Author Archives: Steve Moyer

Material Needed: Midnight Moses Volume II/I

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The batphone rings at my house when no one (mostly Peter) posts in 24 hours.

A while ago I posted that fantastic lip-synch video of Sensational Alex Harvey Band doing Midnight Moses – one of my all-time faves. Later I found this, the original Midnight Moses, also written by Alex Harvey, but pre-SAHB.

Over the past 20 years or so it’s been very common to re-do hard rock with orchestras, bluegrass outfits, horns, etc. But what genius it was to perform the reverse way back in the early 70s. Gotta love those Shaft-y guitars.

Don’t Drink Coffee: 2 Songs, 1 Lyric

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Been listening to a lot of Blue Oyster Cult lately. Specifically, the “black & white period” BOC, which is the first three albums – the real BOC. They followed with a great live album, which was essentially a review of the b&w period. Then they followed with Agents Of Fortune which was the transition album from the excellent, mysterious, fascinating BOC to the commercial, obvious, boring BOC. Then there was the album with Godzilla on it. Then they made about 10 more albums I don’t know or care about. (Kind of like the excellent early ZZ Top as compared to the boring beards and spinning guitars ZZ Top.)

I’ve always thought the debut album trails the masterpiece second and third albums, and I still do, but it’s been climbing lately.

But the reason we’re here is to highlight the genius of this track from the debut:

which uses the same lyrics as this track from Tyranny And Mutation. (Take note that Lamb does hint at Red And Black at the end.)

Notes:

1) What other two almost completely different songs share the same lyrics (not counting traditional lyrics or something like that)? The only thing I can think of are the two Thank You songs from Sly Stone, although that’s not quite the same as this.

2) Buck Dharma sure is a helluva lead guitarist. I had kind of forgotten about him. He sounds like a country chicken picker amidst a hard rock symphony, but it definitely works. I gotta do a Steveslist of my favorite lead players sometime. Pretty sure BD would make the cut.

3) There’s nothing else quite like the early BOC. If you know something else that sounds a lot like it, do tell. I did listen to the classic first Captain Beyond album the other day and there are some similarities there. Both bands arrived at the same time so if someone was copying, I don’t know who it was.

4) Can’t go without mentioning the best BOC album, the third – Secret Treaties. It’s the highlight of their mystique. Can’t tell you how many hours I spent as a young teen looking over that album cover with the Nazi overtones, particularly the slaughtered German Shepherds in the snow on the back, trying to figure out what the hell the words were/meant. Who needed love songs?

5) The Minutemen loved early BOC and so do I.

Scot/Scott: Midnight Moses

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Don’t know if we’ve mentioned Sensational Alex Harvey Band at all here at RR. Don’t know why I got to thinking about this gem that I covered in a hard rock band years ago.

SAHB did some other good stuff, but there’s also a lot of nonsense on their albums. This is their masterpiece, for me at least, a song that would likely make my all-time Top 25. It’s clearly the blueprint for Bon Scott AC/DC, up there with just about anything else in my book. (My favorite rock singer of all-time, Bon admitted mimicking Alex Harvey’s vocal style. As always, everything’s a copy of something else.)

It’s also a great example of how, for me, vocals are way more about melody and flow and iambic pentameter and sounding good together than about what’s being said. Do you know what the hell Alex is singing about? I have no idea. But it sounds great.

Alex Harvey died suddenly of a heart attack, now long ago in 1982. His birth date is before my dad’s.

This video is about as cool as a lip-synch can get:

Eating Food At A Certain Time Of Day: The Hans Condor Review

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I was really, really excited when I tried out my freshly magic-markered CD of the Hans Condor album that isn’t available on CD, Sweat, Piss, Jizz & Blood. Somethin’ Happenin’ Here, the opening track, strikes me as a cross between the Dolls, The Replacements and The Unband, as does the whole album. And that’s a good thing.

This first track is a bit more Stones-y than anything else included and I found myself unable to pull it out of player before it was complete. It’s rare these days that I can even get through most things I haven’t heard before. I’ve been through the album four times in its entirety now, so here goes:

The first four tracks absolutely smoke, climaxing with Conversations, my personal favorite. I wanted to include a youtube of that song but the only thing available is a barely-recognizable, horrible-audio live version from Philly in 2011. Believe me, it’s not worth finding, but the album version is.

Unfortunately, from there the album disintegrates into an early Replacements album, a great tune (Stitches), a good tune (Time, Rhyme, Reason) and an OK tune (Just Remember Have Fun) live among some jokesy-folksy stuff and, for me, a boring clunker (My Lyin’ Mind), which may be the consensus highlight of the album for reasons unknown to me.

Overall, I like the rawness, but certainly wouldn’t mind hearing the band with proper production either. Overall, I like the rawness, but I’d love a rhythm guitar in here too.

I’d rate the album somewhere between good and very good and it will give me something to listen to for a couple weeks. Those first four songs are mighty and I wish the rest of the album could keep up.

Gnip Gnop: The End Is Here

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Breaking news – Hans Condor is not available on CD. You have to download it. That’s the only option.

Meanwhile I involuntarily heard that godawful Taylor Swift song THREE times in its entirety yesterday while tooling around various locales.

It’s official – Music Has Passed Me By.

Played Dwight Yoakam and Entombed yesterday in desperation.

Snow Shovel: More Off!

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No one will watch this whole thing, but just watch until they start playing if nothing else. I’m struck by two things:

1) Keith Morris’ combover radical dreads hairstyle. (Perhaps it’s time to go skinhead, Keith.)

2) Something about Keith’s voice, mannerisms, etc. during the preamble remind me of. . .LAWR!

Bonus) Nice Mott shirt, bass player.

Palate Cleanse: It Didn’t Matter To Me

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With the exception of Jones/Costello, things have been on a dismal streak here at RR, from Beaver Brown (seriously? John Cougar-copy Beaver Brown?) to Super Bowl po(o)p and related other pop shit (does anyone actually click on those songs?). Proud to say I still don’t know the lady who sang the national anthem and I didn’t know who Missy Elliot was when she showed up either – I thought she was a man.

What I give you here is from the album I listened to on the way to my Super Bowl party yesterday. A lesson in iambic pentameter, the way the title rolls off the tongue makes the song all by itself.

Just say no to Shit Pop Remnants.

Quack Quack: You Knew This Couldn’t Be Far Behind

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OK, who’s gonna post The Stooges?

1) Unfortunately/fortunately, this is that “greatest concert ever” footage we’ve seen before.

2) Bet Clapton can’t shake his ass like that.

3) How ridiculous is it that MC5 aren’t in the Hall of Fame? Unless you wanna dig back to John Lee Hooker and Chuck Berry, everything I think is great about rock starts here – Slade, early KISS, punk, Hellas, Supershit. Everything.

4) And, hey, there’s that daffy chick again at the abrupt end. Deja vu all over again.