Well, I'm off to Gomorrah-on-the-Hudson, where later this evening I'll be quaffing elitist chardonnay with several satanic socialist Kenyan Muslim pals from Eschaton.
So here's hoping -- and I think I can speak for Kid Charlemagne and NY Mary (who kicked major ass on the radio earlier today, BTW) -- that the New Year brings you nothing but the best. And here's hoping as well that no matter where you end up tonight, you have as much fun as the folks at the New Year's party heard below, adapted for radio (hmm, I'm sensing a theme) from the wonderful 1936 comedy/mystery film After the Thin Man.
Of course, it omits the my favorite line from the movie.
Nora (Myrna Loy) to Nick (William Powell): "Oh Nick, I love you because you know such interesting people."
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Power Pop: On the Radio
So I've become buddies with this terrific guy, Chris Kocher: he writes for the local paper, knows everything about the Kinks, has a radio show on the college station where he plays whatever the heck he feels like.
Over Thanksgiving, a remarkable confluence of bad luck (on his side) and good luck (on mine) threw us together in a car for an extended period, and we had a long talk about the neverending manuscript (I'm promised two solid weeks to finish, starting Monday!), the genre of power pop, and other important matters.
Long story short: this morning, Saturday, Dec 31, I'm going to appear on his radio show doing a three-hour history of power pop. UPDATE: The show is supposed to run 10am-1pm, but we might run a little over.
Stream it here.
He asked me, if I was going to introduce the genre with one song, what I would begin with, so we'll start here:
(Fun fact: I spent the last week not a stone's throw from Utopia Parkway, a real street in real Queens.)
Then it's onto the history: the precursors(Kinks! Beatles! Who! Paul Revere & the Raiders! More!), the lonely souls who kept the thread alive in the early 70's (Emitt Rhodes! Big Star! Blue Ash! Dwight Twilley! More!), the brief flash of commercial success (Nerves! Knack! Jam! 20/20! More!), and the inevitable shift into Alternative (Replacements! Matthew Sweet! Weezer! More!). And finally, by a commodious vicus of recirculation, back to the current scene and environs (Fountains of Wayne!)
As my blogmate is given to say, should be a hot one!
Listen streaming here.
Word is still out on possible podcast/download-ibility. Will let you know.
Over Thanksgiving, a remarkable confluence of bad luck (on his side) and good luck (on mine) threw us together in a car for an extended period, and we had a long talk about the neverending manuscript (I'm promised two solid weeks to finish, starting Monday!), the genre of power pop, and other important matters.
Long story short: this morning, Saturday, Dec 31, I'm going to appear on his radio show doing a three-hour history of power pop. UPDATE: The show is supposed to run 10am-1pm, but we might run a little over.
Stream it here.
He asked me, if I was going to introduce the genre with one song, what I would begin with, so we'll start here:
(Fun fact: I spent the last week not a stone's throw from Utopia Parkway, a real street in real Queens.)
Then it's onto the history: the precursors(Kinks! Beatles! Who! Paul Revere & the Raiders! More!), the lonely souls who kept the thread alive in the early 70's (Emitt Rhodes! Big Star! Blue Ash! Dwight Twilley! More!), the brief flash of commercial success (Nerves! Knack! Jam! 20/20! More!), and the inevitable shift into Alternative (Replacements! Matthew Sweet! Weezer! More!). And finally, by a commodious vicus of recirculation, back to the current scene and environs (Fountains of Wayne!)
As my blogmate is given to say, should be a hot one!
Listen streaming here.
Word is still out on possible podcast/download-ibility. Will let you know.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Days of Future Passed
This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the mission statement of the blog you're currently reading, but if you haven't seen it before, it's just so fricking amazing I have to share.
From yesterday, December 29, in 1964: Craftsmen Richard Datin, Vern Sion, Mel Keys, and Volmer Jensen pose outside of Jensen's Los Angeles model shop with the just-completed original 11-foot version of the starship Enterprise.
It's obviously been a long and exhausting project for these guys, but I think -- if you look closely (by which I mean double click on the photo to enlarge it) -- you can sort of tell that they knew EXACTLY what they had wrought.
From yesterday, December 29, in 1964: Craftsmen Richard Datin, Vern Sion, Mel Keys, and Volmer Jensen pose outside of Jensen's Los Angeles model shop with the just-completed original 11-foot version of the starship Enterprise.
It's obviously been a long and exhausting project for these guys, but I think -- if you look closely (by which I mean double click on the photo to enlarge it) -- you can sort of tell that they knew EXACTLY what they had wrought.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Great Lost Christmas Records of the '80s (An Occasional Series)
From 1988, please enjoy the aptly monikered Rudolf's Nightmare and their fast and furious (and furiouser) take on the venerable holiday standard "Silent Night."
This was an indie single and (IMHO) a should-have-been seasonal novelty smash. I seem to recall that Dr. Demento has played it on occasion, but in any case it certainly deserves to be more widely known.
I should add that it was produced by my old chum Lars Hanson, who plays the fabulous Jeff-Beck-on-illegal-stimulants guitar stuff; my bandmate of several thousand years Glen "Bob" Allen can be heard pounding those pagan skins.
This was an indie single and (IMHO) a should-have-been seasonal novelty smash. I seem to recall that Dr. Demento has played it on occasion, but in any case it certainly deserves to be more widely known.
I should add that it was produced by my old chum Lars Hanson, who plays the fabulous Jeff-Beck-on-illegal-stimulants guitar stuff; my bandmate of several thousand years Glen "Bob" Allen can be heard pounding those pagan skins.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday "I Hate the Holidays" Total Self-Indulgence
Experiencing massive holiday fatigue at the moment, so please excuse a certain shocking laziness on my part until next week.
And in that spirit, enjoy some band called The Hi-Beams live on the radio in Woodstock in 1995. Featuring some guy whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels on bass and vocals.
Those are my chums Gerry Devine (guitar and vocals), Doug Goldberg (way cool James Burton-ish lead guitar and vocals) and Glen "Bob" Allen (drums); the song is by Gerry. It was the opening track from our indie CD of the same year, but this version just kicks its ass. I also think it's my finest moment as a bass player.
And in that spirit, enjoy some band called The Hi-Beams live on the radio in Woodstock in 1995. Featuring some guy whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels on bass and vocals.
Those are my chums Gerry Devine (guitar and vocals), Doug Goldberg (way cool James Burton-ish lead guitar and vocals) and Glen "Bob" Allen (drums); the song is by Gerry. It was the opening track from our indie CD of the same year, but this version just kicks its ass. I also think it's my finest moment as a bass player.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Instrumental Backing Tracks of the Gods: Yet Another Beatles Song Edition
From the (as it's called) White Album -- of which Cameron Crowe, who makes movies or something, famously said "you still can't buy a better record" -- please enjoy the once and future Fab Four and the instrumental track to George Harrison's astounding "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
Let's be honest -- there's no way Bernard "Pretty" Purdie played on this one.
[h/t ROTP(Plumber)]
Let's be honest -- there's no way Bernard "Pretty" Purdie played on this one.
[h/t ROTP(Plumber)]
Monday, December 26, 2011
Instrumental Backing Tracks of the Gods: "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" Edition
From 1964, please enjoy the once and future Fab Four and their classic "I Feel Fine" -- the first example of feedback on a pop record? No man can say! -- sans vocals.
Sing along, won't you?
Two things in particular need to be said about this track. For starters, as you can hear below, it was inspired by a song we know to have been in John Lennon's record collection at the time -- Bobby Parker's wonderful 1961 r&b hit "Watch Your Step."
This has several layers of irony, given that Parker's record is pretty obviously inspired by Ray Charles "What I'd Say." The folk process in action, ladies and germs.
Secondly, in E-Street Band/Conan O'Brien musical director Max Weinberg's wonderful 1984 book The Big Beat -- a collection of interviews with some of the greatest rock drummers of all time -- r&b session guy extraordinaire Bernard "Pretty" Purdy claims that he overdubbed and replaced the original drum tracks on several Beatles records, including "I Feel Fine." When pressed by an incredulous Weinberg, Purdy insists that Brian Epstein brought Beatles master tapes to New York City where the overdubs were done, and that Epstein hushed the whole thing up, thus explaining why Purdie never got the credit he felt he deserved.
This is, to put it charitably, a rather dubious claim for all sorts of reasons, including the fact that the recording technology of the time would have made it extremely difficult to have achieved the substitution with the requisite level of seamlessness.
That said -- if anybody can listen to the mp3 above without concluding that the drum performance is the work of one Richard Starkey M.B.E., I have some bridgefront property in Brooklyn I'd like to discuss with you.
[h/t ROTP(lumber)]
Sing along, won't you?
Two things in particular need to be said about this track. For starters, as you can hear below, it was inspired by a song we know to have been in John Lennon's record collection at the time -- Bobby Parker's wonderful 1961 r&b hit "Watch Your Step."
This has several layers of irony, given that Parker's record is pretty obviously inspired by Ray Charles "What I'd Say." The folk process in action, ladies and germs.
Secondly, in E-Street Band/Conan O'Brien musical director Max Weinberg's wonderful 1984 book The Big Beat -- a collection of interviews with some of the greatest rock drummers of all time -- r&b session guy extraordinaire Bernard "Pretty" Purdy claims that he overdubbed and replaced the original drum tracks on several Beatles records, including "I Feel Fine." When pressed by an incredulous Weinberg, Purdy insists that Brian Epstein brought Beatles master tapes to New York City where the overdubs were done, and that Epstein hushed the whole thing up, thus explaining why Purdie never got the credit he felt he deserved.
This is, to put it charitably, a rather dubious claim for all sorts of reasons, including the fact that the recording technology of the time would have made it extremely difficult to have achieved the substitution with the requisite level of seamlessness.
That said -- if anybody can listen to the mp3 above without concluding that the drum performance is the work of one Richard Starkey M.B.E., I have some bridgefront property in Brooklyn I'd like to discuss with you.
[h/t ROTP(lumber)]
Sunday, December 25, 2011
It's the Most Wonderful Day Blah Blah Blah
I first posted this last year, but it's still my favorite rock Christmas record.
So please enjoy -- from the otherwise forgettable early 90s alt-rock Xmas album A Lump of Coal -- The Odds and a wonderfully Crazy Horse-ish take on "We Three Kings."
Happy Holidays, everybody.
So please enjoy -- from the otherwise forgettable early 90s alt-rock Xmas album A Lump of Coal -- The Odds and a wonderfully Crazy Horse-ish take on "We Three Kings."
Happy Holidays, everybody.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Christmas Comes But Once a Year (For at Least a Week)
No Listomania this weekend, due to holiday overload, but in its stead, enjoy the greatest Christmas music performance since the actual birth of Jeebus.
And Happy Holidays of whatever persuasion to each and every one of you. Seriously.
And Happy Holidays of whatever persuasion to each and every one of you. Seriously.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
