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Just your typical middle-aged divorced father (of a teenage daughter)/music fanatic/local bands supporter/nerd-geek-dork/smartass/movie lover/tv watcher/book reader/former comicbook collector/science fiction fan/slob/science buff/casual philosopher/spirituality peruser/ponytail wearer/world traveler/huge Violent Femmes fan/Sigourney Weaver crusher/rabid Journey hater/liberal/mostly straight occasional cross dresser from Des Moines, Iowa.
Showing posts with label new wave. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new wave. Show all posts
Saturday, September 01, 2012
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
MUSIC: My Destiny With Devo
What can I say? Especially since I wasn't kinda sorta not there.
I was thrilled when I heard Devo was coming to my town. I had been a big fan of theirs since the late 70s. They were the band that introduced me to alternative music. I saw them on “Saturday Night Live”doing “Satisfaction” and “Jocko Homo”.
They, along with other alternative bands, became an unifying force between me, my brother, and my two closest friends of the time. And I've been hooked on Devo and alternative music ever since. And their first four albums are constantly on my iPod.
Unfortunately, thrills do not a ticket buy. And with my finances being what they are, I could not afford the $50 they were asking. I know by today's standard that's a reasonable price, but if you don't the money...
But I had been to a Cracker show at the outdoor amphitheater where Devo was suppose to play. And I saw people on the bridges watching the show. Admittedly, they saw the back of Cracker's heads from a distance, but hey, they got a free show. So I knew what I was doing for Devo!
My single brother with no children, though, had no problem getting the 50 bucks for the show! The jerk! Grrrrr, he needs more responsibilities!
Anyway, a few days before the show, I heard they were the show to one of the nearby bridge, because the flooded river made the amphitheater useless. I shrugged my shoulders. Maybe I wouldn't see the back of their heads, but I would still be able to hear them fine.
Then my oldest friend, one of the two friends I listened to Devo with, put on Facebook how he was going to watch Devo free from the bridge!
I got there first, and sat with someone parked across the river with some lawn chairs. It was right at the intersection where the bridge was blocked off for the show. And people would ask from their cars what was going on. When we told them it was Devo, we got some interesting reactions! “Devo?!?!” “Oh really?” “Are we not men?”
I thought of yelling “Duty now for the future!” to some of the spud boys in the red flowerpots passing by. But considering that album came out about 30 years ago, I probably should have yelled “Duty then for now!”
Strangely enough, before the show started that played this weird combination of classic soul and old school punk. I love both of types of music, but I don't see how soul music revs someone up for a Devo concert.
Finally, my friend arrived and I joined him on the bridge. Actually, we could see the band. Not a great view, but I've had worse in a stadium like when I went to see The Who in the 70s!
So after 30 plus years, there was my oldest friend and I finally at a Devo concert. Okay, couldn't see the band real well, but hey, it was free!
And as my friend said, since we can't see them that well, we can imagine still being thin and young while they played.
How was the show? I liked it! The band started off with some of their newer stuff which doesn't really appeal to me. Only one song out of the first five or so came from the four albums I listen to!
But then the boys got into their old yellow jumpsuits, and it was a wonderful stroll down memory lane with band playing most if not all of my favorites.
My friend and I were standing at that bridge singing along. My friend actually started singing kind of loud, and I said people would probably prefer hearing Devo sing.
I was tapping my feet and bobbing my knees. Must have looked a little silly to the people crossing the bridge!
Of course, it must have looked sillier when my friend and I were pretending to scream at Devo and “woot” them. We knew they couldn't hear us from the bridge, so we didn't do it seriously. Though I did do a pretend shout of “Mark and Gerry, we love you!” Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerry Casale being the leaders of Devo.
My friend's wife was there and she was kind of laughing at us. Can't really blame her.
And the show eventually its conclusion with Booji Boy singing “Beautiful World”. And then strangely enough, it ended. No encore, just thank you.
My friend thought Devo needed The Blue Man Group's guide to rock and roll, which says there's always an encore. But Devo always did things their own way!
And as a bonus track, just because it's Devo and it's so awesome!
I was thrilled when I heard Devo was coming to my town. I had been a big fan of theirs since the late 70s. They were the band that introduced me to alternative music. I saw them on “Saturday Night Live”doing “Satisfaction” and “Jocko Homo”.
They, along with other alternative bands, became an unifying force between me, my brother, and my two closest friends of the time. And I've been hooked on Devo and alternative music ever since. And their first four albums are constantly on my iPod.
Unfortunately, thrills do not a ticket buy. And with my finances being what they are, I could not afford the $50 they were asking. I know by today's standard that's a reasonable price, but if you don't the money...
But I had been to a Cracker show at the outdoor amphitheater where Devo was suppose to play. And I saw people on the bridges watching the show. Admittedly, they saw the back of Cracker's heads from a distance, but hey, they got a free show. So I knew what I was doing for Devo!
My single brother with no children, though, had no problem getting the 50 bucks for the show! The jerk! Grrrrr, he needs more responsibilities!
Anyway, a few days before the show, I heard they were the show to one of the nearby bridge, because the flooded river made the amphitheater useless. I shrugged my shoulders. Maybe I wouldn't see the back of their heads, but I would still be able to hear them fine.
Then my oldest friend, one of the two friends I listened to Devo with, put on Facebook how he was going to watch Devo free from the bridge!
I got there first, and sat with someone parked across the river with some lawn chairs. It was right at the intersection where the bridge was blocked off for the show. And people would ask from their cars what was going on. When we told them it was Devo, we got some interesting reactions! “Devo?!?!” “Oh really?” “Are we not men?”
I thought of yelling “Duty now for the future!” to some of the spud boys in the red flowerpots passing by. But considering that album came out about 30 years ago, I probably should have yelled “Duty then for now!”
Strangely enough, before the show started that played this weird combination of classic soul and old school punk. I love both of types of music, but I don't see how soul music revs someone up for a Devo concert.
Finally, my friend arrived and I joined him on the bridge. Actually, we could see the band. Not a great view, but I've had worse in a stadium like when I went to see The Who in the 70s!
So after 30 plus years, there was my oldest friend and I finally at a Devo concert. Okay, couldn't see the band real well, but hey, it was free!
And as my friend said, since we can't see them that well, we can imagine still being thin and young while they played.
How was the show? I liked it! The band started off with some of their newer stuff which doesn't really appeal to me. Only one song out of the first five or so came from the four albums I listen to!
But then the boys got into their old yellow jumpsuits, and it was a wonderful stroll down memory lane with band playing most if not all of my favorites.
My friend and I were standing at that bridge singing along. My friend actually started singing kind of loud, and I said people would probably prefer hearing Devo sing.
I was tapping my feet and bobbing my knees. Must have looked a little silly to the people crossing the bridge!
Of course, it must have looked sillier when my friend and I were pretending to scream at Devo and “woot” them. We knew they couldn't hear us from the bridge, so we didn't do it seriously. Though I did do a pretend shout of “Mark and Gerry, we love you!” Mark Mothersbaugh and Gerry Casale being the leaders of Devo.
My friend's wife was there and she was kind of laughing at us. Can't really blame her.
And the show eventually its conclusion with Booji Boy singing “Beautiful World”. And then strangely enough, it ended. No encore, just thank you.
My friend thought Devo needed The Blue Man Group's guide to rock and roll, which says there's always an encore. But Devo always did things their own way!
And as a bonus track, just because it's Devo and it's so awesome!
Friday, April 16, 2010
MUSIC: Just Some Really Awful Gary Numan Jokes
This is from me and NOT some reprinted material. - OlderMusicGeek
This is taken from Twitter and some bad jokes I made with @SpookyChan and Patrick McEvoy.
This is taken from Twitter and some bad jokes I made with @SpookyChan and Patrick McEvoy.
SpookyChan: OH, MY... I, me, myself, *i*- deleted my Gary Numan collection on accident... MOTHER. Of... i'm going to go weep with GOTH DOG now.
Patick McEvoy: @spookychan Wait... Follow me on this: dogs chase cars... Numan sang about cars... Goth dog deleted your Numan songs. It all makes sense!
OlderMusicGeek: @patrick_mcevoy @spookychan - You know those goth dogs work on The Pleasure Principle, don't you?
OlderMusicGeek: @patrick_mcevoy @spookychan - You know those goth dogs work on The Pleasure Principle, don't you?
OlderMusicGeek: @spookychan @patrick_mcevoy - You know where to look for goth dogs that eat Gary Numan mp3's? Down in the park!
OlderMusicGeek: @spookychan @patrick_mcevoy - Okay, I'm done with the Gary Numan jokes for now - Me, I disconnect from you two.
Monday, December 28, 2009
MUSIC: My Top Ten Albums
This is from me, and NOT some reprinted material. - OlderMusicGeek
Well, a while back Patrick McEvoy on Twitter asked what our top 10 favorite albums are.
After some thinking, I have come up with mine. But this could change depending on my mood and new memories!
10 - The Raveonettes' Pretty In Black
9 - Chumbawumba's Tubthumper
8 - Visage's self-titled debut
7 - The Clash's London Calling
6 - Ultravox's Systems Of Romance
5 - Devo's Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
4 - The Sex Pistols' Never Mind The Bollocks Here Comes The Sex Pistols
3 - Flogging Molly's Drunken Lullabies
2 - The Police's Outlandos d'Amour
1 - Violent Femmes self-titled debut
Yeah, my top ten albums is heavy and completely dominated by alternative stuff! Have go into top 25 or 50 to find other genres!
But looking at my top ten albums, it's still a pretty diverse bunch - punk to synth dance pop - with folk, reggae, celtic and 60's influences!
Well, a while back Patrick McEvoy on Twitter asked what our top 10 favorite albums are.
After some thinking, I have come up with mine. But this could change depending on my mood and new memories!
10 - The Raveonettes' Pretty In Black
9 - Chumbawumba's Tubthumper
8 - Visage's self-titled debut
7 - The Clash's London Calling
6 - Ultravox's Systems Of Romance
5 - Devo's Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!
4 - The Sex Pistols' Never Mind The Bollocks Here Comes The Sex Pistols
3 - Flogging Molly's Drunken Lullabies
2 - The Police's Outlandos d'Amour
1 - Violent Femmes self-titled debut
Yeah, my top ten albums is heavy and completely dominated by alternative stuff! Have go into top 25 or 50 to find other genres!
But looking at my top ten albums, it's still a pretty diverse bunch - punk to synth dance pop - with folk, reggae, celtic and 60's influences!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
MUSIC: Favorite Bands A to Z Survey
This is just a survey I did on Facebook. - OlderMusicGeek
A: Adam And The Ants
B: Bowie
C: Cracker
D: Devo
E: Eurhythmics
F: Flogging Molly
G: Gaelic Storm
H: Hayseed Dixie
I: Icehouse
J: Jean-Michel Jarre
K: Klark Kent
L: Ladysmith Black Mambazo
M: Me First And The Gimme Gimmes
N: Nash The Slash
P: Presidents Of The United States Of America
R: Raveonettes
S: Sex Pistols
T: Talking Heads
W: Wall Of Voodoo
Z: Where's V for The Violent Femmes?!?!?!?! / ZZTop
For the letters missing in the poll -
U: Ultravox
V: Violent Femmes
X: XTC
Y: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
A: Adam And The Ants
B: Bowie
C: Cracker
D: Devo
E: Eurhythmics
F: Flogging Molly
G: Gaelic Storm
H: Hayseed Dixie
I: Icehouse
J: Jean-Michel Jarre
K: Klark Kent
L: Ladysmith Black Mambazo
M: Me First And The Gimme Gimmes
N: Nash The Slash
P: Presidents Of The United States Of America
R: Raveonettes
S: Sex Pistols
T: Talking Heads
W: Wall Of Voodoo
Z: Where's V for The Violent Femmes?!?!?!?! / ZZTop
For the letters missing in the poll -
U: Ultravox
V: Violent Femmes
X: XTC
Y: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Saturday, May 16, 2009
MUSIC: The OlderMusicGeek Guide To Road Trip Music - Part One: CD's
This from me, NOT some material reprinted from somewhere else.
I had a Twitter friend, Emma, asked for road trip music. Well, after giving it some thought, I realized I had a bit much for a letter, but a lot of stuff for my blog!
Blog entries like this are, by their very nature, very subjective. And unless the blogger has an ego as big as the sun, one has to realize that there's NOT going to be someone who follows your suggestion religiously and makes a playlist according to your exact specifications!
All this can be, is a way for you, the reader, to come up with YOUR OWN playlist/cd/whatever - and be suggestions to POSSIBLY include on your own playlist.
Okay, with that all said, it's time to determine what should be included on a road trip music collection.
#1 - Should be for the most part uptempo. You want music that will keep you awake on the road. A few slow ones are okay to change the pace around and add variety, but generally, you want uptempo songs of whatever genre you listen to.
#2 - It usually helps, though not necessarily, if the song have a "flow" to their sound! By "flow", I mean the song should be move easily. You should seem to be able to almost slide through the song.
#3 - It also help if the songs are "sing-along-able"! The more you can sing along with them, the better you'll feel and the more awake you'll feel too. And if you don't like singing along with music, then get over yourself and enjoy life!
#4 - It would also be nice, but again not necessary, if the song has something to do with roads, vehicles, driving and traveling.
The simplest and easiest way to start your road trip collection is look at your favorite cd's and see which of these fit into any of those three categories! If you rate your music on your mp3 player, your job is even easier. Check out the cd's with a lot of 5 star songs - or if that's not enough, check out the ones with 4 stars too!
Don't worry if you think I'm going to leave you hanging! I'm not! I have some suggestions!
1. Swagger, Drunken Lullabies, Within A Mile Of Home, and Float - Flogging Molly
If you're into Celtic music and/or punk, this is Flogging Molly's 4 studio cd's will energize you! The two times I went all a Flogging Molly kick and listen to all 4 cd's in one setting, I felt exhausted at the end, cus the music is THAT energetic!
2. No Thanks! The 70s Punk Rebellion - various artists
This is a wonderful 4-cd 100-song collection of the punk, new wave and alternative music that came out in the mid and late 70s! Talk about energy! This will work just as good as caffeine! If you're downloading it until a mp3 player, I would recommend adding "Anarchy In The U.K." and/or "God Save The Queen" by Sex Pistols, since The Sex Pistols refused to allow any of their music on this collection, the twats!
3. Me First And The Gimme Gimmes
If you're into punk, this is a great band to have on your playlist. They play all these different covers from different genres, but they do them in a punk rock fashion. And since all they do is covers, you'll know most of the songs and probably know a lot of the lyrics, and therefore can even sing along with it, which to me, is a great plus when you're on the road, and especially when you're trying to stay awake!
If you don't want or need too much punk, then you could just go with their compilation cd, Have Another Ball. If you're into 70s pop, I suggest their first album, Have A Ball And for 60s pop, Blow In The Wind. If you like musicals, then you'll want Are A Drag. For contemporary R&B songs, try Take A Break. And for country tunes, Love Their Country. Me, personally, I'd put ALL their cd's on the playlist!
4. Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
What can I say? I'm a 80s child! And this has what you need for the road. Some heavy beat dance music and some "flow-y" mellow stuff.
5. Riverdance - Bill Whelan / Lord Of The Dance - Ronan Hardiman
These are soundtracks to two great Celtic dance shows! I will admit that some of the songs on the cd's are pretty mellow and you can go without. But some... they just get your heart a-pumping and make you want to do some wild tap-dancing yourself!
6. Saturday Night Fever - various artists (but mostly The Bee Gees)
I'll admit it! I was one of those "disco sucks" people. I listened to classic rock before punk rock, so disco seemed the anti-thesis to my music!
But as I've aged, I've come to realize that there is nothing wrong is funky R&B-influenced soul-influenced dance music!
And this cd has a lot of the disco greats on it like "Disco Inferno". What a great fun dance song! Besides that, you know a lot of the words, so it's another great sing-a-long cd!
7. Visage - Visage
I can't not say enough much I love this cd. When I heard it back in 1980, it was different than anything I had heard, and was quite different than a lot of stuff out there.
This cd, to me, epotomized The New Romance movement. Another great dance cd that flows along and zooms you down the highway!
8. Grease - movie soundtrack
What can I say? It's a musical everyone knows! It's fun! It has high "song-a-long-ability"! Just what you need on a long road trip.
9. Deep Forest - Deep Forest
If you're into world music, electronica and traditional African music, you should definitely consider Deep Forest's debut cd! Two french dj's took a bunch of recordings of traditional African chants recorded by the U.N. and turned them into dancable, grooving tunes!
10. A Motown collection
It doesn't really matter which one you get, but get one of those "Best of Motown" or "Motown Classics" or whatever Motown cd's! These songs have great flow and great sing-along-ability! And who doesn't like Motown?
11. A Stax collection
If you never heard of the Stax record label, it doesn't matter, cus you'll know the music. Most of the soul hits that weren't Motown were from Stax! Just get a collection of their best material, and you'll be going, "Oh, yeah, I know this song..." Again, great flow and sing-along-ability!
12. Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits - various artists
If you like 90s alternative and 60s Saturday morning cartoons, then this is the cd for you! Some guy in the 90s got all these alternative acts to cover theme songs from 60s Saturday morning cartoons! This covers uptempo, flow and sing-along-ability! How can you lose?
13. A Ramones compilation
There are a bunch of compilations cd's! Some examples are Ramones Mania, Hey Ho Let's Go!: The Anthology, The Best of The Ramones (aka Best of the Chrysalis Years, and Ramones Greatest Hits. So just depends on what exactly you want. But add one of those to your playlist and you'll have something that works as good as caffeine for keeping you awake!
14. A Clash compilation
Well, there's the 2-cd Essential Clash, the 2-cd Story Of The Clash, Volume 1, and The Singles. Any one of these will give plenty of great uptempo punk rock!
15. George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Move It On Over, and More George Thorogood & The Destroyers - George Thorogood & The Destroyers
The first three cd's by a fun, if poppy, blues rocker. These early cd's were full of energy and joy and will keep you going on the road.
16. A collection of 80s hair bands
We all laugh and mock this stuff, but secretly we find this outrageousness fun and enjoyable! I don't think this collection can be complete if it doesn't "Cum On Feel The Noize" by Quiet Riot and "We're Not Gonna To Take It" by Twisted Sister!
17. Great Gonzos!: The Best Of Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
There are other Ted Nugent compilation cd's, but this is the best! It has all his older stuff. Unfortunately, it doesn't have "Great White Buffalo", so you'll have to download that song separately!
18. A Kiss Compilation and Kiss Alive II - Kiss
I couldn't begin to tell you how many Kiss compilations cd's are out there. I recommend one that is only one cd, because you don't need more than that really! And then the live cd's to show how the songs are meant to be heard! Again, this should cover the uptempo and sing-along-ability part of your playlist!
19. A collection of dance music
Some people will say I'm crazy for saying this, but you can't have too much dance music on a road trip music collection! So put on a cd collection of what dance music you're into - disco, soul, funk, techno, electronica, trance! Or even one cd of each type!
20. A collection of big band/swing music
It was the dance music of the 40s. It's fun, it flows, and a lot of it is uptempo! And it's more than likely a nice change of pace from the rest of your music! But any collection you do get should have the following 4 songs - "In The Mood" by Glenn Miller, "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman, "Take The 'A' Train" by Duke Ellington and "Begin The Beguine" by Artie Shaw!
21. A cajun/zydeco collection
Do yourself a favor, and put some Louisiana flavor into your life! There is nothing on this planet quite like the sound of cajun and zydeco, so find a best of cajun collection with some Beau Jocque and Buckwheat Zydeco on it and add to your road trip collection!
And if you find yourself liking it, go for a Beau Jocque collection and Buckwheat Zydeco collection!
>22. A rockabilly collection
If you can't get into that twangy guitar that propels this great mix of country and African-American traditional music, then I don't know what to tell you! But if you can, then you know why you should have some in your road trip music!
I had a Twitter friend, Emma, asked for road trip music. Well, after giving it some thought, I realized I had a bit much for a letter, but a lot of stuff for my blog!
Blog entries like this are, by their very nature, very subjective. And unless the blogger has an ego as big as the sun, one has to realize that there's NOT going to be someone who follows your suggestion religiously and makes a playlist according to your exact specifications!
All this can be, is a way for you, the reader, to come up with YOUR OWN playlist/cd/whatever - and be suggestions to POSSIBLY include on your own playlist.
Okay, with that all said, it's time to determine what should be included on a road trip music collection.
#1 - Should be for the most part uptempo. You want music that will keep you awake on the road. A few slow ones are okay to change the pace around and add variety, but generally, you want uptempo songs of whatever genre you listen to.
#2 - It usually helps, though not necessarily, if the song have a "flow" to their sound! By "flow", I mean the song should be move easily. You should seem to be able to almost slide through the song.
#3 - It also help if the songs are "sing-along-able"! The more you can sing along with them, the better you'll feel and the more awake you'll feel too. And if you don't like singing along with music, then get over yourself and enjoy life!
#4 - It would also be nice, but again not necessary, if the song has something to do with roads, vehicles, driving and traveling.
The simplest and easiest way to start your road trip collection is look at your favorite cd's and see which of these fit into any of those three categories! If you rate your music on your mp3 player, your job is even easier. Check out the cd's with a lot of 5 star songs - or if that's not enough, check out the ones with 4 stars too!
Don't worry if you think I'm going to leave you hanging! I'm not! I have some suggestions!
1. Swagger, Drunken Lullabies, Within A Mile Of Home, and Float - Flogging Molly
If you're into Celtic music and/or punk, this is Flogging Molly's 4 studio cd's will energize you! The two times I went all a Flogging Molly kick and listen to all 4 cd's in one setting, I felt exhausted at the end, cus the music is THAT energetic!
2. No Thanks! The 70s Punk Rebellion - various artists
This is a wonderful 4-cd 100-song collection of the punk, new wave and alternative music that came out in the mid and late 70s! Talk about energy! This will work just as good as caffeine! If you're downloading it until a mp3 player, I would recommend adding "Anarchy In The U.K." and/or "God Save The Queen" by Sex Pistols, since The Sex Pistols refused to allow any of their music on this collection, the twats!
3. Me First And The Gimme Gimmes
If you're into punk, this is a great band to have on your playlist. They play all these different covers from different genres, but they do them in a punk rock fashion. And since all they do is covers, you'll know most of the songs and probably know a lot of the lyrics, and therefore can even sing along with it, which to me, is a great plus when you're on the road, and especially when you're trying to stay awake!
If you don't want or need too much punk, then you could just go with their compilation cd, Have Another Ball. If you're into 70s pop, I suggest their first album, Have A Ball And for 60s pop, Blow In The Wind. If you like musicals, then you'll want Are A Drag. For contemporary R&B songs, try Take A Break. And for country tunes, Love Their Country. Me, personally, I'd put ALL their cd's on the playlist!
4. Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
What can I say? I'm a 80s child! And this has what you need for the road. Some heavy beat dance music and some "flow-y" mellow stuff.
5. Riverdance - Bill Whelan / Lord Of The Dance - Ronan Hardiman
These are soundtracks to two great Celtic dance shows! I will admit that some of the songs on the cd's are pretty mellow and you can go without. But some... they just get your heart a-pumping and make you want to do some wild tap-dancing yourself!
6. Saturday Night Fever - various artists (but mostly The Bee Gees)
I'll admit it! I was one of those "disco sucks" people. I listened to classic rock before punk rock, so disco seemed the anti-thesis to my music!
But as I've aged, I've come to realize that there is nothing wrong is funky R&B-influenced soul-influenced dance music!
And this cd has a lot of the disco greats on it like "Disco Inferno". What a great fun dance song! Besides that, you know a lot of the words, so it's another great sing-a-long cd!
7. Visage - Visage
I can't not say enough much I love this cd. When I heard it back in 1980, it was different than anything I had heard, and was quite different than a lot of stuff out there.
This cd, to me, epotomized The New Romance movement. Another great dance cd that flows along and zooms you down the highway!
8. Grease - movie soundtrack
What can I say? It's a musical everyone knows! It's fun! It has high "song-a-long-ability"! Just what you need on a long road trip.
9. Deep Forest - Deep Forest
If you're into world music, electronica and traditional African music, you should definitely consider Deep Forest's debut cd! Two french dj's took a bunch of recordings of traditional African chants recorded by the U.N. and turned them into dancable, grooving tunes!
10. A Motown collection
It doesn't really matter which one you get, but get one of those "Best of Motown" or "Motown Classics" or whatever Motown cd's! These songs have great flow and great sing-along-ability! And who doesn't like Motown?
11. A Stax collection
If you never heard of the Stax record label, it doesn't matter, cus you'll know the music. Most of the soul hits that weren't Motown were from Stax! Just get a collection of their best material, and you'll be going, "Oh, yeah, I know this song..." Again, great flow and sing-along-ability!
12. Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits - various artists
If you like 90s alternative and 60s Saturday morning cartoons, then this is the cd for you! Some guy in the 90s got all these alternative acts to cover theme songs from 60s Saturday morning cartoons! This covers uptempo, flow and sing-along-ability! How can you lose?
13. A Ramones compilation
There are a bunch of compilations cd's! Some examples are Ramones Mania, Hey Ho Let's Go!: The Anthology, The Best of The Ramones (aka Best of the Chrysalis Years, and Ramones Greatest Hits. So just depends on what exactly you want. But add one of those to your playlist and you'll have something that works as good as caffeine for keeping you awake!
14. A Clash compilation
Well, there's the 2-cd Essential Clash, the 2-cd Story Of The Clash, Volume 1, and The Singles. Any one of these will give plenty of great uptempo punk rock!
15. George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Move It On Over, and More George Thorogood & The Destroyers - George Thorogood & The Destroyers
The first three cd's by a fun, if poppy, blues rocker. These early cd's were full of energy and joy and will keep you going on the road.
16. A collection of 80s hair bands
We all laugh and mock this stuff, but secretly we find this outrageousness fun and enjoyable! I don't think this collection can be complete if it doesn't "Cum On Feel The Noize" by Quiet Riot and "We're Not Gonna To Take It" by Twisted Sister!
17. Great Gonzos!: The Best Of Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
There are other Ted Nugent compilation cd's, but this is the best! It has all his older stuff. Unfortunately, it doesn't have "Great White Buffalo", so you'll have to download that song separately!
18. A Kiss Compilation and Kiss Alive II - Kiss
I couldn't begin to tell you how many Kiss compilations cd's are out there. I recommend one that is only one cd, because you don't need more than that really! And then the live cd's to show how the songs are meant to be heard! Again, this should cover the uptempo and sing-along-ability part of your playlist!
19. A collection of dance music
Some people will say I'm crazy for saying this, but you can't have too much dance music on a road trip music collection! So put on a cd collection of what dance music you're into - disco, soul, funk, techno, electronica, trance! Or even one cd of each type!
20. A collection of big band/swing music
It was the dance music of the 40s. It's fun, it flows, and a lot of it is uptempo! And it's more than likely a nice change of pace from the rest of your music! But any collection you do get should have the following 4 songs - "In The Mood" by Glenn Miller, "Sing, Sing, Sing" by Benny Goodman, "Take The 'A' Train" by Duke Ellington and "Begin The Beguine" by Artie Shaw!
21. A cajun/zydeco collection
Do yourself a favor, and put some Louisiana flavor into your life! There is nothing on this planet quite like the sound of cajun and zydeco, so find a best of cajun collection with some Beau Jocque and Buckwheat Zydeco on it and add to your road trip collection!
And if you find yourself liking it, go for a Beau Jocque collection and Buckwheat Zydeco collection!
>22. A rockabilly collection
If you can't get into that twangy guitar that propels this great mix of country and African-American traditional music, then I don't know what to tell you! But if you can, then you know why you should have some in your road trip music!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
MUSIC: How An Obscure 80s Punk Band Created A Christmas Classic - Redux
I found the following story from NPR and am adding it to this piece I've already posted. - OlderMusicGeek
I found this while surfing the net. I edited it down. You can read the whole piece here. - OlderMusicGeek
How an obscure 80s punk band created a Christmas classic
By JOHN PETRICK
Thursday December 22, 2005
Struggling band The Waitresses dragged themselves off the road and into a Manhattan studio to record - of all things - a Christmas song on a hot August day in 1981. Little did they know they were about to create a classic - a song that would well outlive the band, the 80s and, sadly, the frontwoman who sang it.
"I go back and I try to think of what the original inspiration was. I think it was just very much that for years I hated Christmas," says Chris Butler, founder of the Waitresses and writer of the bittersweet, cool but sentimental Christmas Wrapping.
The song is as much about a harried lifestyle and trying to make connections as it is about Christmas. "Everybody I knew in New York was running around like a bunch of fiends," he says of Christmases back around the time he moved from his native Ohio to New York City and formed the Waitresses. "It wasn't about joy. It was something to cope with."
As talk-sung by late lead singer Patty Donahue, Butler's song depicts a hard-working single girl who resolves to sit Christmas out one year. This, as she laments her repeated and unsuccessful attempts to reconnect with a guy she met by chance the previous winter. But just as in A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life, a twist of fate and a little magical intervention restore our heroine's belief in the Christmas spirit, after all.
Their record label had asked each of its punk bands to write a Christmas song for a holiday album. "A Christmas album? On a hipster label? Come on. Never happened," says Butler, giving the raspberry. "They were extreme individuals," he says of the label's roster.
Then again, the band itself was once a myth.
While Butler was a musician playing, he wrote songs for a make-believe side group. "I came up with the name `the Waitresses' because it just sounded kind of New Wavey," he says. "It was all a big joke."
But when industry people in New York expressed serious interest in I Know What Boys Like, Butler quickly cobbled together a formal Waitresses lineup. Many of the musicians Butler recruited were Midwesterners who, like himself, gravitated to New York. Meanwhile, Donahue was still in Ohio.
A free spirit who was in and out of college when she wasn't working waitress jobs, she decided to come along for the ride. "I gave her my last 50 bucks, put her on the Greyhound bus, she kissed her boyfriend goodbye, and she decided to come to New York. What the hell?"
The Waitresses officially debuted as a real, fully organized band at Little Club 57 at 57 St. Mark's Place on Jan 3, 1981. Months of playing everywhere - and I Know What Boys Like still wasn't making much of a dent.
In they came from the road in August 1981, exhausted, discouraged and not exactly in the Christmas spirit. Butler wrote Christmas Wrapping in about a week, put together from what he calls his "riff pile" - cassettes with bits and pieces of songs he wrote, for a rainy day. Some of the lyrics were written in the cab, en route to the studio. He credits his fellow musicians with adding brilliant flourishes to his basic musical arrangement. And, of course, he credits Donahue - the least experienced band member with the highest visibility.
"This is what she brought to the party: She was very smart. She was very funny. She was a very good actress. Great sense of humor, great timing. This was not the world's greatest vocalist, but she could get inside these lines and act them out, with a cigarette, and be my kind of favourite 1930s tough broad in all those Depression-era movies. She could do that kind of tough, tough, been-there, done-that, you-can't-fool-me kind of woman."
Two days of recording, and Christmas Wrapping was in the can. Back out on the road they went, forgetting all about it - until it started getting radio play come Christmas season. It was a weird way to have a hit.
"We had to play the song up until, like, June. And we had to capitalize on it - `Hi, this is our new album. We're the people who did that song back at Christmas,'" he says. "I am an official one-hit wonder. Except I have two half-hits: The Christmas song, and I Know What Boys Like, which never quite broke through but never quite went away."
Though they were seemingly gaining momentum, what happens next isn't quite the magical happy ending of Christmas tales. "We ran out of gas," he says about working on their next album. "We had a huge deadline. Huge pressure. And she (Donahue) said, `The hell with it'."
Then in the mid-90s, this Christmas tale comes to an even less happy ending.
"I found out she was sick, through a friend. I immediately called her. We kind of kissed and made up. I asked if there was anything I could do. We had a couple of phone conversations." Donahue died of lung cancer on Dec. 9, 1996, at age 40.
And as for Christmas? He has a bit of a different perspective on it, now. Especially when he's rushing around doing errands and suddenly hears his song on the radio, after all these years.
"Who'd have thunk it? Yeah. Holy cow," he says of its longevity. "Miracles do happen. It's MY Christmas miracle. And it slaps me around and says, `Lighten up. It's Christmas'."
A link to the original article
Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you're celebrating!
MY CHRISTMAS INTERNET RADIO STATIONS
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Edition
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Rock and Punk Edition
OlderMusicGeek's Christmas QuickMix
I found this while surfing the net. I edited it down. You can read the whole piece here. - OlderMusicGeek
How an obscure 80s punk band created a Christmas classic
By JOHN PETRICK
Thursday December 22, 2005
Struggling band The Waitresses dragged themselves off the road and into a Manhattan studio to record - of all things - a Christmas song on a hot August day in 1981. Little did they know they were about to create a classic - a song that would well outlive the band, the 80s and, sadly, the frontwoman who sang it.
"I go back and I try to think of what the original inspiration was. I think it was just very much that for years I hated Christmas," says Chris Butler, founder of the Waitresses and writer of the bittersweet, cool but sentimental Christmas Wrapping.
The song is as much about a harried lifestyle and trying to make connections as it is about Christmas. "Everybody I knew in New York was running around like a bunch of fiends," he says of Christmases back around the time he moved from his native Ohio to New York City and formed the Waitresses. "It wasn't about joy. It was something to cope with."
As talk-sung by late lead singer Patty Donahue, Butler's song depicts a hard-working single girl who resolves to sit Christmas out one year. This, as she laments her repeated and unsuccessful attempts to reconnect with a guy she met by chance the previous winter. But just as in A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life, a twist of fate and a little magical intervention restore our heroine's belief in the Christmas spirit, after all.
Their record label had asked each of its punk bands to write a Christmas song for a holiday album. "A Christmas album? On a hipster label? Come on. Never happened," says Butler, giving the raspberry. "They were extreme individuals," he says of the label's roster.
Then again, the band itself was once a myth.
While Butler was a musician playing, he wrote songs for a make-believe side group. "I came up with the name `the Waitresses' because it just sounded kind of New Wavey," he says. "It was all a big joke."
But when industry people in New York expressed serious interest in I Know What Boys Like, Butler quickly cobbled together a formal Waitresses lineup. Many of the musicians Butler recruited were Midwesterners who, like himself, gravitated to New York. Meanwhile, Donahue was still in Ohio.
A free spirit who was in and out of college when she wasn't working waitress jobs, she decided to come along for the ride. "I gave her my last 50 bucks, put her on the Greyhound bus, she kissed her boyfriend goodbye, and she decided to come to New York. What the hell?"
The Waitresses officially debuted as a real, fully organized band at Little Club 57 at 57 St. Mark's Place on Jan 3, 1981. Months of playing everywhere - and I Know What Boys Like still wasn't making much of a dent.
In they came from the road in August 1981, exhausted, discouraged and not exactly in the Christmas spirit. Butler wrote Christmas Wrapping in about a week, put together from what he calls his "riff pile" - cassettes with bits and pieces of songs he wrote, for a rainy day. Some of the lyrics were written in the cab, en route to the studio. He credits his fellow musicians with adding brilliant flourishes to his basic musical arrangement. And, of course, he credits Donahue - the least experienced band member with the highest visibility.
"This is what she brought to the party: She was very smart. She was very funny. She was a very good actress. Great sense of humor, great timing. This was not the world's greatest vocalist, but she could get inside these lines and act them out, with a cigarette, and be my kind of favourite 1930s tough broad in all those Depression-era movies. She could do that kind of tough, tough, been-there, done-that, you-can't-fool-me kind of woman."
Two days of recording, and Christmas Wrapping was in the can. Back out on the road they went, forgetting all about it - until it started getting radio play come Christmas season. It was a weird way to have a hit.
"We had to play the song up until, like, June. And we had to capitalize on it - `Hi, this is our new album. We're the people who did that song back at Christmas,'" he says. "I am an official one-hit wonder. Except I have two half-hits: The Christmas song, and I Know What Boys Like, which never quite broke through but never quite went away."
Though they were seemingly gaining momentum, what happens next isn't quite the magical happy ending of Christmas tales. "We ran out of gas," he says about working on their next album. "We had a huge deadline. Huge pressure. And she (Donahue) said, `The hell with it'."
Then in the mid-90s, this Christmas tale comes to an even less happy ending.
"I found out she was sick, through a friend. I immediately called her. We kind of kissed and made up. I asked if there was anything I could do. We had a couple of phone conversations." Donahue died of lung cancer on Dec. 9, 1996, at age 40.
And as for Christmas? He has a bit of a different perspective on it, now. Especially when he's rushing around doing errands and suddenly hears his song on the radio, after all these years.
"Who'd have thunk it? Yeah. Holy cow," he says of its longevity. "Miracles do happen. It's MY Christmas miracle. And it slaps me around and says, `Lighten up. It's Christmas'."
A link to the original article
Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you're celebrating!
MY CHRISTMAS INTERNET RADIO STATIONS
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Edition
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Rock and Punk Edition
OlderMusicGeek's Christmas QuickMix
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
MUSIC: How An Obscure 80s Punk Band Created A Christmas Classic
I found this while surfing the net. I edited it down. You can read the whole piece here. - OlderMusicGeek
How an obscure 80s punk band created a Christmas classic
By JOHN PETRICK
Thursday December 22, 2005
Struggling band The Waitresses dragged themselves off the road and into a Manhattan studio to record - of all things - a Christmas song on a hot August day in 1981. Little did they know they were about to create a classic - a song that would well outlive the band, the 80s and, sadly, the frontwoman who sang it.
"I go back and I try to think of what the original inspiration was. I think it was just very much that for years I hated Christmas," says Chris Butler, founder of the Waitresses and writer of the bittersweet, cool but sentimental Christmas Wrapping.
The song is as much about a harried lifestyle and trying to make connections as it is about Christmas. "Everybody I knew in New York was running around like a bunch of fiends," he says of Christmases back around the time he moved from his native Ohio to New York City and formed the Waitresses. "It wasn't about joy. It was something to cope with."
As talk-sung by late lead singer Patty Donahue, Butler's song depicts a hard-working single girl who resolves to sit Christmas out one year. This, as she laments her repeated and unsuccessful attempts to reconnect with a guy she met by chance the previous winter. But just as in A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life, a twist of fate and a little magical intervention restore our heroine's belief in the Christmas spirit, after all.
Their record label had asked each of its punk bands to write a Christmas song for a holiday album. "A Christmas album? On a hipster label? Come on. Never happened," says Butler, giving the raspberry. "They were extreme individuals," he says of the label's roster.
Then again, the band itself was once a myth.
While Butler was a musician playing, he wrote songs for a make-believe side group. "I came up with the name `the Waitresses' because it just sounded kind of New Wavey," he says. "It was all a big joke."
But when industry people in New York expressed serious interest in I Know What Boys Like, Butler quickly cobbled together a formal Waitresses lineup. Many of the musicians Butler recruited were Midwesterners who, like himself, gravitated to New York. Meanwhile, Donahue was still in Ohio.
A free spirit who was in and out of college when she wasn't working waitress jobs, she decided to come along for the ride. "I gave her my last 50 bucks, put her on the Greyhound bus, she kissed her boyfriend goodbye, and she decided to come to New York. What the hell?"
The Waitresses officially debuted as a real, fully organized band at Little Club 57 at 57 St. Mark's Place on Jan 3, 1981. Months of playing everywhere - and I Know What Boys Like still wasn't making much of a dent.
In they came from the road in August 1981, exhausted, discouraged and not exactly in the Christmas spirit. Butler wrote Christmas Wrapping in about a week, put together from what he calls his "riff pile" - cassettes with bits and pieces of songs he wrote, for a rainy day. Some of the lyrics were written in the cab, en route to the studio. He credits his fellow musicians with adding brilliant flourishes to his basic musical arrangement. And, of course, he credits Donahue - the least experienced band member with the highest visibility.
"This is what she brought to the party: She was very smart. She was very funny. She was a very good actress. Great sense of humor, great timing. This was not the world's greatest vocalist, but she could get inside these lines and act them out, with a cigarette, and be my kind of favourite 1930s tough broad in all those Depression-era movies. She could do that kind of tough, tough, been-there, done-that, you-can't-fool-me kind of woman."
Two days of recording, and Christmas Wrapping was in the can. Back out on the road they went, forgetting all about it - until it started getting radio play come Christmas season. It was a weird way to have a hit.
"We had to play the song up until, like, June. And we had to capitalize on it - `Hi, this is our new album. We're the people who did that song back at Christmas,'" he says. "I am an official one-hit wonder. Except I have two half-hits: The Christmas song, and I Know What Boys Like, which never quite broke through but never quite went away."
Though they were seemingly gaining momentum, what happens next isn't quite the magical happy ending of Christmas tales. "We ran out of gas," he says about working on their next album. "We had a huge deadline. Huge pressure. And she (Donahue) said, `The hell with it'."
Then in the mid-90s, this Christmas tale comes to an even less happy ending.
"I found out she was sick, through a friend. I immediately called her. We kind of kissed and made up. I asked if there was anything I could do. We had a couple of phone conversations." Donahue died of lung cancer on Dec. 9, 1996, at age 40.
And as for Christmas? He has a bit of a different perspective on it, now. Especially when he's rushing around doing errands and suddenly hears his song on the radio, after all these years.
"Who'd have thunk it? Yeah. Holy cow," he says of its longevity. "Miracles do happen. It's MY Christmas miracle. And it slaps me around and says, `Lighten up. It's Christmas'."
A link to the original article
Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you're celebrating!
MY CHRISTMAS INTERNET RADIO STATIONS
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Edition
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Rock and Punk Edition
OlderMusicGeek's Christmas QuickMix
How an obscure 80s punk band created a Christmas classic
By JOHN PETRICK
Thursday December 22, 2005
Struggling band The Waitresses dragged themselves off the road and into a Manhattan studio to record - of all things - a Christmas song on a hot August day in 1981. Little did they know they were about to create a classic - a song that would well outlive the band, the 80s and, sadly, the frontwoman who sang it.
"I go back and I try to think of what the original inspiration was. I think it was just very much that for years I hated Christmas," says Chris Butler, founder of the Waitresses and writer of the bittersweet, cool but sentimental Christmas Wrapping.
The song is as much about a harried lifestyle and trying to make connections as it is about Christmas. "Everybody I knew in New York was running around like a bunch of fiends," he says of Christmases back around the time he moved from his native Ohio to New York City and formed the Waitresses. "It wasn't about joy. It was something to cope with."
As talk-sung by late lead singer Patty Donahue, Butler's song depicts a hard-working single girl who resolves to sit Christmas out one year. This, as she laments her repeated and unsuccessful attempts to reconnect with a guy she met by chance the previous winter. But just as in A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life, a twist of fate and a little magical intervention restore our heroine's belief in the Christmas spirit, after all.
Their record label had asked each of its punk bands to write a Christmas song for a holiday album. "A Christmas album? On a hipster label? Come on. Never happened," says Butler, giving the raspberry. "They were extreme individuals," he says of the label's roster.
Then again, the band itself was once a myth.
While Butler was a musician playing, he wrote songs for a make-believe side group. "I came up with the name `the Waitresses' because it just sounded kind of New Wavey," he says. "It was all a big joke."
But when industry people in New York expressed serious interest in I Know What Boys Like, Butler quickly cobbled together a formal Waitresses lineup. Many of the musicians Butler recruited were Midwesterners who, like himself, gravitated to New York. Meanwhile, Donahue was still in Ohio.
A free spirit who was in and out of college when she wasn't working waitress jobs, she decided to come along for the ride. "I gave her my last 50 bucks, put her on the Greyhound bus, she kissed her boyfriend goodbye, and she decided to come to New York. What the hell?"
The Waitresses officially debuted as a real, fully organized band at Little Club 57 at 57 St. Mark's Place on Jan 3, 1981. Months of playing everywhere - and I Know What Boys Like still wasn't making much of a dent.
In they came from the road in August 1981, exhausted, discouraged and not exactly in the Christmas spirit. Butler wrote Christmas Wrapping in about a week, put together from what he calls his "riff pile" - cassettes with bits and pieces of songs he wrote, for a rainy day. Some of the lyrics were written in the cab, en route to the studio. He credits his fellow musicians with adding brilliant flourishes to his basic musical arrangement. And, of course, he credits Donahue - the least experienced band member with the highest visibility.
"This is what she brought to the party: She was very smart. She was very funny. She was a very good actress. Great sense of humor, great timing. This was not the world's greatest vocalist, but she could get inside these lines and act them out, with a cigarette, and be my kind of favourite 1930s tough broad in all those Depression-era movies. She could do that kind of tough, tough, been-there, done-that, you-can't-fool-me kind of woman."
Two days of recording, and Christmas Wrapping was in the can. Back out on the road they went, forgetting all about it - until it started getting radio play come Christmas season. It was a weird way to have a hit.
"We had to play the song up until, like, June. And we had to capitalize on it - `Hi, this is our new album. We're the people who did that song back at Christmas,'" he says. "I am an official one-hit wonder. Except I have two half-hits: The Christmas song, and I Know What Boys Like, which never quite broke through but never quite went away."
Though they were seemingly gaining momentum, what happens next isn't quite the magical happy ending of Christmas tales. "We ran out of gas," he says about working on their next album. "We had a huge deadline. Huge pressure. And she (Donahue) said, `The hell with it'."
Then in the mid-90s, this Christmas tale comes to an even less happy ending.
"I found out she was sick, through a friend. I immediately called her. We kind of kissed and made up. I asked if there was anything I could do. We had a couple of phone conversations." Donahue died of lung cancer on Dec. 9, 1996, at age 40.
And as for Christmas? He has a bit of a different perspective on it, now. Especially when he's rushing around doing errands and suddenly hears his song on the radio, after all these years.
"Who'd have thunk it? Yeah. Holy cow," he says of its longevity. "Miracles do happen. It's MY Christmas miracle. And it slaps me around and says, `Lighten up. It's Christmas'."
A link to the original article
Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you're celebrating!
MY CHRISTMAS INTERNET RADIO STATIONS
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Edition
OlderMusicGeek Radio - Christmas Rock and Punk Edition
OlderMusicGeek's Christmas QuickMix
Sunday, October 12, 2008
MUSIC: Song Of The Day - Halloween Edition (Oct 8): "Camouflage" By Stan Ridgway
One more ghost story song - "Camouflage" by Stan Ridgway. This is my second favorite ghost story song.
Unfortunately, his only claim to fame seems to be having been the former lead singer of Wall of Voodoo, who are only known for their song, "Mexican Radio". Though in my opinion, they have better songs to be known by.
This song is taken from Stan's first and - in my not so humble opinion - best solo album
Unfortunately, his only claim to fame seems to be having been the former lead singer of Wall of Voodoo, who are only known for their song, "Mexican Radio". Though in my opinion, they have better songs to be known by.
This song is taken from Stan's first and - in my not so humble opinion - best solo album
MUSIC: Song Of The Day - Halloween Edition (Oct 7): "Love Vigilantes" By New Order
I decided that I would stay on the ghost theme for a bit. This is my favorite ghost story song - "Love Vigilantes" by New Order.
Friday, October 10, 2008
MUSIC: Song Of The Day - Halloween Edition (Oct 5): "Dead Man's Party" By Oingo Boingo
Well, this is a fun dance song - "Dead Man's Party" - by an weird 80s new wave band, Oingo Boingo. Their main claim to fame it that their lead singer/main song writer is a big time movie score composer - Danny Elfman, who did the soundtrack for the first two 90s Batman movies and The Nightmare Before Christmas, among others, many movies by Tim Burton. He was the voice of Jack in "Nightmare" too.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
MUSIC: Song Of The Day - Halloween Edition (Oct 2): "Devil In My Car" By The B-52's
What can I say about this song? It's just fun and a blast!
Friday, August 22, 2008
MUSIC: Certain Songs: The Clash - Safe European Home
I found this piece from Medialoper while googling. It reflects a lot of my views. Though I must admit it was The Sex Pistols that introduced me to punk rock, but "Safe European Home" is one of my all time favorite songs! - OlderMusicGeek
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Certain Songs: The Clash - Safe European Home
“Certain songs,” Craig Finn sang on The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me, “they get scratched into our souls.” That’s the basis of our latest feature: a look at the songs that have done just that. These aren’t necessarily our favorite songs or the songs that we think are the best, but rather songs that — every single time we hear them — instantly transport us back to a place and time in which that song is forever intertwined. This is one of the reasons we so hate the RIAA’s attempted stranglehold on the dissemination of music: you never know where that next certain song is going to come from.
You know how sometimes you hear an album — or even a song — for the first time, and without even realizing it, by the time it’s over, your whole perception of the world has forever been changed? That was what hearing The Clash for the very first time did to me. It was late 1978, I was a junior in at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, California, and I pretty much liked what other white, suburban males my age liked: Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Yes, etc. By Jim Connelly | posted in Certain Songs, Music, Radio
Tag at del.icio.us | Incoming links
(Here's my two favorite comments... - OMGeek)
1. bobby wrote on March 6th, 2008 at 2:51 am
I am a major fan of The Clash and I also consider Led Zeppelin (particularly from 1968 to ‘75) to be without equal in the history of rock music. I graduated from high school in 1977 and always thought it ridiculous that some considered Zeppelin and punk rock mutually exclusive. Almost all the former punkers now admit they were in awe of Zeppelin’s first five or six albums, and were hugely influenced by Zeppelin’s early work (ie Communication Breakdown). When Punk faded, many a rock fan returned to the timeless landmark Zeppelin albums as life rafts, particularly in the barren musical landscape of the 80’s.
3. Tim G. wrote on March 7th, 2008 at 10:32 am
From Motown, Tom Jones, Petula Clark and The Beatles early in life, to Woodstock, the ’70s rock, punk/new wave, reggae, etc., I’ve never in my life understood why some people identify with only one or a couple of formats. It’s crazy. One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain. As someone once said.
A link to the original piece
A link to the Medialoper blog
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Certain Songs: The Clash - Safe European Home
“Certain songs,” Craig Finn sang on The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me, “they get scratched into our souls.” That’s the basis of our latest feature: a look at the songs that have done just that. These aren’t necessarily our favorite songs or the songs that we think are the best, but rather songs that — every single time we hear them — instantly transport us back to a place and time in which that song is forever intertwined. This is one of the reasons we so hate the RIAA’s attempted stranglehold on the dissemination of music: you never know where that next certain song is going to come from.
You know how sometimes you hear an album — or even a song — for the first time, and without even realizing it, by the time it’s over, your whole perception of the world has forever been changed? That was what hearing The Clash for the very first time did to me. It was late 1978, I was a junior in at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, California, and I pretty much liked what other white, suburban males my age liked: Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Yes, etc. But, something had happened: about a year before, I’d started reading rock magazines — Circus, Rolling Stone and most especially, CREEM. And those rock magazines were all buzzing to various degrees about something called “Punk Rock.” Punk seemed strange and weird, and it was very much unheard on Fresno radio. So even though the Sex Pistols had already crashed and burned on American soil, I actually hadn’t heard a note of their music.
But I had heard The Cars, and their debut album was the very first punk-associated thing I ever bought. But of course, The Cars were really “new wave,” which was a totally different head, man, so I finally took the Punk plunge with Rocket to Russia by the Ramones and Marquee Moon by Television. Those are still two of my favorite records, and they just whetted my appetite for more.
Which is where The Clash came in: while I was leery that they were “too punk” for me, they had finally made their American debut with Give ‘Em Enough Rope, and spurred on by a couple of incredibly positive reviews in CREEM – Richard Riegel and Robert Christgau (CREEM used to reprint the Consumer Guide) — I took the plunge.
I still remember the exact moment I took the record out of the ultra-saturated red and yellow cover, put it on the turntable and sat back on my bed as “Safe European Home” came blasting out of the speakers, with a “POW!” and bounced all over the corkboard that covered the walls of my room. It was as hard as any metal as I’d ever heard, but it was lighter on its feet. It had obvious roots in my beloved 60’s Who and Rolling Stones singles, but with the guitars cranked ten years louder. And then there was that breakdown at the end where the deep-voiced guy was ranting about Jamaica and the high-voiced guy repeating “Your-oh-pee-un Home!” over guitars that kept stabbing stabbing stabbing like a serial killer until the drums came back up and sealed the whole thing up.
Holy f***!!!!! I had never heard anything like that song before in my entire 15 years. What in the hell was it? Why wasn’t this being played every single minute on the radio? Was there more? I had to find out. Before I could even take another breath, I had played that entire album twice, no doubt at “can you please turn that down?!?” volumes.
Now I know that the critical consensus has always been that Give Em Enough Rope is the weak sister in The Clash discography — that it wasn’t as world-changing as The Clash; as all-time classic as London Calling, as experimental as Sandinsta or as populist as Combat Rock. Its greatest sin has always been that it was seen as some kind of compromise between punk and metal. And I say “exactly!” For someone like me, it was exactly the right kind of record: if this was Punk Pock, then I was totally in.
In short order, I bought the import of The Clash, and all of those import singles that were were at Tower Records, as well the other Ramones albums and records by The Jam, Talking Heads, Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols, etc, so on and so forth world without end amen.
Like the (Minute)man said: Punk Rock changed my life. It changed my life by opening my ears up to a whole universe of music that was never going to get played on the radio. Some of that music was good, some of it was bad, and a lot of it would never be classified as “Punk,” but all of it would have never existed in the same way without Punk.
And if Punk Rock changed my life, then “Safe European Home” was the tipping point — the exact moment where my head was rearranged. I cannot listen to it to this day without thinking of that first time, and all that followed.
Meanwhile, here is what I didn’t do in the wake of my discovery of Punk Rock: cut my hair, dress “punk,” stop listening to other rock music. In other words, I thought that The Clash’s music — and Punk Rock in general — were the next logical extension of the overall story of rock and roll, as opposed to a whole new thing.
Which was why, despite the fact that I’ve primarily focused on music that has radiated from that time and place, I was never a Punk Rocker: because I could never understand why I would want to limit myself that way. For a couple of years, in CREEMs letters page there was always the “Clash vs. Led Zeppelin” debate, as if people couldn’t absolutely love both bands. (And as a matter of fact, nowadays, with both bands so totally venerated, it just seems weird that such a debate even existed.)
Here is what I did do: tried to get my friends to hear what I had heard in The Clash, and all of those other bands they weren’t hearing on the radio. But only my friends: no way I was going to pull my classmates away from Journey and AC/DC. In Fresno in the late 1970s, you had to pick your musical battles. So, to a select few, who I thought might have open minds — or just couldn’t escape me — I preached and I proselytized and I hectored and I harangued. Some got the plot — Tim was an early adopter — but it wasn’t until a few years later, when I got to KFSR, that I started running with people where liking The Clash and/or Punk Rock was a given, as opposed to an anomaly.
But that’s a whole other story. In fact, by the time KFSR went on the air four years later, The Clash had released eight more albums worth of material, all of it mind-blowing in different ways. Thank you, Joe Strummer. Thank you, Mick Jones. Thank you, Paul Simonon. Thank you, Topper Headon. My absolute love of what you accomplished has never waned.
And it all started with “Safe European Home.”
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(Here's my two favorite comments... - OMGeek)
1. bobby wrote on March 6th, 2008 at 2:51 am
I am a major fan of The Clash and I also consider Led Zeppelin (particularly from 1968 to ‘75) to be without equal in the history of rock music. I graduated from high school in 1977 and always thought it ridiculous that some considered Zeppelin and punk rock mutually exclusive. Almost all the former punkers now admit they were in awe of Zeppelin’s first five or six albums, and were hugely influenced by Zeppelin’s early work (ie Communication Breakdown). When Punk faded, many a rock fan returned to the timeless landmark Zeppelin albums as life rafts, particularly in the barren musical landscape of the 80’s.
3. Tim G. wrote on March 7th, 2008 at 10:32 am
From Motown, Tom Jones, Petula Clark and The Beatles early in life, to Woodstock, the ’70s rock, punk/new wave, reggae, etc., I’ve never in my life understood why some people identify with only one or a couple of formats. It’s crazy. One good thing about music, when it hits you feel no pain. As someone once said.
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