In Which Doctor Casino Listens to Classic Rock Classics for the First Time

doctor casino is a classic rock fan who has never heard (or at least is not aware of having heard) any of the following songs:

AC/DC – Have A Drink On Me
AC/DC – It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)
AC/DC – Rock ‘n’ Roll AIn’t Noise Pollution
AC/DC – Shoot To Thrill
Aerosmith – Train Kept A-Rollin’
Alice Cooper – No More Mr. Nice Guy
Autograph – Turn Up The Radio
Bad Company – Burnin’ Sky
Bad Company – Ready For Love
Billy Squier – Everybody Wants You
Billy Squier – My Kinda Lover
Bob Seger – Against The Wind
Bob Seger – Fire Down Below
Bob Seger – Her Strut
Bob Seger – Hollywood Nights
Bob Seger – Rock & Roll Never Forgets
Boston – Feelin’ Satisfied
Bruce Springsteen – Badlands
Bruce Springsteen – The River
Bruce Springsteen – Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Bruce Springsteen – Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Bryan Adams – Cuts Like A Knife
Bryan Adams – Run To You
The Cars – Bye Bye Love
The Doors – Peace Frog
The Doors – Roadhouse Blues
The Doors – Touch Me
The Eagles – Heartache Tonight
Eddie Money – Shakin’
Electric Light Orchestra – Fire On High
Emerson, Lake & Palmer – Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression, Part II)
Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight
Focus – Hocus Pocus
Foreigner – Blue Morning, Blue Day
Foreigner – Long, Long Way From Home
Foreigner - Urgent
George Thorogood – I Drink Alone
George Thorogood – Move It On Over
George Thorogood – One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer
George Thorogood – Who Do You Love
Grateful Dead – Casey Jones
Jackson Browne – The Load-Out / Stay (Live)
Jackson Browne – The Pretender
Jackson Browne – Stay
Jefferson Starship – Jane
Jethro Tull – Locomotive Breath
Joe Walsh – All Night Long
Joe Walsh – Rocky Mountain Way
Journey – Lights
Journey – Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’
Journey – Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
Journey – Stone In Love
Judas Priest – You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
Kiss – Shout It Out Loud
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Call Me The Breeze
Marshall Tucker Band – Can’t You See
Molly Hatchet – Flirtin’ with Disaster
Nazareth – Love Hurts
Neil Young – Southern Man
Outfield – Your Love
Ozzy Osbourne – Over The Mountain
Pete Townshend – Let My Love Open The Door
The Pretenders – Don’t Get Me Wrong
The Pretenders – Middle Of The Road
Ratt – Round And Round
REO Speedwagon – Time For Me To Fly
Rush – Closer To The Heart
Rush – Fly By Night
Rush - Freewill
Rush – Limelight
Rush – Spirit Of Radio
Rush - Subdivisions
The Scorpions – No One Like You
Steely Dan – Deacon Blues
Stevie Nicks – Stand Back
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Crossfire
Stevie Ray Vaughan – Pride And Joy
Styx – Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)
Styx – Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)
Styx – Renegade
Styx – Too Much Time On My Hands
Talking Heads – Life During Wartime
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Here Comes My Girl
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – You Got Lucky
Van Halen – I’ll Wait
Van Halen – (Oh) Pretty Woman
Van Halen - Unchained
The Who – Eminence Front
The Who – Love Reign O’er Me
Yes - Roundabout
ZZ Top – Give Me All Your Lovin’
ZZ Top – Got Me Under Pressure
ZZ Top – I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide
ZZ Top – I Thank You

even accounting for regional and generational differences, i have no idea how this is possible, but i am fascinated by the idea that it IS possible. i'm also fascinated by the science experiment this makes possible: what exactly is it like to hear each of these songs for the first time? in lieu of a proper laboratory setting with wires and machines and doctors in lab coats, i am offering this thread, in which we will force the good doctor to listen to one song per day, in random order, and record his responses.

i'll start with what i thought, until just now, was one of the most classicrock of these classicrock songs:

the doors - roadhouse blues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pEMd1SdkAE

Most of these are terrible tbh apart from ZZ Top.

And Lovin Touchin Squeezin

And the Townshend and Who tunes. And "Southern Man."

i have no idea how this is possible

^^^

and Hocus Pocus by Focus.

I had a serious Peace Frog fixation in junior high.

this list is 80% gold

Marshall Tucker Band – Can’t You See

I thought this was by Grand Funk until today.

Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding. Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile egg-shell mind!

to be fair those Bob Seger songs are pretty obscure

Not on my classic rock station!

Indians scattered on dawn's highway bleeding. Ghosts crowd the young child's fragile egg-shell mind!

would've been a good thread title.

(except doctor casino wouldn't have recognized it and wouldn't have known he should open the door and come in.)

yeah, those seger songs were, and still are, huge where i come from. especially the 1st, 4th and 5th songs.

"Against the Wind" def not obscure. I'll admit to not knowing the other Seger songs.

Come on guys. I mean, "Against the Wind"? "Rock'n'Roll Never Forgets"? Probably some deep cuts or b-sides.

Hipster stuff

those seger songs are hella not obscure. "hollywood nights" rules. but then most of thise list rules and shakey has gone off the deep end.

"Stone in Love" - Classic or Greatest 4:25 In The History Of The Bay Area?

Lol, Pres. Keyes.

People forgetting "Rock & Roll Never Forgets".

Dark days.

come back, baby

http://thumbs2.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mBj0NzvEUT0-ykJrTzx_now.jpg

haha.

paging doctor casino: keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel, please. we're gonna have a real good time.

Fire Down Below, Hollywood Nights and Rock & Roll Never Forgets all awesome

I love Hocus Pocus, but I don't think I've heard it on Classic Rock radio. That one I discovered through other means like Eminem mashups.

Doctor Casino, one of the Thorogood soba is a Bo Diddly cover and another one is a John Lee Hooker cover, if that helps at all

Songs, not soba.

and one is a hank williams cover.

People forgetting "Rock & Roll Never Forgets".

Dark days.

― Brio2, Thursday, June 19, 2014 3:23 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ha, I just checked my local classic rock station's recently played tracks, and this was on an hour ago.

it's possible Doctor Casino has just been subject to a string of really weird luck

hard to believe these would be unfamiliar to anyone who's been listening to CR radio for more than a minute. note: my minutes may be longer than most:

Bob Seger – Against The Wind
Bob Seger – Rock & Roll Never Forgets
Bryan Adams – Cuts Like A Knife
The Doors – Roadhouse Blues
The Eagles – Heartache Tonight
Foreigner - Urgent
Jackson Browne – The Load-Out / Stay (Live)
Jethro Tull – Locomotive Breath
Joe Walsh – Rocky Mountain Way
Journey – Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Call Me The Breeze
Molly Hatchet – Flirtin’ with Disaster
Nazareth – Love Hurts
Neil Young – Southern Man
Outfield – Your Love
Pete Townshend – Let My Love Open The Door
Rush – Fly By Night
The Scorpions – No One Like You
Styx – Renegade
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – Here Comes My Girl
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – You Got Lucky
Van Halen – (Oh) Pretty Woman
Yes - Roundabout
ZZ Top – I Thank You

I'm really wondering what IS on DC's classic rock station if these aren't?

DC being Doctor Casino, but maybe Washington DC has some weird regional variant of AOR too...

aaahahahah YOU GUYS

okay so just for those not in the first thread, to establish that i am not just a complete amateur phony - (1) i will freely concede that i bet a bunch of these turn out to be things i TOTALLY KNOW (2) my excuse for the rest remains "regional differences" - Atlanta classic rock radio 1990-1999 is probably really different from Akron AOR/classic rock radio 1980-1990!

the doctor is in!

ROADHOUSE BLUES: Was digging the opening, kinda sinister bump-ba-bump - someone should loop that for hours for some kinda dance classic. Kinda loses me as soon as the harmonica and piano and stuff comes in, oh lord, this is going to be the Doors trying to be really BLUESY isn't it? And it is. I'm sure I've heard the "hands upon the whee-ul" thing before - maybe in Dylan that I can't place while this is playing. I'm sure that'd be Dylan mining some of the same source material, mind.

This is probably my least favorite kind of classic rock, but this would be interesting from a historical/forensic standpoint if this recording is really ground zero for this kind of thing - I mean obviously the Animals and so on, but this seems like more the specific template for a filled-out American bar band chugging along at a country bar and insisting repeatedly that they're out on the road, doing stuff on the road, being at a road house, roading. Bad Company. This is getting better as it goes and they try to do the "laid back" thing. I can't believe it, but Jim Morrison scatting is a little better than Jim Morrison roaring and groaning. OH GOD now he's being loud again. SAVE OUR CITY... from this terrible song!

Is this the like standard version? The ending seems really flubbed, like too quiet on the final note, should be more Bra-DANNNnNGGGGGnnnnnnn--GUH!

Wikipedia confirms that a cover of this was used in the film Road House. I have seen that movie and liked it, would watch again, which is not how I feel about "Roadhouse Blues."

- Eric Clapton – Wonderful Tonight

Dude.

- Grateful Dead – Casey Jones

Dude!

- The Doors – Touch Me

DUDE!

My exact thought process, but you've gotta hear those and report back!

On the other thread, I confirmed that on further investigation, I do know (and dislike) "Wonderful Tonight." I also realized I left "Run To You" in which is just an outright mistake. I suspect other errors may crop up, if this project lasts.

just FYI Atlanta classic rock radio was definitely playing Marshall Tucker Band in the 90s

I also realized I left "Run To You" in which is just an outright mistake.

Ha, that was the one that surprised me most but I was willing to consider that there was a regional difference.

If every review is as good as the one you just did for Roadhouse Blues, this is going to be one of my favorite threads ever.

I'm curious, which station in Atlanta 1990-1999? Because the monolithic rock giant in Minnesota, KQRS, sounds much the same to me now as it did in the 80s. I mean, that Marshall Tucker track hasn't gone away in 40 years.

this is going to be the Doors trying to be really BLUESY

i'm pretty sure this is the first song i ever heard where i was aware that it was in fact a blues. i hated it, as i would come to hate all blues at that point in my young life. i have since come to understand and love the blues, but not this rendering of it. i'll generally turn the dial if this comes on, unless i'm in a very particular mood, in which case the hands upon the wheeee-ul part reminds me of high school and my wannabe dazed & confused years and then, for those exact four minutes, i will be quite happy. but that doesn't happen a lot.

Is this the like standard version? The ending seems really flubbed, like too quiet on the final note, should be more Bra-DANNNnNGGGGGnnnnnnn--GUH!

this is the standard studio version. and i agree w/you.

thank you for playing!!! this project will last as long as you keep playing.

Z93 is my reference point here - distinct from Fox 97 (friendly oldies 60-70, lot of Beatles, Motown, Four Seasons etc.) and Oldies Lake 102 (a doomed, tiny station that played absolutely wonderful 50s nuggets). The "Z" is the giveaway that it would be a tough, hard-drivin' station.

FWIW, my list is the off-the-top-of-my-head exceptions to a much larger list posted by some dude in the poll thread - I know Marshall Tucker Band! Just not that song! I think!

DC classic rock stations play "Guilty of Being White" once an hour

haha i will keep playing as long as i actually have time to goof off on ILX as much as I prefer to

lol xp

yay! xp

i'm pretty sure this is the first song i ever heard where i was aware that it was in fact a blues. i hated it, as i would come to hate all blues at that point in my young life.

Love this BTW - reminds me of Tom Ewing's "UB40, I was aware, made reggae. Therefore reggae sounded like what UB40 made. I can’t have been the only one who made this logical mis-step, and I expect I wasn’t the only one who spent a decade-plus assuming they disliked reggae because of it."

My roommate tells me that at the bar we both used to frequent in Columbus, there was once a four-hour performance of "Roadhouse Blues," with musicians and vocalists trading off over time with volunteers from the audience. I would have probably been pretty into it if that was my introduction to the song, as one of my fondest musical memories from Ohio was being involved at this same bar in an extended workout of "Oh Boy."

prob won't convince many people here, but the live version of Roadhouse Blues on American Prayer is much better than the studio version

^^^ he speaks the truth

What are you, two years old? How have you not heard these songs, on Classic Rock or anywhere else for that matter?

Get off your high horse bruh

i have heard four of these songs

I'm not even a "classic rock fan" yet I've heard 90% of those songs without even trying

Cool story

Styx – Renegade

Awww man doctor casino your life and mind will never be the same after this

Most of these are terrible tbh apart from ZZ Top.

― Οὖτις, Thursday, June 19, 2014 4:07 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

You're high

Awww man doctor casino your life and mind will never be the same after this

― shameless pureyors of slop-on-plate (Jon Lewis), Thursday, June 19, 2014 9:05 PM (8 minutes ago)

even if you've never heard the original, you almost certainly know the main riff from nile's "masturbating the war god"

"renegade," which we will get to in time in this thread, is a song whose main riff i frequently find myself humming at random moments, but i don't ever remember anything else about the song.

recap: IT RULES

yeah it's one of those songs that always makes me want to stomp & whistle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6iKe73N3JM

since "renegade" is on everybody's mind right now, let's make that today's listening experiment, dr. casino.

SONG #2: STYX "RENEGADE"

(audio/video in dreamland's post immediately above)

huh, I didn't know I knew this song, but I do, of course

is that a Division Bell statue earring in the still in that youtube?

The first time I tuned into a classic rock station, at the age of 11, the first song I heard was "Renegade."

huh, I didn't know I knew this song, but I do, of course

Yeah, same here.

Renegade RULES
Classic rock rules
KQ fuckin RUUUUULES

hi-five

I have never ever heard Styx in my life. ever. I think.

only heard about 25% of these songs and I can barely remember how half of them go.

I don't live in America though, so that might be why.

I enjoy the classic rock I have heard though, so Dr. Casino's experience isn't totally unique.

It's not unique: I'm sure my parents wouldn't recognize any of these songs. It is a little surprising, though, that someone could have listened to this radio format a lot in the US/Canada, and be something of a fan, without knowing any of these songs, esp most of the ones that contenderizer singles out, given that they are frequently played on the format.

Renegade: Was worried I was semi-busted, certain things did sound naggingly familiar (especially the opening intonation). The big crunchy guitar part also rings a bell - but I'm sort of convinced I'm actually thinking of something on Physical Graffiti (?). Before finishing this post I listened to it a second time and I'm now pretty sure I don't know this.

So, this is one of those songs where the guitar riff and the vocal line match each other a lot. I'm usually not that into that, but at least here it gives some oomph to the parts where they break apart are pretty sweet - the "HIGHNESS OF MY HEAD" (?) for example. Oh mannn, this air-guitar moment right around 2:00, that's sweet!

The organ player is kinda bugging me off and on, feels busy, fussy, gotta fill the space - makes me appreciate the sorta goofy and robotic blurts of same in say, the verses of "Abacab." Oooooh, the WRREREEEEEEEEE synth sounds at 2:50 are awesome.

The Queen stomp-along after that with the falsettos is also great! Shades of "Come Sail Away" obviously, I think I like these guys best when they step up into being kinda alien/fantasy-ish and lose the trudging workaday dear mama, wanted man steeze, or maybe they need that for the other moments to come into focus...this seems very much like, first half is kinda lumpy and the vocals are distractingly hysterical on top of that, but then in the second half they're all going in and it clicks. I dig "Blue Collar Man" but it'd be better if it erupted into these sci-fi fireworks more. Overall I would give this a thumbs up, mainly for the second half.

"high price on my head" iirc?

But great review!

My second guess was "hairbrush on my head," like a "no comb has touched my head" kinda thing, he's a renegade with poor hygiene.

Tommy totally kills that 'HIGH PRICE ON MY HEAD'

sidenote that line is fking murder to sing on Rockband, fyi

xpost irl lols

The scream before the band kicks in is the best thing Dennis DeYoung has ever done, or will ever do.

otfm

the Physical Graffiti song you're thinking of is probably Trampled Under Foot, which does sound pretty similar.

TS: DeYoung being The Renegade vs. Phil Lynott being The Warrior.

Xpost yeah that's it, totally!

Great analysis

I (selfishly) want to hear thoughts on Limelight, Let My Love Open The Door, Stay, and ROUNDABOUT

great thread and i am wondering if like 50% of theses songs you're gonna totally be 'oh i know this' / 'i never knew [x] did this' and/or 'so that's what this is called'

The scream before the band kicks in is the best thing Dennis DeYoung has ever done, or will ever do.

Too true, and if it has never been used as a funky drummer type sample I'm going to work on that.

YYYEAHHHHHH

Just started watching Freaks and Geeks for the first time on netflix last night. Both Renegade and Come Sail Away, among other classic rock jams.

xxpost yeah, a lot of people probably think of, say, "Casey Jones" "Life During Wartime" and "Peace Frog" as "That Riding that train/High on Cocaine song" "This Ain't No Party, This Ain't No Disco" and "Blood on the Streets in the Town of Chicago"

or whatever a casual listener thinks "Deacon Blues" is called

Both Renegade and Come Sail Away, among other classic rock jams

"Lady" figures prominently as well.

Oops, based on those descriptions, I know the first two there. D'ohhhhhhhhh. I stand behind not hearing ''Life During Wartime'' on classic rock (IME) though.

A little sad re: drivin' that train - was sort of hoping this would turn out to be a song I very very faintly remember from my childhood where people actually sing (rather dolefully) '''Ca-sey Jooones'' for the refrain. I now suspect this probably came from a cartoon adaptation of the actual Casey Jones tale. Or the Ninja Turtles, I guess. I had originally figured on checking out all of these briefly to make sure I didn't want any for my ballot of 100, but I don't want to spoil them for this thread, now!

I didn't know "Renegade" was Styx till now. Thanks thread.

Pieces of Eight is a pretty solid album!

Nice to see Z93 is remembered! I was practically raised by that station.

Feel like 95% of the reason "Life During Wartime" became a classic rock staple is the "This ain't no disco" line.

Feel like 95% of the reason "Life During Wartime" became a classic rock staple is the "This ain't no disco" line.

otm

So, this is one of those songs where the guitar riff and the vocal line match each other a lot. I'm usually not that into that, but at least here it gives some oomph to the parts where they break apart are pretty sweet

this is completely key to "renegade," for me anyway. not my favorite styx song by a longshot, but i love those parts to death. that, and the undeniable queen stomp-along, which is simultaneously perfect and too easy.

you will need to set aside 7 minutes to begin the next installment of our listening experiment. #2 on ilm's bruce springsteen poll. one of america's most beloved rock and roller's most beloved epics. i know a pretty little place in southern california, down san diego way, that would be a good place to listen to this one.

SONG #3: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN "ROSALITA"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC4bf67s5lQ

YES

fyi getting off lightly with a mere 7 min, live versions go 20+ min

My hometown classic rock station barely played Springsteen for some reason--only Born to Run, as far as I can remember, so I never heard this or any of his other 70s/early 80s stuff until I actively pursued it.

I very very faintly remember from my childhood where people actually sing (rather dolefully) '''Ca-sey Jooones'' for the refrain. I now suspect this probably came from a cartoon adaptation of the actual Casey Jones tale.

This?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbTBk4pDIHA

whoa guys, I just listened to Focus - Hocus Pocus for what is absolutely the first and hopefully the last time. I think you all owe it to yourselves to check it out asap.

it's bitchin

If you don't like 'Hocus Pocus' you are no friend of mine.

Tbh, I only really heard it on the radio when CHEZ was still a 'progressive album-oriented' station. It sounded kind of otherworldly when I was a kid though.

Wasn't familiar with "Hocus Pocus" by title alone, read the description on wikipedia and realized I am deeply familiar with that song.

i had no idea he was saying do it lonnie do it in roadhouse blues until, like, last year. always assumed he was saying robbie.

course i had no idea that lonnie played the solo until recently. that was the problem.

love, the guy who didn't know that brown sugar was about slavery until last year cuz he had never read the lyrics

i also totally missed somehow that rosa was the young bank robber in the flashbacks and i honestly thought that old dying rosa was an old russian woman and thus was completely mystified when old rosa turned into young rosa at the end there. i did wonder why they were driving such old cars in the flashback...

feel really dumb about that. to be fair i am always really stoned when i watch that show at night.

course i had no idea that lonnie played the solo until recently. that was the problem.

wait, and that's john sebastian on harmonica??? i had no idea about that until 22 seconds ago!

xpost deep backstory on that Springsteen song

ha I thought she was Russian too

I'm really surprised Phish has never done a cover of Hocus Pocus.

a group of teachers at my high school did an air guitar performance of Hocus Pocus at an assembly

If you've only heard "Hocus Pocus," and never seen Hocus Pocus, watch the clip below to see the singer wild the fuck out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFDW9b_ejfI

Also, I can't figure out the dude's hair. Is he rocking the never-before-seen long hair/mutton chops combo?

Hocus Pocus was used pretty prominently in Nike's 2010 (very excellent) world cup ad

MarkoP - hrm, nope, that's not it - this was something more in a minor key, with grim determination perhaps, but uptempo, train-tempo.

Sorry for the delay, ya'll - got my turntable hooked up again, spent some time yesterday cruising the cheapie bins and have been putting my listening time into Hard Promises - which ain't half bad.

All right now, we're down here at the Lake Lanier Islands Beach & Water Park, it's a beautiful day and we're having a great time courtesy of Holiday Marina and Gwinnett County Honda - we'll be hear all day and into the night so you should come down and join us! Adam Bruneau will be stopping by later to tell you how you can win tickets to see the Sanford-Townsend Band at the Roxy next week, if you call in with a certain plot detail from this song...

Rosalita: Well, from the first bars I'm liking this way more than the Springsteen I've heard - it's overstuffed in the way I associate with his big hits, but it feels joyous, this kind of tringley-dingley "future college rock" stuff is one of my favorite kind of guitar sounds, and even the organ blanket can't smother that. So is this basically the earlier, not-as-exhaustingly-in-your-face version of "Born to Run"?

Love the pretty, fast/high playing around 3:30, another great sound. And the back-and-forth between the players after that is really satisfying, feels 'live' and organic even on this paltry 7-minute studio version. Maybe it's just Bruce's blowsy grunting, wheezing and yawlping that crowds up the mix elsewhere and makes it feel sloppy and Blues Traveler-y. Another great part is the hand-clap and singalong bit around 5:00, for the same reason - things clean out a bit to where you can enjoy hearing each detail even as the pace drives you past so fast you can't catch it all and want to hear the song again. Hahaha, the 6:30 part with the hup-ho-hup-ho, that put a grin on my face. The ending less so - kinda classic "we've got too much going on here for it to really 'end,' so just crash-land with gusto" kinda thing.

Good, uptempo rock band telling-a-tale stuff, this! Didn't catch a whit of the story, I guess people are going places, listening to bands, holding on tight to each other, that kinda thing - presumably if I knew this well, certain moments would be the big epic triumphant deliveries that people love to reach in karaoke. I still think it's a little too busy...I'd love to hear it covered by, like, a three-piece band. I realize this sort of goes against the grain of Springsteenism, and the joy of a bunch of dudes playing off each other that I did appreciate above, but there are ways in which this slips over the line into Phishy jam-band-ism, and that point I want it to get pared back and cleaned up by some slick Phil Ramone type. "If Billy Joel had written and recorded 'Rosalita' instead of Bruce Springsteen..." - though obviously this kind of thing is what Joel's own 'epics' were trying to do. (I love those, but they're a different animal, presumably derailed by his desire to show off his piano playing and melodicism, McCartney-esque 'medley' composition, etc.) The real peer group I guess is the Rolling Thunder Revue, et al - and I'd also be interested in hearing Bob and company cover this, though I suspect they'd lose the pretty bits I liked so much. Thumbs up, will add to my early-70s "Woolly" CR playlist.

another tremendous, insightful review, dc. i've never heard the term "tringley-dingley," but that is my new favorite guitar adjective. it totally makes sense.

this is definitely the early, exuberant springsteen, the last gasp of the much beloved but short-lived band that featured "mad dog" vini lopez on drums and david sancious on piano. not long after, sancious quit and lopez was sacked, and the modern e street band was more or less solidified on the next album, born to run, two years later. and then the workingman's hero version of springsteen was more or less born three years after that, on darkness on the edge of town. in many ways, the entirety of bruce springsteen is contained in those two albums and in the wild, the innocent and the e street shuffle, from which came "rosalita," and those five years are probably what most fans think of as his peak. as springsteen goes, the earlier the sloppier/wilder/funner, which in a way might also translate to phishier/blues travelerier, i can sort of sea that, yeah. but also, definitely, yes, rolling bob dylan.

presumably if I knew this well, certain moments would be the big epic triumphant deliveries that people love to reach in karaoke.

the two big such moments for me have always been"
--the big saxophone entry at 3:42 (which, during karaoke, would translate to air sax, obviously)
--"the record company, rosie, just gave me a big advance!"

my other favorite vocal moment is how "the cats," in the line "trying out his attitude on all the cats," at 1:21, sounds like it was overdubbed by springsteen at a different point in his life.

"If Billy Joel had written and recorded 'Rosalita' instead of Bruce Springsteen..."

my mind blown. (billy actually wrote two songs with "rosalinda" in the title, but no rosalitas.)

also, dc, you never ever need to apologize for listening to tom petty.

idk that those 5 years are considered "the peak" but you're on a roll & they're great albums so w/e

sax break on rosie is all-time pure moment of joyfulness for me

wait nvm i misread that so ignore me

except re: sax

Key thread BTW: T or F: If Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had written and recorded "You May Be Right" instead of Billy Joel, it would have been among their best songs and greatest achievements

Kinda down for listening to Rosalita again today to hear those tringles, maybe I'll start to mark out the story a bit more.

spoiler alert: her papa knows that Bruce does not have any money.

A nice dovetail to Rosalita is "Sherry Darling" same college rock thing imo

I love DYNAMITE'S IN THE BELFRY BABY, kinda kicks the song into the next gear

(xp) spoiler alert 2: her papa is unaware of some recent happenings at bruce's record company.

A nice dovetail to Rosalita is "Sherry Darling" same college rock thing imo

truth. there's college-rock guitar all over the river actually.

wow that tom petty "you may be right" thread.

I still wanna hear "Hotel California" a la Television...

http://youtu.be/073hvnT6zQY

one of my favorite live versions, he has such a blast on stage it adds the magic flavor that the recorded version misses

reading the lyrics to songs is for effete snobs. the real salt-of-the-earth thing is to read the liner notes. (bands who put their lyrics in the liner notes are also effete snobs.)

There was a great version from Phoenix '78 that MTV would sometimes play, before Bruce had any actual videos out.

xp

also max on drums & professor on piano pushes it up where it needs to be

no less love for their predecessors but it's just a brighter, snappier vibe with weinberg & bittan

one of my favorite live versions

bruce and clarence circa 5:35 in that clip. tears streaming down my face.

Of all of these the one that surprises me the most that DC has never heard is "Outfield – Your Love". It feels to me like one of the top 10 songs to reference the 80's.

I'm actually deeply interested in hearing his opinion on that one if he has actually never heard it. I've heard so many times over the years that I've grown fond of it and it still doesn't feel tiresome.

"Your Love" is one of the best

the bass is really quietly mixed! I'd never really noticed till now.

the outfield will be a good one! but we've had a lot of requests for this next one, so after a commercial break, we'll be back with one of three songs from the netherlands on our unheard classic rock classics playlist. stay tuned for...

SONG #4: FOCUS "HOCUS POCUS"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAgvTsVcQgQ

*yodels*

I don't think this song gets played on CRR here

yeah in my ATL days I never heard that song

I heard it a few times on CR when I lived in Florida.

since this will be our first european song, here's a thing about doctor casino's list that i thought was worth sharing:

the original classic rock playlist proposed by some dude on the big classic rock thread had 545 songs, and their continent of origin breaks down this way:

north america: 57 percent
europe: 38 percent
australia 2 percent
hybridistan*: 3 percent

(hybridistan is the north american/european crossover nation state from which comes fleetwood mac and foreigner)

doctor casino is unfamiliar with 92 songs on that master list, and his 92 break down this way:

north america: 76 percent
europe 17 percent
australia: 4 percent
hybridistan: 2 percent

in other words, doctor casino's life experience has made him reasonably familiar with classic rock songs from england and elsewhere in europe, while leaving him with a blind spot toward classic rock from the u.s. and canada. at least compared to some dude's life experience, that is. which i assume says something about how music from the two continents is prized differently by the curators of rock and roll in different parts of the u.s. or maybe our sample size is a bit too small. but this stuff fascinates me.

(and yes, i, like styx, had too much time on my hands yesterday.)

clap clap

The song on that list that surprises me the most is Nazareth's Love Hurts.

omg, awesome stats, love that.

This is a little tricky though because all it really takes is a few big British bands where I *do* know almost all the songs, and whammo. Another problem would be that I could have gotten to know the songs in a way other than via CR radio, for example by that convertible that pulled away from our high school parking lot one day, leaving the loose discs of Led Zeppelin Boxed Set 2 bouncing around in the dust and gravel at my feet. Presumably at least some of this is interrelated - I (and perhaps the convertible drivers) was primed to be interested in the box set based on CR radio, perhaps....

says something about how music from the two continents is prized differently by the curators of rock and roll in different parts of the u.s. or maybe our sample size is a bit too small.

Yeah, if you really wanted to do this, you'd probably have to actually compare station playlists.

Growing up on Led Zep, Sabbath, Beatles, and never abandoned it, I like to think I'm pretty well versed in this scene, and I have never ever heard that Focus song. Listening to it now though and it's pretty rad. I'm American btw

I think that Focus song is something probably most often used as a tag in commercials or station ID bumpers more than actually played.

Holy crap the whistling at ~3:40 in that live video is incredible

Hocus Pocus, by Focus (from their hit album Crocus?):

First couple seconds, I'm sold - rock on, dudes! No blowsy New Jerseyites cluttering things up here, just riff on, riff on, keep riffin' on, do some more riffin' on.

OMG the yodeling

yessssssssssssssssssssssss

this rules

hahahahahaha

Wow. You can kinda see why this didn't exactly fly in the South, we like our yodeling to come from actual backwoods mountain men and/or passable facsimiles thereof - not from effete Europeans who learned it secondhand from Slim Whitman. I'm starting to get off the boat with the tickety-tackety Popeye-chuckle faux-scatting, as much as it brilliantly sets up the return of the PUMMELING WALL OF RIFFING. The drum solos are all a little less convincing tbh, dude's kinda just filling time there. At 3:30 I'm now kinda over this alternation between yodel and guitar attack, though the guitar attacks keep getting more and more satisfying. Thank god, they changed it up with this flute thing - I like that it sounds like you can hear them desperately gasping for air in between notes.

oh ffs, gtfo with this accordion thing, this is just goofy now

oh wait BRANNA DANNA DOW BRANNA DANNA DOW, DUNG DING, BRUNG, BRUN BRANG, okay, now just - -

- - - fire the drummer oh god, this guy - dude, your band's name is called focus, try it sometime.

I wonder how many people bought this/requested it just to LOL at the yodeling, but secretly loved it? The rockin' is so good (drums aside) that they really don't need the gimmick. Did they yodel on all their songs? Did they ever have words?

Overall, thumbs up, throwing this on my playlist though I have a strong suspicion I'll often end up skipping it because I'm just not in the mood for a yodel. Holy shit, though, really glad I heard that, feels like a major missing piece of the picture.

Slim Whitman was a god.

http://img2-2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/Head-Explosion/mars-attacks_300.jpg

blowing my mind here

j/k, you get no argument from me, he is ace for "rose-marie" alone, though one of those cursed artists where no dollar comp you pick up is actually the hit versions of anything.

I've never heard Hocus Pocus before! It's fucking incredible.

irl lol throughout your review DC. God bless this thread.

"Cattle Call" is cowboy shoegaze.

Maybe not shoegaze but definitely some instant dream transportation going on during the verses and that sick butter-slick lapsteel solo.

"Hocus Pocus" seems a bit like a youtube viral hit, it's all about the unexpected jump cut to someone's really well-done silliness.

OTM, could easily have done a "Harlem Shake" deal with this, maybe cross-wired with Hamster Dance.

Yodeling was invented in Europe, dudes. Bloody Americans.

I was being just a little bit ironical...

And I wasn't actually annoyed. Humour really doesn't travel well on the internet.

A testament to the strength of rockin' yodel instrumentals, to speak without words on both sides of the Atlantic.

^__^

"Hocus Pocus" is amazingly crude for a prog classic.

otm. imo The drumming in the live clip almost had a proto-hardcore feeling to it

something about it feels like it should have run in the credits for a show like Catweazle or something...it's just so strange & awesome

never heard it before, but Hocus Pocus not really changing my mind about majority of this list being garbage. eurololz tho.

"hocus pocus" was one of the least surprising entries, to me, on dc's list. i heard it on occasion growing up without ever knowing what it was or who it was -- it was just that weird instrumental with the yodeling in it -- but i'm pretty sure i hadn't heard it in many years before this thread. otm about its youtube viral potential, though.

also, a shame that krokus never covered it.

correction: i said yesterday that "hocus pocus" was one of three dutch songs on our unheard classic rock playlist. in fact, it's the only one. all of us here at WUCR apologize for the error.

next up, the first of four songs from the great classic rock city of boston, straight outta the berklee school of music.

SONG #5: BILLY SQUIER "EVERYBODY WANTS YOU"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9mQVKsMcLk

Ha, I didn't know Squier went to Berklee. I'm curious how many artists from the big list went to (post-secondary) music school. Styx and Steely Dan are the only ones that come to mind offhand.

"The Stroke" is the high water mark of the Schillinger system iirc

lol

"Everybody Wants You" is sick! Really well mixed too.

I'm glad it's Everybody Wants You & not STROKE STROKE STROKE

Hate this song so much. It was a constant on Chicago radio when it was new, and it only hit #32! It wasn't a big enough hit to warrant the rotation it got!

Ha, I didn't know Squier went to Berklee. I'm curious how many artists from the big list went to (post-secondary) music school. Styx and Steely Dan are the only ones that come to mind offhand.
--EveningStar (Sund4r)

Elliot Easton also a berklee guy

tarfumes u crazy - billy squier circa don't say no and emotions in motion RULES

I don't mind other Squier songs, just this horrible, horrible turd.

I like "Lonely Is The Night" enough as a faux-"Nobody's Fault But Mine," and "Rock Me Tonite" isn't bad. But this is strictly dullsville.

Of his singles The Stroke is the one I can't defend. Agree Zep-lite Squier is the best Squier.

Everybody Wants You is the only A+ in a repertoire full of A's and B's from Squier's first few albums. Dude was a solid artist, but EWY is where everything came together, the clouds broke, and Jesus looked down and played air drums.

Looool this thread is beautiful. I was a teenager in the 70s so I've lived with these songs forever.

This thread is gold.

True story - I have a friend who was Billy Squier's bass player at the height of his career (1982). He was touring with Foreigner and when they did "The Stroke", they'd get some of the guys from Foreigner and crew guys and any friends of the band to come onstage and sing the "stroke me, stroke me" part and do this very exaggerated jerking off hand motion. I got recruited in Pittsburgh, Philly, and Cleveland. They were my shining moments.

awesome!

"Everybody Wants You" is playing right now in the supermarket I'm in.

Ugh.

Everybody Wants Yoohoo

I've never had any use at all for "The Stroke" - god is that grating. "Lonely Is The Night" at least has a kind of atmosphere and space to it, kind of a bite-size "Nobody's Fault But Mine." As for Everybody Wants You: Unfortunately, though I hate to derail a Twofer Tuesday, on reaching the chorus, I can say that I have indeed heard this, though not often. It's only the delivery of the title line that makes it familiar at all - the rest is your basic high-gloss sleaze rock thing.

Never realized how early Squier's hits are; I kinda took them for mid-80s arena rock when they're actually (along with Bon Scott, whose vocals I think Squier's kind of aping here) templates for that stuff. On another tip, I never noticed before but I think Paul McCartney nicked the "you're giving the game away" bit of "The World Tonight" from this. And speaking of the Beatles, Wiki got me excited by proclaiming that Squier has performed this song with Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band; unfortunately, this does not mean Ringo genially chuckling out "Everybody wants you," but Squier singing with Ringo on drums. On the plus side, being a dad-rock live-for-DVD type recording, it at least has a more laid-back, less gross sound.

haha just saw tarfumes post about Nobody's Fault But Mine, and lol at Sandy's post.

Still having fun with this thread though - my only worries were that it'd pre-empt some of the discussion on some dude's results thread (though hopefully, "Everybody Wants You" won't place), and that it'd be some self-indulgent wanky thing, but if y'all are into it, I'm having fun and getting a rock education...

this thread is the most fun I've had all day!

I've heard most of this stuff with the exception of the Bad Company tunes. Never got the appeal of those guys or was aware of any hits of theirs beyond All Right Now and their silly self-titled song. They always felt like the epitome of boring jean jacket rock.

Feel Like Makin' Love is all time!

Listening again to parts of "Everybody Wants You," another one: did "Sharp Dressed Man" pick up on the "you see 'em comin' at you ev-er-y night"? Or is "Everybody Wants You" just such a dense sediment of cliches that everything kinda sounds like it?

I can imagine an almost-good version of this song, if it were either done as straight new wave (throwing a little ice water on the grody sex fiend lead) or even a tightened-up unfunky-funk Talking Heads kinda thing, speaking of "Life During Wartime." Hell, closer to Squier's wheelhouse, I bet Robert Palmer (another "rock" type singer who knows his way around new wave stuff, see Clues) coulda oiled this down in the right place and really had something.

I think I just really hate Squier's voice and guitar tone. Not good enough describing things to explain what's wrong with the drum sound, or maybe other (digital?) things that are overlaid on the drums, but that sucks too.

any hits of theirs beyond All Right Now

That was Free, pre-Bad Co. My memory ain't the best either; I thought "Feel Like Makin Love" was on the debut.

I'm a huge fan of "Feel Like Makin' Love's" boneheaded lyrics

"Feel Like Makin' Love" and "Don't Bring Me Down" are I think the only things from some dude's list I've ever tried to cover or even learn to play.

'feel like makin' love' to me is the epitome of "drunk lonely guy dancing in front of the jukebox" songs

;_;

present company excluded, lonely or otherwise :)

its "another think comin"

Frank Black said that the Pixies got their whole quiet-loud-quiet thing from "Feel Like Makin' Love."

(no he didn't, but I wish he had)

Revisiting a lot of classic rock for the poll, I've realized that a lot of the less-beloved bands have far worse rhythm sections in reality than they do in my memories. Bad Company's tracks definitely were more plodding and less punchy than I remember.

Want to emphasize that I'm talking mostly about the bands that aren't as critically canonized--your Bostons and your Bad Companies, not your Zeps and AC/DCs

Shooting Star is still great, i'm not huge into much else of Bad Company though tbh

and re Billy Squier, his riffs are so meaty but the couple of singles that I know are just bleeeehhhhhhh as far as the rest of the song goes

like Stroke, first time you hear it it's like THIS RIFF IS AWESOME YEAH ROCK OUT--wait...stroke...what...ugggh gross no

Revisiting a lot of classic rock for the poll, I've realized that a lot of the less-beloved bands have far worse rhythm sections in reality than they do in my memories. Bad Company's tracks definitely were more plodding and less punchy than I remember.

― intheblanks, Tuesday, June 24, 2014 7:03 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Totally, and it's probably the saddest thing about the genre. Even more glaringly awful viz. what was going on elsewhere in the rock universe in the 70s. Funk probably changed lives for those white bar band drummers who were willing to listen, but by a certain point, That Way Lies Disco, And You Know What That Means.

Veg sums up my Squier perfectly, yeah, at some point, I think for about half of one listen, I thought "The Stroke" was cool. Eminem bringing it back recently only upped the groaning awful gross factor. At least he didn't take a song I like and turn it into straight-ahead jock rock.

er, my feelings on Squier

oh no he's all yours, you can have him Doc

:)

Every time I think about Squire now, I think about how that Rock Me Tonight video basically killed his career.

Squire: "When I saw the video, my jaw dropped. It was diabolical. I looked at it and went, “What the fuck is this?”

The video misrepresents who I am as an artist. I was a good-looking, sexy guy. That certainly didn’t hurt in promoting my music. But in this video I’m kind of a pretty boy. And I’m preening around a room. People said “He’s gay.” Or, “He’s on drugs.” It was traumatizing to me. I mean, I had nothing against gays. I have a lot of gay friends.”

Everything I worked for was crumbling and I couldn’t stop it. How can a four-minute video do that? Ok, it sucked. So?”

The wounds have healed and the scars aren’t that deep, because my life has evolved in a good way. I left the music business when I was forty-three. I don’t have to work. Look who’s smiling now! That video is a bad part of a good life.”

I got kicked out of a high school dance for grinding to "The Stroke". Good times.

loooooooooool

honestly that makes me like the song a *tiny* bit more, haha

according to wikipedia, this next band shot its first video for this song. "It was a difficult experience for a variety of reasons, and the resulting clip has been widely ridiculed and made fun of by many including the MTV show Beavis & Butt-head, and it has been described as among the worst videos ever."

SONG #6: JOURNEY "SEPARATE WAYS (WORLDS APART)"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LatorN4P9aA

LOVE this song but it's much better without the video.

I don't remember that video! I like it, everyone looks pretty badass, probably because I was 9 when the song came out and what adults look like at that age leaves a mark

I met Steve Perry once, he smelled like garlic.

lol

more Sandy posts itt pls

and the Tailgate Party one as well please!

yeah Sandy yr killing it

That MTV oral history book from a couple years back has great stories about the videos for "Separate Ways" and Squier's "Rock Me Tonite".

oh god I had never seen that Separate Ways video until now

so bad

some day they will find their instruments

Bad Company are great

Aieee! Another dud! Sorry y'all - heard this a million times, just sort of filed it as "Generic Journey Song" or "Some DAY, LOVE Will FIND You." Never liked it at all... though it's at least a little less in-your-face and irritating than "Any Way You Want It." The only thing I know by these guys that I don't find outright annoying is probably "Wheel In The Sky," which Wiki is telling me is earlier - are they a band known for a clear sonic "evolution" from their X roots to their Y success? I mean, the icy-cool synth lick is kinda interesting, but the One, TWO, ONE-two ONE-two emphasis of the chorus really uses up all the air in the room.

Never seen the video before, but wow, that was beautifully bad - feel like half the parody OTT lip-synching in Yacht Rock comes from this, including obviously the one for "Don't Fight It." Are we sure this isn't a parody?! I mean seriously... the keyboard on the wall! The jacket on the love interest! The slo-mo for the climax! Journey dude backing away desperately from the camera! You could easily make a top 20 of funny things that happen right after the camera cuts to something in this video, but the thing is I can totally see how this would happen, if you didn't know any better what stuff will actually look like on camera or when edited together, standing still and Very Seriously Lip-Synching Your Lines would probably seem like a good way to convey that this is an Intense Song.

There was always two things I've thought Journey has going for them. Steve Perry's Sam Cook-style vox (love Sam Cook) and the fact that all of their songs make me feel like I'm a teenager despite being born in '88 and them being before my time. It's all about the vibe, bruh.

are they a band known for a clear sonic "evolution" from their X roots to their Y success?

They were more of a prog band pre-Perry: http://youtu.be/SRKZ_f67vTw

shit, that was pretty cool.

Amazing to think of (some of) the same dudes floating around outer space in jumpsuits there are, a few years later, the guys enthusiastically lip-synching down at the wharf for "Separate Ways."

The only thing I know by these guys that I don't find outright annoying is probably "Wheel In The Sky"...

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, June 25, 2014

aw man if you can't feel "stone in love" i just

imo the best Bad Company song is "Bad Company" from the album Bad Company by Bad Company.

the thing about Journey is that only their singles are worth listening to. most of the time it is way overproduced but it was the 80's so you forgive some of it. never a band i would purposely play and may or may not turn to radio.

may or may not turn to radio may or may not turn when they come on the radio.

I'd argue that Raised on Radio is a solid album all the way through, singles and non-singles alike. But it wouldn't be a very long argument, because y'all will gang up on me.

because of that dumb video I learned on the internet that Steve Perry really had a girlfriend named Sherrie

oh?

ok I lol'ed

also i hate you

it was understood from the start that there were going to be some songs in this thread that doctor casino knew, but didn't know he knew, for various reasons such as misleading, or not-so-obvious, titles. our next couple songs have super-obvious titles, so i'm going to assume that if he thinks he doesn't know, for example, molly hatchet's "flirtin' with disaster," then he really doesn't know molly hatchet's "flirtin' with disaster."

SONG #7: MOLLY HATCHET "FLIRTIN' WITH DISASTER"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci3afKw_mcY

molly hatchet were named for a 17th century hooker who, legend has it, hooked wealthy men and decapitated them as soon as she was done.

also, if memory serves, i saw molly hatchet open for kansas some decades ago. i remember young me thinking it was an inappropriate match of opener and headliner.

I don't think they get much airplay in Canada? I don't recognize this; they don't turn up on the CHEZ or Q107 lists. It's not doing very much for me. The comments about them being a 2nd-rate Skynyrd seem OTM based on this + I never really loved Skynyrd in the first place.

I never really loved Skynyrd in the first place.

Like, to ever listen to a non-single.

Really need a looping GIF of Steve Perry from :29 to :32 in the Separate Ways video.

Ross Valory slapping that headless Steinberger will never not be funny, nor will Steve Smith looking like the world's biggest fucking dork when he has to do anything besides play the drums. Also Jonathan Cain trying to mime "playing keyboards" and coming out looking like "adorable kitten" at :54.

Really need a looping GIF of Steve Perry from :29 to :32 in the Separate Ways video.
http://cdn.makeagif.com/media/6-26-2014/sMNE6b.gif

Almost :)

I don't think they get much airplay in Canada? I don't recognize this; they don't turn up on the CHEZ or Q107 lists. It's not doing very much for me. The comments about them being a 2nd-rate Skynyrd seem OTM based on this + I never really loved Skynyrd in the first place.

Was just looking at the playlist from the past few hours on Edmonton's K97 and saw that it was on it. Granted it did play at 4:10 AM.

Perry copping Sam Cooke's vocals OTM - one of the best things about them imo. Singles are amazing, Lovin Touchin Squeezin is the best (why? because it has a na-na-na refrain, which immediately makes any song awesome)

yeah I gotta agree there

Was gonna say I generally dig "Feeling That Way/Anytime" and how well it approximates the Roy Thomas Baker stacked-vocals thing...only to find out it was produced by Roy Thomas Baker.

The only thing I know by these guys that I don't find outright annoying is probably "Wheel In The Sky"...

― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, June 25, 2014

aw man if you can't feel "stone in love" i just

― resulting post (rogermexico.), Thursday, June 26, 2014 1:15 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i don't know if i can't - it's in this thread's queue! I googled the lyrics and it doesn't look familiar, but I am trying to avoid spoiling myself beyond that....

haha, i appreciate your honoring the scientific rigor of this thread!

Flirtin' With Disaster: This is ruling hard in the intro, really living up to their cover art (which always kinda intrigued but intimidated me). The shift into the verse is a little disappointing - between their Frazetta imagery and the big heavy opening I was expecting kind of a massive epic, not earthly boogie-downs. But it's a good one of those - high-energy toe-tapping tempo, and the band gets to show off their chops in turn. Nobody's on autopilot here, lots for everybody to do in the car - would have worked great in a way for that Wayne's World scene. Still, when it breaks for the storm clouds to gather again for a second, that's my favorite part I think.

"Flirtin' with disaster, y'all!", ha, I like that! It's a weird sound, this kinda reedy Southern voice, multitracked to an almost metallic surface, against this much bigger, rockier, mud-and-blood sound. I think he sounds a little bit like he's trying too hard and putting on a role in a few places, like when he invokes the solo, or basically whenever he tries to ad-lib. UM BOP BOP YEAH-UN-YEAH - hrm, yeah, I dunno, I could see that growing on me and being the part everybody sings along to when it comes on...

But awwww, yeah, this is my kind of big guitar segment. Work out for a while solo, then form the Voltron team, super guitars in rubber-rainbow unison, stretching and releasing, doing flips in the mix.

So, yeah Big thumbs up on this one - almost certainly going on my ballot for some dude's poll. Is it worth grabbing the LP next time I see it in the two-dollar bin?

being the part everybody sings along to when it comes on...

Molly Hatchet was my first concert I attended solo, at age 13, and everybody yelled along to this at the top of their lungs

hooray!

southern rock achievement unlocked!

...by unlocking the southern rock achievement, you have upgraded to a 70s Trans Am

http://images.highperformancepontiac.com/images/0605_hppp_06z+2000_pontiac_trans_am+hood.jpg

you may select one (1) of the following hats

http://api.ning.com/files/3UW80PVqdToeBj781YYAGrniVuBaUunzC0TY5kFDYikwHoMJBiPvBwg7EubHbEjX6uVo6i8M2hliJDnLkPXmyD6PdTfwkYP9/lynyrdskynyrd.jpg

http://www.nolifetilmetal.com/images/mh102.jpg

http://www.puresouthernrock.com/img/the-outlaws.jpg

<3 u screaming chicken

one of the all-time automotive design triumphs

Is it worth grabbing the LP next time I see it in the two-dollar bin?

i'm pretty sure "flirtin' with disaster" is the only molly hatchet song i've ever heard, so no idea! i just tried the lead track, "whiskey man," and the results were inconclusive. it tries a little too hard to make a song out of a single, kind of aerosmith-y, riff, doesn't really go anywhere, and sounds pretty much like the b-list lynyrd skynyrd i was expecting. and it's not entirely bad.

A-plus band logo and album cover (by frank frazetta) meanwhile.

southern rock achievement unlocked!

haha! in addition to the trans am and the hat, you now of course move up to the next southern rock level. this level features one of the three principal recordings (the others being eric clapton's versions of "cocaine" and "after midnight") that allowed songwriter j.j. cale (RIP) to lead a life of unfathomably awesome leisure.

SONG #8: LYNYRD SKYNYRD "CALL ME THE BREEZE"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TpfK-4gS08

if DC doesn't know "Call Me The Breeze" then I'll doubt that he's really from Georgia

in my head I'm already dancing to this song i fucking love it so much

SKYNYRRRRRRRRRRRD

speaking of hats and Skynyrd, here's a picture of me in 1976 wearing Leon Wilkeson's (RIP) hat. And he's wearing mine.

http://i58.tinypic.com/2vux62r.jpeg

Sandy, you rule.

I hope that wasn't too big and I'm not in trouble

Naw, that hat's pretty average sized.

holy shit!

Sandy!!!!!

And loooool, no, I don't rule, I was just lucky in my youth and led somewhat of a charmed life. My first job out of undergrad was as a production assistant to the big concert promoter in Pittsburgh (DiCesare/Engler) and I was the only female on the staff, and I was young and loved music so the bands and crews were very friendly to me. And I made a lot of great friends in the process.
I do have an addendum to the Billy Squier story: the night after the Cleveland Foreigner/Squier show where I was one of the people who did "The Stroke," The Stones were playing the same venue (Richfield Coliseum). All of the Atlantic bigshots were in town for the Stones and they were courting Squier big time as his contract with Capitol was ending. So after the Foreigner show, Ahmet Ertegun rented out the restaurant at Swingos (legendary Cleveland rock hotel - if you saw "Almost Famous," you know it) for a party. It was ostensibly a party for Foreigner (who were on Atlantic) but actually it was held to woo Squier. It was one of those typical 70s/early 80s extravagant rock parties - everybody got their own bottle of Dom Perignon upon entering. Not too big, about 40 people. And my friend Pattie and I were the only girls there. So everybody was feeling very good (lots of coke openly being shared as well) and Ertegun tells Pattie and I that he enjoyed our performance and that he thought we had "something special" and he wanted to talk to us about our "careers," looool. So we played along and sat on his lap and let him tell us that he would like to have us come to New York and make some demos. We were all laughing because we knew he was just playing, and he knew that we were smart enough to know that he was just playing. But hey, I got to sit on Ahmet Ertegun's lap and do loads of blow and drink lots of free Dom Perignon. And he comped us for Stones tickets the next night.
Those were good times.

Sandy you are my hero. Very impressive that you navigated all that craziness and managed to have fun and come out intact.

Ertegun was the guy that signed Led Zeppelin right? And he told Iron Butterfly that instead of "In a Garden of Eden" they change it to something exotic sounding and middle eastern IIRC

omg Sandy, amazing

Ertegun founded Atlantic Records and he discovered and signed so many legends. Led Zeppelin, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, The Young Rascals, Cream. He talked Crosby, Stills, and Nash into adding Neil Young to the band.
That's one of the many reasons we knew he was goofing on us about our "careers," hahaha.

people say the seventies were not a good looking time, i say let's not be so certain about the past

Holy crap, Sandy, that's an amazing story!

Sandy you have made my day life everything with that photo, also being you etc MOAR STORIES holy shit

<3

You are all too kind!
I have loads more pics and stories and stuff, but rather than make this all about MEMEME, you are all welcome to message me and I'll add you to my FB.

seriously, you should write a book

also please feel free to drop photos stories etc into the Classic Rock results thread, I'm sure everyone here would appreciate it

^^^

I can't write a book about hanging out with bands, I never slept with Jimmy Page. Isn't that a prerequisite?
I am ALL ABOUT the Classic Rock poll and will be sure to share when appropriate!

Omg sandy!!! You da best

xxxp

wow at Sandy's story, so glad you found ILX!

a jimmy page sleepathon is totally n

damn phone ... a jimmy page sleepathon is totally not a prereq to writing a rock memoir. call it "steve perry smells like garlic, and other stories of a rock and roll life" and you should be good to go.

alternative title "Exaggerated jerking-off hand motions: A classic-rock life"

as a skynyrd fan (too young; i only saw the '87 reunion tour) and pittsburgh native

welcome sandy

You all are too kind! I don't know why it took me so long to find ILX, but I'm glad I did.
That is, until you all find out that I actually listen to Muse way more than I do to any classic rock and you mock me.

oh. yeah. no one listens to Muse here...

where do you live now?

I'm back in Pittsburgh, I came back two years ago after living in Seattle for 14 years. You?

grew up in cheswick/springdale up the allegheny, moved around a bit, now in brooklyn

i was not expecting to hear the phrase 'DiCesare/Engler' again in my lifetime tbh

Yes! I saw your shout-out to Michele Michaels and Herschel and the Electric Lunch on DVE in the Classic Rock poll thread!
DVE was the classic-rockiest station of all CR stations.
I'm from the South Hills.

it got real yinzery in here all of a sudden

Y'all going to start talking about gum bands in a minute.

Sandy, I love that your story happens in Richfield Coliseum, which was where I saw all my formative concerts in the 80s. A short list: Prince, Duran Duran, Hall & Oates, Genesis, Van Halen, Pat Benatar, Eddie Money, Journey, Billy Joel . . . so many others I can't even remember any more.

Just ftr, i have not forgotten this thread! We had a little grillin' party yesterday kept me busy, and rockin' to all the hits. Works out anyway, as I'd rather Sandy's awesome stories have the spotlight for a bit! Will return shortly.

all good. hopefully there were no spoilers at your grillin' party!

The playlist was all mine B-)

Most fun was seeing how the classic rock classics synched up with the movies we had running projected in the background - Big Trouble in Little China, Living Daylights, Battleship Potemkin. The last was unfortunately cut off by the start of karaoke.

I think Skynyrd is mostly about "Free Bird" and "Sweet Home Alabama" up here? I remember hearing others like "Give Me Back My Bullets", "Simple Man", and "That Smell"; not sure if it was when in the States that I heard those. I don't know this one, though. This is a radio staple in the South? It doesn't sound like a very interesting tune but there is some hot playing on it. The keyboard/horns break is my favourite part.

Skynyrd is pretty big on CR radio (I live in the South tho). "What's Your Name?", "You Got That Right", "Saturday Night Special" are other big ones.

"...when I was in the States..." Only the big two come up on Q107's 'top 500 of all time' list.

Gimme Three Steps

I've heard "Call Me The Breeze" much more than "Simple Man" on classic rock radio (in Atlanta)

And "Tuesday's Gone," in Cleveland.

I do remember a good old boy playing "Simple Man" at school on "play a song that describes you" day

Tbh, I might just know that one because someone wrote a paper on it when I was TAing in Buffalo?

Oh, Edmonton's station played "Simple Man" this morning.

And "Tuesday's Gone," in Cleveland.

and on "dazed and confused" sdtk.

Heard a ton of Skynyrd on my local station growing up. Never Simple Man, for some reason, but every other song mentioned in the last handful of posts were in heavy rotation. I grew up in a more rural area, which maybe leads to more Skynyrd airplay.

A-ha, Buffalo's station lists six (!) Skynyrd songs on their all-time '500 greatest' list, three in the top 20 : http://pro.wgrf-fm.tritonflex.com/common/page.php?pt=Final+Countdown+List&id=19184&is_corp=0

Since we're still talking about Skynyrd and Doctor Casino's taking a little break, I thought I'd share another picture if you don't mind.
Same night, my friends and I with Gary Rossington. There were seriously about 40 of us crammed into one hotel room drinkin' and hollerin'.
I was decidedly not a Skynyrd fan at that time... this was 1976, remember, and I was all about glammy English bands. A couple of my friends knew them, though, and were able to get a bunch of us on the guest list, and I went along just for the hoot of it. And they were such nice people and "Gimme Three Steps" kicks ass and so yeah, Skynyrd.

http://i58.tinypic.com/33lfl09.jpg

Oh hell yeah.

That is totally amazing.

YES

fantastic

<3

I still say you rule, Sandy.

Call me the Breeze: I'm now paranoid about already knowing some of these songs, so the intros are always fraught with a certain tension: is this something I know? Or am I just thinking of something that sounds like it? Then as the verses kick in, it's either a done deal or clear sailing. So my first to-do item here is to go back and listen to the intro again, because I was feeling the interplay of the guitars and horns sliding around but it was backed up by this personal stress.

So yeah, this song. Loping along decently. I wish Skynyrd's bigger hits were like this, just kinda effective filler rock songs, unmistakably "southern" but also pretty studio-slick - those multitracked handclaps around the two minute mark didn't fall off the back of a peach truck, ditto the squonking but pristine licks that pepper the second verse (although a couple kinda sounded like mistakes). I like how the fairly rote piano line is just kinda wandering in and taking up space, feels very much like a demo for a part where they were later going to dub in a solo or another verse. This is maybe the first song we've done where I really do think it'd sound meaningfully different (rather than just better) if played loud, filling up a whole van or party. What was I saying? Oh yeah, so I feel like some of their songs are just too insistent on their big title hook, kinda in your face with SWEEET HAUUM AL-A-BAMuh or SIMPUUUUUUUUUL KIND UH MANNN. This is more laid back, which fits the idea of people calling this guy "The Breeze" (first name, presumably: "One Oh Three Five:"). Here's a band. They play your bar, you can boogie to it. They'll collect their pay at the end and head on down the road. Put them on your jukebox.

Second listen: Opening definitely more fun. I like how the guitar that comes in at 1:20 or so is kinda fuzzed over itself, just sounds like one continuous loop of white noise with only a vaguely discernible doodley-doodley-dee kinda playing. When he gets around to your more basic solo stuff it's just fine, and doesn't wear out its welcome despite being pretty long. Nice trick having the percussion kick in a little more after that. I guess the guy is the breeze cause he travels all over the place, huh? Like the Wanderer...I'm gonna choose to hear it more like, they call him The Dude, or Speedo, or Daddy-O or something. Breezy like Sunday morning. As it is, unless he really loves bopping along to this band, cruising down the highway hanging his head out the window and singing along to their Southern-fried chops, being the breeze doesn't actually sound very breezey: he has to keep running, I guess from women, to the point where he actually can't enjoy his stay in Georgia. "They Call Me The Fugitive," more like.

Overall, kinda dumb basically but thumbs up, I would endorse any CR station adding this to the playlist for texture.

loving all of Sandy's posts btw, feel touched that this thread has prompted 'em!

I only just now stumbled into this thread and am wondering what the hell my problem was.

Sandy's posts = A+

the first reported side effects from this experiment! fear of recognition, and stress-related inability to pay attention to intros. interesting! will have to report this to the journals.

I feel like some of their songs are just too insistent on their big title hook, kinda in your face with SWEEET HAUUM AL-A-BAMuh or SIMPUUUUUUUUUL KIND UH MANNN. This is more laid back, which fits the idea of people calling this guy "The Breeze"

yes! this song -- which i didn't know at all when i was growing up and first being exposed to the rock canon -- sounds nothing at all like the skynyrd radio songs that i did know, with their gigantic pop hooks. this one's a straight-up blues jam. i would have hated it. i was all AM pop-rock, and i could not get with the blues at all. i did know the other two j.j. cale monster rock standards ("after midnight" and "cocaine") and didn't much like them, if memory serves. nowadays, "call me the breeze" is by far my favorite of the three. it's a freedom song, and the playing echoes that feeling. while i think there's a dark underbelly to pretty much any road song -- that's kind of the implicit idea of the genre, isn't it, that i'm rolling now but there's probably going to be a price to pay one day? -- i don't hear "call me the breeze" quite as darkly as doctor casino does. i think right now he quite likes being the breeze and will enjoy wherever he's running or staying or hiding or heading for. he's free as a bird now.

see also: bob dylan/johnny cash "wanted man." grateful dead "friend of the devil." both darker than "call me the breeze," imo.

everybody otm about sandy's posts.

skynyrd are so much more than their radio hits. i wanna drive around in a van with a loudspeaker testifying on this very matter

oh jesus christ good god yes. grownup me is happy to have learned this.

srsly anyone following this thread who hasn't dug into the skynyrd catalog

GO

NOW

DO IT

Well,then, since we're still on Skynyrd, and everybody seems to enjoy the pictures, I have two more. I'm kind of sad that I don't have any good stories about them... I only met them this one time. They were really nice guys. None of them smelled like garlic.
Here's one of us with the late Billy Powell. Notice that Leon's hat has moved to my friend's head.

http://i62.tinypic.com/2hmogua.jpg

but where's your hat? did leon run off with it?

and here's my friend Jennifer with Allen Collins and Leon.

http://i61.tinypic.com/11liyo2.jpg

Loool, Leon's wife was wearing my hat by that point. She was a hoot.

Billy!!!!!

Gorgeous piano player if ever there was one. RIP

Oh man, the Skynyrd guys almost look like kids in those pictures! Thanks Sandy.

Wonderful pictures, Sandy!

And Leon was hella underrated as a bassist.

how's life, was gonna say the exact same thing!

while we're on the subject of road songs ... america's birthday is nigh, and you can't get much more american than this one. a favorite of bruce springsteen circa 1984 (he covered it live frequently) and a favorite of senator rand paul in 2014 (if you can believe his tweets):

SONG #9: ZZ TOP "I'M BAD, I'M NATIONWIDE"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNDZ9Ve6n5U

as for The Breeze, it's not so much a dark undercurrent, just that the lyric doesn't quite come together as one convincing picture. Surely the Breeze could arrange to lengthen his Georgia weekend just a little, once he finds out how good the peaches are?

the breeze has a rather large fear of commitment. the better the peaches are, the faster he's gotta run. he knows this about himself, and he's ok with this. for now.

that ZZ Top song is still on my CR ballot, classic

This song is a total classic, interested to see DC's review.

xxpost Would have been a good concept album - The Rise and Fall of Breezey Peach-Juice and the Skynyrds from Jacksonville. He could cross over with other songs detailing the challenges he faces on the road, like "Your Driver's License, Breeze," or the reactions of disappointed fans who think he's gone corporate ("Fake, plastic Breeze") - and of course, the impassioned cry from one of the lovers he's left behind: "Breeze, Please Me!"

Yes, The Breeze is happy with his fear of commitment for now. But when he gets older, and he thinks about the women that might have loved him, he wakes up one morning, alone and hungover, and realizes that he is now Desperado.

Ha!

Sandy otm

in his desperado phase, the breeze alights on los angeles and forms a supergroup with henley and frey. their signature tune is a lengthy jam during which frey is constantly imploring the breeze to solo. it is called "take it, breezy."

Yeah, that'll happen... one of breeze nights.

I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide: Feelin this from bar one. Not as scratchy and bothersome as the other ones of theirs I know. Another nice medium-speed road groove. Not crazy about the phase (? flange?) on the lead vocals (there's something there, right?), or the way it sorta stops mid-groove to do the guitar/piano thing at the end of the chorus. But my toes are still tappin'. I'm not sure I'm convinced this guy is all that bad, but nationwide I could believe - they've got a good instrumental thing going on, would book them for the same reasons I'd book Skynyrd above. With the return of the verse around 3:00 I'm starting to lose interest though - this thing could use a bit more of a verse melody or some other hooks or something.

Okay, this got cool with the next instrumental break, the shuffley-shaky drums and the pling-pling organ (clavinet? guitar?) anchoring the solo theatrics and that awesome chugga-chugga-dunna-dunna thing. This is cool. Kinda bummed it just fades out from that - would have accepted one last quick chorus and find a cool way to say "nationwide" for an ending. Whole thing feels like an instrumental jam that just had to be a 'song' and they had this good line about being bad and nationwide and just figured they would make up the verses as they went along.

Second listen just to check the lyrics again and hear that sweet second instrumental section. I guess there are some nice touches of detail, "cold blue steel," "beautician at the wheel," "my gold tooth displayed." Chuck Berry it ain't, though. Thumbs mildly up.

Call Me the Breeze is a fairly popular and covered song. I think it's originally by JJ Cale? You may have heard it before in some of its incarnations.

I dig the Spiritualized version of Breeze.

Cale version's pretty cool, too.

One of the many, many things I love about ZZ Top is that for decades, they refused to have guests on their albums—if there was a sound on there, a member of the band made it. So when they wanted to have horns on Degüello, they learned just enough saxophone to play the parts they needed.

ZZ Top always brings it, great singles band, great albums band. They were not at the right place at the right time to be quite as iconic but I always regard them as the closest the 70s came to Creedence

They're kind of unstuck in time to me - one of those acts that I knew of as sort of visual icons as a kid (here thinking late 80s, maybe even early 90s), without my really knowing what they sounded like. Since the beards, hat and sunglasses basically obscure their faces, they seem ageless to me - I know their 70s material is the core of their catalog, but they might as well have debuted in 1986 for all I knew, except that it was clear they were supposed to stand for something, since having them show up in a scene in a movie (I must be thinking of Back to the Future III here) or as a two-second blip in a commercial showcasing what you might see on MTV, or whatever, was meant to convey that rockin' had arrived and that everybody watching would know what it meant that these guys, these legends, are here! So for me they're actually more iconic than a lot of other bands, but that iconicity doesn't necessarily have much to do with their musical career as such.

I'm reminded here now also of how when I was a kid, my knowledge of 'heavy metal' and 'hard rock' really derived from, like, Teddy Grahams commercials, the 'guitar sound' button on electronic toys, and stuff like that. Maybe some kid eats a Fruit Roll Up and is transformed into a 'rocker' and therefore has crazy hair and a bandanna and is shrieking "OH BUH BAY-BAYYYY!" while lights flash and some kind of canned keyboard-demo rock is playing in the background. I'm pretty sure that's what I thought Bruce Springsteen's music was like as a kid, based on how everybody acted in Fox Trot comics. Or was it Bon Jovi...?

Oh, and the spinning guitars. I can picture them spinning their guitars around in unison, maybe with a bright blue sky in the background. Probably in the desert, or by a gas station on Route 66 or something.

ZZ Top always brings it, great singles band, great albums band. They were not at the right place at the right time to be quite as iconic but I always regard them as the closest the 70s came to Creedence

― noir-ish need apply (Drugs A. Money), Thursday, July 3, 2014 4:32 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I hadn't thought of them that way before, but that's otm. They were one of the few bands of their ilk/era that still valued the idea of the single -- it wasn't square to them like it was for many of their peers. In retrospect, the fact that they were able to smoothly transition into the 80s, while the vast majority of their contemporaries floundered, isn't the least bit surprising. They kept making the great singles they had always made, and were smart/savvy enough to keep current with music-making/recording technology (although that backfired on the Six Pack reissue), even if it meant only one-third of their lineup playing on their records.

Gibbons on-stage with Fogerty:

http://youtu.be/lAOKwD0gabU
http://youtu.be/WfIlDk-FoCQ

One of my best friends was at that Fogerty show. Every time I see those clips I'm jealous.

I just spent this last couple of hours reading this whole thread and it's the most fun I've had on here in awhile!! Sandy rules!! And I love reading your reviews Doc!

Hi Jacob!!!

happy fourth of july to all the americans on this thread. as you barbecue today, please raise a glass to doctor casino for his amazing readings into these unknown classic rock classics, and another to sandy for her incredible photos and stories.

oh hell, let's make it three glasses.

SONG #10: GEORGE THOROGOOD & THE DESTROYERS "ONE BOURBON, ONE SCOTCH, ONE BEER"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ECZMvbLxg

"one bourbon, one scotch, one beer" is actually a medley of two songs, john lee hooker's 1951 "house rent boogie" and amos milburn's 1953 "one scotch, one bourbon, one beer" (which hooker later rewrote as "one bourbon, one scotch, one beer"; that's the version thorogood was apparently most familiar with).

thorogood seems like he'd be familiar which many versions of hooker

What I've always found weird/uncanny about this song is that Thorogood's delivery is so cribbed from Hooker that he winds up mimicking particularly Chicagoan cadences, to the point where at times he reminds me of Bernie Mac.

"one bourbon, one scotch, one beer" is actually a medley of two songs, john lee hooker's 1951 "house rent boogie" and amos milburn's 1953 "one scotch, one bourbon, one beer" (which hooker later rewrote as "one bourbon, one scotch, one beer"; that's the version thorogood was apparently most familiar with).

― fact checking cuz, Friday, July 4, 2014 2:16 AM (12 hours ago)]

No discussion of George T should be without a link to this thread: GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DELAWARE DESTROYERS CERTIFIED HOOD CLASSICS. Watch for Tracer Hand's appearance.

One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer: Oh god, well right off the bat, I just don't know how much more blueshammer boogie I can take. This one is giving me seeeeerious deja vu, but that doesn't really mean much - I feel like there are 80,000 songs that sound exactly like this one, and I hate most of them. This is better-recorded than the Animals but the blues cosplay feels just as forced and pointless to me: does George Thorogood actually talk like this? Why the put-on? Also his character is just lame, he sounds whiny, I'm tiiired! - ahh, shut up. Just not at all invested in his quest to make rent money. Not sure how eight minutes of this is going to play out - this better be leading into one interesting drunken adventure.

Actually, this would be totally fine without the vocals - another steady toe-tapper, love the dust that gets kicked up around 2:50 - at least the band convey the sense that this story is inching towards something. Reminds me of "Institutionalized," a much better song: "All I wanted was a bourbon, just one scotch, and one beer - and she wouldn't give it to me!"

Annnnnd we've arrived at the bar, and the title. Still not much fun being had, he just kinda marches in there and drinks these three things all at once? In order? Seems kinda robotic. Is anybody else even in this bar? "Well, maybe something happens to you on the way to work?" "NO! Nothing happens!" I do like the particular delivery of the title at 4:00, locking in with the band, gets closer to some kind of intensity, and to the extent that this guy's scary he's at least interesting. Would much rather have a beer with the Breeze though, or even the guy who's bad to the bone, since he at least seems to be laughing at himself. Wait, did he just say he can't drink any more because he'll get gas?! Oh man, if this was more of a "Too Pooped To Pop" or "Can't Do Sixty No More" kinda song, we'd be onto something.

Is it just me or did half the band leave when the solo started? Again has this kinda demo-ish quality. Was this just a three-piece band the whole time and the rhythm guy is having to try and fill all the space with these random little flourishes? Trying a bit of this, a bit of that - I like it when it's a little chuggier (6:45), picking up speed, picking up energy, okay... and now the story starts again, dammit. ....and, after a couple more minutes, it's over.

Big thumbs down for me. Just not my kinda thing at all, and way too long to have so few ideas. Really makes me miss your Brill Building types, people actually working on lyrics for a while and actively fighting to keep something short and sweet. I get the idea of having space to spread out into a bar-room anthem or whatever but there's just nothing to pay off the length, no memorable episodes in the story, no climax, nothing. Actually makes all of the title drinks seem less appealing.

Lol @ "blues cosplay"

He's not Hooker or Milburn, but that don't confront me.

Blues cosplay

http://youtu.be/N9TvsURM75U

i had forgotten how long this song was. but that might be because back when i used to hear it more on the radio, i rarely made it to the end because, yeah, there's absolutely no payoff. it's almost an anti-payoff, really, 'cause i like the "rent" part of the song more than the "bourbon" part.

the amos milburn original is a great urbane jump blues number that doesn't have much in common with the thorogood version. in george's hands, it sounds like a title dreamed up by the delaware destroyers' SEO department, tailor-made for classic rock clicks. "you won't believe which THREE DRINKS this impoverished rock musician ordered in one trip to the bar."

So it's like The Beatles cover of Little RIchard's version of "Kansas City," which was a medley of the original Wilbert Harrison song with Richard's own "Hey Hey Hey Hey."

different, though, in that the beatles called it "kansas city/hey hey hey hey" and credited all the writers. thorogood left out the title of one song and the writer of the other.

Just listened to the Milburn - now that's got something to it. Slow night at the bar, smoke drifting through the room, a guy unloading his troubles to his bartender in a way I can relate to: little small-talk bursts in and around his drink orders. And, crucially, the over-ordering of three drinks at once is a quietly undersold punchline of sorts. I only want one little thing: too much to drink.

The Thorogood approach could work if they'd sat down and worked on it a little bit - I think it would require the larger narrative to be really over the top and comical - the mob is after him, disco dancers set his roof on fire, he just won a vacation to Love Canal, that kind of thing, so his only refuge is this oddly silent, empty bar: gimme three drinks, and fast!

IRL LOL at "blues cosplay" and "delaware destroyers' SEO department"

"blues cosplay" is so golden

classic

dr c your review almost made this track's existence worth it

otm

"All I wanted was a bourbon, just one scotch, and one beer - and she wouldn't give it to me!"

!

The Thorogood approach could work if they'd sat down and worked on it a little bit - I think it would require the larger narrative to be really over the top and comical - the mob is after him, disco dancers set his roof on fire, he just won a vacation to Love Canal, that kind of thing, so his only refuge is this oddly silent, empty bar: gimme three drinks, and fast!

^^^^^

awww, thanks y'all, you'll stop me though if it becomes some terrible indulgent bloggy thing though, right?

just for the record, for the duration of some dude's poll it would be pretty cool to hit me with some, y'know, good songs - not that my ballot needs any more material! I am going to try my best to keep "Flirtin' With Disaster" in there even if it's at #100, just on principle.

just for the record, for the duration of some dude's poll it would be pretty cool to hit me with some, y'know, good songs

noted!

Damn, there goes the Eagles...

my review, in advance:

http://dudespaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/dudehatestheeagles.jpg

(exceptions: "Life in the Fast Lane," which may make my ballot, and "Already Gone," which at this point probably will not)

Okay, I thought there was more than "Heartache Tonight" on the thread list. You probably have heard it before, but didn't cop it as the Eagles. It's a good 'in, Walsh goes to town on slide.

in the hope of un-ruining an independence day that has been ruined by eight minutes of blues cosplay, let's listen to four minutes of electric-piano-fueled pop-rock that has been the subject of more than a little lobbying on some dude's poll. this is the lone hit from jefferson starship's freedom at point zero, the first album made by a band called jefferson anything without either grace slick or marty balin, and it will be on my ballot.

SONG #11: JEFFERSON STARSHIP "JANE"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXmrMMYpQL4

FUCK YES

Somewhere on YouTube there's a live on TV take of "Jane" from when Grace reupped that's all kinds of silly fun.

if you vote for this you also have to vote for "fantasy" right?

i listened to some other songs from that album to see if they rocked as hard as "Jane" & was very disappointed

possibly ruined by how much it reminded me of the band "fun." though fun. are obv way more awful.

if you vote for this you also have to vote for "fantasy" right?

it's hard to argue with that. this fantastic spotify playlist called URGENT (not by me) consists entirely of songs you should probably vote for if you're voting for "jane."

"Jane" fucking rules.

ok that's going on my ballot.

It's my Platonic ideal for Classic Rock Cheese.

whoa, I had no idea that "Jane" was a Jefferson Starship song.

i had to go to the store this afternoon - blasted "Jane" both ways. AWESOME

xposts to Grisso Mccain upthread:

is this the live tv version? grace is tweaaaaked it's so hilar

http://youtu.be/zPRN89El7DQ

Sad that Find Your Way Back isn't getting as much love, but if I'm being honest with myself Jane will go top 10 on my ballot and FYWB probably won't.

can't access that URGENT playlist for whatever reason :(

XP To Veg

YES! I hadn't seen it w/the introductions by Father Guido Sarducci, but that's it. Had thought it was from some European TV show, but no, it was "Fridays".

While verifying that clip, I found this one: http://youtu.be/0PwG69620WA JS (w/Grace) in full Arena Rock Pomp. "From drug songs to love songs" Kantner says.

i listened to some other songs from that album to see if they rocked as hard as "Jane" & was very disappointed

True, but at least it has "Rock Music," sampled by both Public Enemy and De La Soul.

Jane: Well, this is a nice change of pace after all the bloozey breezes. The EIGHTIES loom, with clean, spacious production values and super-wailing vocals of the post-Boston, post-Heart school. The urgent ding-ding-ding-ding piano is very "Hold the Line" but the first thing in this that actually gets my attention is the "cat and a mouse" backing vocals, similar to the later "Jane, Jane, Jay-ane!" Also enjoying the little organ flair in the new section around 1:45 - just for a moment it's 1969 and this is a rock band as they were once understood.

I'm finding this whole procession oddly mechanical though - maybe it's the plodding forward momentum of the drum-and-piano combo, since there are a lot of different sections and some nice surprises (like: the doodle-oo-DOW, doodle-oo-DOW guitar punch combo at 2:22). But really it feels like me trying to write songs in ACID - paint in this same beat loop for the whole length of the song and try to paste variety on top of it. There's maybe also something slightly exhausting about the emotional intensity always being turned up so high... this vocalist doesn't really sell any kind of highs and lows in this story, it's always JAAANE!!!!! JAAAANE!! no matter what he's actually saying - with the noted exception of the 'retro' bridge as I saw it above.

Overall, okay. I can see if I'd heard this a bunch of times I would have more of a relationship with it and it could be some kind of fist-pumping intensity anthem but I've already got my share of those.

I have to say, I know "Jane" exclusively from Wet Hot American Summer and have never heard it on the radio.

i listened to some other songs from that album to see if they rocked as hard as "Jane" & was very disappointed

Ha, I don't mind Freedom at Point Zero. (It's no Red Octopus, of course, but what is?)

Jane has that great 70s vibe, where it still has all the ambitious arrangements and extended structures of primo psychedelia but all the edges and every surface has been buffed for maximum rollerrink enjoyment. This will prob get placed on my ballot right alongside Never Been Any Reason and Magic Man and Fox on the Run (I know...). There's a whole subgenre of European post-Kyuss stoner bands that cop this stuff on the reg.

There's a whole subgenre of European post-Kyuss stoner bands that cop this stuff on the reg.

― noir-ish need apply (Drugs A. Money), Saturday, July 5, 2014

wait what? talk to me here... does this need a thread?

I might be overstating a little bit but I wd follow Fastnbulbous' s blog and maybe the Obelisk. Colour Haze is prob the big one. I think some of the Sungrazer stuff mined this vibe too

The urgent ding-ding-ding-ding piano is very "Hold the Line"

it's also, as noted above, very aldo nova "fantasy." and it reminds me in a way of billy joel's "all for leyna." if you were a pianist in the late '70s or early '80s, you apparently were required to do this at least once.

and i'm a sucker for all of those songs. i see your points, dr. c, on the mechanical nature of "jane," and on mickey thomas' pedal-always-to-the-metal vocal approach (you're not the first to accuse him of this). but the electric charge from the piano and the rhythm guitar made me hair stand on end the first time i heard it, and it still does all these years later.

thankin u DAM. colour haze is pushing my buttons good.

here's a longtime ILM fave from a british invasion band, improbably recorded a few years after what should have been their expiration date. it was the who's last charting single in the u.s., and it wasn't much of a charter at that (#68). it doesn't sound much like any other who single. but it's been a staple of their live sets ever since, and classic rock radio has latched onto it, with good reason, as the go-to 1980s who track.

SONG #12: THE WHO "EMINENCE FRONT"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yuOw5k5_OMY

hmm. can't see the video. trying again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yuOw5k5_OM

why the hell did I cut that from my ballot? was probably in my top 130 or so.

I dig it, but I am kinda mildly uncomfortable with it, prob just because I like the sound of the orig band with Ox & Moonie and this just sounds so far from them somehow? idk. I do like the groove though!

Sounds more like 80's eric clapton than the Who though, to my ears.

eric clapton has songs like this??

Always avoided 80s Who but when I discovered this song I became a huge fan of it. I discovered it while doing the Flight School missions on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Entwistle doesn't play on this?

He does. It's the only time he really dug into the slap-funk approach.

serious? i was always under the impression it was oxless

here's a longtime ILM fave from a british invasion band, improbably recorded a few years after what should have been their expiration date. it was the who's last charting single in the u.s., and it wasn't much of a charter at that (#68). it doesn't sound much like any other who single. but it's been a staple of their live sets ever since, and classic rock radio has latched onto it, with good reason, as the go-to 1980s who track.

meanwhile "Athena" has been forgotten, hasn't it?

It's not really thumb-forefinger slap and pop -- it's pretty much his typewriter technique (a sort of slapping with the fingers) playing the sort of notes slap n' poppers would. Entwistle played weird.

It's too bad they didn't do more in this vein- this song rules.

It's a put-on!

It's not really thumb-forefinger slap and pop -- it's pretty much his typewriter technique (a sort of slapping with the fingers) playing the sort of notes slap n' poppers would. Entwistle played weird.

― Three Word Username, Sunday, July 6, 2014 3:09 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

True, and I remember an interview with Entwistle where he said something like "Larry Graham and I have agreed to disagree on who came up with it first" (even though the techniques aren't the same).

serious? i was always under the impression it was oxless

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, July 6, 2014 2:58 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nope, this was recorded in 1982, and Entwistle died in 2002. His debts never allowed him the luxury of leaving the Who voluntarily. In fact, all of their 90s tours were pretty much only done to get John out of debt.

meanwhile "Athena" has been forgotten, hasn't it?

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, July 6, 2014 3:07 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I haven't heard it on any radio, cr or otherwise, since 1983. And it did much better in the charts (#28).

I have heard Athena on the radio but just once.

lol at DMX just rapping over "Jane"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvfhFpbHDyU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2N_muIh_NU

those horns on "Athena" are dreadful

Eminence Front: Great Moderne-ish sleeve. Way better than the unintentionally pathos of the parent album. Dig the "No One Is To Blame" opening drum machine and now this grooooooovy space soundtrack! Kinda Commodore 64, Marble Madness-y. Love the slow slow build this has. I was expecting something much louder and stormier, "Eminence Front" kinda suggesting a weather pattern, big dark doughy clouds of guitar closing in, but actually this is closer to the other thing I expected just based on the title's rhythm: "Lunatic Fringe."

Yeah, the Who layin' down a groove! Kind of a natural step from "Baba O'Riley" in terms of the synth arpeggio really being the foundation of the whole track - is there anything in their catalog in between the two that develops this evolutionary line? I'm again reminded of Robert Palmer on Clues, but I suppose Bowie or Eno might be a midwife here in demonstrating how this kind of thing might work within the core competencies of an old-school rock band.

The chorus funks it up a little more - the way they holler out "It's an eminence front!" makes me feel like I'm in a slightly stiff P-Funk outtake: Livin' and jivin' - an eminent skin, he's in! It fits the dressed-to-kill show-off, strutting scene described here. So this is all post-Moon, I guess? I wonder what he would have done with this as a drummer, or if they'd have even gone this route with him still on board (thinking of REM's sometimes-bright, sometimes-desperate forays into sequenced backing tracks after Bill Berry's departure). But whatever: I like the contrast between the taut rhythm section, and Townshend on guitar and vocals, slightly rough around the edges and thus slightly out of place. Feels like it supports the vibe of the song - the ill-fitting guests at these increasingly ice-cold, brightly-lit parties in fine townhouses, the twirly synth changing the world around a band. Or: a prescient "Big Shot" for the 80s; it could have slotted into the Wall Street soundtrack right after the hilariously on-point use of "This Must Be The Place."

I also love the suggestive, scene-setting approach to the present-tense lyrics. Something sinister about it all. Maybe these people are all "hiding" behind the eminence front... or maybe they're actually hiding: people struggle to forget the apocalypse, convince themselves that they're up in the hills skiiing for pleasure and not because the speedboat bandits hold the coastal lowlands. Dressed to kill. Anyway, though... this is really cool. Way better than most of the post-Who's Next Who that I've heard, most of which seems a little too comfortable and desperately in search of viable topics for a song, and none of which is as plausibly danceable as this. Wish this had been on my high school era Who greatest hits CD instead of "Squeeze Box" or "Join Together." Thumbs up.

Disclaimer, I listened to "Eminence Front" three times straight in a row, so sorry if that review got a little long-winded and/or garbled.

I dig the Terry Riley style keys on this.

Also love the way they just hang a guitar on Roger in the video. Gotta keep him busy.

Lol never heard of ox claiming he invented slapping and popping, doesnt sound v plausible to me

Kind of a natural step from "Baba O'Riley" in terms of the synth arpeggio really being the foundation of the whole track - is there anything in their catalog in between the two that develops this evolutionary line?

i was wondering the same thing when i posted "eminence front" yesterday, and now it occurs to me that townshend was working through some of that evolution on the who are you album. the title track, most notably, is based on a loopy synth track. he plays with sequencers in various other ways on "sister disco," "guitar and pen" and other songs on that album. "eminence front" is kind of a natural progression from there, but it's a particularly big leap along that progression. "who are you" sounds something like a "who" song, more or less. "eminence front," not so much. and i think "eminence front" is leagues better.

and those two songs, "who are you" and "eminence front," are the only two post-quadrophenia who songs i hear on classic rock radio these days. "athena" does indeed seem to have disappeared. can't recall hearing "you better you bet" anytime in recent memory either.

I'm again reminded of Robert Palmer on Clues

now that you mention it, i'm imagining palmer singing "eminence front." and now i really really want to hear that.

i love your take on the lyric, dr. c. i've been listening to this song for years, and i confess i've never known what an "eminence front" was supposed to be, and i've never tried that hard to puzzle it out. i just figured townshend was scatting along with a groove, and i loved the groove so much that i didn't really care what exactly he was scatting about. you've just made me like the song even more.

you need not apologize for any of your reviews in this thread.

Wondering if I should check out Who Are You - seen a million copies, always thought it was supposed to be kind of a dud (maybe Allmusic influence here). I gave "Athena" a spin - pleasant and not unmemorable, but naggingly unnecessary - much closer to what I'd expect a dinosaur band to be trying really hard at tossing off in 1981. Agreed - I like them sounding less and less like "The Who." I actually heard "You Better You Bet" in a four-song rock block the other night, as noted on the main thread.

re: Palmer in his electronic phase - I went through a huge Clues thing a year or so ago, it's not a great album but the highs are high and I just kinda like this sound/period. Love "Woke Up Laughing," "Looking For Clues," "What Do You Care" (which plays in hindsight like one of his big hits played too fast) and of course "Johnny and Mary." Another possible reference point would be McCartney II. I don't think "Temporary Secretary" has its shit quite as together as "Eminence Front," and Paul is really incapable of tossing something off without telegraphing the off-tossing in a wince-worthy dad way, but I love that record and it arguably travels just as far from musical 'home.' Would love a comp that only collects flop sequencer-integrating singles by 60s acts.

Yeah, the Who layin' down a groove! Kind of a natural step from "Baba O'Riley" in terms of the synth arpeggio really being the foundation of the whole track - is there anything in their catalog in between the two that develops this evolutionary line?

...

So this is all post-Moon, I guess? I wonder what he would have done with this as a drummer, or if they'd have even gone this route with him still on board

Great take on this, Dr. C!

There's a few things on Who Are You, as fcc noted, that use the similar keyboard/looped/sequenced approach. But for me, the real precedent in their catalog, in tone and arrangement, is "The Relay," which also answers the "What would Moon do?" question:
http://youtu.be/yn8pKorgQ6Q

never liked who are you very much. it sounds like an album of very well recorded retreads, rejects and last gasps, by a band that knows these are retreads, rejects and last gasps.

clues and mccartney II are both albums i half love and wholly admire. the palmer single i've been obsessing on lately is "best of both worlds," which has nothing at all do to with this discussion, except that even in his rockiest days, he was thinking about beats differently than most other radio rockers. dfa records should put together that 60s-acts-doing-flop-sequencer-singles comp. i would buy.

Was Face Dances supposed to be a pun on lap dances?

According to the liner notes

The album's original title was simply The Who. Face Dances was a last minute substitution. Pete Townshend: "There was a girl that I knew and she was sitting looking in the mirror and she had a match between her teeth (which she was moving to a beat) while she was doing her eyes. I said to her 'face dances' and she just laughed. It was only later that someone pointed out to me that in the Dune trilogy there are a group of characters called 'face dancers,' sort of like chameleons; they can change completely for special purposes. That must have stuck in my head because I really loved the first one."

I'm not a Dune head, but I'm pretty sure they do not appear in the first book. I like the idea of Townshend trying to play down his fandom though. It's an Arrakis Front!

dr. c, you better get yourself a partner and go down to the concert or the local bar for our next entry, the bob seger salute to old time rock and roll that isn't, in fact, "old time rock and roll" and which has never, to my knowledge, caused tom cruise to dance in his underwear.

SONG #13: BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND "ROCK AND ROLL NEVER FORGETS"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ_kYEDZVno

is there anything in their catalog in between the two that develops this evolutionary line?

I think it's more in Townshend's solo stuff, especially on Empty Glass. If I recall, there's more along these lines in the Scoop collections of demos, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVfCDrb9NQw

Rock and Roll Never Forgets: Strong start. This kinda raspy voice and talking about the past, sorta plays the "Ooh La La" card, lay it on me, grizzled wise man! The band is bopping along happily; this kind of unambitious bar-band rock I can kinda get behind, as at least plausibly being fun to play. And if the promise is that rock and roll never forgets, it seems crucial that the band make rock worthwhile, but not stretch the envelope too much. This has a really good hook in the "Come back baby" - without that, none of this would be worth the ride, but with it, the whole thing is muuuuch more refreshing than "Old Time Rock and Roll," which just seems like a harangue by comparison.

Not quite as convinced by the break here, with the miscellaneous grunting, throat-clearing, and, I guess, ad-libbing by Bob. The celebratory horns are welcome though, and as always I dig the sheen on the multitracked vocals. I have to give this credit for not boring me, at four minutes long. Actually, that's probably the right length on principle: rock and roll should be two to three minutes, but this is an invocation to return to the fold - the eternal promise, re-extended to a straying lamb - and it needs a little more time to make its case. A Chick tract.

I also give it points for the strength of the concept... not just a generic rock and roll anthem as I sorta figured from the title, but actually going with the plot the title implies. You thought you were too old for rockin', but..you're not, and rock will still give you the things it always did. As a 32-year-old usually too ready with excuses not to get into my kicks, y'know, I dig that. Minus points for the story not getting much more fleshing out - I miss the "yeah, I'm getting away with this" lyricist of "Katmandu," though "all Chuck's children" is cute. Thumbs up! Really wasn't expecting to like this, but it's charmed me.

And that Townshend song is cool, bendy, thanks for the heads up. Not as badass as "Eminence Front" by any means but nice, and again, nice to hear him doing something different.

Man, this is on the same album as "Night Moves"? Is it all that good? Should I own a Bob Seger record?

YES

GODDAMMIT

YES

yes, that's a great album

and these are some great reviews. I'm really enjoying them (even when I don't agree)

Very rare is the artist who a. never topped his Christmas novelty song and b. is still pretty goddamn good on everything else.

Yes, very rare. Non-existent even.

Gene Autry is existent!

So's Bob Seger, ya dum dum! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3tJXb3mGT4&feature=kp

One of the great ILM revelations (for me) has been the discovery (or "columbusing," I guess) of early Seger. Doctor Casino, you really should check out Myonga Von Bontee's comp of his pre-Silver Bullet Band stuff that was inspired by, and then overwhelmed, this thread:

Bob Seger Reissue News

The boot got a writeup in The Guardian and placed 111th in that year's Pazz & Jop

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2010/dec/29/bob-seger-detroit-rock

And it's currently available on Tyler's fantastic boot blog:

http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/86612418452/never-mind-the-bullets-bob-seger-1966-1974

Seger's hit records are also very good. He's got a two-disc best-of that's definitely worth checking out.

xpost I knew you meant Seger, just happen to disagree

Do you disagree about the awesomeness of "Sock It To Me Santa" (in which you case you are objectively wrong) or about the quality of the rest of his career?

This has a really good hook in the "Come back baby" - without that, none of this would be worth the ride

this is key.

Man, this is on the same album as "Night Moves"? Is it all that good? Should I own a Bob Seger record?

yes! i love both night moves and the commercially even bigger followup, stranger in town. but since we're talking about night moves right now, let's pick up the needle and move it over about half an inch, and let you decide for yourself!

SONG #14: BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND "THE FIRE DOWN BELOW"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VX3_iT2z3Y

i love about half of myonga's early-seger comp, and find the other half a little cheesy. absolutely worth hearing.

really disappointed this Christmas song isn't a blatant "Santa Claus Never Forgets" a la "Run Run Rudolph" - but it is totally rockin'! And funny.

Thanks for the links and recommendations everyone. Realizing Seger actually had a totally legit career as a relatively old-time rock-and-roller makes all his pleas for the genre feel much more justifiable. Cracking open the MVB comp and holy shit, this is wild.

this rules

So's Bob Seger, ya dum dum!

(in which you case you are objectively wrong)

First of all, calm yourself down.

Second, Seger's career up to around 1982 is transcendent, and the "he never topped this early single" thing is hipster garbage talk

if the second half of that comp is cheesy then i would wager you are yet to experience real cheese

Been loving this thread (and want Sandy to start her own!) and it's an honour to be invoked herein :D

You are a national hero for assembling/distributing that comp.

otm

and want Sandy to start her own!

also otm

You are a national hero for assembling/distributing that comp.

SOMEBODY HAD TO (since Seger never will)

sorry y'all i'll be back in a bit, two plus two is on my mind and i got some thinkin to do

p.s. THANK YOU mvb! I never would have had the slightest idea about this stuff.

And I in turn thank tyler, scott, xhuxk etc. - basically everybody who had a hand in the thing. Everyone on that "reissue news" thread really.

You are a national hero for assembling/distributing that comp.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, July 8, 2014 9:50 AM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

International hero. I seem to remember the return address on the disc he sent me was in Canada. I lost the disc, unfortunatley, after listening to it about 100 times.

B-b-but I spent a third of my life living on the Michigan border! (Three different towns, both peninsulas)

Multiple x-posts: careful who you're calling hipster, son.

am i about to be challenged to a duel?

Hang your Seger regressivism on any tree, geek.

Okay, before this explodes into a rockin' barroom brawl: Fire Down Below!

Yeah, this is all right. Maybe I'm predisposed to like it based on this other quality Seger, but it's sounding really good on headphones, nice solid recording of some nice solid playing. Not so into this 'list of people' kinda songwriting, adds up to a kind of bland scenario: they're different people, but they're alike! Seems like you could get to the same point with a little more interrelationships in the story, the banker could be casting shade at the poor man before he's taken over by the fire down below. What's this about again? Strippers? Or they're not all at the same place, I guess, some are in Berkeley and some are in Queens? Somewhere there's somebody ain't treatin' somebody right... wait, what's going on? I thought the fire was going to be about sex but is it actually wrath? What these guys have in common is not treating somebody right?

Wow, that was baffling. The one! two! three! into the solo has renewed my interest though. Another kinda sudden ending - my one lasting beef with Rock & Roll Never Forgets (now that I've listened to it like seven times in the last twelve hours) is how it just wanders away from the last chorus and ends without fanfare - surely if rock and roll never forgets, it'd show the 31-year-old sweet sixteen a better time than that. In this one it just seems like they ran out of energy, time or ideas - gimme a little more solo, a little more 'fire' at least.

Second listen, hoping I can follow the story a little better. The rock-n-rolling is probably strong enough to carry it just as an instrumental, with Seger's rasping as just another instrument, so in any case this isn't killing my interest in picking up the album. So, okay, there are street lights, here come these girls... what is this all about? Are they going to see a band? Why would all these lawyers and bankers be there? I feel like I'm lost in a pronoun here, the "it" that's never gonna stop. I do like that it happens in Moline, and I guess at this point I'm pretty sure this is about prostitution, an "oldest profession" kinda things... which makes the implications of bad treatment kinda grosser. At best I'd guess it's that the johns' wives aren't "treating them right" sexually but that's not very appealing as a narrative. Yeah, blame Mrs. Lockhorn... yeesh.

Thumbs up for the band, thumbs down for the lame lyric. "Fire down below" is too strong a phrase to get wasted on a lame cliche. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it really would have done well as another paean to the eternal appeal of rock: get all these horny men and women to the Bob Seger concert and let the music stoke the fires. Last verse could wrap up how the night ends up: Steve and Sally on the pinball table / Jack and Jill are in the john, etc. With a little rewrite here and there it could also have made a good Tums commercial.

chlamidya, iirc

:)

Another kinda sudden ending - my one lasting beef with Rock & Roll Never Forgets ... is how it just wanders away from the last chorus and ends without fanfare

this seems to have been a common feature of '60s and '70s rock, either through fades or other means, that doesn't seem to happen so much anymore, as if they realized they were about to run out of vinyl space and they better do something quick.

What these guys have in common is not treating somebody right?

yeah that's a weird, possibly creepy, possibly not, line, which makes things suddenly darker without offering much of a clue as to who, what or why. maybe a throwaway line. maybe not.

first time i ever heard "the fire down below" was at the boston garden, with 15,000 people screaming the title every time it came around. it was my first real rock concert, and it seemed unbelievably loud. it was the big singalong moment of the night. i had no idea what they were saying, but i wanted to join in. i asked my friend what everyone was saying and i couldn't hear him at all, so i started singing something like "she's got zfgfh gwyrwer unghf mirwoowgh!," and it felt good, and it seemed about right, so i kept singing it. i didn't find out the real words till the next morning.

Hahaha - "and it felt good, and it seemed about right, so i kept singing it" - have done this so many times and it's usually permanently affected my understanding of the song. A cover of "Boris the Spider" rendered it the haunting question: Who is the Spider?, "Gold Star For Robot Boy" was Can't stop the robot, boy!, etc.

The running-out-of-vinyl thing is pretty plausible tbh - I mean when it's a fade-out, presumably that suppresses a longer jam and makes the track the "right" length. (Or it just hides the moment when everybody screwed up or started arguing with each other, etc...)

I think the "not treating right" thing is creepy no matter what the plot is, but it's certainly way more creepy if we're to assume that the bankers, et al., are out there mistreating the prostitutes.

Possibly inspired Don or Glenn to write "Heartache Tonight"

HEARTACHE TONIGHT
GLENN: …and then they sold 12 million records, and everything changed! As Bob Dylan said, “They deceived me into thinking I had something to protect.” And that’s what happened with us. We made it, and it ate us. The Long Run became, indeed, the long run. It was a difficult record to make overall, but I loved “Heartache Tonight.” Whenever Bob Seger was in L.A., he always used to come over and visit me, and he’d visit Don, too, and play us stuff he was working on — and we would do the same. I seem to remember that I had the verse thing going on for “Heartache Tonight,” and I was showing it to Seger, and we were jammin’ — I think we were jammin’ on electric guitars at LaFontaine — and then he blurted out the chorus. That’s how “Heartache” started. Then Bob disappeared, and J.D., Don, and I finished that song up. No heavy lyrics — the song is more of a romp — and that’s what it was intended to be.

"Fire Down Below" definitely about prostitution, FWIW.

Listen how Seger kicks out the "COME" in the chorus - a pretty unambigous double-entendre if ever there was one.

having parked in detroit for our last two entries, let's step over the border and take a look around canada. this next song is considered by wikipedia (and, therefore, by most of the internet) to be the unofficial first song of the '80s, since it was side 1, track 1 of an album, permanent waves, released on jan. 1, 1980. the song was named for the slogan of toronto's cfny-fm, one of the few stations that played rush early in their career. at the time, cfny-fm was an alternative/modern-rock station. now they're "the edge" and they play new rock.

SONG #15: RUSH "THE SPIRIT OF RADIO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Juv5Ifs2fFY