867-5309: My Top 50 Favorite Songs

     OK, I'm mailing it in tonight. I haven't posted in a week and I've been holding onto this list in case of an emergency. I have imposed two rules on this list and promptly broke one of them. First rule, obviously, is there are NO Beatles songs. See my previous Beatles' posts for an explanation. The second rule is only one song per band, which I will now break for Teenage Fanclub. Peace.

1) Sparky's Dream- Teenage Fanclub
2) Star Sign- Teenage Fanclub
3) It's A Shame About Ray- Lemonheads
4) 867-5309- Tommy Tutone
5) Seed 2.0- The Roots
6) Is She Really Going Out With Him?- Joe Jackson
7) All Used Up- Tobin Sprout
8) Handle With Care- Traveling Wilburys
9) Banditos- Refreshments
10) What I Like About You- The Romantics
11) Fell In Love With A Girl- White Stripes
12) Rebel Rebel- David Bowie
13) Your Love- The Outfield
14) Kids Are Alright- The Who
15) Big Me- Foo Fighters
16) Radiation Vibe- Fountains Of Wayne
17) The Wagon- Dinosaur Jr
18) Come On Come On (Live)- Cheap Trick
19) Catch The Sun- Doves
20) Supersonic- Oasis
21) Driver 8- R.E.M.
22) Limelight- Rush
23) Chasing Heather Crazy- GbV
24) Thunder Road- Springsteen
25) Powderfinger- Neil Young
26) Clubfoot- Kasabian
27) Duel- Swervedriver
28) My Sharona- The Knack
29) Hey jealousy- Gin Blossoms
30) Cosmic Debris- Frank Zappa
31) Web In Front- Archers of Loaf
32) Turn It On Again- Genesis
33) Goodbye To You- Scandal
34) Time Of The Season- The Zombies
35) Refugee- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
36) Dreamworld- Midnight Oil
37) I Think I'm In Love- Eddie Money
38) Till The End of The Day- The Kinks
39) Remind Us Alive- Centro-matic
40) Let's Go- The Cars
41) Can't Stand Losing You- The Police
42) Shoot The Singer- Pavement
43) I Can't Go For That- Hall and Oates
44) I Wanna Touch You- Catherine Wheel
45) Waitin' For A Superman- Flaming Lips
46) Mr Blue Sky- ELO
47) Places That Are Gone- Tommy Keene
48) Kashmir- Led Zeppelin
49) Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen
50) Blitzkrieg Bop- The Ramones

John Sellers: Perfect From Now On

     I'd like to take a break from posting about my music collection and mention the book that inspired the Sound Mind blog. After 81 posts, you've probably pieced together that I work at a book store. Over the past 17 years, I've seen and read a lot of books. When we received Perfect From Now On by John Sellers in 2007, it immediately grabbed my attention. The cover is red and black with the title in big block letters. The subtitle is "How Indie Rock Saved My Life". The inside flap has a music list and mentions Pavement and Guided by Voices. It even has a blurb on the back from millionaire genius John Hodgman. Through a zany chain of events, I bought this book. One of my benefits for working at a book store is that I can check out books for product knowledge purposes. So I checked out Perfect From Now On and took it home to read. One night, I set the book down on the stairs and forgot about it and went to bed. The next morning, I woke to discover that my dog had gotten hold of the book. The jacket was on the stairs and the book was on the floor with a bite taken out of the back cover. The dog ate my homework! However, the actual pages were fine so I kept reading it. A couple days later, there was a bee in our house. Now, I'm pretty sure one of the reasons my wife is still married to me is for in home insect eradication. That night I was at work, so she was forced to deal with it herself. Her weapon of choice was Perfect From Now On. So, not only did the book I checked out have a dog bite, it also had bee guts on the cover. Needless to say, I had to buy the book.
     In truth, I would have bought Perfect From Now On even had it not be mutilated. I felt like Mr. Sellers and I were kindred spirits. We both grew up in Michigan. He's a little younger than me, but we have similar cultural reference points. I'm sure we both listened to Journey and Foreigner on WLAV in Grand Rapids. He harbored a secret love of Duran Duran's pop genius. He loves making lists. We both love Guided by Voices. And he hates Bob Dylan's music.  Like me, he feels bad about disliking an American icon. Who doesn't love Dylan? Sellers and I. John Sellers had the misfortune of having a father who was obsessed with Bob Dylan. He was constantly subjected to Zimmerman's indecipherable caterwauling (my words, not his). He likened it to child abuse. This is crucial to the premise of Sound Mind. The subtitle of my blog is "A Living Will For My Music Collection". I'm trying to give my kids some guidance for the day when they inherit my collection. Some might ask, "Why don't you just force your music on them"? Because it could turn abusive. I had to find my own way musically. John Sellers had to find his own way. However, there are people in your life who expose you to great music and I hope that's what this blog does for my kids (or whoever else reads it). That being said, I did force The Beatles on my three youngest after blowing it with my oldest.
     Perfect From Now On is a hilarious and poignant autobiography. John Sellers takes the reader on a self-deprecating journey of musical discovery. It's a journey that goes from Michigan to New York to Manchester to Dayton. If you like humorous memoirs and music you have to read this book. And it is replete with musical lists. Here's a list of my favorite Seller's lists that I'm too lazy to bother with myself. Peace.

*   Top Ten albums, with best song and worst song included
*   Top songs that appear last on an album
*   Top 5 songs that I am most annoyed by in all the world
*   Top 5 most disappointing albums
*   Top 5 musical things I hope happen now that the original lineups of the Pixies and Dinosaur Jr have reunited

   

   

Record Store Day 2013

     Yay! Today is Record Store Day, or as I call it National Colored Vinyl Day. It's like Christmas for music nerds. So this morning I gathered up my son and ventured out in the snow (yes snow) to the Record Den. We met my friends Mike and Dave and were in the first group of people to be let in to shop. I had my six year old son with me, so I couldn't really get in the scrum. It's kinda like Walmart on Black Friday, but on a much smaller scale. Anyhow, my friends had my back and I got almost everything I wanted. My son wanted a 45 of Hey Jude / Revolution, by The Beatles. I told him that we already have it and he said that HE didn't have it. Apparently, he's already working on his own collection.
     Here's the rundown of what I added to my collection.

Surfer Blood- Demon Dance 7"
     I don't have any of their other stuff, but I heard this song on the interwebs and it's quite good. It's on blue
     and white vinyl.
R.E.M.- Live In Greensboro CD
     I mainly got this because it came with a patch that they unearthed.

Tame Impala- First EP
     This is on red vinyl and looks stunning. The first song is "Desire Be Desire Go", which is my favorite song
     from Innerspeaker. The rest of it is good too.

White Stripes- Elephant Vinyl LP
     I got this because it's on colored vinyl and White Stripes' albums always sound amazing on vinyl.

     I was slightly disappointed that they didn't get the Mercury Rev LP or the Superchunk 7", but I was borderline on those. They did have the Ringo Starr singles, but I'll take my chances that they have some left. I really love record Store Day and hope it doesn't get ruined. Finally, a desperate plea to the band Centro-matic. Next Record Store Day, please put out a reissue of Redo The Stacks. Peace.

  

E.L.O. Purple Vinyl Update

     In my post entitled "45 RPM Collection", I told the story of my purple vinyl 45 of "Sweet Talkin' Woman" by the Electric Light Orchestra. It was beautiful and I loved it and my sister broke it. I've been looking to replace it ever since. I know I could go on ebay anytime and get one, but that's not old school record collecting. Anyhow, last week my friend was going to Pittsburgh to see Michael Nesmith and planned on going to Jerry's Records. He asked if I wanted anything while he was there. I didn't want to be obnoxious and ask for a bunch of records, but I did ask for "Bohemian Rhapsody", Steve Martin's "King Tut" and TWO copies of the purple vinyl "Sweet Talkin' Woman"...just in case. When he brought them back, I just kept looking at the purple vinyl. They were beautiful. He told me they had about fifteen copies of it in the bin. One of these days, I have to make the trip to Pittsburgh and check out Jerry's. Just a quick side note about my 45 collection; this week I picked up the new GbV single "Noble Insect" and a copy of "The Heinrich Maneuver" by Interpol.
     Today is a day I never thought would happen. Rush are finally being inducted into the Rock Hall. The only thing that could make it better is if it had been here in Cleveland this year. Why isn't it live on tv? I'm sure it will be all over You Tube by tomorrow, though. Speaking of bands that are long overdue for induction and E.L.O., here's my list of snubbed bands. Peace.

1) Cheap Trick
2) Yes
3) KISS
4) E.L.O.
5) Duran Duran
6) The Smiths
7) Midnight Oil
8) Guided by Voices
   

The Answer Is...YES

     They say, "you can never judge a book by it's cover". That may very well be true, but "they" didn't say anything about album covers. There has never been a band more associated with their album covers than Yes. The man behind many of those covers, as well as the band's iconic logo, is Roger Dean. His trademark designs featured fantasy landscapes that consisted of organic constructions and mythical creatures. It was a perfect marriage of music, art and marketing.
     When in high school, I was seduced by the siren call of the Columbia House Record and Tape Club. For one shiny penny I could pick 13 cassettes. Awesome! Part of the lure was the advertisement, which was a sheet of album cover stickers, ranging from Led Zeppelin to Anne Murray to Chicago. All you had to do was pick 13 albums and scrounge up a penny. Many of the albums were unfamiliar to me and I literally chose them by their covers. I don't remember all 13 albums I selected, nor do I even have most of them anymore. However, I remember two of them were by Yes; Classic Yes and Drama. Classic Yes was, indeed, classic. I knew most of those songs from the radio, like "Roundabout" and "Long Distance Runaround". Drama was a complete unknown, but it had a cool cover. I don't have it anymore, but I remember only liking one song, "Tempus Fugit". I discovered later that Drama was the first Yes album without vocalist Jon Anderson. Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes of The Buggles were recruited for this album. The Buggles only claim to fame is that their video for "Video Killed The Radio Star" was the first to be played on MTV. Horn would go on to produce Yes and Downes joined Yes' Steve Howe in the supergroup, Asia.
     So, I was pulled in to Yes by the album covers, but it was the music that kept me there. Classic Yes was one of my go to tapes. Then I bought the prog rock masterpiece, Fragile. Obviously, "Roundabout" is the standout track on the album. It begins with Steve Howe's amazing guitar intro and the lyrics are great. I especially like the line: "in and around the lake, mountains come out of the sky, they stand there". My favorite song, however, is "South Side Of The Sky". It's a spectacular, sonic melding of rock, classical and jazz. I became obsessed with Steve Howe. I bought Asia, GTR, solo albums and even Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe. And what do all those albums have in common? Roger Dean covers.
     The only thing I have on cd is the Rhino boxed set called In A Word Yes. It's a very good career retrospective, much of which I'd never heard before. I would recommend that my kids start with Fragile. I should probably get it on cd though. If they like that, then they should try the boxed set. After that they can chose them by their covers. Here's my list of favorite Roger Dean album covers. Peace.

1) Asia- Asia
2) Yes- Fragile
3) Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe- ABWH
4) Yes- Relayer
5) Yes- Union
6) Yes- Tales From Topographic Oceans
7) Asia- Alpha
8) Yes- Classic Yes

The Polyphonic Spree

     I really need The Polyphonic Spree today. I spent the past weekend immersed in The Terror by the Flaming Lips and then yesterday someone set off explosive devices at the Boston Marathon. When events like this or Sandy Hook occur, it makes me want to give up on the human race. By nature I'm cynical, sarcastic, negative, hipster-y, and borderline depressed, so people who know me find it amusing that I love The Polyphonic Spree. To be fair, it is amusing. The Polyphonic Spree seem exactly like the sort of band I would roll my eyes at and write off as some sort of marketing scam. Two dozens people wearing robes and making music seems preposterous. Plus you have to split the money 24 ways. How's that gonna work? Somehow, crazy ex-Tripping Daisy frontman, Tim DeLaughter, has done just that.
     In life, timing is everything. In a previous post, I wrote about how Wayne Coyne changed my life during my divorce. In 2002, I was living alone in an apartment thinking of ways to kill myself. Fortunately, I was too much of a coward to go through with it. I took a road trip to Mackinac Island in an attempt to get my head right. On my way back, I heard "Do You Realize?" on a college radio station and it literally saved me.  The Flaming Lips became my launching pad for discovering new music. So, in 2003, when I read about this group with two dozen members that was compared to the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev I set aside my cynicism and bought The Beginning Stages Of...The Polyphonic Spree. The music was a revelation. Songs like "It's The Sun", "Hanging Around The Day, pt. 2" and "Light & Day/Reach For the Sun" made my soul feel less dark. You could tell it was celebratory music written by people who had been in a dark place. It was like they understood how I felt and wanted to give me hope, especially the beginning of "It's The Sun".

Sun
Take some time, get away
Sun
Suicide is a shame
Sun
Soon you'll find your own way
Sun
Hope has come, you are safe
And it makes me cry
Because I'm on my way

     This is a very personal album, so I wouldn't force it on my kids. However, if they read this (I kinda hope they don't) and want to check it out, that's cool. I also have Together We're heavy, which is very similar to Beginning Stages, except they have colored robes. And I have The Fragile Army. This album has a more traditional rock song sound and the band is wearing black military uniforms with red crosses.
     I hope my kids find something in their lives to get them through the bad days, whether it's music or art or sports or whatever. Someday, when they have to go through my music collection, they'll know what got their dad through. Peace.

   

   

   
  

Flaming Lips: The Terror

     I've been anticipating the release of The Terror with a combination of excitement and dread. I came to this album with a considerable amount of pent up animosity. Gummy vaginas. 24 hour songs. Videos with Wayne's junk. Gummy skulls. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song. Endless, horrible collaborations. This was to be a fork in the road where I either kept drinking Wayne's kool-aid or I gave up and went back to listening to The Soft Bulletin. I resigned myself to the fact that they weren't going to return to their sound of the Ronald Jones Era and approached The Terror with an open mind. So far, I'm glad I did.
     First, let me preface this by admitting a few things. I'm a dork for prog rock, concept albums and being depressed. On all of those counts, The Terror is in my wheelhouse. However, it is not a casual listen. The tracks blend into each other and none of them will be turned into a salad dressing commercial. Apparently, Wayne and Steven have been going through some difficult times and it is reflected in the songs on The Terror. The music is minimal and stark. The lyrics are about pain and hopelessness. Abandon all hope, ye with animal costumes and confetti guns, who enter here. The days of Wayne crowd surfing in a bubble appear, at long last, to be over.
     The obvious question about a concept album called The Terror is "what IS the terror?". Since this is a Flaming Lips album, the answer isn't that simple. I've only had the album a few hours and listened to it three times, so I don't necessarily have the answer at this point. However, it seems the "terror' is that no matter how much we love or try or care everything ends in pain and hopelessness. Everyday the sun rises and a new day is created, then the sun sets and it dies. Love just leads to pain. Not having control of the controls leads to hopelessness. We are ALL alone; trapped inside our own minds. Our lives are nothing but a daily battle to  deal with the pain and hopelessness, without breaking. Have a nice day!
     The first time I listened to The Terror, it struck me as "space rock" By that I mean ambient, stark and electronic. It created a vision in my head of a man in a disabled spacecraft floating through space having to come to terms with dying alone. You win Wayne, I'm still drinking the kool-aid. I'll leave you with a few of my favorite lyrics from The Terror. Peace.

* Love is always something, something you should fear

* Look, the sun is rising. What will love us now.

* The sun shines down but we're still cold. It's light is not a light that shines.

* Try to explain why you've changed. I don't think I understand.
   Try to explain why you're leaving. I don't think I understand.

* When you shoot the stars away the brightest light is the first to go.

* The terrors in our heads, we don't control the controls.

* I'm not alone. You are alone.

* If you've ever really seen the sunrise you'd see how many times it tries.
   If you've ever really seen the sunset you'd see how long it takes to die.

   
   
   

Cracker: Kerosene Hat

     My love of Cracker's album Kerosene Hat was a long, strange trip that began at a R.E.M. concert. For reasons I can't explain, it was 2003 and I still had never seen R.E.M. live. When it was announced that they were coming to The Palace of Auburn Hills I was all over it. The show was September 28th, 2003 and that's the day I became obsessed with the opening band, Sparklehorse. I bought all their albums. I spent hours on the internet reading anything I could find. One of the things I found was Mark Linkous' (a.k.a. Sparklehorse) connection to David Lowery of Cracker. Linkous co-wrote the song "Sick Of Goodbyes" with Lowery. This song would appear on Cracker's Kerosene Hat album. Later he would record it himself on the Sparklehorse album, Good Morning Spider. Two years after their collaboration on "Sick of Goodbyes", Lowery produced half of the brilliant Sparklehorse album, vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot as David Charles. Obviously, this lead me to buy Kerosene Hat. I welcome you to read my previous post about the late Mark Linkous and vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot if you are interested.
     The only thing I knew about Cracker was they had that "hey, hey, hey you like bein' stoned" song in the 90's. At the time, I was 28 years old with a two year old daughter, so I wasn't particularly interested in "bein' stoned". I didn't even know that David Lowery was the guy from Camper Van Beethoven. And the only thing I knew about CVB was "Take The Skinheads Bowling" and their awesome cover of "Pictures of Matchstick Men" by The Status Quo. And the only thing I know about The Status Quo is "Pictures of Matchstick Men" is their only good song. Seriously, I love that song and all their other stuff is third rate bar band crap. But I digress.
     Kerosene Hat is a great album. It combines 90's mainstream alternative with alt-country and lyrics with subversive humor. I even like "Low", which is the "hey, hey, hey you like bein' stoned" song. After I listened to the whole album, I realized I knew the song "Get Off This" as well. Other standout tracks include "Sick Of Goodbyes", "Movie Star", "Nostalgia" and "Let's Go For A Ride". My favorite song is the title track "Kerosene Hat". This is one of two songs on the album that helped create the template that, two years later, Sparklehorse would use for vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot. It's a slow, Southern Gothic, character song  with allusions to the devil and fire and love and hope. I have to believe that when Linkous heard this song a light bulb went off in his head. The difference is that on "Kerosene Hat" the production is clean, whereas Linkous used more olde tyme recording devices and effects. At the end of this post, I'll include the lyrics to "Kerosene Hat" so you can see the influence. At the "end" of the album, there is a piece called "Hi-Desert Biker Meth Lab", which is a 40 second noise collage. Linkous used this same device on the tracks "850 Double Pumper Holley", "Little Bastard Choo Choo" and "Ballad Of A Cold Lost Marble". There is also a song on Kerosene Hat called "Take Me Down To The Infirmary" which eerily foreshadows Linkous' stay in an infirmary when he almost died of an overdose.
     To illustrate Cracker's sense of humor, "Hi-Desert Biker Meth Lab" isn't actually the last song on the album. First of all. tracks 13 and 14 are blank. Track 15 is "Hi-Desert...". If you let the cd keep running, it stops at track 69 which is an eight minute song called "Euro Trash Girl". Then it runs to track 88 which is a song called "Take Me Back To You". Finally, it runs to track 99, which is an outtake of "Kerosene Hat" where they joke around with alternate lyrics. Sorry if this post was more about Mark Linkous than Cracker, but I find all this trivia fascinating. Peace.

                                                           Kerosene Hat

How can I fly with these old doggy wings
While the magpies sing some shiny song

Old corn face row of teeth she says sweetly to me
In the elevator

Here come old Kerosene Hat
With his ear flaps waxed, a-courtin' his girl

Come clattering here on your old cloven skates
With that devilish spoon

Everything seems like a dream
And life's a scream
When you're submarine

So don'tcha bother me, Death, with your leathery ways
And your old chaise lounge

A wickerman's fence of heather retires
And the cook's gone mad, started several fires

Everything seems like a dream
When you're submarine

Head like a stream, she says softly to me
from the rattling chair

Bring me a steak and my old pair of crows
My medicine lamp

Everything seems like a dream
So life's a scream

   
   
   

Lemonheads: It's A Shame About Ray

     It's A Shame About Ray is one of my all-time favorite albums. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's Top Ten.
I don't have a story about when I first heard it or how it affected me personally, but I was reminded of how I missed seeing them play the album in it's entirety on October 19th, 2011. The Lemonheads were doing an It's A Shame About Ray Tour and there was a date in Akron. Awesome, I'm there. I was about to start working on my wife to get her to go with me, because that's the easiest way to get permission to go to a concert. Yes, I'm 48 and I need permission from my wife to go to a concert. Anyway, I started out asking "Hey, remember the Lemonheads?" She didn't. I started playing It's A Shame About Ray in the car. "It's O.K." was all she said. This wasn't going well. I was about to just tell her I was going when I received a Ticketmaster alert that Duran Duran was coming to Cleveland...October 19th, 2011. Nooooooooooo!!! For a brief moment I considered not telling her about Duran Duran, but I couldn't do it. Needless to say, we saw Duran Duran. That was the first concert I've been to where they solicit texts from people in the crowd and show them on a screen. It was appalling. Every other text was "Simon will you marry me?" It was a fantastic show though.
     If it weren't for "Sparky's Dream" and "Star Sign" by Teenage Fanclub, "It's A Shame About Ray" would be the most flawless song in pop music history. Every chord change is perfect. Dando's vocal delivery is perfect. The lyrics are great. I especially like the line: "if I make it through today, I'll know tomorrow not to leave my feelings out on display." And Juliana Hatfield does backing vocals. By the way, Juliana Hatfield did an amazing cover of The Who's "My Wife". It's probably on Youtube if you're interested.
     I have the version of It's A Shame About Ray that has the raved up cover of "Mrs. Robinson" and where "Drug Buddy" was change to "Buddy". One of these days I'm going to try to track down a copy of the original release. Anyway, I love this album. In his book, Perfect From Now On, John Sellers has a term for perfect albums. He calls them a dinger. To me, It's A Shame About Ray is a dinger. I particularly like the songs that are a little bit country, such as, "The Turnpike Down" and "Hannah & Gabi". "Hannah & Gabi" is probably my second favorite song on the album. I love the pedal steel and the lyrics are beautiful. My favorite line on the album is from the song "Alison's Starting To Happen" : "she's the puzzle piece behind the couch that makes the sky complete." And there are several drug songs. That's the only thing that makes me hesitate recommending it to my kids, but I still do.
     I also have Come On Feel The Lemonheads, which I don't recommend as much. It starts out promisingly with "The Great Big No" and "Into Your Arms", but quickly unravels. Apparently, Evan Dando was going through some heavy stuff when this album was made. Twenty years ago, I thought "Being Around" was kinda clever, but even that hasn't aged well ("if I was a booger would you blow your nose?"). Most of the album is a 10 car pileup. That being said, I think Evan Dando is a great talent and someday I'll explore the rest of his catalog. And if Lemonheads come to this area again I am going to see them...if my wife gives me permission. All of a sudden I feel like listening to The Who:) Peace.    

Pavement: Wowee Zowee

     Welcome to my third post on Pavement. I mentioned before that Wowee Zowee is the Pavement album I've listened to the least. Well, except for Terror Twilight because I'm still waiting for Matador to put out the reissue. Anyhow, I've spent the past few weeks listening to it and I've come away with a few thoughts. I have also developed a new ear worm called "Serpentine Pad". I guess there are worse songs to have stuck in your head:)
     My first realization was that I seem to like Spiral Stairs' songs. I've never listened to Preston School Of Industry or any of his solo albums, but "Kennel District" is now one of my favorite Pavement songs. One of his other songs, "Date W/ Ikea" is my third favorite Pavement song. My friend Mike told me his other stuff is good, but not as good as those two songs. I think I'll have to investigate further.
     Sometimes I love an album at first listen. Sometimes I have to live with an album for awhile before it grows on me. Wowee Zowee is a grower. After multiple listens in a short period of time it doesn't seem as weird as it did when I bought it. I think I was just thrown by how different it was from Crooked Rain Crooked Rain. That was probably the point.
     Apparently, this album was a reaction to the "success" of CRCR. They probably didn't want to do an album of variations on "Cut Your Hair". Instead they did an album of songs in different styles. "We Dance" is Free Cloud David Bowie. Especially the line:  "check that expiration date man, it's later than you think". "Serpentine Pad" is like Sonic Youth's "100%". It's almost like Malkmus  challenged himself to see how many styles he could do, and do them better, but sound like he wasn't even trying. At least that's the impression I had.
     I didn't care for the bonus tracks as much in this package, but the booklet is cool. I'm glad I gave this album a second chance, because it is a rewarding listen. I doubt my kids will be as indulgent, but here's hoping.
     Just as a side note, I was listening to Sound Opinions the other day and they were listing artists who had "Grand Slams". They defined a grand slam as four masterpiece albums in a row. They proceeded to list Stevie Wonder, Led Zeppelin, Kanye West, Husker Du, Sleater-Kinney (WTF) and a few others that I forget now. Neither Pavement or R.E.M. were even mentioned. Are they kidding? I don't know if they were being contrarian or just ignorant, but really...Sleater-Kinney! Sorry, just had to vent. Peace.
   

Cleveland Rocks: Cloud Nothings and Extra Medium Pony

     I have another resolution for 2013. In my White Stripes post, I lamented that I lived in Detroit during the garage rock revival of the '00's and completely missed out on it. Now I'm in danger of doing the same thing here in Cleveland. There are several good bands in the Northeast Ohio area and I haven't gone to see any of them. Well, I did see my friend Dave's band, May Company, open for Yuck at the Grog Shop, but I was already going before they got the gig. Currently, I love a band called Extra Medium Pony who I heard on WRUW. I haven't been able to track down a physical copy of their album, 11868, but I've streamed it from their website and it's awesome. They also have a video for a song called "Junk Yard" which is reminiscent of "About A Girl" Nirvana. Check it out on Youtube. However, I haven't gone to see them. So my resolution is to get out and experience the local music scene.
     The most exciting band in the Cleveland music scene are Cloud Nothings. I have blown several opportunities to see them and this has to stop. I don't remember now where I first heard the song "Hey Cool Kid" (it was either WRUW or Pitchfork), but it was love at first listen. I've bought everything by Cloud Nothings that I can get my hands on; Turning On, Self-titled and Attack On Memory.
     Cloud Nothings started out as Dylan Baldi making music on a computer in his parents basement in Westlake, Ohio. The early stuff is quite raw and lo-fi, mainly out of necessity. "Hey Cool Kid" created some buzz and demand for shows, so he put a band together. Now Cloud Nothings are an actual band who found themselves working with the legendary Steve Albini on their last album, Attack On Memory. This combination lead to a quantum leap in the Cloud Nothings sound, similar to Guided by Voices going from 4 track recordings to Do The Collapse and Isolation Drills. The results are very good with standout tracks like "Stay Useless" and "Cut You". The songs on Attack On Memory, in general, are longer and have more dynamic range. I'm really looking forward to their next album and hopefully seeing them live.
     Speaking of the local scene, I went to the Rock Hall yesterday and saw the new inductee exhibit which, of course, includes Rush. My love of Rush is well established on this blog and seeing their items on display at the Rock Hall was an emotional experience. Among the items were Alex's 1976 double neck Gibson, one of Ged's bass guitars and one of Neil's cymbals which was as large as a shield. Unfortunately, their names weren't on the wall yet. I'll go back in a couple weeks to check again. When I actually see their names on that wall I'm probably going to cry... and I'm not a crier. After last year, I had given up hope that they'd ever get in, but they finally made it. I know in the grand scheme of things it shouldn't have mattered, but it did. Peace.


Watch Extra Medium Pony Video
Extra Medium Pony: Junk Yard You Tube Video

Chuck Berry: Roll Over Beethoven

     Roll over Beethoven and tell Tschaikovsky the news. That, my friends, was Chuck Berry picking up a glove, slapping the music establishment across the face and challenging them to a duel. Except he used a Gibson at twenty duck walk paces. And he won! No longer did music lovers have to settle for Bach or Caruso or Louis Armstrong or megaphone crooners. I don't mean to tear down other legends to build up Chuck Berry, but he was rock 'n' roll personified. His "heart's beatin' rhythm and his soul keeps a-singin' the blues". Elvis' early rockabilly was sensational and he was the first sex symbol of rock. Little Richard was rock's first great showman and inventor of Paul McCartney. I mean them no disrespect, and I'll post about them in the future, but there would have been no Beatles or Stones without Chuck Berry. Alright, there might have been, but they wouldn't have been as good. He created the template that has lasted for sixty years. He established the themes of cars and girls and sex. He was the first guitar hero and riff master. The first song I wanted to learn on guitar was Johnny B. Goode. John Lennon, Keith Richards and Brian Wilson have all acknowledged their debt to Berry. He was literally the most important individual in the history of rock music, yet he is seldom given the credit he deserves.
     I'm as guilty as everyone else. It has taken me 72 posts to finally get around to Chuck Berry. I had to go back and add him to my top 20 guitarists list that I included in my Michael Hedges post because he had slipped my mind. How is that possible? I know I sound like a fanboy, but look at his catalog. Maybellene. Roll Over Beethoven. School Day. Rock And Roll Music. Reelin' And Rockin'. Sweet Little Sixteen. Johnny B. Goode. Carol. Memphis, Tennessee. Little Queenie. No Particular Place To Go. Run Run Rudolph :) He wrote all those songs. They're not old blues songs that he stole from someone else. And they have been covered thousands of times by hundreds of artists.
     I've posted several times about deliberately exposing my kids to The Beatles. In a way, I suppose that has also exposed them to Chuck Berry. I recommend that they listen to my copy of Chuck Berry: The Definitive Collection so they know George Harrison didn't write "Roll Over Beethoven". Peace.

   

Foo Fighters: What Is Foo And How Do We Fight It?

     That's the title of a Foo Fighters mix tape that I made several years ago. I recently posted about Nirvana and since Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins are inducting Rush into the Rock Hall on the 18th, it seemed like a good time to do a Foo Fighters post. Let me say up front that I love the Foo Fighters, but I'm teetering on the brink of being sick of them. Here's a few reasons why.

* They are everywhere. The White House. Charity concerts. They're the token rock band for every award
   show. SNL. Rock Hall inductions. Talk shows. I think I saw Pat Smear in my backyard.

* At first I thought it was cool when they got McCartney to be Cobain in a Nirvana reunion, until it was a
   rehash of "Helter Skelter" to promote Dave Grohl's Sound City documentary.

* The Great Foo Fighters Hiatus that lasted about a month.

     Now, my wife looooooooooooooves the Foo Fighters. She was ecstatic when I told her that the long national nightmare, that was the Foo's hiatus, was over. Last night she asked me if I thought they'd go on tour again. I reminded her of when we saw them on the Wasting Light tour. It should have been called the Drunken Sausage Fest Arena Rock Tour. Thousands of drunk, former frat boys pumping their fists and vomiting. On top of that, they only played one song from the first album so they could drag out "Monkey Wrench" for fifteen minutes. Don't get me wrong, it was a great show but I wish I had seen them before they became Queen.
     Alright, enough of my whining, I just had to vent. The Foo Fighters are an amazing band who write great songs. The first album is flawless. Nothing in the world makes me happier for two minutes than "Big Me". Apparently, they stopped playing it live because they didn't enjoy being pelted by Mentos for two minutes every night. Suck it up boys, it's rock 'n' roll. I recommend that my kids start with the first album and go from there if they like it. That album also has two great under the radar tracks, "Alone + Easy Target" and "Oh, George" which is a power pop masterpiece. I also love There Is Nothing Left To Lose, which features "Learn To Fly" and "Breakout". The Colour And The Shape is good too, but I don't listen to it very often. The problem is it has two songs that I've heard too many times and can't listen to anymore; "My Hero" and "Everlong". Ironically, "Everlong" has my favorite Foo Fighter lyric: "Breathe out, so I can breathe you in".
     Just for laughs, I got out the Foo Fighters mix tape that I made to see the playlist. Here it is. Peace.

Side A: This Is A Call, I'll Stick Around, Big Me, Alone+Easy Target, Good Grief, For All The Cows, Monkey Wrench, My Poor Brain, Up In Arms, My Hero, Everlong, Walking After You

Side B: New Way Home, Breakout, Learn To Fly, Generator, Aurora, MIA, All My Life, Times Like These, Overdrive, Low