Just in St. Louis for an overnighter so what better way to celebrate than with the music of one of the Gateway City's prodigal sons.
Although steeped in the history of Jazz (Scott Joplin, Miles Davis, etc.), St. Louis has had it's fair share of legendary rockers. Among then, the absolute standout is Chuck Berry. Rock's first badass (and badboy) lead guitarist, Berry's music was so damn good, his message so universal and appealing that it's just as relevant and kickass today as it was over 50 years ago. To say he was a/the seminal, influential rocker doesn't even begin to do him justice.
At the onset of the British Invasion, and the zenith of Beatlemania, a different Ringo ruled the airwaves. On this day in 1964, actor Lorne Greene wrangled himself a No. 1 hit with 'Ringo'. This spoken cowboy ballad also lassoed the top position for six straight weeks on the 'Easy Listening' charts. Giddyup!
Based loosely on the famous gunslinger, Johnny Ringo, Greene tells the tale of how he nursed the wounded outlaw only to later face him in a showdown. After our narrator accepts his fate, staring down the barrel of Ringo's six-shooter, cooler heads prevail and a happy ending ensues.
No drummers were harmed in the recording of this song.
In observance of the seventh anniversary of the passing of my favorite Beatle, a short musing of my earliest musical memory.
'All Things Must Pass', was and is one of my all-time favorite albums. Probably top five, definintely top ten. The biggest reason is that it was on heavy rotation in our house when I was a kid. My mother was a big GH fan and I can remember spending time listening along with her, on our huge console stereo, I remember the spinning apple with the hole in the middle and the two vinyl disks, suspended in air, patiently waiting their turn for a spin. I was fascinated and somewhat frightened by the album cover. At three years old, I had no idea what a lawn gnome was but I swear I thought those freaky little creatures were real. That cover is still kinda creepy even today. I wonder if, being his first solo album post-fab four if was comfortable having other bodies around him. I still find it amazing that by the time the Beatles were finished, kaput, over, George Harrison was a mere 26 years old. What's more, he had stockpiled a collection of brilliant songs that would comprise the core (no pun intended) of this three-disc masterpiece.
As I grew up, my mother (and I) continued to enjoy his subsequent releases, 'Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) being our fave, but nothing quite compares to that time in my life, pre-school days spent listening to that LP with my mother.
I miss those days. I miss George Harrison. And I really, really miss my mom.
A few amazing performances by GH, notably the Concert for Bangladesh from August 1971, featuring Bob Dylan's first live performance since the Isle of Wight in 1969.
George Harrison/Bob Dylan- 'If Not For You' (Outtake Concert for Bangladesh, 1971)
George Harrison-Bangladesh (Concert for Bangladesh, MSG, August 1, 1971)
George Harrison- Wah Wah (Concert for Bangladesh, MSG, August 1, 1971)
George Harrison- Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) (Japan 1992)
Note: Something was George's first A-side Beatles single. Frank Sinatra later called it the greatest love song ever written.
Just in time for turkey day, Actual Monkey is proud to serve up a heapin' helping of Blondie. So pull up a chair, grab a plate and feast your eyes on this:
Blondie's fourth studio record, 'Eat to the Beat' from September 1979 was the first to be released simultaneously with a corresponding video album. Still almost two years out from the launch of MTV, Ms. Harry & Co. had the foresight to see exactly where music was going, literally. The emergence of music videos paired with a commercially successful rock band, fronted by a sexy blond lead singer was pure kismet. Debbie and the camera had a symbiotic relationship. She looked good on camera and the camera returned the favor, exposing Blondie to a wider audience through a medium that had yet to be fully exploited. This band wasn't just ready for this next chapter in pop music, they helped write it. It's worth noting that Madonna wasn't even a blip on the screen yet. Debbie was the first to the party.
Following the double platinum 'Parallel Lines', Blondie continued their new-found direction of commercial success with this power-pop laden gem. That's not to say they took a powder. In fact, I think it is one of their best. Not as immediate or acerbic as Plastic Letters, Eat To The Beat kept it's edge but added a quantifiable maturity to the mix. By this point in their career, the band, behind uber-producer Mike Chapman, was playing with house money, defining what rock was to become in sound and vision, with Debbie always ready for her closeup. That said, the music was strong enough NOT to need videos on which to prop itself up with. Unfortunately, for many others, following the premier of MTV and subsequent onslaught of music video, that would no longer be the case. Bands became defined by their image, not their sound. MTV flourished, music did not.
Funny thing is nowadays, the last place you'll see a music video is MTV. Guess they had their fill.
I'm just sayin'.
P.S. No Blondie post would be complete without acknowledging the stratospheric talents of Clem Burke, one of rock's greatest drummers.
Thanks to the magic of the Blogosphere, and a little help from Youtube, Actual Monkey presents the visual smorgasbord that is Blondie's 'Eat To The Beat'.
After a week of Post Punk posts, I figured I'd sum it up with what is becoming one of the most sought after items in all the Blogosphere. No, not a ticket for the inauguration, it's a patented Monkey Mix Tape, for your listening pleasure.
Monkey Mix Tape Vol.1 No.4-Post Punk Change- Killing Joke Stigmata Martyr-Bauhaus Cold Life-Ministry Ether-Gang of Four Shoot You Down-APB Interzone-Joy Division Do The Du-A Certain Ratio Chosen Time-New Order Respectable Street-XTC C.R.E.E.P.-The Fall Rip It Up-Orange Juice Back In Flesh-Wall of Voodoo Poptones-Public Image Limited Twenty Years Ago-Magazine Man at C&A-The Specials Not Happy-Pere Ubu Sorry for Laughing-Josef K Happy Ever After-Stockholm Monsters
What an amazing thing, this Blogosphere, it allows for travel through time and space. After a week of Post Punk posts, Actual Monkey shifts gears and decades to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Fab Four's watershed masterpiece, known as 'The White Album', released on this day in 1968.
Much of the album was conceived and written while the Fab Four were on extended holiday with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This period of enlightenment and introspection yielded some of the most personal work in their entire repertoire. Unfortunately, this album also marked a clear change in both the dynamics of the music and the band. It was the protracted beginning of the end. The album, simply titled 'The Beatles', with it's stark white cover portrayed a brevity of plurality and gravitas, yet ironically was less a cohesive, collaborative work and more a collection of individual songs, by individual writers, using each other as backing musicians. Even Ringo got in on the act using the others to support his contribution 'Don't pass me by'.
The changes don't stop there. The approach to recording 'The White Album' was also different. The introduction of outside musicians on a Beatles record was also a first for the lads. Eric Clapton took the lead on 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps, while session player Nicky Hopkins lent his talents to 'Revolution'. No coincidence that the emergence of Yoko in the studio (read: carnal sin for bands- girlfriends at recording sessions) also added to the strife. All well documented in 'Let it Be'. The division and discord that festered among the quartet was not limited to the band itself. For a group that utilized the studio as an instrument, the departure of engineer Geoff Emerick and spotty appearances by Sir George surely added fuel to the fire.
Surprisingly, it's impossible to hear the problems the Beatles experienced during the recording of 'The White Album'. As far as the music, the entire album appears seamless and magical in a completely disjointed sort of way. And although at first blush there might seem to be a lot of half-baked ideas and snippets of works in progress, there's not a bum track to be found. That might seem an understatement (or overstatement, depending on how much you like the LP), but I think it's worth noting. So focused was each member on their individual compositions, that the resulting achievement enables it to appear to be a homogeneous effort. Remember these four were writing and rewriting the rules of as they went along. There was no wrong answer. Even John's throwaway 'I'm So Tired', packs a punch in the span of just two minutes. Brilliant stuff.
If I had to pick sides, I would go with one and two. That said, some of my faves include: 'Dear Prudence', 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', 'Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My (Actual) Monkey', 'Blackbird' and 'Mother Nature's Son'. Although I might seem partial to Paul's tunes, John's expressions on 'The White Album' are to me, his most personal, and his best during his tenure with the band. As usual, George was limited to his quota of two songs, which, in the case of this double LP amounted to a whopping four. Of those, the odd little commentary 'Piggies', demonstrates a distinct stylistic departure from his other offerings.
While I was previewing it prior to this post, I remembered an observation I made years ago. It was a comparison of John and Paul's different styles of writing, specifically the fact that John had most of the edgier, more vitriol stuff while Paul wrote the more dainty, proper pop songs. But, in fact, the hardest song in the entire Beatles catalog is by far Paul's 'HelterSkelter'. This track was so incendiary it proved ominously inspirational, just ask Charlie Manson.
If you are any type of regular visitor to Actual Monkey, you know I am preaching to the choir when I say this LP is an absolute must, a mandatory cornerstone of any music lovers collection. It is still, 40 years later, worth every penny of your hard earned cash.
Turns out The Beatles weren't the only ones who used each other for backing. Fast forward 36 years. DJ Dangermouse creates a mashup, combining the a capella vocals from Jay-Z's 'The Black Album' with just about all the songs of 'The White Album'. The result, 2004's 'Grey Album' is anything but. Not a fan of rap whatsoever, I admire and cherish this technically creative gem. Unfortunately, the execs at EMI didn't feel the love, and had it pulled from every known site on the Internet. Those corporate guys...pure gansta. I think it deserves an Encore.
I'm just sayin'.
The Beatles- HelterSkelter (Studio Demo 1968)
The Beatles- Blackbird (Studio Demo 1968)
George Harrison- While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Concert for Bangladesh 1971)
Now I'm not one to get too political, I like to leave that to those far more experienced, like Sarah Palin or Barack Obama for example. But as I witness the Dow close at an 11-year low of 7,552.29, it creates a perfect alignment of the heavens in allowing me the opportunity to highlight my absolute, all-time favorite Post Punk artists, Gang of Four.
I find it both serendipitous and frightening how their discography of some 30 years ago marries perfectly to the current events of the ongoing world financial crisis in an Ashton and Demi sorta way. Freaky.
Let's begin with the most obvious 'Capital (it fails us now)'. "One day all will be living on credit...bankrupt" King and Gill certainly nailed this one, I knew Marx was a socialist, but a clairvoyant?
Feeling 'A hole in the wallet', lets move on to the funky, disjointed opus 'Ether'. I can envision some disillusioned hedge fund manager fixing a noose from his $300 Hermes tie while this plays softly in the background. Dirt behind the daydream. You ain't kidding.
'Paralyzed' reminds us of the most visceral of lessons: you have absolutely no control over anything, least of all your job. "the crows come home to roost and I’m the dupe". Biting.
Lest we not forget the anthem for this entire imbroglio, 'To Hell with Poverty'. So profound, I feel it a must to transcribe the lyrics in their entirety:
In my arms we shall begin with none of the rocks well there’s no charge In this land right now some are insane a million charge To hell with poverty we’ll get drunk on cheap wine To hell with poverty the check will arrive we’ll turn the boast again To hell with poverty the check will arrive we’ll turn to boast again In my arms we shall begin with none of the rocks and there’s no charge In this land right now some are insane a million charge To hell with poverty we’ll get drunk on cheap wine To hell with poverty
This should be engraved on Allan Greenspan's headstone.
I'm just sayin'.
Remember, the key tenet of socialism is the redistribution of wealth.
Following the inevitable self-destruction of the Sex Pistols in 1978, John Lydon, along with mates Jah Wobble and Keith Levine formed the nucleus of what was to become one of the post-punk movements preeminent bands, Public Image. After a failed attempt by Richard Branson (read: hot air-ballooning, entertainment mogul) to insert Lydon as lead singer of Devo, Lydon hooked up with his schoolmates and immediately began recording new music. Completed and released on a shoestring budget, First Issue proved to be one of the first of several albums that would establish the new sound, while borrow heavily from 'world music'. As the Clash had discovered with their successful attempts at melding punk with reggae, the members of PIL, relatively accomplished musicians all, used the same dub beats for their own ends. With the later addition of Martin Atkins (Ministry, Killing Joke) on drums, they were formidable band of miscreants, hell bent on taking experimental music and their fans to the outer limits.
Droning guitars, monotone vocals and hypnotic bass lines became the backdrop to Lydon's, apocalyptic, apathetic observations on life. This became their signature sound as the band released two more pivotal albums before internal strife and a revolving door line-up tore them apart.
1979's 'Metal Box' represented the high water mark. Still an amazing, perplexing, sonic amalgam, 29 years later.
By 1986, Lydon was left with nothing more than an assemblage of various studio musicians, among them a few notables (Steve Vai, Ginger Baker) to complete the generic themed 'album'.
As the decade drew to a close, PIL was nothing more than a Synthpop band, and not a very good one at that.
Always the consummate showman, John Lydon possessed an uncanny ability to manipulate the media years before Paris Hilton was even porn, I mean born. What follows is but a sample:
Public Image- Public Image (1978)
PIL-Chant (1979 'Check It Out' Program)
John Lydon on the Tom Snyder Show 1980- Part 1
John Lydon on the Tom Snyder Show 1980 - Part 2
PIL- Bad Life (1984)
PIL- Rise (1986)
Completely Sold Out- John Lydon Country Life Commercial 2008
I doubt I can add much to all that has been written about this band, except to add that their air-tight pop arrangements were absolutely magnificent.
XTC- Transistor Blast
Disc 1 (BBC Sessions, John Peel Show, Maida Vale Studios) 1. Opening Speech 2. Life Begins at the Hop 3. Scarecrow People 4. Seagulls Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her 5. Ten Feet Tall 6. Garden of Earthly Delights 7. Runaways 8. When You're Near Me I Have Difficulty 9. I'm Bugged 10. Another Satellite 11. You're The Wish (You Are) I Had 12. Crosswires 13. Roads Girdle The Globe
Disc 2 (BBC Sessions, John Peel Show, Maida Vale Studios) 1. No Thugs In Our House 2. One Of The Millions 3. Real By Reel 4. The Meeting Place 5. Meccanic Dancing 6. Poor Skeleton Steps Out 7. Into The Atom Age 8. The Rhythm 9. This World Over 10. Snowman 11. Danceband 12. Making Plans for Nigel 13. Jason And The Argonauts
CD 3 Live (Sound & Sound simulcast on BBC 2 TV on March 9th 1978 and The Paris Theatre on January 17th 1979) 1. Radio's in Motion (1978) 2. Crosswires (1978) 3. Science Friction (1979) 4. Statue of Liberty (1978) 5. The Rhythm (1979) 6. I'll Set Myself on Fire (1978) 7. Newtown Animal in a Furnished Cage (1978) 8. All Along the Watchtower (1978) 9. Beatown (1979) 10. This is Pop (1978) 11. Danceband (1978) 12. Neon Shuffle (1978)
CD 4 Live (Hammersmith Palais, December 22, 1980): 1. Life Begins At The Hop 2. Burning With Optimism's Flame 3. Love At First Sight 4. Respectable Street 5. No Language In Our Lungs 6. This Is Pop 7. Scissor Man 8. Towers Of London 9. Battery Brides 10. Living Through Another Cuba 11. Generals and Majors 12. Making Plans For Nigel 13. Are You Receiving Me?
Well there is no getting around it. I turn 40 today. No use in keeping score but so far here's what the numbers look like: 14,611 days, 350,644 hours or 21,039,840 minutes (leap years included). Not big on birthdays to begin with, but this one especially smarts. Self-loathing and self-pity both showed up without so much as a card. Bastards. Today the glass is officially half-full.
Well anyway, the song 'Good Morning To You', a schoolhouse favorite was written by Patty and Mildred Hill way back in 1893. The adaptation of the 'Happy Birthday' lyrics happened somewhere around 1912. Believe it or not, the song is still under copyright.
Having now experienced 40 of them myself, I never knew the significance behind the birthday celebration. As I guessed, it is steeped in Pagan (and Christian) tradition. Before the rise of Christianity, the Pagans believed that evil spirits visited you on your birthday. Maybe it's just that nagging feeling that you're getting older and can't do a thing about it. Nonetheless, to ward off the spirits, people gathered around the person and made merry.
I am almost as depressed with who I share my birthday with as the birthday itself. Here's just a few: Issac Hanson (yes, one of the Hanson brothers) Ru Paul Lauren Hutton Daisy Fuentes Amber Michaels (porn actress) Howard Dean (the screamer)
Upon further review, I was able to find a few that aren't so bad: Martin Scorsese Gordon Lightfoot (who Ironically, was blogged about here just last week) Jeff Buckley (the singer/songwriter, since he's dead, he really doesn't celebrate them anymore, does he?)
Nothing more than a day, so to make it go a little faster, some appropriate music.
P.S. My day wasn't a total loss, just saw this on the P5. 'On this date in 1979, Joy Division released their debut single, "Transmission".' And this, 'On this date in 1979, A Certain Ratio released their first long play offering. It was a cassette-only release called The Graveyard And The Ballroom', and finally this 'On this date in 1978, The Fall released their second single, "It's The New Thing".' Three of my favorite bands, who knew?
I once heard that the music you listen to as a kid, lets say between the ages of 14-17, will be the music you always go back to, the music you can't live without. As I approach the big 40, I find this to be truer and truer every day.
Lately, I find myself defaulting back to the tunes of my youth, 80's New Wave. Specifically Post-Punk. This genre was breaking and thriving just as I came of age, and although I had an appreciation of the classics, from 50's Rock and Roll through the British Invasion to Arena Rock of the 70's, Post-Punk was mine. Bands I could hear on the radio, then actually go see live. Growing up on Long Island I had the advantage of stations like WLIR, with forward thinking program directors like Denis McNamara who brought all this strange new music to the airwaves (anyone else remember 'Off the Boat' on Sunday nights?). The Metro area also had several strong college radio stations, with dedicated programming, like the Post-Punk Progressive Pop Party which aired locally on Hofstra'sWVRC.
There were also some good record shops back then, Slipped Disc and Bleeker Bobs come to mind. They had everything, no matter how obscure.
To round out the experience, there were a host of clubs that catered to the kids, the bands and the sound. As soon as I was able to get my hands on a passable ID, I can remember night at The Peppermint Lounge, Malibu, My Father's Place and Spit, to name just a few.
The combination of radio, record stores and clubs made the music accessible and life revolved around the music.
Since my memories of those days are filled with endless bands and countless shows, I've decided to dedicate a collection of posts celebrating that time in my life and that period in music history.
For starters I begin with one of the first post-punk bands I ever saw perform live. Scotland's own APB. This trio specialized in 'blue-eyed' funk. Led by the incomparable Ian Slater on bass and vocals, these guys had a driving punk-funk sound that was absolutely infectious. The tight, staccato guitar chords were the perfect counter to Slater's slap-bass style. Slater was the white equivalent of Bootsy Collins.
A local favorite, the band got heavy airplay on WLIR and performed some incredible gigs at all the local haunts. The first time I saw them was in 1984 at Malibu in Lido Beach. I still remember that they didn't go on till well after 1am, but played an amazing show. I saw them again in 1989 at Hofstra University and Spit in Levittown.
I guess I'm not the only one who thought these shows were epic. On the 20th anniversary re-release of 'Something To Believe In', disc two includes live tracks recorded at those Malibu and Hofstra shows.
I missed out on their reunion shows a few years back, but hopefully I'll get to catch these guys again. If you get the opportunity, make it a point to check them out.
