Pavement: Slanted And Enchanted

     It wasn't until about six years ago that I finally got around to checking out Pavement. Way before that, many roads should have lead me to Pavement. When I first immersed myself in Guided by Voices I became obsessed with Matador Records. So obviously, when you're into a lo-fi,indie band on the Matador label comparisons to Pavement abound. For some reason, I was put off by a couple trivial things. First, I thought Pavement was a horrible name for a band. I can't even explain it; it was just one of those irrational hangups that lead to questionable decision-making. The other thing was they were always described as cool or smart alecky or slackers, which I translated as they were a bunch of jerks. The unfortunate aspect of this is I missed years of listening to Pavement. The positive is that when I finally decided to give Pavement a chance Matador was reissuing their albums. Even if my kids have no interest in Pavement, they should keep these reissues because the packaging is amazing. I mentioned before that I was going to post about Pavement in a series of posts. This is the first installment, so I'll begin with the reissue of Slanted And Enchanted.
     I keep going back and forth on my favorite Pavement album between Slanted And Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. S&E comes right out of the gate with two of my favs "Summer Babe" and "Trigger Cut". "Summer Babe" has the great line: I got a lot of things I want to sell... but not here babe. For me, S&E shows a ton of potential with half a dozen or so awesome songs, but much of it sounds like musical experimentation. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with that, but I need to be in the right mood to want to listen to it. Other standout tracks are "In The Mouth A Desert", "Here", "Two States" and "Perfume-V". The great thing about the reissue is all the extras. There are John Peel sessions, songs from the recording sessions, a live show from London in 1992 and the EP Watery, Domestic.
     Watery, Domestic has my all-time favorite Pavement song, "Shoot The Singer". I love the opening line: Someone took... in... these... pants / somebody painted over wood painted wood. It's the way Malkmus delivers the line that makes it great. He does the same thing later with the line: I named the book... af-... ter... you. "Frontwards" and "Texas Never Whispers" are strong tracks as well. The package also comes with a booklet with lots of pictures and some essays. You can tell that the people at Matador are still music nerds first and business people second, because all the Pavement reissues are fantastic (still waiting for Terror Twilight, though). My next Pavement post will be Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, which push comes to shove is my favorite.
     I promise I'll get to that Robert Pollard best of list, but it's a daunting task. Also, I've been on a Weakerthans bender lately, so I may be posting about them soon, as well. Peace.

Paul McCartney and Wings

     Before I knew Paul McCartney had been in a band called The Beatles, I knew "Live And Let Die" by Wings. That may sound strange, but The Beatles had split before I was even in kindergarten and Wings were popular right around the time I started listening to the radio. I loved Wings when I was a kid and that period remains my favorite of the post-Beatles "solo" material. "Live And Let Die" stuck with me, as a kid, because it sounded different than other songs on the radio. I didn't know anything about James Bond movies at the time, but the song sounded sinister. It also reminds me of a story about my daughter who is about to turn 15. When she was 3, we listened to the Beatles voraciously. From time to time I'd slip in Wings to change things up. One time when we were listening to "Live And Let Die" during the part that goes da da da/ da da da/ da da/ da da da/ da da da-da-da, she said "daddy, that's the part when the shadow comes". Apparently, she thought it sounded sinister too.
     The first Wings record in my collection was a 45 of "With A Little Luck", which unfortunately I no longer have. Currently I have Wings Over America on lp, Band On The Run  and Wings Greatest on cd, and Venus And Mars on lp and cd. If I had to pick a favorite it would be Venus And Mars. I love the opening tracks "Venus And Mars" and  "Rock Show". When I was a kid, I thought the part in the middle of "Rock Show" was awesome. It went; In my green metal suit I'm preparing to shoot up the city / and the ring at the end of my nose makes me look rather pretty / it's a pity there's nobody here to witness the end / save for my dear old friend and confidante- Madamoiselle Kitty. I had no idea what any of it meant, but it sounded awesome. McCartney had a bad habit of putting one cheesy, olde-timey music hall number on every album and on Venus And Mars it was "You Gave Me The Answer". Otherwise, it a near perfect album.
     Wings came to an end after John Lennon was murdered and Paul didn't want to tour in the aftermath. In the 80's he recorded as Paul McCartney, did a bunch of duets and "Give My Regards To Broad Street", which almost negated his entire legacy as a recording artist:) I actually bought the DVD set The McCartney Years and had no idea how many videos he did in the 80's that I'd never seen or heard. I have seen Paul twice with his now longstanding touring band. They are fantastic and I'd go again if they did another tour. By the way, here's some free advice for Ringo. You should put together a good touring band and tour as Ringo Starr. Drop the whole All-Star Band thing. Your catalog is fantastic and worthy of standing on it's own merit. If you wanted you could have Dhani Harrison's band, Thenewno2, open for you. And now, here's my Wings top ten. Peace.

1) Junior's Farm
2) Jet
3) Band On The Run
4) Venus and Mars / Rock Show (two songs but I count them as one)
5) Helen Wheels
6) Mrs Vanderbilt
7) Magneto And Titanium Man
8) Hi Hi Hi
9) Medicine Jar
10) Live And Let Die

Radiohead: The Bends And OK Computer

     Radiohead have become The Beatles of alternative rock. Whenever polls are taken or lists compiled for the best albums of this era, the top ten is usually dominated by Radiohead. The Bends. OK Computer. Kid A. Amnesiac. Hail To The Thief. In Rainbows. It's like everytime Rolling Stone puts out a list of the greatest albums of all-time, the top ten is predominantly The Beatles. Most of you probably assume that I'm a Radiohead fan based on the music I like. So, I hope what I'm about to say doesn't bring down the wrath of Radiohead Nation, but I don't get it. I'm not saying I hate Radiohead. The Bends is a flawless album and OK Computer is a masterpiece. Had they gone all Jeff Mangum after OK Computer and never recorded again, they would be legendary. But Kid A has the distinction of being the only cd I've bought twice and gotten rid of twice. I know it's supposed to be amazing, but I just can't wrap my head around it. The only good thing I can say about Amnesiac is that I like the Flaming Lips cover of "Knives Out". To me, everything they've done since OK Computer is uninteresting and unlistenable. I'm not trying to be a contrarian a-hole, that's just my opinion.
     I encourage my kids to listen to The Bends and OK Computer. The Bends is perfect from the first note to the last. If I were forced to single out a few tracks, I'd say "The Bends", "Fake Plastic Trees", "Bones", "Just" and "My Iron Lung". "Bones" is my favorite Radiohead song. It sounds like U2, but with a three guitar attack. The two singles from OK Computer, "Karma Police" and "Paranoid Android" are both stellar tracks. "Paranoid Android" has one of my favorite lines; When I am King you will be first against the wall. Ouch! The problem with OK Computer is how do you follow it up. It's like they said in "The Bends"; where do we go from here? the words are coming out all weird. I respect what they were trying to do with Kid A, but I don't enjoy listening to it.

     I've never listened to Pablo Honey, so the only song I know is the hit single "Creep". I kinda liked it at the time, but I could probably add it to my list of songs I never want to hear again. It's funny how alternative bands have hits with songs that aren't representative of their other work. In fact, here's a list of alternative hits that aren't representative. Peace.

1) Creep- Radiohead
2) She Don't Use Jelly- Flaming Lips
3) Float On- Modest Mouse
4) Here Comes Your Man- The Pixies
5) Wake Up Boo- Boo Radleys
    

33 1/3 Series Albums

     33 1/3 is a series of books written about important albums. I've mentioned them a few times in previous posts, such as, Neutral Milk Hotel and Wire. I'm a huge fan of the series. In fact, I used to carry a copy of all 86 titles where I work. They sold pretty well, but I had to stop because they took up too much space and people kept stealing them. They cover a broad range of artists from Dusty Springfield to Nas to Black Sabbath. Until recently, they had a policy of one album per artist. The exceptions are Radiohead (OK Computer and Kid A) and the Rolling Stones (Exile on Main Street and Some Girls). I have an arbitrary policy that I can only buy the book if I already own the album. Don't ask why, I'm just weird. Anyhow, I thought I'd write about the ones that I have. If you're interested in the series, they have a website, 333sound.com.

#6 Piper At The Gates Of Dawn- Pink Floyd by John Cavanagh
     This was Pink Floyd's debut album that featured Syd Barrett. The lyrics are trippy and the music is
     powerfully psychedelic. Standout tracks include "Astronomy Domine", "Lucifer Sam" and
     "Interstellar Overdrive". The book is good , because it focuses on the album and interviews with
     key people, rather than being another book about Syd going mad.

#12 Let It Be- The Beatles by Steve Matteo
     I love this album, because it's the sound of a band that's about to break up. It's a miracle that
     they recorded Abbey Road after this. The book is interesting because he talks about 500 hours of
     Let It Be footage being found in 2003. I hope someday it will be released.

# 15 OK Computer- Radiohead by Dai Griffiths
     I just realized that I still haven't read the book. Maybe I'll read it tonight. I will post about
     Radiohead in the future, so no spoilers today.

#22 Murmur- R.E.M. by J. Niimi
     This is one of my favorite books in the series. I already posted about R.E.M. and my love of their
     first five albums.

#29 In The Aeroplane Over The Sea- Neutral Milk Hotel by Kim Cooper
     I have posted previously about this album and this is my absolute favorite book in the series.
     It's interesting that this is the best selling title in the series and it's also my most viewed post.

#36 Loveless- My Bloody Valentine by Mike McGonigal
     Another album I've already posted about. The book is good.

#38 Bee Thousand- Guided by Voices by Marc Woodworth
     The book is very interesting. My favorite part was when he discussed Pollard's use of collage
     as an artist as well as in his lyric writing.

#62 Pink Flag- Wire by Wilson Neate
     The book is fantastic and I've already posted about the album.

#68 Zaireeka- Flaming Lips by Mark Richardson
     The book is good, but of all their albums why this one? Maybe I'm just bitter because I don't have
     enough friends to do a Zaireeka listening party. By the way, this album is coming out on vinyl
     on Record Store Day.

#72 Wowee Zowee- Pavement by Bryan Charles
     Probably my second favorite book in the series. Once again, I plan on posting about Pavement in
     the future, but here's one spoiler; it will be a series of posts. Peace.

    

    
    

The Presidents Of The United States Of America

"Four score and seven years ago..." - Lincoln

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself." - FDR

"I am not a crook." - Nixon

"I have never had relations with that woman" - Clinton

"Peaches come from a can, they were put there by a man" - PUSA

     I considered spending President's Day in quiet contemplation, reflecting on the words of our Nation's great leaders. After two minutes, I decided to post about the band, The Presidents Of The United States Of America (PUSA), instead. One thing I envy about old people (I'm 48, I'm not old!) is that they lived in a time when the Presidency was respected. My first political memories were of Watergate, so I've never really had any respect for institutions of any kind, especially the Presidency. I just assume they're all crooks. But enough about those Presidents. Let's talk goofy rock music instead.
     PUSA may have been the craziest and most unlikely band ever. They came out of Seattle, Grunge City, USA. Their music, however, was a complete rejection of that whole scene. Instead of making music driven by angst, they wrote absurd songs about peaches, kitties and little dune buggies. Their instruments were unconventional and inspired by Mark Sandman of Morphine. Chris Ballew sang and played "basitar", which was a guitar with two bass strings. Dave Dederer played the three string "guitbass". Their eponymous, debut album was a huge hit in the mid-90's and featured the songs "Lump", "Peaches" and "Kitty". Two of my favorite tracks are cover songs, "Kick Out The Jams" and "We Are Not Going To Make It". They did both, however, for a short time. I freely admit that this album is borderline stupid, but I love it. It's one of those cd's that is cathartic when you're in the right frame of mind. And really, has there ever been a better line than "peaches come from a can, they were put there by a man"? I think not. Well maybe "Lump lingered last in line for brains and the one she got was sorta rotten and insane" or "mud flowed up into Lump's pajamas, she totally confused all the passing pirahnas". This is the only cd by PUSA that I own and I strongly recommend it to my kids. I think I'll spend the day listening to this cd and watching their videos on Youtube. You can't beat a video for a song about peaches with ninjas in it. Yay America! Peace.

    

Pixies: Doolittle

     I've wanted to post about the Pixies for awhile, but couldn't come up with a good take. The past few days I've been listening to Doolittle in my car and a thought occured to me; maybe the premise of my blog is wrong. An individual's music collection is the result of years of recommendations, research and casual listening. My kids are all going to have their own experiences with music. Can I really expect them to read all my recommendations and say "hey, I'm gonna throw Doolittle in the cd player because dad thought it was awesome"? They would probably hate it, because their own musical journey didn't lead them to Doolittle.
     This thought came to me when I thought back on how I was exposed to the Pixies. Back in the mid-90's, I was a receiving manager with my current employer. So I spent eight hours a day in a backroom listening to music and receiving shipments. It was great. Anyhow, one day I was listening to Smashing Pumpkins and one of the shelvers commented that if I like Smashing Pumpkins I should try the Pixies, who he said were better. I valued his opinion, because he turned me on to John Zorn, Raymond Scott and other artists that I'd never heard of before. However, if I had gone out that day and bought Surfer Rosa (that was his recommendation for a starting point) I probably would have hated it. At that time, Smashing Pumpkins were the most aggressive band I listened too, but mainly I was into bands like Gin Blossoms, Better Than Ezra and Lemonheads. I hadn't gone far enough on my personal music journey to grasp the Pixies. It's like when I decided to check out Miles Davis and started with Bitches Brew. I wasn't prepared. But I did put the Pixies recommendation in my mental file.
     In 2002, David Bowie put out Heathen, which included a cover of the Pixies' "Cactus". I obviously didn't know it was a Pixies' cover at first, but I filed that fact in my head with that old recommendation. A couple years later, the Pixies released a best of cd entitled Wave Of Mutilation. That's when I finally decided to check them out. I was prepared and I wasn't disappointed. The songs are classic. Broken Face. Gigantic. Monkey Gone To Heaven. Debaser. Gouge Away. Here Comes Your man. Where Is My Mind? I loved the vocal stylings of Black Francis ( Frank Black, Charles Thompson). Joey Santiago was the first guitarist that I left off my list of favorite guitarists, so consider him on the list. David Lovering is one of the few alternative rock drummers that appreciates Neil Peart. And Kim Deal's bass playing is only surpassed by her amazing backing vocals (especially Debaser and Monkey Gone To Heaven). The Surfer Rosa recommendation was good, but Doolittle is my favorite Pixies' album. "Monkey Gone To Heaven" is my favorite song. The vocals with Frank and Kim are fantastic and I love the man is 5, devil is 6 and god is 7 part. Another favorite is "No. 13 Baby" which has a great chorus. There really isn't a bad song on Doolittle.
     The premise of my blog may also be wrong, because by the time anyone inherits my music collection it could be my grandchildren(which I don't have any yet). Until then, I'll focus on my kids. Hopefully, with this blog and by playing music around them, I'll be one of the people who helps them on their musical journey.  I suppose the reason I care that they like my collection is that it's important to me. If they keep my collection they are keeping part of me with them. But not in a creepy way. And I don't want them to be hoarders. I guess I just want them to find something that makes them happy to pass on to their kids. Peace.

45 RPM Collection- Update

     So, after I posted about my 45 collection, I decided to go to Record Den yesterday. I spent 2 1/2 hours going through thousands of singles and came home with 14 gems. I actually found more than that, but I was trying to limit how much I spent. Anyhow, I thought I'd go over what I got and recommend them to my kids. Peace.

Lido Shuffle- Boz Scaggs: this was the only replacement that I found (see original post)

Jungle Love- The Time: love this song, it takes me back to going to the bar when I was at CMU
     oh ee oh ee oh!

What I Like About You- The Romantics: definitely in my top ten songs

Big Money- Rush: this was a Rush nerd purchase. it's a single with a live version of Red Sector A

I Can't Dance/On The Shoreline- Genesis: as I mentioned in my Genesis post, I love On The
     Shoreline and bought this because of the B-side

Goodbye To You- Scandal: seriously, who doesn't love this song

Don't Dream It's Over- Crowded House: it has an awesome sleeve with a cheesy band photo

Hourglass- Squeeze: favorite Squeeze song

Don't Lose My Number- Phil Collins: almost as good as Sussudio

Running On Empty- Jackson Browne: song about driving + Jackson Browne's voice= awesome

Closer To Free- The Bodeans: forgotten gem of the 90's

Love Is Alive- Gary Wright: tragically overlooked song, because of Dream Weaver

I Like To Rock- April Wine: see my post on Canadian rock

Blow Away- George Harrison: it's freaking Blow Away by freaking George Harrison, nuff said.

The Police: Message In A Box

     I don't have the Male Car Gene or the Male Beer Gene, but I do have the Male Roxanne Gene. Anywhere in the world, when "Roxanne" is played, dudes are biologically required to sing that opening "Roxanne" along with Sting. I doubt this phenomenon has been studied and I only have anecdotal evidence, but I'm pretty sure it's true. Having said that, my musical relationship with The Police and Sting has been erratic at best. I liked "Roxanne" and "Message In A Bottle" when they came out, but I didn't buy the album. And there's no denying they have many great songs. So Lonely. Don't Stand So Close To Me. Can't Stand Losing You. Walking On The Moon. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da. Invisible Sun. Spirits In The Material World. Driven To Tears. When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around. Murder By Numbers. King Of Pain.  I never bought their albums, though. They had weird titles like Reggatta De Blanc and Zenyatta Mondatta. I didn't even buy Synchronicity. I was in college when Synchronicity was huge. I hated "Every Breath You Take" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger". I constantly argued with one of my roommates, because he claimed Copeland was a better drummer than Neil Peart and that The Police were a better trio than Rush. Insanity, I thought. Looking back, he did have some valid points, but he was still wrong.
     Then Sting shocked the world and broke up The Police. In retrospect it's not that shocking, because Sting seems to be an insufferable, tantric sex-having jerk...allegedly. Anyhow, I'm not a big fan of Sting's pretentious solo career. I respect that he didn't want to keep doing what he was doing with The Police, but I don't enjoy his brand of jazz-rock fusion or his lute playing. I have Dream Of The Blue Turtles, but it's one of my inherited albums and I haven't listened to it. I also had Brand New Day, but I got rid of it. A few years ago, I found myself feeling nostalgic about The Police and decided to buy Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings Of The Police. This boxed set was ideal for me, because I didn't already have their albums. I strongly recommend this to my kids, by the way. The packaging is fantastic and so is the music (except "Every breath You take" and "Wrapped Around Your Finger"). I can't wait until the day my son does his first "Roxanne". Peace.

45 RPM Collection

     I don't know what it is I like about the 7", 45 RPM record, but I like it a lot. When I went to the store with my mom as a kid, she always let me get a 45. I had one of those record players where the turntable folded up and down and it had a cartridge for playing 45's. I would keep reloading the cartridge with records and listen for hours. The 7" single has survived cassette singles and are still being made in the age of digital downloads. I still have many 45's in my collection, but many were chipped or cracked or warped or lost. One of my goals is to replace as many as I can find. Maybe I can get the guy at The Record Den to give me a bulk rate.  This post will consist of three lists: a list of recommendations from my 45 collection for my kids, a list of 45's I used to have and wish I still did and a list of 45's in my collection that are just cool to have. Peace.

Recommendations
     * Milkshake- Yuck
     * Steppin' Stone- The Monkees
     * I Want To Hold Your Hand- Beatles
     * Rain/Paperback Writer- Beatles
     * In A Big Country- Big Country
     * Radio Free Europe- R.E.M.
     * Paperlate- Genesis
     * Is She Really Going Out With Him?- Joe Jackson
     * Blue Jean- David Bowie
     * Good Thing- Fine Young Cannibals
     * Hippy Hippy Shake- Georgia Satellites
     * Wild Wild West- Escape Club
     * Roxanne- The Police
     * Heartbreak Beat- Psychedlic Furs
     * Fall Down- Toad The Wet Sprocket
     * Hold The Line- Toto
     * Baker Street- Gerry Rafferty

Wish I Still Had
     * King Tut- Steve Martin
     * Another One Bites The Dust- Memebers of the Detroit Lions after 4-0 start
     * Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen (thought I still had it but I don't)
     * You're My Best Friend- Queen (Ditto)
     * Lido Shuffle- Boz Scaggs (awesome song)
     * Sweet Talkin' Woman-ELO (it was purple vinyl and my sister broke it)

Just Cool
     * Borderline- Flaming Lips (Madonna cover)
     * Near To You- Teenage Fanclub w/ Jad Fair
     * Do You Realize?- Flaming Lips (picture disc)
     * Change of Heart- Tom Petty & HBs (red vinyl)
     * Caravan/BU2B- Rush (white vinyl)
     * Record Store Day singles- R.E.M.
     * Georgia- Yuck
     * Batman Theme- Revengers
     * Hang You From The Heavens- Dead Weather

Mercury Rev: Yerself Is Steam

     In my post "How Wayne Coyne Changed My Life", I mentioned how the Flaming Lips were my gateway back to rock music. I was lead on a journey of discovery back to bands I had missed in the 90's. So, it's not surprising that one of the first bands I checked out was Mercury Rev. Former Lips guitarist Jonathan Donahue (In A Priest Driven Ambulance, Hit To Death In The Future Head) and Lips producer Dave Fridmann were members of Mercury Rev. Donahue left The Flaming Lips right as they had achieved major label success, but he needed to get out of Wayne Coyne's shadow. He proved with Yerself Is Steam that he had the vision to lead his own band. And The Flaming Lips recovered nicely with Ronald Jones on guitar for a couple albums. I have all of Mercury Rev's cd's in my collection, but my favorite by far is Yerself is Steam (Your Self-Esteem).
     Yerself Is Steam was another amazing album released in 1991. You can tell from the packaging that listening to the cd will be a trip. I have the Mint Film UK version and on the spine it says "stereo fucked". Excellent! Then when you look at the back, all the running times end with 27 seconds. The credits are also amusing. Jonathan Donahue is credited with "vocals when left to himself". Producer credit is "two-inch band limited signals arrived at by Dave Fridmann". The lineup for the album is Dave Baker, vocals; Donahue, vocals, guitars; Fridmann, bass; Jimy Chambers, Drums; Grasshopper, guitar and Suzanne Thorpe, flute. Yes, flute and she's awesome on the opening track "Chasing A Bee". The song starts out like an outtake from In A Priest Driven Ambulance, then Dave Baker comes in with his creepy, unhinged vocals. Then the guitar freakouts begin with Thorpe's flauting(?) underneath. After the 5 minute mark the guitars sound like a shotwave radio being played through a Marshall stack. The next track, "Syringe Mouth" is very Lips-ian and I wouldn't be surprised if Donahue had been working on it during Hit To Death In The Future Head. My two favorite songs are "Sweet Oddysee Of A Cancer Cell T' Th' Center Of Yer Heart" and "Frittering". "Oddysee" sounds space-y and disembodied with lots of drum freakouts. It reminds me of Pink Floyd, somewhat. "Frittering" is a beautiful song that starts out with ethereal vocals and acoustic guitar strumming. This sets up the impact when the drums and electric guitars come in. Sometimes "Chasing A Bee" is my favorite Mercury Rev song, but push come to shove it's probably "Frittering". I wish I had the version with "Car Wash Hair" or "Lego My Ego", but I never run across it at any record stores. I would recommend Yerself Is Steam to my kids, but if they don't like it they should try Deserter's Song instead. The critics love Deserter's Song, and don't get me wrong it's good, but I prefer their earlier, guitar-centric albums. The last few albums have been boring, but in fairness I've only listened to them once each.

     Finally, here's what I've been listening to in the car- Black Sabbath Vol. 4, a metric shit ton of Bob Pollard so I can formulate a best of list and the new My Bloody Valentine. Yes, I've managed to get a copy with a little help from my friend. I'll probably post about it in the future, but I want to live with it for awhile first. I do like it though if that's any help to y'alls. I might even break down and order a vinyl copy off the interwebs. Peace.

Canadian Rock; Other Than Rush

     You all know I love Rush, but they're not the only great Canadian rock band. For me, the Golden Age of Canadian Rock was from the late 70's to the mid-80's. You may be saying to yourself "Wait, what about Neil Young, Buffalo Springfield, The Guess Who, BTO and Gordon Lightfoot". The Buffalo Springfield were co-opted by hippies in San Francisco. Everyone thinks Neil Young is an America. The Guess Who's biggest hit was "American Woman". BTO is the Canadian equivalent of Grand Funk Railroad and Gordon Lightfoot does not rock. I'm talkin' April Wine, Triumph, Red Rider, Aldo Nova, Saga, Men Without Hats, Honymoon Suite, Chilliwack and Loverboy. See how I completely ignored the existence of Bryan Adams? Back in the day, I had all this stuff in my collection. Unfortunately, much of it was on cassette and has not survived. I'll admit up front my daughters will probably have no interest in my old April Wine records, but maybe my son will. So, here are my recommendations for what's left of my Canadian Rock collection (minus Rush who I've already posted about several times).
     If you like Rush, then you'll love Triumph who spent their entire career being called Rush Jr. They weren't as proggy as Rush, but they were a power trio from Canada so there ya go. The strength of Triumph was Rik Emmett's pyrotechnic guitar playing. It's a shame no one knows who he is because he is easily one of the top guitarists of all-time. The first Triumph record I bought was Allied Forces. It's still my favorite and features the songs "Magic Power" and "Fight The Good Fight". I also like Never Surrender which included the tracks "A World Of Fantasy" and my favorite Triumph song "When The Lights Go Down". If they like those albums, they can dig through my cassettes for the rest of their albums.
     I think the first album I bought from this genre was April Wine's First Glance, which featured "Roller" and "Get Ready For Love". April Wine weren't cerebral like Rush, they just came up with great rock hooks. My favorite, and their most popular album was Nature Of The Beast. You couldn't listen to a rock station back then without hearing "Sign Of The Gypsy Queen" or "Just Between You And Me". I also have Harder...Faster with the fantastic cover of "21st Century Schizoid Man" and my favorite April Wine song "I Like To Rock". I recommend all of these. They also had a song called "If You See Kay". Say that out loud a few times fast and see what you come up with:)

     I also recommend Red Rider's Neruda (fav song Napoleon Sheds His Skin), Aldo Nova's self-titled which features "Fantasy" and Men Without Hats' Rhythm Of Youth. Rhythm Of Youth has the ever popular "Safety Dance", as well as a great song called "I Like".
     There have obviously been many more fantastic Canadian bands since the mid-80's and many are in my collection. I may post about some of them in the future, but they include: The Pursuit Of Happiness, Sloan, Arcade Fire, Treble Charger, Hot Hot Heat and The Weakerthans. Notice how I denied the existence of Nickelback and Barenaked Ladies? No country is perfect. Peace.

The Refreshments: Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy

     So just how far down do you wanna go? / well we could talk it out over a cup of joe / and you could look deep into my eyes like I was a supermodel / uh-huh. Thus begins "Banditos" by The Refreshments, one of my favorite songs of the 90's. If you like your American Southwest, bordertown rock 'n' roll with a lime The Refreshments are your band and Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy is your album. Just grab yourself a Corona and rock out to a collection of clever songs about Mexico, girls and drinking. "Banditos" was a semi-major hit about a heist which included the classic line "everybody knows, that the world is full of stupid people / so meet me at the mission at midnight, we'll divvy up there" Actually, the entirety of the song's lyrics are classic. "well I got the pistol, so I'll keep the pesos, yeah that seems fair". "give your i.d. card to the border guard, got your alias set, you got Jean Luc Picard of the United Federation of Planets, cuz he won't speak English anyway".
     The clever lyrics and muscular guitars keep coming on standout tracks like "Blue Collar Suicide", "Down Together", Girly", "Mexico", "Suckerpunch", "Carefree" and my personal fav "Interstate". Unfortunately, their next album, The Bottle & Fresh Horses, didn't have a hit and Mercury Records were bought out, and that was the end of The Refreshments. They did have one lucky break, however. They landed the theme song for the animated tv show King of the Hill. Lead singer, Roger Clyne, still tours with the drummer as Roger Clyne and the Peace Makers. Next time they're in town I plan on seeing them. Instead of breaking down every song, I thought I'd list some of my favorite lyrics from FFB&B. After that is my list of favorite goofy 90's songs. Peace.

* we could find a speck of dust and scribble down our life stories
* we could both wear cowboy hats and pretend that we could speak Italian
* over there at the trailer park they got a million souls at the lost and found
* I don't need a miracle but i could use a push in the right direction
* baby I was never cool enough to get a job at a record store but if I had I wouldn't want you
     anymore
* heads I tell the truth, tails I lie
* here comes another song about Mexico, i just can't help myself
* well I guess I could have run away when I saw that look in her eye
* she can't count all the pills I took
* cars break down and people break down and other things break down too

Goofy 90's songs

1) Banditos
2) Lump- Presidents of the United States of America
3) Loser- Beck
4) Cut Your Hair- Pavement
5) She Don't Use Jelly- Flaming Lips

Black Sabbath vs. Led Zeppelin

     Oh no, here it comes again :) I decided to give my two cents on the dreaded Sabbath v. Zep debate and both bands place in my collection. Full disclosure: I'm on a Black Sabbath jag right now and I'm listening to Heaven and Hell as I type. This post won't actually be a debate. I think it's beyond debate now that Black Sabbath were the fathers of Heavy Metal and Zeppelin were the Gods of hard rock. I don't intend to tear down one of these amazing bands to elevate the other, though it might seem that I am. Much like the contrived Oasis/Blur debate, these bands were doing two completely different things musically.
     Led Zeppelin came from the Yardbirds school of making American blues music electric and created the template for all hard rock bands to come. Robert Plant was the "Golden God', long-haired lead singer with tight pants. Jimmy Page was the undisputed riff master who dabbled in the occult. And Bonham and Jones were one of the greatest rhythm sections of all-time. On any list of the best bands in the history of rock they'd easily be in the top ten. Black Sabbath came from the Cream school where the rhythm section was more jazz influenced. When you listen to those early Sabbath albums, Bill Ward's drumming was very loose, much like Ginger Baker. Add some menacing bass, a guitar virtuoso with missing fingers and the Prince of Darkness screaming about Satan and you have Heavy Metal. Black Sabbath will never go down as one of the top ten bands in rock history, but they are the greatest metal band of all-time. Plus Ozzy bit the head off a bat! One other difference between these bands was the integrity of their lineup. When John Bonham died, Led Zeppelin died. They could have replaced him and pretended to still be Led Zeppelin, but they knew that it would be preposterous. John Bonham's drumming was integral to Led Zeppelin. On the other hand, Black Sabbath replaced Ozzy with Ronnie James Dio and they were still awesome. Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules stack up favorably to those early Sabbath albums.
     30 years ago, I was all about Heavy Metal. I even grew my hair out like Robert Plant. I still have some metal in my collection, but other than Sabbath I don't really listen to it anymore. My collection is pretty much down to Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Blackout by the Scorpions and Def Leppard's first couple albums. I wouldn't really recommend any of it to my kids, but if they want to check it out that's cool too. I would recommend the first three Sabbath albums as well as Heaven and Hell. Led Zeppelin is a little trickier. I have all their albums on cassette still, but not on cd. My friend Mike sold me his boxed sets that have all the songs, but not in proper album form. So, I recommend those, but I'd also recommend they buy the actual albums in whatever format emerges when they care. My personal favorites are Physical Grafitti and Houses of the Holy.
     Finally, here's an update on my car listening. I'm currently playing Master of Reality, It's a Shame About Ray by the Lemonheads and Still Feel Gone by Uncle Tupelo. Also, after my post about Uncle Tupelo, I watched Son Volt's 1996 appearance on Austin City Limits on Youtube. It was awesome, so I'll probably buy some Son Volt now. Peace.