From 2011, please enjoy Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers -- with special guest front man Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam -- and an absolutely gorgeous version of Petty's "The Waiting."
Words, as I am wont to say at times like these, fail me. Jeebus H. Christ on a piece of challah toast, but Vedder sings that brilliantly.
Monday, October 30, 2017
Thursday, October 26, 2017
My New Favorite Band...
...unfortunately broke up four years ago.
Regardless, from 2013, please enjoy New York's finest...The Regulars...
...and "Down in the Basement."
If there's a better ode to the joy of making rock-and-roll for the sheer love of it -- and BTW, The Replacements reference of their moniker didn't escape me -- I haven't heard it.
You can hear -- and download (seriously, do it) -- the rest of their album over at Bandcamp HERE.
But in the meantime, Regulars auteur Joseph Benoit is in the process of working on a solo album; I'll keep you posted on its progress.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Regardless, from 2013, please enjoy New York's finest...The Regulars...
...and "Down in the Basement."
If there's a better ode to the joy of making rock-and-roll for the sheer love of it -- and BTW, The Replacements reference of their moniker didn't escape me -- I haven't heard it.
You can hear -- and download (seriously, do it) -- the rest of their album over at Bandcamp HERE.
But in the meantime, Regulars auteur Joseph Benoit is in the process of working on a solo album; I'll keep you posted on its progress.
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Your Thursday Moment of Words Fail Me
From 1983, please enjoy the great Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes doing a live medley of...Eddie and the Cruisers songs?
WTF?
I hadn't heard about this till last week, but there was a scene in the original script in which the character played by Tom Berenger -- the keyboard guy from the Cruisers back in the 60s who can't escape his past -- goes to a Jukes show and is stunned to hear the band playing songs by his old group. Director Martin Davidson actually shot it, although ultimately it didn't make the final cut, but as you can hear the audio has survived.
I must admit that the film is a sort of guilty pleasure for me, as are the songs on the soundtrack, which of course are written by John Cafferty, aka the poor man's Bruce Springsteen. It's not a very good movie, really, but it has a couple of interesting things to say about dreams that don't come true, friendship, and things of that nature.
Plus: Ellen Barkin.
WTF?
I hadn't heard about this till last week, but there was a scene in the original script in which the character played by Tom Berenger -- the keyboard guy from the Cruisers back in the 60s who can't escape his past -- goes to a Jukes show and is stunned to hear the band playing songs by his old group. Director Martin Davidson actually shot it, although ultimately it didn't make the final cut, but as you can hear the audio has survived.
I must admit that the film is a sort of guilty pleasure for me, as are the songs on the soundtrack, which of course are written by John Cafferty, aka the poor man's Bruce Springsteen. It's not a very good movie, really, but it has a couple of interesting things to say about dreams that don't come true, friendship, and things of that nature.
Plus: Ellen Barkin.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Closed for Monkey Business
Had a long, but productive, night in the studio tweaking the drum track to the "new" Floor Models track.
Regular tanned rested and ready postings resume on the morrow.
Regular tanned rested and ready postings resume on the morrow.
Monday, October 23, 2017
George Young 1946 - 2017: Part Deux
I am disconsolate over the death of George Young, one of the co-founding geniuses of The Easybeats, and one of the most important auteurs of rock-and-roll who ever wore shoe leather.
And here is one of the greatest records he was involved with.
You can read the rest of the story about that song OVER HERE.
May I say again, and for the record, that this death shit is really starting to piss me off?
And here is one of the greatest records he was involved with.
You can read the rest of the story about that song OVER HERE.
May I say again, and for the record, that this death shit is really starting to piss me off?
George Young 1946-2017
Goddamnit all to hell.
He's probably best known in this country for having produced the first five AC/DC albums (starring his kid brothers), but his real claim to fame is the stuff he did with The Easybeats in the 60s.
And if there's a better rock-n-roll record than this one...
...I for one have never heard it.
This death shit is really starting to piss me off.
He's probably best known in this country for having produced the first five AC/DC albums (starring his kid brothers), but his real claim to fame is the stuff he did with The Easybeats in the 60s.
And if there's a better rock-n-roll record than this one...
...I for one have never heard it.
This death shit is really starting to piss me off.
Happy Birthday to Me
So as some of you may have heard, a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance took me to see Bruce Springsteen's new and highly acclaimed one person show on my birthday over the weekend...
...and boy, was it disappointing.
Bruce was drunk and all he did was KISS covers.
Okay, obviously I'm kidding.
In point of fact, despite a certain level of solemnity, Springsteen on Broadway was moving, funny, poetic and brilliant. With nothing more than a guitar and piano (here's what the set, and the word set is something of an overstatement, looked like)...
...Bruce did what felt (somewhat) like a stage adaptation of his recent autobiography, and managed to be about as riveting a performer as I have ever seen.
The setlist:
Highlights, for me, were "Land of Hope and Dreams," a song which I had largely ignored in any of its recorded versions, and "Thunder Road," during which I totally lost it. But the entire thing was great theater, and let's just say it was the best birthday present ever.
BTW, I am reliably informed that a high quality recording of the show from Saturday night is now available on the intertubes. For a variety of reasons I'm not going to post anything from said recording, but if our old friend Capt. Al could find it, so can you.
...and boy, was it disappointing.
Bruce was drunk and all he did was KISS covers.
Okay, obviously I'm kidding.
In point of fact, despite a certain level of solemnity, Springsteen on Broadway was moving, funny, poetic and brilliant. With nothing more than a guitar and piano (here's what the set, and the word set is something of an overstatement, looked like)...
...Bruce did what felt (somewhat) like a stage adaptation of his recent autobiography, and managed to be about as riveting a performer as I have ever seen.
The setlist:
1. Growin' Up
2. My Hometown
3. My Father's House
4. The Wish
5. Thunder Road
6. Promised Land
7. Born in the USA
8. 10th Avenue Freezeout
9. Tougher Than the Rest
10.Brilliant Disquise
11.The Rising
12. Long Walk Home
13. Dancing in the Dark
14. Land of Hope and Dreams
15. Born to Run
Highlights, for me, were "Land of Hope and Dreams," a song which I had largely ignored in any of its recorded versions, and "Thunder Road," during which I totally lost it. But the entire thing was great theater, and let's just say it was the best birthday present ever.
BTW, I am reliably informed that a high quality recording of the show from Saturday night is now available on the intertubes. For a variety of reasons I'm not going to post anything from said recording, but if our old friend Capt. Al could find it, so can you.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Blue Ash Fan...
...if you happen to see this post, e-mail me. I have something for you to hear that I think you might like.
Hint: It involves Mark Johnson.
Hint: It involves Mark Johnson.
Friday, October 20, 2017
Weekend Listomania: Special Broadway is Not in Asbury Park Edition
Well, it's Friday, and as you may have heard, tomorrow is a) a major milestone birthday and b) the day a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance is consequently taking me to see Springsteen on Broadway.
From the NY Times review of opening night:
In other words, this is not an "And Then I Wrote" retrospective.
That being the case, a coveted PowerPop No-Prize© will be awarded to the first reader who -- to my satisfaction -- comes up with a list of the following:
Best or Worst Springsteen Songs He Probably Won't (Or Shouldn't) Do in His Acclaimed New One Man Show!
And my totally top of my head Top Five is/are:
5. You'll Be Coming Down
From Magic, which was precisely the moment when I stopped being a lapsed Bruce fan. Sort of cynical folk rock, and the band performance and production are chilling.
4. The Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Also from Magic, and one of Bruce's best Brill Building homages ever.
3. Candy's Room
This has always struck me as one of Bruce's most under-appreciated British Invasion pastiches; I mean -- does anybody else think it sounds kinda like The Yardbirds? In any case, thematically I just don't see it working in the show.
2. Prove It All Night
I'm sorry, I have never warmed to this one for any number of reasons I won't get into. Although I will admit that part of it is that I hate Jon Landau's production on Darkness with a white hot hatred and always have.
And the number one Springsteen song that should be a rock standard that I won't get to hear tomorrow unquestionably is....
1. Rendezvous
His big power pop move. He used to open with it on the Darkness tour back in the late 70s, which was a pretty ballsy thing to do given that he wouldn't release the song officially for another couple of decades.
Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?
PS: I love you, BG.
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
From the NY Times review of opening night:
There came a moment the other night, near the end of Bruce Springsteen’s overwhelming and uncategorizable Broadway show, when it seemed possible to see straight through his many masks to some core truth of his being.
This was when the audience, which had mostly restrained itself through the first 13 songs of the 15-song set, could no longer sit on its hands as if in church. The show had been, to that point, quite solemn — and would continue to be.
But now, entire swaths of the Walter Kerr Theater, apparently unmindful of downbeat lyrics like “I ain’t nothing but tired,” started clapping along to “Dancing in the Dark,” Mr. Springsteen’s biggest hit, from 1984.
He stopped cold. “I’ll handle it myself,” he said, shutting them down with a small, sharky glint of a smile.
Would he ever! Make no mistake, “Springsteen on Broadway,” which opened on Thursday evening, is a solo act by a solo artist with an artist’s steel. Even though Patti Scialfa, his wife, shows up to harmonize on two numbers, this is not a singalong arena show or a roadhouse rouser. Even less does it try to be a feel-good Broadway book musical or a slick, whitewashed jukebox like “Jersey Boys.”
In other words, this is not an "And Then I Wrote" retrospective.
That being the case, a coveted PowerPop No-Prize© will be awarded to the first reader who -- to my satisfaction -- comes up with a list of the following:
Best or Worst Springsteen Songs He Probably Won't (Or Shouldn't) Do in His Acclaimed New One Man Show!
And my totally top of my head Top Five is/are:
5. You'll Be Coming Down
From Magic, which was precisely the moment when I stopped being a lapsed Bruce fan. Sort of cynical folk rock, and the band performance and production are chilling.
4. The Girls in Their Summer Clothes
Also from Magic, and one of Bruce's best Brill Building homages ever.
3. Candy's Room
This has always struck me as one of Bruce's most under-appreciated British Invasion pastiches; I mean -- does anybody else think it sounds kinda like The Yardbirds? In any case, thematically I just don't see it working in the show.
2. Prove It All Night
I'm sorry, I have never warmed to this one for any number of reasons I won't get into. Although I will admit that part of it is that I hate Jon Landau's production on Darkness with a white hot hatred and always have.
And the number one Springsteen song that should be a rock standard that I won't get to hear tomorrow unquestionably is....
1. Rendezvous
His big power pop move. He used to open with it on the Darkness tour back in the late 70s, which was a pretty ballsy thing to do given that he wouldn't release the song officially for another couple of decades.
Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?
PS: I love you, BG.
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Headlines to Stories I Will Never Read the Rest Of: An Occasional Series
From today's New York Times.
Now excuse me -- I have to go alphabetize my underwear.
Now excuse me -- I have to go alphabetize my underwear.
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