This is another tune that was on the birthday disc Lindsay burned for me in October.
As I listened, I kept thinking “man this sounds like Eddie Vedder.”
In fact on Christmas Day this year, we were sitting in the living room at Lindsay’s parents’ home (with Lindsay’s shuffle plugged in, of course) and Hunger Strike played and we both agreed it really did sound like Vedder.
Well, that is because it is Vedder.
Temple of the Dog were indeed a grunge band who released one disc in 1991, with Vedder, Mike McCReady, and Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, and Jeff Ament–who would collectively release big disc, 10, as Pearl Jam a year later–along with Soundgarden core Chris Cornell.
The album was a tribute to the late Andrew Wood, singer for Mother Love Bone out of whom Temple of the Dog was born, and then the evolution completed with Pearl Jam or Soundgarden, depending upon who you were and where you went.
As with the best of Pearl Jam, I would call this song haunting. And, I know there are those who really dislike PJ, and well, likes are subjective. I happen to really like them. If nothing else they are excellent musicians and songwriters, even if not your cup of tea.
Folk great Pete Seeger passed away today, ideally peacefully, at the age of 94.
Seeger might not be thought of as a rocker, but he represented the spirit and attitude that any serious musician–or artist, for that matter–held and spoke, unashamedly about any cause.
Seeger was a founding member of the Weavers–who recorded probably had their biggest hit in the 50’s with Goodnight Irene by Lead Belly–some of whom were blacklisted during the McCarthy era for their beliefs.
However, in the 60’s, with the emergence of Bob Dyan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul, and Mary, Seeger found company and even a mentor-ship as his songs If I Had a Hammer, Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, and Turn! Turn! Turn! found their way to radio play.
Seeger, who played with Woody Guthrie as well as Lead Belly (with whom he co-wrote So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You along with fellow activist and musician, Lee Hays) was a pioneer in roots recording, and equally important, the Civil Rights Movement that grabbed hold in the 60’s, and is really still going on.
Seeger was a great gentleman by all accounts, and a man dedicated to humanity and equality and freedom for all human beings: something I like to think all artists, and especially rockers, strive for.
But, in thinking about Seeger, I could not help but think of the clip of him in Martin Scorsese’s fabulous American Masters documentary about Bob Dylan, No Direction Home.
Seeger is so sweet and perplexed and definite about wanting the cables to the electric guitars of Mike Bloomfield and Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, in 1965, that it is funny to think how we all as human beings have our limits and adjustments.
For, Seeger was indeed a progressive politically. And, as a guy who quit the Weavers because they had signed an agreement to perform a cigarette jingle, he was certainly principled. But, I guess some progress, like cranked up Mike Bloomfield blues licks were hard to take for a middle-aged banjo player.
The world was a better place with, and because of Pete Seeger. And, it is sadder with him gone.
I did try to find the clip from No Direction Home, but couldn’t (although I highly recommend the movie and soundtrack) but, I did find this lovely clip of Seeger performing Dylan’s Forever Young.
And, well, remember, attitude does not have to be in-your-face Ted Nugent. A quiet message is always the most powerful, and Seeger was the purveyor of just that.
Modest Mouse is a band I really like a lot, and yet I forget to listen to even more than I like them for some reason (I do own a couple of their CD’s).
Not so niece Lindsay, who keeps me honest and dropped this killer cut on the birthday CD she burned for me. In fact, that disc is so good it prompted me to create the “Lindsay Says” category which I tagged to this piece.
But, I figure I can share the stuff she turns me onto to:
Give credit where credit is due.
Show that she is keeping me current on new shit (and that I am trying to keep up).
Make sure the site covers some bands more on the College list, which is always more interesting that what they play on the standard formats.
Feels like a million years since I posted one of these, when in reality it has only been a couple of weeks. But, travel and work and all that life shit kept me distracted and out of my groove.
However, during that hiatus, I remembered this great Garland Jeffreys cut from his 1977 album, Ghost Writer. I bought the vinyl when it came out (of course still have it) on the strength of both this song and the other tune on the disc that got radio play, 35 Millimeter Dreams.
But, I will save posting that tune for another day, for I have a fun theme idea for it.
I do understand that the Circle Jerks covered Wild in the Streets which is great, cos it is a terrific little cut. Note, if you are a fan of The Boss, there is also a YOUTUBE of a live version of the song with Springsteen playing along (it was part of a benefit for Parkinson’s Disease).
However, this version, with Jeffreys’ original band totally cranks.
There have been more than a few discussions about KISS and their music and what is real rock and roll since we started up here around nine months or so ago.
For the record, I have seen KISS live, in 1979, and they did little or nothing for me (though I did get some great photographs of the band).
However, as I am about a decade older than my two friends who are the biggest fans of the band I know–Steve Moyer and Scott Engel–I will admit that just age and experience had a lot to do with my indifference to the band.
I got the Beatles and the Stones and the Who and the Kinks when they were new, and then a few years later I lived in the bay area when the San Francisco bands hit it.
So, one of the things at play here is that the bands we love and which form the basis for our likes and dislikes, make their impression during our adolescence and in that context, I was too old for KISS.
That said, I still don’t really think that much of them as a band, but I also know there are those who hated the Moody Blues when they were my favorites, and well, look how Bob Dylan was received when he plugged in. And, all Dylan was trying to do was keep his art growing.
Anyway, over the past week, KISS has come to my radar in a couple of odd ways.
First, the previously noted Mr. Engel invited me to come play miniature golf in Las Vegas when we were both there for the Fantasy Sports Trade Association Winter Meeting.
The kicker was this pee-wee golf course is dedicated to KISS. Which kind of makes me like them (I love miniature golf) and kind of hate them (how much shilling does Gene Simmons need to do?).
However, a few days after I got home from Vegas, Diane and I were snuggled in bed, watching the tube before we fell asleep, and the Road to Europe episode of Family Guy came on.
Now, as with the miniature golf, I have mixed emotions. On one hand, again, sigh, KISS all over the fucking place.
OTOH, we both love Family Guy.
And, this episode was particularly sweet with us finding out that Peter is proud of his wife Lois for “doing” KISS (we find out as an aside that she also did the Geils band).
I almost feel like a foolish old man putting this clip up.
I kept hearing this song on KTKE and I kept thinking it was really old Jack White and White Stripes.
So, I ask Lindsay a few months back if she knows Hold On by Alabama Shakes when I discover the truth about its source, and she says, rather nonchalantly, “oh, that got some airplay about a year ago.”
But, this song sticks with you. Steve, I know you are not in favor of geeky bespectacled women singers (I personally dig women who wear glasses) but this song builds really well.
There is another clip from Austin City Limits a few months after this appearance where Brittany, the lead singer is playing a Gibson SG.
Either way, I really love this song. I keep humming it to myself (along with Dig for Fire) lately.
The Valley Girl references, as Nic Cage’s first film, reminded me of this great and funny YouTube of Mr. Cage losing it, which is what he largely does in his movies.
I will admit to being a big fan of the film Adaptation, in which Cage plays twin brothers, but, after watching that film with my niece Lindsay, she turned me onto this hysterical compilation clip of Cage out of control.
Over the months since RockRemnants was founded there has been discussion about the radio, both in listening to, and as in songs about.
I am still a big lover of radio. I still love listening to baseball on the radio, something that never seems to get old, and, with a station–like KTKE (101.5, in Truckee, Ca., and I cannot hype them enough–and a shuffle, I just am not that interested in subscribing to much.
So, I decided to try a list of songs about the radio. These are not necessarily the best, but they are indeed tunes I first heard over the tuner on my stereo, and they are the ones that came to mind as my favorites.
So, obviously, if you have suggestions or favorites, fire away.
PS-I considered putting Eddie Money’s Shakin’ on here, as it is a great radio and car song, and I do dig it. But, lately, all I have is the image of Eddie in those awful Geico (I guess “awful Geico” is redundant) commercials, and I just could not do it.
Road Runner (Modern Lovers): I don’t care what anyone says: This IS the best song about the radio, in fact it is the best riding in the car song listening to the radio, ever. Nothing else is close.
Mexican Radio (Wall of Voodoo): Just to show how terrific Road Runner is, I rank this song second among radio tunes, and it still isn’t close. And this song still kicks ass,which indicates how great The Modern Lovers are.
On Your Radio (Jackson): Part of what started these thoughts were Joe Jackson references in a couple of earlier pieces on the site. And, this is an excellent cut and terrific live performance. And, Joe plays a pretty mean harp.
Radio Radio (Costello): Also a great song, cynical Elvis at his best, and one that seems to work perfectly paired with Jackson.
Radio Free Europe (REM): I remember when I first heard this tune, when I first played my Murmer vinyl. I head heard a lot of REM hype, but I had yet to hear them, and when this song came on, I knew it was love.
Having a Party (Sam Cooke): I mistakenly referred to this song as Dancing with my Baby, but whatever you call it, this is so sweet, and Sam was so cool.
The Spirit of Radio (Rush): I recently wrote about this song as part of Night Music. Great to revisit, with a different live clip. Again, just a great song, and another one that is great with the car radio cranked up, way high.
Radio Wall of Sound (Slade): A fun tune, and one I know the least among this cluster, but I knew Steve would get a kick out of my putting it here.
Steve’s New Year’s article included a bunch of discs Mr. Moyer was considering blowing a bunch of holiday Amazon cash on.
Among the coveted was Joe Jackson’s terrific 1979 Look Sharp, a solid and even pretty diverse debut released during the hey day of Punk and the New Wave.
At first I dismissed Jackson as an Elvis Costello wanna be, but several songs from Look Sharp really nailed me. Is She Really Going Out With Him, Sunday Papers, and One More Time not to mention the great title cut made me buy the vinyl (I got the same issue as Peter, two 10″ discs) and the album was strong enough for me to easily take the plunge with Jackson’s second album, I’m The Man.
I felt Jackson’s second work was even stronger than his first, with the title track resting among my favorite Jackson tunes (it is also a song I played lead guitar on and sang with my first band, Mid Life Crisis). The album also had On Your Radio and the lovely and ironic It’s Different for Girls.
I bought Jackson’s next foray, Beat Crazy, and it did not do that much for me, but the eclectic musician and songwriter–who studied at Britain’s Royal Music Academy–followed that up with his Jumpin’ Jive Review, a wonderful homage to Cab Calloway and especially Louis Jordan.
Next for Jackson was Night and Day, a nod to pop and to Cole Porter, and an album that featured perhaps Jackson’s best known tune, Stepping Out and while there were still guitars and bass and 4/4 time in Jackson’s compositions, it was clear Jackson’s love for big bands and orchestrations was guiding his evolution as an artist.
By the way, Night and Day was again a very strong product, with diverse, tuneful, and thoughtfully constructed pop tunes. And, Stepping Out represented the first produced video by Jackson, who had eschewed the format that had become a staple in 1982, because he felt that video detracted from the music.
Jackson’s next work, Body and Soul again displayed the move towards a more refined sound well as jazz in a work that lovingly replicates the cover art of the 1957 release by Sonny Rollins, Sonny Rollins, Vol. 2. Body and Soul has also proved to be my favorite Jackson disc, and the one that made my Top 50 (which now seems like a Top 75) for the site here.
Jackson’s next work, Big World, sampled even further beats and rhythms of the world at large, while also displaying another aspect of the principled auteur, for though the album is a double disc, Jackson only felt he had enough quality material for three sides. So, side four is left intentionally blank.
From there Jackson generally moved more towards works that pushed towards fuller orchestrations, eventually delivering his Symphony #1 (1999) and though I stopped buying each of Jackson’s works, I did see Joe and the band on the heels of their Blaze of Glory tour in 1989, and they were beyond great. Tight, tuneful, and funny, with the goofy Jackson playing all kinds of instruments while he stalked around the stage, like a mad musical scientist dressed in a trench-coat, as his band simply smoked.
As noted, since then, Jackson has moved from the punky guitar driven sound that garnered notice, towards classical music (he has also done a bunch of soundtracks, including Mike’s Murder and Tucker), but comparing the literate and erudite Jackson with the likes of Billy Joel is not just wrong, it is criminal (sorry Gene).
One of the things I have noticed as the cluster of us contributing to the site have made our musical loves known, is some of us have a genre we love the most, or that we feel best represents what the site, as in Remnants of Rock, as opposed to country, or pop, or classical or salsa means, is that we have clear lines drawn about what qualifies.
And, while I understand this–and hell, guitar driven tunes are the ones that get me most as you can see by simply watching the I’m the Man vid–I think artists growing and pushing their vision is what keeps art, both theirs and ours, vital.
Joe Jackson is such an artist. Like Prince, or Joni Mitchell, or the Stones or Beatles, Neil Young, or even Dylan, Jackson has never been satisfied simply doing the same mishmash of tunes over and over again.
Rather he pushes and reinvents himself, and his work to keep both the music and himself growing, learning, and producing.
The results speak for themselves, whether he is your cup of Joe or not.
With the holidays behind us, I wonder how many of you heard enough of Brenda Lee’s standard, Rocking Around the Christmas Tree?
It is a fun song and the diminutive Lee (she was around 4’9″) could really belt out a tune. She had hits like I’m Sorry and All Alone am I, and played with some pretty good sessions guys.
As in, did you know that Boots Randolf provided the sax solo in Rocking Around the Christmas Tree and that Hank Garland played the guitar on the same tune.
So, how many of you remember Lee’s 1964 hit Is it True?
Lee, who was more popular in England before she really broke through in the states, recorded Is it True in London, at Decca studios, when BritPop was just breaking through, so the song is full of the sound.
Is it True? features Bobby Graham on drums, and Jimmy Page playing some killer guitar (the piano is also deadly), and was produced by Mickie Most, who also did work with Herman’s Hermits and The Animals, among others.
Here it is: Brenda belts, Bobby slams, and Jimmy wails.
