Posts tagged 80′s
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Roger Waters
Sep 6th
I know I’ve shared this with you in the past, but I went to see Roger Waters four summers ago at the venue formerly known as Great Woods Center For The Performing Arts in Mansfield, MA. The date was September 8, 2006. It was the tour that Roger Waters was playing the entire Dark Side of The Moon LP in its entirety. I actually went on a lark as two of my friends had made the concert a priority. I had not. September is usually the time when I start thinking about how much money I blew attending concerts all summer and start dialing it back. In 2006, my friends Mark & Melanie were hell bent on attending this show so I got a single and tagged along. I went onto the Ticketmaster site at 1 PM or so just in case they had released tickets. I plugged in my requirement for a single and up came Section 1, Row F, Seat 3. I figured I was about six rows back and pinned to the right wall. If you’ve ever been to Great Woods you’d probably follow. What I got was a front row seat on the aisle. Sweet.
I wasn’t expecting a heckuva lot that night to be honest. My friend Mark only goes to the most recognizable shows (The Who, ZZ Top, Rolling Stones, etc) and I sometimes blow them off. Sometimes I’ve seen the act too many times. In my case I have half a dozen acts I’ll skip unless a crowd from my circle is going. Some bands I never miss, but those bands usually have new records to tour behind. I get really tired, no matter how much I love the band (I’m talking to you Mick), of watching a great band play the exact same set list every time they tour. They might play 25 songs and 20 of them are the so called “can’t leave ‘em out…somebody might be coming to see us for the very first time.” Fair enough I suppose, but then I reserve the right to blow off shows where the price tag is $150-$450 and the set list is stagnant. The Eagles come to mind. I did go see them last summer, but the concert was FREE or I never would have gone. I love Joe Walsh to death, but the Eagles catalogue can sometimes get a little stale in my opinion. In fairness to that tour, which is always notoriously overpriced, Walsh, Henley and company all mixed in some of their solo hits. I like that. I can only take “Peaceful Easy Feeling” so many times and the expiration date surfaced in 1979 for me.
Where were we? Oh yeah….George Roger Waters was born on this fine day, September 6th, in The Year of Our Lord 1943. On the night in question I was just tagging along, as I said, but what I got, up close and personal, was a big old whale of a concert considering David Gilmour was nowhere in sight. As a jaded concert goer from way, way back; I was impressed. As a result, I’m scheduled to take in Roger Waters performing The Wall on October 1, 2010 and I’m looking forward to it. I never did see Pink Floyd before The Feud broke out, but I did see Pink Floyd on the surprisingly good David Gilmour led Division Bell Tour on May 20, 1994 at Foxboro Stadium. Stadium shows are generally just for the party. You rarely actually see the artists unless you count the five inch figures grinding away on stage about forty yards from the action…no matter how good your seats are. I really enjoyed my one and only Pink Floyd show. If I could put myself in the Way Back machine I would go see a show during The Animals Tour, but I just didn’t get it done at 17. Curses, foiled again…
I took in Roger Waters during the Radio KAOS Tour on Saturday August 22, 1987 at the aforementioned Great Woods venue. That was highly entertaining. My ticket says “comp” on it so maybe I scored a radio station freebie, probably my last, before my non radio career faded to black. If so, it was a good way to go out. Roger Waters apparently became insufferable by the early 80′s so far as David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason were concerned and was basically asked to leave the group he co-founded in 1965. Pink Floyd began as a Psychedelic Rock band led by Crazy Diamond Syd Barrett from roughly 1965 to 1968. Legend has it that Syd indulged in a few too many LSD trips and may have literally fried his talented brain in the process. He had been credited with writing eight of the first 11 tracks Pink Floyd ever released on their 1967 LP Piper at The Gates of Dawn and co-wrote two more. He was the dominant song writer in Pink Floyd until he fell apart.
It was Barrett who coined the band name (Pink Floyd was originally known as The Tea Set until they ran into another band with the same name) by fooling around with two American Blues Singers first names. Pink Anderson and Floyd Council inadvertently contributed to one of the biggest brand names in Rock history. Barrett, however, just couldn’t sustain as his mental health deteriorated. David Gilmour, originally slated to become an additional member to mask the non performing Barrett, essentially wound up replacing him in 1968. Syd Barrett, after releasing two 1970 solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett respectively, withdrew from the music business and went all Howard Hughes on us. He finally passed away in 2006 due to complications from diabetes and pancreatic cancer after living many years in Cambridge out of the public eye. It has been said that Gilmour made sure that Barrett received all the royalties he was due as the principal song writer in the early days. Sadly, cancer also caught up with keyboardist Richard Wright in 2008 as well. And Then There Were Three…
Pink Floyd took a few records to really gain some traction outside of the UK. They had a seriously psychedelic and esoteric sound that sometimes wasn’t very conducive to commercial radio. The first single “Arnold Layne” and Barrett’s masterpiece “See Emily Play” being the exceptions. There were plenty of long jams; “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Careful With That Axe Eugene” to name just a couple, but while the critics loved them almost immediately, the record buying public was lagging behind. Once Barrett was thrown clear, Pink Floyd took a while to find its bearings, before exploding in 1971-1979. If they weren’t the biggest band in the world, they were in the discussion. I can’t think of a better brand than Pink Floyd. I’m not saying I inhaled, but anyone who did took an instant liking to the Pink Floyd sound. They just flat out meshed when they released Dark Side of The Moon in 1973. What a monster record. I’ll never forget, as a freshman at North Hunterdon Regional High School in 1975, a full two years after the record was released, listening to that record night and day. I think I heard “Time” on the legendary New York Progressive Rock station WNEW-FM 102.7 (Where Rock Lives) and was just blown away. Yes! No wonder I enjoyed the 2006 Roger Waters show huh? Let’s see, carry the one…that was no less than 33 years after it was released. Forget about the charts and longevity and Classic Rock radio beating the living snot out of Dark Side; it’s still a masterpiece in my book. Groundbreaking as all get out. Wish You Were Here (1975)? And Animals (1977)? Fahgeddaboutit!
OK, I need to wrap thing up…The Wall was released in 1979 and took the world by storm. No exaggeration whatsoever. By this time Roger Waters had practically usurped all song writing authority much to the consternation of the remaining members of Pink Floyd. Richard Wright had been forced out due to his perceived lack of contribution, though he did do that final tour for The Wall. Money problems had hounded the band even after several great records in a row. Bad investments and tax problems had them really depending on The Wall when it was released. It’s been said that Waters’ ego essentially split the band. As royalties were at least partially paid based on song writing credit, Waters was making more money than the others. While they resented it, apparently it was his behaviour that did the band in. Happily, three decades later, the remaining living Pink Floyd members are threatening to play together again. Frankly, Roger Waters’ solo career was a bit of a dud. I bought them all and while there is some great material on 1984′s The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, 1987′s Radio KAOS and 1992′s Amused To Death, none of them reached out of the ordinary sales numbers. David Gilmour’s solo records; 1978′s David Gilmour, 1984′s About Face and 2006′s On An Island fared little better. Pink Floyd, sans Roger Waters, was able to score fairly big with 1987′s Momentary Lapse of Reason and 1994′s Division Bell, but the parting of ways Roger Waters and David Gilmour staged way back when seems a real shame today. Here’s hoping they can put their differences aside and wow us one more time. Happy birthday to Roger Waters. See you next month…
Roger Waters – 5:01 AM (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking).mp3
Roger Waters – Radio Waves.mp3
Roger Waters – What God Wants – Part I.mp3
Buy or Download Flickering Flame: The Solo Years from Amazon here.
My Insipid Record Collection – The Human League
Sep 4th
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 29 years since the date (October 20, 1981) Dare! was released. I know it’s really easy to say that The Human League were nobodies with questionable talent, but I’m not one of those people. I really enjoyed this synth pop record. Everybody knows “Don’t You Want Me” and that is a credit to a massively catchy tune, but the Human League were not a one hit wonder band in my humble opinion. I’m sure you will see this song on One Hit Wonder compilations, and that’s quasi fair I suppose, but I was a fan.
I remember working my shift at T.G.I. Fridays on Newbury Street in the winter of 1981 and a bunch of us heading to someone’s cheap apartment in The Fenway. I was hanging around with a lot of wait staff (I was a cook) and a lot of them were upwardly mobile. Some were DJ’s at WZBC (Boston College) or at WMBR (MIT) and they were always on the cusp of what was floating across the pond from Great Britain. Joy Division (and later New Order), Echo & The Bunnymen, The Clash, Elvis Costello…whatever. They weren’t really aware of it, but those folks were a big influence on my constant need to hear different sounds and not be a music snob. Now I might be a bit of music snob when it comes to Top 40, but I try hard not to be. These formative year late night parties after work were killers. Frequently, if we didn’t make last call at The Half Shell (long gone restaurant on Boylston Street) or Daisy Buchanan’s we’d frequently make a beeline for the first apartment that would have us. It didn’t matter what day it was or where we were. We were indestructible kids hell bent on partying from 2 AM to 7 AM, sleeping ’til 1 PM and getting up to run one errand before heading back to work and repeating the cycle. Sometimes we didn’t make it, but more often than not we did.
The reason I tell the story is because on one of these fine occasions someone threw The Human League league on the turntable (remember those?) and out from the speakers popped “The Things That Dreams Are Made Of.” I have to say, one of the waitresses busted out her best three beer dance moves and I was hooked. It was definitely way off the beaten path for this writer at the time. I was a ZZ Top fan. 1981′s El Loco was a smashing success in my household with the likes of “Pearl Necklace” and “Tube Snake Boogie.” Childish wordplay on sexual activity granted, but I was 21 with hormones that were constantly revving. I wanted The Who’s “Cry if You Want.” I think you get the idea. 1981 was a long, long time ago brothers and sisters. New Wave had broken several intriguing bands like The Cars and The Pretenders, but there was a new New Wave coming down the pike. Bands like A Flock of Seagulls were now demanding air time. Synthesizer Rock was making a big play with the help of big hair and MTV. The Human League was right on the cusp of mainstream Alternative Rock even before “Don’t You Want Me” got 10,000air plays. What a fantastic single though. The back and forth between the main characters in the song was conversational and believable and it had an awesome premise and back beat. Nobody cared if they could play instruments or sing; the tune was catchy as all get out and it spread like wild fire. But, for me, my introduction was still ”Things That Dreams Are Made Of.”
Have you heard “These Things” by She Wants Revenge? This is the closest thing to “Things That Dreams Are Made Of” that I can bring forward to the present day. They say that Phillip Oakley, Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall influenced scores of modern day acts like Madonna, Moby and The Pet Shop Boys. Who really knows, but they definitely influenced me. From there I saw bands like Orchestral Maneouvres in The Dark, Erasure, Yaz(oo), The Pet Shop boys, Utah Saints and a handful of other not so manly bands as instantly credible and that wasn’t easy in the 80′s. They were not the enemy right off the bat. The fact that The Human League continued on to make a lot of records post 1985 is something of a miracle to me.
Human League had more songs after Dare! that resonated with the public to a degree, but take away the single “Mirror Man, (Keep Feeling) Fascination, The Lebanon” and the entire 1986 LP Crash and you’d be hard pressed to find where they made their mark after 1981. Unlike most folks I don’t hold that against The Human League. “Seconds, Get Carter and Love Action (I Believe in Love) were all great accessories to “Don’t You Want Me” on Dare! Meet a girl on a boat or a boy on a plane and fall in love without the pain. Everybody needs love and adventure, everybody needs cash to spend, everybody needs love and affection, everybody needs two or three friends….love it! Happy Labor Day everyone…
The Human League – The Things That Dreams Are Made Of.mp3
The Human League – Love Action (I Believe in Love).mp3
The Human League – Don’t You Want Me.mp3
Buy or Download The Very Best of The Human League from Amazon here.
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Van Morrison
Aug 31st
Today is George Ivan (Van) Morrison’s Birthday. It’s also my mother’s birthday (Hi Mom!…of course she’d never find this blog…thankfully…I don’t even tell her about it…Happy 73rd Margaret). Van Morrison is a more manageable 65 today, but then again my mom doesn’t have to go on tour whenever she needs to make a buck. When you sift through All Time Critic’s Favorite books you find Van The Man material. 1968′s Astral Weeks is a long time favorite. 1970′s Moondance is another. 1974′s Live LP It’s Too Late To Stop Now is sometimes mentioned amongst the greatest live records ever made. My personal favorite is 1972′s Saint Dominic’s Preview, but I’m not really mad for Van. I saw his Avalon Sunset Tour at Boston’s Orpheum Theatre in 1989 and almost fell asleep. Sorry Van. Intentionally there were no hits, but even if there had been; I really only went because of this girl I was dating at the time. I wasn’t expecting a rockin’ show and I didn’t get one. Van Morrison is larger than life itself, but I swear, if you skim 25 songs off the top you could be happy with his work.
I don’t want to say that I don’t like Van Morrison. That is obviously not true or I would not be posting about him. The thing is, I worked at a bouncer, all 160 lbs of me at the time…if only that were true today, at The Bull & Finch Pub (Cheers) in 1984 and 1985. We had this DJ that played Van Morrison until I thought I was going to lose my lunch. It wouldn’t have been so bad if he mixed in “Wavelength” or “Blue Money” once in a while, but no….it was straight “Brown-Eyed Girl” and “Moondance” until I didn’t care if I ever heard those songs ever again. The girls love Van The Man. Like Cetera (!). I get that. Really I do, but the guy has been a crooner for decades now. Pop music, if that is what you want to call his once fresh sounding Irish Folk Rock, is a thing of Morrison’s past if you ask me. Any artist is going to be pulverized back to the stone age if their catalogue is reduced to five songs, but in Morrison’s case the rest was sit down and pay attention ballads. Usually last of my list on things to listen to at home. That doesn’t make me right or wrong, it just makes me a respectful Van Morrison fan from a distance. I own everything up until Avalon Sunset (1989), but I took a pass on the rest. I don’t even listen to Astral Weeks that much to be honest. I love Tupelo Honey (1971) and Saint Dominic’s Preview. Even Moondance is still very listenable if you skip the title track (repetition, not quality is the reason for that remark). There are several very good Van Morrison songs amongst those first ten or so records, but nobody ever hears them anymore. He’s only got five songs don’t you know (insert sarcasm here)? Most people would call themselves Van Morrison fans I would venture.
Van Morrison’s career began in earnest fronting the seminal Irish band Them in the 60′s. Patti Smith’s cover of “Gloria” (as in G-L-O-R-I-A)” in 1975 reminded everyone, in case anyone forgot, just how great Them were. You may remember “Here Comes The Night,” which is actually a Bert Berns tune (Berns also wrote “Hang On Sloopy, Piece of My Heart, Cry Baby, 25 Miles and Twist and Shout” just to name a few of his masterpieces) first recorded by Lulu and The Luvvers, as well. David Bowie did a nice rendition on his 1973 covers LP “Pinups” as well. If you are wondering, Bert Berns was a seven year veteran of the famous Brill Building; a songwriter’s haven noted for other superstar writers like Carole King and Neil Sedaka. But 1965 was a long, long time ago. Morrison began writing solo material in 1967 and released a little known single called “Brown-Eyed Girl” on his first solo LP Blowin’ Your Mind. Them eventually broke up in the early 70′s and Morrison was free to continue down the solo path without friction. He was definitely living the poor man’s starving artist’s existence for many years, but by the mid 70′s he was on his way to legend status. Boston, in particular, latched onto the Irish born Morrison because he chose to live here for a spell in the late 60′s. I’ve heard second hand tales of him palling around with Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band, so if that’s true it’s no wonder he has a strong foothold here in Boston. Classic Rock will not let go of his early 70′s songs in this market, but I suspect it’s true of other markets across the country as well. Nobody doesn’t know the name Van Morrison.
I have to run and see Iggy Pop tonight…talk about the other end of the spectrum, but I wanted to jot down a few thoughts about Van The Man and leave you with a couple of my favorite Van tunes. Happy birthday Van. I may not be your exact market, but don’t take it personally. You are still a legend. Live on in good health.
Van Morrison – Saint Dominic’s Preview.mp3
Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey.mp3
Van Morrison – And It Stoned Me.mp3
Buy or Download Still On Top: The Greatest Hits from Amazon here.
It Was 20 Years Ago Today – Stevie Ray Vaughan
Aug 27th
I visited Austin, TX twice if memory serves. The first time was in 1998. I was attending some education conference aimed at schools and teachers and was pedaling filtering software at the time. I remember attending with one or two other folks from my company, but when it came time to take in some Blues after hours I had no takers. Incredible. Here we have one of the top five Blues cities in the country at our disposal and folks were worried about getting up on short rest and standing at a trade show the next day. Geesh. I don’t know about you folks, but if I’m in Chicago, anywhere in the Mississippi Delta, Austin, Nashville, St Louis or New York City I’m going to find me some Blues. No excuses. Not the folks I was traveling with that day, that’s for sure. I know I’ve told this story in one of my posts in the past, but I wandered in and out of Blues bars on 6th Street for a couple of hours before I stumbled on an artist named Matt Powell. He was pushing a record called The Money & The Green Grass. The place was half empty, but I decided to come in because I like what I heard from the street. The experience was everything I thought it would be. I bought Matt’s CD between sets and for maybe $5 I saw two great sets. Authentic Blues from Texas. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to have stumbled upon a young Stevie Ray Vaughan (SRV) in much the same manner. That’s Austin.
The second time I was in Austin had to be around 2004. Don’t quote me because I can’t quite remember. I do know that after dinner with clients I made a beeline for Antone’s and had about six people with me. The place was empty, it had to be a Monday night or some such thing, but I was standing on hallowed ground. I led a procession of commemorative servings of brown water and had a ball. I couldn’t have been there for more than an hour (mob rules), but I loved it. Dark, dirty, huge, live music, whiskey and history. I knew that Stevie Ray Vaughan had once played there so I knew I was going to go there. No questions asked. Again, it was everything I was looking for as I anticipated the experience. Sassy bartenders, grungy looking ZZ Top types milling about, Texas decor, a warehouse feel to the place and Blues. Beautiful.
I was reading my favorite Rock magazine, Classic Rock (August 2010), when I stumbled on an article about the twenty year anniversary of the death of Stevie Ray Vaughan. I have purposely sidestepped my affinity for the Blues on The Giant Panther for a number of reasons. Lord knows I write about a lot of older music here, but if I start in on the Blues too I’ll be really peeling back the years. Plus there are some great Blues Blogs doing a fantastic job of keeping the genre alive these days. I couldn’t possibly do the Blues any justice, not that I’m doing anything any justice actually, but I don’t want to create any more confusion than I already have here. Hopefully folks know that we do cover Indie Rock (that’s where Ryan comes in) and I mostly write about whatever strikes my fancy as my Sony iPod like device rocks me daily. Reading Classic Rock Magazine and delving into the story of the death of SRV, I was moved to make comment today. It’s incredible that twenty years have passed since August 27, 1990.
For those of you who don’t know the story, Stevie Ray Vaughan was participating in a Blues extravaganza at Wisconsin’s Alpine Valley Ski Resort. He was performing with other Blues legends like Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy and his brother Jimmie Ray Vaughan. According to Classic Rock Magazine roughly 25,000 folks were on hand for the final song SRV ever played; Robert Johnson’s “Sweet Home Chicago.” It was an All-Star Jam. I don’t know much about Wisconsin and the terrain there, but four Bell 260B helicopters were scheduled to transport the artists from the ski resort to Chicago’s Meigs Field. I would imagine it was considered faster than driving to the closest airport, but I’d just be speculating. I have, unfortunately, never been to Wisconsin. Or Montana. Or Minnesota. It’s just sad actually. Anyway, the helicopters were scheduled to take off one after the other at two minute intervals. The artists and their entourages were to be scooped up and transported to Chicago. I’m not clear on whether anyone cared about who rode with whom, but the first, second and fourth helicopters arrived in Chicago safely even as fog surrounded the ski resort helipad. SRV was riding with members of Eric Clapton’s entourage when his number came up. His helicopter failed to clear something through the fog and never made the successful voyage to Chicago. I’ve never ridden in a helicopter, but even on TV I never liked my odds of surviving a malfunction in one of those things. After hearing this story I’m definitely excited to give in a whirl (sorry) aren’t you?
The death of Stevie Ray Vaughan was a major blow to the Lone Star State. They had lost Buddy Holly many years before, but this one really hurt. SRV had just turned his life around after battling demon alcohol. He was clean and playing like his life depended on it. The Blues community was beside itself. There was no other way to describe it. Buddy Guy, John Hammond & Albert King, among others, were all old school and mentors to a young Stevie Ray Vaughan, but Blues was on the wane, in my personal opinion, at least commercially, until Robert Cray’s 1987 LP Classic Strong Persuader put in right back in the mainstream where it belongs. Eric Clapton had been carrying the torch for decades by this time, but sometimes even his message got a little muddied by trying new sounds over the 70′s & 80′s. Eric Clapton was also, after all, tied to English Blues legend John Mayall so even though he was still making music he was considered more old school than new school. Robert Cray was a more polished version of the Blues, but he remains an extremely important cog in the new Blues wheel. SRV was old school, but new school at the same time. He and Cray converted a whole new legion of fans to the Blues. People wanted to compare Stevie Ray Vaughan to James Marshall Hendrix, but while he covered Voodoo Chile, his sound was his own. Powerful doesn’t begin to describe his magic.
Personally I saw Stevie Ray Vaughan peform twice although it seems like more. I can only prove, by way of ticket stubs, that I attended his Monday November 24th, 1986 show at Boston’s Orpheum Theatre. I even sat in a balcony seat, which I’m not wont to do very often, for a whopping $16.95. I recall hearing much of the Soul To Soul (1985) LP that time around. The next time I saw SRV was Wednesday July 1, 1987 at The Great Woods Center For The Performing Arts (Take that Comcast!) in Mansfield, MA. I had a seat in the 22nd row center for $18.50 and had no idea that would be it for me and SRV at the time. What a magnificent event. And of course I took it for granted. I’d be seeing Stevie again very soon no doubt. Wrong. Man I hate it when great artists are taken from us early. The poor guy didn’t even make it to 36 years of age. Withdrawal doesn’t really convey the disappointment. The good news is that SRV was around long enough to make six studio albums, five live albums and ten compilations. I don’t know where you can go wrong in there, but Texas Flood (1983) and Couldn’t Stand The Weather (1984) are considered Blues classics. I’m also a big fan of 1999′s posthumous release In Session (with Albert King) and The Blues at Sunrise compilation released in 2000. Also, don’t overlook his 1991 release The Sky is Crying with its wicked cover of the Hendrix classic “Little Wing.”
There is not much else to say that hasn’t already been said about Stevie Ray Vaughan, but I thought it important to recognize the 20th anniversary of his passing today. I think all fans of the Blues should take a minute or two to listen to at least one SRV song to commemorate the occasion. R.I.P. big guy. We miss you dearly.
Jimmie Vaughan & Friends – Six Strings Down.mp3
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – Cold Shot.mp3
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble – Tightrope.mp3
Buy or Download The Essential Stevie Ray Vaughan from Amazon here.
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Elvis Costello
Aug 25th
Today is Declan Patrick MacManus’ birthday. Elvis Costello was born on August 25, 1954 in London, England. Let me just say this right here and now; if Elvis had packed it in after his first three albums I could have lived with it. I know that line of thinking is sacrilege amongst the faithful, but I liked Elvis Costello & The Attractions. Shoot me. I’m wise enough to recognize Elvis Costello has had a long and legendary career; I’m doing this post for instance, but I could be very happy with the first three records and a double CD greatest hits package (a real one with the exact best tracks and not one moment of forethought given to what was played on the radio). Clearly Costello has talent. I’m not much for his ballads, which seem to be 92% of everything he ever released, but I can certainly recognize the beauty of something like “Alison (My Aim is True).”
The thing is, Costello was an angry young man once upon a time even though he once wrote a song telling us he wasn’t. That’s the Elvis Costello I loved. Part Elvis Presley, part Day Costello (his father’s stage name), Elvis had an usual voice and was part of the New Wave of artists in the late 70′s that coincided with the rise of Punk Rock. Beginning in 1977 with this first single for Stiff Records (and arguably still one of his best songs in my opinion) “Less Than Zero,” Elvis Costello and his band, later on to become known as The Attractions, ripped off three classic records called My Aim is True, This Year’s Model (1978) and Armed Forces (1979). No self respecting college kid at that time (Hey! That was me!) would be without them. Chicks loved ‘em, dudes loved ‘em and they were standard party fare by 1980. Radio loved ‘em too. My Aim is True spawned several fantastically radio friendly singles. You may recall “Miracle Man, (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes, Less Than Zero, Waiting For The End of The World (another absolute personal favorite of mine), Alison,” and, for The U.S. crowd, the greatest single of them all; “Watching The Detectives.” It was unusual for a record to chart six songs from one release back then. That trend would soon change, but by all measures Elvis Costello’s first record, credited to just Elvis Costello alone, was a smashing success. The fact that you still hear his music on Classic Rock radio really says a lot about the quality of his early stuff. You may recall in December 1977 Costello famously aborted the scheduled Saturday Night Live performance of “Less Than Zero” and blasted into Radio, Radio. It was stunt that got him a ton of notoriety, but also got him banned from SNL until 1989. That was ballsy. It ranks up there with The Doors’ Jim Morrison singing the lyric “higher” from “Light My Fire” when the folks at Ed Sullivan forbade him to in September of 1967. Compare that to Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones acquiescing to the censors in January of 1967 by singing “Let’s Spend Some Time Together” instead of “Let’s Spend The Night Together.” How provincial we were huh? Seems silly today no?
A year later Elvis hit us with This Year’s Model. Another great record. This album wasn’t quite as radio friendly as My Aim is True, but the single everyone remembers is “Pump It Up.” “I loved (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea, This Year’s Girl, Radio, Radio and The Beat,” but as a consumer Elvis mania was all the rage. Some didn’t think this one measured up to the first record, and they’d have discussion merit, but Elvis was so hip he got a pass on the dreaded Sophomore Slump. In reality there is no such thing in this case, but it reminded me a bit of when The Cars’ sophomore record Candy-O was released around the same time. Everybody wanted another The Cars and when they didn’t get it, it took a bit of time to absorb how great Candy-O really was. If you ever thought Elvis Costello was going to be a flash in the Pan, 1979′s Armed Forces put that to a crushing rest. “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding” turned out to be the biggest single on this record, but “Green Shirt, Accidents Will Happen and “Oliver’s Army” were terrific songs. After Armed Forces something started to change. For one thing the tight 10-12 song rockin’ Elvis album was beginning to be a thing of the past. Radio began to shy away from his music a bit. Not because it wasn’t any good, but because there really weren’t too many hits on any given record. He would continue recording with The Attractions right up until 1986′s Blood & Chocolate, but the thrill was gone if you enjoyed his short angry fast paced ditties.
1980′s Get Happy!! gave us “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down,” but that wasn’t even really his song (that would be Sam & Dave of “Hold On, I’m Comin’ fame). The songs were short enough as a rule, but there wasn’t much there for radio to sink its teeth into. In fairness, Get Happy!! wasn’t a complete departure from form for Elvis Costello, but it did signal a slight move away from intentionally radio friendly material. It was around this time that The Attractions began to splinter according to what I’ve read. 1981′s Trust brought us “Watch Your Step, Clubland and From a Whisper To a Scream.” “Watch You Step” was a great song, but things were changing fast. Later that same year, not five months later Almost Blue was released. Costello’s love of Country music was starting to impose its will. There were no radio friendly singles on Almost Blue. 1982′s Imperial Bedroom gave us “Beyond Belief, Almost Blue (Don’t you hate it when a record is named for a song that doesn’t get released until a later record? Think Houses of The Holy…) and Man Out of Time.” Piano, not guitar, started to dominate the Costello sound. We were now getting 20 plus songs and maybe two singles per record about now. Not a good combination.
There were plenty of good songs from here on out; just not enough of them. I know artists like to grow and change and once you’ve made enough money you can do what you like, but I was disappointed. I keep buying his records up until 1989′s Spike, but after that I gave up listening for the next Armed Forces. If you are an Elvis Costello fan you will recognize several of these tracks; from 1983′s Punch The Clock “Everyday I Write The Book and Shipbuilding,” from 1984′s Goodbye Cruel World “The Only Flame in Town,” from 1986′s Blood & Chocolate “Tokyo Storm Warning,” and from 1989′s Spike “Veronica.” Great singles, but there was a ton of material released surrounding these songs and I’ll admit it; he lost me. I know, because I read the music trade rags, that some of these albums, plus several of the ones I didn’t even mention, are favorites of the critics, but the critics aren’t always right. In fact, if it was my job to be a critic I don’t know how successful I would be. I like to take my time and enjoy a new release. I couldn’t listen to a record a couple of times, pass myself off as having absorbed it and then try to speak to the public with any authority. I know Elvis Costello married Jazz pianist Diana Krall in 2003 and that his tastes are all over the map, but I haven’t been following his career post 1990. I’m sure there are great songs in there somewhere, but I feel like I have to work much too hard to locate them. I’m open to being set straight, but it’s hard for me to get past my opening premise; that the first three Elvis Costello records are his best. Right or wrong the Giant Panther would like to extend good health wishes and birthday greetings to Mr Elvis Costello.
Elvis Costello – Waiting For The End of The World.mp3
Elvis Costello – This Year’s Girl.mp3
Elvis Costello – Green Shirt.mp3
Buy or Download The Best of Elvis Costello: The First Ten Years from Amazon here.
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Robert Plant
Aug 20th
I don’t know about you, but I’m psyched about today’s post. Rock God Robert Plant was born on August 20, 1948. Today is his 62nd birthday. Isaac Hayes was also born today, but he’ll have to wait until next year for his post. But I’m talkin’ ’bout Shaft! Too bad. Robert Plant is one of my all time favorite Rock & Roll personalities. Yeah Zeppelin is wedged into my front four (Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin) somewhere, but it’s more than that. I’ve seen Robert Plant perform both solo, with Jimmy Page and with Alison Krauss. I loved them all to death. I never did get to see Led Zeppelin proper thanks to the death of Robert Plant’s son Karac in 1977, but I was scheduled to come face to face with them at the venerable Madison Square Garden that year. Kind of like when a rookie goes to The World Series in his first year I thought Zeppelin would be around for years to come. I could see them anytime. I was disappointed, but I wasn’t nearly as broken up about as I probably should have been.
Led Zeppelin is on the cover of this month’s Classic Rock Magazine. I haven’t even opened the thing yet, but the cover is awesome. It’s the cover of Physical Graffiti, one of my all time favorite records, as well as the picture of the adjoined apartment buildings at 96-98 St Mark’s Place in New York City. They say the upper floor had to be cropped out so that the building matched the square format of the record album cover. Man 1975 was a long time ago. I know I’ve mentioned this in past posts, but this same stoop is where The Rolling Stones shot the video for “Waiting On a Friend” from 1981′s Tattoo You. The builder of the building should be proud. A slice of Rock history. According to our friends at Wikipedia, the basement of the building currently houses a used clothing store that goes by the name of, you guessed it, Physical Graffiti. Ah Capitalism.
Led Zeppelin, as you know, was forced to disband upon learning of the death of Mr John Henry Bonham. Bonham allegedly consumed some 40 shots of Vodka on September 24th 1980 and was officially pronounced dead the next day at the age of 32. Let that be a lesson to you youngsters out there. I can’t imagine inhaling 40 shots of anything, let alone vodka. My personal best without losing lunch is probably six shots of Jack Daniels. No Rock Star I. Robert Plant and Jimmy Page along with John Paul Jones decided to go Cold Turkey on the Led Zeppelin thing as a result of Bonham’s passing. I don’t begrudge their decision really, but man that one hurt at the time. A Posthumous Odds & Sods (borrowing liberally from the criminally underrated Who throwaway track album) like release called Coda put an end to Led Zeppelin’s catalogue. In a not so funny sort of way, Bonham’s passing and the subsequent demise of Led Zeppelin ensured that every single song they ever recorded made it onto the air at Rock Stations, Classic and otherwise, over the years. Nine studio records and some 40 years later we are still straining for more Led Zeppelin. Naturally Led Zeppelin is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but it’s really something how people still love to get the Led out. I stand 1000% with those people. I can remember vividly when Led Zeppelin was lock up your daughters, run for your life (to quote Bon Scott) material. They were the devil’s disciples. Didn’t you read Hammer of The Gods? My God what’s wrong with you? Now? Elevator fare. Society is bleeped up sometimes…
Robert Plant could have been just another lead singer who lost his band. He could have been exposed as a no talent poser. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. His first solo album, which in my mind is still his best, was called Pictures at Eleven and came out in 1982. You’d have thought Led Zeppelin had gotten back together. I still listen to this record often. It was a natural progression from the softer tones of In 1979′s In Through The Out Door. I know there was no Jimmy Page, but I just loved this album. Not too long after this masterpiece, Plant sprung The Principle of Moments on us in 1983. This might be the masses favorite post Zeppelin release. It probably sold the most without checking. “Big Log” and “In The Mood” were mood (sorry) pieces, but the public, who might have been prepared for this record, sopped it up like bread gets to New England clam chowder. I was working at WBCN at the time and I heard these two songs about 500 times in the first six months after their respective releases. What the public didn’t know what that the rest of the record was flat special. I don’t think he’s made a record quite as good since. “Messin’ With The Mekon, Stranger Here…Than Over There, Wreckless Love, Horizontal Departure, Thru With The Two Step”…these songs absolutely rock. “Other Arms,” the other “hit” from the record, did OK, but those other five songs made the record great.
Subsequent Robert Plant studio releases, and have something to write home about, but Shaken ’N’ Stirred, Now & Zen, Manic Nirvana, Fate of Nations, Dreamland, Mighty ReArranger and, eventually, Band of Joy had a lot to live up to after those first two. I own (or will own in the case of Band of Joy, which can’t get here fast enough for my liking) them all and know them all inside and out. I like them all, don’t get me wrong, but the first two really stand out for me. I absolutely loved Page & Plant’s 1994 release No Quarter and play that one fairly often as well. Raising Sand was fun, but it seemed like an extension of Dreamland to me. No complaints though. His solo stuff was getting a little complacent in my opinion and that’s a diehard fan talking. I though 1998′s Walking Into Clarksdale with Jimmy Page was great as well. The Honeydrippers were fun, but I don’t miss them. I was having breakfast at a diner recently that plays only oldies and heard the original “Sea of Love” (Phil Phillps) and had to chuckle.
I can’t say anything about Led Zeppelin that hasn’t already been said. I’m just a fan. But Robert Plant is definitely one of my Rock heroes. Sounds quaint for a 50 year old man to have a man crush on an aging Rock Star, but so be it. The first time I heard When The Levee Breaks or Whole Lotta Love I was dumbstruck. Who are these guys? This is the band for me. No questions asked. Just because everybody else and their brother now loves them too I’m not about to abandon them. I bawled like a baby seeing Page & Plant perform at Boston Garden in 1995 and then again at The Fleetcenter (Boston Garden with a major face lift) in 1998. I don’t care who knows it. Happy Birthday Robert from The Giant Panther. Thank you so much for everything!
P.S. Does anyone out there know where I can buy or download The Priory of Brion sessions? I have some of the Sheffield recordings, but I’d like to buy all of them if I can find some very good quality. Thanks in advance my friends…
Robert Plant – Horizontal Departure.mp3
Buy or Download Picture at Eleven from Amazon here.
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Madonna
Aug 16th
OK, today is August 16th. In 1958 Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone was born in Bay City, Michigan. I wouldn’t exactly call Madonna a “Rock Star,” but nobody can deny that she is a Superstar. I have to tell you, in 1984 I hated Madonna. I thought she stood for disposable Pop Music and that she’d be gone inside of five years. Boy was I wrong. The biggest stars in the music world at that time were Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Prince & U2. Then there was Madonna with her singles “Like a Virgin, Material Girl, Holiday, Borderline, Lucky Star, Into The Groove and Dress You Up.” I worked at a now defunct nightclub in Boston called The Commons around this time. It’s now a Bennigan’s or some such thing, but it was the biggest draw in the then new Copley Plaza Mall. I was working as a bar back in the club and every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night this place drew four wide one hundred person long lines. Every so often a local band like Fat City might play there, but the majority of the time it was a DJ playing Madonna, Chic, Grandmaster Flash or whatever quasi danceable fare they were serving up back in the day. We’d get celebrities and scores of wannabes just pouring in to dance and score. You might hear “White Lines” by Grandmaster Flash or “White Horse” by Laidback for all too obvious reasons. Throw in a Robert Parish sighting and I don’t have to draw you a map. The Go-Go 80′s indeed. There were absolutely no consequences…at least that is what we thought at the time.
I could handle all of that for eleven hours four days a week, but I couldn’t take the mind numbing constant steam of “No Parking On The Dance Floor” or “Le Freak” twice a night four days a week. “Like a Virgin” might have been the biggest offender. Look, I had no standing, I could have quit and worked somewhere else, but the scenery and the money were worth the aggravation. I eventually was terminated for an alleged attitude problem, but one of the underlying reasons was that the GM and I had designs on the same girl. Problem solved. I remember not even really wanting the job in the first place. I interviewed after leaving another quality job (kidding), working at T.G.I. Fridays. When they didn’t hire me right away I went back in to find out why. I learned a good lesson about not complaining about your previous employer in any interview, but the fools took me on anyway. I lasted maybe eight months. Enough to get used to Madonna I guess. The Commons eventually folded up its tent maybe a year later. I think the owner ended up going to jail in a situation not unlike Bernie Madoff, at least in terms of ethical behaviour. I do recall he brought both of his restaurant staffs to his home and had us all play a real life game of Let’s Make a Deal with his ill gotten cash. I remember thinking how ironic when he got caught.
Where were we? Oh yeah…Madge. Madonna moved to New York City in 1977 to find her way in the world of Modern Dance. Within six years she had a record deal (Sire Records, owned by Warner Brothers) and released her debut album Madonna in 1983. She initially played in a band called Breakfast Club before leaving to form a band called Emmy in 1980. A New York City club DJ named Mark Kamins is generally credited with putting Madonna in touch with Sire Records founder Seymour Stein. The rest is history. Madonna’s sound bordered on Disco, which is why I didn’t take much of a shine to it initially, and danceable R&B. You may recall a one time music television station called MTV was now making and breaking bands around that time. Madonna, who could dance anyway, began marketing an entire image complete with fishnet stockings, jewelry, bleached hair and all kinds of things with the help of her videos. To say it took off totally doesn’t even do what happened justice. Women began dressing like Madonna and her music was everywhere. “Like a Virgin” spent six weeks at #1 on The Billboard Charts and she parlayed her near instant worldwide fame into a bit of an acting career. Madonna appeared in Desperately Seeking Susan, a 1985 movie starring Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn and Laurie Metcalf, making her even more of a household name, and introduced the world to her new hit single “Into The Groove” at the time. She never looked back.
As far as I was concerned I was still no Madonna convert. I fought her music, even as a Guilty Pleasure, until the late 90′s. Finally, an old friend whom I’ve known since high school, says he bought a copy of Madonna’s 1998 record Ray of Light and loved it. Blasphemy I said! Not me…no way. The thing is, I trusted him. I knew we had similar tastes in music so I secretly ordered a copy from the now defunct Columbia House Music Club. No one will know right? I could just listen in private and be done with it right? I could subsequently tell my buddy he was way off base and sell my non existent copy to Nuggets in Kenmore Square and never speak of it again. Well, it didn’t exactly turn out like that. I remember not too long after that I was over another friend of mine’s place and his girlfriend put on a copy of Madonna’s 2000 CD Music. I found myself enjoying the hell out of it. I told no one of course and went out the next day and got a used copy. “Music” is one of my favorite Madonna tracks today.
Since the turn of the century I’ve become quite the fan of her enduring ability. I thought 2005′s Confessions On a Dance Floor and 2008′s Hard Candy were very good. I remember buying a copy of The Immaculate Collection and telling myself it was for the ladies…you know, back to the Peter Cetera commercial I wrote about a couple of weeks back. The ladies love Madonna…and I love the ladies…therefore I love Madonna…it’s the only way I could “Justify (My Love)” loving songs like “Vogue, Papa Don’t Preach, Lucky Star” and all the rest. By comparison, Madonna practically rocks these days. I love “Hung Up” from Confessions. Look, I’m never gonna sit around with my buddies listening to Madonna, but I’m officially out of the closet. I don’t care about the cone bras and the Erotica. I never even found her particularly attractive, but I will say her talent is undeniable. Even hard bitten rockers like me can relate from time to time. I might even go see her some day. Wouldn’t that be a 180 after all the things I have said about her over the years? If you are out there Madonna you actually made a convert out of an AC/DC fan. Sure I loved it when you kissed Britney Spears, but that’s not it. You have real talent. It just took me a couple of decades to admit it. Take that one to the grave as a badge of honor if you so desire. Happy 52nd to you and keep up the good work.
Madonna – Beautiful Stranger.mp3
Buy or Download Madonna’s Greatest Hits (Celebration) from Amazon here.
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Ian Anderson
Aug 10th
Every now and again I feel like a post is going to go over like a Led Zeppelin, to coin a phrase, and this is one of them. I don’t care. I was “hired” to provide content and dad gum it (I obviously listen to too many Hawk Harrelson White Sox broadcasts on the MLB package), that is what I’m going to do. Today is Ian Scott Anderson’s 63rd birthday. Born on August 10, 1947, Anderson has built an empire by mixing Blues, Progressive Rock, Folk, Jazz and some traditional sounds to form a sound no one else has. When you are trying to establish territory in the world of Rock music, the best thing you can do is sound like nobody else…ever. Mission accomplished. Love ‘em or hate ‘em (I think you know where I stand), Jethro Tull has been an institution for some 42 years. Who else could be identified with a mere silhouette to begin the post? Ten, fifteen musicians max? Excepting the blaring headline “Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Ian Anderson,” even folks who don’t care for Jethro Tull’s music would easily be able to identify the artwork. No words needed. Just black and white. If you are interested in building a rock brand see Anderson, Ian. My friend Mark always asks me to name five rock bands that feature the flute and I always kind of struggle to name bands he might know. The Moody Blues? Horslips? Focus? I give up almost immediately. If I dig deep with the help of the Internet I can now locate Genesis, The Guess Who, King Crimson and The Marshall Tucker Band.
If you have even a modicum of affinity for the music of JT and all you know is Aqualung, Bungle in The Jungle, Locomotive Breath, Living in The Past and the other half dozen tracks still getting Classic Rock airplay, I feel sorry for you. I’ve been a Jethro Tull fan since maybe 1972. Twelve years old. That’s a fair assessment. FM radio, with their new found Progressive formats, incorporated Jethro Tull in the early 70′s like it was going out of style. By the time Benefit, released in 1970, was released, Jethro Tull, the English Rock group with the Scottish lead singer, were already famous. I was watching The Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus the other day for fun and the first band out of the chute is none other than Jethro Tull. That might sound like warm up act material to you, but on the bill were The Who, Taj Mahal, The Dirty Mac, Marianne Faithful (I think she was sleeping with someone we all know at that time), Yoko Ono and you know who. They did a killer rendition of “Song For Jeffrey,” which appeared on This Was as well as opening up 1972′s Living in The Past. This was December 1968. You can bet Mick, Keith, Pete and the rest had respect for this fledgling band back then.
Look, I get that Tull is a polarizing act. I was giving this girl a ride home not six weeks ago and had War Child in my CD player. “The Third Hoorah” to be exact. This woman is sizzling hot and a yoga instructor. Way out of my league. And also twenty years, at least, younger than I am. I didn’t have the thing blasting or even loud, but she felt the need to complain about the music even as I was saving her ten miles worth of cab fare just the same. She asked me who it was and when I told her she said she just could never get into Jethro Tull. At least she knew who they were. I put on the local crappy R&B station after calling her high maintenance for fun. She’s a sweetheart of a woman, but Tull is out of the question apparently. That’s OK, I don’t need anyone to listen to it with me. I’ve been doing it for coming up on 40 years now. I love seeing the other die hard fans at the shows each year and my friend Jefferson, probably the only other Tull fan of any consequence I know, went to the show earlier this summer. We saw WZLX’s Carter Alan there and had a few laughs with him knowing him from our days as glorified gophers at WBCN, The Rock of Boston. Carter, at least, still likes Jethro Tull too. Tull fans are like a dinosaur cult slowly going extinct, probably because we never have sex (kidding!) like The Shakers. And I can’t even make any furniture and Ken Burns isn’t interested in doing a documentary on us. Shocking.
For those of you interested in learning more about the Tull catalogue the sleepers are Benefit (1970), Living in The Past (1972), Minstrel in The Gallery (1975), Songs From The Wood (1977), Heavy Horses (1978) and Crest of a Knave (1987). Excepting the Classic Rock format, FM radio hasn’t played current Jethro Tull since Songs From The Wood came out in 1977. I remember “Songs From The Wood, Cup of Wonder and The Whistler” getting cursory airplay back in the 70′s, but since then? 1980′s A had “Crossfire” (definitely not to be confused with the Stevie Ray Vaughan classic), 1982′s Broadsword and The Beast had the underrated “Hard Times,” 1984′s Under Wraps had “Lap of Luxury” and 1987′s Crest of a Knave had “Farm On The Freeway,” but Tull’s music had faded to black on the airways. If you listen to Classic Rock radio and you didn’t much care for them before, I can’t imagine your hatred for them now. I remember my friend Jefferson and I went out to the venerable Worcester Centrum on November 21, 1987, taking advantage of our dubious radio contacts, and got backstage to meet Ian. He couldn’t talk due to vocal problems, but we got him to sign our CDs and chatted with ZZ Top, if I have my facts straight, whom I believe were sharing the bill with them that night. A blip on the radar screen of my concert going life, but it’s still fun to look at my Crest of a Knave CD with “Hello John!, Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull” scribbled on it. It sees the light of day once every five years now that the CD is digitized, but it’ll take it’s place next to the other half dozen luminaries I suckered into signing a CD cover for me. Anyway…
My stories always make my posts run long and this was supposed to be about Ian Anderson so here goes…Ian Anderson stumbled on the Rock & Roll life while working as a sales person in a department store in the Blackpool section of England. He was reading Melody Maker and the New Musical Express and decided the Rock life might be fun. He started a band called The Blades and tried his hand at lead guitar. He quickly gave up that aspiration once he heard Eric Clapton play, but he took up the flute and mastered it rather quickly. Apparently he had been playing for only a few months before the tracks for Jethro Tull’s debut album, This Was, were laid down in 1968. Ian is a salmon farmer and has survived a bout with Deep Vein Thrombosis, a disease which he does Public Service Announcements for.
Jethro Tull still releases records every couple of years although they’ve been kind of quiet the last few years since releasing a fantastic Christmas Album in 2003. I hear there is something on the horizon, but Ian Anderson and Martin Barre will doubtless solider on until they feel like quitting. Judging from the performance I saw a couple of months back, I don’t think that will be anytime soon. Happy Birthday Ian from The Giant Panther. I’m posting a couple of my favorites for fun.
Jethro Tull – Up The ‘Pool.mp3
Jethro Tull – Nothing To Say.mp3
Buy or Download The Best of Jethro Tull from Amazon here.
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Adam Yauch
Aug 5th
Where The Bea-Stie-Boys (as in aww mom you’re just jealous) rank in the history of Hip Hop is another man’s quest, but I loved them in about two notes flat. I was never much of a Hip Hop aficionado in the 80′s and while I own some music today by relatively well known Rap artists like Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Snoop Doggy Dogg (yeah I’ll be calling him that until the day I die), Dr Dre, Ice Cube, NWA, Run DMC, Eminem and LL Cool J, nobody (definitely not The Hip Hop lovin’ Giant Panther) would confuse me with being a hardcore Rap fan. I like my lyrics discernible and I like some melody. I’m not from the school of I hate all (C)Rap though…not even close. Some could argue that The Beastie Boys weren’t exactly Rap either with all the sampling they did. It was definitely different. Their sound was nearly Rap Rock and their first big single, “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” was a scintillating career starter. Two notes in and “KIck It!” and I was sold. That song still gets me going to this day. I know it’s completely juvenile and no “true” Beastie Boy fan even likes that song, but I could care less.
I remember being a bar in Central Square, a once grungy section of Cambridge, MA between haughty Back Bay in Boston and crunchy Harvard Square, called Man Ray sometime around 1987. Man Ray was a Goth Bar that catered to all kinds of folks who liked to Walk On The Wild Side. The More anti-mainstream you were the more you fit in. I stood out like a sore thumb. It wasn’t really my scene, but chicks liked the place because they could dance so every once in a blue moon I’d get dragged into the place. It was just down the street from a rock club called T.T. The Bears. T.T. The Bear was and is an old school rock club. I don’t get to the place near as much as I’d like, but I remember seeing a band called Bettie Seveert there many years back and having a blast. You really got to be on top of the National and Local scenes to score there though. It’s a small venue that holds (and I’m totally guessing) maybe 200 people as the Fire Marshall flies. You could find National acts on the way up, bands that are just hanging on for a gig, local bands fighting on the way up and reunion gigs there. It’s a venue that gets overlooked as far as Boston’s Rock scene goes. Between T.T.s, the now defunct Man Ray Club and the timeless Cantab Lounge you pretty much had Central Square covered in the 80′s & 90′s.
The reason I mention Man Ray is because it was one of those clubs in the 80′s that played videos along with it’s music. They had these huge screens and basically played videos in between whatever other entertainment they might have going on. This is the place where I first heard “Fight For Your Right” at the proverbial “11″ on the volume scale. I had never scene the video and I was loving a relatively rocking tune in between all the Cabaret Voltaire and Cure tracks. No offense to either of those acts intended because I love both of them. The Beastie video hit me at just right time during my evening of cocktails and consequently hooked me in as a Beastie Boy legionnaire forevermore. I promptly went out and bought myself a copy of 1986′s License To Ill.
I’ve already stated that I love Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath and sick humor in my Rock. If I can laugh while I’m rocking I’m all over it. Where The Beastie Boys are concerned either you get the joke or you don’t. I got it right away. I just recently watched their DVD “Awesome, I F*#kin’ Shot That!” and had a ball watching it. I have never made time to see The Beastie Boys live, but hopefully I’ll get another crack at them. The last time they came through Boston I was worried they weren’t going to play their normal set and the timing wasn’t quite right in my world so I passed. Bad Move I heard. Oh well. I’ve been on quite a roll lately so I’ve got to chill out on the concert going. I saw The Black Keys last Saturday, which was a blast and I’ve got Interpol and Gov’t Mule lined up for this week. Yeah, I’m cuttin’ back (not)…
Today is MCA’s birthday. Beastie Boy Adam Yauch will be 45 years of age as of August 5, 2010. Young Adam has been dealing with a cancerous parotid gland, which I gather is member of the salivary gland family, this past year. So far as we can tell the prognosis is good and his voice will not be affected. The Beastie Boys plan to drop another CD tentatively called “Hot Sauce Committee Part I” this September. We, at The Giant Panther, wish Adam and The Beastie Boys well. To celebrate Adam’s 45th I’m going to post a couple of my favorite Beastie Boys tracks. I only get three choices so bear with me…
The Beastie Boys – She’s Crafty.mp3
The Beastie Boys – High Plains Drifter.mp3
The Beastie Boys – The Negotiation Limerick File.mp3
Buy or Download The Sounds of Science from Amazon here.
Rock Star Birthday Blurbs – Kate Bush
Jul 30th
Kate Bush has always been a very interesting artist. The Giant Panther and I don’t always agree on every band, but we are both big Kate Bush fans. It makes perfect sense for Ryan to be a Kate Bush fan. He likes most of the esoteric, atmospheric, electronic Indie sound. It’s not that I don’t, but I just don’t find it nearly as compelling as Ryan does. I used to do a lot more digesting of new and different sounds, but the last couple of years I have spent trying to get my catalogue digitized. If Ryan turns me onto something new, such as LCD Soundsystem or The Twilight Sad, I might listen to it a couple of times in a row, file it and move onto the next band I want to get into my database. It’s not really a good feeling for someone like me who likes to take his time with each new release and pass the word to my fellow music lovers. I’m not doing very much to promote new music these days and that kind of disappoints me. However, while I’m working through that issue I have a ton of experience with a wide range of bands that I can remind folks of in the meantime. I think Kate Bush, who turns 52 today (born July 30, 1958), is one of them.
I first started hearing about Kate Bush in the mid 80′s when I was managing a Compact Disc store. I was getting a lot of requests for her records The Kick Inside, Lionheart and Never For Ever, but I didn’t know a thing about her. We’d play her in the store from time to time, but I was a rocker. I wanted to listen to more energetic stuff. Then one day I stumbled on her 1985 CD Hounds of Love. Whoa. “Running Up That Hill” was getting a lot of airplay on WFNX, our local Alternative Rock station. I liked it. It was different. Then I started playing the CD because, well, I sort of “owned” it when working in a CD store. One day it turned up in our used CD bin and I pounced on it. I fell in love with the song “The Big Sky” and became a life long Kate Bush fan. I also grabbed a copy of The Whole Story, her greatest hits CD, and found her song “Wuthering Heights” from 1978′s The Kick Inside. I never knew anything could sound so beautiful. It’s the type of song that has you breaking into tears for no real reason. I’ve got a handful of those in my own personal repertoire. You can’t really put your finger on why either. Lulu’s “To Sir With Love” is one of those for me. I just start balling like a baby sometimes. In private of course…
Kate Bush is an English singer-songwriter with a faint resemblance to American Actress Mary Steenburgen. She was allegedly discovered by Pink Floyd honcho David Gilmour and signed to EMI Records as a teenager somewhere around 1975. She released her debut LP, the previously mentioned The Kick Inside, at 19. An eclectic artist with a dance background, Bush only toured once in her career in 1979. The tour lasted six weeks. It is alleged that Bush has a crippling fear of flying so if that is true I’m sure that factored into her lack of enthusiasm for touring. It has been said that her second record, 1978′s Lionheart, was a rush job which still bothers Bush to this day. Ever since that time she has lived an almost reclusive life style, comparatively speaking for a Rock star, and has maniacally maintained artistic control of her records to the point of building her own recording studio. She has been known to disappear for years at a clip before resurfacing with another release. Her latest CD, Aerial, was released in 2005 after a twelve year break. I remember being impressed at the time, but I haven’t listened to it in quite awhile.
I bought 1988′s Sensual World and 1993′s The Red Shoes sight unseen because of having fallen in love with Bush. Each has a killer single; “Love and Anger” from Sensual World and “Rubberband Girl” from The Red Shoes, but Bush’s records are not going to break any sales records outside the UK. She is a Goddess there. She’s just sexy and talented to the rest of the world. Part of her mystique I think is her reluctance to promote her music with the press. When you don’t see people for years at a clip sometimes you are even more interested in them for some reason. Kate always had a performance art type of vibe behind her music and I’ve often wondered what type of music she might have made if she went for a harder edge. She’s tremendous just as she is, but can you imagine if she vented like, oh I don’t know, Alanis Morissette once in a while? Maybe then she just wouldn’t be Kate huh? Regardless, we, at The Giant Panther, want to wish a very Happy Birthday to Kate and we look forward to her next release, whenever that might be.
Kate Bush – Wuthering Heights.mp3
Kate Bush – Love and Anger.mp3
Buy or Download The Whole Story from Amazon here.
