Music

Next Entries »

Nobody Likes Me

Tuesday, March 13th, 2007
Nobody likes me
It’s all my fault
Nobody likes me
Nobody likes me

“Oh yes we all like you”
“We like you a lot”
“Yes we all like you”
“Yes we all like you”

I never get a letter
“We have no time”
Never ever get a call from you
“We have no dime”

Neeeever call, never write
“Yes we do always try”
Make me cry all the night
“Sorry we made you cry”
Make me mad, Make me sad

Tell me true, what can I do?
“Way too late can’t make up”
“All the hate has built up”

“Alllright we all hate you”
“We hate you a lot”
“We hate all your family”
“We hate your dog Spot”
Even Spot?
“Yes”

Those words were sung by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame non-Inductee Alice Cooper, and they ring true now not only for him but for a number of deserving bands who have been overlooked by Hall of Fame induction committee.

Reading Chuck’s last post regarding Grandmaster Flash got me thinking about this. There’s a lot of controversy surrounding their induction, when the real controversy should be surrounding those overlooked bands who are worthy of induction. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five is the first hip-hop band to be inducted into the Hall, and they are very deserving of this honor. But Van Halen? Eddie can play guitar, but good as he is he’s not the great innovator everyone makes him out to be. Van Halen’s songwriting skills were mediocre at best. David Lee Roth didn’t even show up to the ceremony. The Ronettes? Talented as they were, they were merely a vehicle for Phil Spector. Seriously, I can think of many other bands that should have been inducted first.

1.) Alice Cooper. You could say that I’m biased toward him being inducted into the Hall because I’m a huge fan. That’s very well true, but the reason I’m a huge fan is because he’s good. His goth-glam style paved the way for much of the music that came after him. Without him there would be no KISS, Marilyn Manson (although I could live with that), Judas Priest, or any of the 70’s-present hard rock bands as we know them. The face of rock and roll would have been much different, probably much more boring. He was one of the innovators of the theatrical rock & roll stage show, frightening and enthralling concert goers since the early 70’s.

Aside form the image and theatrics, Alice Cooper along with the various incarnations of his band were accomplished songwriters. Bob Dylan himself has said that Alice is a very underrated songwriter. It’s easy to figure out why, too. People are too afraid to look below the surface. All they see is a long-haired, make-up wearing rocker who occasionally dresses in drag. And that’s what the Hall sees, too.

2.) KISS. I’ve never been a huge fan of the KISS phenomena. In recent years they seem to be a product of a great marketing firm rather than the hard rock band they started out to be. Nowadays you can buy just about anything with the KISS endorsement. I’ve seen KISS cologne, KISS wall clocks, KISS bedding and even a KISS coffin. Yeah, it might have gotten a bit out of hand.

Say what you will about them, though. Call them sell-out. Call them poseurs. Call them whatever you want to call them, but nobody can deny the impact KISS has had on the hard rock scene since their inception in the 1970’s. Not only did they have a stage show that people hadn’t experienced before, they had phenomenal guitar driven rock that was just awesome. Between the gravelly vocals of Gene Simmons and the range of Paul Stanley, KISS became an overnight sensation - and they’ve been rocking strong ever since. Their hard rock sound opened the gates for bands like Van Halen to get into the scene. But, again, overlooked by the Hall of Fame because they can’t see past the make-up.

3.) Rush. When I was first exposed to Rush, I hated them. I hated them for no reason whatsoever. I hated them because some guys I couldn’t stand in college loved them.

But, then I listened to them. I always called them nerd-rock because their sound is very technical, very precise. And that’s what’s great about them. They write and perform these technically-charged rock tunes which are at the same time good rock & roll. Rush paved the way for bands like INXS, Radiohead and Coldplay who will all make it into the Hall before them, if history keeps repeating itself.

Those are merely three of a number of bands being overlooked by the HOF committee. Some others who should have made it in long before Van Halen and ZZ Top (Yeah, they made it in somehow) are: Styx, Cheap Trick, Bad Company, Blue Oyster Cult, Jethro Tull, Peter Frampton, The Hollies - the more I list the angrier I get, and I don’t want to turn this into a rant.

As I said, I’m not trying to downplay the talent that’s already been inducted. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five deserves it. Hopefully their induction will pave the way for other deserving hip hop artists (Public Enemy, Run D.M.C.) to earn their rightful places in the hall. I just want to see those who are the most deserving get in.


Flash is in the Hall!

Monday, March 12th, 2007

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five are being inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tonight.
To all those who think that putting a hip hop act into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame “violates the sanctity” of the Hall obviously haven’t been there. If they had been they would have seen the New Kids on the Block exhibit.
As the innovators and inventors of hip-hop Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five deserve to be in there.


Double-Headed Gessle

Saturday, March 10th, 2007

When I buy a new album and put it on for the first time, I have a method. I grab a some beer, turn down the lights, maybe light a candle and put the music on. That way I can make sure I’m as comfortable as possible so I can absorb new sounds coming from my speakers.

So, last night I sat down with a sixer of Labatt Blue, and put on Per Gessle’s newest release called Son Of A Plumber.

For those of you who don’t know, Per Gessle is the male half (and chief songwriter) of the 80’s/90’s Swedish pup duo Roxette. He’s written many hit pop singles throughout the years including “The Look,” “Joyride,” and “It Must Have Been Love.” Whether you liked Roxette or not, to fully appreciate SOAP you have to go into it with an open mind, not expecting to hear a new Roxette album. Because it isn’t. It’s something so much different - and it’s something very good.

The album opens with a few upbeat tracks including the radio hit “Jo-Anna Says,” which is one of the few tracks on the album which reminds me at all of his work with Roxette. Then it goes into a number of shorter songs that flow into each other in a very similar way as Brian Wilson did with “Pet Sounds” in the late 60’s. Some of them are upbeat like “Speed Boat To Cuba” and some are more ambient, a good example of that being “Double-Headed Elvis.” Every track on the album compliments the one before and after it.

Gessle always says that The Beatles were one of his biggest influences, and you can hear it here. Much of the music seems to be a direct tribute to The Beatles - which I’m sure was in Gessle’s mind as he was writing it. They even get honorable mention in the title of the song “I Never Quite Got Over The Fact That The Beatles Broke Up” - a title which has nothing to do with the lyrics of the song.

Other highlights on the album include the beautiful, haunting instrumentals “Waltz For Woody” and “Kurt, The Fastest Plumber In The West.” There’s some good old-fashioned rock and roll on here too, the best being “Substitute” and “I Like It Like That” which blend very nicely with the dreamy “Late, Later On” and “Carousel.”

I’d recommend this album to anyone who likes rock & roll with a touch of ambiance. It’s a very good album to just sit back and enjoy. It’s a fun album, and I’m looking forward to hearing more music like this from Per Gessle in the future.


Next Entries »