grammy Academy had Mars
and Sting perform a medley of songs together (including this one and “Walking
on the Moon” by the Police) at the 2013 Grammies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gotye’s song fascinates me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sonically it does contain some Police-like
elements, although what it reminds me of more is the melancholy timbre of “Senses
Working Overtime” by another new wave success story, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">XTC</b>; I also get elements of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fischer
Z</b>’s “So Long” in the vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
lyrics are captivating; Gotye’s lead chorus makes it seem like he is the
aggrieved party because she callously sends a friend to collect her things
after their breakup, but when <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kimbra</b>
gets her turn to tell her side of the story, we find out that this guy is a
strange passive-aggressive asshole, pushing her aside and making her feel
guilty for their disagreements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then
we get to the kicker; as the snare drums build up a steady rumble in
accompaniment, Kimbra’s vocals rise and soar in accusation and we find out the
truth:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he was stuck on a former
lover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So who is this guy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some strange masochist who always pushes his
current lover away, then pines for them when they’re gone?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve known a lot of “the grass is greener”
romantic types, who are unhappy with their current partner and pine for former
lovers, but then continually repeat the cycle, and this seems like what’s going
on here.</div>
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There are two bands I recall hearing a lot back then as well
as later but I’m pretty sure I first heard them back then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Pretenders</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Pretenders followed up “Brass in Pocket”, their smash hit from 1979-1980, with
a series of outstanding singles that made them, along with the Police, one of
the most successful exports of the British punk/post-post punk scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ray Davies’</b> “Stop Your Sobbing” was another hit, and while it
wasn’t a huge crossover smash like “Brass”, “Mystery Achievement” is one of my
favorite songs by this incredible band, one I still love to hear today—its
crisp, chunky guitar/rhythm at the chorus and the tapping, insistent drum and
bass interludes make it a marvelous song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Tattooed Love Boys”, with it’s chiming, questioning guitar line and
similarly from this first album, also got played by KROQ back then too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the song I totally love, and which I also
heard around this time, was “The Wait”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I love everything about this song, particularly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chrissie Hynde’s</b> guttural, super sexy “UUHHH” that starts up the
song after a brief instrumental interlude, followed by her heavy breathing and
sing-songy lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These early Pretender
singles often made highly effective use of Chrissie panting, sighing, etc., and
her heavy breathing after the solo is both sexy and captivating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sound of it was so wild and tough and
sexy to me then (and now). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
rapid-fire, stuttering staccato of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James
Honeyman-Scott’</b>s guitar, and specifically his chunky pick slides proceeded
by shrieking feedback, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>show that he was
one of the great guitar talents to emerge from the English punk scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the repeating regularity (“DUH!
Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh”) of the main guitar refrain; it reminds me of the tight,
crisp guitar on the Police’s “Synchronicity II”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of the songs that really ignited
my passion for this “new” music.</div>
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In August of 1981, the Pretenders released their follow-up, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pretenders II</i>, and it was even more cram
packed with future KROQ cuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first
single was “Talk of the Town”; this was a softer, more romantic Chrissie Hynde,
yearning and vulnerable rather than the tough talking mama of the first
album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she pouts, “I want you; I
want you but now”, it’s hard for any red-blooded man not to feel
responsive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This truly was pop
music—sweet, affecting, but still anchored in Honeyman-Scott’s infectious
guitar lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Message of Love”, their
follow-up, was tougher sonically, with its bass-heavy main groove and martial
drums (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Martin Chambers’</b> drumming is
exceptional here, how he not only keeps the beat but drives the whole song
forward with such infectious exuberance) but again the message was decidedly
un-punk—rather, it was optimistic (“We fall but we keep getting up, over and
over and over and over”) and almost as nakedly romantic as “Talk of the Town”,
especially in the first lyrical stanza:</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Now the reason we’re here;</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Every man and woman</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is to love each other</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Take care of each other.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When love walks in the room</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Everybody stand up</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oh its good good good</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Like Bridgitte Bardot”</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s hard to believe that it had been
just a few short years since <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Pistols</b>
arrived not to praise rock but to bury it, especially all of its romantic
tropes about love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in songs like
this the Pretenders were never sappy; the message of this song is that love is
what keeps people trying and striving in life, not just romantic love but the
love of friends and so forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all
help each other up when we fall or fail. It’s hard to argue with a message like
that.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Continuing this amazing streak was the
song “Day After Day”, another hopeful, uplifting song; I can definitely
remember hearing this on KROQ at this time period too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is another guitar triumph by James
Honeyman-Scott, from the skirling guitar line that introduces the song and
repeats throughout to the soaring majestic chorus elements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The Adulteress”, the fourth single
from this album, is heavy and chugging, almost metallic; Hynde confesses to
“the greatest crime in history” (adultery) and it’s not clear if she’s ashamed
or proud, at least initially (later the song seems to turn bitter, and then almost
tragic) but there’s something almost noble and defiant sounding about it
notwithstanding Hynde’s breathy, sensual delivery of the main lyric.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is another song I distinctly remember
hearing on KROQ at this time because very shortly after this another strongly
sexual song by a female new wave singer became popular, “Never Say Never” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Romeo Void</b>, and I can remember hearing
this song first then wondering if “Never” was by the same band/woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Bad Boys Get Spanked”, also off this album,
was also played on KROQ to the best of my recollection, as was “Pack It Up”; I
still recall Hynde’s opening lyrical salvo, “You guys are the pits of the
world”, and her harsh and specific denunciations of her former lover and his
shortcomings (including his “appalling taste in women” and his “insipid record
collection”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The third (along with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Police</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pretenders</b>) of the “Big Three” of early KROQ was a local LA product,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Oingo Boingo</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Originally formed in the early 70’s by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Danny Elfman’s</b> brother <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Richard</b> to make scores for his movies,
Boingo later came under Danny Elfman’s control and began gigging around LA in
the burgeoning new wave scene and immediately achieved recognition and success
as one of the most frantic and entertaining bands on the LA scene. They were
signed by I.R.S. Records in 1980 and released their debut album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Only a Lad</i>, in June of 1981.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can remember four songs off this album
being played on KROQ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first was the
title track, a twitchy, quirky romp that quickly became a huge hit on the
ROQ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite its pedophilic subject
matter, “Little Girls” was also extremely popular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first song I remember hearing by them was
“What You See”, with Elfman’s alternatingly furious and frantic vocals and
strange high pitched yearning vocals making it sound very schizophrenic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other song I distinctly recall hearing
around this time was “On the Outside”, which I still love, with Elfman’s yelping,
strangely affected vocals and a jaunty beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Boingo were clearly NOT raw amateur punks bashing away on their
instruments; every song on this album was technically very proficient and the
production is crisp and clean.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Boingo’s follow-up, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nothing to Fear</i>, was released the next
summer, in June 1982, and it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>continued
their success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The horn-accentuated
“Nothing To Fear”, the danceable “Grey Matter”, with its strange xylophone
elements (which presage the more well known song “Dead Man’s Party” from the legendary
80’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rodney Dangerfield</b> comedy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Back To School</i>), the almost plaintive
“Private Life” with its galloping guitar and repeating elements, and the manic
“Wild Sex (In the Working Class)” were all hugely popular on KROQ the next
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still love “Grey Matter” the
best, particularly its strange, almost siren like synth beginning, before the
drums and xylophone elements build on it, and the ominous, chanting background
“grey matter” vocals.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Other, random songs I remember hearing
at this time:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May 1981’s “Follow the
Leaders” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Killing Joke</b>; their
later song “Eighties” was also big on KROQ in 1984 and almost became a
pseudo-anthem for the station, but its blend of funky bass and almost danceable
synths with furious blasts of strident guitar noise were clearly a new and
exciting sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wasn’t a particularly
huge fan of Killing Joke at the time, certainly not enough to seek out their
albums, but definitely liked these songs, with their mixture of
synth/industrial elements and harsh, punky guitar—it’s not hard to see how
influential this band and its sound were on future industrial bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ministry</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nine Inch Nails </b>(indeed, its actually hard to envision Nine Inch
Nails existing without KJ’s trailblazing)—and much later in life I became a big
fan of their edgy post-punk (“Wardance” and “Requiem” are my favorites by
them).</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Another song I remember from 1981 is
“Up All Night” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Boomtown Rats</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d somehow missed out on their strange
left-field hit “I Don’t Like Mondays” from 1979 but can definitely remember
hearing this song and its odd, repeating chorus of “Up all night”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In addition, another song that stuck in
my consciousness was “Lunacy” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Plasmatics</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d seen the album cover
for 1980’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Hope for the Wretched</i>,
in a Warehouse Records store, and it was clearly extremely punk:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the band is situated around a car crashed
into a swimming pool; guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Richie
Stotts</b> is wearing tights and a tutu and a blue mohawk and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wendy O. Williams</b> has pink hair and
bare breasts with duct tape over her nipples!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What I wasn’t aware of was that this particular song was their attempt
to transition from punk to heavy metal; at that time heavy metal was so obscure
and uncool that its sound wasn’t really well known. Listening to this song now
I can clearly hear these metallic elements but at the time I just thought this
was loud, abrasive punk rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the
time it sounded raw and threatening; today it just kind of sounds turgid and
sad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a long time the Plasmatics, and
this song in particular, were kind of a short-hand for the look and sound of
“real” punk for me, cartoonish as both were. But it fit well with what I had
“learned” about punk from episodes of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">C.H.I.P.S.</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Quincy</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Two other early KROQ staples I remember
from this time were “Lunatic Fringe” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Red
Rider</b> and “Ever Since the World Began” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gary Myrick</b>. Red Rider had a subsequent follow-up single, the
lusher and softer “China”, but I like the strange, new wave tinged prog rock of
“Fringe” more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote about Gary Myrick
in a previous post; I wasn’t a huge fan of his then but a few years ago I got
really heavily into his strange prog rock take on new wave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His unique vocals and his incendiary guitar
playing made him early on sound like America’s best answer to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sting</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Police</b>; the stuttering guitar line from “Ever Since the World
Began” reminds me of “The Wait” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Pretenders</b> crossed with “Synchronicity” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Police</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This album came
out I late 1980 and even at this early time Myrick had absorbed, and was in
turn influencing, the emerging new wave sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His song “She Talks in Stereo” off this album became a minor hit around
this time, but I prefer “World Began” as week as the fast and catchy “Living
Disaster”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my favorite Myrick song
of all time is the shimmering, romantic and anthemic “Time To Win” off his
second album, 1983’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Language</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song was featured in the 1983 movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Valley Girl</i>, when Randy and Julie
finally make out after having snuck out of a val party to attend a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Plimsouls</b> gig in Hollywood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I especially love the driving, soaring
chorus.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I also remember four <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Devo</b> songs off their June 1981 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New Traditionalists</i> album getting heavy
airplay on KROQ when I first started listening:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Going Under”, “Beautiful World”, “Jerking Back and Forth”, and “Through
Being Cool”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Going Under” and
“Beautiful World” were my favorites of this group, but my all-time favorite
Devo songs are “Freedom of Choice”, “Girl U Want”, and especially “Gates of
Steel” off their previous album, May 1980’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Freedom
of Choice </i>(“Don’t You Know”, “Ton O’ Luv”, and “It’s Not Right” were also
great deep cuts from this album).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is of course the album from which “Whip It” emerged to become a massive hit
single but I still love “Gates of Steel” more, its frantic, insistent tempo,
the perfect blend of hard, punky guitar and perky synths make it a much more
fun song to dance to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Devo quickly got
pigeonholed as a “synth band” but particularly on this album they used
synthesizers to enhance the strong guitar sound of songs like “Whip It”,
“Gates”, “Don’t You Know”, and the title track; back then the synths sounded
weird and quirky and new wave-y but today I’m struck more by how hard and raw
the guitar sound was on these songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Summer of 1981 saw the release of three
albums that augured the REAL beginning of the new wave era:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Duran
Duran’s</b> first album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beauty and the
Beat</i> by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Go-Go’s</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Psychedelic Furs’</b> second disc, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Talk Talk Talk</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Duran Duran’s album spawned two KROQ hits, “Planet
Earth” and of course “Girls on Film”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Go-Go’s hit it HUGE with “Our Lips our Sealed” and “We Got the Beat”,
but the songs I remember hearing played on KROQ at this time were the plaintive
“How Much More”, the bitter ode to LA “This Town” (surpassed only by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X’s</b> “Los Angeles in terms of it’s negative
assessment of LA), and most especially the dramatic, almost cinematic “Lust To
Love”, perhaps the first ever lament of going from fuck buddies to lovers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Furs of course hit it big with their
single “Pretty In Pink”, which <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Molly
Ringwald</b> loved so much she had <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John
Hughes</b> make a movie for her based loosely on its lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is truly a marvelous song, particularly
the propulsive drumming and the grinding but still melodic guitars and of
course <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Richard Butler’s</b> raspy
vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never bought this album back
in the day (though I loved “Pink”) but recently downloaded several other songs
off of it:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It Goes On”, with its heavy
bass and skirling guitar almost reminds me of a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gen X</b> song off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kiss Me Deadly</i>
if it wasn’t for Butler’s raspy, older-brother-of-Johnny-Rotten voice; speaking
of Rotten, “Into You Like a Train” has the propulsive rhythm and atonal guitar
of classic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">P.I.L.</b> and is a really
wonderful song, as is the similarly driving and atonal “Mr. Jones”, which also
features <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Duncan Kilburn’s</b> wild
bursts of saxophone; the less frantic and more melodic “No Tears” shows off the
Furs’ more sedate side, which would also surface in later hits like “The Ghost
In You” and “Love My Way”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Furs’
first album, 1980’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psychedelic Furs</i>,
didn’t yield any hits but there are a number of fine tracks, including the
droning, almost psychedelic introspection of “Sister Europe”, the wild (post)
punk punch of “Soap Commercial”, and the morose bombast of “Imitation of
Christ”, which is punctuated by the uplifting chorus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Psychedelic Furs would have subsequent
hits, including the xylophone accented “Love My Way” (still one of my favorite
songs of the 80’s new wave era, but “Run and Run” and the exquisite title track
are also outstanding off this album, 1982’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forever
Now</i>, which is probably their most solid LP top to bottom) and three songs
off 1984’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mirror Moves</i>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Heartbeat” ( the 12-inch remix of which was
a major club hit in LA’s dance clubs that year), the lush, romantic “Heaven”,
and the sweetly affecting “The Ghost In You”.</span></div>
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Another artist who went on to much bigger and better things
started in fall of 1981 with a couple of KROQ singles:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Adam
and the Ants</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In September 1981,
Adam released his single “Prince Charming”, backed with “Christian D’Or”, and I
remember hearing both of them on KROQ around that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Prince Charming” was, and still is, a very
weird song, with its weird yelling intro, buzzsaw guitar from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Marco Pirroni</b>, and strumming acoustic
guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The video was, of course, just
as strange, silly to the point of extreme pretension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Adam’s insanely arresting fashion style—a
meld of colonial tricorner hats and Indian warpaint— demonstrated in this video
and in the videos for two of his other early hits, “Stand and Deliver” and
“Antmusic”, made him easily the match of his New Ro compatriots <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Duran Duran</b>, who were also getting nearly
as much attention for their glammed up, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roxy
Music</b>-influenced look displayed in their videos as they were for their
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was around this time that I
remember seeing music videos for the first time—recall that MTV didn’t make it
to the west coast until the mid-80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Usually these were shown in between feature length films on cable TV to
fill in the time between half hours and my friend John would videotape them on
their Betamax and he and I would watch them obsessively.</div>
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I glommed onto Adam and the Ants pretty early—I think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Prince Charming</i> was the next album I
purchased after <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blondie’s</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Parallel Lines</i> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Vapors’</b> two albums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
the song I liked the best was the B-side to “Prince”, “Christian D’Or”, with
its wild buzzsaw guitar and its wacky lyrics listing all his fetishes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is still the punkiest Adam ever sounded.</div>
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The final five new wave songs that made an impact on me as
1981 drew to a close were all sexual and/or sexually ambiguous:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the decidedly UNambiguous novelty songs “Are
You Ready For the Sex Girls?” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gleaming
Spires,</b> “Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Killer Pussy</b>, and “Never Say Never” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Romeo Void</b>; and the homosexuality associated songs “Homosapien” by
ex-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buzzcock Pete Shelley</b> and “Johnny
Are You Queer?” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Josie Cotton</b>.
Spires was a side project for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leslie
Bohem and David Kendricks</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sparks</b>
and their song is a typically cartoonish raunchy romp. Shelley’s “Homosapien”
was a thinly veiled defense of homosexuality and an attack on homophobia, though
few of us junior high school louts knew it at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Josie Cotton’s “Johnny Are You Queer?” was
more of a calling out of her boyfriend’s sexuality done in a catchy 60’s
kitschy manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cotton achieved a small
measure of local fame for her 60’s girl group-influenced take on new wave; in
addition to “Johnny” she also had another single “You Could Be the One” become
popular on KROQ (both were also featured in the movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Valley Girl</i>, along with a slew of other new wave hits from that
particular year). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Never Say Never” was
a sensual blast of sexual energy that almost overwhelmed my pubescent sexuality
(or lack thereof); <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Debra Iyala’s</b>
frank and sensual vocals opened up new doors in my young mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s funny is that I endlessly fantasized
about what she looked like, this pouty, sexy, horny sounding new wave chick
with the sexy voice, and of course when I saw her it was something of a
surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing against zaftig women
whatsoever, but she was NOT what I was expecting; I think I was picturing
someone who looked more like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chrissy
Amphlett</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Divinyls</b> in her
first incarnation in the video for their song “Boys In Town” off their 1982 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Desperate</i> album; I frankly hated her
sleazy image in the “I Touch Myself” era but still love the punky energy of
“Boys” and her torn stockings, bangs-in-the-face punkette image from that
video.</div>
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So there it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the space of about six months I went from totally clueless new wave poseur to
.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>. slightly less clueless new wave poseur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we were ALL poseurs back then; all of us
were groping our way through the increasingly complex thicket of new
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What amazes me is how well many
of those bands, and their music, has withstood the test of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously one-hit novelty songs like “Teenage
Enema Nurses in Bondage” haven’t aged well, though they are still a blast from
a nostalgia point of view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But bands
like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Police, the Pretenders, the
Cars, Devo</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the B-52’s</b> all
enjoyed long and fruitful careers and their music from that time continues to
sparkle with wild energy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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1981 to me was the last year of innocence for new wave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1982 the floodgates opened, and for the
next 2-3 years the world was inundated with new wave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During this time even older, established
bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Heart</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Linda Ronstadt</b> would add synthesizers and
quirky beats to their songs in order to keep up with the times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the flood of new wave music that followed
inevitably contained both classic gems (bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Depeche Mode, REM</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">U2</b>
emerged during this time) and forgettable crap (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mental As Anything, Roman Holliday, Haircut 100</b>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I would still argue that the new wave era
was more fun and more interesting than others that came before or since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were there a lot of hokey, embarrassingly
silly novelty songs?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But one thing you can say about new wave is,
it was unique—almost every band sounded completely different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the synth pop and chirpy vocals of
pink-haired, fishbowl brassiere wearing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Missing
Persons</b> to the cableknit sweater blue eyed soul of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Haircut 100</b> to the transgendered histrionics of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dead Or Alive</b>, no two new wave bands
ever looked OR sounded alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is in
stark contrast to the glam/hair metal era that came after it, where every band
looked exactly alike (a combination of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dolls</b>
androgyny, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Van Halen</b> spandex, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Judas Priest</b> leather and studs) and
sounded alike (a mix of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Aerosmith, Van
Halen</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Motley Crue</b>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each band would faithfully put out one single
that showed their hard rocking bad-boy side and that contained lyrics
celebrating mindless partying, rocking and/or rolling, or just plain sex, and a
second single that was a ballad that showed their softer side (“they taught us
how to live; they taught us how to love”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even the lamest new wave bands had their own gimmicks, look, sound,
etc., which isn’t something you can say for the monotonous hordes of metal
wannabes that replaced them on the charts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even grunge got to be fairly rote after awhile—<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bush, Silverchair, Stone Temple Pilots, POTUS</b>, etc., all sounded
like second-rate <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nirvana</b>
knockoffs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As silly and campy as many
new wave songs (and bands) were, the very uniqueness of the different sounds
still stands out.</div>
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runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-50827444629080802822013-06-14T10:17:00.002-07:002013-07-24T09:37:41.786-07:00Raised on Radio Part I: Dispatches from the Outpost of New Wave<style>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbeKncCDfCjrFIT0UrbzWZXsnlcJbowGhpI_MlplF5qJeLAjGBwa1cpNZXutoiy1Ykcgf-gTS_hXr-UfIJCgWfz-Hf3VAqxBEozG_RvtG2iq4Sr6gTCs0H1r6aRQnjdwDxcP3Qn3Ojvl1-/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbeKncCDfCjrFIT0UrbzWZXsnlcJbowGhpI_MlplF5qJeLAjGBwa1cpNZXutoiy1Ykcgf-gTS_hXr-UfIJCgWfz-Hf3VAqxBEozG_RvtG2iq4Sr6gTCs0H1r6aRQnjdwDxcP3Qn3Ojvl1-/s640/Slide1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What was so strange about men with flower pots on their heads?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Some time around spring of 1981, I did something for the
first time in my life:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I turned on a
radio trying to look for a station or stations that played a specific type
of music—“new” music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know the
exact date—I didn’t keep a diary or record this event in any way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if I did keep a diary I’m not sure at
the time I would have considered it to be a particularly meaningful or
noteworthy action on my part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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But I’ve been able to roughly recreate the crude chronology
above because of a number of things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First of all, my parents and I moved into a new house in January of
1980, when I was in 7<sup>th</sup> grade, in a neighborhood that had a different junior high
school from the one I’d gone to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
moved a lot when I was a kid and while this house was still in Long Beach,
California, where we’d lived since the summer before I started 3<sup>rd</sup> grade
in fall of 1975, it required me to leave the friend base I’d formed and attend
a new school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially my mom promised
me that she would still let me attend my previous junior high school for the
remaining 2.5 years of junior high (both junior highs funneled into the same
high school so it wouldn’t be an issue then), but after one semester of driving
me across town to my old junior high, my mom reneged on that little deal, to my
great consternation at the time, and in fall of 1980 I started attending my
local junior high.</div>
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I was comparatively lucky; in 5<sup>th</sup> and 6<sup>th</sup>
grade my grade school (adjacent to my first junior high) had an academic
“magnet” program for accelerated kids which I tested into, and this program was
the only one for the grade schools in our district so several kids who lived in
my new neighborhood had been in those classes with me, so I actually knew a few
kids at my new school. However, I hadn’t seen them since we’d all started
junior high, a time rife with clique formation and perceptions of coolness and
so forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily I did manage to hook
back up with some of them and that made things at least a little better.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So anyway I do know roughly when this event happened because
of these two well-documented events:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>first, I am sure it occurred in the “new” house we’d been living in just
over a year, and second, I am fairly certain it occurred after I started at my
new school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pretty lonely, having
given up a pretty large number of friends and acquaintances at my old school for
a handful of former classmates from two years before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My old school had been more egalitarian; while
there still was a popular “in” crowd, the distinction between them and the
other kids wasn’t super hard and fast and most people including myself were
friends with a pretty broad spectrum of groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In contrast, my new school was defined by some fairly rigid
socioeconomic criteria which mapped onto the different neighborhoods around the
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids who lived in “Pill Hill”, a
gated community immediately adjacent to the school, and who’s parents were
mostly doctors (hence the name), lawyers, and other wealthy, were at the top of
the hierarchy; kids in Park Estates came in a close second. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My neighborhood, College Park, was down toward
the bottom of the social strata, with little familial wealth and fewer
college-bound kids and more working class families.</div>
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Like many kids that age, I was starting to seek out and try
on new identities and experiences in an effort to find out who I was and where
I fit into junior high society, and I think this fumbling attempt to find
something “new” was one of my first real forays in this area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids mature faster these days, and who knows
maybe kids matured faster then than I remember, but to me I’ll always think of
how neatly this attempt matches with my own entry into teenager-dom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In May of 1980 I’d turned 13 so I was
approaching 14 when this happened but still in that first flush of teenhood,
when kids are often starting to make their first real attempts to discover who
they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just the year before I’d
shared my first kisses (ironically with the cousin of my now-wife, whom I’ve
known since 5<sup>th</sup> grade and had a crush on then but who never
reciprocated until our senior year of college)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and my first semi-permanent boy-girl romantic relationship (even more
ironically with my wife’s then best friend, who DID have a crush on me and
definitely reciprocated, at least to the extent of introducing me to the joys
of French kissing).</div>
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Before this time I’d never really sought out the radio in
any systematic or meaningful way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
parents were children of the 60’s and were into rock music (unlike the older
parents of some of my friends, most of whom listened to classical music or
maybe doo-wop or some other such oldie genre), so they owned records and played
the radio in the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up until this
momentous occasion, I’d always been a passive radio listener who enjoyed it
when it was on but was never allowed to turn it on myself and CERTAINLY was
never allowed to choose the channel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
mostly remember my dad playing the radio in the car, usually “album oriented
rock” stations—what we’d call “classic rock” today—like LA’s KMET (I still
remember one of their jingles from this time, “A small piece of heaven, 94.7,
KMET, tweedle dee!”), where I can recall hearing songs like “Jackie Blue” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Ozark Mountain Daredevils</b> and “Hot
Child in the City” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nick Gilder</b>
(an artist I’ve come to love).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mom
would play more top 40 type stuff—I can remember hearing disco novelty songs
like “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A Taste of
Honey</b> and “Kung Fu Fighting” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl
Douglas</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Another disco novelty I recall hearing on the radio was <b>Patrick Hernandez'</b>s "Born To Be Alive".</span></div>
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In fact, I can only recall two minor personal flirtations
with radio prior to this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was in the
fall of 1976, when my teenage babysitter got obsessed (and got ME obsessed)
with the song “Blinded by the Light” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Manfred
Mann’s Earth Band</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that time, the
AM radio station KTNQ, “The new 10-Q”, had formed and was playing top-40 music
in the most repetitious format imaginable, which for us of course was a good
thing because it practically guaranteed that they would play this song at LEAST
once an hour; I swear I remember hearing it like every 20 minutes but perhaps
that’s an exaggeration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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After this one brief incident, I went back to treating the
radio as “background noise”, until the summer of 1979, when I tried to act on
my long-standing love of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b>
and called in to LA’s premier oldies station (back when this stuff wasn’t
actually THAT old), KRTH, “K-Earth 101”, to request a Beatles song (I can’t
even remember which one, probably “She Loves You” or “I Feel Fine” since those
are two of my favorite early songs by them).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I remember it was summer and my mother and I were living in a really
cruddy, roach-infested apartment on the scuzzy end of Belmont Shore following
my parents’ divorce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mom was at work
and she’d left me home to my own devices, and what I did was spend THE ENTIRE
DAY trying to get through on the call-in request line!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nice use of a day; I’m sure I’m going to want
that one back when I’m 97.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think
my frustrating experience (I don’t recall ever getting through) set me off
radio at least for awhile.</div>
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I was only moderately aware that there even WAS such a thing
as “new” music in 1981.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prior to 1980 I
can only recall hearing a couple of sketchy TV news stories or newspaper stories
about “punk rock”, and what I’d heard didn’t sound appetizing at all:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bands that spat on each other and wore their
hair and clothing in styles designed to shock and disgust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not exactly what a teenage boy who is trying
hard to be cool and attractive to the opposite sex and fit in with
hyper-critical junior high peer groups would be attracted to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My own tastes in music, circa 1977-1979,
ranged from generic rock a la <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rod
Stewart</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(“Tonight’s The Night” and
“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”) to the smooth sensual disco of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Donna Summer</b> (I remember particularly liking “Hot Stuff” and “Love
To Love You Baby”). </div>
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I also don’t recall hearing anything about a LOCAL punk
scene at all; punk was something happening in England 5000 miles away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though one of the most vibrant punk
scenes in the world was unfolding not 30 miles from my own front door, and
indeed by the early 80’s had spread to communities throughout the Southland,
including nearby ones like Fullerton and Huntington Beach, I was so insulated
from that in my suburban existence that none of it ever registered with me at
the time.</div>
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But this music was nevertheless seeping into the public
consciousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Few if any of the first-wave
punk bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Sex Pistols, the
Damned</b>, or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Clash</b> made much
of an impact on the broader music awareness of most Southern Californians as far as
I can recall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But starting in 1979,
second-wave, “new wave” bands were definitely making inroads into popular music
tastes and trends. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was in late 1978
that two bands, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Cars</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blondie</b>, released albums (the Cars’
eponymously named first and Blondie’s third, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Parallel Lines</i>) that would break through and achieve national and
even worldwide fame, in Blondie’s case spectacularly so as their disco single
“Heart of Glass” became a #1 hit in April 1979.</div>
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While I have no recollections of direct experiences with the
punk scene of 1976-1978, I did have fairly early exposure to these first new
music shots across the bow of rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
aunt Kris, who was just two years older than me and more like a big sister,
lived with my grandparents in a podunk small town in upstate (WAY upstate,
practically in Canada and this time I’m NOT exaggerating) New York from which my
whole family hails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But she got
connected with both these groups very early on, perhaps because she was just
close enough to get the New York and/or Canadian radio stations playing this
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She in fact was fairly obsessed
with Blondie, and quickly bought that album along with Blondie’s earlier effort
P<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lastic Letters</i> and eventually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eat to the Beat</i> when that album came out
in October of 1979.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also remember her
having <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Candy-O</i> by the Cars pretty
early, and I think she’d bought their first album when it came out or shortly
after too; that album came out in June 1979 and since I spent every summer
staying with her and my grandparents she might have been listening to it that
summer, or perhaps it was the next summer, I’m still not sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can remember hearing “Just What I Needed”
on the radio around this time, and I still love that song, along with “You’re
All I’ve Got Tonight” and the peppier, happier “Best Friend’s Girl” off their
first album; off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Candy-O</i> I love the
title track (especially its acidulous solo), and how it almost seems to explode
out of the prior song on the album, “Shoo Be Doo”, the plodding, chugging
guitars of “Candy-O” emerging from the swirling synths and shrieking, repeated,
amplified ending of “Shoo Be Doo”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Let’s
Go” from that album is honestly one of my favorite songs of all time.</div>
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The other huge new wave breakthrough of 1979, though they
were really more of a powerpop band, was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Knack</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still remember what a HUGE,
ubiquitous hit “My Sharona” was, and it was a real game changer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike Blondie, who by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Parallel Lines</i> were pursuing a more sophisticated pan-musical sound
that would eventually draw on everything from calypso (“The Tide Is High”) and
the aforementioned disco (“Heart of Glass” and “Atomic”) to rap (“Rapture”, off
their final first-run album, 1980’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Autoamerican</i>),
the Knack were unapologetically a new wave, “skinny tie” powerpop band, and I
can remember both the initial surge in their appeal, and that of new wave, and
the resulting anti-Knack (and anti-new wave) backlash (as evidenced by the
“Knuke the Knack” bumper stickers that proliferated around this time).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can still remember my best friend Jeff got
like 3 copies of their album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Get The
Knack</i> for his birthday that year, probably fall of 1979.<br />
<br />
My aunt Kris had <i>Get the Knack</i> on 8-track and I got pretty familiar with that album as a result in the summer of 1980. I still consider "My Sharona" to be one of the best, catchiest songs of all time; the propulsive drumming, the huge, throbbing bass, the guitar flourishes--everything about this song is amazing. I also consider the <b>Berton Averre's </b>extended guitar solo to be one of the greatest guitar solos of all time--it just suddenly takes off, and takes the song out of it's quirky new wave powerpop repetition and flies away on a soaring, noodling 70's journey that is matched by few songs before or since. But I also liked "Good Girls Don't" (despite its crude and obvious sexual entendres) and "Oh Tara". Much later, in the Napster era circa 1999, I got into "Your Number Or Your Name"; I still think Capitol made a huge mistake not making that a third single from this album but I assume they felt they'd already saturated the market and gotten adequate sales out of that first album and wanted a second album.<br />
<br />
I don't recall hearing any of the subsequent singles off the Knack's second album, . . . <i>But the Little Girls Understand</i>, which was released the next year in 1980. "Baby Talks Dirty", the first single, was another pulsing, syncopated powerpop rocker in the same vein as "My Sharona", but somehow didn't have the same catchy appeal. The songs I prefer off this album are "I Want Ya", which is highlighted by <b>Bruce Davis</b>' stupendous drumming and more inspired, busy-but-not-too-busy bass work by <b>Prescott Niles</b>, and the odd "Tell Me Your Mine", with its clog dancing intro and catchy guitar licks. <b>Doug Fieger's</b> vocals are very bizarre, an Elvis drawl that almost borders on <b>Glenn Danzig</b> or <b>Alvin Stardust</b> parody. But this is probably the best song on this album, capturing the breezy catchy fun of "Sharona" more than the trying-too-hard "Baby Talks Dirty".<br />
<br />
Even less was heard of the Knack's third album, <i>Round Trip</i>; I literally recall hearing nothing of it at the time but years later I downloaded some stuff from it, including the almost psychedelic "Just Wait and See", which almost reminds me of a paisley underground song by the likes of <b>the Three O'Clock</b>, and the similarly expansive jangle-pop anthem "Another Lousy Day in Paradise", a song many musical obscurists consider the Knack's best song of all. In general this is the Knack's strongest album--it moves away from the short chords and catchy tempos of new wave/powerpop and expands their sound into new, more sophisticated territories. Its a pity that their career got so derailed by the silly backlash against them.<br />
<br />
I still consider the Knack one of the greatest bands of all time, horribly derided as a one-hit wonder "skinny tie" band. They were so much more than that, and indeed were one of the tightest, sharpest, most talented bands to come out of the new wave era. Listening to their music now with over 30 years of hindsight I can see that the Knack probably would have been successful, perhaps even more so, in any era between about 1963 and today--their songs struck some elemental chord in people then (and now) and their crisp, polished playing put them leagues away from the amateurism of punk but they still kept some of the frantic energy of punk. </div>
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Aside from "My Sharona", I recall four other new wave songs becoming
popular and being played on the radio prior to 1980.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first was not really a proper new wave
band<i> per se</i>, but was instead a new wave-influenced novelty song by a side project of British
musician <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Robin Scott</b> called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">M</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The song of course was “Pop Muzik”, which hit #1 on the American singles
charts in April of 1979.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course we
didn’t know that this was a new wave novelty hit or a one hit wonder at the
time, and I can remember this song being very popular with me and my friends when
it came out in the summer after 6<sup>th</sup> grade.</div>
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The second song was another new wave novelty song that
somehow became a huge local hit (it reached 22 on the national dance charts but
I think it was much more high profile in Southern California), and that was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Flying Lizard’</b>s cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Barrett Strong’s</b> “Money”, which was
released in July 1979, shortly before “Pop Muzik”, which was released in August
1979.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can vividly remember hearing it
come on the radio as I waited in my mom’s car for her return from the bank
sometime that summer (I can vaguely recall that it was warm out).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I think this was really a regionally
popular song as I’ve talked to many other people from other parts of the U.S.
who can’t even remember this song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think this song’s appeal lay in how it re-imagined a classic rock song much the
same way <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Devo’</b>s bizarre, angular
take on “Satisfaction” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Rolling
Stones</b> became a minor sensation around this same time.</div>
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The third song was the very DEFINITION of a one hit wonder,
at least in the States, but in his native England, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gary Numan</b> had a slew of hits aside from his massively popular
“Cars”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like “Pop Muzik” and “Money”
this was unapologetically quirky and synth driven, and it while I liked both of
these other songs (and “My Sharona”), I really truly enjoyed the unabashed
newness of “Cars”, with its extended synth instrumental passage following the
lyrical section.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Cars” came out in late
August 1979 but when I returned to stay the summer with my aunt and
grandparents in 1980 my aunt had obtained a compilation 8-track of chart hits
from the previous year that had this song on it along with “Heartbreaker” by
Pat Benetar.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The fourth song of 1979 that pushed new wave to the
forefront of popular music was “Rock Lobster” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the B-52’s</b>, with its twangy guitar, shrieking Farfisa organ lines,
and its maniacal ending with crazy made-up aquatic creature sound effects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Released in summer of 1979, this song was
HUGELY popular with me and my friends the following year, my first year of
junior high, 7<sup>th</sup> grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can
remember people singing it in my Exploring Spanish class in particular.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
In 1980, three other new wave songs “broke through” and
became big hits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first one I can
remember hearing on the radio was “Brass In Pocket” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Pretenders</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a
very distinct memory of my friend Jeff’s mom driving us to soccer practice and
his sister to gymnastics and his sister was asking his mom what some of the
lyrics were, and meant; it was only decades later that I realized that almost
NOBODY knew or understood most of the lyrics to this song!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But unlike most of the other songs, which
were purposefully quirky and usually heavily synth-driven, “Brass” was really
just a rock song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from the fact
that they had a “chick lead singer”—which in itself wasn’t THAT off the wall
given the success of rock bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Heart</b>
in the 70’s—there wasn’t really anything sonically that stamped the Pretenders
as “new” music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But somehow we all knew
that it WAS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The other huge song of 1980 was “Whip It” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Devo</b>, another benchmark song for me.
Devo were VERY polarizing, more so than any other new wave band, even<b> the
Knack</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Devo had actually achieved some
success prior to this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>their debut album
delved into the top 100 on the Billboard charts and they even performed on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saturday Night Live</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this was the first single of theirs to
make it huge off any of their first three albums, and their weird look and the
quirky nature of “Whip It” really became a line in the sand for many people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was okay to like the Knack or the
Pretenders because they were regular guitar-driven rock, but almost more than
any previous new wave hit, “Whip It” seemed to revel in its own
strangeness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people loved it, some
hated it, and it became forever for me at least the dividing line between the
old and the new. It was not uncommon for non-new wavers to shout "DEVO!" at punkers as they walked by, ironic given that most of them hated new wave synth novelty bands like Devo and instead were into <b>Black Flag</b> and <b>the Exploited</b> by this time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
1980 was also the first year that I actually BOUGHT my own
music, inspired by the third big new wave hit of 1980.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first album I recall purchasing was
Blondie’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Parallel Lines</i> on cassette
at the Wherehouse Records in the Marina Pacifica Mall in Long Beach; I think I
rode my bike down there to buy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
I’m pretty sure my second purchase was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New
Clear Days</i> by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Vapors</b>,
because while I liked all of the previously mentioned songs and was therefore
already leaning toward this “new” music, “Turning Japanese” was the first new
wave song that REALLY clicked with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As embarrassing as this is to admit now, I think one of the reasons it
did so was my enormous fascination with comic books at the time, and with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the X-Men</b> in particular:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it was around this time that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Wolverine</b> storyline was starting to
be fleshed out by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Claremont</b>,
and specifically it was revealed that Wolverine had spent time in, and was
fluent with, Japan and Japanese culture (this was around X-Men #118 or 119,
when the X-Men are returning from their Antarctica battle with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Magneto </b>and are rescued by a Japanese
freighter and taken to Japan, where they help <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sunfire</b> defeat <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moses Magnum</b>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I particularly liked the lines “Everyone
around me is a total stranger, everyone avoids me like a cyclone ranger”, which
seemed to me to epitomize Wolverine’s famous psycho loner character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even though I find the “chop socky”
guitar lines to be kind of cheesy now, at the time I liked them a lot, but I
particularly liked the guitar aggressiveness of the rest of the song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
I loved this album, and still do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I especially like “Waiting for the Weekend”,
the tragic story song “Letter From Hiro” (which reprises the Asian theme of
“Turning Japanese” but in a more sedate context), the catchy, aggressive
powerpop of “Trains”, the brooding melancholy of “Bunkers”, and especially the
youthful rage of “News At Ten”, which was the closest I’d come yet to actual
punk anger in music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
So by 1981 I had had only occasional and sporadic exposure
to anything remotely close to “new” music, but I was intrigued by it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it appealed to me for several
reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, it was the early 80’s,
and there was still this optimism and admiration for the future, and this music
seemed both in its sonics (particularly its emphasis on synthesizers) and in
its lyrics to embrace the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
trying to get away from the boringness of the 70’s and I could relate to that
even though I had nothing overtly against the 70’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">per se</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, I think
there was definitely an element of youthful rebellion involved too; it was
different from my parents’ music, and to a 13 year old that adds a tincture of
attractiveness to everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Third of
all, it was quickly becoming apparent that new wave was the chosen music of the
higher social classes in Southern California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After a lot of initial resistance to new wave, kids our age and a few
years older had adopted it with a passion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By 1981 musical battle lines were being drawn, with new wave and the
rich, upwardly mobile college-bound kids on one side, and the old classic rock
which seemed to belong to the older stoner kids, many of whom were still
lingering around post-high school much like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Matthew McConaughey’s</b> character “Woody” Wooderson in the classic movie
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dazed and Confused</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heavy metal at that time was barely even on
the musical radar, but would eventually become new wave’s number one rival and
threat.</div>
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So with only the vaguest ideas of what “new music” really
WAS, in spring of 1981 I started trying to more aggressively seek it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been said to death how different the
world is today, and how with the internet you can find anything within seconds,
but unless you lived a big chunk of your life in the pre-internet age you have
no conception of how true this is, or how difficult it was to find things you
liked back then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could ask a friend,
or better yet an older brother of a friend, who had cooler taste in music and a
more extensive record collection than you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But none of my friends had older brothers I knew well, and anyway most
of my friends were as clueless as I was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You could wander into one of the big box record stores, where they MIGHT
have one or two new wave albums, though you’d have to search rack by rack to
find it, and even then it wasn’t like they advertised things like that, you had
to take your cues from what the album cover looked like, and the band’s
fashions if indeed they showed the band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it wasn’t like there were tons of record stores near our suburban
house.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So I did the one thing I could do:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>turned on the small radio my mom had gotten
me for Christmas that year and started sliding down the dial, stopping whenever
I got a signal and listening. Since I had only a few concrete examples of what
new wave music sounded like, I was basically listening for anything with heavy
synthesizers, quirky rhythms, odd or affected vocals, and/or strange lyrical
content.</div>
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What did I find?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Well, that will be the topic of my next post.</div>
runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-13810534535953375102013-04-17T10:51:00.000-07:002013-04-17T10:51:04.838-07:00Words of Love: The Fusion of Rock and Pop, circa 1959 and it's 80's Revival<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcmw52RpBecyoY0kY5F_6dkBVaH1VXkbpZnSaEnRGcK8ufv22yAuAFLZIbRGLRk-vL0OLZm8NFBCtXhwSCLH5OAwoREENwVhapwWpcxoTchN53T1W8VtLDGSlr_arFdavcUMb-AEWj40v/s1600/marshall+crenshaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDcmw52RpBecyoY0kY5F_6dkBVaH1VXkbpZnSaEnRGcK8ufv22yAuAFLZIbRGLRk-vL0OLZm8NFBCtXhwSCLH5OAwoREENwVhapwWpcxoTchN53T1W8VtLDGSlr_arFdavcUMb-AEWj40v/s640/marshall+crenshaw.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marshall Crenshaw, the living embodiment of Buddy Holly</td></tr>
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In my previous post, I sang the praises of the country cats—<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bill Haley, Carl Perkins, and Eddie Cochran</b>—who
started off as country artists before the “Sun Revolution” of 1955-1956 but
quickly crossed over and achieved success in the fledgling rockabilly
genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But another major
stream/influence on the emerging rock idiom was not just jump blues/R&B or
country, it was pop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> himself was influenced heavily by
pop superstars like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dean Martin</b> and
other pop vocalists of that same ilk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Indeed, “I Don’t Care if the Sun Don’t Shine”, written by Tin Pan
Alley’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mack David</b> but popularized
by the recently deceased <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patti Page</b>
in 1950 and covered by Martin in the 1953 movie “Scared Stiff”, was the B-side
to his second single, “Good Rockin’ Tonight”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Harbor Lights”, which is reputed to have been recorded at Presley’s
first official session at Sun on July 5<sup>th</sup>, 1954, is another pop
standard, made popular by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bing Crosby</b>,
but Presley’s version was never released as a single.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buddy Holly</b>, who
followed Elvis, could cut loose and rock with the best of them, but his
staggering talent for writing sweet, catchy songs brought rock into a whole new
era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elvis rarely wrote his own
material, choosing instead to cover songs by a wide range of vocal stylists;
Holly, on the other hand, was an outstanding and prolific writer who greatly
expanded the sonic vocabulary of rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Even on his first single, 1956’s “Blue Days, Black Nights”, Holly was
crafting a smoother hybrid of pop rock than Elvis managed with his covers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But his flood of amazing, jangly, melodic
singles that followed—“Words of Love”, the catchy, simple B-side to his second
single, “That’ll Be The Day”; the positively exquisite confection “Everyday”,
which was the B-side to “Peggy Sue”, which may be one of the sweetest, most
marvelous songs ever recorded; and 1958’s “Look At Me”, which was never
released as a single but was on Holly’s second long-playing album—hinted at the
unbelievable talent of this young man and of his ability to fuse the energy
with nascent rock with the sweet harmonies of pop vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The king of rock crooners, of course, was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roy Orbison</b>, who first hit the big time
with his single “Ooby Dooby” with Sun in 1957.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Orbison’s voice was as soaring and sweet as his own appearance was
bizarre; a childhood bout with jaundice had left him sallow, and he had
notoriously horrible eyesight, forcing him to wear thick glasses (which he hid
by wearing prescription sunglasses).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
on songs like the almost surreal “Only the Lonely” (Orbison hits a note that
almost no other human seems capable of hitting at the denouement), “Blue
Angel”, “I’m Hurtin’”, “Crying”, and “In Dreams”, Orbison brought the lush,
orchestral production of classic pop vocal songs of the 50’s to rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In doing so, there’s no doubt that he (and
many, many others) tamed much of the original fire and passion out of rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately this would lead to rock’s “death”
in the late 50’s and early 60’s (until <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Beatles</b> and the British Invasion revived it) as rock became progressively
more watered down and safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bobby Darin</b> would ride this safer,
family friendly form of rock (that was miles from the deep south gutbucket
quality of Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis) to a series of ever-blander hits
like “Splish Splash”, “Dream Lover”, “Beyond the Sea”, and the execrable “Mack
the Knife”.</div>
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Orbison would undergo one of the most astounding
renaissances of any of the original rockabilly pioneers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A spate of successful covers (both <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris</b> and
the metal pioneers <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nazareth</b> covered
“Love Hurts”; Linda Ronstadt covered “Blue Bayou”;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Don
Maclean</b> covered “Crying”; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Van Halen</b>
covered “Pretty Woman”) brought his music once again into public consciousness
in the 70’s and 80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the 80’s
Orbison also achieved considerable success with movie soundtracks; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David
Lynch’s</b> 1988 classic gothic film “Blue Velvet” used “In Dreams” as a
centerpiece to the plot, and the next year Orbison teamed with former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Misfit</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Glenn Danzig</b> (of all people!) to write two songs for the soundtrack
to the movie version of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bret Easton
Ellis’</b> classic 80’s excess tale “Less Than Zero”, the transcendent “Life
Fades Away”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on which Orbison hits a
note at the end that almost tops his high note from “Only the Lonely”, and the
title track, which was performed by Danzig.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was a HUGE fan of the book “Less Than Zero” and raced into the theater
to see the movie, only to be bitterly disappointed at the weak, “Just Say No”
moralizing of the plot, which is light years from Ellis’ classic cautionary
example, but I did buy the soundtrack (it was one of the last albums I bought
in record form) and I really, really liked both of those songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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1987 also was the year that Orbison teamed up with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ELO</b> frontman <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty </b>to form <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Traveling Wilburys</b>; their
subsequent album was a massive worldwide hit, and Orbison’s contributions to
songs like “Handle With Care” and “Not Alone Anymore” stood out even in such
storied company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lynne then produced
Orbison’s new album, and the results were another smash success, with the song
“You Got It” becoming a major hit, though a sadly posthumous one when Orbison
died in 1988 at the far-too-young age of 52.</div>
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The 80’s saw a revival in the interest in classic, simple
pop rock songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially this grew out
of the new wave/powerpop movement and the desire to return to the simplicity of
earlier forms of rock that flowed out of the punk scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the best, and least appreciated, artist
of this era was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Marshall Crenshaw</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crenshaw’s music was a sublime combination of
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buddy Holly</b>-like simplicity, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatle</b>sque harmonies and melodies
(Crenshaw first achieved fame playing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John
Lennon</b> in the traveling company of “Beatlemania”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I was 9 or 10, my parents took me to see
this great theatrical production at the Shubert Theater in Century City, so I’m
proud to say I actually have seen Crenshaw in concert), and well-crafted “angry
young man” new wave lyrics in the same vein as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis Costello</b> (to whom he is often compared, due both to their
similar musical leanings and their geeky, bespectacled appearances).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His self-titled 1982 debut album was probably
the apogee of his career, a magnificent melding of his influences and one of
the best albums of the decade—sweeter than Costello’s work, but meatier than
other powerpop releases, it hit that perfect sonic sweet spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I’ll Do Anything” is groovy (the bass here
is particularly thumping) and melodic, and Crenshaw’s distinctive voice rings
like a clarion through this song, which to me hints at what <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buddy Holly</b> might have achieved had he
lived until and undergone a revival of his career in the 80’s similar to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Orbison’s</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rockin’ Around NYC” is more up-tempo and has
that energy and nervous edge of most new wave from that era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Cynical Girl” is more of a late 50’s
throwback, despite the thoroughly contemporary lyrics (that evoke to me the
biting work of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tonio K</b>), and is jangly
and sweet; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Petty</b> often hinted at
songs like this as he traversed the 80’s (think “Free Fallin’”) but as much as
I love Tom, his voice is too gravelly to pull off the sweetness needed
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Mary Anne” is another phenomenal
track, hailing to the classic 50’s/60’s tradition of writing pining, sweet
songs with a girl’s name in the title.</div>
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But the standout track, and indeed Crenshaw’s only
flirtation with widespread success, is the jaunty, fun “Someday, Someway”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No song of the past 55 years since Holly’s
death has come even remotely close to evoking his spirit and musical vision
more than this song; indeed, many people still are fooled into thinking this is
a Holly song they don’t remember.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
song is simply fantastic, perfectly capturing Holly’s style without sounding
like an imitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crenshaw clearly
loved and respected Holly; he even covers “Rave On” on this album so perfectly,
with just his voice and electric guitar, that you’d swear Holly survived the
crash that took his life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crenshaw’s
singing and acting ability, along with his skinny frame and glasses, led to him
playing Holly in the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Richie Valens</b>
biopic “La Bamba” (former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stray Cat
Brian Setzer</b> plays <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie Cochran</b>,
giving this movie a pretty talented and highly credible musical cast).</div>
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Crenshaw’s followup, 1983’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Field Day</i>, suffered from over-production that bleached out some of
the vibrancy of his debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The songs
here are uniformly solid but few stand out with the sparkle of the work on his
first album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like “One Day With You”
because of its <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatlesque </b>harmonies
(it actually reminds me more than a little of first-run powerpop songs by bands
like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Raspberries</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Big Star</b>) and the rocking “Monday
Morning Rock”, another track that evokes (though much less than “Someday”) the
work of Holly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On 1985’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Downtown</i>, Crenshaw completed his highly
regarded early trifecta, but like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Field
Day</i>, it fails to capture the lightning in a bottle his debut was able to
grab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But two highlights stick out:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the jaunty, Holly-influenced “(We’re Gonna)
Shake Up Their Minds” and the rocking rave-up “Right Now” (which reminds me of
some of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Fogerty’s</b> early solo
work, like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Centerfield</i>).</div>
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For the past 30 years, Crenshaw has continued to release
albums hewing to his own vision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
favorite songs are the twangy “Someplace Where Love Can’t Find Me” off 1989’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Good Evening</i>; “What Do You Dream Of?”
off 1996’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Miracle of Science</i> (this
song reminds me of some of the work <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tommy
Tutone</b> did on his third album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">National
Emotion</i>); “Television Light” and the sweet, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wilbury</b>-esque “TMD” off 1999’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">#447</i>.</div>
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One of Crenshaw’s earliest singles, “Something’s Gonna
Happen”, evoked another ballad singing 50’s pretty boy who pushed rock toward
pop:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ricky Nelson</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nelson of course even covered a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gershwin</b> standard, “Summertime”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His pop rock classics “Hello Marylou”, “Poor
Little Fool”, “Everlovin’”, and “You Are the Only One” were smooth, sweet slow
dance numbers (though Nelson could also rock with the best of them,
particularly when his guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James
Burton</b> cut loose) calculated to appeal to the teenybopper girls who swooned
over his handsome face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Speaking of handsome faces, I’ve said in previous posts that
I consider <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Isaak</b> to be one of
the best musicians of the last thirty years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Starting with his early work with his proto-rockabilly group <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Silvertone</b>, Isaak began crafting songs
that pulled on a variety of early rock influences, everything from the wild
rave-up work of the early Sun artists to the sweet rockabilly pop of Holly,
Orbison, et al., to the early 60’s groove of artists like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Neil Diamond</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But more than
anything Isaak is the contemporary embodiment of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ricky Nel</b>son—his pretty boy looks, his acting success, and his
emphasis on crooning ballads have caused many people to dismiss him as a
musical lightweight, but nothing could be further from the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Recently I’ve been really getting in to his 1985 debut, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silvertone</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can remember seeing the video for “Dancin’”
back in the day on the video/dance show MV3 and liking the slinky, sexy
moodiness of this song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song was a
minor hit on the college/independent circuit and rightly so, it should actually
have been an even bigger hit than it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it’s not even my favorite song on this album: currently I’m obsessed
with “Livin’ For Your Lover” and it’s shimmering guitars and peppy, strolling
rhythm that evokes the best of both <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buddy
Holly</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roy Orbison</b> (Chris
even hits a few killer high notes like Roy here).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also love how the happy, upbeat feel of
this song is punctuated and occasionally even counterpointed by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James Calvin Wilse</b>y’s twangy stabs of
rockabilly guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is very much one
of my favorite songs right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Talk To
Me” and “Voodoo” have more of that ominous, moody feel of “Dancin’”, while
“Tears” has a kind of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Cash</b>
lite feel to it, while “Gone Ridin’” and “Western Stars” have more of a
country/western feel.</div>
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Isaak’s self-titled<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>1986 sophomore effort continued in the same vein but often got a little
too bogged down in the mopey crooners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
love his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> update “Blue Hotel”,
which evokes <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the King</b> without being
mawkish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Yardbirds</b>” “Heart Full of Soul”
gives a rockabilly twist to this psychedelic blues classic, while “Lover’s
Game” and it’s weird up-and-down chorus is another good track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Fade Away” is classic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Orbison</b> again but the guitar here almost brings to mind some of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Marr’s</b> work in the early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Smiths</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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Isaak hit the big time with his single “Wicked Game”, off
his 1989 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heart Shaped World</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember when this album came out and
became a huge hit; it was in the heyday of grunge but Isaak and Wilsey crafted
a moody, melancholy masterpiece that struck a chord in a lot of people
(including me), but it isn’t my favorite song on this album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My faves are the title track and its brooding
reverb and relentless beat; the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Everly
Brothers</b>-influenced “I’m Not Waiting”; the funky, groovy “Don’t Make Me
Dream About You”; the twangy country flourishes on “Wrong To Love You”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my favorites are two complete
opposites:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the slow, ominous “Nothing’s
Changed” and the bouncy up-tempo rocker “Diddley Daddy” and its <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bo Diddley</b> beat.</div>
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His followup, 1993’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">San
Francisco Days</i>, was a little bit of a letdown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the pure crystalline sonic vision and
broodiness of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Heart Shaped World</b>,
his attempts to expand his sound into the early 60’s by adding organ and moving
beyond his lonesome crooner image seemed a trifle forced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, some songs hit the mark, most
notably “Two Hearts” a sweet perky confection with classic Isaak/<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Orbison</b> unreachable high notes works;
here the light organ accompaniment underscores rather than dominates the
melody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The echoey, reverbed “Waiting” is
another gem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I Want Your Love” has some
wild, trilling organ, but mostly this song evokes the manic energy of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry Lee Lewis</b>, and Isaak plays this
often in concert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Neil Diamond’s</b> “Solitary Man” is solid
though I love the original too much to fall too hard for a cover.</div>
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1995’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forever Blue</i>
also had some noteworthy cuts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my
favorite Isaak songs of all time is the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Orbison</b>-esque
“Somebody’s Crying”, with its sweetly jangling guitar and driving drum line
married to Isaak’s masterful falsetto croon<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James Wilsey</b> left Isaak’s band after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">San Francisco Days</i> and newcomer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hershel Yatovitz</b> ably stepped into his
(substantial) shoes on this song and on songs like the shimmery<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Things Go Wrong” and the jaunty “There She
Goes”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Goin’ Nowhere” is a twangy
rocker with less mood and more texture than previous efforts in this regard,
particularly on the slashing whammy bar guitar sections, which to me evokes the
very antithesis of Isaak, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Cramps</b>
(most notably “New Kind of Kick”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I
Believe” is a optimistic and upbeat, while “End of Everything” has that ambling
horse rhythm of a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Autry</b> song
married to the falsetto of classic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roy
Orbison</b>.</div>
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To me Isaak’s best album, and one of the best albums of all
time, is 1996’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baja Sessions</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here Isaak mostly covers songs by other
artists and re-records some of his own work, many of which evoke lyrically or
thematically breezy, summery, and/or tropical themes in line with the album
title.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The album wasn’t actually
recorded in Baja, but thanks to the magnificent production and
south-of-the-border themes it has an almost timeless warm weather feel to
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very often at this time of the year
we start to get some truly warm (but not hot), marvelous spring days, and it’s
on those days that I’m most likely to throw this entire album on and let it
play through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have hundreds of happy
memories of pleasant warm days filled with Mexican beer, white wine, tank tops
and warm breezes that this album is the soundtrack to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Most notably, the tone on this album is unbelievable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tone is an amazing and evanescent thing,
difficult to capture, but when it is captured it’s like magic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the early Sun recordings of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl Perkins</b> had a full sound and tone, even with just three
instruments, that still sounds incredible today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of the great classic albums of the 70’s
by people like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Petty</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fleetwood Mac</b> (especially their albums
recorded at Sound City in the Valley) had an incredible tone to them that still
rings out today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here the tone is lush,
warm, but mellow—it really DOES sound like Isaak and his bandmates are lounging
in patio furniture wearing linen pants, noodling on some old faves while
someone snaps on a tape recorder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
track here sounds fantastic but the standouts to me are his re-interpretation
of his own “Pretty Girls Don’t Cry” from his debut album, which was good but
too staccato and slickly produced; this new version is smooth and organic and
Yatovitz’s guitar sounds absolutely AMAZING, especially when he rips off some exuberant
rockabilly licks after each chorus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Isaak’s cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Orbison’s</b>
“Only the Lonely” seems overdue but here it’s given a soft, Spanish feel that
fits perfectly with the Latin timbre of the album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, his cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Autry’s</b> “South of the Border” is another gem, as are his
covers of “Yellow Bird” and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bing
Crosby’s</b> “Sweet Leilani”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I Wonder”
has some incredible guitar sound too, and its mix of optimistic and pessimistic
lyrics give it a lilting feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But album
closer “Think of Tomorrow” is yet another personal favorite, a final blast of
sweet pure guitar tone that leaves the listener feeling very satisfied.</div>
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Isaak has continued to release excellent albums, but one of
my last favorites by him is 1998’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Speak
of the Devil</i> (“Walk Slow” is another personal favorite song, especially
when Chris hits those great high notes at the end).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did recently download some of his songs
from his Sun Records album, mostly his covers of Elvis and Carl Perkins
classics like “Dixie Fried” and “Can’t Help Falling In Love”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But to me <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baja
Sessions</i> was the pinnacle of his career; few artists will ever match the
breezy pleasure and warm inviting tone of this album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing is, I don’t even know who the
producer was on this album, a shame considering I consider this to be one of
the best production jobs of all time.</div>
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runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-57685941118219047642013-04-02T12:11:00.001-07:002013-04-02T12:11:28.314-07:00Country Cats--Haley, Eddie, and Carl<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LOmxMiam0EnR77nQQU91QByAWK-5j6byqF9biUqb_-cA1RZVu6kTVgqtktT57CY4D2SWePudoup5rDra-HaC2P69DkCKPbVXlMf5S0KCgt8gkcm5TpS80kucFkxZYBSSMJyvFsqrROxM/s1600/Bill+Haley+and+the+Saddlemen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2LOmxMiam0EnR77nQQU91QByAWK-5j6byqF9biUqb_-cA1RZVu6kTVgqtktT57CY4D2SWePudoup5rDra-HaC2P69DkCKPbVXlMf5S0KCgt8gkcm5TpS80kucFkxZYBSSMJyvFsqrROxM/s640/Bill+Haley+and+the+Saddlemen.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bill Haley and His Saddlemen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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As should be clear to anyone reading this blog,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my current musical<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>obsession is early rock and roll and its
intertwining history with country in the mid-1950’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the mid 50’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sam Phillips</b> at Sun Studios in Memphis Tennessee helped birth
rockabilly by recording a number of artists who fused county music with rhythm
and blues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis</b>, and others created rockabilly
during this time.</div>
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But another artist was exploring a fusion of white and black
musical idioms even before this, and he was a Yankee to boot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would argue vehemently that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bill Haley</b> deserves at least as much
recognition for founding rock and roll as the Sun rockabilly pioneers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haley never really got the same credit that
Elvis did, probably at least in part because he was older and lacked Elvis’
animal charisma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Haley was creating
proto-rock and roll even earlier than the King and his Court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haley started his musical career as a
yodeling cowboy performing live and on the radio around Chester, PA as a
teenager in the early 40’s, eventually forming a country/western swing combo
called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bill Haley and the Four Aces of
Western Swing</b> in 1947.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little of his
work with the Four Aces is available commercially as of yet, but a few tunes
are available on iTunes, including the harmonious “I Dreamed of an Old Love
Affair”, the more contemporary sounding cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roy Acuff’s</b> “Wreck on the Highway”, the accordion-accented vocal
harmony workout “Behind the Eight-Ball”, a crudely recorded acetate cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams’</b> “My Bucket’s Got a Hole
in It”, and a few others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haley’s
impressive yodeling ability is showcased on the song “Yodel Your Blues
Away”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1949, Haley formed a new
group, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bill Haley and the Saddlemen</b>,
but continued recording in a western swing/country vein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An
early Haley recording from this era is “Why Do I Cry Over You”, which has the
smooth crooning vocals and pedal steel guitar of classic western swing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Haley and his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saddlemen</b>
played some of the sailor’s bars in and around Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and
Haley started noticing that the patrons at these clubs seemed to greatly prefer
up-tempo R&B covers to their country standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This prompted Haley to explore moving his
combo in a more R&B direction, even though at the time that meant having to
deal with the shaky racial politics of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Nevertheless, in 1951, Haley recorded a cover of “Rocket 88”
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jackie Brenston</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The original had been recorded by Brenston,
who was actually a member of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ike
Turner’s</b> traveling band, by Sam Phillips at Sun Studio earlier that same
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haley’s guitar-centric of this
jump blues classic occurred almost three years to the day before <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis Presley</b> went into Sun Studios
with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bill Black</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scotty Moore</b> to record his cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Arthur Crudup’s</b> 1946 blues song “That’s
All Right, Mama” and it is very clearly a nascent rock and roll record.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around this time Haley also covered <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmy Preston’s</b> “Rock The Joint”,
another R&B song, with a phenomenal guitar solo by guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Danny Cedrone</b>; Cedrone would reprise
this solo note-for-note on Haley’s eventual smash “Rock Around the Clock” three
years later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around the same time, Haley
renamed his band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Comets</b> to
better characterize this new, modern sound.</div>
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Haley eventually achieved worldwide fame with “Clock” (which
was actually the B-side of “Thirteen Women (And Only One Man in Town)”) which
is a terrific, up-tempo blast of pure early rock, and his cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Big Joe Turner’s</b> “Shake, Rattle, and
Roll” (which was also covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b>),
but some of my current favorite Haley songs are ones that fall in this early
pre-55 era and which often still retain aspects of Haley’s pre-rock
country/swing work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my absolute favorites by Haley
right now is 1951's “Green Tree Boogie”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just
love the ringing, chiming guitar on this song, and its swinging shuffle beat;
this is a song that is perched perfectly midway between country and rock; the
steel guitar obviously has country elements but there’s a rock panache to it,
and the “walking” bass solo adds to the rockish air to this song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I definitely love the finger wagging, toe
tapping country boogie core of this song, and I've played it so much that even my six year old son Ryan walks around singing to himself, "Oh, the green tree boogie is driving me almost wild"!</div>
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In 1952 Haley recorded a whole passel of rock/country hybrid
songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another that leans heavily on
country is “Rocking Chair on the Moon”; it has a classic AAB blues structure
but the crisp, clear production and ringing pedal steel give this even more
country flavor than “Green Tree Boogie”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Sundown Boogie” has that country shuffle that “Green Tree Boogie” had
(it even shares the same bass breakdown later in the song), but the production
is cleaner and the backing vocals a little twangier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Real Rock Drive” is a step closer toward
rock, with its buzzing guitar refrain and noodling licks and plinking
piano.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rock A Beatin’ Boogie” is a
blast of electrified jump blues; it even steals the syncopated beat of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Louis Jordan’s</b> “Caledonia”; there are
almost no country elements here, this is really something new and separate from
what has come before, its white blues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Danny Cedrone</b> lays down another amazing
guitar solo that has almost no western/country aspects to it; Cedrone’s own
band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Esquire Boys</b> did a version
of this song as well.</div>
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In 1953 Haley edged even closer to rock with his single
“Crazy Man, Crazy”, which Haley wrote after talking to some teenagers after a
show, who told him his music was “crazy man, crazy”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like “Rock A Beatin’ Boogie” and “Rock Around
the Clock”, this is high-tempo music for young people who like to dance and cut
loose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the backing choruses of
“Go, go, go everybody” that whip up the excitement level on this song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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“Clock” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll” got Haley into the big
time, and he followed these songs up with a few other stone classics in 1954.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Birth of the Boogie” starts with a big snare
drum backbeat and Haley wailing “Boogie, boogie woogie”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song owes as much to swing jazz as
anything else, and features a more prominent saxophone element than most Haley
songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“”Happy Baby” and “Razzle Dazzle”
both have a peppy beat and evokes the catchiness of “Rock Around the
Clock”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“R-O-C-K” also has the shout-out
aspect of these two songs and the swinging rhythm too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another of my current Haley faves is “Comet
Blues”, a stone cold funky blues instrumental featuring fantastic string-bending
guitar licks. The guitarist playing the mean, ferocious guitar here is Franny
“Frank” Beecher; Cedrone had died in a freak accident a few weeks after he
re-recorded his solo for “Rock Around the Clock”, falling down a staircase and
breaking his neck. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Haley was not perfect, and occasionally he over-reached,
especially when he was trying too hard to find catchy songs for teenagers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“See You Later, Alligator”, while musically
fine, is more than a mite corny; “The Saints Rock and Roll” is a cheesy rehash
of “When the Saints Go Marching In” that doesn’t really work; “Mambo Rock” is
an attempt to cash in on the mambo craze of the early/mid 50’s that again falls
flat (but I’ll bet <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tito Puente</b> could
turn it into something interesting); corniest of all is “ABC Boogie”, with its
sing-song rhythm and simplistic lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Two
Hound Dogs” is an attempt to mimic the success of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Presley’</b>s cover of “Hound Dog” that has little of the verve of the
King’s version.</div>
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Other rockabilly pioneers straddled the country/rock divide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before he achieved widespread fame as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a rave-up rockabilly cat, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie Cochran</b> played guitar for country
boogie artist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Cochran</b>; indeed,
the two Cochrans often billed themselves as “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cochran Brothers</b>” even though they weren’t related.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their early work, which has been collected
in an album called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eddie Cochran—Rockin’
It Country Style</i> by Rockstar Records and is available on iTunes, is another
fascinating glimpse into the world before rock exploded and became a worldwide
phenomenon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorites are the shimmering, <b>Gene
Autry</b>-like “Steelin’ the Blues”, with its shimmering pedal steel guitar and
clip-clop pony rhythm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their cover of
“Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young” by <b>Faron Young</b> is a little peppier and again
has some great steel guitar anchoring it firmly in the country realm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rockin’ and Flyin’” is a more up-tempo
hillbilly boogie; Eddie also provided guitar for a version by <b>Buddy Dee</b>, as is
“Closer, Closer, Closer”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazing to
hear Eddie starting out with a much more straightforward country sound.</div>
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Anyone who has<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>been
reading this blog knows that one of my biggest musical heroes right now is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl Perkins</b>; Perkins’ music as much as
the guys above straddled the divide between country and the nascent rock
scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perkins grew up playing in
Tennessee honky tonks from the time he was 14, drinking and fighting and
forging a musical style designed to appeal to this rough and ready crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of his early Sun rockabilly singles were
backed with a hardline country song; for example, his first single, “Movie
Magg”, recorded in fall of 1954, just<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a
few short months after <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis, Scotty and
Bill</b> changed the face of music forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The B-side, “Turn Around”, is a slow country ballad, with sweet<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fiddle and Carl’s hard country intonation
giving it that classic country slow dance feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Let the Jukebox Keep Playing”, the B-side to his next rockabilly hit
“Gone, Gone, Gone”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is straight-up honky
tonk with a plunky rhythm bass and some terrific steel guitar and fiddle
accompaniment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intended to be a
follow-up to his massive hit “Blue Suede Shoes, “Sure To Fall” is another
country weeper, with Carl’s brother <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jay </b>taking
lead vocals and Carl providing almost duet level harmonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Sure” was never released as a single but was
included on Carl’s 1957 LP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Forever Yours”,
the B-side to one of his post-accident comeback singles, “That’s Right”, is
another straight-up country classic slow song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One of his few country ravers (Carl seems to have saved most of his fire for his
rockabilly cuts) is “Honky Tonk Gal”, recorded in 1954 but not released as a
single, is a solid slab of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams</b>
honky tonk, complete with a slight, lilting yodel by Carl on the refrain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I love these artists who managed to “cross over” from
straight country into the emerging rockabilly field and find success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very often their work reflects both worlds,
the wilder, up-tempo rockabilly fire and the slow, sweet country side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are among my favorite songs by these
artists right now. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-7214473933363459962013-03-20T13:25:00.002-07:002013-03-20T13:26:11.991-07:00 . . . but also a citizen of the Hillbilly World<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1EvKgdZEmRp7OkMuo24KUwa3RQWdE9_FS6vw8pjw6d43wcNnj5agpjZ7cNCmAccJoI8hfsb422T_INRu0lV9VGuzMSkD1RnMIRm1UiHvrDoLUDitgtZYP8fIfSOms1kSGIuJglDj_bn4/s1600/StarDevils.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix1EvKgdZEmRp7OkMuo24KUwa3RQWdE9_FS6vw8pjw6d43wcNnj5agpjZ7cNCmAccJoI8hfsb422T_INRu0lV9VGuzMSkD1RnMIRm1UiHvrDoLUDitgtZYP8fIfSOms1kSGIuJglDj_bn4/s640/StarDevils.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kentucky's StarDevils, an outstanding hillbilly/rockabilly combo</td></tr>
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In my previous post I sang the praises of being a musical
locavore, i.e., someone who buys music by and sees lives shows by bands from
the local community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m fortunate that
here in Colorado there’s a plethora of outstanding country and rockabilly bands
that suite my tastes nicely.</div>
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But of course it’s the 21<sup>st</sup> century, and thanks
to the internet the world is our community and in this global village it’s
possible to discover great bands based literally thousands of miles from where
you live, and even though you obviously can’t see them live you can at least
download their music and enjoy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
so while I’m still committed to supporting (financially and otherwise) my local
scene as much as possible, lately I’ve also been searching for similar bands
far and wide using the spectacular site Reverbnation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just a quick plug here but if you haven’t
checked out Reverbnation, you should (especially if you’re reading this
post).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an incredible compendium of
information on bands of every genre and from every corner of the globe. What I
like about it is it’s kind of a cross between All Music Guide (which I’ve used
and enjoyed for years) and band MySpace or Facebook pages—it provides
background info on the band, history, membership, genres and descriptions of
their sounds, and song files to listen to as well as concert and tour into,
reviews, and other pertinent information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
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But what’s best about it is that it’s one of the most <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>searchable sites out there, and in particular
it is searchable by genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So a couple
weeks ago I typed in “hillbilly” to see what I could find since I figured typing
in “rockabilly” or “country” would produce far too many hits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even with “hillbilly” I got over 260 hits,
everything from “hillbilly country” (expected) to “hillbilly rock” (yeah, I can
see that) to “hillbilly grunge”, “hillbilly metal”, and “hillbilly gangsta rap”
(huh?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But combing through these I
managed to find about a dozen acts that seem to fit my interests, which I
discuss below.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s incredible is
where these acts hail from—not only do they come from slightly less
traditionally country locales in America like Albuquerque <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New Mexico and San Francisco California, but
American honky tonky country and hillbilly boogie has become a truly global
phenomenon, with acts from Europe and Australia. As skeptical as I was that
artists from these non-traditional locales could play real hillbilly/honky tonk
country, I’ve been amazed at what I’ve found.</div>
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Hailing from Kentucky, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">StarDevils</b>
play a first-run countrified rockabilly that pulls from, according to their
Reverbnation page, “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ELVIS PRESLEY, Carl
Perkins, Wayne Hancock, Hank Williams, Charlie Feathers</b>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, they’ve got the right inspirations—add
Johnny Horton to that list and that would just about cover around 90% of what I
currently listen to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Formed in 2000, they have received favorable
reviews from a variety of rockabilly web sites such as Black Cat Rockabilly for
their authentic mid-50’s sound; aside from the drums on their recorded work I
would definitely agree (and even <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The
King</b> added drums to his records pretty quickly after his first few singles
on Sun).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They actually have two CDs on
iTunes, 2003’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Diagnosis Delicious</i>
and 2005’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Devil’s Music</i>. I like
both albums a lot, not surprisingly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Off
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Delicious</i> I have downloaded “$6 Trim”
for its jaunty rhythm and twangy vocals and the humorous story it tells about a
bopper who goes to get a haircut and gets his pompadour shorn off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I Guess You Figured It Out” is a
romance-gone-bad tale with a solid boogie backbeat; “On the Corner” is slower
and twangier, almost ominous, more of a finger-snapper than a jitter-bugger but
is also good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Mr. Lonesome” is really
more pure honky tonk country and reminds me a lot of my current local fave, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ethyl and the Regulars</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of my favorite songs of
theirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“She’s My Chick” is up-tempo
boogie with a slight rockabilly edge; I really like how these guys walk that
fine, thin line between country and rockabilly so well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You Can’t Do That” has that railroad clickity-clack
rhythm of classic 50’s countrybilly like Johnny Horton. Off their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Devil’s Music</i> album, I like “Buckboard
Boogie”, another song that veers between hillbilly boogie and early rockabilly;
the more straightforward <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Vincent</b>
inflected rockabilly of “Off My Rocker”; and the country blues of “Leaving
Chicago”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This band is VERY high on my
own personal favorite list right now.</div>
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Another band I’m really excited about are the Hayride Trio
out of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. There’s nothing available as yet on
iTunes but they’ve got several videos of performances uploaded to YouTube that
I’ve found particularly enjoyable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their
cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Woody Guthrie’s</b> “California
Blues” is a jaunty honky tonk blues workout with some swing and a boatload of
guitar talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Hayride Boogie” is a
peppy hillbilly boogie; it’s jangly catchiness reminds me of another current
local favorite of mine, “Fast Track” by Denver’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mad Dog and the Smokin’ J’s</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Jitterbug” also has a rockabilly feel to it and conveys the energy and
enthusiasm these guys have for letting out the stops in concert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rock It” has that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams</b> shuffle but more electricity/amplification and is
another standout track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to hear
more by these guys and especially if they can translate their passionate live
performances into similarly effective studio work.</div>
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They’re geographically about as far from Memphis as its
possible to get, but Melbourne, Australia’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rechords</b> are another phenomenal old-school country-rockabilly
outfit bringing the sounds of down-home Americana to the shores of Oz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have one album on iTunes, 2010’s On the
Wagon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Easily Loved” has the smooth
sweet hillbilly jazz guitar sound that pulls from the western swing work of
guys like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmy Wyble</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Dunn</b>, set into a crisp rockabilly
format with smoothly crooned <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b>-like
vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Don’t Be Mad” reminds me of
some of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Setzer’s</b> solo work (particularly
the vocals) but with that cruder <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie
Cochran</b> feel to the guitar than “Easily Loved”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It Won’t Be Long” has a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle Travis</b> feel to the guitar and even a little fiddle to add
more country flavor, along with some soaring harmonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Boogie Blues” again has more of a western
swing vibe and a yodeling vocal that evokes the best of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne the Train Hancock</b>—good stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Fireball Mail” chugs along like “Mystery Train” and the jangly guitar
work here is superb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Long As I’m Around”
is gutbucket rockabilly, low and twangy with yipping vocals and a snappy
beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another highly recommended outfit,
nothing really seems bad on this whole album.</div>
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They hail from Ferndale, Michigan, but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Hi-Q’s</b> are a standard mid 50’s rockabilly unit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it has less of the country/hillbilly
feel of the above bands, this is top-notch rockabilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like “Hi-Q Boogie” and its gutbucket rhythm
and fleet guitar picking on the solos and “Bop Crazy Bop” off their 2005 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hop & Bop</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good stuff and I think I’ll come back after I’ve
had to explore this album some more.</div>
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San Francisco’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">B-Stars</b>
have a sound that veers away from rockabilly and back toward traditional 50’s
country, stuff like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ernest Tubb</b> but
with a western swing to it a la <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob
Wills</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2010’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Behind the Barn</i> with the B-Stars has a number of excellent tracks,
including the swinging, jazzy “Ink Free Baby of Mine”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Back Up Buddy” is a straightforward <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams</b> honky tonk outing that
captures that funky swing of Hank’s music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Walk Home Alone” reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ernest
Tubb</b> but with more twangy Hank style vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guys also walk the walk, dressing in
flamboyant matching western outfits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
like their style, both visual and musical; I’d probably have liked it more 6
months ago when all I was listening to was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne
Hancock, Hank III</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joey Allcorn</b>.</div>
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Similarly, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Davy Jay
Sparrow</b> from Portland, Oregon has that nasally Hank vocal down pat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As mentioned above, I’ve kind of migrated
away from this kind of hardcore <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank
Williams</b> sound, but I did download “I Need to Make Some Money” off 2010’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Bottom of the Barrel</i> and “Slow Slow
Boogie” off 2012’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Olde Fashioned; </i>I
like the slow, grooving swing of this song, it’s really close to the excellent
stuff <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne Hancock</b> has been putting
out for about 18 years.</div>
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The seemed at first glance to be almost a little too “Hee
Haw” for my tastes, given their corn-pone country hick visual image, but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Root’n Toot’n</b>, from the decidedly
UN-rootin’-tootin’ city of Durham in England play an undeniably infectious
blend of traditional country, hillbilly, and honky tonk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Turn My Picture Upside Down” off 2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Raw and Uncut</i> has a swinging shuffle
beat (courtesy of upright bassist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mandy
Stroud</b>, one of the regrettably few female musicians in this genre).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Big River” off 2008’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Making Hay</i> is country with a rockabilly twist, amped up (slightly)
and with smoother vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Dawg Gone It”
off the 2009 album of the same name is more rockabilly still, similar in feel
to some of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl Perkins’</b> early Sun
singles; “Teenage Boogie” on this same album is more electrified hillbilly
boogie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Onie’s Bop” off their most
recent album, 2011’s Another Nail in My Liver, is similar and name checks
country pioneer Ferlin Husky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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There must be something in the water over in England,
because there’s several bands putting out an authentic country/rockabilly sound
plying their trade in our mother country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Based in London, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlie Thompson</b>
is another real-deal hillbilly/rockabilly artist who you would swear hailed
from Shreveport instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He doesn’t have
an album on iTunes but “It’s Drivin’ Me Crazy” is available on YouTube and has
a sweet swing and Charlie’s voice is pure sweet country butter it’s so smooth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also on YouTube is “Sittin’ and Waitin’”;
Charlie’s voice here really reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie
Cochran’s</b>, which is a real compliment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It also puts me in mind of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moot
Davis</b>, a New Jersey country crooner whose music I also enjoy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope Charlie gets some commercial product
out there soon, I’d like to line his pockets with some of my money in exchange
for some of his terrific tunes.</div>
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Another English band producing classic 50’s country is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Dead Bone Ramblers</b>, who formed
early in 2012 and also don’t have any commercial product out but who have several
videos uploaded to YouTube of them playing live in pubs or community
fairs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Bonfire” has that classic
folk/traditional country feel but with just enough electric guitar to make it
feel more modern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlie Feathers’</b> “Can’t Hardly Stand
It” does great justice to this Sun Records pioneer; Feathers became a sensation
in the 70’s and 80’s in English rockabilly circles for his frequent and
well-received tours at that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Heartbreakin’
Love” has a jaunty feel reminiscent of “Ring of Fire” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Man in Black</b>, and “True Affection” is a quick fun rockabilly
gallop with clean sound on the guitar tone.</div>
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I don’t have much from them yet, but London’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Muleskinners</b> produce a straight-up
rockabilly sound. “Tomcat Boogie” is on YouTube and is a good swinging
cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their sound occasionally pulls a
little more from swing music than country, as is evidenced by their cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne Hancock’s</b> “That’s What Daddy
Wants”, but is entertaining nevertheless.</div>
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Amazingly, another country troubadour who doesn’t have any
product out but some impressive YouTube videos is American <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lucky Tubb</b>, grandson of country titan <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ernest Tubb</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Damn the Luck”
(an obvious play on his name) showcases his honky tonk/outlaw approach to
country; like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank III</b> Lucky appears
to have turned his back (and rightly so) on the Nashville establishment and is
making his own way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His sound actually
reminds me, aside from Hank II of course, of another famous country scion, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shooter Jennings</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rhythm Bomb” is more rocking, a
turbo-charged honky tonk number that swings and bops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Hailing from the Netherlands, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Hi Faluters</b> play gutbucket honky tonk and rockabilly in the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Horton</b> mold; their cover of
Horton’s “Honky Tonk Mind” is very capable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They have literally dozens of videos uploaded to YouTube and I’m slowly
working through them but so far I like what I’ve heard, these guys are a very
tight outfit and their sound is (surprisingly) authentic.</div>
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I’m sure I’ll find </div>
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runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-91383515340469171792013-03-15T10:01:00.000-07:002013-03-15T10:04:28.603-07:00Becoming a Musical Locavore . . .<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiZgQlNvPepbrEqS93Y39I07uwjQcIj0-K-Ex2Es8hGXHIiah9sM7FRTt6WHLEvmXZd69TfR0pexE1uyqqdgVTlvXq-VYImcB1do2i5tQsGWE1EeXORQGa_PKEl9hvkrefwNDGh1s-RZOz/s1600/Colorado+Flat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiZgQlNvPepbrEqS93Y39I07uwjQcIj0-K-Ex2Es8hGXHIiah9sM7FRTt6WHLEvmXZd69TfR0pexE1uyqqdgVTlvXq-VYImcB1do2i5tQsGWE1EeXORQGa_PKEl9hvkrefwNDGh1s-RZOz/s640/Colorado+Flat.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's some great music in my adopted state of Colorado</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Anyone following my latest posts knows that lately I’ve been
trying to expend more effort to learn more about the local music scene here in
Colorado.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I lived in Los Angeles I
was very active in the local music scene starting in the mid-80’s, and went to
many great shows (though not as many as I wanted to because of financial
issues).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the mid-90’s I moved
both literally and figuratively away from live music and rock music both, as I
left to do postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan Medical School
for two years and was burned out on rock anyway (the subject of a future
post).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was only starting early in the
21<sup>st</sup> century that I began to get back into both rock music and live
music, but of course six years ago we had our son and since then it’s been
harder for us to go out and see live bands for both practical reasons (finding
a good and available babysitter, cost, etc.) and other reasons (I’m simply less
into hanging out in loud smoky bars as I get older).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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But lately I’ve been really trying to get out and see local
bands, and even when that’s not possible I’ve been trying to purchase music by
them, and in general to treat music much the same way as I treat food:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>buying local and “organic” (i.e., real music
played by real musicians).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must say
I’ve been impressed by the quality of the music being made here in the
Denver-Boulder area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Specifically,
right now I am really into the following songs by the following bands:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<br />
1. "Cook
County Jail” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ethyl and the Regulars</b>—anyone
reading my recent posts knows that I am in LOVE with this band; they are the
living, breathing, embodiment of 1950’s honky tonk/hillbilly boogie country,
which is right now my FAVORITE music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
love all their songs, but by far my favorite is this one, which just has that
peppy swinging rhythm and catchy groove that I love about so much 1950’s
country—the bass on this song is particularly terrific.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been lucky enough to see this band live
now twice at the Oscar Blues bar in Lyons, Colorado, and both times they blew
me away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their originals as well as
their sublime choice of covers (which keep me scrambling for my iPhone to
Google them so I can download them when I get home).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of their originals, I also love “The Waitress
Song”, “Canada Dry”, and “At the End of My Blues”.</div>
<br />
In addition to
terrific covers of songs by usual honky tonk suspects like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck Owens</b> (including a version of “Together Again” that I actually
like MORE than the original, as blasphemous as that might sound), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams</b> (“Mind Your Own Business”),
and a satisfyingly large plethora of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny
Horton</b> (“I’m a One Woman Man”; “Cherokee Boogie”; “Got the Bull By the
Horns”), they have cranked out superb versions of “On This Mountain Top” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Paycheck and</b> “Apartment Number
Nine” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">George Jones</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their version of “Last Train to Clarksville”
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Monkees</b>, with a chunk of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Garland’s</b> “Sugarfoot Rag” inserted
into the middle, is a slice of heaven to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Heck, even my wife, whom I dragged to see them despite her avowed lack
of interest in honky tonk country (though she is a big fan of roots- and
country-influenced rock by bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lucero</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wilco</b>) was impressed by
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love these guys and am probably
their biggest fan.
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<br />
2. "The Longest Night” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Gasoline Lollipops</b>—I downloaded this song a while back but only
gave it a quick and dirty listen then but since then I’ve gone back and given
it a closer listen and realized the incredible power and emotion of this
amazing, touching song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It describes the
experiences the singer had when a close friend who lived in another state
attempted suicide, and his thoughts and feelings as he drove across the country
to see her, not knowing if she was still alive or what would happen to
her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The soft but solid rhythm, quiet
instrumentation, and heartfelt lyrics and impassioned vocals give this song
incredible emotional impact that blows me away every time I listen to it (which
is often).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s hard to listen to this
song and not be deeply touched, the lyrics are so raw and real and honest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need to see this band live soon, they have
a residency in a bar/club one town over from me and I’m going to try to get out
there as soon as I can. There's also a stark, moody <b>Johnny Cash</b> feel to this song too; I can picture the Man in Black singing this song easily.<br />
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<br />
<br />
3. “Statutes of Limitation” and “Virtues, Spices
and Liquors” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4H Royalty</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My most recent post gushes about this
incredible band, who sound for all the world like a cross between <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Replacements</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Meat Puppets</b>, a
contemporary/alternative band that’s unabashedly proud of their rural/western
roots and infuse their guitar-intense alternative sound with elements of country
and bar band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Statutes” is a driving,
rhythmically pumping song with sweet lead guitar flourishes and is simply
wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Virtues” as mentioned has a
sweet, more introspective high lonesome quality to it, highlighted by some
nifty slide guitar work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guys are
probably my second most favorite band of the moment, just a really effective
mix of the contemporary and the classic, the urban and the rural.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They capture to me the essence of Denver—a
modern, even cosmopolitan city which is nevertheless proud of its western roots
and rural heritage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not everyone who
lives in a “flyover” state is a reactionary hick; these guys upend any number
of negative stereotypes someone might have about the types of people who live
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love bands that can do that, as
well as walk that line between genres as well as they do.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br />
4. "Good
Morning Blues” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ethyl and the Regulars</b>--I
especially love the line “The ghost of our love, still haunts these lonely
rooms, and whispers your name in my ear.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Another terrific slice of original honky tonk country from this amazing
band.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
5. "All I
Got To Show” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mad Dog and the Smokin’
J’s</b>—I don’t have a studio version of this song, just a live version someone
recorded (complete with annoying bar chatter in the background) and posted on
YouTube, but this is another incredibly powerful performance and song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As mentioned in my previous post, the song
has that rootsy guitar swagger of the best <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Social
Distortion</b>, but it’s the vocals that really put this song over the top for
me—the passionate, bluesy vocals remind me at one remove of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Mellencamp’s</b> early work on albums
like Scarecrow, which again I mean as a high compliment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A very powerful and moving song, this seems
like another great band to see live.</div>
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<br />
6. “Chinese Turquoise” and “Orbison Eyes” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4H Royalty</b>—These two songs, off their
first album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Colossolalia</i>, first got
me excited by this amazing band, and in particular demonstrated their amazing
guitar work and guitar tone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The solo on
“Chinese Turquoise” is one of the most beautiful I’ve heard in a long, long
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br />
7. “Drive Away” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Railbenders</b>—arguably Colorado’s finest purveyors of a more
contemporary country sound (though far from the overpolished crap that has
oozed out of Nashville for the past 40 years), the Railbenders have produced a
number of outstanding songs on their four albums to date, but I like this song
a lot for its sweet sentiment and melodic charm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Drop Me Off at the Honky Tonk” has a
distinct Merle Haggard/Waylon Jennings feel and is another fave, as is “I-70
Westbound”, a proud shout-out to the obvious assets of the Rocky Mountain State
and another song that sounds comfortably at home on any “outlaw country”
playlist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8. <span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"></span></span></span>“Fast Track” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mad Dog and the Smokin’ J’s</b>—this song, off their<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fuel
For the Fire</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is a fun, catchy,
bouncy light rockabilly ditty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its
breezy, finger snapping rhythm and sweet melodic guitar reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buddy Holly’s</b> more pop work, like
“That’ll Be the Day”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also reminds me
of two neo-rockabilly cuts I’ve enjoyed for some time, “Someday, Someway” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Marshall Crenshaw</b> (which launched his
career as the finest purveyor of Buddy Holly-influenced rockabilly revival; he
even played Buddy Holly in the movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">La
Bamba</i>) and “Living for Your Lover” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris
Isaak</b>; both tunes have that same jaunty, catchy approach to rockabilly pop
that Holly himself originated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great
stuff.
<br />
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<br />
9. “Bud’s Bounce” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Blue Mountain Ranch Hands</b>—this band, which only gigs
sporadically (I missed their last performance at Oskar Blue’s damn it), is a
classic western swing combo in the vein of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob
Wills</b>, but with additional female vocals that give it a more swing jazz type
of patina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song is particularly
good in showcasing their instrumental prowess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is “hillbilly jazz” of the finest sort, the kind of music that
shatters the stereotype of inbred hicks picking on a banjo on the porch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During its heyday western swing shared
musical ideas and musicians with the best urban jazz, and guitarists like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Dunn</b> and the late lamented <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmy Wyble</b> were widely recognized as
sophisticated and highly trained and talented musicians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s great to see someone trying to keep those
ideals alive.</div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
10. “My Rocky Mountain Home” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bonnie and the Clydes</b>—this is another sweet ode to life in
Colorado; Ms. Bonnie is a talented, sharp vocalist and they are another band I
hope to see more of soon.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
This is my version of a Local Top 10. I've really enjoyed searching out these fantastic local bands. </div>
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runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-92187715801339755502013-03-08T10:40:00.001-08:002013-03-08T10:40:25.607-08:00The Virtues, Spices and Liquors of Home: 4H Royalty<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJhjC4hWGDRY8s3W_L4hSpXJ4z1dxO8LyhCk1cLAE6gh3hzxFPMcu43QvZ3cYSZOTQCYw5p_54qahY72qgoVmdJ2fJkwkqLppSSXEfHZUWX7mUvOkobepcLF65dJDQYI58DzOiukPeLWq/s1600/4H+Royalty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwJhjC4hWGDRY8s3W_L4hSpXJ4z1dxO8LyhCk1cLAE6gh3hzxFPMcu43QvZ3cYSZOTQCYw5p_54qahY72qgoVmdJ2fJkwkqLppSSXEfHZUWX7mUvOkobepcLF65dJDQYI58DzOiukPeLWq/s640/4H+Royalty.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4H Royalty--One of Colorado's Finest Bands</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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I wrote about them in a previous post on neo country acts
but lately I’ve gotten even more into <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4H
Royalty</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hailing from a small town
in the plains east of Denver called Byers, Colorado, and describing themselves
as purveyors of “twang rock”, 4H Royalty have crafted an amazing and unique
sound that pulls heavily on a wide array of influences, everything from traditional
country to 80’s post-punk/indie/alternative, with a sprinkling of bar band
rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply put, their sound is almost
eerily crafted to appeal to ME, given my background and interests, so it
shouldn’t be surprising that I love them so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Superficially they remind me of other bands
that have sought to meld a punk/post-punk energy with the heartfelt lyricism and
roots instrumentation of traditional country such as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wilco</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lucero</b>, but
upon repeated listen to their two albums (which are available for digital
download on their band web site) what strikes me more is their resemblance to
the classic mid-80’s post punk SST bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Husker Du</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Minutemen</b>,
and most specifically <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Meat Puppets</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Husker
Du</b>, they harness the energy of punk but veer away from the stridency, both
lyrically and sonically, of it and instead produce music that’s passionate and
tough but still melodic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Minutemen</b>, there’s an element of
“corndog” about their entire approach, a way of not taking themselves too
seriously while still making music that IS serious and important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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But as mentioned it’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Meat Puppets</b> whom 4HR most resemble, which to me is one of the biggest
compliments one can pay to a band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
the Puppets, 4H Royalty have proudly embraced pre-punk musical idioms, infusing
their music with a strong strain of roots, country, and blues in much the same
way the MPs melded their early punk leanings with a wild, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZZ Top</b>-meets-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the-Grateful
Dead</b> mish-mash of bluegrass, psychedelia, and country fried southwestern
boogie rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also possess <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Kirkwood’s</b> lyrical bent, one that
veers between the comical and the heartfelt, often within the same song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of their lyrics seem to be nakedly
autobiographical, detailing life growing up in the rural Colorado plains in a
way that’s never mawkish but nevertheless retains a touching sentimentality and
above all honesty.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Their first album, 2010’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Colossolalia</i>, is an almost unbelievably self-assured and unified
debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rosenberg Family Band”, the
leadoff song, has a driving country rock guitar sound that occasionally
dissolves into shimmering melodic interludes; the lyrics tell the tale of a
fictional, dysfunctional Colorado family band that sounds like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Partridge Family </b>updated for 21<sup>st</sup>
century Colorado.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s definitely a
driving, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lucero</b> element (I get
echoes of the Lucero song “Anjalee” in the chugging guitar chords toward the
end) to the guitar on this song that is catchy but hard and extremely
enjoyable. “Chinese Turquoise” is less rocking and more melodic but I love the
complex interplay of guitars on this song, and the building, ascending chords
leading to the chorus; this song also has one of the most soaring, transcendent
guitar solos, I’ve heard in a long time—it starts with a set of country
sounding notes dripping with vibrato before hitting a set of melodic elements
that almost evokes the best of Iron Maiden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Woo Girls” starts off more introspectively but eventually
bursts into the similar set of power chords that provides this entire album
with its sonic signature; the tone of the guitar on every song is just
magnificent and is such a unifying element of this album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lyrics here seem to be autobiographical,
talking about drinking and going home and hearing the “woo” girls walking by in
a way that reminds me of “Here Comes a Regular” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Replacements</b>—not quite as sad and despondent as that song but
still carrying that element of melancholy over a life spent wasted in bars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following song, “Rock and Roll Blowout”, tells
the story of a young boy and his friends in some small rural town riding their
bikes downtown to see a (fictional) local band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scotty and the Reacharounds</b> that seems poised to make it to the big
times, only to be told that the band had broken up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a standout track to me, evoking the
most touching nostalgic elements of worshipping older bands and the desolation
that ensues when they break up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sonically the song is excellent too, starting with the swirling,
country-esque guitar but eventually evolving into yet another crisp set of power
chords accentuated by heavy cowbell by the drummer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zach Boddicker’s</b> vocals here seem impassioned and heartfelt;
whether this song is actually true or not, his conviction sells the emotional
impact very effectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boddicker’s
vocals generally remind me of the slightly straining, slightly off-key vocals
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Curt Kirkwood</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Meat Puppets</b>, only with more of a
western twang.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In contrast, the next song, “The Breaks”, is slow and bluesy
and reminds me of “The Wind Cries Mary” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimi
Hendrix</b> crossed with some of the more introspective work of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stevie Ray Vaughn</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This ability to slow things up but maintain
the emotionality is something else that reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Replacements</b> too, who could roar through “Left of the Dial” and
screech to a halt in a song like “Here Comes a Regular” without losing the
listener.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rubber City Girl” slows down
the tempo even more but again this doesn’t come at any cost, and this song,
with its strange, fractured lyrics and country guitar flourishes is one I can
envision slow dancing to in some beer-soaked bar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Tires in a Landfill” ramps the energy back up, a rocking
rave-up with a strange but catchy chorus:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Like tires in a landfill I will rise again” with another nifty
guitar-and-cowbell section as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Orbison Eyes”, with its slashing chords and galloping rhythm and
soaring chorus, was the song that first attracted me to this group when I found
it on YouTube, and it’s still one of my top favorites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guitar work here is super-top-notch,
especially the big post-chorus flourishes and the soaring solo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song captures the very best elements of
the Meat Puppets sound but in a way that’s incredibly unique and not derivative
in the slightest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Scratch and Dent Man”
and “What’s Too Dumb To Be Said” are two more mellow songs but again the guitar
tone on both<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is incredible and keeps
these songs from ever being boring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Dumb” again has snatches of autobiographical detail about starting out
playing in cover bands but still sticking with the songwriting to reach for
something better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The Project” starts
with some weird deep guitar chords but develops into a catchy country-fried
rocker while “Walk of Shame” is fast and furious while still retaining most of
those twangy, country elements of “Project”, and “You Didn’t Have To Do That”
ends things off with some psychedelic, bluesy guitar work over lyrics that
describe pride in their rural roots.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In May of 2012 4H Royalty released their second album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where UFOs Go To Die</i>, and if anything it’s
even better than their debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Accordion
Bus”, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is another fractured tale that
describes talking to strange homeless women on the bus, and is another
fantastic track, catchy, funny, and retaining the magnificent guitar work and
tone (and cowbell!) of the previous album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it’s the second track, “Statutes of Limitation”, that’s one of my
favorites by this amazing band—the guitar intro is absolutely amazing, the way
it meshes with the driving rhythm set down by drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rob Buehler</b> and bassist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Andrew
Porter</b> before soaring into majestic high, bluesy notes that settle back
down into the strumming drive of the rhythm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The lyrics seem to tell the tale of a woman who is trying to confess her
infidelity to the singer, who is letting her off the hook by invoking the
“statutes of limitation”—presumably that her indiscretion happened in the past
and can and should remain in the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
magnificent song, both musically and lyrically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“The Black Hornet Rides Again” is a wild, country instrumental, and it
and the subsequent song “The Blind Draw” remind me of the desert-fried country
psychedelia <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Meat Puppets</b> on
albums like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Up On the Sun</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Fall Off the Face of the World With Me” is
slow and thoughtful, another weird (autobiographical?) tale of sitting on top
of the water tower watching the Harvest Days festival and parade talking about
leaving the stifling confines of the small town with his girlfriend (who may or
may not love him).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Itchy Blood” is
about a man who sends a letter to a woman for whom he once, and for whom he
still, has feelings (the “itchy blood” of the title).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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“Virtues, Spices and Liquors” is another of my very favorite
songs by 4H Royalty, a magnificent high lonesome song about the lures of home
and old friends and nakedly autobiographical in tone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This song comes the closest to contemporary
country in its sound, and for once I don’t mean that as a rebuke:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can easily see any current male Nashville
covering this (and probably ruining it) because of its excellent balance of
rocking drive and sweet country elements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is really a magnificent song, with one of the best choruses ever:</div>
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Mercy, sherry, sage and rosemary</div>
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Jasmine brandy and hope</div>
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Return me to sender when I start to remember</div>
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All the virtues, spices, and liquors of home</div>
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<br /></div>
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“Soon Enough” is one of the more bitter songs on the album,
documenting the narrator’s encounter with a woman he once loved and how he now
doesn’t want to see her again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
guitar solo again evokes the best, bluesy elements of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimi Hendrix</b> (or even of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Red Hot Chili Peppers</b>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The title
song is soft and quiet and the slight slide guitar elements give it an eerily
Western vibe, like driving past Area 51 in the wide open New Mexico desert.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I would love to see this amazing local band in concert, but
unfortunately they’re only playing sporadic gigs in the coming months and most
of those are not that close to my hometown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Still, they’ve become one of my very favorite bands and I love their
sound.</div>
runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-45701609840769599592013-02-27T12:55:00.000-08:002013-02-27T12:55:44.337-08:00Denver Neobilly<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMtn2XrtZSliHhDTKle1Gxu6re7b2rHz1nUkoNV9YfHj-PccD0zMTiVKQ2Mn8rmv_nGiOTPJcuaxw0ATmvMm3CajiJmkQnhnxa0vsqO6Z1WTdYsKqulcwpTcAGUbGyOF-lbDhcMKLbkMe/s1600/Denver+Neobilly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMtn2XrtZSliHhDTKle1Gxu6re7b2rHz1nUkoNV9YfHj-PccD0zMTiVKQ2Mn8rmv_nGiOTPJcuaxw0ATmvMm3CajiJmkQnhnxa0vsqO6Z1WTdYsKqulcwpTcAGUbGyOF-lbDhcMKLbkMe/s640/Denver+Neobilly.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mad Dog and the Smokin' J's (left) and the Hillbilly Hellcats--two of Colorado's finest rockabilly trios</td></tr>
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<br />
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Anyone reading my latest posts knows that I’ve spent the
past half a year obsessed with early country, western swing, honky tonk, and
rockabilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In my last post I wrote
about the various rockabilly revivals of the past fifty-odd years, and about
the neobilly and psychobilly movements in particular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to check out the rockabilly
landscape of my adopted home of Denver/Boulder and I discovered that Denver is
actually quite a hotbed of rockabilly and has a thriving scene with many bands
and a stable circuit of clubs willing and eager to showcase their talents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not exactly sure why there is such a
thriving scene here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it’s in
reaction to the nutty-crunchy 60’s hippie jam band vibe that is so prevalent in
Colorado (and in Boulder in particular).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It might be because Denver is kind of a meeting place between the
hipster culture of the West Coast and the redneck/country culture of the
Midwest; if you think about it those were pretty much the exact conditions
under which rockabilly/rock was born I Memphis in the mid-50’s, back when “the
west” was anything on the far side of St. Louis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever the reason, I’ve started to explore
some of the best local talent both online and live to see how it measures up.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dixie Leadfoot and
the Chrome Struts</b> are fronted by stand-up bass player and singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Suzannah Harris</b>, who has an extensive
and impressive bio, and has sung for both (inter)nationally recognized acts
such as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Frank Zappa</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Steve Vai</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Harris has some pretty impressive pipes and
her doghouse work isn’t too bad either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nate Harris</b> plays guitar and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nick Gnojek</b> beats the skins for this
highly polished classic rockabilly trio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They don’t have any albums for sale in iTunes or Amazon but a handful of
live numbers have been uploaded from a recent 2012 gig at Denver’s Buffalo Rose
club, including covers of “That’s All Right, Mama” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Arthur Crudup</b> (and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b>
of course), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Vincent’s</b> “Ain’t
That Too Much”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(which starts with
Harris’ meaty bass thumping and also features some nifty fretwork from Nate), a
slow, sweet cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patsy Cline’s</b>
“She’s Got You”, and a strutting version of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wanda Jackson’s</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rockabilly
Fever” which is my personal fave given how I recently discovered the wild,
amazing rockabilly work by this female pioneer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This band has great taste in covers and the solid chops to back them
up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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On the rawer side is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Whisky
Throttle</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t find much on this
band—they have nothing in iTunes, Amazon, or even YouTube, and even their
MySpace page doesn’t have a proper bio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>According to one page I found, they consist of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Norm</b> from Utah, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">GOGO</b>
from Missouri, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doyle</b> (not to be
confused, I’m pretty sure, with the infamous <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doyl</b>e of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Misfits</b>) from
parts unknown. They are also not to be confused with the Tennessee band Whisky
Throttle, who play a country/hard rock blend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The songs on their MySpace page (“Depth Charge”, “Hard Luck Blues”,
“Memphis”, “Red Shack” and “Moon Twist”) showcase their neobilly stylings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vocals are a bit weak but the guitar
playing is solid and the energy is high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These guys are probably pretty rocking live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite songs are “Memphis”, which
features the best guitar picking, and “Depth Charge”, which is mostly
instrumental and almost bridges the gap between traditional rockabilly and some
of the surf guitar crunch of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Link Wray</b>
or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dick Dale</b>.</div>
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The hard working <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mad
Dog and the Smokin’ J’s</b> were formed in 2009 by drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mike “Mad Dog” Minnick</b> but have already played over 550 shows and
released four albums, one of which, 2010;s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fuel
for the Fire,</i> is actually available on iTunes on 15 cent Records and isn’t
bad in a minimalist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stray Cats</b> kind
of way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best cut is “Fast Track”, a
catchy, up-tempo number with some melodic guitar work, and “The Roadie Life” is
another memorable track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The album is
hampered by tinny recording that diminishes what is obviously some fervent
energy. They also have an impressive catalog of live tunes uploaded to
YouTube.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have shuffled through a
number of guitarists and supposedly have evolved toward a sound incorporating
country and punk according to their bio on ReverbNation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They certainly have unique taste in covers if
their YouTube uploads are any indication:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Rocker” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AC/DC</b>, “I’ll
Never Get Out of This World Alive” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank
Williams Sr</b>., “Hot Dog” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Led
Zeppelin</b>, “Wild One” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny
O’Keefe</b> (made famous by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iggy Pop</b>
but also covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry Allison</b> of
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Crickets</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry Lee Lewis</b> and most recently
covered by, ugh, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Chipmunks</b>), and
“Salty Leather” by skate punk band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Aggression</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These creative covers show how flexible
rockabilly is and how nearly any song can sound good when adapted to the
rockabilly idiom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their cover of the
classic 50’s guitar instrumental “Sleepwalk” is as good as any I’ve heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite song by theirs is a YouTube
upload from a 2010 Denver Children’s Hospital benefit at Herman’s Hideaway
called “All I Got To Show”; this song is slow but powerful and anthemic; not
sure if this is a cover or not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
features <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Smokin' Joe Clark</b> on guitar
and vocals; he’s since been replaced by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rex
“Colfax Slim” Moser</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clark’s strong,
passionate vocals and the grungy strut of this song remind me of “Ball and
Chain” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Social Distortion</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d love to see this band settle on a
guitarist and a signature sound since I’ve liked a lot of what I’ve heard so
far but it’s been tantalizingly too little and too varied.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Barnyard Stompers</b>
are a raw but hugely talented power duo in the tradition of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the White Stripes</b> featuring <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Casey Miller</b> on guitar and vocals and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Megan “Go-Go” Wise</b> on drums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alas, nothing on iTunes but a couple videos
of live performances are uploaded on YouTube, including a cover of “’59 Black
Cadillac” which gallops along with propulsive drumming and some tricked-out
guitar work and has Miller singing through a bullhorn for a more manic
psychobilly flavor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several songs are
also available for listening on their entry on the rockabilly web site
ReverbNation; I like “Hillbilly Rock and Roll Star” and its driving beat but
the other songs showcase this band’s softer side with the acoustic “Carmelita”,
the Mexican tinged “Carreterra”, and the Irish jig (!) “Rocky Road to
Dublin”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is clearly a band with a
diverse set of musical tastes and influences.</div>
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Another local neobilly band with a lot of polish and
professionalism are the four piece <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Atomic
Drifters</b>; these guys can really play and sport a crisp, polished, authentic
sound that evokes the best of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stray
Cats</b> but really gets that Sun simplicity down pat too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have a huge assemblage of live
performance videos on YouTube as well as some clean studio cuts on their
MySpace page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite of the latter
is “Please Mama Please”, which really nails the early Sun <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> sound perfectly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
really love this stuff, truly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Hollowbody Tsunami” is a classic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dick
Dale</b> surf instrumental, while “Big Blon’ Baby” has more of a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry Lee Lewis</b> feel like “Great Balls
of Fire”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Go Go Go” rumbles like
“Mystery Train” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> with some
authentic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scotty Moore</b> sounding
guitar licks tearing it up in the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Gears Grease Guitars” really brings to mind classic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stray Cats</b> songs like “Rock This Town”
with its swinging up-tempo beat and sassy guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Leave Me Blue” on their ReverbNation page is
another clean, crisp revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
live cuts feature covers by some of the usual suspects<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fats Domino, Elvis, Carl
Perkins, Dion, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This band is really near the top of my current favorite list and I hope
they can put out a proper album soon that captures their fantastic sound.</div>
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The dean of Colorado rockabilly bands is, of course, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Hillbilly Hellcats</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Formed in the early 90’s by guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chuck Hughes</b>, the Hellcats have four
albums on iTunes and Amazon.com:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1996’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rev It Up With Taz</i> (featuring <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Reverend Horton Heat</b> drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Taz Bentley</b>), 1998’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our Brand</i>, and 2012’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Live in Missoula </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Early Daze</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite songs by them are “Hillbillies on
Speed” and “White Trash” which lyrically mine a similar vein to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Horton Heat</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Southern Culture on the Skids</b> but sonically are eerily reminiscent
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stray Cats</b> in their 80’s
heyday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Road Rage” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our Brand</i> has a heavier surf crunch to
the guitars while “Everyone Was Drinkin’ Martinis But Me” has a swingy, jive-y
tempo that makes it sound like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian
Setzer Orchestra</b>’s cover of “Jump Jive and Wail”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘I Never Thought” has humorous
self-deprecating lyrics that marry well to its jittery, jangly rockabilly
groove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Havin’ It All” and “Hot Rockin’
Rhythm” sound like lost <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stray Cat</b>
songs while “Ghost Train” has the high lonesome wail of early country-infused
rockabilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Leavin’ Colorado” is even
more country, with a steel guitar and jaunty rhythm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alas, the Hellcats appear to be broken up, or
at the very least are on hiatus, but Chuck Hughes has been gigging all over the
Centennial State with his new eponymous combo, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Chuck Hughes Band</b>.</div>
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Rockabilly has become a genre of rock music that has
withstood the test of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It might not
always be the most popular music but it will always have adherents, often but
not exclusively regular blue collar joes who like their beer cold and their
music fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s kind of nice to think
that you can walk into almost any city in this country and find at least one
bar or club catering to the rockabilly crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I for one am happy so many high quality bands are cranking out great rockabilly
sounds within a stone’s throw of me and I hope to get out there and see some of
them soon.</div>
runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-18540393841584912612013-02-18T14:53:00.000-08:002013-02-18T14:53:27.080-08:00Rumble in Brighton: Rockabilly Revivals and PsychoBill<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b4vRdijo9bYJo1OtuWjf2DrcSbTQVMDme4a8j_HRaqGIe6ZWvvxJAtxXoOz-GGNiv0X9ay5cGhimfqnyYQWVRZvApuaYnf_JQ9whpWXHCPx5ytv4VXb9YD_7Ld40lQolCXPNQIwwQI7X/s1600/Neobilly+and+Psychobilly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4b4vRdijo9bYJo1OtuWjf2DrcSbTQVMDme4a8j_HRaqGIe6ZWvvxJAtxXoOz-GGNiv0X9ay5cGhimfqnyYQWVRZvApuaYnf_JQ9whpWXHCPx5ytv4VXb9YD_7Ld40lQolCXPNQIwwQI7X/s640/Neobilly+and+Psychobilly.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave Alvin (left) and James Intveld, two LA rockabilly revivalist pioneers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In my last post, I discussed the wild, frenetic early
beginnings of rockabilly in the mid-50’s. Sometime around 1960 or so,
rockabilly started to decline in popularity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Elvis being drafted, the deaths of Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly, Chuck
Berry’s arrest on Mann Act violations, Little Richard leaving perfoming
temporarily to join the ministry, all seemed to take some of the momentum away
from this musical art form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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But rockabilly has undergone a number of revivals over the
subsequent forty-odd years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starting
even in the mid to late 60’s, England’s teddy boys worshipped at the altar of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bill Haley</b> and all things 50’s and
greaser, and clashes between rockers and mods punctuated the 60’s, 70’s and
80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Malcolm McLaren’s</b> first store on King’s Road in London catered to
the teddy boy crowd in the late 60’s and early 70’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the pub rock movement in England that
presaged the punk explosion of the late 70’s was built on a solid foundation of
respect for rockabilly and other forms of early rock; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dr. Feelgood</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Be-Bop
Deluxe</b> both hearkened to an earlier, wilder, but simpler era, and echoes of
rockabilly can be heard in their music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was Los
Angeles that was a major force in the rockabilly revival in the 80’s, with
groups like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Blasters</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Levi and the Rockats</b> jitterbugging it
up on bills with punk bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag</b>. I mentioned in a
previous post that it was my extreme good fortune to interview <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Alvin</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Blasters, Knitters, and X</b> when I was a DJ at UCLA’s radio
station in around ’88 or ’89; he was as nice and professional a human being as
has ever lived, and it’s given me enormous pride and satisfaction to see his
career continue to grow over the years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
compositions on the Blasters’ self-titled second album are first rate, most
notably “American Music”, a celebration of, and reflection of American roots
rock and roll that garnered considerable national interest in 1983. </div>
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Around the same time, I met a girl on my dorm floor who was
really into X and she took me to see <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy
Zoom’s</b> post-X solo band, and they played a rip roarin’ rockabilly-punk
fusion that presaged some of the wild stuff that came out in the late 80’s and
early 90’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This girl also took me to
see rockabilly icon <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James Intveld</b> at
a Hollywood club in late 1985.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intveld
is a largely unheralded figure in rock circles but has spent the better part of
the past three decades working with local musicians such as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Zoom, Rosie Flores</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Blasters</b> (he played guitar for them
through the 80’s and into the 90’s).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
own brother <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ricky</b> was a member of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rick Nelson’s Stone Canyon Band </b>and
died tragically in the plane crash that took Rick’s life as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James’ sound strides somewhere in the
territory between that of the earliest rockabilly icons like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie Cochran</b> and that of contemporary
rockabilly interpreters like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Isaak</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Falling closer to the former is his sweet,
rocking song “My Heart is Achin’ For You”, a 1982 single of his on Dog House
Records that can be found on YouTube, which really splits the difference
between the more rocking aspects of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie
Cochran</b> and the sweet, catchy pop work of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buddy Holly</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
standout Intveld track is also only available on YouTube is his cover of “Good
Rockin’ Tonight” with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Zoom</b> and
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Setzer</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stray Cats</b> from a 1987 episode of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Art Fein’s Poker Party</i>; Zoom famously acts like a cranky curmudgeon
in this video but James and Setzer seem to be having a terrific time ripping
through this terrific old gem. Intveld’s more recent stuff is more
introspective and thoughtful; specifically, “Remember Me”, which is clearly
inspired by the struggles of his father with cognitive decline with aging, has
an aching, high lonesome sound that evokes the best of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Isaak’s</b> “Wicked Game” era work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intveld has never really gotten the respect
he’s deserved for his part in reviving, and more importantly, extending, rockabilly
beyond its beginnings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, he has
two albums available commercially on iTunes and elsewhere, 2000’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Somewhere Down the Road</i>, which contains
the aforementioned “Remember Me”, and 2008’s more purely country <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Have Faith</i>. Both are well worth checking
out.</div>
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In the early 80’s, rockabilly boomed as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stray Cats</b> exploded, first in England and then in their native
America, and brought rockabilly back into mainstream culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have a distinct and embarrassing memory of
my mom raving about how great <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stray
Cats</b> were because her aerobics instructor played “Rock This Town” in her
aerobics class in 1983!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite this
queasy memory of my mother in leg warmers and a leotard, this has remained my
favorite song by the Cats, though I also like “Rumble in Brighton” (a fictional
paean to the rocker-mod battles), “Runaway Boys”, and “Double-Talkin’
Baby”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must admit that at the time I
considered the Stray Cats nothing more than a passing fad, similar to the
Bowery Boy swing of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roman Holiday</b>
and the blue eyed Northern soul of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Haircut
100</b> and the quirky synth weirdness of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blancmange</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some ways I was right; after two brilliant
albums, the Stray Cats broke up and lead Cat <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Setzer</b> spent some time wandering in the roots rock wilderness
before embracing a second retro fad, swing music, which he also rode to the top
in the late 90’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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It would be easy to dismiss Setzer as a past-obsessed
cultist and opportunist but that would be very very wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Setzer truly seems to love and respect older
musical styles and far from treating them as a vehicle for popularity has been
a loyal adherent to rockabilly and swing well before, and long after, any
mainstream popularity either had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
recent years Setzer has interspersed rockabilly albums between his swing
outings, most notably on his albums <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ignition,
Nitro Burnin’ Funny Daddy</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">13</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These albums have showcased his phenomenal
rockabilly guitar ability; Setzer as much as any human being alive has done
more to maintain rockabilly not as a museum piece but as a viable, legitimate
musical art form in the 21<sup>st</sup> century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>YouTube is littered with videos of Setzer
showing up as a surprise at some other artist’s gig and doing an exuberant
cover during their encore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my
favorite videos like this is of Setzer crashing a gig by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne Hancock</b> and covering <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank
Williams’</b> “Mind Your Own Business”; Wayne looks elated to be sharing the
stage with such an icon and both of them clearly are having a great time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Setzer isn’t getting paid for these impromptu
live collaborations, he does it because he truly loves the music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Rockabilly fell from the national consciousness after <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stray Cats</b> broke up in the
mid-80’s, but it has never truly gone away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most notably in the late 80’s and early 90’s several bands came along to
not only keep rockabilly alive and kicking but also to supercharge it going
toward the new millennium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most
obviously there has been <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Reverend
Horton Heat</b>, who are one of the main architects of what came to be called
“psychobilly”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psychobilly has its
origins in the twangy, swamp rock blues of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Cramps</b>; their 1986 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Date With
Elvis</i> set an early standard for punk-infused, raunchy neo-rockabilly with
songs like “What’s Inside a Girl” and “Hot Pearl Snatch” as well as the legendary
“Can Your Pussy Do the Dog”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since his
first album’s release in 1990, the Reverend has become as much a musical
institution as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Rolling Stones, the
Ramones, or Metallica</b>, dishing up turbocharged hellfire hillbilly rock on
release after release and in his legendarily raucous concerts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He more than anyone else has been responsible
for infusing rockabilly with the wild raw energy of punk and hardcore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve only just begun to explore the
Reverend’s catalog of songs, but my current favorites are “Bad Reputation” and
“Psychobilly Freakout” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Smoke ‘Em If
You Got ‘Em</i>, “Wiggle Stick” and “Lonesome Train Whistle” off 1993’s <i><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds of the Reverend
Horton Heat, </span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“One Time for Me”, “Jezebel”, and “I Can’t Surf” off <i>Liquor in the
Front</i>, the title track off 1996’s <i>It’s Martini Time</i>, “A Girl In
Blue” and “I’ll Make Love” off <i>Spend a Night in the Box</i>, and “Like a
Rocket from 2002’s <i>Lucky 7</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">A number of other artists have continued to explore the boundaries of
psychobilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buffalo, NY group <b>the
Quakes</b> were another early psychobilly pioneer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like <b>the Stray Cats</b>, they initially
fled America to England during the 80’s in search of a more viable retro
musical scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their 1988 debut album is
as raw and hard as <b>Metallica’s</b> <i>Kill ‘Em All</i>; songs like “Pack
Your Things and Go” are dark and echoey and crude. “You’re Dead” owes as much
to <b>the Misfits</b> as it does to <b>the Stray Cats</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their second album mined a similar vein but
their third LP, 1993’s <i>New Generation</i>, highlighted a new pop-rockabilly
approach that was invariably disappointing to their core fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The title track has a barundi beat and sounds
more influenced by <b>Adam and the Ants</b> than by <b>Carl Perkins</b>; what
it reminds me of is a blend of early <b>Adam and the Ants </b>with the accessibly
80’s English lite-rockabilly group <b>the Polecats</b>, who’s song “Make a
Circuit With Me” was a minor hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other
songs like “Dateless Nights” hewed closer to the dark, crude <b>Misfits</b> and
<b>Cramps</b> sounds of their first two albums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perhaps their best album is 1996’s <i>Quiff Rock</i>; the production has
been cleaned up without diminishing the energy or fire and songs like “Throw It
All Away” and “Cool To Be a Punk” sparkle and roar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Quakes have continued to tour and release
albums into the 2000’s and remain a viable force in psycho/rockabilly circles.</span></div>
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Atlanta’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Psycho
Devilles</b> formed in the 2000’s around guitarist and singer “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hot Rod” Walt Richards</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They play a barn burning variant of
rockabilly not too far removed from Horton Heat’s wild antics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this band doesn’t obscure their talented
chops behind crude production or ultra-fast rhythms; this is one super tight
and talented group of guys and when they turn up the volume it isn’t to hide
their flaws but to highlight their talents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Devilles are simply one of the best rockabilly/psychobilly bands out
there right now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among their best songs
are “Chopped Up, Hopped Up”, “Jailhouse Bop”, “Bar Fight”, and “Psycho
Cadillac” off their 2007 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Psycho
Cadillac</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like “Thrills For
Sure” and “Roots Rock” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supercharger</i>;
“Victory Curls” and “Night Prowler” off 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Night Prowler</i>; and “Torn Up” and the countrified “One Minute At a
Time” off –<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rockabilly Rodeo</i> from
2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This latter album saw the Devilles
moving toward a softer, more country-influenced sound, not a bad move for these
talented guys.</div>
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Nashville, Tennessee’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hillbilly
Casino</b> also released their debut album in 2007; these cats all have hipster
cred from stints in much more prominent retro bands, including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Setzer’s Nashvillains</b> and the
neo-country group <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BR5-49</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their sound is like raved up country; songs
like “Plain To See” off 2007’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sucker
Punched</i> sound like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams Sr.</b>
as interpreted by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rob Zombie</b>; the
song “Voodoo Doll” off this same album even gives a shout out to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Ramones</b> in the form of the “hey ho,
let’s go” chant in the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
like the lighter, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stray Cats</b> sound
of “Don’t Stick Around” and “Stop, Drop, and Roll” off their follow-up album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Three Step Windup</i>. 2010’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tennessee Stomp</i> includes the toe tapping
“Debt with the Devil” as well as the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny
Cash</b>-infused duet with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dale Watson</b>
“The Ballad of Psycho Steve”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Three Bad Jacks</b>
hail from the decidedly unrocking town of Woodland Hills, California, but their
high energy rockabilly belies their sleepy suburban roots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have become a major draw throughout
Hollywood and Southern California with their rave-up sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aptly named lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis Suissa</b> has a snarl and croon (as well as a hoody charisma)
that would knock the pink socks off <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
King</b> himself, particularly on songs like “Downtown’s Gonna Rumble” and
“Long Black Train”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Hellbound Train” is
more of a punked-up rockabilly raver with a wild, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dead Boys</b> meet <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry Lee</b>
vibe.</div>
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One thing that has evolved over the years is a distinction
between psychobilly and what is often called neobilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psychobilly of course refers to the rawer,
louder, heavier, punkier form of rockabilly crafted by groups like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Cramps</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">and Reverend Horton Heat</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neobilly, on the other hand, refers to more traditional straight-up
rockabilly revival music, and in fact in recent years bands have tended to
avoid this syllogism and instead just refer to themselves as a “rockabilly”
band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moreover, most practitioners frequently
cross over this line; even Horton Heat himself plays almost as much straight-up
rockabilly as he does psychobilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
the line, if it even exists at all, is a blurry one and these days there isn’t
much distinction.</div>
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One guy who has consistently explored the opposite, more
tender side of rockabilly is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Isaak</b>,
and Chris is another artist who rarely gets his due.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isaak gets a lot of flak because his music is
more soulful and mellow and because it often does well on the adult
contemporary charts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Isaak has
devoted a long and enjoyable career to the sounds of the 50’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His work leans more heavily on ballads than
on barn burners and hews closer to the work of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ricky Nelson</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roy Orbison</b>,
but he’s also provided a number of high energy numbers over the years, like
“Gone Ridin’”, “Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing”, his cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bo Diddley’s</b> “Diddley Daddy”, “Go Walking Down There”, his cover of
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Neil Diamond’s</b> “Solitary Man”, and
others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His earlier work was also much
twangier and closer to classic rockabilly; songs like “Western Stars” and “Gone
Ridin’”, “Tears”, “Voodoo”, “Talk to Me”, and “Livin’ For Your Lover” off his
debut album all retain the reverb sound of early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Cash, </b>and “Blue Hotel” off his eponymous 1987 follow-up
sounds like classic late 50’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite songs by Chris are “Dancin’” off
1985’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Silvertone</i> (named after a
famous rockabilly guitar model but this also was the name of Chris’ pre-solo
band), “Somebody’s Crying” off 1995’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forever
Blue</i> and “Walk Slow” off 1998’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Speak
of the Devil, </i>and pretty much everything off the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Baja Sessions</i> album but especially “Pretty Girls Don’t Cry”, “Two
Hearts”, and “Think of Tomorrow”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can
remember seeing the music video for “Dancin’” in ’85 or ’86 and really liking
it even then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve also seen Chris twice
in concert and he always puts on a fantastic, high energy show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recently watched his PBS special on his
latest album, 2011’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beyond the Sun</i>,
in which Chris went to Sun Studios in Memphis and covered a number of Sun
singles both famous and obscure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also
shares the stage with rockabilly hellcat <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wanda
Jackson</b>, who at 82 can still get up and belt out “Fujiyama Mama”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorites off this album are his cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the King’s</b> “Trying To Get To You”, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl Perkins’</b> “Dixie Fried”, and his
originals “Live It Up” and “Lovely Loretta”.</div>
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Isaak’s former guitarist, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James Wilsey</b>, released an album of guitar instrumentals in 2008
called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">El Dorado</i>. Anyone loving the
twangy melancholy of Isaak songs like “Wicked Game” will greatly enjoy this
album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“City of Broke Dolls” is
fantastic, as is “Tierra Del Fuego”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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In coming posts I hope to explore, with the help of the
fantastic web site Reverbnation, some of the smaller and more regional
rockabilly groups and see what I can find.</div>
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runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-9353796182055224402013-01-08T14:06:00.000-08:002013-01-09T08:35:02.545-08:00Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young: The Early History of Rockabilly<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRVAm0GiMfd3mdjDDTvdp7gWyKndpA-wZCmEGIpYQ2KycMSYK_y9S94Xi6qm-W0UAJGdT9bunrPO0doNf3qb8f8nI2KktIEy65em11ElfP2GXi8ZYbxI7heLeAU66id6GnnbtOjXpPwkJ/s1600/Hasil+Adkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRVAm0GiMfd3mdjDDTvdp7gWyKndpA-wZCmEGIpYQ2KycMSYK_y9S94Xi6qm-W0UAJGdT9bunrPO0doNf3qb8f8nI2KktIEy65em11ElfP2GXi8ZYbxI7heLeAU66id6GnnbtOjXpPwkJ/s640/Hasil+Adkins.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">50's wild man Hasil Adkins</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Recently
I’ve become obsessed with early rock and even pre-rock and roll musical
forms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For about six months now
basically all I’ve been downloading, and listening to, is country, western
swing, jump blues, and rockabilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve
mentioned in some recent posts that I’ve been getting more and more into
country and that has led me to explore the bifurcation point between country
and rock, which is essentially rockabilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rockabilly is a portmanteau of “rock” and “hillbilly”, and it is
fitting. Rockabilly music hews pretty strictly to a sparse sound defined by a
country-influenced electric guitar picking, usually with stand-up bass and
skeletal drums for rhythm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rockabilly
really arose from Sun Records in the mid-50’s and the country boogie sounds and
songs of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis Presley</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl Perkins</b> (right now one of my
favorite songs is Perkins’ “Matchbox”) but quickly caught on and became the
dominant music form of the latter 50’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sun themselves tried to capitalize on the new sound they created by
cranking out singles by acts even wilder and less polished than Elvis or
Perkins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have systematically
released compilations of these early singles for obsessive fans (like me) over
the last four decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among my
favorites are “Flying Saucers Rock and Roll” and “Red Hot” by wildman <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Lee Riley</b>, “Honey Don’t” and “Put
Your Cat Clothes On” by the aforementioned <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl
Perkins</b>, the instrumental “Raunchy” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bill
Justus</b>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rock and Roll Ruby” and
“Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Warren
Smith</b>, “Drinkin’ Wine” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Simmons</b>
(no, not THAT <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Simmons</b>), “Right
Behind You Baby” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ray Smith</b>, “Slow
Down” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jack Earls</b>, the almost
maniacal “Come On Little Mama” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ray
Harris</b>, “Your Lovin’ Man” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Vernon
Taylor</b>, “Tough Tough Tough” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Andy
Anderson</b>, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Tennessee Zip” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kenneth Parchman</b>, “Rakin’ and Scrapin’”
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dean Beard</b>, “Rabbit Action” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Junior Thompson</b>, “Mama, Mama, Mama” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hayden Thompson</b>, “Mad Man” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmy Wages</b>, “Huh Babe” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Luke McDaniel</b>, “Goin’ Crazy” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mack Self</b>, “Flat Foot Sam” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tommy Blake</b>, and “Bottle To the Baby”
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlie Feathers</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of these can be found on the 2006
compilation <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Essential Sun Rockabillies
Vol. 1</i> on iTunes.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Charlie Feathers</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> went on to record several other
standout rockabilly songs for a variety of other labels; I like “One Hand
Loose” and “Everybody’s Loving My Baby” that he recorded for the King Label; He
also recorded “Jungle Fever” and “Wild Wild Party”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has become quite a darling of rockabilly
for his countrified vocals and easy straddling of the line between true country
and rockabilly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course
other labels were also jumping onto the rock/rockabilly bandwagon, and
throughout the late 50’s there was an explosion of rockabilly released.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recently got into the countrified rock of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Autry Inman</b>, primarily because of the
wild, twangy guitar work of country/rockabilly/jazz legend <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Garland</b>; my favorites are “Be Bop Baby” and “Don’t Drop It”,
but I also like “Uh Uh Honey” and “(It Would Be) A Doggone Lie”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inman, incidentally, started out as a bassist
for country star <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cowboy Copas </b>(Copas
played some good twangy country that bordered on rock himself; I like the
vaguely morbid “Hangman’s Boogie”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Copas achieved lasting notoriety for being one of the other people
killed in the plane crash that killed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patsy
Cline, </b>alongside yet another hillbilly boogie artist, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hawkshaw Hawkins</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A song I’ve
loved for about 25 years now is “Tallahassee Lassie” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Freddie Cannon</b>, with its hand claps and wild yelps and driving,
danceable beat and strutting rhythm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
more recent find of mine is the early work of historical story song man <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Horton</b>; he reached his most fame
with songs like “The Battle of New Orleans” and “Sink the Bismark” but in his
early incarnation he was a wild rockabilly guy, as can be seen on songs like
“Honky Tonk Hardwood Floor”, with its fat, thrumming electric bass and
gutbucket rhythm, the loping “Lover’s Rock”, the chugging “I’m Comin’ Home”,
and the slightly more traditionally country “I’m a One Woman Man” and “Honky
Tonk Man”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These songs really are at the
nexus of country and rock in the early 50’s and help explain how and why acts
like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry Lee Lewis</b> hit first and foremost on the country charts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a similar vein was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Little Jimmie Dickens</b>; like Horton, his music was an electrified
country boogie that wasn’t quite rockabilly but wasn’t regular country
either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His corny “A-Sleepin’ at the
Foot of the Bed” has some sweet country fiddle interspersed with some good
twangy guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Just When I Needed You”
is really a good country lament, but “Hillbilly Fever” is one of his best
rockers, still corn pone enough to make the country charts but with a rocking
rhythm that makes it stand out; same with “I’m Little But I’m Loud” and the
even more rocking “Rockin’ With Red” and “I’ve Got a Whole In My Pocket”, which
is straight up rockabilly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Another
weird country/rockabilly artist was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Forest
Rye</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Released in 1953, “Wild Cat
Boogie” has a definite rock element, in its walking bass rhythm, well before <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> shook his pelvis or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Haley</b> rocked around the clock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can find almost nothing on this
fascinatingly early and obscure artist other than he was from the un-country
city of Detroit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two other Rye songs
available on iTunes are “Pepper Hot Babie”, a honky tonk country number
enlivened with its “Two-four-six-eight-ten” chorus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My Sweet Baby’s Gone” is more of a New
Orleans bump and grind slow jam that recalls the work of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fats Domino</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very cool
stuff.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A noteworthy
county artist who started as a rave-up rockabilly force of nature was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Conway Twitty</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twitty cut some sides for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sam Phillips’</b> Sun Records under his
given name of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Harold Jenkins</b>, including
the twangy ballad “Just in Time”, but it’s his post-Sun work that stands the
strongest now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His rockafied covers of
“Mona Lisa” (made famous in smooth vocal ballad form by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nat King Cole</b>) and the Irish standard “Danny Boy” (covered to
brilliant effect by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Setzer</b> in
the hilarious and utterly under-rated 1996 film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Great White Hype</i>) obviously showcase Twitty’s ability to play
up-tempo, but it’s his slower tunes that really highlight what a phenomenal
rockabilly talent Twitty was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Knock
Three Times” with its twangy intro and chugging, raunchy tempo meld wonderfully
with the barrelhouse piano and Twitty’s raw, passionate vocal; this is one of
my favorite songs right now. “Lonely Blue Boy” is Twitty’s closest approach to
the raw sensuality of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis Presley</b>
and again he utterly nails the vocal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Long Black Train” pulls on the long musical fascination with railroads
in country and rock music and it cavorts along with malicious glee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Is a Bluebird Blue” and “Its Driving Me
Wild” are also great; the latter has that greasy yowl that bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Them</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Standells</b> would imitate during garage rock’s mid-60’s heyday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Several
other artists blew up in the wake of Elvis (and Carl).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buddy
Holly</b> put Lubbock Texas on the map and became a massive star in his own
right before his untimely demise in 1959.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In addition to his obvious hits like “Oh Boy”, “That’ll Be the Day”, and
“Peggy Sue”, Holly put out an astonishing number of phenomenal songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Peggy Sue” and its rumbling rhythm has
always been one of my personal faves, but I’m equally into less well known
numbers like “Not Fade Away”, which melds a heavy <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bo Diddley</b> beat to Holly’s sweet falsetto to create a masterful
sound, and “Rave On”, where Holly pulls out the stops and rocks as hard as he
ever did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buddy’s early rave-ups like
“Midnight Shift” and “Rock Around with Ollie Vee” (both recorded in Nashville
in 1956, when Elvis was just breaking big) showcase his ability to tear it up
with good twangy rockabilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Everyday”
is a sweet vocal ballad that evokes <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Fleetwoods</b> and even some aspects of early doo-wop with its slapped rhythm
and chiming xylophone and Holly’s honey smooth vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I’m Gonna Love You Too” was famously covered
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blondie</b> on their masterwork <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Parallel Lines</i> but Holly’s original is
just as fiery and fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Look at Me”,
with its rollicking piano and Holly’s hiccup-y delivery is another terrific
song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also love Holly’s version of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lieber and Stoller’s</b> “(You’re So
Square) Baby I don’t Care” as much as the original by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis Presley</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Words of
Love” is particularly poignant to listen to, since it comes the closest to some
of the sweet, jangly melodies Holly’s biggest and most successful imitators, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b>, crafted on their earliest
originals. For my money Holly may well have been second only to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> himself in his ability to both
tear it up rocker style and slow it down ballad-wise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was an amazingly versatile artist and I
don’t consider it to be any exaggeration to say that music DID die the day his
plane fell from the sky.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He became a
huge teen idol in part due to his role on TV’s “Ozzie and Harriet”, and rock
and roll made him a superstar for several years in the late 50’s, but despite
or perhaps because of this fame <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rick
Nelson </b>has never really received his fair share of recognition for his
rockabilly work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nelson released far too
many syrupy ballads designed to cash in on his teen idol image, but he did also
record some great twangers that deserve recognition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Nelson hooked up with guitar virtuoso <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James Burton</b> (who would go on to play
with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis Presley</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emmylou Harris</b>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ricky’s cover of “Summertime” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">George Gershwin</b>, from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Porgy and Bess</i> (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Vincent</b> also covered this song, in 1958) is fantastic,
characterized by Nelson’s smoldering vocals; frankly, its surprising that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Isaak</b> hasn’t covered this song,
it seems tailor-made for his highly sexual neo-rockabilly. Nelson’s version was
also the inspiration for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Deep Purple’s</b>
1970 single “Black Night”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If You Can’t
Rock Me” is a pepped-up AAB blues with outstanding fretwork by Burton,
particularly on his alternatingly deep-and-twangy guitar solo, which may be one
of the most memorable of the 50’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
cover of “Mystery Train” is too vanilla for me, lacking any trace of the sultry
fire <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> brought to this classic,
but “Believe What You Say” is another wild rocker that rolls along on another
fine Burton solo, as is “Stood Up”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Be
Bop Baby” (cashing in on the popularity of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie
Cochran’s</b> “Be Bop a-Lula”) is perky and fresh while his cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams’</b> “My Bucket’s Got a Hole
In It” is sassy and up-tempo.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eddie Cochran</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> hit it huge with the oft-covered
“Summertime Blues” most memorably in ear bleeding volume by 60’s acid rockers <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blue Cheer</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This may be one of the best, most rocking
songs ever recorded and it is absolutely unsurprising that a punk act would
want to cover a song this raw. His first hit, “Sittin’ in the Balcony”, is a
little to mellow to me in comparison, but Cochran’s low, sensual vocal and
terrific guitar solo save it from being boring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His second single, “Twenty Flight Rock”, is catchy but slightly goofy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rock
and Roll Blues” is more melodic with its’ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jordanaire</b>-like
background vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my favorite song
of his is “Somethin’ Else”, which was covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sid Vicious</b> before his death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The rhythm track of this song is positively rumbling, especially on the
musical refrain following each lyrical segment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cochran was another far-too-early early rock casualty, dying in a car
crash in 1960 that also severely injured his good friend <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Vincent</b>. </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I recently
discovered a great album on iTunes called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rockin’
It Country Style</i>, which collects a number of obscure songs from Cochran’s
earliest career, and in particular his work as guitarist and vocal accompanist
to established country star <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Cochran</b>
(no relation, though they often billed themselves as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Cochran Brothers</b>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Rockin’ and Flyin” is a peppy country boogie highlighted by Eddie’s
terrific proto-rockabilly guitar work, particular on the solo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Steelin’ the Blues” has some phenomenal
steel guitar and a sedate vocal by Eddie; within a few years Eddie and the
other rockabilly pioneers would drop the steel guitar, pump up the electric
guitar, and change music forever, but it’s fascinating to see how it all
started within the context of traditional country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young” espouses a
classic rock and roll point of view; the song, and the vocal by Eddie in
particular, is very reminiscent of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Little
Jimmy Dickens</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gene Vincent</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> was another phenomenal talent; his
“Be Bop A Lula” was a bona fide classic as well, but he had a number of other
fantastic tracks, like “Red Blue Jeans and a Pony Tail” with its snappy beat;
“Woman Love”, which emulates the slow, languorous beat of “Be Bop A Lula”; and
“B I Bickey-Bi, Bo Bo Go”, which is wilder and faster than his other songs.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once the
floodgates were opened, a virtual deluge of rockabilly flooded American juke
boxes and radios between 1956-1961.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Texan
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sonny Fisher</b> whipped up a wild
tumult with his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b>-inspired “Pink
and Black”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Orangie Ray Hubbard</b> (who recently died, in 2011) from Cincinnati
cut “Sweet Love” for the Dixie label in 1957, which became a minor hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John
Worthan</b> has a country hillbilly voice similar to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlie Feathers’</b> which can be best appreciated on his “The Cats
Were Jumpin’” for Peach Records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Curtis Gordon</b> was a country singer but
crossed over for a number of singles for Mercury in the late 50’s; one of the
best is “Draggin’”, with its insane echo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fellow Memphian <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie Bond</b>
also recorded for Mercury and released a couple of hot rockabilly singles in
the wake of the King, including “Flip Flop Mama” (which cribs the basic
structure of “Blue Suede Shoes”) and the raunchy “Slip Slip Slippin’ In”. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Thomas Wayne</b> was the brother of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Cash</b> guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Luther Perkins</b> (himself no relation to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl</b>); his “You’re The One That Done
It” is magnificent; its basic outline is kind of similar to “Fujiyama Mama” by
the queen of rockabilly, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wanda Jackson</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl
Mann</b> released some killer singles on Jaxon Records, including 1957’s “Gonna
Rock ‘n’ Roll Tonight”; he also cut a rock version of “Mona Lisa” at the same
time as Conway Twitty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Criss</b> recorded some sides for
Fernwood Records; Fernwood, which was like Sun<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Records was founded in Memphis, was also home to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Lee Riley</b> and even <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Scotty
and Bill</b> after Elvis was drafted. “Hep Cat Baby” by Criss is understated
but features some fine vocals by him and some capable fretwork as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jackie
Lee Cochran</b> (no relation to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie</b>)
started as a country singer but like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Curtis
Gordon</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charlie Feathers</b> (and
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Conway Twitty</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck Owens</b>) also recorded rockabilly in
the late 50’s; “Hip Shakin’ Mama” and “Mama Don’t You Think I Know” capture his
fun, wild music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Phil Gray and his Go Boys</b> cut a single for Rhythm Records that’s
become one of the rarest and most sought after records on the collector market,
the exquisite “Pepper Hot Baby” backed with “Bluest Boy In Town”, both of which
were heavily influenced by the work of Elvis but retain enough originality to
be interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne Walker’s</b> “Bo Bo Ska Diddle Daddle” is another great rockin’
song; the backing vocals are particularly good on this song. “Daddy-o-Rock” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jeff Daniels</b> (no, not THAT Dumb and
Dumber Jeff Daniels) is a clean tight rockabilly in the format of Carl Perkins.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps the
most bizarre artist to record in the 50’s was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hasil Adkins</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adkins was a
crazy white cracker from West Virginia who recorded strange, primitive music
influenced by one man blues bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doctor
Ross</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joe Hill Louis</b>, with
guitar, drums, and harmonica all played by Adkins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His lyrics consisted of hoots, yelps,
hollers, shrieks, and random lyrics about hot dogs, chicken, aliens, and other
strange stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adkins has become kind of
the patron saint of psychobilly, and indeed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Cramps</b> covered his songs and played concerts with him in the
80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His “She Said” and “Ha Ha Cat Walk
Baby” are arguably the strangest records released in the 50’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rockabilly
fell out of favor in the early 60’s; there are many theories as to why this
happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One is that rock itself “died”
in the late 50’s as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> entered
the army, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carl Perkins</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Vincent</b> were badly injured in car
accidents, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Little Richard</b> left rock
for the ministry, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chuck Berry</b> was
persecuted on Mann Act charges and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry
Lee Lewis</b> was reviled for marrying his 13 year old cousin, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buddy Holly</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie Cochran</b> died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another
theory focuses on how rock was eroded, first by the resurgence of country
(artists like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck Owens</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Conway Twitty</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Horton</b> left rockabilly for country, for example) as well as
by pop (acts like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bobby Darin</b>) and
so forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rock also diversified into
surf, doo wop, and soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of these
contributed to rockabilly’s downfall, but another major force was the rise of
the English Invasion and the profound influence <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stones, the Who</b> and especially <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b> had on changing the shape of rock in the early to mid
60’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-22327465538269192752012-12-11T10:35:00.001-08:002012-12-11T10:35:41.460-08:00Big As Texas: Ethyl & the Regulars<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOTDlb12W0kSe0tMi3uAXVOq0ZDCCGLZsN7RBJR1FWMFfehoNAmPMgNFJvwSip5OfDhsDI-GWkCjmNaQ1hgKkpmHZLEHmwAjvzTa2RKHdBz3iJisZA8n4BgEwyEaZtoK-v8Sv4ye8OnHh/s1600/Ethyl+and+the+Regulars+fill+er+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqOTDlb12W0kSe0tMi3uAXVOq0ZDCCGLZsN7RBJR1FWMFfehoNAmPMgNFJvwSip5OfDhsDI-GWkCjmNaQ1hgKkpmHZLEHmwAjvzTa2RKHdBz3iJisZA8n4BgEwyEaZtoK-v8Sv4ye8OnHh/s640/Ethyl+and+the+Regulars+fill+er+up.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fill 'Er Up, the fantastic 2009 album by Denver's Ethyl and the Regulars</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In my last post I discussed many of the neo country bands that I've been following lately. Well, as I mentioned, my adopted state of Colorado has a very solid neo country scene and has several bands that are producing outstanding traditional country, including <b>Bonnie and the Clydes, the Blue Mountain Ranch Hands</b>, and <b>the Railbenders</b>. But recently I got to see what might arguably be considered the best of a very excellent bunch, <b>Ethyl and the Regulars</b>. They played at the Oskar Blues Grill and Bar in the small mountain town of Lyons and they were OUTSTANDING. I've really come to enjoy their music, having purchased their lone album, 2009's <i>Fill 'Er Up</i>, but seeing them live was on another level entirely. These guys play rock solid country mixed with honky tonk, western swing, and rockabilly in a way that is absolutely riveting. This was one of the best gigs I've seen in the past 25 years, and I've seen everyone from <b>Madonna</b> to <b>the Weirdos</b> to <b>Itzhak Perlman</b> in concert. But this was no "concert"; part of what made it so enjoyable was that this was just a honky tonk band playing a honky tonk bar in a honky tonk town for a honky tonk crowd; no hipsters here, just mostly regulars and people who like real country music played hot and live. The size of the crowd was disappointing given how good these guys are but everyone there seemed to really enjoy their 3+ hour set, with many older couples jumping up and cutting it up western style. Their lineup of stand-up bass, acoustic guitar, Telecaster, pedal steel, and fiddle with minimal amplification sounded warm, rich, and organic. They ripped through most of the songs on their album, including my personal favorites "Canada Day", "Love's Gonna Get You", the western swing influenced "Big as Texas", "Knee Deep in the Blues", "Good Morning Blues", the rocking hillbilly boogie of "Cash on the Barrelhead", and "At the End of My Blues". During their break I talked to lead singer <b>Jeff </b>(and bought a t-shirt and CD from this terrifically nice and talented guy) and requested my favorite song by them "Cook County Jail", which they ripped through with the ferocity of a man eating tiger. They also roared through a wicked number of fantastic covers, including "Together Again" by <b>Buck Owens</b>, "Mind Your Own Business" by <b>Hank Williams</b>, a phenomenal version of <b>Johnny Horton's</b> "One-Woman Man", and a blistering countrified romp through <b>the Monkees</b>' "Last Train to Clarksville". This was a terrific night of authentic country music and I cannot wait until I can see them again live. They have ascended my personal Top 10 in dizzying fashion and I am just so excited that a band of their talent and stature is in my neck of the woods. runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-20549047960281218692012-09-25T13:36:00.000-07:002012-12-11T10:08:47.888-08:00The Circle Will Be Unbroken: Neo Country<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8fBkOuYR56gfNq4Y0joVwcxrYH8CygZ5zrWLWfq-FMlxISiMNVReQgUYzxmGNqeUQ6q7wZJR8n7hwUvivm9zq2PU_AhrhXxp0p0ITq138SsWdHbtuiNp3ibTQo8DATOS-_GIK9C528a8/s1600/Ethyl+and+the+Regulars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp8fBkOuYR56gfNq4Y0joVwcxrYH8CygZ5zrWLWfq-FMlxISiMNVReQgUYzxmGNqeUQ6q7wZJR8n7hwUvivm9zq2PU_AhrhXxp0p0ITq138SsWdHbtuiNp3ibTQo8DATOS-_GIK9C528a8/s640/Ethyl+and+the+Regulars.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Denver's own Ethyl and the Regulars</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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In a recent post I mentioned how much I’ve come to
appreciate REAL, i.e., non-Nashville, country music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, in the past two months I’ve listened
almost exclusively to country (and western swing and occasionally rockabilly
and jump blues) and can’t get enough of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This type of country, which rejects the pop sheen and fashion image
consciousness of contemporary Nashville country, is often referred to as
“neotraditional country” or sometimes just “neo country”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless of the name, this type of country
music appears to be thriving in the 21<sup>st</sup> century. It seems like more
and more people are searching for music (and art and literature and political
opinions) outside of the usual standard arenas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We also live in a retro obsessed culture that has lionized, even fetishized,
old and/or archaic artistic forms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Groups like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Avett Brothers</b>
(I like “Slight Figure of Speech” and “And It Spread” from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I and Love and You</i>) and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mumford
and Sons</b> have crafted a sound that is immersed in these old fashioned,
folk/traditional musical idioms; there’s a great compilation called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Roots of Mumford and Sons</i> that
contains tracks by old time artists who influenced them, and includes such classic
and revered country/blues/traditional artists as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cisco Houston, Henry Thomas, the Carter Family, Mississippi John Hurt</b>,
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leadbelly</b>.</div>
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Other artists are mining a similar old-timey vein, but none
are older and timey-er than <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pokey
Lafarge</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hailing from St. Louis but
often found criss-crossing America like a modern day <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Woody Guthrie</b>, Lafarge’s sound is a compelling amalgamation of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmie Rodgers</b> hobo country, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leadbelly</b>-inspired folk blues, and 20’s
ragtime and jazz age pop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He brings a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dylanesque</b> quality to this unique,
almost artisanal mix of neo-primitive musical forms, writing most of his own
material and adding his distinctive vocal stylings as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve just begun exploring his work but so far
my favorite songs are “Mr. Nobody”, “Where I’m Gonna Go”, and the title track
off 2008’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beat, Move, and Shake</i>; “La
La Blues” off 2010’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Riverboat Soul</i>;
and “Sunny Side of the Street” from his most recent LP, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Middle of Everywhere</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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Another artist who has mined a real old time vein, but has
been doing it since the mid-90’s, is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gillian
Welch</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Welch, and her
husband/guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Rawlings</b>,
have been crafting introspective updates of Appalachian folk that is heavy on
the harmonies and light on the instrumentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On songs like the slight and plaintive“Barroom Girls”, the echoey,
soulful “Paper Wings”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Tear My
Stillhouse Down” (with its martial drum beat), and most notably the spectacular
“Orphan Girl” off her debut album, the aptly named <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revival</i>, Welch hews extremely closely to the sweet harmonies and
simple, somber instrumentation of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Carter Family</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Red Clay Halo” off
her third album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Time (The Revelator)</i>
is another sweet chunk of country pickin’ and croonin’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Welch and Rawlings could
occasionally kick out the jams, and my favorite song by them is the milk cow
boogie of “Honey, Now” off her second album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hell Among the Yearlings</i>, with its fat drums and electric guitar
boogie, it really feels like a country dance band cutting loose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On 2003’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Soul
Journey</i>, they continue to experiment with more, and more electric,
instrumentation, for example the soft organ backing “Wayside/Back in Time”;
this song sounds almost like a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Natalie
Merchant</b> piece it veers so close to modernity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Lowlands” is much closer to their prior,
exclusively acoustic work, but “Look At Miss Ohio” even sports an (electric)
guitar solo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Welch and Rawlings took
awhile to rediscover their inner muse but in 2011 released <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Harrow & the Harvest</i>; I particularly like the low-key folk
blues of “The Way That It Goes” and the soft, introspective “Silver Dagger”.</div>
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Almost as antique is the music of my current obsession,
Texan <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne Hancock</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wrote about Hancock in my previous post but
in the meantime I’ve become even more obsessed with his amazing talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hancock sounds like the reincarnation of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams Sr.</b>, nailing not only
Williams’ nasal honk but his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmie
Rodgers</b>-influenced yodel to a T.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
if that isn’t good enough, Hancock has chosen to adapt Hank’s traditional
country combo honky tonk sound to the large ensemble sound of western
swing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a great deal of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Wills </b>there of course, but also
elements of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Spade Cooley</b> and other
western swing pioneers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like these swing
antecedents, Hancock’s music can vary from “large ensemble” stuff complete with
horns sounding like classic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tommy Dorsey</b>
regular big-band swing (like on the title track of Hancock’s 2006 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tulsa</i>) to a smaller, more intimate combo
sound as showcased more on 2009 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the
Viper of Melody</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wayne will also
slow it down for lush slow dance numbers like “This Lonely Night” and “Lord
Take My Pain” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tulsa</i>; he also mixes
in hard blues elements in songs like “Drinkin’ Blues”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I like it best when he cuts loose, ramps
it up, and drives his band to yank astonishing solos out of the air like on
songs like “Tulsa”, “Going Home Blues”, “Jump the Blues”, “Freight Train
Boogie”, “Big City Good Time Gal”, “Gone Gone Gone”, and “Flat Land
Boogie”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most notably, Wayne’s personnel
have been out of this world, mind blowingly outstanding musicians; Wayne
typically picks the cream of the Austin scene crop for his touring and studio
bands, and his guitarists, particularly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Paul
Skelton</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Herb Steiner</b> on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thunderstorms and Neon Lights</i>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave
Biller</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jeremy Wakefield</b> on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Town Blues</i>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Skelton
</b>and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Biller </b>and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie Rivers</b> on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tulsa</i>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Izak Zaidman</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tony Locke</b> on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Viper of Melody</i>, kick up a wild,
extemporaneous squall of solos that will have you nodding your head and tapping
your toes guaranteed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wayne is, to me
anyway, hands down the guy who is doing neo country right, melding different
sub-genres of country to make a novel hybrid while simultaneously breathing new
life into these older musical forms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know of nobody who is trying to do big ensemble, hardcore traditional honky-tonk
infused western swing like this anywhere; as far as I can tell, Wayne is in a
class by himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t even know how
you wake up one day and decide to put together a western swing ensemble like
this; it’s so beyond the regular musical pale to be almost inconceivable to
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot WAIT for Wayne to swing
through my town soon, I’m dying to see him live, where he supposedly puts
together shows that are legendary for their length and enthusiasm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now, for me, Wayne is in a class by
himself.</div>
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I did manage to recently catch Hank’s more literal
offspring, his grandson <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams
III</b>, on his recent tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne Hancock</b>, with whom he
collaborated early in his career, Hank III has forged a unique path through
modern country, in Hank’s case one that veers between traditional, straight-up
honky tonk and between punk and hardcore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Hank has also fronted the hardcore punk band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Assjack</b> and more recently has tried to meld both honky tonk country
and industrial, metal, and punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
surprisingly, while I respect his other musical passions I’m most attracted to
his more traditional work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite
songs by Hank are “Lovesick, Broke, and Driftin’” (which could be mistaken for
a song by his granddaddy), the funky “Mississippi Mud”, the doleful “Whiskey,
Weed, and Women”, and “Walking With Sorrow” off his second album, 2002’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lovesick, Broke, and Driftin’</i>; “Thrown
out of the Bar”, which tells a tale of getting wasted with old school country
outlaws <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Allen Coe</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">George Jones</b> off 2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Straight to Hell</i>; the perky “Wild and
Free” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Damn Right Rebel Proud</i>; the
rumbling, aggressive, industrial tinged “Hillbilly Joker” off the 2011 album of
the same name;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the title track, “Sun
Comes Up”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and “What They Want Me To Be”
off the 2012 compilation <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Long Gone Daddy</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne
Hancock</b>, Hank III has the nasally vocals of his grandpappy down pat (though
supposedly Hank III has said Wayne has more of his grandfather in him than
anyone else, including him).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Long Gone
Daddy” comes the closest to capturing the funkiness of Hank’s granddaddy, who’s
music often strutted sassily and made you want to tap your toes at the same
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Sun Comes Up” is more reminiscent
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams Sr.</b>’s
cry-in-your-beer songs like “Lonesome and Blue” and “Lovesick Blues”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of Hank III’s song lyrics deal with
heartache, getting wasted, or giving the finger to the traditional country
establishment, putting him squarely in the forefront of this neo-outlaw country
movement.</div>
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Seeing Hank III live was fascinating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve seen a lot of weird acts with weird fans
live in my 45 years, but perhaps none as weird as Hank and his crowd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a unique blend of alterna-nation
types—shaved heads, dreadlocks, goatees, tattoos, piercings—and hardcore
hillbilly types in cowboy hats, moustaches, and beer guts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone got along fine and most folks were
enthusiastically shouting out the lyrics to nearly every song. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hank has clearly tapped into a solid vein of
anti-country sensibilities that resonates with a surprisingly wide swath of
fans.</div>
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There are a couple other guys who are also producing some
great classic honky tonk sounds that I mentioned in my previous<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>post:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Virginia’s
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">J.B. Beverley and the Wayward Drifters</b>
and Houston, Texas’ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sean Reefer and the
Resin Valley Boys</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Hank III,
Beverley has logged time in an assortment of traditional hardcore punk bands,
including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Bad Habits</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">G.G. Allin’s</b> former band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Murder Junkies</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Little White Pills</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beverley plays a more stripped down and
banjo-inflected honky tonk sound; my two favorite songs by him are the slow
cowpoke blues of “Walked Across Texas” and his middle finger to Nashville,
“Dark Bar and a Juke Box”, both of which are on his 2006 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dark Bar and a Juke Box</i>, but I’ve also
since come to like “Lonesome, Loaded, and Cold” and “Going to the Show” off
this album. Though for the most part his music leans too heavily on banjo (and
also on fiddle) for my tastes, I prefer guitars and standup bass more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sean
Reefer</b> almost comes off as a joke band, so heavily does he immerse himself
in marijuana culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from his
name and that of his band, nearly every title on his 2003 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Texas Hill Country</i> focuses on smoking
weed and getting high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from this,
I like his sound even better than Beverley’s; while not pursuing the western
swing angle as avidly as Wayne, Reefer’s music hews more closely to that of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne Hancock</b>, with lots of pedal steel
guitar on songs like “Otherwise” and “Whiskey Bottle” and “Do It All
Wrong”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately this is the only
album available on iTunes but I hope they put out some more (hopefully less
weed obsessed) music soon.</div>
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Georgia’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joey
Allcorn</b> is another country troubadour mining a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams</b> honky tonk vein. Like his occasional collaborator <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank III</b>, Allcorn has also occasionally
infused his music with some of the energy and raw sounds of punk, particularly
on tracks like “In Memphis Tennessee” and “Like I Never Will Again” on his
debut album; these two artists more than any other are responsible for creating
what’s become known as hellbilly, which is like the country/hillbilly variant
of psychobilly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On his debut album,
2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">50 Years Too Late</i>, Allcorn
creates some amazing music; my favorites are the perky “I Just Don’t Know” and
the sad lonesome sounds of “Here I Go Again”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I also like the more up-tempo rave-up “Honky Tonkin’ Ramblin’ Man” and
the slow “Lonesome, Lovesick Man” off 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All Alone Again</i>, but Allcorn’s voice lacks the Texas twang and
nasally drawl of Wayne the Train and Hank III and doesn’t sit quite as well
with me as their voices do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All Alone Again</i> also features some of
the last recorded pedal steel guitar work done by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Don Helms</b>, who was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank
Williams Sr.’s</b> pedal steel player for nearly all his big hits.</div>
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A guy who has been creating fantastic neo country for over
20 years now is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Junior Brown</b>. Brown
was born in Indiana but now resides in Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Brown’s music hews more closely to the electrified honky tonk country of
one of my newfound heroes, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck Owens</b>,
really sounding like an update on the “Bakersfield Sound”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brown’s music is highlighted by the sounds of
his so-called “guit-steel”, an electric guitar/steel guitar hybrid of his own
creation, as well as Brown’s deep, stentorian vocals, which bring to mind classic
male country singers like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ernest Tubb,
Waylon Jennings</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">George Jones</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also showcases his guit-steel with
blistering country shreds that evoke a corn pone <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie Van Halen</b> in their countrified pyrotechnics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brown has released half a dozen albums since
1993, all of which are consistently excellent, but my favorite current songs
are the very old-timey sounding “Gal From Oklahoma” off his debut <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guit With It</i>;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the clear, crisp “My Baby Don’t Dance To
Nothing But Ernest Tubb”, the straight-up country of “Too Many Nights in a
Roadhouse”, and the beautiful Hawaiian steel punctuating “Hillbilly Hula Gal”
off his follow-up<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from that same year <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">12 Shades of Brown</i>; “Gotta Get Up Every
Morning”, “Darling I’ll Do Anything You Say”, and the title track off 1996’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Semi-Crazy</i>; and the twangy,
Bakersfield-infused “I’m All Fired Up” and the jazzy swing of “Lookin’ For
Love” off 1998’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Long Walk Back</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brown has forged a unique musical sound that
owes much to the Bakersfield sound but is wholly his own.</div>
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As mentioned in my previous post, Austin’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Derailers</b> are another band that has
taken many of its musical cues from the Bakersfield sounds of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck Owens</b>; Owens was so impressed with
their abilities he had them play his birthday party in the late 90’s, and the
Derailers released an all-Buck cover album titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Under the Influence of Buck</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>These guys spent a good chunk of the 90’s and early 2000’s making
outstanding, straight-up electrified honky tonk country; on songs like “My
Heart’s Ready”, “This Big City”, “I’m Your Man”, “Where Ya Been”, and “Jackpot”
of their 1996 debut album of the same name showcased their immense talent;
rarely has there been a stronger top-to-bottom country debut album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guys instantly vaulted themselves into
the top (non-Nashville) country acts in the nation by channeling their inner
Buck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They even looked the part, with
their greaser hairdos and Western suits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They continued to storm the country ramparts on their 1999 big label
(Sire) follow-up <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Full Western Dress</i>
with solid honky tonk two steppers like “The Right Place”, “Someone Else’s
Problem” , “Whatever Made You Change Your Mind”, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and their cover of the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crystal’s Phil Spector</b> hit “Then She Kissed Me”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The latter two songs brought to the fore
their increasing fascination with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatlesque</b>
harmonies and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Byrds</b>/Merseybeat
janglepop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This element would become
more dominant on later albums like 2008’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guaranteed
to Satisfy</i>, which was made following the departure of long-time vocalist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tony Villanueva</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs like “The Get-Go”, with its soaring
vocal harmonies and funky 60’s garage pop guitar and the slower, more jangly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Byrds</b> exercise “The Sun Is Shining On
Me” showcased this new direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
on 2003’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Genuine</i> (which featured
songs like “Leave a Message, Juanita”, and “Boomerang Heart”) and 2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Soldiers of Love</i> (on songs like “She’s a
Lot Like Texas”, “Hey, Valerie”, and It’s Never Too Late for a Party”) they
continued to produce drop-dead country classics. And while it’s hard to fault a
band for evolving (particularly after the aforementioned departure of primary
singer Villanueva), I have to confess I miss the “classic” Derailers sound of
their earlier work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now aside from
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne Hancock</b> I’d say they are my
favorite act because of their ability to conjure the best sounds of
Bakersfield.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dale Watson</b> also
looks to the west for his inspiration, but his deep, almost stentorian vocals
hew closer to those of another Bakersfield icon, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle Haggard</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watson’s
smooth, deep, classic country voice has made him a favorite of the neo-country
crowd too. Watson is Alabama born but lived in (and has moved back to) Texas
and considers the Lone Star State his home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, he got his start at the Palamino Club in North Hollywood, and
even spent some time songwriting in (ugh) Nashville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But starting in 1995 he began releasing a
bewildering number of albums showcasing his own vocal and songwriting
talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite songs by Dale are
“Cheatin’ Heart Attack” and “List of Reasons” off his ’95 debut <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cheatin’ Heart Attack </i>and the more
swing-inflected sounds of his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">One More
Once More</i> album, including the title track, “You Win Again”, and “You’ve
Got Me Now”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m still exploring Dale’s
massive back catalog and hope to unearth more treasures soon.</div>
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As mentioned in my previous post, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moot Davis</b> hails from the decidedly non-country state of New Jersey
but has also made a name for himself in just the past few years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2004 he released his debut, a solid effort
that brought him plaudits from many neo-country circles for its traditional <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams</b> inflected honkey tonk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This album had some great songs, including
the leadoff track “Thick Of It Now”, which evokes both <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank the first</b> AND <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank the
third</b>, and “Highway Kind”, which, with its heavy electric and steel guitar
presence and yodeling vocals sounds like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne
Hancock</b> minus the nasally Texas inflections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Thanks for Breaking My Heart” is a
cry-in-your-beer Buck Owens type of number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Last Train Home” is a country plaint made even more doleful by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gabe Witcher’s</b> delicate banjo work and
by braying horns, not a typical country instrument but here they work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“One of a Kind” and “Stay Gone” also could be
songs from a lost 50’s country album.</div>
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Moot’s follow-up, 2007’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Already
Moved On</i>, continued on in this same manner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Toggle Switch” has the peppy rhythm and classic electric guitar twang
of a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Don Rich</b> arrangement, and
“Talkin’ About Lonely” is another <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank
Williams</b>-infused piece of traditional honky tonk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like “Go Down Alone” and his cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Paycheck’s</b> “I’m the only Hell
(My Mama Ever Raised)”, but this album seems to showcase a much lighter
production that seems less heavily rooted in traditional honky tonk country as
his debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moot waited five years to
release his third album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man About Town</i>,
and it in some ways seems to be a return to form but also finds Moot spreading
his musical wings a little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rags to
Rhinestones” has a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle Haggard</b>
feel to both the song and the lyrics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Day the World Shook My Hand” and “Memory
Lane” sound like countrified <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Isaak</b>
numbers, while “Rocket” is slower and funkier, a hip shaking country song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“How Long” and “Fade to Gold” showcase Moot’s
fantastic lyrical writing skills and are beautiful songs that will stick with
you.</div>
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Another band I mentioned in my previous country post whom
I’ve gotten more into are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Two Dollar
Pistols</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Pistols, who hail from
North Carolina, are essentially a vehicle for singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Howie, Jr</b>., a former drummer who formed this traditional
country outfit in the early 90’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">George Jones</b> is the obvious reference
point here, both in terms of Howie’s rough, masculine vocals and in terms of
the lyrics, which often focus on heartache and loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle
Haggard</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Waylon Jennings</b> also
jump to mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now the songs that
have leapt out at me are “You Ruined Everything” and “Gettin’ Gone”, “All I Can
Think of is You”, and the jaunty “There Goes a Heartache” off their 2002 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You Ruined Everything.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like “Too Bad You’re Gone” and the
rockier title track off 2004’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hands Up!</i>
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But the Pistols’ best effort is arguably their 1999 EP
collaboration with fellow Carolina crooner <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tift
Merritt</b>, which hearkens back to the classic country duets of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tammy Wynette</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">George Jones</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Merritt has a
spectacular voice that evokes the clear, ringing tones of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emmylou Harris</b> and which meshes with the rougher, more craggy
vocals of Howie, particularly on tunes like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Porter Wagoner</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dolly
Parton’s</b> “Just Someone I Used to Know”, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Waylon Jennings’</b> “We Had It All”, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charley Pride’s</b> “I’m So Afraid of Losing You Again”, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emmylou Harris</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Willie Nelson’s</b> “One Paper Kid”.</div>
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Though they hail from Nashville (though the members all come
from elsewhere), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BR5-49</b> have become
one of the biggest neo-country success stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Derailers</b>, they mix
traditional country, Western swing, Bakersfield honky tonk, and rock/rockabilly
to create a compelling blend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also like
the Derailers, they walk the old time country walk as well, wearing retro
Western duds and hats, which personally I always like as a nice touch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their 1996 self-titled debut album (their
name comes from a telephone number in an old <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hee Haw</i> sketch) was magnificent, with a terrific array of originals
and covers meshing well together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
addition to covering <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moon Mullican’s</b>
“Cherokee Boogie”, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mel Tillis’</b>
“Honky Tonk Song”, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Webb Pierce’s</b> “I
Ain’t Never”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ray Price’s</b> “Crazy Arms”, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram
Parsons’</b> “Hickory Wind”, their original compositions “Chains of This Town”
(which its Latin flavor) and “Even If Its Wrong” fit in extremely well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They continued in this vein on their second
album, 1998’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Big Backyard Beat Show</i>,
which contained covers of songs by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck
Owens, Johnny O’Keefe</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Joe
Shaver</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2001 they made their
major label debut on Sony with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Is
BR5-49</i>; this album seems to lose a little of the wild energy and enthusiasm
they brought to their prior albums but still has some high points, including
the country rocker “Look Me Up” and the strutting “Fool of the Century” and
“While You Were Gone”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Is BR5-49</i> didn’t sell and they
subsequently left Sony, and lost guitarist and vocalist (and lyricist) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gary Bennett</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2004’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tangled
in the Pines</i> marked a return to their signature sound from the
over-polished sheen of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This Is BR5-49</i>
and featured far more original numbers, including “That’s What I Get”, “When I
Come Home”, and “Honky Tonkin’ Lifestyle”, the latter two of which hew
lyrically to the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams</b>
school of songwriting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dog Days</i> saw the band losing more
membership but they have continued to soldier on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
like the feeling-sorry-for-themselves lament “A-1 On the Jukebox” and the
cowpoke lope of “I’m Goin’ Down”.</div>
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Another major and prolific neo-country band I was late in
discovering is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Asleep at the Wheel</b>,
who have been cranking out updated western swing for almost forty years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have a jillion albums and I’ve been
trying to pick my way through all of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>One feature of Asleep at the Wheel is their eagerness to collaborate
with a wide array of country and western swing artists, including former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Wills</b> guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leon Rausch </b>(I like “It’s a Good Day”
and “Osage Stomp” off the album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s a
Good Day</i>), outlaw country icon <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Willie
Nelson </b>(I love “Hesitation Blues” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Willie
and the Wheel</i>), and even swing/retro hounds <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Squirrel Nut Zippers</b> (on “A Maiden’s Prayer” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ride with Bob</i>, a tribute album to
Wills).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also like their <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Cash</b>-influenced cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Arkie Shibley’s</b> “Hot Rod Lincoln” and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Will’s</b> “Roly Poly” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Western Standard Time</i>, their cover of
“Albuquerque” off the compilation More Songs of Route 66:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roadside Attractions, their cover of “Take Me
Back to Tulsa” (another <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Wills</b>
standard) off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ride With Bob</i>, and
“Cotton Eyed Joe” and “Miles and Miles of Texas” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Live at Billy Bob’s</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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San Antonio, Texas country outfit <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Two Tons of Steel</b> have made a name for themselves as a live draw
that packs them in every summer at Gruene Hall, considered the oldest
continually operated dance hall in Texas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They have released several studio albums as well, and I’m still
exploring these.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So far my favorite
songs are the swinging “Cryin’ Eyes”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the mellower, organ-infused “Long Road to Heaven”, and “Bottom of the
Bottle” off 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Not That Lucky</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s easy to see why these guys are such a
popular live act in the Lone Star State.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vegas </i>album, they
also do countrified covers of “Secret Agent Man”, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Ramones’</b> “I Wanna Be Sedated”, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ray Harris’</b> rockabilly raver “Red Hot”, but I like “Drive You Home
Tonite” and “Can’t Stay With You”.</div>
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I’ve been doing some exploring of the local music scene
trying to find neo country artists in the Denver/Front Range area near where I
live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the first bands I came up
with is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ethyl and the Regulars</b>, a
popular Denver band that has been making the club circuit for awhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have an album available on iTunes,
2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fill ‘Er Up</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I downloaded the entire thing and am greatly
enjoying it; it reminds me a lot of the fantastic work of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">BR5-49</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Derailers</b>,
particularly on songs like “Good Morning Blues”, “Love’s Gonna Get You”, the
honky tonk heavy “Long Gone, Long Forgotten”, and the faster, more<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>up-tempo “Knee Deep in the Blues”.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Cowboy Dave Band</b>
is another Mile High purveyor of classic country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Led by “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cowboy”
Dave Wilson</b>, who also plays with Nebraska’s terrific country ensemble <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Forty/Twenty</b>, the Cowboy Dave Band have
a fun EP out, 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saddle Up, Pal</i>,
that showcases Dave’s killer country sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Friend in a Bottle” and “Bill, Wyoming” are two standout songs.</div>
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Another popular country draw in Denver are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Railbenders</b>, who play a high
lonesome western sound that leans heavily on bleak <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Cash</b>-like vocals and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Waylon
Jennings</b> influenced outlaw western country stylings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have several albums on iTunes, and I’ve
downloaded the frantic “Hellbound Party Train” as well as the local shout-outs
“I-70 Westbound” and “Driving Back to Denver” off 2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Showdown</i>; and “Lonesome Train” and “Minus One” off 2001’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Southbound</i> (they do a honky tonk version
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ozzie Ozbourne’s</b> “Crazy Train” on
this album that works quite well).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
also like “Drive Away”, “Drop Me Off at the Honky Tonk”, and the title track
from 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Like a Wheel</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I definitely need to catch these guys live
soon.</div>
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They call themselves “Twang Rock”, but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4H Royalty</b> have a sound that draws heavily on rock, alternative,
powerpop, rockabilly, and country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
like “The Breaks” and the incredibly punchy “Orbison Eyes”, which actually
reminds me of new wave/powerpop legends<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SVT</b> with its surging, crunchy blasts of
bass and guitar, off their 2010 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Colossolalia</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The live versions of their song “Accordion
Bus” available (as with the songs above) on YouTube are also phenomenal; again,
there’s a heavy late 70’s California powerpop vibe that evokes the best of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tommy Tutone</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Plimsouls</b> but with a rootsier edge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These guys are mining a unique vein of music
that I greatly enjoy.</div>
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Boulder’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gasoline
Lollipops</b> are slightly closer to the country side of things but still bring an alternative rock feel to their music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have several good songs uploaded on
their MySpace site, including the quavery “Devil’s in the Ace” and “White Trash
Song”; singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Clay Rose’s</b> voice
often evokes for me a slightly more countrified version of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie Vedder’s</b> vocals with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pearl
Jam</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favorite songs by these guys
right now is the plaintive, moving “Nashville” and the equally sweet “Longest
Night”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blue Mountain Ranch
Hands</b>, who hail from the tiny mountain town of Lyons, are producing some of
the most hardcore western swing I’ve heard; aside from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne the Train</b> and perhaps <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Asleep
at the Wheel</b>, these guys (and gals) are doing more to keep the memory of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Wills</b> alive than anyone else on the
planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not as huge a fan of the
vocals as I am of the fantastic musicianship of their guitarists, particularly
their pedal steel player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve downloaded
“Bud’s Bounce” and “Kansas City Kitty” from their 2010 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Steal the Show</i>, which is available on
CDBaby, and am enjoying them immensely.</div>
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Fronted by the fiesty <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bonnie
Sims</b>, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bonnie and the Clydes</b> are
a six piece outfit that is cranking out plaintive songs like “Dark Side of the
Road” and “Take Me Home”, which can be found on their 2012 release <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wrong Side Up</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I particularly like Bonnie’s vocals on the
latter song, but my favorite song is the perky “Rocky Mountain Town”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bonnie also does a soulful country version of
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Dylan’s</b> “Gotta Serve Somebody”.<br />
<br />
He's not from my current hometown but he is from my former hometown. Every time I find myself back in my (and <b>Snoop Dogg's</b>) hometown of Long Beach, California I go to the farmer's market by the Marina in Belmont Shore, and Caribbean country singer <b>Billy Rose</b> is almost always there with his acoustic guitar. I fell in love with Billy's voice the first time I heard it; his hoarse, raspy vocals are extremely bluesy and remind me almost of field hollers. For my 40th birthday, my in-laws tracked Billy down and bought me a CD of his work, <i>The Day Love's Well Runs Dry</i>. I was surprised and a little disappointed, because it features Billy with a large electric country ensemble and is obviously far more polished than his raw, powerful live performances. But I've since come to greatly treasure this CD. Billy's songs "A Special Kind of Woman", his cover of <b>Kris Kristofferson's</b>"Help Me Make It Through the Night", "I'm in the Picture with You", "Long Distance Phone Call", his cover of the <b>George Jones</b> classic "Once You Had the Best", and the title track are excellent country cuts.</div>
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It’s truly amazing to me how vibrant and fertile country
music, particularly neo-country, continues to be in the 21<sup>st</sup>
century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are so many artists
exploring traditional American musical forms and breathing new life into older
idioms like western swing and hobo country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve found the bands above in my neck of the woods but there are plenty
of other bands out there cranking out classic country music in bars and clubs
across America.</div>
runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-75136543292795957422012-06-29T09:55:00.002-07:002012-07-02T13:34:55.775-07:00Streets of Bakersfield: Buck Owens and the Bakersfield Sound<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGd_jyQTJXWm5iRsKuxljWULG1fGt7q0fbIThN9HztdWFCh6CETtZZ46qbAjS-uc97aXPDcJ2SE8klScnLujZ9Oxyq71KfysYbrZKlDWZd0-YJLQMY54jJs2SFiKazZp5rtCOvgYSs7dBG/s1600/Buck+Owens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGd_jyQTJXWm5iRsKuxljWULG1fGt7q0fbIThN9HztdWFCh6CETtZZ46qbAjS-uc97aXPDcJ2SE8klScnLujZ9Oxyq71KfysYbrZKlDWZd0-YJLQMY54jJs2SFiKazZp5rtCOvgYSs7dBG/s640/Buck+Owens.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buck Owens and Don Rich during their mid 60's heyday</td></tr>
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In my recent post on country rock I did a lot of digging to
find out more about the roots of country rock.
I mentioned toward the end of that post that it was only when I was
older that I started to gain a greater appreciation for country music. When I was a kid I totally detested it,
particularly when my mother would torture me with songs like “Elvira” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Statler Brothers</b>, or anything by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kenny Rogers</b> (seriously, is there a
dumber song than “Coward of the County”?
Even my well-established love of story songs hasn’t been enough to make
me like that song). </div>
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It has only been in the last decade or so that I’ve (a)
acquired enough age to appreciate country more—I seriously question the sanity,
intelligence, and taste of anyone who professes to like country music who is
under 30 years of age, country is something I feel you have to have been kicked
around by life a bit to appreciate; (b) been able to delve deeper into the
roots of country and really find what I like.
I can honestly say that I am now a fan of country music, though with
some huge caveats. </div>
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Caveat number one is that I still prefer country ROCK to
country almost any day. My first
exposure to “country” was highly indirect and initially occurred through an
appreciation of 80’s LA post-punk, in particular the so-called cowpunk of bands
like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Long Ryders</b>. In the 90’s
I briefly got into alt country through my appreciation of bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Geraldine Fibbers</b>; in the late 90’s
and early 2000’s I got further into alt country through my love of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wilco</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Uncle Tupelo</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Son Volt</b>. In the late 90’s I also saw <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iris Dement</b> in concert for the first
time and was blown away by her sweet pure country voice. Also in the late 90’s I was finally able to
“sample” some songs by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram Parsons</b>,
about whom I’d hear much but of who’s music I’d heard very little. Parsons’ solo efforts, as well as his work
with the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">International Submarine Band</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Flying Burrito Brothers</b>, was
as hardcore country as I’d ever listened to, and in fact was probably a little
TOO country for me at first. For most of
my adult life, I’ve been very much an urban person, attracted to modern art and
punk rock and contemporary jazz and classical music; I feel way less
comfortable in redneck situations. </div>
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But I’ve definitely gained a greater appreciation for real,
raw country music, which led to my recent revelation that I don’t actually
dislike country, what I actually dislike is NASHVILLE country, i.e., the slick,
overproduced pap that is simply twangified pop music that has oozed out of
Nashville for the past 40 years. And so Caveat Number Two is that the only country that I really will listen to and enjoy is stuff nobody who is a regular country fan has ever heard of. It was
in the 60’s that Nashville producers started crafting a slicker, more polished
country sound to appeal to pop fans and cross over to the pop market; one of
the first such movements was called “countrypolitan” in an effort to emphasize
it’s accessibility to city folks as well as rednecks. This is not to say that artists like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patsy Cline</b> (I love “Crazy” and “I Fall
to Pieces”; I also like "Angel of the Morning" by Merrilee Rush for its stately adulteress dignity) didn’t put out some good songs during this time, but in subsequent
decades this polish came at the price of grittiness and authenticity. </div>
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But country music isn’t just produced in Nashville, and what
I’ve finally come to understand is how much I love some of these other, often
less commercial strains of country music.
Specifically, I recently discovered that what I REALLY like is the
country music produced in the California farming and oil town of
Bakersfield. As I mentioned in my
previous post, part of my attraction to this sound may be because I actually
lived in Bakersfield in the early 70’s (specifically for part of 1973) and
remember enough of its hardscrabble charm to appreciate this music on a more
fundamental level. But more importantly,
I’ve come to appreciate this music for exactly what it is: a rawer, simpler, more rock and roll version
of country than what was being produced in Nashville at the time (or since).</div>
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Arguably the king of the Bakersfield sound is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck Owens</b>. I mostly remember Owens from his lengthy
stint as co-host of the cornball hillbilly comedy show <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hee Haw</b> in the 70’s (and into the 80’s though I obviously wasn’t
watching it by then), but during the 60’s Owens almost literally put
Bakersfield on the map in musical terms by the slew of hit singles he
produced. Owens’ sound was the
antithesis of the overproduced Nashville sound; raw, simple, clean country that
focused on Buck’s Texas drawl and acoustic guitar as well as electric guitar
and some light rhythm. Few if any
overdubs, no strings or horns, no choirs, just a few instruments played extremely
efficiently.</div>
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Buck Owens is rightly credited for bringing this clean and
simple country sound back to the charts, but an unsung hero, the real architect
of this sound, was his guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Don
Rich</b>. Rich is revered by true
country fans for his rockabilly-influenced electric guitar playing and high
singing harmonies, both of which perfectly complemented Buck’s acoustic guitar
and lead vocals. Rich gave Buck Owens a
sound that was both rooted in country history as well as forward facing toward
the rock generation. Sadly, Rich died in
a motorcycle accident in the mid-70’s; Buck was supposedly never the same
afterward.</div>
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I recently purchased the album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Buck Owens: 21 #1 Hits</i> off
iTunes, and I am enjoying it immensely.
Often collections that focus on #1 hits only can give a skewed view of
an artist’s output; after all, not all of an artist’s best songs always hit #1,
and plenty of songs that aren’t so great become #1 songs. But this collection really provides an
excellent overview of Buck’s most successful (both commercially and musically)
period, from around 1963 through the mid-70’s (the collection also includes a
re-recorded version of “Streets of Bakersfield” from the 80's featuring <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dwight Yoakam</b>). Buck’s
first #1, 1963’s “Act Naturally”, is one of his best songs, featuring Rich’s
clean, twangy rock-infused picking and high harmony with Buck; this song was
actually covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b> on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Help!</i> (it was released as the B-side of
“Yesterday” in the States). His second #1, “Love’s Gonna Live Here” is
another jaunty slice of Bakersfield country; Rich’s picking here is funkier,
less reverbed than on “Act Naturally” and is a perfect accompaniment to Buck’s
simple acoustic strumming. “I Don’t
Care (As Long As You Love)” is similarly fantastic and owes a debt to the early
country of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roy Acuff</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmie Rodgers</b>.</div>
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In 1965, Owens had a staggering four #1 singles “I’ve Got a
Tiger by the Tail”, “Before You Go” (with its incredible, ringing guitar intro
by Rich), the phenomenal instrumental “Buckaroo” (named for his backing band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Buckeroos</b> and sounding like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Richie Valens’</b> “La Bamba” filtered
through “Day Tripper” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b>;
this is still the only instrumental song ever to top the country charts), and
the slow ballad “Only You (Can Break My Heart)”. In 1966 Owens barely slowed down, producing
three more #1 hits, “I’m Waiting in Your Welfare Line” (with its terrific
chorus “I’ve got the hungries for your love, and I’m waitin’ in your welfare
line), “Think of Me” (with its Spanish
rhythm and Rich’s high, ringing guitar), and the funky “Open Up Your Heart”
(with its tejano beat). 1967 brought
three more #1’s, the oddly named lament “Where Does the Good Times Go”, the
slow, soulful “Your Tender Loving Care”, and the high-tempo rom “Sam’s Place”. </div>
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The next year, Buck’s incredible streak showed signs of
tapering off. His singles branched out
from his typical formula, and while several charted, he had only one #1, “How
Long Will My Baby Be Gone”. 1969 brought “Tall Dark Stranger”, with its cowboy
choruses and greater emphasis on acoustic and Spanish guitar, and the oddly
suggestive “Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass”, with Rich playing his electric guitar
through a fuzzbox for a weird, pseudo-psychedelic roar that sounds more like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Sneaky” Pete Klenow’s</b> work with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Flying Burrito Brothers</b>. </div>
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Buck continued to have chart success but his staggering run
of #1 singles was nearly at an end; his final #1 was 1972’s faintly
embarrassing “Made In Japan”, with its hokey chop-socky guitar and corny
lyrics. This is one of the few musical
missteps on this amazing album. From
1963-1969 Owens had something like 19 #1 songs, an amazing feat. But more importantly, he did so on his terms
and against the prevailing grain of the Nashville sound. For this reason Owens can truly be considered
an original country punk, making music that was rawer and simpler and achieving
success on his own terms. Another thing
I love about Buck’s music is how much it pulls on, and would influence, Spanish
country or tejano music. Many of the
rhythms and guitar textures Buck used in his songs come from that
Spanish/Tex-Mex influence, and his music in turn was a huge influence on the
burgeoning tejano music scene. Tejano typically uses more accordion and a
firm 2/2 beat—which can be heard on Buck’s re-recording of “Streets of
Bakersfield” with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dwight Yoakam</b>—but
many of the flourishes Buck put into his songs came from a Hispanic influence
that as a long-time (former) Californian I appreciate and respect. Buck was making music for ALL of the honky
tonk folks of the California Central Valley.
His music pulls more on the Western music aspects than on the Country
music aspects of country western music, and as a lifelong Westerner I
appreciate that immensely. </div>
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Buck wasn’t the only superstar to emerge from the
Bakersfield scene; the other was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle
Haggard</b>. Haggard’s influence on
country, country rock, and alt country was massive, gargantuan. Haggard played briefly in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck Owens’</b> band and through Buck he
absorbed some of the simplicity of the Bakersfield sound, but Haggard had one
of the most captivating lyrical muses in the history of country music, fed no
doubt by a colorful life spent in and out of jail and working the oil fields
around Bakersfield. I particularly love
some of his key early hits with his group <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Strangers</b>, like “I’m a Lonesome Fugitive”, “The Bottle Let Me Down”, “Swinging
Doors”, and “(My Friends are Gonna Be)
Strangers”. Merle was also a pioneer in
what eventually came to be called “outlaw country”, with artists like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Willie Nelson</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Waylon Jennings</b> jumping on board in the 70’s. </div>
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I respect Haggard but I am also less comfortable with his
reactionary redneck side, which is highlighted on songs like “Okie from
Muskogee” and “The Fighting Side of Me”; Haggard has claimed at various times
that these songs, which glorify a narrow-minded, jingoistic take on American
values, were written tongue-in-cheek, but I think they ring a little too true
to be parody. In contrast, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck Owens</b> embraced, and was embraced
by, the counter-culture during the 60’s; as mentioned above, his “Act
Naturally” was covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b> (Buck was supposedly a big fan of the Beatles, unusual among country artists at the time),
and Buck famously played a series of shows at the Fillmore West to an audience
of appreciative hippies. And while I think I prefer
Haggard’s voice over Owens’, Buck had a much better band (specifically
guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Don Rich</b>). But Haggard was also arguably a better
lyricist, and his songs have found new life in some of my favorite country rock covers, including “Big City” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iris Dement</b>, “Silver Wings” and “I
Can’t Hold Myself in Line” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Doe</b>, “White Line Fever” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Flying Burrito Brothers</b>,
and “Kern River” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Alvin</b>.</div>
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Buck and Merle put Bakersfield on the map, but there were
musicians playing in Bakersfield before them.
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tommy Collins</b> was arguably
the first Bakersfield artist to gain recognition by the country music
establishment in the 50’s. I only have
two songs by Collins, “Whatcha Gonna Do Now” and “You Better Not Do That” off
the album Country Music’s Greatest Hits of the 50’s; both are kind of tinny and
twangy and owe more to the Appalachian country sound than Owens’ more
western-influenced sound but you can hear glimmers of the stripped-down
Bakersfield sound here. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wynn Stewart</b> was
a stepping stone between Tommy Collins and Buck and Merle. I am just starting my Stewart collection but
right now my favorite song by him is “Wishful Thinking”, even though its sound
is busier and more polished than Buck or Merle’s. I also like “Big Big Love” and “I’ve Waited a
Lifetime”, the latter of which comes the closest to the high lonesome
simplicity of Buck Owens’ work. </div>
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The Bakersfield sound has remained incredibly durable over
the decades since its mid-50’s to late-60’s heyday. As mentioned, a wide array of pioneering
country rock artists idolized Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram Parsons</b>, as well as members of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Speckled Bird, Poco</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Byrds</b>. In the 80’s, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dwight Yoakam</b> was a standard-bearer for the Bakersfield sound and
even released an entire album of Buck Owens covers. In the 90’s and 2000’s the main musical
progeny of the Buckaroos are probably Texas’ <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Derailers</b>,
who almost perfectly capture the clean lines and facile elegance of mid 60’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buckaroo</b> sounds (and who, like Yoakam, have released an entire album of Buck Owens covers called <i>Under the Influence of Buck</i>). I am just getting into these guys but pretty
much everything off their 1996 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jackpot</i>
but specifically “My Heart’s Ready” (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Don
Rich</b> is smiling somewhere at the funky guitar twang here), the honky tonk
stomp of “This Big City”, “I’m Your Man” the quickstep of “Where Ya Been”, and
the marvelous title track. “Whatever
Made You Change Your Mind”, “Someone Else’s Problem”, their gender-reversed
cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Crystal’s</b> “Then She
Kissed Me”, and “The Right Place” off 1999’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Alvin</b>-produced <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Full Western Dress</i> are some other
terrific old school Bakersfield western songs.
I also like “The Get-Go” and “The Sun Is Shining on Me” off their 2008
album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guaranteed to Satisfy</i>, though
these move away from the crisp sparseness of Buck’s best work and more toward
the work of those who interpreted Buck in a rock setting, specifically <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Byrds</b>. The big, chiming rock guitars and soaring
harmonies that start “The Get-Go” are straight from the Byrds playbook (with a
dash of “Drive My Car” or “Ticket To Ride” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b>) and even though it departs from the country simplicity
of the Bakersfield sound I still like this work a lot. They started migrating away as early as 2003’s
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Genuine</i>, specifically on the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatlesque</b> song “Scratch My Itch”, and
on 2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Soldiers of Love</i> they
channel <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry Lee Lewis</b> and “Day
Tripper” on “Get ‘er Done” and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chuck Berry</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Killer</b> on “Hey, Valerie!”
It’s great to see a band evolve, and while I lament their migration away
from their Buck influenced origins I can’t fault them too much for trying to move toward
something new. </div>
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In a similar way, North Carolina’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Two Dollar Pistols</b> channel <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle
Haggard</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Strangers</b>. Lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Howie Jr.’s</b> voice reminds me a lot of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Doe’s</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X</b>, which I
have always been a fan of (Doe recorded two of the best Haggard covers ever so that's not a bad person to emulate). I’m just
getting into this band but I love their series of duets with alt country
chanteuse <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tift Merritt</b> from 1999
that evokes the best of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram Parsons</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emmylou Harris</b>, most notably on
“Just Someone I Used To Know”, “(I’m So) Afraid of Losing You Again”, and “We Had It All”. I also like “You Ruined Everything” off their
2002 album of the same name and “Too Bad You’re Gone” off 2004’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hands Up!
</i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wayne Hancock </b>plays
a hardcore honky tonk music closer to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank
Williams</b> than <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck Owens</b> and
with an incredible mix of western swing, rockabilly, big band swing, jump blues and even 50’s crooner pop. I am really becoming a huge fan of his; right now he along with the Derailers is at the top of my current favorite artist list. I really enjoy the spare, simple arrangements
of much of his work, most notably songs like “Thunderstorms and Neon Lights”
off his 1995 album of the same name; this song is just infused with the spirit
of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams</b> through and
through. Another of my favorite songs of
his is the title track off 1997’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That’s
What Daddy Wants</i>—I love how his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank
Williams</b> vocals meld with the swinging guitar twang, which has elements of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tal Farlow</b> and even <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Django Reinhardt</b> in it, and the braying
sax and rumbling tympani give this a jump blues feel similar to the music of
the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Setzer Orchestra </b>(his song
“Juke Joint Jumping” off his debut also has this same honky tonk plus jump
blues feel, with rockabilly guitar flourishes tossed in for good measure). I also enjoy the rockabilly/swing/honky tonk
feel of “Lose Your Mind” and “Big City Good Time Gal” from his 2003 live album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Swing Time</i>. The title track from 2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tulsa</i> swings and bops, and the shout-out
chorus spelling of “Tulsa” owes a big debt to jive numbers like “Pennsylvania
6-5000”, and his yodeling vocals on “Goin’ Home Blues” evoke <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmie
Rodgers</b> as much as the immortal Hank.
Finally, “Jump the Blues” off his latest album, 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Viper of Melody</i>, continues his streak of
great swing songs. I’m no two stepper
but this music makes even me want to get up and get in the line!</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sean Reefer and the
Resin Valley Boy</b>s also play some old tyme yodeling Hank Williams style
country in a 40’s/50’s style, with plenty of amazing fiddle work combined with
clean electric picking. There’s only one
album by him on iTunes, 2003’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Texas Hill
Country</i>, but I like pretty much everything off it. Particular favorites are the sweet, twangy
picking and fiddling of “The Other Side”
and Reefer’s yodeling “Whiskey Bottle”.</div>
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Georgia’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joey Allcorn</b>, also heavily influenced
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hank Williams</b>, isn’t quite as
yodeling or twangy as Reefer or Hancock; his voice is more nasally and sounds
more alt country than hardcore neotraditionalist, but his overall sound is
nevertheless rooted in classic country and western sounds. His song “50 Years Too Late” off his 2006
album of this name is a lament about how he missed out on the heyday of
country; in this way it reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saint
Vitus’</b> similarly themed “Born Too Late”, which laments their missing out on
metal’s 70’s era. I also like the sweet
Hawaiian steel guitar on “Honky Tonk Ramblin’ Man” off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All Alone Again</i>. </div>
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The retro outlaw sounds of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">J.B. Beverley & the Wayward Drifters</b> from Virginia are also
something I’m really enjoying now. “Dark
Bar and a Jukebox” from his 2006 album with the same name really summarizes my
feelings about country music—‘You won’t find no country on country radio’. Amen.
Beverley played in a punk band called <b>Bad Habits</b> before forming his
western swing infused outfit in the late 90’s. I also like his yodeling
delivery on “Lonesome, Loaded and Cold” from this same album. And I love the finger snapping ditty “Walked
Across Texas” off his 2009 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Watch
America Roll By</i>. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moot Davis</b>, from
New Jersey of all places, is another retro stylist mining a less commercial
country vein. His vocals fall just to
the right side of country for me but are much closer to traditional Nashville
sounds. In some ways he comes off like a
country version of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Isaak</b> (whom
I’m definitely a fan of)—kind of alt country lite. Again, I’m still just exploring his work but
so far I enjoy “Thick of It Now” off 2004’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Moot
Davis</i>, “Talkin’ About Lonely” off 2007’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Already Moved On</i> and his duet with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elizabeth Cook</b> “Crazy In Love With You” off 2012’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Man About Town</i>.</div>
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<br /></div>runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-64711444465375766042012-06-13T13:27:00.002-07:002012-06-14T08:15:24.058-07:00Crazy Diamonds and Madcap Laughs: The Music of Famous 60's Burnouts<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnPX5layMrBywd8S6LRrQjWN5CsEgZPSCGCZQcRB4uP5VGcVhDogWqqOJRcVWCF2Tz79CGiSbsEKtMVHQxP2mBReozzcJeMFgd5sxNg3ZY-LUcTVoQBXevWw55zQ0MMAjLJBnUbnkESLE/s1600/Syd+Barrett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmnPX5layMrBywd8S6LRrQjWN5CsEgZPSCGCZQcRB4uP5VGcVhDogWqqOJRcVWCF2Tz79CGiSbsEKtMVHQxP2mBReozzcJeMFgd5sxNg3ZY-LUcTVoQBXevWw55zQ0MMAjLJBnUbnkESLE/s640/Syd+Barrett.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Syd Barrett in the mid-70's</td></tr>
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My previous post on country rock, and specifically the part
about Gram Parsons, made me think about how hard the 60’s were on rock
people. Many leading lights of the 60’s
died young, most of them not outliving the decade by too many years. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Janis
Joplin, Mama Cass Elliot, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Jim Morrison</b>, all of
them died way too young. There’s even an
internet meme called “The 27 Club”, which focuses on how most of these
musicians, as well as musicians from other eras (including blues great <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Robert Johnson</b> and grunge icons <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kurt Cobain</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mia Zapata</b> and even a more recent loss, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Amy Winehouse</b>) all died at the age of 27.</div>
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But the 60’s had another group of casualties; these didn’t
die, but basically went insane, either as a direct result of over-consumption
of hallucinogenic drugs like LSD or through other mechanisms. I’ve long been a little obsessed with these
damaged geniuses and their <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Van Gogh</b>-like
descents through creativity into madness.
The general public often conflates genius with madness (or at least
eccentricity); the idea of the mad scientist or the creative-yet-disturbed
artist (like the aforementioned Van Gogh) are clichés widely accepted by the
masses. But I’ve never felt that genius
and madness were necessarily connected; there are plenty of talented folks that
could arguably be considered geniuses who are perfectly sane and well-adjusted,
and conversely there are tons of crazy folks who are no more talented or
creative than average. In fact, I often
wonder if my attraction to these people has more to do with them being the
exception to this rule: I want to know
what happened and why they were unable to avoid such a terrible fate.</div>
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One of the most legendary of these 60’s icons is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alexander “Skip” Spence</b>. Spence was born in Canada but move to the Bay
Area in California as a child. In the
mid 60’s he was in the thick of the whole San Francisco scene, playing guitar
in an early incarnation of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Quicksilver
Messenger Service</b> before being asked to play drums for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Jefferson Airplane</b>. Spence
played drums on their debut album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Jefferson Airplane Takes Off</i>, co-writing the song “Blues from an Airplane”
with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Marty Balin</b>. This pre-Grace Slick version of the Jefferson
Airplane was actually a fantastic band, splitting the difference between folk-twinged
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatles</b>-influenced pop, 60’s garage
rock, and nascent psychedelia. “Blues
from an Airplane” has an ominous bass-tinged beginning and crashing,
cymbal-heavy drums from Spence. The backing
vocals remind me of something <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Godz</b>
might have recorded around the exact same time.
“Bringing Me Down” has a twangy country/garage guitar lead-in, a sleazy,
strutting drum line from Spence and Balin’s shrill vocals simply scream 60’s
garage rock. This would have fit
perfectly onto <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lenny Kaye’s </b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nuggets</i> compilation of 60’s garage
punks. “Let’s Get Together” is more mellow, a hazy slice of pre-psychedelia
written by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chet Powers</b>; this song
would achieve greater recognition when <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Youngbloods </b>remade it as “Get Together” and had their biggest hit with
it. It features <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Grace Slick’s</b> predecessor on vocals,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Signe Anderson</b>. </div>
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Skip Spence (and Anderson) left the Airplane prior to their
recording of what would be their magnum opus, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Surrealistic Pillow</i>, in 1967.
This might be as good a place as any to mention that I consider
“Somebody To Love” to be one of the greatest songs the 60’s ever produced, it’s
clanging, chiming guitar and jangly, edgy, driving tempo are just to me the
perfect distillation of that heavy psychedelia period and the sonic template
for everything from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Velvets</b> to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stooges</b>. I just love this song. The band included another Spence composition,
the sweet, jaunty “My Best Friend”, which sounds like a precursor to the
electric folk pop of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Mamas and the
Papas</b>. </div>
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Anyway, Spence proceeded to form one of the great lost bands
of the 60’s, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moby Grape</b>. The Grape was formed by former Airplane
manager <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Matthew Katz</b> around Spence
but bad decisions and bad breaks derailed the band before they could truly make
their mark. Moby Grape sounded much
less overtly psychedelic than the Airplane, often bouncing between whimsical
psychdelia-tinged folk pop and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Grateful
Dead</b> style jams. “Hey Grandma” off
their first album sounds like vintage Dead; galloping rhythms, noodling guitar,
crisp harmonies. “Mr. Blues” is a more
formal electric blues workout. “8:05” is
sweetly affecting guitar pop with folk harmonies. Two of Spence’s compositions
are present on this first album, the surging, urgent “Omaha” (it reminds me of
“American Ruse” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the MC5</b>), and
“Indifference”, which has a sultry strut and vocal harmonies that sound like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crosby, Stills and Nash</b>.</div>
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It was between the release of their debut album and the
recording of their second album, Wow, that Spence began to deteriorate
mentally. According to bandmates, Spence
was hanging around with a lot of shady characters who were plying him with
hard, heavy drugs almost constantly.
While recording the album in New York, Spence apparently had an almost
complete psychotic break, and legendarily attacked bandmate <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry Miller</b> with an axe before being
hauled off to famous NYC prison the Tombs and eventually to the insane asylum
Bellevue, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. </div>
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It was while in Bellevue that Spence supposedly wrote what
would become his one and only solo record, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oar</i>. Upon his release from Bellevue in 1968,
Spence supposedly drove directly to Nashville on his motorcycle and recorded
it, and it has been widely debated ever since.
The debate, in essence, can be summarized as follows: genius or madman? Gold or crap?
While some of the songs are interesting, many are pretty spare, even
skeletal. At times they sound like the
mutterings of a lunatic (which in a sense they are). And it is fiercely debated whether anyone
would have actually cared about this independent of Spence’s prior history and
his legendary breakdown. “Little
Hands” comes the closest to the bluesy jam-band-meets-the-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Byrds</b> creations of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moby
Grape</b>. On songs like “Cripple Creek”, “Dixie Peach Promenade”, and “Broken
Heart”, Spence’s stentorian baritone and spare picking evoke <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Cash</b> but you can also hear the
future echo of southern gothic bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Birthday Party</b> here. “Diana” is a
sweet acoustic number and almost sounds like some of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Robert Plant’s post-Zeppelin</b> work.
“Margaret-Tiger Rug” throbs on a heavy bass and spare drum taps and
Spence’s muttering vocals. “Weighted
Down (the Prison Song)” is melancholy and spare. “War In Peace” has a shimmery late 60’s
guitar sheen and lurching tempo that again evokes <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zeppelin</b> at their less overtly metallic. “Book of Moses” is pure folk blues, with the
rainstorm sound effects adding an eerie vibe along with Spence’s higher
pitched, almost straining vocals. “Lawrence
of Euphoria” is as odd as its title, another off-kilter slice of skewed
acoustic folk. “Grey/Afro” is a subdued,
droning song in which Spence mutters almost unintelligibly below the sonic moan
and martial drumming. The original <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oar</i> ended with “Grey Afro”, but in
subsequent releases other songs have been appended to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oar</i>, most of which continue on in the same vein. One of the strangest is the subdued folk
sketch “Furry Heroine”, which was covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beck</b> as “Halo of Gold”.</div>
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Alas, Spence never really recovered, and the rest of his
life was more or less a downward spiral of drug and alcohol addiction and
mental illness. His former bandmates
tried to support him for awhile but given Spence’s several and debilitating
mental disabilities he was eventually re-institutionalized, and spent much of
the rest of his life cycling between institutions, homelessness, and stays with
friends or in his trailer in San Jose.
He died at age 57 in 1999 of lung cancer. Spence never worked effectively as a musician
post-Oar with one possible exception, a scratchy recording of a Spence song,
“All My Life (I Love You)” was recorded around 1972 and has since found release
on iTunes. This is actually one of his
best songs, a hard rocking but soulful meditation on love that serves as a
fitting coda to his strange, remarkable career.</div>
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But the influence of Oar has been huge. In 1999, the cover compilation <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">More Oar: a Tribute to the Skip Spence Album
</i>was released, and contained covers of the songs on Oar by artists as
diverse as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Robert Plant, Beck, Mudhoney,
Robyn Hitchcock, Flying Saucer Attack</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Waits</b>. What was perhaps
most interesting about this collection is how right these varied artists sound
covering these songs.</div>
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Probably the next most celebrated 60’s burnout is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Syd Barrett</b>. Barrett was a founding member of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pink Floyd</b> in the mid-60’s, helping to
record and release their first album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Piper
at the Gates of Dawn. Piper</i> was an
impressive debut, one of the first and most comprehensive psychedelic albums of
the 60’s that built effectively on the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatles’</b>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sgt. Pepper</i> album and extended
it, and which was written almost
entirely by Barrett. Among the standout
tracks are “Astronomy Domine”, with its odd, flat vocal harmonies and rambling
guitar and eerie keyboards; “Lucifer Sam”, which sounds like a psychedelicized
version of the “Peter Gunn” theme; the epic, clanging “Interstellar Overdrive”;
and the spritely “The Gnome”. Barrett
and Floyd’s take on psychedelia was playful, almost whimsical, with almost
intentionally child-like or silly lyrics, jaunty melodies, and strange musical
accompaniments. </div>
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But like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Spence</b>
(and at almost exactly the same time), Barrett was rapidly falling apart. Heavy drug use (particularly of LSD) and
growing mental instability were causing Barrett to behave increasingly
erratically and antisocially. In the
months prior his performances with the band and interviews had deteriorated
badly, and he often just stood on stage strumming a single chord or even not
playing at all. Initially, the members
hoped to keep him on as a non-performing songwriter but even this proved to be
too much for all parties to handle, and in spring of 1968 the band announced
they were parting ways with him. Unlike
Spence, Barrett had no final break with reality requiring incarceration or
institutionalization, but he drifted farther away from the public eye.</div>
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Also like Spence, he did embark on a solo career, in
Barrett’s case one that lasted for two albums instead of just one. Both were released in 1970 and feature hazy,
introspective songs centered on Barrett’s off-kilter lyrics. “Terrapin” (co-written with Jerry Garcia),
off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the Madcap Laughs</i>, is slowly
strummed bluesy folk with Barrett’s sing-song voice and strange time stops
interspersed. “No Good Trying” and “No
Man’s Land” are electric and feature some acidulous guitar; they come close to
capturing Barrett’s psychedelic rock with Floyd and are two of my personal
favorites. “Love You” is jaunty and
silly, as is “Dark Globe” (the latter was later covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">R.E.M.</b>). “ “Here I Go” is
another standout, as is “Octopus”, twee acoustic romps. “Golden Hair” is much more somber and
solemn. “Long Gone” and “She Took a Long
Cold Look” and the rest of the songs on the album hew to the same fractured
take on acoustic folk as most of the other songs here.</div>
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Barrett’s other 1970 album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Barrett</i>, boasts far better production that greatly improves the
material. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Humble Pie</b> drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jerry
Shirley</b> and Floyd members <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rick
Wright</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Gilmour</b> play
here (wright and Gilmour produced the album, often without Barrett’s input
since he was incapable of assisting) and better flesh out the arrangements more
than was done on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the Madcap Laughs</i>. As a result the album is a huge improvement
over the sketchy <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laughs</i>. Album opener “Baby Lemonade” clearly benefits
from this additional production; Wright’s keyboards and Shirley’s drumming pump
this song up and give it much greater depth than anything on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Laughs</i>; it’s one of Syd’s best
post-Floyd songs. “Love Song” and its
quirky, tinkling piano and droning organ is another terrific track. “Dominoes” sounds like a more subdued
rendition of “Happy Together” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Turtles</b>. “It Is Obvious” sounds like
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Lennon</b> leading the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doug Yule era Velvet Underground </b>through
a folk standard. “Rats” is much louder
and more strident and Shirley’s peppy drum beat keep things moving along nicely
while Gilmour’s noodling guitar provides embellishments to Barrett’s random
ramblings. It is followed by the slower,
lurching, almost threatening “Maisie”, a warped blues workout. “Gigolo Aunt” returns to Syd’s usual quirky,
perky vibe, but is saved from being another tossaway acoustic sketch by the
organ flourishes and some nice guitar licks from Gilmour. “Waving My Arms in the Air” and “I Never
Lied To You” are typical Barrett musings.
Effervescing Elephant” sounds like a goofy kid’s song, particularly with
the tuba accompaniment. In all <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Barrett</i> was a vast improvement over <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Madcap Laughs</i>, for which Barrett could
thank his former Floyd mates. </div>
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Barrett never recorded another proper album, but rumors
about additional studio outtakes from his first two albums floated around for
almost two decades before a compilation was released in 1989 called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Opel</i>.
Opel contains alternate versions of songs from his first two albums as
well as a few previously unreleased songs, including the title track and “Word
Song”, which continue on in the vein of Madcap Laughs. Many of the alternate takes have subsequently
been appended to the original releases and are available elsewhere.</div>
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Barrett did become involved briefly in a musical project in
the early 70’s involving <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Twink</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Pink Fairies</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Henry Cow</b> guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Henry Firth</b> called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stars</b> but after a couple of gigs (one of which supported <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the MC5</b>) Barrett quit. He also supposedly played with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Steve Peregrin Took</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tyrannosaurus Rex </b>and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Shagrat</b>, and was famously asked by both
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Sex Pistols </b>and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Damned</b> to produce their albums (the
Pistols’ first, the Damned’s second).
Barrett drifted further and further from public contact throughout the
70’s; eventually in the early 80’s he returned to live with his mother in Cambridge,
focusing his talents on another artistic love, painting. He died in 2006 at age 60 from pancreatic
cancer. In 1987 a covers tribute album
was released that featured <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Shamen,
Opal</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Soup Dragons</b>,
among others, and artists as diverse as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John
Lennon, David Bowie</b> (who covered “See Emily Play” for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pinups</i>) and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Robyn Hitchcock</b>
have said to have been influenced by him.
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Less well known than either Spence or Barrett but
nevertheless regarded as another burned out 60’s visionary is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roky Erickson</b>. Erickson was a founding member of the seminal
Texas psychedelic group the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">13<sup>th</sup>
Floor Elevators</b>, who along with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Moving
Sidewalks</b> (which contained future <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZZ
Top</b> guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Gibbons</b>)
were two of America’s first psychedelic groups.
The Elevators’ single “You’re Gonna Miss Me” is a wild slab of galloping
60’s garage rock, punctuated by Erickson’s fierce, punky vocals and wild primal
screams. The Elevators developed a
significant following but in 1968 (which was apparently a bad year for
acid-damaged musicians), Erickson started acting erratically and was admitted
to a psychiatric hospital in Houston where he received electroshock
treatment. A year later he was busted
for possession of marijuana and was essentially given the choice of going to
jail for 10 years or pleading insanity and chose the latter. He was sent to a home for the criminally
insane, where he received more electroshock treatments and Thorazine. Erickson continued to write and perform
however, even in this psychiatric prison; over the years a few homemade tapes
of performances while still incarcerated have surfaced, including the songs
“Devotional Number One” and “God Is Everywhere”, odd, affectingly warped
acoustic numbers. “Gone and Number” is
more high fidelity and features rambling vocals but is a sweet love song. “You’re an Unidentified Flying Object” is
similarly pleasant, a nice acoustic jaunt.
But my favorite of these old recordings is “Save Me”; here Erickson’s
beautiful voice peeks from under the low fi nature of the recording and is
simply magnificent. This is strong
evidence that he was an extremely talented if disturbed man. These songs are particularly poignant because
most of Erickson’s other solo offerings were obsessed with aliens, demons and
other forms of disturbing imagery. </div>
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Upon his release in 1973, Erickson put together a band known
as the Aliens which released some interesting music. One of their best songs is “Two Headed Dog”,
which sounds like a cross between twangy 70’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Petty</b> rock and crunchy <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ted
Nugent</b> hard rock; this song was later covered by punk guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jeff Dahl</b>, and “Mine Mine Mind”, a
garage punk ditty that again has <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom
Petty</b>-esque overtones, mostly in Erickson’s twangy Midwestern vocals. “The Wind And More” is another phenomenal
track, another Nugent-y number showing that if his legal and mental troubles
hadn’t sidetracked him he might have achieved as much success as fellow Texan <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Gibbons</b> did with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ZZ Top</b>.</div>
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Unlike Spence and Barrett, whom I didn’t get into until the
late 90’s when I was able to sample a few of their songs via online means, I
actually was into Erickson in the 80’s when I was in college. At the time I
worked at the campus radio station and Erickson released an album called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Don’t Slander Me</i> in 1986 that I listened
to and liked, particularly the title song, which returns more to his shrieking
60’s wild man persona vocally. A few
years later a collection of acoustic recordings was released called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the Holiday Inn Tapes</i>, and this is
instead a return to his mid-70’s mellowness.
A particularly stellar song is “The Times I’ve Had”, which sounds like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zeppelin’s</b> “Going to California” but
contains some touchingly autobiographical lyrics, such as “let me tell you
about the times I’ve had; ain’t so good and they ain’t so bad”. Other standouts are an acoustic, almost
rockabilly run through “Don’t Slander Me” and “May the Circle Remain Unbroken”,
a cover of another song of his from his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">13<sup>th</sup>
Floor Elevators</b> days in the mid-60’s.
This is a fabulous album and a perfect entre into the amazing talented
world of Roky.</div>
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But Erickson was in slow decline during the 80’s and 90’s,
becoming ever more isolated and mentally ill as his schizophrenia affected him
more deeply. For a time he became obsessed with the mail, and would spend hours
reading junk mail and contacting the senders.
He was eventually arrested for stealing some of his neighbors’
mail. But in 2001 his brother took over
care for him and he started receiving some high quality health care and has
continued to improve psychologically. He
has continued to play around at various festivals. In 1990 a tribute album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye</i> was released containing covers by
such artists as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Butthole Surfers</b>
(who were both fellow Texans and huge fans; BH drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">King Coffey</b> had put out an Erickson album on his Trance Syndicate
label in the 90’s), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">R.E.M., the Jesus
and Mary Chain, ZZ Top, Julian Cope, and Richard Lloyd</b>. In 2006 a documentary of Erickson’s life was
aired and some of his best songs from his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">13<sup>th</sup>
Floor Elevators</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Aliens</b> days
were assembled for the soundtrack, which is available on iTunes. In 2010 Erickson released another incredible
album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">True Love Cast Out All Evil</i>
with the band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Okkervil River</b>. On this album Erickson has mellowed and
sounds wise and comfortable with himself.
This is a really terrific album that should have received more attention
and accolades than it did. The title
track is a great slice of country rock, an introspective ballad anchored by
this fantastic backing band. Roky seems
to be in a much better place now and it’s great to see him making music again.</div>
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The fourth member of the “60’s burnout club” is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sky Saxon</b>. Saxon didn’t end up in an institution, but he
did spend a considerable chunk of the 70’s affiliated with a strange Hollywood
cult known as the Source Family. Saxon
first achieved renown as the lead singer of the seminal LA 60’s garage band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Seeds,</b> who had a minor hit with
“Pushin’ Too Hard”, a galloping, twangy gem that features Saxon’s yowling
Jagger-esque vocals and was featured in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lenny
Kaye’s</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nuggets</i> compilation. Another song, the slower “Can’t Seem To Make
You Mine”, was covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Ramones</b>. “Girl I Want You”, with its fuzzy/buzzy
guitar and pulsing organ fills, is another Seeds classic. “The Tripmaster” is ominous and reminds me of
early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doors</b>, while “Mr. Farmer” is
an upbeat splash of sunny psychedelia. </div>
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But, like the artists above, Saxon’s story took a turn for
the deeply bizarre as the 60’s ended. In
1969, Saxon became involved with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Source Family</b>, a bizarre spiritual cult centered around <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James Edward Baker</b>, aka <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Father Yod </b>aka <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">YaHoWha</b>. Baker, a decorated
WWII hero, moved to Los Angeles after the war and became a follower of various
beatnik and Eastern philosopies. In the
late 60’s he opened one of the first health food restaurants in Hollywood on
Sunset Strip and eventually started his own spiritual commune which lived in a
mansion in the Hollywood Hills. The
Source Family practiced a random mix of free love (Father Yod reputedly had
thirteen “wives”), vegetarianism, kindness to animals, Eastern spiritual
meditational practices, and so forth.
All members, including Saxon, adopted the surname “Aquarian” (his
official name was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Arlick Aquarian</b>). The cult was better tolerated than many other
70’s outfits because they didn’t proselytize, had better grooming standards,
and didn’t beg.</div>
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Music was another central concept of Baker’s cult, and Saxon
became involved on the musical end after joining the group in 1973. He would eventually assist in the release of
a 13 CD set of their music called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">God and
Hair</i> (the cult is reputed to have over 65 albums worth of music from the 70’s
alone). The cult’s band, named <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ya Ho Wa 13</b>, produced strange extended
neo-psychedelic jams; several of these can be found on YouTube and are worth a
listen—“Time Travel”, “Two”, “Fire in the Sky”, and “Wolf Pack” actually aren’t
bad, in a Spinal Tap blues/jazz, jazz/blues jam kind of way. “I’m Gonna Take You Home” is a driving,
building jam that strangely reminds me of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bauhaus</b>. Imagine if <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charles Manson</b> had guided his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Family</b>
toward music and not toward murder, this is what it might have sounded
like. Interestingly, these recordings
have become highly sought-after by collectors for their rarity and oddity. In fact, collector and avid Ya Ho Wa 13
fanatic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Nuss</b> (himself a member
of an odd musical collective called the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">No-Neck
Blues Band</b>, also known as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NNCK</b>),
met with surviving members of the cult in the 2000’s and worked with them to
release another collection of Ya Ho Way 13 songs called <i>Magnificence in the
Memory</i>. </div>
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Father Yod died in 1975 in a bizarre hang gliding accident
in Hawaii that authorities felt was better left unsolved (actually, this last
part about the authorities is untrue but sadly the rest of it isn’t). Saxon continued to make music both within and
outside the confines of the Source Family/Ya Ho Wa 13, under a bewildering
array of related hippie-esque monikers, including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Starry Seeds Band, Sky Saxon & Firewall, King Arthur's Court,
and Shapes Have Fangs the Universal Stars Peace Band, Sky Sunlight Saxon, Star's
New Seeds Band, Sunlight and the New Seeds</b>, and even a reconstituted <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Seeds</b>.
In 1977 he released a bludgeoning EP called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Expression</i>, which contains “In Love With Life” b/w “Starry Ride”
(some generous soul has uploaded this to YouTube), which evokes the finest of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the MC5</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stooges</b>; this is actually one of the best things Sky put out in his
life. Supposedly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mars Bonfire</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Steppenwolf </b>and
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ron Bushy</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iron Butterfly</b> contribute to this work. In 1986 he put out an album with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Steve</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jeff McDonald</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Redd Kross</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Corrigan</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chemical People</b> under the name <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sky “Sunlight” Saxon and Purple Electricity</b>. None of this is available on iTunes (though a
couple of modern day Saxon albums are)”Starving for Your Love” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sky Saxon and Firewall</b> from 1986 is
actually a pretty decent recreation of the garage punk of the 60’s Seeds. Prior to his death in 2009, Saxon also played
a number of gigs, including a beautiful, sloppy, feedback-drenched jam with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fuzztones</b> member <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rudi Protrudi </b>and members of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Cheeks</b>. </div>
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As mentioned above, Sky never experienced any major
psychiatric problems or had any break with reality that necessitated being
institutionalized. However, to quote <u>All
Music Guide’s</u> description of him and his work, “Much of his post-Seeds work
fit the mold of a curious 1960s relic, a hippie acid casualty with a strong
cult following, in the mold of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roky
Erickson</b>”, and that he released “a series of singles that increasingly
reflected a drug-induced separation from reality”, which is why I felt his work
was best discussed here. All four of these artists experienced some major
dislocations after the dream of the 60’s died, and maybe that’s one reason why
I still cherish their work. They
believed in, and bought into, the 60’s revolution of sex, drugs and rock and
roll, and ended up paying for it with their sanity, at least for a time. </div>
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<br /></div>runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-57443073336549463222012-06-12T09:39:00.004-07:002012-06-29T10:54:05.773-07:00Hickory Wind: Country Rock, Cowpunk, and Alt Country<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9uJQAWr6ehRT2TPF2jbmevdhafP8Lga_AgKxOoxkAnY8-yYgPiPK_q20bfgr4etv491jEP9W565dDZ67TStTWlwN5xrQH6ODnAydx_1424XJIAieukWtcBrkE-zs0uU002p5mq4z9wzw/s1600/Gram+Parsons.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-9uJQAWr6ehRT2TPF2jbmevdhafP8Lga_AgKxOoxkAnY8-yYgPiPK_q20bfgr4etv491jEP9W565dDZ67TStTWlwN5xrQH6ODnAydx_1424XJIAieukWtcBrkE-zs0uU002p5mq4z9wzw/s640/Gram+Parsons.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gram Parsons, the patron saint of country rock</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I was thinking about my previous post about solo albums, and
in particular my assorted ramblings regarding the magnificent post-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Byrds</b> solo career of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Clark</b>, who released three
collaborative albums in the 60’s and three more proper solo albums in the early
70’s that have come to be regarded as absolute classics. It got me thinking about country rock in
general. Of course, country music and
rock and roll share ancestry going back to the 50’s, before rock became more of
an amalgamation of country, blues, R&B, and pop. But it was in the mid 60’s that artists first
tried to find some kind of middle ground between traditional country and post-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatles</b> rock. The mid 60’s were a time where many artists
were looking back to rock’s multitudinous roots; for example, the explosion of
interest in American blues was instrumental in the burgeoning English rock
scene, and artists such as the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Yardbirds,
Faces, Rolling Stones</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John
Mayall’s Bluesbreakers</b> were delving deeply into an electrified form of
blues. Folk and traditional music was
also receiving greater attention as well.
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Country
rock had it's origins in several places, one of which was the
(re)discovery of bluegrass and Appalachian country harmonies by the
early 60's folkie crowd; gospel artists like <b>the Louvin Brothers </b>were
a major inspiration for a dizzying array of country rockers. Another
was the jumped-up electrified honky tonk of the "Bakersfield Sound", as
best exemplified by <b>Buck Owens</b> and in particular Owens' guitarist <b>Don Rich</b>, whose guitar work on hits like "Act Naturally" (which even <b>the Beatles</b> covered on 1965's <i>Help! </i>with <b>Ringo Starr</b> on lead vocals)
and "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail" illustrated to young rock and
rollers how close rock and country truly were. A third, an unexpected,
influence on country rock was jazz/blues/everything genius <b>Ray Charles</b>, specifically two of his early 60's albums, <i>Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music</i> and <i>Country & Western Meets Rhythm & Blues</i>. Specifically, the fusion of R&B rhythms with country music was revelatory for young musicians like <b>Gram Parsons</b>,
who viewed this as the start of what he called "Cosmic American Music",
i.e., a blend of previously fairly distinct American musical idioms,
specifically the more "white blues" of country and African American
rhythm and blues. <br />
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While artists as varied as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Dylan</b>, and the aforementioned <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stones</b>
and<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Beatles</b> flirted with
country sounds on occasional songs early in their careers, country rock
really arose as a distinct genre of rock in southern California in the
mid'60's with a small and incestuous group of musicians who all played
together or saw one another play. California might at first blush seem
to be an unusual place for such a venture to take place, but actually
since the 30's Dust Bowl migrations California had received a massive
influx of migrants from Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas among other
states, all of whom brought their love of, and ability to make, country
& western music. Honky tonk towns like Bakersfield, which is a
major oil and ranching town, aren't much different from similar cities
in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. I actually lived in Bakersfield
for a short time in the early 70's and am pretty familiar with it's
rural "charms".<br />
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In the 60's this migration continued as urbanization drove people
into cities like Los Angeles and San Diego. Moreover, as the Beatles
hit America as a bona fide phenomenon, young people started moving to
Los Angeles (and New York City and San Francisco and Memphis and
Nashville) to become music stars. One such group was <b>the Dillards</b>. Brothers <b>Rod Dillard</b> (who played guitar) and <b>Doug Dillard</b>
(who played banjo) left Missouri and headed to California in the early
60's. The Dillards' sound was rooted in but not strictly limited by
traditional bluegrass as well as folk. They quickly integrated into
LA's burgeoning folk scene, which was also rediscovering bluegrass at
this time. The Dillards quickly received acclaim (they were even on
TV's <i>Andy Griffith Show</i> in 1963) and cut one of LA's first true bluegrass records, <i>Back Porch Bluegrass</i>
highlighted by Doug's almost insanely fast banjo picking, which was so
lightning fast it brought up charges that their records were sped up
(they weren't). However, their album didn't sell, nor did their next
two, <i>Live . . . Almost</i> and the more traditional <i>Pickin' and Fiddlin'</i>, which was their first collaboration with country fiddler <b>Byron Berline</b>.
Their 1966 single "Nobody Knows" is considered by some to be the first
true country rock release, though the rock aspect is filtered through a <b>Byrds</b>-influenced folk rock. Moreover, their 1968 album <i>Wheatstraw Suite</i> (which contained "Knows") was massively influential and is one of several seminal country rock albums released that year. Another pioneering LA bluegrass outfit, <b>the Kentucky Colonels</b>, featured guitarist <b>Clarence White</b>, who would work with <b>the Byrds, Gram Parsons</b> and other country rock pioneers.<br />
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<br />
Indeed, if anyone could be said to be at ground zero of the country rock explosion, it was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Byrds</b>.
The sea change in American rock created by the immense popularity of
the Beatles in America post-1964 essentially crippled the American
acoustic folk movement, and <b>Dylan</b> going electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival
gave folk its death blow. In the new post-Beatles, post-electric Dylan
world, many artists attempted to produce an electric folk/rock hybrid, and none were more successful than the Byrds. Their singles "Turn Turn Turn" and "Mr. Tambourine Man" were hugely successful, and for a time became America's "answer" to the Beatles. <br />
<br />
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But the Byrds had an eclectic background, and <b>Chris Hillman</b> and <b>Gene Clark</b> both had musical roots in bluegrass and country. Hillman played in the seminal San Diego folk/bluegrass group the <b>Scottsville Squirrel Barkers</b> while Clark's childhood in Missouri had immersed him in country and rockabilly. As early as their second album, 1965's <i>Turn! Turn! Turn!</i>, the Byrds covered a country song, "A Satisfied Mind" (a <b>Porter Wagoner </b>song), though this was not done in a particularly country style and was instead done in a psychedelic folk rock manner. On their next album, 1966's <i>Fifth Dimension</i>, their song "Mr. Spaceman" has country overtones but is still more of a jangly folk-rock exercise. It wasn't until 1967's <i>Younger Than Yesterday</i>
that the more overt country influence came to the fore, specifically on
three of Chris Hillman's compositions, "Have You Seen Her Face", "The
Girl With No Name", and even more so on "Time Between", which features <b>Clarence White's</b> country guitar picking as well as acoustic guitar by country singer <b>Vern Gosdin</b>. Their cover of <b>Carol King's</b>
"Wasn't Born to Follow" has weird country picking fused with
psychedelic guitar and Moog work while "Change Is Now" has some very
distinct country guitar work by <b>Clarence White</b> and <b>James Burton</b> as well. Other folk rock bands like <b>Hearts and Flowers </b>(which featured future <b>Eagle Bernie Leadon</b>), <b>the Buffalo Springfield</b>, and even <b>the Lovin' Spoonful</b> were also experimenting with country and bluegrass flourishes at this time as well.<br />
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But if country rock has a true patron saint, it was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram Parsons</b>. Parsons was
one of the most unique and legendary figures in the history of rock and
roll. He was born in 1946 into two
prominent Southern families, and grew up privileged though rebellious. While still in high school, Parsons played
with a number of incipient rock bands before finding some small success in the
then-burgeoning folk scene, joining <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Shilos</b> in 1963.<br />
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In 1965, Parsons went north to attend Harvard University,
where he soon dropped out, but not before hearing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle Haggard</b> and experiencing a musical epiphany. Shortly after, Parsons and guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Neuse</b> and some other members of the Harvard folk scene had
formed a band which they called the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">International Submarine Band</b>. Neuse is widely credited with convincing
Parsons to pursue a country rock approach, which he then did with vigor. The Submarine Band, despite their
quasi-psychedelic name, played a twangy, primitive form of neo-country/rock
fusion, and recorded an album released in 1968, <i>Safe at Home</i>, that showcased this startling
new sound. Parsons originals like
“Luxury Liner” and “Do You Know How It Feels To Be Lonesome” sounded perfectly
at home next to covers of classic country songs by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle Haggard</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny
Cash</b>. </div>
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By the time this album was released, however, ISB had ceased
to exist. After moving to Los Angeles
around 1967 (prior to this the band had relocated to New York City but had
failed to achieve much notice), Parsons hooked up with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Byrds</b> bassist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Hillman</b>,
who then recommended him as a replacement for the recently departed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Michael Clarke</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Crosby</b>. Parsons left
ISB and joined the Byrds in time for the recording of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweetheart of the Rodeo</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweetheart</i> was originally conceived by
Byrds leader <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roger McGuinn</b> as a
double concept album in which the Byrds would explore all major facets of
American popular music of the 20<sup>th</sup> century—bluegrass, blues, jazz,
R&B, rock, and even supposedly electronic music. But Parsons prevailed upon them to focus on
the country aspect, and, like ISB’s first and only album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweetheart</i>, recorded in Nashville in spring of 1968, ended up being
a mix of Parsons-penned originals and covers of country standards. While the entire album is excellent, two of
the former stand out. “Hickory Wind” is
a sort of nostalgic lament for his lost Southern roots, and has become one of
Parsons’ signature songs. Similarly,
“One Hundred Years From Now” has Gram telling a woman to ignore the gossip of
friends and neighbors who are telling her that he’s unreliable; I actually
prefer the slower, sparer take #2 that’s on the extended and remastered version
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweetheart</i>. Their covers of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Dylan’s</b> “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” and “Nothing Was Delivered”
are excellent too; the former is jaunty, and McGuinn sings it in a very
Dylanesque manner, while the latter injects a few more traditional Byrds style
vocal harmonies, and both are well seasoned with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lloyd Green’s</b> pedal steel guitar.
Their take on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Woody Guthrie’s</b>
“Pretty Boy Floyd”, which lionizes the legendary Depression era gangster, is
highlighted by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Hillman’s</b>
beautiful mandolin and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Hartford’s</b>
sweet fiddle. Hillman takes lead vocals
on two lyrically contrasting tracks, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Louvin Brother’s</b> “I Am a Pilgrim” and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle
Haggard’s</b> “Life in Prison”. Still,
even in such esteemed and talented company, Parsons and his songs stand out.</div>
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It should be kept in mind that at this point in the late
60’s, the divide between traditional country and rock and roll was arguably the
widest it would ever be. Rock, and the
youth/hippie culture which was its greatest proponent, was considered a bunch
of filthy degenerates, long-haired sissies, and anti-American rabble rousers by
the extremely conservative country establishment. Country, in turn, was widely
derided as corn-pone redneck music by rock and roll fans (one year later the
show <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hee Haw</b> would debut, a show
that did nothing to dispel this image of country as cornball and hokey but that
also brought the music of country great <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buck
Owens</b>, who was a tremendous influence on Gram Parsons and some other
country rock pioneers, to a larger audience).
The Byrds were not made particularly welcome in Music City, which
considered them a bunch of drugged out longhairs.</div>
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Therefore it probably wasn’t surprising when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweetheart</i> tanked; particularly
considering how radically different it was from the previous <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Byrds</b> album; in fact, most music
savants would be hard pressed to name an album by a name band that was more of
a departure from their signature sound, unless of course you count <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Vanilla Ice’s</b> foray into douche metal
after his ignominious departure from douche rap. Hillman and Parsons both departed the Byrds
soon after and formed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Flying Burrito
Brothers</b>. In a conventional sense,
the Burritos were a logical extension of what Parsons, Hillman and the rest of
the Byrds created on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweetheart of the
Rodeo</i>, and in some ways this album makes more sense when considered as part
of the Burrito’s canon and not the Byrds’.
They were joined by Parsons’ former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ISB</b>
bandmate <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris Etheridge</b> on bass and
piano and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“Sneaky” Pete Kleinow</b> on
pedal steel guitar. Ex-<b>Byrd</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Michael Clarke</b>, who had also been
working with ex-Byrd <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gene Clark’s</b>
post-Byrds band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dillard & Clark</b>,
later joined on drums.</div>
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The Burritos released their debut album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gilded Palace of Sin,</i> in 1969 and like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweetheart of the Rodeo</i> it was and is
widely recognized as an instant and monumental country rock classic. “Christine’s
Tune” has Hillman and Parsons swapping harmonies over a jaunty, propulsive beat
punctuated by Klenow’s occasional blasts of pedal steel guitar through a
fuzzbox, arguably the closest Parsons got to what he liked to call “Cosmic
American Music”, which splits the difference between acid damaged psychedelia
and hardcore Bakersfield country-tonk.
“Wheels”, with its underwater-sounding guitar licks and yet more fuzzed
out guitar from Klenow, is a close second in this regard. “Hot Burrito #1” is a slow, sad,
introspective country ballad by Parsons, while “Hot Burrito #2” is a little
more upbeat with yet more jarring acid country guitar licks and some big
beautiful gospel-tinged organ. “Sin
City”, a cautionary tale of the mercenary nature of the Los Angeles recording
industry, was later covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beck</b> and
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emmylou Harris</b>. “Juanita” is another great Parsons country
weeper that has elements of autobiography (particularly when it discusses the
bottle of wine and the pills off the shelf).
But my favorite song on this album, and one of my favorite Parsons song
of all time, is their cover of the soul classic “Dark End of the Street” (this
song would later achieve wider dissemination when it was performed by fictional
Irish soul band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Commitments</b> in
the movie of the same name). Parson’s
high lonesome voice and the twangy, almost garage rock guitar licks accompanying
it, bring a newfound winsomeness to this yearning classic. The Burritos also effectively cover another
soul staple, “Do Right Woman”.</div>
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The Burritos toured to support <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Palace</i> but, largely because of the aforementioned wide divide
between (then-current) psychedelic rock and country music, were mostly met with
puzzlement and derision. This situation was
exacerbated by Parson’s Dionysian appetite for drugs ranging from cocaine to
psychedelics, which adversely affected his performances. At this point <b>Chris Etheridge</b> left the band, Hillman moved over to bass, and former Hillman bandmate in the <b>Scottsville Squirrel Barkers</b> and future <b>Eagle Bernie Leadon</b> joined on rhythm guitar. </div>
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The inclusion of the soul covers on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gilded Palace of Sin</i> reflected Parsons’ participation in the big,
amorphous jam sessions with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Delaney and
Bonnie</b> (which would eventually give birth to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eric Clapton’s Derek and the Dominoes</b>, culminating with his career
apogee “Layla”). It was through these
jam sessions that he supposedly again hooked up with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Keith
Richards</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Rolling Stones</b>,
which would usher in yet another amazing Parsons interlude. Parsons had met Richards during the <b>Byrds</b>' tour of England to support <i>Sweetheart</i> and instantly connected with him. At this time the Stones were completing recording of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let It Bleed</i>, which contains some of
their first real forays into country tinged rock, as can be seen on songs like
“Country Honk”, their countrified version of "Honky Tonk Women", to which Gram convinced them to add fiddle player <b>Byron Berline</b>, who had played with <b>Dillard & Clark</b>. Parsons therefore fit in both pharmaceutically and
musically with the Stones during this period.
It was with Parsons’ influence that Keith and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mick</b> wrote and recorded the bona fide Stones country rock classic, “Wild Horses”; Parsons covered the latter on the
Burrito’s second album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Burrito Deluxe</i>,
a year before the original found release on the Stone’s 1971 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sticky
Fingers</i> album. In general <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deluxe</i> was a less traditional, more upbeat album than <i>Palace</i>, but it also reflects Gram's growing indifference to the Burritos project; “Lazy Days” is more of a
throwback to early rock and roll and has a twangy rockabilly beat torn straight
from the <b>Chuck Berry</b> playbook, and “High Fashion Queen”, while clearly
retaining some county flourishes is again more of a straight-ahead rocker. “Man in the Fog” features new member (and
future <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eagle</b>) <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bernie Leadon’s</b> dobro and is jaunty and almost Cajun-sounding. But overall <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Burrito Deluxe</i> has fewer standout tracks than its predecessor, and
it too was a commercial flop. The Burritos gigged listlessly, with perhaps their highest profile gig coming, appropriately enough, in support of the Stones at their infamous Altamont concert. Parsons left the Burritos soon after as his performances continued to deteriorate (he was actually asked to leave by Hillman). Gram and his girlfriend ended up spending part of 1971 living a dissolute life at Villa Nellcote in the south of
France with the Stones as they recorded their sprawling, magnificent <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Exile on Main Street</i>. He was
eventually asked to leave by Richards’ girlfriend <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Anita Pallenberg</b> for his negative influence on Keith (take a minute
to contemplate that), but also supposedly by Mick because of his professional
jealousy of the time Parsons and Richards spent together musically.</div>
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Attempting a solo career upon his return to the States,
Parsons then had yet another magical moment, bringing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emmylou Harris</b> on board for his solo debut, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GP</i>.
If Gram Parsons had never done anything else in his all-too-brief
career, just for being part of the team that discovered Emmylou Harris (actually it was Gram's successor in the Burritos, <b>Rick Roberts</b>, who actually discovered her), who has
(in this reviewer’s opinion anyway) the most sublime, magnificent country voice
of any female artist in history, he’d be legendary. For <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GP </i>Parsons
brought on board a highly respected and capable set of sidemen, many of whom
had played with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ricky Nelson</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b> himself, and as such had
impeccable rockabilly credentials. Among
them were pianist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Glen Hardin</b> and
guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">James Burton</b>, both of whom
had played extensively with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The King</b>
as well as <b>Merle Haggard</b> in the late 60’s and into the 70’s. Hardin and Burton had both also played with Rick(y) Nelson's band throughout the 60's, including his forays into country in '67. Gram's selection of them (as well as the other less noted but no less talented and professional musicians that played on both his solo albums) was puzzling but inspired. It was puzzling because most people in the rock establishment had nothing but contempt for Elvis and his Vegas stage show at the time, which was considered tacky and about as UNrock as you can get. It was also puzzling because at that time neither Hardin nor Burton had particularly solid credentials in the country music establishment either; their work with Rick Nelson, while admired decades later, at the time was considered an obvious attempt of a former teenbopper rock idol to demonstrate his maturity and wasn't particularly admired by anyone in the country music business. However, it was inspired because Hardin, Burton and the others were consummate professionals whose crispness and reliability brought out the best from the ever-stoned Parsons.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GP</i> was no more successful
than his <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ISB</b> or<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Flying Burrito Brothers</b> albums despite this high quality. But from the first time she opens her mouth
on “We’ll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning”, Emmylou gives notice that one of
the most rightly celebrated and treasured voices in the history of music has
arrived. Country music can be divided
into B.E. and A.E, Before Emmy and Anno Emmy.
“A Song For You” and “She” are softer, more tender, and highlight the
interplay between Parsons and Emmylou ; “Song For You” in particular
illustrates how much she brings to this equal collaboration of talents. “Streets of Baltimore” is a Parsons-Etheridge
writing collaboration, and here Emmylou just provides sweet, subtle backing vocals. Perhaps the best track here is “That’s All It
Took”, focusing as it does on Gram and Emmylou’s sweetly intertwined vocals and
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Byron Berline’s</b> (who had played with
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dillard & Clark</b>) equally smooth
fiddle playing. “Cry One More Time” is
Gram’s take on horn-and piano-heavy roadhouse blues (with a bit of twangy
countrybilly guitar thrown in for good measure), and a honking sax punctuates
the peppy “Big Mouth Blues”, distinctly non-country touches all but they expand
the reach and scope of the music in an admirable way.</div>
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Parsons’ final album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grievous
Angel</i>, was sadly released posthumously, as Parsons had overdosed on drugs the
previous fall. It contains two of my
favorite Parsons compositions, “Return of the Grievous Angel”, a sweet honky
tonk that Harris (and Hardin’s understated but moving piano) elevates to
mellifluous sonic poetry with her yearning voice. By the time this was recorded, Parsons was in
his final drug-induced spiral, while Emmylou’s star was starting to shine in a
way that couldn’t be ignored (despite Parsons’ widow’s deliberate attempts to
downplay her contributions to this album upon its release). “Hearts on Fire” is almost dirge-like but
again Harris’ vocals ring out like a clarion call. But for me the acme of this album is “In My Hour
of Darkness”, which walks a perfect line between being slow and being measured
and again Harris’ contribution elevates this from being merely wonderful to
being utterly sublime. </div>
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After Parsons’ departure and subsequent death the Burritos
continued with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rick Roberts</b>, and
while they were clearly not the same band after Parsons’ departure, his own
composition “Colorado” is nearly the equal of Parsons’ many evocative country
ballads. Maybe it’s because Colorado has
been my own home now for almost fifteen years but this song has always been a
huge favorite of mine despite Parsons’ absence.
The definitive version of this song is the live version on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Close Encounters to the West Coast</i>,
which highlights Klenow’s ringing pedal steel guitar and Roberts’ decidedly
non-twangy and moving vocals.</div>
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The final leg in country rock’s holy triumvirate aside from
Gene Clark and Gram Parsons is <b>Richie
Furay, </b>who quite honestly doesn't get nearly the recognition he deserves. Furay was a founding member
of the seminal 60’s folk rock outfit <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buffalo
Springfield</b> along with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Neil Young</b>
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stephen Stills</b> but after the
breakup of that band Furay formed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Poco </b>with
fellow Springfield alumnus <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jim Messina</b>
in 1968. Poco leaned farther toward the
rock end of the country rock spectrum and were characterized by Furay’s
distinctive, higher pitched vocals.
Released in 1969, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pickin’ Up the
Pieces</i> is equal parts psychedelic-tinged rock, country-tinged rock, and
folk-tinged rock that makes it eerily similar to the Byrds’ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sweetheart of the Rodeo</i>. Their take on country rock tends to be more
upbeat and peppy than Parsons’, particularly on songs like “Calico Lady”,
“Short Changed” (with its fuzzed out , echoe-y guitar and wild screaming
vocals), the jaunty “Pickin’ Up the Pieces”,
the instrumental “Grand Junction” (named, presumably for the town on the
western slope of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains), and “Consequently So Long”, but
on ballads like “Tomorrow”, Furay shows himself to be a near equal of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Parsons</b> himself. </div>
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Poco continued to release excellent country rock albums
throughout the 70’s, and achieved a breakthrough with 1978’s hit single “Crazy
Love”. My favorite songs of theirs come
off their fourth album <i>A Good Feelin' To Know</i>, and their fifth album, 1973’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crazy Eyes</i>. "Go and Say Goodbye" and the title track off <i>Good Feelin'</i> are vintage Poco sway-and-clap feel-good ditties. “A Right Along” is more of a groovy cowboy
boogie with a terrific rock riff punctuated with country guitar flourishes,
another great example of Parsons’ “Cosmic American Music”. “Magnolia” is like a doleful variant of the
story song “Wildfire”, but “Let’s Dance Tonight” is a little more upbeat.<br />
<br />
<br />
Poco were never as respected as any of Gram Parsons' projects (ISB, the Burritos, his own solo career), but here's the thing: Poco are way more fun to listen to. Gram's music is so dense and pure that it's not music you typically throw on for a quick listen. I definitely get in moods where I want to hear some of his work, but I have to be in that mood and I only get into it occasionally. In contrast, I can throw some Poco on pretty much any lazy, sunny Sunday afternoon and it puts a smile on my face. Richie Furay's take on country rock focused on the joy of it--the porch-sittin', toe-tappin', two-steppin' variant of country rather than country as Serious Art Form. Furay and Poco made music that was fully intended to put a smile on your face and a happy hitch in your step rather than bowl you over with its country authenticity.<br />
<br />
<br />
Furay left Poco in
1973 and became part of one of the most interesting musical projects of the early
70’s. Superagent <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Geffen</b>, flush with his prior supergroup success in managing <b>Crosby, Stills, and Nash </b>and the country rock of<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> the Eagles</b>, decided to
see if lightning would strike again and put together a country supergroup,
consisting of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Furay</b>, former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Byrd</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Flying Burrito Brother Chris Hillman</b>, and periennial musical
sideliner <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">J.D Souther</b>. Souther
is sort of an unsung LA country rock hero, who famously lived with (and
played in the band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Longbranch
Pennywhistle</b> with) future <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eagle
Glenn Frey</b>—<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jackson Browne</b> was
their downstairs neighbor. Souther ended
writing songs for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Eagles, Linda
Ronstadt</b>, and others. The band split
up the singing and songwriting, and the music was quite top notch. The highlight to me, and one of my favorite
obscure songs of the 70’s, is the leadoff song “Fallin’ in Love”. Furay takes lead vocals here and the song
rolls along like a good time feel-good 70’s country lite rock ditty that the
Eagles would have been proud to have written.
Furay sings the hell out of it, and his genial, high pitched vocals
(with just the right amount of twang) drive this song along with sweet organ
rills that give it an almost gospel feel.
This should have been a massive hit given how popular the “California
sound” was at this time; anyone who is a fan of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt</b>, etc. would love this great, happy
song, it's one of my favorite songs of all time. It’s followed by Hillman’s more
sedate “Heavenly Fire”, but Souther’s “The Heartbreak” is another fantastic,
strutting country rock number and his vocals are strong and firm. Furay returns with his ballad “Believe Me”,
another standout track that Furay really puts his full force into. “Border Town” has a funky guitar line that
reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Doobie Brothers’</b>
“Listen to the Music”. I also like
Hillman’s up-tempo “Safe at Home” and “Rise and Fall”. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Souther
Furay Hillman Band</i> did respectably, reaching #11 on the U.S. album charts,
but was nowhere near as successful as either their inspiration (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crosby, Stills, and Nash</b>) or their
contemporary competition (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Eagles</b>). Its follow-up, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trouble in Paradise</i>, was less countrified and emphasize the funkier
rock elements of their sound; “Move Me Real Slow” almost sounds like a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joe Walsh</b> song. SHF ended up a mere footnote (albeit an
interesting one, and as mentioned I consider “Falling In Love” at least as
enjoyable as anything <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram Parsons</b>
ever wrote or recorded), but listening to their two albums is almost like
peering into an alternate universe in which these guys became huge stars while
the Eagles toiled in obscurity. Furay’s
“For Someone I Love” sounds eerily like mid-era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eagles</b>, “New Kid In Town” or “Best of My Love” for example, just
breezy mid-70’s California lite rock, while Souther’s Latin-influenced “Mexico”
sounds like a lost bastard son of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmy
Buffett’s</b> “Margaritaville”.<br />
<br />
But the country rock outfit who had the first major hit was Long Beach's own <b>Nitty Gritty Dirt Band,</b> who had been around in different incarnations since the mid-60's but broke up and reformed in the late 60's. Their folky cover of the song "Mr. Bojangles" off their 1970 album <i>Uncle Charlie & His Dog Teddy</i> was a big hit that year. In 1972 they released the massive triple album <i>May the Circle Be Unbroken</i>, in which they collaborated on many country and traditional standards with respected older country musicians such as <b>Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs</b>, and <b>Merle Travis</b>. I'm still working my way through the Dirt Band's catalog, there's so much here and I just wasn't familiar with it until recently. Another country rock pioneer, and a surprising on at that, is former <b>Monkee Michael Nesmith</b>, who released four country rock albums in the early 70's. I am still exploring these albums but so far some of my favorites are "Nine Times Blue" and "Keys to the Car" off <i>Magnetic South</i>, the jaunty "Silver Moon" off <i>Loose Salute</i>, and the simple, spare and elegant work of nearly everything off <i>And the Hits Just Keep Comin</i>', but notably "Roll with the Flow", the beautiful "Two Different Roads", and "Keep On". </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Eagles</b> of
course surfed out of LA’s country rock scene to worldwide fame and fortune at
around this time, becoming one of the biggest selling acts of the 70’s and all
time with their blend of country touches, rock elements, and a bushelful of
mellow 70’s vibes. All four original members had paid considerable country rock dues prior to the formation of the Eagles. <b>Randy Meisner</b> was an original member of <b>Poco</b> before personality disputes drove him out during the recording of the debut album, and he later was also a formative member of <b>Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band</b>. Bernie Leadon had played with just about every other country/folk rock band on the LA scene, including the <b>Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, Hearts & Flowers, Dillard & Clark</b>, and <b>the Flying Burrito Brothers </b>(for the recording of their second album); in his post-Eagles career he even briefly joined <b>the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band</b>! Drummer <b>Don Henley</b> was a member of Texas country rock ensemble <b>Shiloh</b>, who had been signed to their record label on the insistence of <b>Kenny Rogers</b>. <b>Glenn Frey</b> had been in <b>Longbranch Pennywhistle</b> with <b>J.D. Souther</b> when he approached superagent <b>David Geffen</b> in 1970 about getting a record contract; Geffen reputedly told him he needed to be in a group, and he quickly approached Henley who agreed to join him, initially as the touring and support band for <b>Linda Ronstadt</b>. However, they eventually signed with superagent <b>David Geffen's</b> Asylum Record label and released their self-titled debut album the next year. My favorite songs by
the Eagles are their more mellow cuts like “Take It Easy” off their debut album
and “One of these Nights” and “Peaceful Easy Feeling”. But on this first album there is much more balance between the mellow 70's vibe of Frey and the more traditional country rock approach of Leadon and Meisner. Leadon's "Earlybird" and Meisner's "Tryin' are much closer to the groovy country of <b>Poco</b>. Their second album, <i>Desperado</i>, was better known for Frey's "Tequila Sunrise" and Henley's "Desperado", but "Twenty-one" is a brisk country two-stepper and "Saturday Night" is a cowboy campfire song with <b>Crosby, Stills, and Nash</b> style vocal harmonies.</div>
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But in the late 70’s, The Eagles drifted farther and farther from their country roots, and country rock itself started falling out of favor as more urban music such as punk, new
wave and disco started making greater inroads on the music charts. However, in the early
80’s it started to be revived, primarily in the place where it originated: Southern California. This movement was dubbed “cowpunk”, a term
most of the artists detested. Three
Southern California post-punk bands in particular did much to re-introduce
country elements into rock music. The
first of these bands of course was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X</b>,
who were fairly accomplished musicians when they formed in 1977-1978 and were
also older than snotty punks like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Germs</b> and so had a longer view and greater appreciation of rock music and
its roots in particular (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Billy Zoom</b>
was in fact a noted rockabilly guitarist prior to joining X). In 1985 the members of X and a few other
friends released an album under the name <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Knitters</b> entitled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Poor Little Critter
on the Road</i> which is a magnificent melding of country, blues, folk, and the
energy of post-punk. There are several
highlights here; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John and Exene’s</b>
dual vocal romp through the traditional song “Walking Cane” is outstanding and
showcases Doe’s ever-maturing country singing ability. Indeed, Doe’s solo cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle Haggard’s</b> “Silver Wings” is one
of my favorite country (rock) songs of all time, just a sweet, beautiful song
and Doe’s voice really shines here. He
and Exene glide through one of the punkiest songs in X’s catalog, “New World”,
giving it an acoustic twang that would make it not stand out on a country
station. And finally, Doe’s own “Cryin’
but My Tears Are Far Away” is an out and out classic, highlighted by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Martin Lund’s</b> subtle accordion playing
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dave Alvin’s </b>magnificent
electric guitar picking. This too is
another fabulous song.</div>
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At around the same time, LA’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Long Ryders</b> were emerging as the torch bearer for the whole <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Byrds</b> jangly/country sound. They released their first full-length album
in 1984, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Native Sons</i>, that sounds
like nothing more than <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram Parsons</b>
come back to life to join a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Clash</b>-influenced
80’s version of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Byrds</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Burritos</b>. Most of the songs rock far harder than
Parsons ever did but lead vocalist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sid
Griffin’s</b> voice nevertheless has that excellent twang. “Final Wild Son” is a quickstepper with
twangy guitar flourishes and comes the closest to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Burrito’s</b> sound.
“Still Get By” is more rocking and has jangly Paisley Underground
elements similar to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Three O’Clock</b>
or early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bangles</b>, but “Ivory Tower”
is more measured and has good country harmonies from Griffin and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Steve McCarthy</b>. “Run Dusty Run” gallops along with odd,
affecting <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatle</b>-esque harmonies and
an almost surf guitar sound; “Wreck of the 809” sounds like a countrified
version of “She’s Not There” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Zombies</b>. The best song, and one of
my favorite songs of all time, is their magnificent “I Had a Dream”, which has
to be the absolute apogee of the LA Paisley Underground, the perfect updating
of the jangle-pop 60’s of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Byrds</b>
with the driving energy of early 80’s punk.
There’s little country here except Griffin’s slight Kentucky twang to
the vocals, but aside from that quibble this is one of the best songs to emerge
from this seminal LA scene. I was
introduced to this song when it the video for it was played on an LA video show
around ’84 or so and even then it was one of my favorite songs and it has remained
so ever since. There aren’t enough words
of praise for how good this song is or how much enjoyment it’s brought me over
the ensuing (nearly) three decades since its release. The deluxe version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Native Sons</i> available on iTunes contains the four songs from their
debut EP, 10-5-60, including the jangly “Join My Gang”, which kind of reminds
me of “I Want You Back” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Hoodoo
Gurus</b>. Two other great Long Ryder
songs are “I Want You Bad”, a driving country rocker off their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">BBC Radio One in Concert</i> live album, and
their single “Looking For Lewis & Clark”, which walks a perfect line
between hard rock, jangle pop, and country.</div>
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Other LA bands dabbled in country/roots sounds, including <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Los Lobos, Blood on the Saddle, Rank and
File</b> (formed by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chip and Tony Kinman</b>
after the breakup of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Dils</b>), <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gun Club</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Blasters</b>; even <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fear</b>
released a country album (though it was probably mostly through a desire to
shock and annoy). But one band that stood
out even though they only released two albums was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lone Justice</b>. Their 1985
eponymously titled debut album yielded two minor hits, the sublime “Ways to be
Wicked”, which was written by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Petty</b>
(and it shows)-- lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mariah
McKee’s</b> ringing, fierce country voice sound second to only <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emmylou</b> here-- and “Sweet Sweet Baby
(I’m Falling)”, which is less country and more of a straight ahead bar rocker
with soulful back vocals. The band,
already solid enough, was augmented by pros like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Benmont Tench</b> on keyboards, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tony Gilkyson</b> (who would soon join <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X</b>) and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Little Steven Van
Zandt</b> on guitar. Straight-ahead
rockers like “East of Eden” and “After the Flood” really benefit from this
solid studio help and sound like the equal of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Petty’s</b> late 70’s work.
“Pass It On” is another big, bold number that features McKee’s terrific
vocals. Alas, on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shelter</i>, the 1986 follow-up to their debut album, Lone Justice
abandoned much of the country elements in favor of more generic 80’s
production, though “I Found Love” still retains a country twang under the 80’s
sheen and is actually at least as good as anything on their debut. Lone Justice broke up soon after but McKee
went on to a long respected solo career.</div>
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Though they weren’t part of LA’s cowpunk scene, Toronto’s
aptly named <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cowboy Junkies</b> were
another breakout success that fused a country vibe with alternative rock
approaches. Their magnum opus was 1988’s
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trinity Sessions</i>, recorded in a
single day in a church in Toronto and which featured very stripped down and
subdued takes of a wide range of songs.
They are probably most noted for their slow, soft, sweet cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lou Reed’s</b> “Sweet Jane”, which became a
hit for them in the U.S., but their other covers, including “Blue Moon of
Kentucky”, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Patsy Cline’s</b> “Walkin’
After Midnight”, “Mining for Gold”, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Merle
Haggard’s</b> “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” are all spectacular, driven as they
are by lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Margo Timmons’</b> sultry
voice. “Blue Moon” is my favorite CJ
song of all time, and I’m someone who LOVES <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis Presley’s</b> original.</div>
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Aside from the Cowboy Junkie’s modest success, the cowpunk
movement never made many inroads in popular music, but it did serve as a
stepping stone between the country rock of the 60’s and early 70’s and the alt
country movement of the 90’s. One of the
first alt country acts was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Uncle Tupelo</b>,
who played a turbocharged throat-grabbing variant of country rock that pulled
heavily on the growing grunge movement for some of its guitar power. Released in 1990, Tupelo’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No Depression</i> has since become a
touchstone for the alt country movement.
My favorite song on this album, and one of my favorite Uncle Tupelo
songs of all time, is album opener “Graveyard Shift”, which highlights this
sturm and drang approach to country; this is not twangy high lonesome country,
this is country more in <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jay Farrar’s</b>
yearning, soulful voice (that nevertheless has a powerful snarl) and a few
flourishes riding a guitar roar that would not have sounded out of place on a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nirvana</b> album. This song grabs you by the neck and drags you
into this new, more powerful approach to country rock. “Before I Break” is
another song with a big crunchy guitar that bludgeons the listener while Farrar
and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jeff Tweedy</b> croon their
intertwining vocals. “Outdone” and
“Factory Belt” keep the slamming guitar raging but smooth it out a little and
are magnificent as well. It’s on their
cover of the gospel standard “No Depression” as well as “Whiskey Bottle” and
“Life Worth Livin’” that Tupelo reveals their softer, more contemplative side;
the latter is particularly wonderful and has lyrics that explore the bleakness
of life.</div>
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Their 1991 follow-up, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Still
Feel Gone</i>, continues in this vein but more frequently reins in the guitar
roar for a more traditional take on country, nowhere more evident than on
“Watch Me Fall”, which contains more traditional country instrumentation and is
sung by Tweedy. Tweedy’s “Gun” owes a
huge debt to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Replacements</b> and
“Punch Drunk” sounds at times like a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dinosaur
Jr.</b> song. 1992’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">March 16-20, 1992</i> moves completely away
from their punk past and is completely acoustic. “Sandusky” is a magnificent banjo and guitar
picking song, and their cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Louvin Brothers’</b> “Atomic Power” is fantastic. I also love their cover of the traditional
song “I Wish My Baby Was Born”. Uncle
Tupelo’s 4<sup>th</sup> and final album, 1993’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Anodyne</i>, is an exquisite parting shot. My favorite songs are the melancholy “Slate”,
with its wonderful fiddle work, “The Long Cut” (which revives the guitar roar
of their debut) and the utterly fantastic “Chickamauga”.</div>
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Uncle Tupelo broke up the next year, and Farrar soon formed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Son Volt</b> with a new set of musicians
and carried on in much the same vein; my favorite Son Volt songs are the
lurching, crunching “Drown” and the sweet country lilt of “Windfall” off their
debut album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trace</i> (which comes really
close to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram Parsons’</b> work on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grievous Angel</i>), “Driving the View” from
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wide Swing Tremolo</i>, and the
alternately echoe-y and pounding “Jet Pilot” from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Okemah and the Melody of Riot. </i>Tweedy
and Tupelo bassist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Stirratt</b>
formed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wilco</b>, which has been driven
less by a country rock approach but is instead centered on Jeff Tweedy’s odd,
affecting voice and introspective alt folk.
The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatle</b>-esque
“Misunderstood”, with its soft piano building to the cacophonous ending with
Tweedy shouting “NOTHING! NOTHING! NOTHING! NOTHING AT ALL!”, off 1996’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Being There</i> is a terrific track, as is
the wah-ed out rocker “I Got You (End of the Century)”, which is one of my
favorite Wilco songs because it reminds me of my son’s birth (my wife and I had
just gotten into Wilco around that time).
I absolutely love this song. The
low key “Sunken Treasure” and the contrastingly big and loud “Outtasight (Outta
mind)” are other high points off this album.
The weird, buzzing “I’m Always in Love” off 1999’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Summerteeth</i> is trippy neo-psychedelia. But Wilco’s big breakthrough came with 2001’s
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yankee Hotel Foxtrot</i>, which was
rightly recognized as a classic. The
lurching “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” is classic Tweedy, awkward but
affecting, and “Kamera” and “Pot Kettle Black” are happy and sweet acoustic
romps. But it’s the moving, evocative “Ashes of American Flags” that has become
the standout track. Even though it was
recorded before the 9/11 attacks, this introspective, down tone song, with its
line “I would like to salute the ashes of American flags” instantly became
associated with this tragedy. I always
think of this song when I think of that terrible day.</div>
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Almost unheralded in their mid-90’s heyday were LA’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Geraldine Fibbers</b>, who also melded
(post) punk fury to sweet aching country melodies and themes. Formed by former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ethyl Meatplow</b> leader <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carla
Bozulich</b> in 1994 upon that band’s demise, the Fibbers were a radically
different direction from the electronic/industrial sound of Meatplow and their
wildly sexual S&M influenced stage shows.
My (future) wife and I had seen Ethyl Meatplow on a couple of occasions,
opening for bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">L7 </b>and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Celebrity Skin</b>, and had been stunned by
the nudity and wildness of their shows, but we were also impressed by
Bozulich’s strong, clear voice and based largely on her vocal talents we bought
the Fibbers’ 1995 debut release <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lost
Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home</i>.
This album contains two striking songs, “Lily Belle” and
“Marmalade”. “Lily Belle” is a baroque
country gothic opus which begins with some sweet fiddling before building to a
crashing, atonal crescendo that then resolves down and Bozulich’s intensely
emotional voice kicks in; this soft-then-quiet pattern repeats twice more,
culminating with Bozulich almost
screaming, leagues from the sweet country twang that starts the vocals before
resolving sweetly again. This is one of
the strangest but most compelling alt country songs ever recorded for sure. “Marmalade” begins with a strumming electric
guitar that reminds me of “Drown” or “Rhinoceros” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Smashing Pumpkins</b> and a softly sawing cello; again Bozulich’s
amazing drawling vocals start somewhat softly but the chorus is fantastic,
building somewhat atonally but plateauing with Bozulich’s sweet country voice
playing counterpoint to a raw guitar in a way that’s amazingly pleasant. These two songs are excellent alt country
documents that showcase Bozulich’s distinctive vocals and lyrics. They also do a mean cover of George Jones’
“He Stopped Loving Her Today”, which can be found on their album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Poop Alley Tapes</i>.</div>
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Another of my favorite female country singers is the
staggeringly talented, utterly magnificent <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iris
Dement</b>, who sounds like she walked right out of Appalachia circa 1931. I first was exposed to her simply unbelievable
voice when I saw her open for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chris
Isaak</b> in Denver in 1998 and left absolutely blown away by how talented she
was. In one 45 minute set she sang with
a ringing country voice that echoed through the ages and as if that wasn’t
enough she played guitar, harmonia, accordion, and piano too. It was a lot like that scene in the Simpsons
episode where Homer hears Lurleen Lumpkin’s voice for the first time. Now, I love Chris Isaak and have seen him
many times in concert, and every time he puts on a terrific, high energy show,
but I barely heard him that night, until he brought Iris back out for an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Everly Brothers</b> song encore, which was
the highlight of the evening. What was
especially great was that prior to doing so, Chris launched into this long,
effusive introduction about how “this little lady is just about the most
talented person I know and I’m lucky to have her with me on tour”. This was particularly gratifying to me
because when Iris was doing her set I was surrounded by a bunch of fat, overly
made up middle aged women who were complaining about Dement—“Who is this
chick? She’s too twangy! Where’s Chris?” and Chris’ intro shut them up
for sure! </div>
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Another thing that amazes me is that while she was born in
Arkansas, Dement moved to California when she was three and spent her formative
years growing up in Cypress, a city not five miles from my home town of Long
Beach. To some extent it amazes me to
think that she grew up so close to me (and not too far off in time either) when
I was listening to <b>Depeche Mode</b> and <b>the Germs</b> (and she was listening to her
mother’s gospel records). But Long Beach
has always been less of a true city and more of a town, and it’s arguably the
most honky tonk city in southern California (and not too far off of truly honky tonk places like
Bakersfield, Stockton, and Fresno in terms of its hillbilly vibe).</div>
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To me, Dement is second only to the immortal <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emmylou Harris</b> (with whom she dueted on
“Wheels of Love”) when it comes to female country singers, her voice is like a clarion
bell, strong, sweet, emotive, with just the right amount of country twang. Her 1992 debut <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Infamous
Angel</i> was jaw-droppingly beautiful, a timeless chunk of pure country
Americana that was instantly hailed as a classic; it’s hard to remember a more
astonishing debut by any artist in any genre that was more mind blowingly
incredible than this. One hundred years
from now <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carrie Underwood</b> will be
entirely forgotten but country artists will still be covering these songs and
the songs themselves will pull at people’s hearts and souls then as now. There is literally not a bad song here, but
among the very top moments are her cover of “Fifty Miles of Elbow Room”,
“Hotter Than Mojave in my Heart” (I love the organ swirl at the beginning that
reminds me of “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan), the more melancholy “These
Hills” and “Our Town”. </div>
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But there are two Iris Dement songs that I find simply
transcendent on this album. The first is
the title track, “Infamous Angel”, a cautionary tale of excess and salvation
that Dement gives passionate life with her incredible voice. The topic, and lyrics, are pure, 100% Gram
Parsons all the way, a song he’d have been proud to have written (I also think
personally that Parsons would have shit his pants if he’d lived to hear Dement
sing). The second may be one of my
favorite songs of all time of ANY genre, “Let the Mystery Be”. This song is simply magnificent on every
level. First, I absolutely LOVE the
subject matter: the gist of the song is that while lots of people worry about,
and claim they know about, the big questions of life like where did we came
from and what happens to us when we die, basically they DON’T know, and smart
people like Iris are therefore content simply to “let the mystery be”. It’s as succinct and effective an argument
for agnosticism as I could ever imagine, a position I strongly agree with. Both the topic and lyrics and the jaunty,
folksy rhythm of this song are pure Woody Guthrie, American folk at its finest. And then of course there’s Iris’ voice,
which is just captivating. What’s ironic
to me is that her heavenly voice is enough to make a non-believer such as
myself believe there actually MIGHT be a god!!!!!!</div>
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Three other Dement favorites of mine are covers; Dement’s
magnificent, yodeling version of Jimmie Rodgers’ Depression era classic “Hobo
Bill’s Last Ride”; her duet with Steve Earle “I’m Still In Love With You”; and
her stunning take on Merle Haggard’s “Big City”, a song that I used to sing to
my infant song at night and thus has even more emotional meaning to me. But honestly, Iris could sing the phone book
and I’d listen raptly to her from Aaron A. Aaronson to Zeke Zymysky. As may be obvious by now, I have a TREMENDOUS
crush on Iris and her gargantuan talent and it’s impossible for me to even
attempt to be objective when describing her wonderful music.</div>
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Of course, many other bands have continued on in a country
rock vein throughout the late 90’s and 2000’s.
One of my current favorites is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lucero</b>,
who formed in Texas in the late 90’s but soon relocated to Memphis. In the 2000’s they have released several
excellent albums driven by leader <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ben
Nichol’s</b> gritty country-infused growl.
I especially love the lilting “Sweet Little Thing” off 2002’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tennessee</i>, which builds to a big rock
chorus but keeps returning to its sweet, soft verses. “Ain’t So Lonely” has a more traditional
country feel that really evokes early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Uncle
Tupelo</b>. “Chain Link Fence” is louder
and more up front with the guitar, but occasional resolves into softer
interludes. “When You’re Gone” is
another hard-and-soft mix that works well.
2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That Much Further West</i> fleshes
out this approach, with songs like the title track evoking the work of Jeff
Tweedy both in Tupelo and in Wilco.
“Across the River” is relaxed and comfortable, the organ giving it a
fuller, lusher feel, but it glides along like a countrified version of
“Peaceful Easy Feeling” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Eagles</b>. “Tears Don’t Matter Much” is a reflective blend
of thoughtful lyrics and jaunty guitar, while “Hate and Jealousy” starts with a
big guitar riff that evokes <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black
Sabbath’s</b> “Paranoid” as interpreted by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">J
Mascis</b> before settling into a twangy country ditty. A choice cut is “Tonight Ain’t Gonna Be No
Good”, a sassy strutter that rocks and rolls with a strumming electric guitar
and crisp beat, building to the stomping choruses at the end—this is one of
Lucero’s best songs.</div>
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Equally treasured by me is their 2005 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nobody’s Darlings</i>. Perhaps because it was produced by famed
Memphis producer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jim Dickinson</b>, who
manned the board for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Replacement’s</b>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pleased To Meet Me</i>, this album evokes
the roots-meets-punk sound of the Placemats more than nearly any album of the
past 25 years. To me the best track is
the first, “Watch It Burn”, with its roaring, noodling guitar lines and
chugging rhythm; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roy Berry’s</b>
drumming is particularly magnificent here, setting down the tempo with force
and vigor. But it’s the fuzzy, shimmery
roar of the guitars that gives this song its amazing texture, that and Nichol’s
nearly breaking voice. The big, chunky
guitar on “Anjalee” and the lurching beat that resolves into a driving rhythm
makes this song a close second to “Watch It Burn”, really a magnificent song
that brings to mind a harder rocking <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bruce
Springsteen</b>, a “Rosalita” for the 21<sup>st</sup> century. “Sixteen” slows things down a bit, but the
guitars remain crunchy and driving, particularly in the chorus. “And We Fell” has an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">R.E.M</b>. quality to it, an almost melancholy Southern gothic feel,
while “California” is another big loud joyful roar playfully alternating
between its chugging verse and its raving chorus. “Last Night in Town” also swings between
chugging and shimmering with some sloppy feedback solos thrown in for good
measure; somewhere <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gram Parsons</b> is
looking down and smiling.</div>
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2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rebels, Rogues
& Sworn Brothers</i> found Lucero expanding a bit beyond the country punk
constraints of their first few albums.
“What Else Would You Have Me Be” comes off like a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bruce Springsteen</b>-meets-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kings-of-Leon</b>
middle America Joisey mashup; the piano in particular makes me think of “Born
to Run”, but the chugging middle of the song seems to have been torn from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wilco’s </b>“Misunderstood”. Indeed, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rebels</i>
is characterized by a broadening of their sound away from just the guitar roar
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nobody’s Darlings</i>, with keyboards,
accordion, and fiddle fleshing out their previously stripped-down sound. “I Don’t Wanna Be the One” has a skirling
organ that builds in intensity and insistence until it takes over the song,
much the same way <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Cale’s</b>
droning organ solos commandeer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Velvet Underground’s</b> “Sister Ray”; this is a really cool song for this
reason alone but it’s also catchy and fun too.
“She’s Just That Kind of Girl” bolts out of the gates like “Girl Who
Lives on Heaven Hill” or “Flip Your Wig” by Husker Du, and what can you say
that’s better than that?</div>
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In 2009 Lucero made their major label debut with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1372 Overton Park</i>; album opener “Smoke”
builds slowly from a musical refrain that almost sounds like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sparks’ </b>“This Town Ain’t Big Enough For
Both Of Us”, with lyrics that are ripped from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Springsteen’s</b> “Born To Run”, but the horns and keyboards which here
work fairly effectively in building this opus become overbearing elsewhere,
smothering the raw intensity of the guitars.
Sadly, they continued in this direction on 2012’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Women & Work</i>. While
there’s nothing wrong with a group evolving, and in a certain light the horns
make sense given their adopted hometown’s soul history, here’s hoping their
next album gets them back toward their rawer earlier sound.</div>
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The other band I like at the moment that fuse country
elements with rock, southern rock, and blues is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Magnolia Electric Co</b>. I like
“Dark Don’t Hide It”, “Montgomery” and “Don’t It Look Like the Dark”. Their sound falls somewhere between the
country rock of the Byrds and the alt folk roar of <b>Neil Young</b>. Good stuff but supposedly frontman <b>Jason
Molina</b>, who for all intents and purposes is Magnolia Electric Co., has retired
from performing due to health issues.
Pity.</div>
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It must be said that, like a lot of people I guess, I came
to country and country rock late in life.
I actively detested it in the 80’s, when my mother got into it and would
torture me with it much as I would torture her with my punk and new wave music
(she HATED “Jimmie Jones” by <b>the Vapors, </b>which was one of my favorite songs).
And if there is one genre of music that I totally despise it is pretty
much anything that’s come out of Nashville proper in the last 30 years or
so. All of the pop pap masquerading as
country just reminds me of <b>Britney Spears</b> or <b>Justin Bieber </b>tarted up with some
fiddles and banjo and has nothing to do with the true musical values of real
country music. But I love all of the
music described here, mostly because it ISN’T considered country by the country
establishment and mostly because of the fact that this outsider label has
allowed these artists to explore and experiment with country music in a way
that country traditionalists won’t.<br />
<br />
In the years since his death, Gram Parsons has received a lot of accolades for his distinctive take on country music, and is widely recognized as one of the pioneers of, and innovators of, country rock. But it's hard to separate Parsons from his post-death mythos. His tragic early death from a heroin overdose, and the legendary immolation of his body by his manager <b>Philip Kaufman</b>, have obscured for many Gram's true accomplishments. For on the one hand Gram was singularly UNsuccessful in his attempts to make what he called "Cosmic American music"; his attempts to bring rock, psychedelia, and R&B flourishes to traditional country were not widely appreciated in his lifetime. And as mentioned above, Gram's country is so hardline, so monolithic, that it's not exactly easy listening.<br />
<br />
Gram Parsons also failed himself and his own audience by succumbing to his own temptations. Aside from his ending his own talented life too prematurely, much of Parsons' time was wasted in dissolute pursuits of hedonism. He was the epitome of the rich, indolent hippie; his trust fund from his wealthy family prevented him from ever having to work, and as a consequence most of his life was dissipated fruitlessly living the perceived rock star lifestyle. He rarely committed himself to anything, even his own musical passions, and as a result his recorded legacy is spotty at best. His best moments shine as bright as any landmark musical accomplishment of the past 60 years, but too often laziness and drug haziness prevented him from putting forth his best effort. He was notoriously awful as a performer, typically too drunk or drugged out to give good effort. He was a lackluster musician and often in concert his band or the roadies would unplug his instrument since it detracted more than it helped. It's hard to listen to the Burritos or his solo albums and not feel like they could, and indeed should, have been better. Gram's life is one of far too many could-have-beens and should-have-beens.<br />
<br />
But on the other hand, Parsons succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. In the early 70's a bewildering array of musicians WERE able to fuse a broad range of American musical idioms into a steamy gumbo of sound, including such acts as <b>the Rolling Stones, Little Feat, Delaney and Bonnie and their collaborative work with Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen, Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue</b>, and so forth. These and other artists tried, and succeeded, to meld the wide spectrum of American music, from country to rockabilly to bluegrass to blues to folk to rock, and it is undeniable that Gram Parsons had both direct and indirect influences on many of these. Newer acts have continued to try to mine the "cosmic" country rock vibe established by Parsons, most notably <b>the Beachwood Sparks</b> on songs like "Sister Rose" and "Confusion is Nothing New".<br />
<br />
On the other hand, Gram has also benefitted not just from his own lionization and legend-building but from the demonization of others. Specifically, many people have denigrated other country rock acts, most notably <b>Poco</b> and <b>the Eagles</b> and to a lesser extent <b>Linda Ronstadt</b>, for taking what Gram started and "watering it down", creating a kind of country rock lite that was more palatable to the masses. I have major problems with this, the primary one is that it presupposes that these artists wanted, or should have tried, to sound like Gram Parsons. It's pretty obvious that people like <b>Richie Furay</b> and <b>Don Henley</b> were NOT trying to recreate a cosmic form of Bakersfield honky tonk country, and I find it spurious of people to argue that Gram Parsons made music that was somehow "better" than these other artists just because it was different, and less successful. These arguments also often get caught up in the Gram Parsons mythos while simultaneously deriding these other acts because they lived while Gram died, and they became famous and successful to boot. There's nothing wrong with being successful OR ambitious, as long as you are still trying to make the music you feel speaks to, and for, you. There's very little evidence that the Eagles began as some mercenary band of opportunists hoping to cash in. They wanted to be successful, without a doubt, but they were still making the music they believed in. I have no real problem with artists making music that becomes popular as long as it's still good music--well crafted and honest. This is why I like a wide range of music that is patently commercial, everything from <b>the Monkees</b> to<b> Rick Springfield</b> to <b>Kelly Clarkson</b>. Living isn't a crime, being successful isn't a crime, making music you believe in isn't a crime. Conversely, it IS a crime to fritter your talents away in a druggy haze and deprive the world of your full talents.<br />
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<br /></div>runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-47784155878552766072012-06-08T11:53:00.002-07:002012-06-08T11:53:47.092-07:00Solo Effort: Solo Albums by Famous Artists Part I<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIw9u1tHKhDezWug2PzapWZtUnXjiSOWG29pTdnV0mFgdjfQG8j3IXiHpT927MjGjbUeuDiqYNTZI4o1O3t_4cIU4JVQ2AcJD7DZguYMztZAyItJz4cCPHVWUopeFO3HPYAmUFHW-V2pOt/s1600/Dennis+Wilson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIw9u1tHKhDezWug2PzapWZtUnXjiSOWG29pTdnV0mFgdjfQG8j3IXiHpT927MjGjbUeuDiqYNTZI4o1O3t_4cIU4JVQ2AcJD7DZguYMztZAyItJz4cCPHVWUopeFO3HPYAmUFHW-V2pOt/s640/Dennis+Wilson.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m currently reading <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dana Spiotta’s</b> excellent novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eat
The Document</i>, which tells the story of a woman who got involved with a
fringe campus radical group in the 60’s, did something horrible (I haven’t
gotten to the part where they tell us what) and had to go underground, i.e.,
develop an entirely new and false identity. Much of the book centers on her
life in the present day and how her 17 year old son has started to suspect
something’s amiss with his mom’s past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway
the reason I’m sharing this is because her son is, to be as polite about it as
possible, is a musical “completist” like myself who is constantly singing the
praises of incredibly obscure albums, particularly ones by famous artists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It got me thinking about the whole idea of
solo albums, particularly those by members or former members of famous
groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Artists release solo albums for a variety of
reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most obviously they do so when
the famous group they are in breaks up or kicks them out (or they quit,
depending on whose version of the divorce you believe).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But sometimes they release albums while still
members of the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These can occur
because the group is on hiatus but more often it occurs because the artist in
question may feel confined by the group dynamic and the constraints of the
expectations for the band and its sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The dividing line between this sort of solo album and a “vanity project”
can be alarmingly thin, but even still it’s a way for that particular artist to
scratch a particular creative itch that can’t be accessed within the confines
of their main band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One interesting thing about solo albums is how they
illustrate the concept of “hiding in plain sight” in the sense that most of
them came nowhere near being as popular as their work with their main
group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So while nobody is more
well-known in music than, say, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Paul
McCartney</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Keith Richards</b>,
actually most people, even hardcore <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatles</b>
or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stones</b> fans, might not have
listened to their solo work to any great extent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So in a twisted sort of way these solo albums
become almost as obscure as “regular” albums released by less popular
groups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Arguably the first “real” solo
albums were the </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Beatles’</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">; they were really the first real popular group in rock music, and even
before their breakup the individual members started feeling constrained by the
Beatles’ popularity and therefore started releasing solo albums.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first Beatle to do so, somewhat
surprisingly to most people, was not John or even Paul but </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">George Harrison</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In December 1967 Harrison
recorded the soundtrack to his director friend </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joe Massot’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wonderwall</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Harrison was primarily the architect of the
sound here, writing and arranging the music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The music is interesting; very soundtrack-y, with no vocals and
featuring a wide variety of instruments, both traditional (such as guitar and
drums) and less traditional (like banjo and a wide assortment of Indian
instruments).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As someone who actually
likes soundtracks (even though I’m not particularly fond of movies and almost
never watch them, figure that one out) I kind of like it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notable songs are “Red a Lady Too”, “Tabla
and Pakavaj”, “Wonderall To Be Here”, and “Party Seacombe”, the latter of which
comes the closest to being an actual rock song and which evokes a vague
Beatle-esque jauntiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wonderwall Music</i> was also notable as
Apple Record’s, the Beatles’ vanity record label’s, first official
release.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This album isn’t currently
commercially available but some nice fan has uploaded all the tracks to YouTube
for everyone to check out.</span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Even more surprising is
Harrison’s second solo effort, 1969’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Electronic
Sound</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This album was the second and
final album released on Zapple Records, a subsidiary of Apple dedicated to
avant-garde music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Electronic Sound</i>, as the title truthfully states, consists almost
entirely of strange synthesizer clangings, buzzings, and burblings recorded in
collaboration with synth musician </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bernie Krause</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Krause himself was an odd and fascinating
musician.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A musical prodigy who
supposedly started learning violin and classical composition by the age of
four, he worked as a session musician at Motown Records before joining the folk
group </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Weavers</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (as guitarist) after the departure of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pete Seeger</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> in 1963.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon the breakup of that group the next year,
he studied electronic music under avant-garde pioneer </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Karlheinz Stockhausen</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and took up the newly invented Moog synthesizer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Krause formed the duo </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Beaver & Krause</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> in 1966 and released a couple of albums of electronic synthesizer
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Krause was something of an
evangelist for the Moog in particular and synths in general, supposedly setting
up a booth at Woodstock demonstrating the Moog (this reminds me of the stores
in the malls in the 70’s that would sell organs and would have some cheesy guy
in a cheap suit playing something like “Penny Lane” on the organ to entice people
into buying one).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This and other
interactions with some of the biggest starts of the day led to his playing on a
wide array of late 60’s albums, including ones by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Monkees, the Byrds</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Doors</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Krause in fact later pursued
legal action because, according to him, part of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Electronic Sound</i> was an unauthorized recording of him simply
demonstrating the synth to George Harrison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Listening to it today (it’s not available on iTunes or Pandora or any
other commercial site that I can find but it has been uploaded to YouTube), it
seems as if Krause might be telling the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Electronic Sound</i>
consists of what seem to be random tones and knob twirlings; some of it
actually reminds me of parts of the soundtrack from the seminal 70’s sci fi
film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rollerball</i> (which is one of my
favorite movies of all time); very spacy, very “futuristic”.</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Harrison would subsequently focus
on albums with a much more traditional bent, and in particular in 1970 shortly
after the Beatles’ breakup released his magnum opus, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All Things Must Pass</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consisting
primarily of Harrison’s voluminous backlog of songs and musical ideas going
back deep into </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the
Beatles</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> heyday that had been left off their albums by the
growing hegemony of the </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lennon-McCartney</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> songwriting axis, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pass</i> is an
outstanding monument to Harrison’s songwriting ability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Originally released as a 3-LP triple album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pass</i> has several outstanding songs, most
of which contain lush production and highly polished studiocraft (the album was
produced by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Phil Spector</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">), including the introspective piano-centered song“Isn’t It a Pity”, “I’d
Have You Anytime” (co-written by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bob Dylan</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">), the upbeat and
powerpoppish“What Is Life” (which reminds me of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Bay City Roller’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “I Only
Want To Be With You”), and the smash hit single “My Sweet Lord”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another personal fave is the beautiful cover
of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dylan’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “If Not For You”, a sweet and affecting song that features Harrison’s
beautiful voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The album notoriously
ends with a series of massive jams which take up the entirety of disk 3 of the
triple album and probably wouldn’t be noteworthy except that out of them grew </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eric Clapton’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> short-lived project </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Derek and the Dominoes</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, aside from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pass</i>’ followup <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Living in the
Material World</i> (which it’s excellent hit “Give Me Love”) and 1979’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">George Harrison</i> (which contains the
sweet, happy “Blow Away”), none of Harrison’s subsequent mid-70’s albums are
available on iTunes.</span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John
Lennon</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> was the next </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Beatle</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> to release a solo work, and like
Harrison his first two albums were as un-Beatle-esque as can be imagined,
1968’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unfinished Music #1:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two Virgins</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This album (not available on iTunes, Pandora
or Spotify but posted to YouTube) is half an hour of recordings of Lennon and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Yoko Ono</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> talking, walking, tweaking various instruments, whistling, shrieking,
etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is tape looping and often
lots of effects such as reverb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recorded
during the heyday of late 60’s avant-garde experimentalism in music, a time
that saw the first recordings by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">La Monte Young</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John Cage</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (a neighbor and friend of Lennon and Ono’s), this record can at least be
placed in this context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But aside from </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Lou Reed’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metal Machine Music</i>, I can’t
think of a less listenable album in the past 40 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Except, perhaps, Lennon’s second
solo effort, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unfinished Music #2:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life with the Lions</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another highly avant-garde offering, Ono
predominates here, particularly with song/side 1, “Love Comes To Everyone”, a
live recording of Lennon accompanying Ono as she sings/shrieks atonally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“No Bed For Beatle John” is Ono singing a
capella a song about how Lennon was denied a place to sleep in the hospital as
she had one of her miscarriages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Radio
Play” and “Baby’s Heartbeat” are exactly what they describe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You get the picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s little here to interest any but the
most extreme Lennon completist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Wedding Album</i>, also released in
1969, continues on in this almost irritatingly avant-garde vein (such as the
four minute “John and Yoko”, which consists of the two shouting each other’s
names over yet another heart beat).</span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">John returned to a more
recognizably pop/rock form of music with 1970’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is widely considered one of the most personal, honest, and confessional
albums ever recorded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, songs
like “I Found Out” and “God”, which are scathing indictments of both religion
and his former bandmates and band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Working Class Hero”, a folksy ballad that decries the destructive
forces of conformity that squeeze the working class into the middle class, and
the funky, stomping “Well Well Well”, which seems to poke fun at the very
liberal sensibilities Lennon and Ono embraced, are other examples of this naked
and raw take on songwriting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lennon
often seems to be retreating into himself and his relationship with Ono,
attempting to turn his back on his fame and former band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Look At Me”, a quiet, tender song built
around Lennon’s finger picking guitar, emphasizes a point made in other songs
(notably “God”) that Lennon is looking only to himself and his wife to define
who he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For an album that is as
confessional as this, lyrics like this are definitely a boundary put up by
Lennon to separate himself from his former band, his stardom, and even his
fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Lennon’s second proper solo album,
1971’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Imagine</i>, continued in this
vein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“How Do You Sleep” is a vicious
attack on former bandmate Paul McCartney (“The only thing you done was
‘Yesterday’; “The sound you make is Muzak to my ears”, etc.). “Gimme Some
Truth” lashes out at the conservative right and was covered by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Billy Idol’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> first punk band </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Generation
X</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> on their first album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Jealous Guy” is an apology to Ono that was
famously covered by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bryan
Ferry</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roxy Music</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But of course the standout track is the title
track, which has rightly become one of the most beloved and revered songs of
Lennon’s and indeed of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
magnificent composition that, unlike many of the other songs on this and its
preceding album, does not hector or berate but instead simply asks in the
sweetest way possible for the listener to simply consider harmony and peace as
options.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a career filled with
songwriting high points, this ranks at or very near the top.</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Lennon’s output for the rest of
his life never really reached the apogee of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Imagine</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That isn’t to say he didn’t put out some
interesting stuff, but it often varied between being a little TOO strident
(like most of the songs on 1972’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Some
Time In New York City</i>, which features songs about the Attica prison riots,
radical feminism, the strife in Northern Ireland, and noted radicals Angela
Davis and John Sinclair) and moving toward a more generic rock formula (such as
in 1974’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Walls and Bridges</i>, which
gave him his biggest hit, the duet with </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elton John</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “Whatever Gets You Through
the Night”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most critics adored his
1975 cover album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rock and Roll</i>, but
I’ve always found it tepid; with the exception of a rave-up version of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Buddy Holly’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “Peggy Sue” (the Beatles were named in honor of Buddy Holly’s band, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Crickets</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, and indeed Holly was arguably one of the strongest influences on Lennon
and McCartney’s pop songcraft) most of the other covers sound limp and weak;
Lennon had so grown past these antecedents that covering them simply
underscores how greatly he and his bandmates advanced rock from those simplistic
beginnings, and Lennon mostly sounds like a middle-aged man trying to relive a
past that isn’t all that relevant to his life anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lennon himself wrote a song that drew upon
50’s influences like doo-wop that was vastly better than most of the stuff
here:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Woman” from his final album,
1980’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Double Fantasy</i>.</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Like the other two Beatles who
released solo albums before him, drummer </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ringo Starr</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> also used his cachet from
the Beatles to indulge his innermost musical desire; in his case it wasn’t to make
a soundtrack or an atonal avant-garde album but a cover album, called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sentimental Journey</i>, released in 1970
weeks before McCartney’s solo effort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Releasing a cover album itself wasn’t unusual—as mentioned above, Lennon
himself eventually released a covers album in 1975—but the covers themselves
were:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they were all pre-rock pop
standards like “Night and Day”, “Bye Bye Blackbird”, and “Stardust”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listening now the album registers as a
somewhat silly but heartfelt tribute to a simpler, pre-rock world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Starr took a radically different
take for his follow-up album, 1970’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Beaucoup
of Blues</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here Starr relocated to
Nashville, and, availing himself of the best session players that fine city had
to offer, produced a country album which many feel was his best solo work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sweet fiddle work and smooth backing
vocals by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Elvis
Presley’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> former backup singers </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Jordanaires</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, give songs like the title track a strong country authenticity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Without Her” is another excellent song, a
cry-in-your-beer country moper that’s sweetly affecting.</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It wasn’t until 1973’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ringo</i> that Starr seemed to rediscover
his inner Beatle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pulling heavily on
both his former bandmates (all three other Beatles contributing
instrumentation, vocals or songwriting) as well as a host of other luminaries
(including </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Marc Bolan,
Robbie Robertson, Billy Preston, Steve Cropper, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stephen
Stills</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">), Ringo released an album that was every bit as
infectious and enjoyable as anything released by his bandmates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The album had not one or even two but three
bona fide hits:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the pleasantly maudlin
“Photograph” (with its strings, horns, and heavy background vocals), the insanely
catchy “Oh My My” (which, if it had different, less silly lyrics could easily
be mistaken for a Beatles song), and Starr’s rock-solid cover of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Johnny Burnette’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “You’re Sixteen, You’re Beautiful, and You’re Mine”. </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Alas, Ringo’s consequent 70’s
releases did not fare nearly so well either commercially or critically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1974’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Goodnight
Vienna</i> was a modest success, buoyed by two covers, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Platters’</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “Only You (And You Alone)”, and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hoyt Axton’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “No No Song”, but otherwise
little stood out except a couple of songs:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Husbands and Wives” lilts along like “Here, There, and Everywhere” or
“She’s Leaving Home”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Back Off
Boogaloo” has a twangy country backbone but the relentless rhythmic drive of “I
Am the Walrus”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1976’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ringo’s Rotogravure</i> fared even more poorly;
only his cover of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Carl
Groszman’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “A Dose of Rock and Roll” (which featured </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peter Frampton</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> on guitar and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dr.
John</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> on keyboards) made the charts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The songwriting was particularly degenerated;
Ringo only contributed to the writing of three of the tracks her, relying
instead on his former Beatle bandmates and others to shoulder the load, and it
shows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1977’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ringo the 4<sup>th</sup></i> was even weaker, producing no hit singles
and failing to chart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clearly the bloom
was off this particular Beatle rose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mired in a slick disco production, the entire album seems desperate;
indeed, “Gave It All Up” seems to lament what he and the other Beatles lost by
breaking up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Paul
McCartney</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> was the last Beatle to release an official
solo album, but in another way was actually the first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">George Harrison</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, Paul was asked
to create the soundtrack to a film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Family Way</i>, between recording <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revolver</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sgt. Pepper’s</i> in fall of
1966.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result, a purely orchestral
affair, was once one of the most highly sought after records for Beatlemaniacs
because of its rarity, and because it evokes the ramped-up production of the
latter album and its use of horns, strings, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is now available on iTunes and makes for a
fun listen, though I’m not sure it needs purchasing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Paul’s first proper solo album
was released shortly after the Beatles officially broke up, 1970’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">McCartney</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recorded in his home with Paul playing all of
the instruments, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">McCartney</i> has a
homespun simplicity that seems light years from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sgt. Pepper’s</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time
critics and fans alike were a little alarmed at how throwaway much of the album
seemed to be, but with time it has come to be appreciated for its
simplicity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, with the recent
“beard rock” trend in alternative music (as practiced by bands like </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Band of Horses, Vetiver</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bon Iver</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">), which has emphasized acoustic singer-songwriter music on traditional,
typically acoustic instruments and recorded often outside of major studios,
this album seems more relevant than ever. “Lovely Linda” (written, of course,
for his wife </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Linda
Eastman McCartney</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">), is a sweet acoustic folk song
along the lines of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gordon
Lightfoot</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> or </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">James Taylor</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is Paul the popster at his most stripped
down and still most melodic, and it’s one of my favorite songs on this album. “That
Would Be Something” has a funkier, blusier vibe but is still a very basic song,
consisting of Paul’s voice, acoustic guitar, and some simple rhythm tapped
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Every Night”, with its “ooh ooh
oooh’s” almost pokes fun of Paul’s Beatle past (specifically songs like “She
Loves You”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Junk” is another pop gem
that deserves a listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only on “Man We
Was Lonely” does Paul seem to talk about his Beatles past specifically,
singing, “Man we was lonely, yes we was lonely, and we was hard pressed to find
a smile”, and “I used to ride on my fast city line, singing songs that I
thought were mine alone, now let me lie with my love for the time I am home.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paul, like the other Beatles, felt trapped by
the Beatles’ success and now is happy to be off the fame bandwagon, free to do
whatever he wants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only hit from
this album is the very Beatle-esque “Maybe I’m Amazed”, which is rightly
considered a classic, with its piano accompaniment and Paul’s shouted
vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">To the frustration of critics and
fans, McCartney continued in this relaxed vein for his sophomore effort, 1971’s
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ram</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ram</i> also contains Paul’s
first real comments toward his former </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Beatles</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">; Paul later confessed that on
“Too Many People”, two lines were directed toward John Lennon:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You took your lucky break and broke it in
two” and “Too many people preaching practices”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On “3 Legs” (which supposedly was his nickname for the other Beatles),
he sings “Well I thought you was my friend but you let me down and put my heart
around the bend”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the other
Beatles and critics derided the album, it did have a couple of passable
Beatlesque numbers, the more produced “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” and the
string-and-horn accompanied “In the Back Seat of My Car”. </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">After <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ram</i>, Paul decided to work in more of a group setting and formed </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Wings.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While these are not technically solo albums,
they nevertheless remain stamped almost exclusively by the imprimatur of Paul
alone and while often derided for their light take on 70’s rock, Wings brought
him the most success of any ex-Beatle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Live and Let Die”, “Silly Love Songs”, “With a Little Luck”, “My Love”,
“Let ‘Em In”, and my two favorites, “Band On the Run” and “Jet”, were ubiquitous
on the radio in the 70’s. “Band On the Run” contains one of the greatest
bridges of any song ever, and is really more like two separate songs connected
by this majesterial guitar/symphonic piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In that regard it has always reminded me of “We Will Rock You/We Are the
Champions” by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Queen</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And “Jet” to me, with its fuzzed
out, rumbling bass, braying horns, and sweet backing vocals always struck me as
being almost a glam rock song, a suspicion confirmed by the fact that it was
quickly covered by Scottish glam rock band </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Iron Virgin</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Interestingly, the other huge
group of the 60’s, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the
Rolling Stones</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, didn’t start releasing solo albums until
well after their band had dissipated most of its musical relevance in the
mid-80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, another famous band
from the 60’s, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Byrds</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, yielded an alumnus who made several solo albums that have become highly
prized obscure classics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gene Clark</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> formed </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Byrds</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> along with </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">David
Crosby</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Roger McGuinn</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> in 1964 and became their
most noted songwriter, penning such classics as “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better”
and “Eight Miles High”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But discord in
the band led to his departure in 1966.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 1967 Clark released his first solo album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers</i>, which highlighted Clark’s
incredible songwriting talent and his ability to fuse country and rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clark worked here with a stellar array of
musicians, including some former Byrds (</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Chris Hillman and Michael Clarke</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">), future Byrds (</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Clarence
White</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">), bluegrass banjoist </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Doug Dillard</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Wrecking Crew</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> sessions players (</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Glen
Campbell and Leon Russell</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">), and country harmony masters </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Gosdin Brothers</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The standout track here is the
sweet, jangly “Tried So Hard”, which stands proudly next to the best of other
country rock greats like </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gram
Parsons</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Clark’s second album was a more
formal collaboration with </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Doug Dillard</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> titled <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard & Clark</i>, which is an
extremely rare and valued recording even to this day (it is not available on
iTunes but is uploaded to YouTube and is available on Pandora) and has achieved
near-legendary status among country rock aficionados.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dillard’s banjo is usually utilized in a
subtle, highly complementary way to Clark’s songs, never overpowering them but
adding wonderful country nuances to each song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Out on the Side”, the album opener, is simply fantastic, and highlights
Clark’s mournful vocals, reminding me of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Buffalo Springfield’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “For What Its
Worth”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“She Darked the Sun” brings
Dillard’s banjo playing a little more to the fore, but the focus here is still
Clark’s quavering country voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Train
Leaves Here This Morning” and “With Care From Someone” are also fantastic, the
latter particularly highlighting Dillard’s smooth, sweet banjo picking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there really isn’t a bad song here; if
there’s a flaw, it’s that the entire album is so solid and strong that nothing
really stands out for better or worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it remains a highly respected if obscure country rock
accomplishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clark and Dillard
released a second album together, 1969’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Through
the Morning, Through the Night</i>, which continued in this vein (the title
track and “Polly Come Home” were covered by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Robert Plant and Alison Krause</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> on their
2007 smash <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Raising Sand</i>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">After breaking up Dillard &
Clark, Gene Clark recorded and released an album alternatively known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">White Light</i> (for its cover photograph
and for one of its standout songs) or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gene
Clark</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like his previous
collaborations with the Gosdins and the Dillards, this album has since become
revered as a staggering country rock accomplishment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As mentioned, the title track is phenomenal
but again it’s hard to pick out any songs that aren’t outstanding. “For a
Spanish Guitar” with its aching, plaintive vocal and simple arrangement, is
another stunner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On “The Virgin”,
Clark’s voice sounds almost like a more quavery, countrified version of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Arlo Guthrie’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Alas, despite being hailed at the
time as a masterpiece, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">White Light</i>
didn’t sell, and Clark’s next album, the almost equally revered <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roadmaster</i>, was released only in
Holland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clark even recorded two songs
on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Roadmaster</i> featuring all five
original </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Byrds</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, “One in a Hundred”, a magnificent song that is a perfect balance of the
jangle and harmonies of early Byrds with the countrified touches of late Byrds,
and the lilting, almost haunting “She’s the Kind of Girl”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This album is also sadly not widely
commercially available but has been kindly uploaded to YouTube for people with
taste to check out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s almost criminal
how under-appreciated Clark, and this album, are; “Full Circle Song” off it
could indeed be a commentary by Clark himself about the vagaries of life:
“Funny how the circle turns around; first you’re up, then you’re down
again”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Undaunted, Clark came back with
1974’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No Other</i>, which again utilized
a dizzying array of top shelf musicians and collaborators but ramped up the
production, adding big choruses, strings, and other touches that had been
mostly lacking from Clark’s previous, more spartan records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the album spawned three more (at least by
my reckoning) Clark classics:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Silver
Raven”, which may be one of the most beautiful country songs ever
recorded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leaving aside the usual
country tropes, Clark’s song evokes the dignity and desolation of the plight of
the American Indian in a way that few songs have ever managed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His plaintive, twangy voice manages to bridge
the entirety of the Western experience, from that sad fate of our Native
Americans to the cowboys who once rode the lonesome range to the ecological
changes that have destroyed much of the Old West.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sad, sweet, desolate, but never depressing,
this song is almost stunning in its beautiful simplicity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On our recent vacation through South Dakota,
northwestern Nebraska, Wyoming, and Montana, this song kept playing through my
head as we hammered across the stark but stunning landscape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Strength of Strings” also has a Native
American feel to it musically and a lyrical emphasis on the invariance of
change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And finally, “From a Silver
Phial” is another sensationally beautiful home run, with its central piano
focus; it reminds me of a cross between the coda of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eric Clapton’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “Layla” and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Michael
Martin Murphey’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> classic, tragic 70’s country
rock story song “Wildfire” (which, despite its corniness, I adored as a child
in the 70’s and still love today).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
and “Silver Raven” showcase Gene Clark at his finest, as easily the equal of
such country rock luminaries as </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Gram Parsons</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Another hugely popular 60’s group
was </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Beach Boys</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Brian Wilson</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> was rightly considered a pop/songwriting genius (“Good Vibrations” is
one of the best songs recorded in the 60’s in my opinion), his brother </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dennis Wilson</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> was mostly known for two things:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>being the only Beach Boy who actually surfed, and for befriending </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Charles Manson</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> before the latter became more renowned for his sociopathy than for his
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the late 70’s Dennis
released a solo album called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pacific Blue</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this time Dennis was a dissolute wreck
from living the high life after years of Beach Boys success, and his voice had
become gravelly and hoarse in places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But on occasions he produced a capable version of the sweet harmonies
for which he and his brothers are known.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The album (which is actually the focus of the character in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eat the Document</i> which prompted this
post) is a heavily produced sprawling mess of singer-songwriter ambitions, but
played alongside other 70’s monoliths like </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fleetwood Mac</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> or </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">the Doobie Brothers</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> it doesn’t sound out of place and actually has a sweet if maudlin
charm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The River Song” is a huge, lush,
strings and production affair but comes the closest to extending what he and
his brothers did in the Beach Boys in a new 70’s direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Dreamer” and the title track have a weird,
funky vibe that makes them sound like something midway between </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joe Cocker</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joe Walsh</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Thoughts of You” and “Time”
feature Wilson bordering on mawkish, crooning at the piano (though the former
also has a big, orchestral bridge) about his regrets and losses over the
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You and I” is another soft
rocker that evokes a less prog </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Steely Dan</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Wilson was reputedly disappointed
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pacific Blue</i>, and set about
recording a follow-up in 1978 known as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bambu</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilson never completed this album but it the
studio tracks were heavily bootlegged even before his death in 1983 from
drowning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bambu continues on in this
mostly low-key vein (it should be recalled that Wilson was co-author of what
was arguably one of the biggest soft rock ballads/prom slow dance songs of all
time, “You Are So Beautiful”, so this mellow, melancholy vein should perhaps
not be surprising).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Love Surrounds Me”
almost sounds like a moped out Supertramp song but is probably the best song
here, but I like “Wild Situation” for its soft gospel-like backing vocals and
pulsing rhythm, “Common” for its uplifting tone, and the largely
autobiographical “He’s a Bum” for its naked honesty. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pacific Blue</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bambu</i>
are available as a combined album on iTunes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Its interesting to speculate what might have happened had Wilson
released <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bambu</i> in 1978; while disco
was obviously making huge inroads into the rock/pop charts, there was still
plenty of singer-songwriter stuff like this all over the charts then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead it’s become a cult classic.</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Few groups were as huge as </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kiss</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> were in
the late 70’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peter Criss</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> left (or was kicked out) in 1980 and embarked on his own solo
career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, Criss and the other members
of Kiss had all released solo albums together in 1978, but those were more or
less under the Kiss imprimatur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1980
Criss released his first true post-Kiss solo record, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Out of Control</i>, which perhaps not surprisingly found him carrying
forward in two familiar veins:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>some of
the songs sound extremely Kiss-esque while others ape his one successful turn
as Kiss vocalist, “Beth”, in being more R&B oriented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An example of the former is “In Trouble Again”,
which has the driving rhythm and cowbell of early Kiss classics like “Strutter”
and in particular “Deuce”. The title track sounds eerily like “Eye of the Tiger”
by </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Survivor</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> but presaged that song by over 3 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“By Myself” is Criss’ attempt to recapture the lightning in a bottle of “Beth”,
a quiet ballad of acoustic guitars and Criss’ raspy vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn’t terrible, but it seemed obvious that
lightning wasn’t going to strike twice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I
Found Love” is a straight-ahead new wave tinged early 80’s rocker that again
while not terrible doesn’t raise to the heights of his previous band
either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Criss also covers </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pat Benetar’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “You Better Run” and this is probably the album’s low point; he puts
little of the spunk and energy into it that Benetar did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My Life” walks arguably the best line
between his attempts at balladry and his rocker tendencies.</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Criss released his follow-up, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Let Me Rock You</i>, in 1982.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somewhat more new-wave-y than its predecessor,
it didn’t have much success either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But “Let
It Go” is a catchy slice of early 80’s rock that straddles the line between the
catchy pop rock and the new wave tinged rock of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Tears” is a mellower song, not quite a
ballad but not quite a rocker, it’s nevertheless catchy in a </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">John Waite</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> sort of way (unsurprising since Waite co-wrote it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Destiny” is another straight-ahead but
melodic rocker written by famed songwriter </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Charlie Midnight</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (who has
written songs for everyone from </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Carly Simon</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> to </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Britney Spears</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">) and </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Neal Schon</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> of </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Journey</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> (and sounds not a little like the latter’s “Separate Ways”).</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There are obviously numerous more
examples of solo albums from the 70’s, 80’s, and into the current day, and I’m
sure I’ll be returning to this topic in future posts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s very interesting to me to roam
across some of these albums by huge named artists, some of whom continued to
have success but many of whom didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They left behind albums that at the time didn’t strike a chord with
listeners but with the tincture of time have often found receptive and
appreciative audiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like I said, it’s
hard for me to listen to early solo albums by artists like Paul McCartney or
Gene Clark and not hear the echoes of much of today’s alternative rock, which has
rediscovered 70’s singer songwriters and folk/country/traditional sounds (most
notably artists like Bon Iver and the Avett Brothers) in a big way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’m glad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is good music and its enjoyable to see where today’s kid can take
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I write this I’m listening to
Vetiver’s cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Hurry On Sundown”, a raucous,
infectious take on this classic song.</span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I would be remiss if I didn’t
mention here one of my favorite solo songs, a song that actually celebrates
going solo, </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Peter
Gabriel’s</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> “Solbury Hill”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Written by Gabriel in 1977 after his
departure from the 70’s supergroup </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Genesis</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, it discusses a mystical
experience he had during this period, as well as his doubts and fears about
leaving this popular group at nearly their peak of popularity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of my favorite songs of all time,
and I think of it any time I experience fearful life changes, like recently,
when my job and actually career have undergone some pretty dramatic changes and
the future seems scary and anxious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
Gabriel sings the final lines, </span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today
I don't need a replacement</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My
heart going boom boom boom </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Hey"
I said </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"You
can keep my things, they've come to take me home”,</span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I always think about him taking the
biggest chance of his life, and not only surviving but thriving, and I
instantly feel better about myself.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<h1 style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></h1>runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-88261090442820240182012-05-24T13:08:00.000-07:002013-06-11T10:46:50.011-07:00The Worst Albums Ever?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiycCXuaVFjV6bpKRU0_-VmKQYEtM74F91N2ydjJqSaulD3a4mxrkFV8CQLEVplmYDA8G7AbXR2kY3qQrb_rx2WAasXWRGlL7x8YcBFUm0mvu5jkyAxPPLLzQhhrdBTt8IUGVcRCCMjnusY/s1600/Velvet+Underground+Squeeze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiycCXuaVFjV6bpKRU0_-VmKQYEtM74F91N2ydjJqSaulD3a4mxrkFV8CQLEVplmYDA8G7AbXR2kY3qQrb_rx2WAasXWRGlL7x8YcBFUm0mvu5jkyAxPPLLzQhhrdBTt8IUGVcRCCMjnusY/s640/Velvet+Underground+Squeeze.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squeeze--the most polarizing album ever?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I’ve posted several times about how one of my favorite
things to do is to go back and listen to albums deemed terrible (for whatever
reason) by critics or fans and see if it actually is as bad as everyone
claims. In a previous post, I discussed
two such albums, <b>Fleetwood Mac’s</b> <i>Tusk</i>, which while not a total flop was far
from the success of <i>Rumours</i> and was widely derived as a drug-fueled mess, and
<b>Kiss’</b> <i>Unmasked</i> and <i>Music from the Elder</i> albums.
To me, both stand up much better with time than would have been thought
given the reviews at the time. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you Google “Worst Album” or “Worst Rock Song” you get a
lot of interesting lists. Interestingly,
many of these seem to focus predominantly on music released in the last 10-15
years, stuff like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Limp Bizkit, Nickelback,
Creed</b>, etc. It is beyond doubt that
we’ve seen an alarming spike in douchiness in music in the past 15 years. But every era has its cringe-worthy,
sucktacular shit sandwiches. In the 70’s
you had “Seasons in the Sun” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Terry
Jacks</b>, “You Light Up My Life” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Debbie
Boone</b>, “Billy Don’t Be a Hero”, pretty much everything by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Barry Manilow</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Captain & Tennille</b>, “Escape (the Pina Colada Song)” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rupert Holmes</b>, “Afternoon Delight” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Starland Vocal Band</b>, teen pap like
“Heartbeat (It’s a Love Beat)" by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the
Defranco Family</b> (as well as numerous abominations by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Brady Bunch, Osmonds, Partridge Family</b>, etc.), the entire <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band</i>
soundtrack, etc. </div>
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The 80’s gave us lots of other horrors, primarily 60’s and
70’s bands attempting to maintain their popularity by coating their music in a
patina or new wave synths or pop metal hooks.
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Starship</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Heart </b>are two of the biggest offenders
here; most people consider “We Built This City” to be a strong contender for
the worst song of all time. The 80’s
also saw a rise in movie/TV star vanity albums, everything from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Eddie Murphy</b> (“My Girl Wants to Party
All the Time” is another leading candidate for worst song ever) to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Don Johnson’s</b> “Heartbeat” (ditto) to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bruce Willis’</b> entire <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Return of Bruno</i> album (thritto). The 80’s brought us soft rock nightmares from
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mr. Mister, Christopher Cross, Air
Supply, Wham!, Rick Astley</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beach Boys</b> (“Wake Me Up Before you
Go Go”, “Never Gonna Give You Up” and “Kokomo” often are top-5 on many “Worst
Ever” lists). Novelty songs like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Taco’s</b> “Puttin’ On the Ritz” or “<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Curly Shuffle</b>” are also notable in
their badness. The early 80’s saw a
proliferation of new wave haircut bands, most of which dropped a musical deuce
or two before sliding away. I would also
vote for most everything released by every hair metal band in that decade, but
most notably everything by the “W” bands (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Whitesnake,
Warrant, Winger</b>), with special honors going to “Cherry Pie”, which to me is
WAY worse than anything <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Starship</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Defrancos</b> could have foisted on
humanity. </div>
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The 90’s had their shitzophrenic moments too. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wilson
Philips, Gerardo, Vanilla Ice, Right Said Fred</b>, “Barbie Girl” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Aqua, Billy Ray Cyrus</b>, “Macarena”, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4 Non Blondes, Roxette, Celine Dion</b>, the list goes on and on. In fact, I might argue that the 90’s gave us
more musical crap than any decade. But
really, I honestly believe that EVERY decade gives us the best of times and the
blurst of times, to paraphrase the Simpsons.
No decade had a monopoly on good OR bad music. </div>
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Interestingly, NPR did an “All Things Considered” (which is
available as a podcast) where a panel of discussants tried to decide which
decade was the “worst”, and most of them felt the 80’s won this dubious
honor. But the ever-insightful and
brilliant <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Carrie Brownstein</b> (she of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slater-Kinney</b> fame who has achieved
even greater exposure in her newest band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wild
Flag</b> and as half of the duo who make the hilarious comedy show <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Portlandia</i>) tried to counter this by
mentioning all the GREAT music made in that decade (she cited <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">R.E.M., Husker Du, Black Flag, the
Replacements</b>, etc., all cogent examples).
And again I would very much agree with this; there is no best, there is
no worst, it’s all kind of cut from the same cloth. Every decade, every era, gives us memorable
songs and not-so-memorable ones.</div>
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Bad music can come from everywhere but certain genres
predominate. Teen pop has long been a
major source of forgettable music, starting with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Monkees, Bobby Sherman, Shaun Cassidy, Menudo, New Edition, Debbie
Gibson, Tiffany and New Kids on the Block, the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, 98
Degrees, Backstreet Boys, ‘NSYNC</b>, and continuing on to today’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Justin Bieber</b> and so forth. Novelty songs are almost by definition lame
because by the time they come out the fad they celebrate is usually on its way
out—“Kung Fu Fighting", "Convoy” and “Disco Duck” are perfect examples. </div>
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So there’s a lot of bad music out there. But in the field of obscure music there’s two
albums that are often considered the worst ever, but for different
reasons. Interestingly, they were made
by two individuals who were members of the same band, and furthermore it’s a
band that’s one of the most revered of all time for their enormous impact and
inspiration: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Velvet Underground</b>.</div>
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Everyone of course knows that the history of punk and
alternative music starts with the Velvets, who were formed in 1964 by the disparate duo of former Brill Building novelty
songwriter <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lou Reed</b> and avant-garde
drone/minimalist musician <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Cale</b>. After adding second guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sterling Morrison</b> and androgynous
drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Maureen (Mo) Tucker</b>, the
Velvets gigged around New York City and eventually hooked up with artist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Andy Warhol</b>, who insisted they add
model/chanteuse <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nico</b> as
vocalist. Their first album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Velvet Underground and Nico</i> (with
its iconic Warhol-designed banana cover) was not a hit, but as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Eno</b> famously said, almost
everyone who DID buy it ended up forming a band. Reed’s songwriting focused on the seamier
side of life, including drug use, sado-masochism and so forth. But aside from the lyrical content, and John
Cale’s highly avant-garde electric viola drones on a few songs, it wasn’t THAT
outrageous. The two songs that achieved
the greatest notoriety, “Waiting for the Man” and “Heroin”, are actually not
too crazy sonically speaking, though the guitar on “Man" is more strident than
people were probably used to hearing in 1967.
Even at this early stage Reed and Cale were walking a marvelous balance
between writing songs with sonic dissonance (like “Man” and the very droning
“Venus in Furs” and “Black Angel’s Death Song” and owe much to Cale’s classical
training and education, particularly with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">La
Monte Young</b>) and sweet, gentle pop songs of an almost ethereal
evanescence. My favorite songs of this
album are actually three of the latter, all of which were sung by Nico (who’s
presence in the band was hugely resented by Reed, particularly after they slept
together then promptly broke up). “All
Tomorrow’s Parties” is the most dissonant of the three, with Reed and Morrison
noodling and strumming atonal non-blues licks while Cale drones on in the
background. Nico’s voice here is
extremely flat and Teutonic, almost off-putting in its foreign-ness. To me this is the quintessential VU&N
song, outré without being unlistenable.
This is absolutely a top song for me.
“Femme Fatale” is a close second on this album. Much sweeter and more melodic than “Parties”,
and with a less strident vocal from Nico, this should have been a huge hit in a
different, more perfect world. It is nothing
but a sweet pop song, marred only by Reed’s braying Long Island accent on his backing vocals
(though I actually like how they counterpoint Nico’s booming but sweet Germanic
delivery). “I’ll Be Your Mirror” is
another sweet, affecting pop song but to me it isn’t quite as catchy and
touching as “Femme”.</div>
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After parting ways with both Warhol and Nico in 1967, the
Velvets recorded and released their second album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">White Light/White Heat</i>. Here
they dispensed almost entirely with the sweeter, catchier pop elements of their
debut—the one glaring exception being the understated “Here She Comes Now”--and
focused instead on ramping up the atonal, dissonant elements. The title track, with its lilting piano and
the buzzsaw roar of the music is probably the most listenable song aside from
“Here”. “The Gift” and "Lady Godiva’s
Operation” are strange, spoken word interludes “sung” predominantly by Cale
while the band noodles atonally in accompaniment. The one thing I love about “Lady Godiva’s
Operation” is how it shifts from Cale’s smooth Welsh vocals to Reed’s strident
Long Island honk. It’s like he and Cale
looked at Reed’s voice as a unique instrument to exploit for pushing the sonic
limitations of the song. Perhaps the
most challenging song on an admittedly challenging album is “I Heard Her Call
My Name”, with its frantic tempo and wild squalls of sludgy guitar; this is one
of my other favorites from this album.</div>
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But the centerpiece of this album, and perhaps of the
Velvet’s whole career, is the seventeen-plus minute opus “Sister Ray”, which
has a funky, bluesy, catchy rhythm. Here
the atonality kind of rides along below the groove . . . for awhile, then it of
course explodes and goes insane with the wildly improvised “solos” played by
the various band members, but most notably Cale and his keyboards. This is hands down Cale’s finest moment as a
member of the Velvets, the perfect melding of his neo-classical background with
the wildness of 60’s rock. Of all the
other attempts to move rock beyond the usual 2-4 minute anthem stage, perhaps
only <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Doors’</b> “The End” comes
close to matching the harrowing intensity and seductive rhythm achieved
here. My favorite part is the very end,
when after finally returning after yet another frenetic Cale organ solo, the
band suddenly speeds up to double time and ends the song rampaging along at
runaway train speed before stopping suddenly and leaving their instruments
wildly feeding back; it’s in this 30 seconds that you can hear nearly
everything that came after, from the primitive roar of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stooges</b> (<b>Iggy</b> has been quoted as having heard the album very
early in the Stooge’s career) to the blistering tempos of hardcore
(particularly <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Germs</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Flag</b>, who practically made
careers centered around this exact sound).</div>
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Like most of my musical experiences, my exposure to the
Velvets was very bass-ackward. In much
the same way as I was exposed to the Stooges, where my first album of theirs
was their second, followed by their third and only then their first, my first
Velvet Underground album was their third album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Velvet Underground</i>. One
of my roommates in college had this on vinyl and I instantly fell in love with
it (and only then did I get into their second, and lastly their first,
albums). Cale had departed by this time,
taking with him most of the harsher avant-garde elements, and was replaced by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doug Yule</b>, formerly of the band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Grass Menagerie</b>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Velvet Underground</i> is an almost quiet and introspective album, particularly
compared to the incredible harshness of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">White
Light/White Heat</i>. Side one is a
particular revelation, showing again Reed’s ability to craft magnificently
beautiful pop songs almost effortlessly.
Yule’s presence in the band is emphatically established in the very
first song, “Candy Says”, which was sung by Yule. The song is sweet and introspective and sets
the tone for this album being a strong departure from their manic second
album. The next song is probably my
favorite Velvets song of all time, “What Goes On”, which is almost like a blues
holler song but then goes into an extended atonal dual guitar and organ solo that shows that
they haven’t lost all their avant-garde leanings despite Cale’s departure. This was the song that really introduced me
to the intensity of the Velvets. The
next song, the funky “Some Kinda Love” is another personal favorite, and its lyrics
provided the title for a subsequent Lou Reed anthology, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Between Thought and Expression</i>.
This is the Velvets at their bluesiest and funkiest; the thumping rhythm
seems to have been taken from “Sister Ray” and repurposed for a less raving,
more mellow song featuring some of Lou Reed’s weirdest lyrics yet (“Put jelly
on your shoulder; let us do what you fear most”). “Pale Blue Eyes” is another soft, slow, mellow
song like “Candy Says”; its good but it goes on about one verse too long in my
opinion. “Jesus” is a strange song for
a guy who wrote about sado-masochism and hard drug abuse to write; it’s
literally a modern-day psalm and might be the Velvets’ most unusual song. “I’m Beginning to See the Light” is much more
“vintage” Velvets—catchy, rollicking, but also with elements of stridency to
it. “I’m Set Free” is yet another high
point, noodling along like “Heroin” but building to a big loud chorus that ends
with Reed telling us he’s been set free “to find a new illusion”.</div>
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Alas, their third album was no better selling than their
first two and so the Velvets were soon dropped by their record company. They toured and recorded more material but none of this was released at the time; some
of their live material was released as a live album a few years later; the
studio stuff was compiled into 1985’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">VU</i>. In 1970 they released their fourth album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loaded</i>.
Pressured by their new record label, Atlantic, to produce some
radio-friendly hits, Reed complied but felt increasingly uncomfortable with
this new direction. As a result, fewer
songs were sung by him and more by Yule.
The poppy, peppy “Who Loves the Sun” is catchy and affecting but by 1970
this go-go style of music was pretty passé.
“Sweet Jane” and “Rock and Roll” of course became two of Reed’s more
popular songs; “Sweet Jane” is my favorite from this album but I also like the
hip, funky “Cool It Down” and “Head Held High” (which reminds me of “Beginning
to See the Light”). “Lonesome Cowboy
Bill” is very strange, a honky-tonk rave-up sung by Yule that sounds closer to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Little Feat</b> than it does <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Stooges</b>. “Train Round the Bend” is the only song that
even marginally captures some of the edginess of their prior work, but even
here the fuzzed-out guitar is muted and sounds more like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ray Manzarek’s</b> organ on “Hello, I Love You”. Yule sings the final track, the
introspective, 70’s-sounding “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’”, which is another terrific
song and should have been a big hit.</div>
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Even if it had, it might not have changed the outcome: Reed, disaffected by the record company’s
involvement and wanting a new set of challenges, left before the album was even
finished, and even if there had been a hit its dubious as to whether he’d have
returned. Reed of course went on to a
memorable if up-and-down solo career, achieving success with the song “Walk on
the Wild Side” off the Bowie-produced Transformer. But in 1975 Reed released an album that has
polarized critics and listeners ever since:
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metal Machine Music</i>. Consisting entirely of vocal-less over-modulated
guitar feedback split into 4 “songs”, one to a side, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metal Machine Music</i> was a shockingly radical departure from the
tuneful if eccentric songs he’d written on his four prior solo releases. To this day fierce debate rages about whether
this was an intentional act of creation by Reed (Reed himself swears it is), an
emphatic “fuck you” to his record label, or a deliberate act of self-sabotage
toward his career. The answer may well
be “d, all of the above”. Even divorced
from the strongly negative feelings of his fans at the time of release, with
almost forty years of perspective, it’s still hard to appreciate what, if any,
musical statement Reed was trying to make.
The song is, however, not without precedent in Reed’s own catalog. Many Velvet Underground songs took a harsh,
atonal approach sonically, particularly “I Heard Her Call My Name”, though
admittedly none so completely abandoned traditional song structure and
mechanics (“I Heard Her Call My Name” had lyrics and vocals for example). In 1966, in the earliest days of the Velvets,
Andy Warhol and his associate <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David
Dalton</b> released a multimedia “magazine” containing a flexi-disk with the
song “Loop” on it, which was credited to the Velvet Underground but was
actually produced by Cale. “Loop” consists
of a loud, atonal feedback drone that builds and subsides in a way that does
seem to eerily presage Reed’s work in “Metal Machine Music”. “Loop” itself seems to recall the work of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">La Monte Young</b> from this period,
particularly “For Brass”, which isn’t surprising given Cale’s affiliation with
Young prior to forming the Velvets.
“Metal Machine Music” also seems to presage some of the mid to late 70’s
work by avant-classical composers such as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John
Cage, Glenn Branca</b> (such as “Symphony #3 Gloria Third Movement” and “Lesson
No. 1 for Electric Guitar”, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rhys
Chatham’s</b> “Guitar Trio”. Obviously
much electronic and industrial music shares an affiliation with this music as
well. </div>
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So what’s the answer?
My personal feeling is that as music MMM is not effective—it’s too
dissonant, too purposefully difficult to listen to to be considered a
success. If Reed WAS trying to push
music in a new direction, he failed miserably (at least initially), since
nobody really took this and tried to expand on it, nor did he ever make any
attempt to follow up on it. As a
statement, as a concept, I think it succeeds, particularly if placed in the
context of avant-garde 60’s and 70’s classical, particularly drone and
minimalist classical. But it still
remains one of the oddest experiments by an artist ever, and as mentioned still
divides fans and critics alike as to its merits.</div>
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The second polarizing album that is the focus of this post
evolved out of the Velvet Underground’s history post-Lou Reed. Reed did not own the name, this was owned by
manager <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Steve Sesnick</b>, and so
despite the departure of inarguably the Velvet’s driving force and main talent,
Sesnick decided to push on with the Velvet name and the Velvet Underground, now
consisting of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Doug Yule</b> on lead
guitar and vocal, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sterling Morrison</b>
on rhythm guitar, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mo Tucker</b> on
drums, and Yule’s former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Grass Menagerie</b>
bandmate <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Walter Powers</b> on bass. This incarnation of the Velvets toured the
East Coast and Europe before Morrison too decided he’d had enough and left to
obtain his Ph.D. in medieval literature.
He was replaced by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Willie
Alexander</b>, a third member of <b>the Grass Menagerie</b>. The Yule/Powers/Alexander/Tucker version of
the Velvets toured England and the Netherlands in Fall 1971. Sesnick managed to secure the band (probably
based on name and reputation alone) a record deal with Polydor in England. In fall of 1972 Yule recorded <i>Squeeze</i> in
London; by this time <b>Mo Tucker</b>, while ostensibly a member of the band, was not
included in the recording sessions and the percussion was handled instead by
former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Deep Purple</b> drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ian Paice</b>.</div>
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It has been reported that the decision to release this album
under the Velvet Underground name was Sesnick’s alone, since he controlled it
at this point. The extent to which Yule
was involved in this decision is hotly debated, and indeed <i>Squeeze </i>itself
remains one of the most controversial albums of all time. Velvet purists (or snobs) insist that it is
an abomination against nature and they scream for Yule’s blood for
participating in such a grotesquerie. But
I’m not sure. First of all, as
mentioned, Yule may not have had much say-so in this matter given that Sesnick
controlled everything on the business end at this point. Almost assuredly Polydor gave him the
recording contract based on the Velvet name, which was pretty respected in
Europe by this time (it was around this time that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Bowie</b> was covering in concert versions of “I’m Waiting for
the Man” and “White Light/White Heat”, bringing his love of Lou Reed’s music
and songwriting to a whole new audience).
They may not have had much choice in the matter. Second, even if he DID have some say in the
outcome, I think it’s pretty hypocritical of anyone to criticize Yule, for many
reasons. Until YOU’VE had a chance to be
in someone else’s shoes and have to make that decision, I don’t think you can
really criticize someone. Complicating
matters was the fact that the Velvets had from the very beginning had a
rotating lineup, rarely having the same personnel from one album to the
next. Hell, Yule was one of the main
stable elements, playing on the last three albums (including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Squeeze</i> and not including the live
albums). Related to this, the Velvets
changed styles so easily and often that there isn’t anything stylistic that
separates <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Squeeze</i> from the rest of
the Velvets canon; again, if anything <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Squeeze</i>
is at least sonically and lyrically similar to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loaded</i>, which is more than you can say about any other two Velvet
albums. The fact that Reed was detaching
even during the recording of <i>Loaded</i>, and subsequently gave lead vocals to Yule
for 4 songs of the 10 songs on that album, makes the transition between <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loaded</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Squeeze</i> even more smooth. </div>
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And the final thing I have to say about this is, unlike
Reed’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metal Machine Music</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Squeeze</i> isn’t bad. If you completely divorce yourself from the
controversy of this being labeled a Velvet Underground album, you can see that
it is actually an interesting document of early 70’s rock. “Little Jack” starts kind of like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dylan’s</b> “Tangled Up in Blue” but then
it has a jaunty, almost 60’s garage-folk feel.
I love the twangy guitar here and the acidulous solo (Yule played all
instruments save drums). This song is
one of many on this album that does not fall far at all from the Velvet tree;
Yule had clearly paid attention to Reed’s songwriting and here and on many
other songs does a VERY credible job of writing in the same vein. </div>
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“Crash”, the second song, is a rollicking little piano ditty
that quotes extensively from “Martha My Dear” by the Beatles (It also reminds
me of “Make Up” off Reed’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Transformer </i>album),
the lyrics are a little corny, and it’s not one of my favorites. “Caroline” too is sort of weak, with its
faux-barbershop/<b>Beach Boys</b> chorus that vaguely recalls “Lonesome Cowboy Bill”
off <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loaded</i>. </div>
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“Mean Old Man” starts with a big riff but then settles into
a smooth 70’s bar band-ish groove complete with soulful female backing
vocals. “Dopey Joe” has the most Lou
Reed-ish vocals of any song on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Squeeze</i>
and its horns and swinging rhythm remind me of some of the pub rock that would
emerge from the London music scene in a couple of years when more people
rediscovered basic bar band rock.
Another thing this reminds me of is some of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jim Croce’s</b> work, specifically “Bad Bad Leroy Brown”.</div>
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“Wordless” is another <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatles-Velvets</b>
mash-up; anyone liking both bands would probably like this song. But the standout track on this album is
“She’ll Make You Cry”, which is easily as good as anything on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loaded </i>and could probably nestle
comfortably on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Velvet Underground</i>
without embarrassment. It starts with a
piercing guitar by Yule that has a slight country twang before launching into
his very Reed-esque vocal. The vocal
harmonies on the chorus kind of sound like <b>Crosby Stills and Nash</b> a little. This song is quite good, as is the next one,
“Friends”, which clearly samples the light, evanescent feel of “Pale Blue Eyes”
and “Candy Says” (which was of course sung by Yule) off The Velvet Underground. The backing vocals are very
Beatle-esque—soft, sweet “ooooh”s and “aaaaah”s. </div>
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“Send No Letter” is a higher tempo rave-up with a prominent
piano line that’s okay but is probably a minute or two long. “Jack and Jane” is more of a slow bump and
grind that emphasizes its pulsing bass and honking sax. “Louise”, the album ender, is really
reminiscent of mid- and late-era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Beatles</b>,
a cross between “Lovely Rita” and “Maggie Mae”, but with twinges of <b>Mott the
Hoople</b> and/or <b>Badfinger</b>. </div>
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The final verdict?
This would be a marvelously valuable musical artifact that would
probably be revered and the LP auctioned on eBay for thousands of dollars had
it been released as a Yule solo album.
Musically there’s nothing here that’s shameful or terrible, and indeed
most of it actually stands up pretty well, particularly in light of its sources
of comparison (<b>the Velvets, the Beatles, Lou Reed</b>’s solo work). If you put this on between <i>Loaded</i> and <i>Let It
Be</i>, most people at the party wouldn’t even blink twice. </div>
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But I can also sympathize with people who are outraged at
this being considered a Velvet Underground album. I’ve lived my entire adult life in the “permanent
nostalgia tour” era of music, when bands no longer ever break up when they’re out
of musical ideas, they instead continue to tour and rake in money from
ever-aging fans wishing to reclaim their own youth. Even that’s not the worst crime in the world—if
you can still play, and there’s still people who will pay to see you do so,
what’s wrong with that? But it does make
music a little like watching a cannibal trying to eat his own self. It’s kind of grotesque and never-ending, and
it detracts somewhat (at least in my opinion) from viable, fertile bands who
are continuing to try to make new music.
If all of us just retreated to our little bubble of nostalgia and
listened to music from XX years ago, we’d never see anything new and
interesting being made. I’m reminded of
<b>Homer Simpson</b> saying “Everyone knows rock achieved perfection in 1974”; while
we may quibble about the exact year, most of us have a mental time zone in which we feel most
comfortable. Again, nothing wrong with
that, but life is also about moving yourself OUT of your comfort zone, at least
occasionally. If we don’t accept new
challenges, new stimuli, we stagnate, and so does our culture. When a critical mass of people is no longer
interested in trying something new, what happens to our society? </div>
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This gets even worse when bands DO split up but then try to
continue on as some two-headed monster; “Dennis DeYoung’s Styx” and “The
Original Styx” and so forth come to mind.
And I DO have a REAL problem with some minor role player, particularly
if he or she was a johnny-come-lately to a band that achieved its greatest
success before they arrived, trying to lamely carry on the band under their own
aegis. In college one of the frat houses
advertised that “Fishbone” was going to play one of their rush parties. Ordinarily I wouldn’t be caught dead in a
frat house but I and a bunch of other folks dutifully trekked down Gayley and
stood around their beer soaked rumpus room . . . only to find out it was a band
where ONE GUY had ONCE been a horn player for <b>Fishbone</b>! Needless to say my punk friends and I were
pissed off and tore the place apart. </div>
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I don’t know why I’m willing to give Yule a pass here, given
those feelings. But for some reason I
guess I DON’T hold him accountable for Steve Sesnick’s questionable business
ethics, nor to I blame him for trying to make a go of it and doing the best job
he could. Often in life we have to play
the cards we’re dealt whether they’re winners or not; Yule did an acceptable
job of putting out something that isn’t a total embarrassment to the Velvet
Underground brand. Call it whatever you
like, it’s still an enjoyable slice of 70’s pop/rock from a guy who apprenticed
with one of the great songwriters of all time and who clearly learned a thing
or two in the process. </div>
runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-40573878150764646092012-05-21T12:11:00.001-07:002012-05-22T09:43:07.156-07:00Cool Nerds: A Couple of 80's New Wave Oddities<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqD5AEj1TCAZaQbX5xGNSApEQylZnFEvaV7e7Aulwi_rB1uzqEaF13HFLs-0M7nYB8PYuXPMddpsMqBLHktY6y8ZRCioDmxRB0a6gDuC3pZ6O7n4lfdzNppRMLVxUiZmtciBAVEY6f4Fpr/s1600/Burning+Sensations.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqD5AEj1TCAZaQbX5xGNSApEQylZnFEvaV7e7Aulwi_rB1uzqEaF13HFLs-0M7nYB8PYuXPMddpsMqBLHktY6y8ZRCioDmxRB0a6gDuC3pZ6O7n4lfdzNppRMLVxUiZmtciBAVEY6f4Fpr/s640/Burning+Sensations.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LA's Burning Sensations</td></tr>
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I haven’t posted in far too long, and to anyone who is
following this blog regularly I apologize.
I’m starting a new job next year and due to a wrinkle of fate I actually
am still being paid by my old job while I prepare materials for this new job,
so I’ve been focusing on that. But I’d
like to get back into the swing of posting regularly, specifically I still have
voluminous posts coming on country rock, on electronica, another post on
post-rock, among others. But to get my
feet wet I’m writing today’s post which focuses on three obscure songs that I
first discovered via their music videos.
For those of us old enough to remember, before there was Wikipedia,
before there was All Music Guide, before there was iTunes, before there was
YouTube, before there was even an internet, one of the main places to get
exposed to new music was via music videos.
I spent my formative years in Southern California, which did not get MTV
until very late in my “childhood” (I think I was in high school), and so even
if my parents HAD wanted to spend money on cable TV (which they did not) I
couldn’t have seen it. My first exposure
to MTV was through friends who got it then.
At one point around my senior year of high school, my aunt Kris (who is
only 2 years older than me and has always been more like a big sister) and I
house sat for some family friends who had MTV and I can remember us watching it
endlessly even though it was a massive letdown because it was so insufferably
BORING—they showed very few videos even then and it seems in retrospect that
they spent at least an equal amount of time shilling themselves—the constant
station IDs (this was back in the “Moon Man” phase), the endless promotional
contests (the one during this period of time was “Be a Roadie for Bruce Springsteen”,
which couldn’t have appealed LESS to me at the time given my European
synthpop/new wave obsession). Mostly it
seemed very East Coast—very New York centered, very much NOT hip to the new
wave feeling of the time.</div>
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Where did we get our music videos if not from MTV? Well, I’ve already posted several times about
the show MV3, a local Southern California show that combined videos with a
studio dance format. MV3 was
world-changing to my friends and I, primarily because of the studio dancers and
their various tribal new wave styles. In
Long Beach, where we lived, very few people dressed like mods or like new
wavers or rockabilly cats, mostly everyone skulked around in their preppy
fashions—plaid or brightly colored golf pants, polo style shirts, sweaters tied
around the neck, Topsider boat shoes.
Seeing these other kids awash in the latest European/New York fashions
was revelatory. In fact, one of the main
reasons I decided to attend college at UCLA (aside from the excellent academics
of course) was because during the 1984 Olympics my family took me to several
events at UCLA’s campus and driving through Westwood I saw TONS of people
dressed in the cool fashions of the time.
I thought I’d died and gone to new wave heaven.</div>
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But MV3 was also the source of many odd, rare, distinctive
videos back in the day too that were influential as well. Many were by local bands that had scraped
together enough money to make a video then begged or bribed MV3 into playing
it. Two groups in particular, Fishbone
and the Bangles, achieved fame first as local celebrities for their music
videos. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fishbone’s</b> “? (Modern Industry)” was immensely popular; I think I
could still recite most if not all of the radio stations mentioned in that song
from memory! “The Real World” remains my
favorite <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bangles </b>song of all time; I
really love the catchy 60’s London swing to that song and even then I and most
of my friends could tell that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Susanna
Hoffs</b> was smokin’ hot, even shrouded up in 60’s fashions as she was. </div>
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But there were songs that were even MORE obscure, and the
bands that made them didn’t usually go on to big fame. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Burning
Sensations</b> was a band that kind of straddled this divide: while they didn’t have much national
recognition, they were pretty popular in Southern California primarily because
of the video for their song “Belly of the Whale”. The song itself is outstanding—a catchy blast
of calypso/ska-infused rock—and the video looked like a hoot: the band, some very attractive dancing girls/bathing
beauties, and a bunch of other cool characters (their friends I presume) all
hanging out in a club inside the aforementioned whale’s belly. In its own way the video was like a weird LA
answer to what might arguably be the coolest video of all time, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the English Beat’s</b> “Save it for Later”,
which was shot in some weird bohemian beatnik cavern club and which convinced
me and many others that England had to be the coolest country in the
world. Burning Sensations were fronted
by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tim McGovern</b>, who had formerly
played guitar for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Motels</b> (the
“Whale” video even has a tribute, or is it a dig at? <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Martha Davis</b> of the Motels, showing a doppelganger from her “Only
the Lonely” video who pushes McGovern down the slide into the whale’s belly, a
metaphor for her kicking him out perhaps?), and this song was their one big hit
(though they did also achieve recognition for their cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jonathon Richman’s</b> “Pablo Picasso” on
the soundtrack for the excellent movie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Repo
Man</i>). McGovern’s look in this video
was very fashion-forward: he wears a slouchy
“Rat Pack” style hat and a goatee, literally decades before every hipster
douche on earth adopted this as their “unique” look. Unfortunately after releasing one EP and one
album Burning Sensations kind of faded into obscurity, but for one brief moment
back in 1983 or so, they made LA seem as cool as London.</div>
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Another strange local gem was the video for the song “Cool
Nerd” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Danny Schneider</b>. Schneider had started his musical career in
northern California (supposedly at one point even auditioning for <b>Sammy Hagar’</b>s
band. He moved to LA and his band there,
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Speedlimit</b>, had some limited
(ha ha) exposure on LA’s premiere new wave radio station KROQ with their cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nancy Sinatra’s</b> “These Boots Are Made
For Walkin’”. Amazingly, iTunes has not
one but TWO compilations of Speedlimit’s output available, including this song
as well as their main single, “In the Middle of the Night”, which sounds like a
cross between <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">REO Speedwagon</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Loverboy</b> and perhaps a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Byrne</b>-fronted <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Animotion</b>. It’s pretty generic early 80’s new wave
tinged bar/arena rock, sounding like something off the original <i>Terminator</i> soundtrack
that might have been playing at “Tech Noir” just before <b>Ah-nold</b> strode in and
gunned everyone down. Schneider’s vocals
sound like a weird hybrid between David Byrne’s strident nerdiness and the
chirpiness of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gary Numan</b>. Weird stuff.</div>
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Anyhoo Schneider reached a larger audience (of at least one,
i.e., me) when he went solo and released a single and video called “The Cool
Nerd”. The song is a swinging, sweet,
rapidly plucked acoustic guitar ditty about a guy who’s such a nerd he loves to
dance by himself. Scheider’s high
pitched vocals and that kicky beat make this song extremely catchy in a nerd
rock kind of way that again evokes David Byrne or some other 80’s nerd icon. In the video, Schneider acts out the part of
the cool nerd in a way that was eye catching but it was really his beautiful,
fluid guitar picking that made this stick in my memory for about 30 years (and
counting). The video is posted on
YouTube by Schneider himself and as mentioned the song is available on
iTunes. </div>
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Even weirder was the song and video for “How To Pick Up
Girls”, a song by two diminutive sisters from Canada known (a little
perversely) as <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Little Girls</b>. The song is really just straight-ahead bar
band rock aside from the chirpy vocals by the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Maso</b> sisters but it became a (very) minor hit. The video again is a combination
performance/storyline where various cheesy mulletted Canadian guys try in vain
to pick up the aforementioned (Little) girls.
The sisters’ strange faux-aerobics dancing style is about the most
interesting thing about this video, aside from the fact that they achieved a
form of immortality by dint of the fact that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bret Easton Ellis</b> quotes the lyrics from one of their other songs,
“The Earthquake Song”, in his now-legendary 80’s too-fast-too-soon
coming-of-age novel “Less Than Zero”.
“The Earthquake Song” is a slice of neo-60’s hip-shaking that is very
reminiscent of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Josie Cotton’s</b>
“Johnny Are You Queer” and “You Could Be the One”. A strangely peppy and throwaway song to be
featured in such a dark book (which primarily quotes or mentions lyrics by more
durable acts like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">X, Randy Newman, Led
Zeppelin</b>, etc.). </div>
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<br /></div>runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-25211952133697566462012-01-31T09:26:00.000-08:002012-05-22T11:12:06.275-07:00City of Echoes: The Continuing Evolution of Post-Metal<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXBOjaSbJGVzQWW8oKVVKbhXFpxr9U8HCpTJ74g6YMJyhJvGR0HT4Ftoc8jv69p8TGOxgcwTgGNGXOsNzYnrMwbVcf42LLKyrPHc0FnldgiDp6KZgMfp5Oud7488pvnVthiJw5jckAbkm_/s1600/Pelican.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXBOjaSbJGVzQWW8oKVVKbhXFpxr9U8HCpTJ74g6YMJyhJvGR0HT4Ftoc8jv69p8TGOxgcwTgGNGXOsNzYnrMwbVcf42LLKyrPHc0FnldgiDp6KZgMfp5Oud7488pvnVthiJw5jckAbkm_/s640/Pelican.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pelican, the premier post-metal band</td></tr>
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One of the most amazing things about metal music is how it has continued to evolve. To me, nothing has been more intriguing than the development of post-metal. Post-metal describes a sub-genre of extreme metal which, similar to the way post-rock leaves many of the standard tropes of rock behind, uses metal as a jumping off point for more unusual explorations of this variation that (much like post-rock itself) typically involves minimal vocals, a grander, more neo-classical compositional structure, and an emphasis on sonic textures over traditional riffs and chords, atypical instrumentation, etc. </div>
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I’ve talked in two recent posts about the rise of crossover/thrash and grindcore/death metal from the ashes of the hardcore scenes in England and America. Post-metal can trace its lineage to grindcore through the career of one fascinating musician, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Justin Broadrick</b>. Broadrick’s musical career began when he formed his first band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Final </b>in the early 80’s when he was just 13; originally conceived as a punk band, Final used a drum machine instead of a live drummer (much like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nine Inch Nails</b> would a decade or so later) and was involved in the nascent industrial scene. </div>
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In 1985 Broadrick became the guitarist for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Napalm Death</b> and recorded side one of their now-legendary 1987 grindcore classic <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scum</i> with them. Broadrick’s massive wall-of-sound guitar noise was a critical element to the emerging genre of grindcore and was a bridge between the emerging hardcore punk, extreme metal and industrial genres.</div>
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In 1986 he joined as a drummer the industrial bands <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fall of Because</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Head of David</b> and edged even closer to a fusion of punk, metal and industrial. The Fall of Because compilation <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Life Is Easy</i> was released in 1989 (and re-released by Invisible Records in 1999 and is available on iTunes) and showcases this musical direction. The music sounds like an update of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Killing Joke</b>; other bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Swans</b> are clear influences, while in America bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Big Black</b> were pursuing similar sonic avenues. It has elements of punk and the wall-of-feedback-and-distortion element that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Jesus and Mary Chain</b> developed, and which the indie shoegazer movement would make even more famous. It also has a sludgy, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Flipper</b> element that would also find popularity in another genre, grunge, a few years later; the tempo of much of Broadrick’s post-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Napalm Death</b> music tends to be very slow and grinding rather than blisteringly fast. “Grind”, “Survive”, and “Merciless” are particular standouts.</div>
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In 1988 Broadrick evolved Fall of Because into <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Godflesh</b> with Because bassist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">G.C. Green</b>. Godflesh continued on in this same punk/metal/industrial vein. 1988’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Godflesh</i> is like a Venn diagram between the feedback whine of indie shoegazer and the rumble and blast of grindcore, particularly on songs like “Godhead” and “Spinebender”. The influence on bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ministry</b> and other late 80's/early 90’s industrial bands is obvious. 1989’s <i>Streetcleaner</i> was an even more cogent musical statement, boasting cleaner production and an even better defined ethic. The songs here lumber and lurch like proto-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sabbath</b> sludge; guitars clang and howl; Broadrick’s vocals are deep throated growls. My favorite song is “Christbait Rising”, with its rat-a-tat drum machine and droning, feedback-drenched blitz. This music is definitely heavy enough to appeal to metalers able to step out of the traditional structure of heavy metal, people who would form bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">White Zombie</b>. The industrial element comes more directly from the drum machine and staccato rhythms and less from overt synth or sampling elements.</div>
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My personal favorite album by Godflesh is 1994’s album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Selfless</i>; to me the production here is top notch; the guitars (and Green’s bass) pulse and roar. I like “Xnoybis” and “Anything is Mine”; the lurching, pulsing, grinding rhythm of the latter reminds me almost of early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Soundgarden</b> or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nirvana</b> it’s so sludgy. The high, repeating feedback of the former is also really memorable to me, and really makes me think again of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Killing Joke</b>, a high compliment indeed from me. This album also has one of my favorite album covers of all time, a scanning electron image of a cultured fibroblast growing on a computer chip, a fitting image for such organic-yet-electronic music. </div>
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Another contributor to Godflesh was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Robert Hampson</b>, who was another interesting player in the evolution of metal’s evolution toward industrial and electronica. Hampson had been guitarist and a main architect of the band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Loop</b>. Loop sat much closer to the art/damage sound of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sonic Youth</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Naked Raygun</b> than they did to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Napalm Death</b>, but Hampson brought these other, more trance-like elements into the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Godflesh</b> mix. Their 1987 album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heaven’s End</i> captures this hypnotic feel, particularly on songs like “Straight to your Heart”, which sounds like something off <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sonic Youth’s</b> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evol</i> album, and the title track, which hearkens back to the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Velvet Underground’s</b> early drone experimentation (only with looped samples). They continued in this vibe on 1988’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fade Out</i>; I have “This is Where You End” and the title track, which have that repetitive feedback drone that can be found in everything from the art/damage of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sonic Youth</b> to the reverb-filled debut of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Black Rebel Motorcycle Club</b> to the shoegaze of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">My Bloody Valentine</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blur</b>. This is actually really great music that I don’t listen to often enough.</div>
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Loop’s swan song was 1990’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Gilded Eternity</i>. I have four songs that I like from this one, all of which fit that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sonic-Youth</b>-meets-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blur</b> vibe. “Arc-Lite” has the echoey vocals of 60’s obscurities like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Godz</b> and a catchily repetitive riff. “Vapour” is another dead-on <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sonic Youth</b> carbon copy; honestly, if I snuck this into your electronic copy of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bad Moon Rising</i>, you probably wouldn’t even notice. Aside from the fey vocals, “The Nail Will Burn” sounds the most like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Godflesh </b>and you can see why <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Broadrick</b> asked him to join. “Blood” is quieter, with a dominant repeating drum line and a softly feeding back guitar and occasional chimes of guitar riff and other sampled sonics. </div>
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Broadrick also collaborated in side projects with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kevin Martin</b>, another drone experimentalist who had formed the band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ice</b> in the mid-90’s. Ice was not metal at all, but traded heavily in low key, jazz-influenced ambient electronica. I have the song “Out of Focus” (not a cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blue Cheer’s</b> famous proto-metal barn burner) from the album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Under the Skin</i>. I like the skittery, free jazz drums and pulsing electronic skirls on this song. As mentioned, this is far from metal, but still has an occasional ominous chug that tethers it to industrial music. It often sounds like an super-extended chillwave/dub remix of <b>Godflesh’s</b> more accessible stuff.</div>
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Broadrick broke up <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Godflesh</b> after suffering a nervous breakedown in 2002 (though they reformed in 2010) and in 2004 formed the industrial metal/post-metal band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jesu</b>. Jesu is often described as post-metal; here Broadrick has crisply delineated the minor key electronic elements and guitar chug. The vocals are not the shouted growls of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Godflesh</b> but soft and optimistic, sounding like something off an ambient/trance album. “Bright Eyes” off 2007’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Conqueror </i>sounds like a cross between <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Vangelis</b> and the tight thrumming guitar chug of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Soundgarden’s</b> “Beyond the Wheel”; similarly, “Stanlow” has a rough <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Godflesh</b>-like chug to the guitars but again the electronic elements here sound like something off a science fiction movie soundtrack. </div>
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My favorite work is from their most recent album, 2011’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ascension</i>. “Birth Day” is magnificent ambient metal, there’s really no other word for it. The electronic elements on “Broken Home” almost sound like a harpsichord or something and the guitar chug is wonderful here too. “Small Wonder” is more fuzzed-out and the electronic elements are submerged more into the overall feedback drone and guitar chug. The song occasionally resolves into a gently picked (i.e., not heavily amplified and feeding back) guitar and Broadrick’s gentle vocals. This might be the best <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jesu</b> song to me. The title track continues this more introspective and peaceful vibe and is really close to the post-rock of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mogwai </b>or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bark Psychosis</b>, just repeating elements and intersecting lines and lots of majestic, introspective, hazy beauty. I hope Broadrick continues to do his Jesu work, he’s truly captured a unique and beautifully optimistic take on music in general and metal in particular. </div>
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In the late 90’s and into the 21<sup>st</sup> century other bands have attempted to infuse extreme metal with a similarly orchestrated and majestic feel, focusing more on textures than on bludgeoning riffs or extreme speed. An early pioneer was the Oakland band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Neurosis</b>, who evolved from hardcore punk to death metal to a band mixing elements of death metal with ambient and electronic elements much like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Broadrick</b> has done throughout his career. I have not downloaded much by this band but definitely will check them out.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Isis</b> is another early post-metal pioneer, and guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Aaron Turner</b> also formed Hydra Head Records, a label which specializes in extreme metal, everything from the grindcore of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Agoraphobic Nosebleed</b> to the post-metal of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jesu</b>. Isis (who also write their name ISIS) emerged from a more straightforward hardcore and death metal sonic place (as can be seen by the songs on their debut album, 2000’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Celestial</i>). My favorite downloads thus far (like with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Neurosis</b>, I’ve only just begun exploring) are “So Did We”, a moody, introspective piece off their third album, 2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Panopticon,</i> that also occasionally rumbles and roars, and sports gravelly, growled vocals used sparingly between long crisp instrumental passages. “Backlit” also references post-rock bands like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slint </b>but it builds like classic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Godflesh</b> to soaring pinnacles of noisy splendor interspersed with airy ambient waves. My other two favorites are “Wrists of Kings” off 2006’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In the Absence of Truth</i>; this reminds me a lot of the contemporary post-rock I’ve been downloading in droves recently, specifically stuff by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Califone, Clog’s, Rachel’s</b>, and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Diagonah</b>, and only reaches the sturm and drang of metal sporadically. “Dulcinea” off this album is similar, often sounding as moody and introspective as early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cure</b>. As with Neurosis, I’m still on the ascending limb of my collection curve with respect to this band but eventually builds in power and intensity.</div>
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My current favorite post-metal band by a large margin is Chicago’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pelican</b>. Formed in 2001, they released their first album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Australasia</i>, in 2003. I absolutely love the giant, soaring, majestic guitar landscapes constructed by this band; their sound is so optimistic and beautiful I’m almost always sucked into their magnificence. I honestly cannot recommend this band enough; they take the same joyous, hopeful sound approach of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jesu</b>, but do not taint it with vocals: nearly all of their songs are instrumentals of unparalleled splendor. I love the short (for them) song “GW” off this first album but it’s easy to get lost in any of their wordless anthems. Some, like “Drought” or “Angel Tears” sit closer to the dirgy drone of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Godflesh</b>. </div>
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2005’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw</i> is another triumph. “Last Day of Winter” almost sounds like “Kashmir” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Zep</b> in terms of its lurching yet shimmering texture, but occasionally slows to even more spare and introspective moments of percussion alternating with bass chords; the shimmering middle sounds a lot like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jesu’s</b> work on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ascension</i>. “Sirius” clangs and burbles to start but then settles into a twangy thrum of guitar and bass before reaching a loud, crashing crescendo. </div>
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My favorite album by them is 2007’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">City of Echoes</i>. “Bliss in Concrete” starts with some downbeat riffing that suggests <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Godflesh</b> or even arguably <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John McGeoch’s</b> strange shimmering guitar work for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Siouxsie and the Banshees</b> (a strange comparison I know for a metal band). The title track is a blow-you-away standout song that never fails to amaze me; the balance between the guitar picking and the huge minor chord riffing is just incredible, and they even slip in a little <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Metallica</b>-like superfast chugging, and I defy anyone to find a song with a more uplifting tone. I am absolutely nuts about this song right now; it is VERY high in my frequently changing personal top ten list. “Spaceship Broken-Parts Needed” starts with a repeating piano note-like sound and floats gossamer-like initially like an <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Angela Badalamenti</b> composition but builds to some majestic riffage that still retains the evanescence of the intro even as it ramps up the power. The drumming here is particularly outstanding; by the four and a half minute mark this song is as majestic as “City of Echoes”. “Winds with Hands” starts off with acoustic strumming that sounds like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nick Drake</b>; if the strumming weren’t so vigorous this would also sound like late era <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Talk Talk</b>, the first post-anything band. Ironically, the emotional tension is the highest for any Pelican song I can think of, which shows how capable this band is. “A Delicate Sense of Balance” starts ominously but again like “Parts Needed” builds from a basic drum beat and softly strummed electric guitars to a huge, shimmering apex. </div>
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“Pulse”, off their 2009 untitled EP, shows that Pelican can pull off a soaring <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jesu</b> drone vibe with utter perfection; like much of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jesu’</b>s work, this sounds like a cut from a particularly enjoyable science fiction movie. Their most recent album, 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What We All Come to Need</i> is another triumph. “Glimmer” has a great noodling background solo that reminds me of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Greg Ginn’s</b> work with late era Black Flag. The title track is my second most favorite Pelican song next to “City of Echoes”, another hopeful instrumental anthem that just takes you along like a briskly flowing river to new vistas of beauty. </div>
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Two other post-metal bands I’ve just begun exploring are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Russian Circles</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Callisto. Russian Circles</b> is a Chicago trio who, like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ISIS</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pelican</b>, traffic in metallic landscapes that build in shimmering intensity and incorporate ambient, post-rock, and post-punk aspects of instrumentation. The two Russian Circles songs I have now are “Verses” off 2008’s <i>Station</i> and “Fathom” off 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Geneva</i>. I love the spacey electronica of the former and the chunky post-rock feel of the second (and its sustain ending). Much harder is “309” off their most recent album, 2011’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Empros</i>, while “Mladek” and “Atackla” off this same album are uplifting but still retain a rough fuzz to the bass that offsets their sweetness. Finally, “Praise Be Man” reminds me of early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Chemical Brothers</b> in its eerie ambience and repeating elements, sort of like a metal “Where Do I Begin”. I like this band a lot, they’re probably my second fave next to Pelican. </div>
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Finland’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Callisto</b> makes similarly ambitious music. The one song I have by them right now is “A Close Encounter” off 2007’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Noir</i>; it starts with a mellow guitar line and spacey synths but eventually meanders its way into a traditional black metal structure, complete with hoarse, growled vocals and crashing guitar chords before wandering back into soothing electronics and guitar notes. “Wormwood” and “Fugitive” from this album are also good. I haven’t downloaded anything from it yet, but 2009’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Providence</i> continues their evolution in this direction and is also good.</div>
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<br /></div>runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-203965372604367418.post-33442107157542319052012-01-30T13:17:00.000-08:002012-01-30T13:17:20.915-08:00Oh You Beautiful Child: English Glam Obscurities from the early 70's<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVA8wh0v3bSRKa4gbr5HIQpGB0u_7Ftm4S1ondu4HbisP1cBRsAj9mBNyevoaG2Tgi5b0w2sfZKBkX5yJo9sCkHcl82cu1YsEGWEvJCrumjYRv3loN79ujLVddr1Id_H2U_glnKEMVA7o/s1600/Blackfoot+Sue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVA8wh0v3bSRKa4gbr5HIQpGB0u_7Ftm4S1ondu4HbisP1cBRsAj9mBNyevoaG2Tgi5b0w2sfZKBkX5yJo9sCkHcl82cu1YsEGWEvJCrumjYRv3loN79ujLVddr1Id_H2U_glnKEMVA7o/s640/Blackfoot+Sue.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blackfoot Sue</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">A short while back I read <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Thompson’s</b> outstanding history of the British glam rock movement, “Children of the Revolution”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thompson is an author after my own heart; anyone who has glanced at this blog knows that I tend toward the, um, verbose and that I am extremely analytical when it comes to music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his book, Thompson gives a month-by-month catalog of every album, single, and TV appearance by glam artists through the early 70’s, as glam started from humble beginnings and became for a time the dominant musical paradigm in England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is just about as comprehensive and exhaustive as you can possibly get, and I greatly enjoyed his book.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Even more relevant to the topic of this blog, Thompson’s book is a treasure trove of extremely obscure British glam acts, few of which ever made even the tiniest splash on these shores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hell, if T. Rex and Bowie could barely manage to crack the U.S. charts, it’s pretty obvious none of the rest of these bands were going to be able to do so either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven’t been able to track down all of the songs listed by Thompson but the few I have really intrigued me.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And none more than <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alan Lee Shaw</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shaw is a fascinating figure, another in a long line of really unique individuals who managed to weave their career through several musical movements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shaw originally befriended legendary 60’s psychedelic drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Twink </b>in the mid-70’s as Twink was working with former <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pink Floyd</b> burnout <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Syd Barrett</b> in his post-Floyd band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stars</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually Shaw and Twink formed <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Rings</b> in ’77 as punk exploded in England and released “I Wanna Be Free”, a bracing splash of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sham 69</b>-esque ’77 punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But prior to this, he released a solo single titled “She Moans” that has to be heard to believed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Starting out with a wild, almost frenetic blast of wah guitar, it then settles into a thundering protopunk rumble that eerily presages his later punk work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Shaw himself, his image at this time was very glam, with lots of satin, but musically this has a harder edge than most teenybop glam of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fun song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shaw went on to form two other seminal English punk bands, the Maniacs and the Physicals, before joining the Damned in the 90’s and eventually Lords of the New Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Chelsea ‘77”/”Ain’t No Legend” by the Maniacs are both on YouTube (as are “She Moans” and “I Wanna Be Free”); “Chelsea” a catchy piece of straight-ahead punk, with snotty, stuttering vocals that stride between Roger Daltrey and Johnny Rotten, while “Legend” is catchier, more pop punk musically.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another oddity is the single “You Won’t Come” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Spunky Spider</b>; clearly the glam penchant for sexually outrageous song titles and lyrics is in full flight here as well as on Shaw’s single.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vocals sound very harsh, almost strident, even snarly at times, and the music is a weird chiming proto-60’s garage-y surge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not sure how this ever managed to be released, let alone chart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The b-side, “Perchance” has more of a late 60’s heavy blues/psychedelia feel, lurching along on a plodding blues riff.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At the opposite end of the musical spectrum is “Trust In Dick” (there’s that cheeky English sex thing again) by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Winkies</b>, a rollicking, feel-good song that sweeps you along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Winkies formed in 1973 but were really more of a pub rock band masquerading as a glam rock band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1974 they came to the attention of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Eno</b>; Eno had recently split from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Roxy Music</b> and was looking for a backing band for his tour supporting his first solo album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Here Come the Warm Jets</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alas, Eno’s health problems ended the tour after just 5 dates and the Winkies and Eno parted company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They went on to record their first album, but their interlude with Eno delayed it so that it wasn’t released until 1975 and was thus birthed into the downward slope of the glam scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music is not necessarily glam in nature, being more of a melodic 70’s groove rock in nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Trust In Dick” is supremely catchy, with a memorable chorus and rollicking music that evokes <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Allman Brothers</b> as much as anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This middle America sensibility finds its greatest flowering in their cover of “Long Song Comin’” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bob Seger</b>; lead singer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Guy Stevens’</b> yowling vocals make him sound almost like an English <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tom Petty</b>, more soulful than glitter rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Twilight Masquerade” starts with acoustic guitar and vocals that evince <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Neil Young</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Davey’s Blowtorch” is another great bar burning rave-up that sounds a lot like early <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mott the Hoople</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a great band that bridged the glam-pub rock divide but unfortunately never truly found an audience in either camp.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Equally catchy as “Trust In Dick” is “Standing In the Road” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Blackfoot Sue</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of my absolute favorite forgotten English glam jems, a head shaking, foot stomping dance floor romp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can imagine this must have been HUGE in the glam discos in 1972!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Sing, Don’t Speak”, the follow-up to “Standing In the Road”, is another great foot stomper that sounds like the platform stomp of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slade</b> crossed with the catchy vocals of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sweet </b>or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Rollers</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This band, formed in Birmingham in the early 70’s, only barely survived the glam era, breaking up in 1977, but “Standing in the Road” is as fun as they come and is a welcome addition to my iPod.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bearded Lady’s</b> “Rock Star” is another strange bird, with its almost Jewish folk music sounding chorus, building from a lightly strummed guitar intro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Singer/guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Johnny Warman</b> was the driving force behind this group, supposedly receiving accolades from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bowie </b>himself, high praise indeed!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one is worth checking out.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Iron Virgin</b> was a Scottish glam band whose music snaked uneasily between the stomp of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slade</b> and the big shouted group choruses of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Bay City Rollers</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Rebels Rule”, which was their second single, released in 1974 showcases this interesting sound, and sounds like a cross between “Gudbye T’Jane” and “Ballroom Blitz”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their first single was a cover of “Jet” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Paul McCartney and Wings</b>; what’s funny is that I always thought that song had a very glam sound to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>IV’s version isn’t bad but doesn’t add anything particularly exciting to the original, and actually I love the rumbling bass on Paul’s version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their third single, “Shake That Fat” almost sounds like a joke, perhaps the missing Spinal Tap single between “Sex Farm Woman” and “Stonehenge”? A little strange lyrically but actually kind of a fun rip between glam and 70’s hard rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Teenage Love Affair” is similarly harder rocking, with an almost <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dolls</b>-like groove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another mysterious glam obscurity is <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Spiv</b>, whose “Oh, You Beautiful Child” almost sounds like “Look What They’ve Done To My Song, Ma” as covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Crazy World of Arthur Brown</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very very strange!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t find much information on this band (person?) but this song is definitely one you should hear.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">With its weird fuzzbox guitar and clanging keyboards, “Morning Bird” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Damned</b>—no, not THAT <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Damned</b>—is a strange, well, bird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The big, melodic, singalong chorus sounds like something <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Beatles</b> might have whomped together circa 1963—it’s even got that patented <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">McCartney-Lennon</b> “whoooo” (which they in turn stole from <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Little Richard</b>) of songs like “I Saw Here Standing There”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is another weird but fun song and again seems like it was one of those get-everyone-on-the-dancefloor songs circa 1973 that makes me wish I’d been old enough to see/hear that happen then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“Make Me a Superman” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Stumpy</b> has an almost lushness to it, with its hushed, sweet vocals and guitar harmonies (and despite its tinny production typical of the times).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stumpy were a North Country band and this single was released in 1974.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hewing closely to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Bay City Rollers</b> formula was Portsmouth’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hector</b>, who dressed in bizarre overalls and striped shirts with matching striped knee high socks, and platform shoes; apparently they were trying for a Dennis the Menace look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sound was a pounding, crunchy pop, which can be heard in their single “Ain’t Got No Time”; the vocals are a mite warbly, almost chipmunky, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but the music is catchy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even better, primarily because its less trebly and more rocking, is “Bye Bye Bad Times”, which hews closer to “Ballroom Blitz” but with a smoother harmony on the chorus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lyrics have that bittersweet cry-in-your-beer nostalgia/wistfulness of Slade songs like “Summer Song” and “Heaven Knows”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their first single, “Wired Up” has a big buzzing guitar intro that reminds me of “Journey to the Center of the Mind” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Amboy Dukes</b>, and chirpy vocals like “Time” and some weird synth elements too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A great lost gem of the glam era was Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s aptly named <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Geordie </b>(Geordie is English slang for someone from this particular region of England).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Geordie would retain a measure of fame for providing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AC/DC</b> with their replacement vocalist for <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bon Scott, Brian Johnson</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love “All Because of You”, which retains the arena stomp of classic <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Slade</b> and is a catchy pop rock roller coaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1973’s “Electric Lady” is another standout, with its out-sized intro and catchy chorus, which builds to a big shout-along.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Johnson’s vocals are clearly recognizable even at this time, but also sound occasionally like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dan McCafferty</b> of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nazareth’s</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A third song I like—none of this is on iTunes but tons of Geordie songs have been uploaded to YouTube—is “She’s a Lady”, which is a little slower, more rock-oriented (it actually doesn’t sound that far off of what Johnson would eventually do with <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Brothers Young</b>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Another band that achieved some subsequent fame were <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Arrows</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Formed by American <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alan Merrill</b>, Israeli born guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jake Hooker</b>, and British drummer <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Paul Varley</b>, Arrows released several glam rock singles in the early 70’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Toughen Up” is a nice hard slice of sweet powerpop influenced rock that hearkens back to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Faces</b> and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Who</b>; it even has a shuffle beat like “Magic Bus”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Touch Too Much” builds into an almost rockabilly rave-up—the rhythm is lifted straight from “Summertime Blues”--but its chorus is pure <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bay City Rollers</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they are best known for writing what would be <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Joan Jett’s</b> first huge hit, “I Love Rock n’ Roll”, which they released in 1975.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their version is rawer, rougher, closer to 60’s garage rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Similarly, North London’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Hello</b> were a Sweet-influenced teeny bop glam band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had several catchy songs, notably “Another School Day” (I love the feeding back guitar intro on this song) and a cover of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Exciter’s</b> 1963 hit “Tell Him”, but they also achieved bigger fame when their song “New York Groove” was covered by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kiss</b> guitarist <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ace Frehley</b> on his Kiss solo album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He never achieved quite the level of fame (or, thankfully, infamy) of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Gary Glitter</b>, but <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Alvin Stardust</b> was cut from a similar cloth, an aging rocker who reinvented himself as a glam rock icon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His 1973 single “My Coo Ca Choo” is a hoot though, sweet, crooned vocals over rockabilly backing with occasional acidic guitar solos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love this song; his chorus sounds very <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Elvis</b>-like, kind of low and drawled and sexy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“Kick Your Boots Off” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sisters </b>has vocals that sound like <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Paul Stanley’s</b> shrieky vocals on post-makeup metal <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Kiss</b> songs like “Lick It Up”, but the music is stomping and catchy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Speaking of super-catchy is “Let’s Do It Again” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Crunch</b>; this song is easily as memorable as anything put out by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">T. Rex, Slade</b>, or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Sweet</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The huge drum-laden intro grabs you by the platform shoes and shoves you onto the dance floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another terrific gem, as is “Turtle Dove” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Rats</b>, which is great, guitar-driven fun.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A strange beast indeed are the inter-related bands Stavely Makepeace and Lieutenant Pigeon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Slippery Rock 70’s” by Makepeace is a strange instrumental, with a rollicking roadhouse piano and a curiously thrumming bass line; man, they sure knew how to make dance music back then!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even weirder is “Moldy Old Dough” by Lieutenant Pigeon, another strange, plinky piano number with martial drums, a recorder solo, and gruff, atonally growled vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>VERY VERY strange!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet it was the second best selling single in England in 1972!!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope they invested well . . .</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">1975’s “Neo City” by Colchester’s <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Plod</b> is a raw blast of glam pop rock; I love the guitar here, very truly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs like this show you how very near <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Sex Pistols’</b> sound was to what was already out there already in England.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">No, it’s not the MC5 song of the same name, but “Kick Out the Jams” by Tubthumper is another strange, mostly instrumental, fuzzed-out drum-and-guitar bash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sounds like a “jock jam” to me today, i.e., a song played to get a crowd ramped up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interesting.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Two very late entries into the glam field were 1977’s Big Wheels Turnin’” a teeny bopper glam singalong confection by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Flame</b> that not only postdates the whole glam movement (which had crashed and burned by late 1975) but sounds eerily like the “family group” teen pop of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Brady Kids, the Defrancos, and the Osmonds</b> of the early 70’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps not too surprising—glam had a strong teenybop element, and indeed the Osmonds were one of the most popular groups in England in the mid 70’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second weird post-glam glam song is “Madman” by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Cuddly Toys</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cuddly Toys started as controversially named punk band <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the Raped</b> in 1977 but by 1978 had reverted to a very Ziggy Stardust influenced glam/new wave image and sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Madman” is a curiosity:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it was a song written by <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">David Bowie and Marc Bolan</b> as part of a collaboration before the latter’s untimely death in a car wreck in 1977.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It sounds like it could be an out-take from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Diamond Dogs</i> or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hunky Dory</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Most of these songs, and many others, have been collected into compilations like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Velvet Tinmine</i> and other so-called “junk shop glam” collections in England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not surprisingly, these compilations are as popular there as collections of AM 70’s American hits like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Have a Nice Day </i>put out by Rhino Records.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just like Americans love to hear songs like “Seasons in the Sun” and “Afternoon Delight” because they remind them of childhoods spent in the 70’s, English people of a certain age (i.e., over 40) love to listen to these rare and wonderful gems, and for good reason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of these songs were catchy, fun, well-crafted pop rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s great that there’s still an audience for this.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>runeiihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14401342661141710461noreply@blogger.com0