Music

New Song: Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs Return With “Dare To Dream” Featuring Graham Nash

~ kcorsini ~ 2 Comments

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Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs (Campbell, guitar/vocals; Mattt Laug, drums; Lance Morrison/bass; now Chris Holt, guitar) have released a new single “Dare To Dream” that features a wonderful backing/harmony vocal from none other than Graham Nash of CSNY fame. The song is from the Dirty Knobs upcoming album Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits. Is that not a fantastic album title? That title kind of sums up the whole B&V ethos… well, except that “virgin” part.

I think all of us were wrecked when we lost Tom Petty in 2017, but probably no one more than the members of the Heartbreakers – Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench in particular – as they had been on the ride with Tom for his entire career. I was so delighted that Mike Campbell, who I consider one of the greatest guitarist to ever strap the instrument on, has found himself a nice solo career after the passing of Petty. Sometimes a band leader passes and the other members are lost and fade away. Of course Campbell had guested on other people’s albums outside the Heartbreakers during their career, like Don Henley’s “Boys Of Summer” from way back in 1984, which he co wrote. With Benmont Tench he also formed my favorite ever surf band, The Blue Stingrays, which the Rock Chick discovered one night while musically spelunking. Well, I think Tench was involved in that project, it was pretty secretive. When Fleetwood Mac fired Lindsey Buckingham, they enlisted Mike Campbell – who was longtime friends with Stevie Nicks – along with Neil Finn to replace him. Finn for the vocals and Campbell for that fabulous lead guitar… he even brought back some of the great Peter Green era songs. Fleetwood Mac toured with Campbell, but they never went into the studio and with the passing of Christine McVie, it appears they’re done. I read somewhere that Christine told Campbell he “was fun to play the blues with,” high praise indeed.

While the thought of Campbell in Fleetwood Mac was cool, the guy was just too talented to be confined to just that as his post-Heartbreakers career. He co wrote so many great songs with Tom. I was thrilled in 2020 when it was announced that Mike Campbell and his band, the Dirty Knobs were putting out an album. Apparently the Dirty Knobs had been a live, side project to allow Campbell to play when he wasn’t busy with his “day job” for a while, prior to recording together. Campbell had stockpiled quite a few tracks and the result was Wreckless Abandon. The title track was the first song on the album and the first single and it was a great single that sounded, well, like Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. I really dug “Wreckless Abandon,” both the song and the album.

I was wondering if, like his stint in Fleetwood Mac, Wreckless Abandon was to be a one off. Thankfully, I was wrong. 2022 saw Campbell & the Dirty Knobs release External Combustion, another great rock n roll album. That album was preceded by the first single, “Wicked Mind,” which we loved down here at B&V. It was more of a road song, fast and rocking.

And now, here in 2024, we have a brand new song/lead single from the upcoming new album, entitled “Dare To Dream.” I’m so delighted Campbell and the Dirty Knobs are back. These guys are just a solid rock n roll band and we need those in 2024. “Dare To Dream” has such a great message. “These are the best of times, This is the good life and all you dare to dream can come true…” I like the sound of that. There’s a lot of negativity running around out there, it’s time for an uplifting message. The track itself is different than past first singles. It’s got a stab-y guitar riff. Campbell’s vocal is more prominent. I have to admit, it took me two listens for the track to click in my head. I had to get it first into the car for a good, windows down, volume cranked listen… and then I put it on the headphones. This track is utterly elevated by the amazing harmony/backing vocal of Graham Nash. That guy is an unsung hero…his vocals really make the vocals soar. I think I gave him short shrift on my post about CS&N solo/duo projects. Here’s the cool video:

Pretty cool stuff, and I don’t usually dig videos. Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone is playing drums in the video, I do not think he plays on the song, but I could be wrong, we’ll have to see when the LP drops and I can read the liner notes. I do know there are other guests beyond Nash including Chris Stapleton and Benmont Tench. I love that Campbell says the theme of the song is “everything will be okay if you hold onto hope.” Seems like a very timely message.

I’m not sure what this means for Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, but with Mike Campbell at the wheel, with his track record, this just might be my summer album this year. Rest assured, B&V will be keeping our ear to the ground for this one…

Cheers!

Urban Legend: The Ohio Players Hit Song “Love Rollercoaster” Has A Murder Scream Recorded In The Background?

~ kcorsini ~ 4 Comments

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I posted recently about the Black Keys new album, Ohio Players, which naturally got me to thinking about the actual group, the Ohio Players. I can only assume the Black Keys from Akron, Ohio were tipping their geographical hat to the original Ohio Players, who were from Dayton, Ohio. I mean Dayton is only three hours down I-71 from Akron… but I digress. The Ohio Players were a funk/disco band that had some prominence in the 70s. They had a string of hits like “Fire,” “Love Rollercoaster,” and “Funky Worm.” I don’t really hear them talked about much these days.

They were known for their music but I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that they were also pretty well known for their fabulous album covers… I mean, those things got me through puberty. The first one that really caught my eye was the album cover for 1974’s Fire, pictured here:

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That one remains a favorite to this day. I mean, the thought of a naked firewoman conjured up exotic thoughts in my young mind…It remains to this day, a powerful image of a powerful woman.

In 1975, they released their album Honey, whose album cover (shown above) featured a lovely young model on the cover. It was a gatefold cover and if you unfolded the album, you realized that the woman on the cover was naked and she apparently had spilled the aforementioned honey all over herself. Who hasn’t occasionally spilled food on themselves? I was like, 11, when this album came out so it raised a lot of questions for me at the time. What does someone do when they’re covered in honey? Why didn’t someone get this woman a washcloth? Is it getting hot in here? That’s gonna be tough to get off in the shower…someone should help her. Anyway, the album cover spawned the first of the urban legends surrounding this album. It was said that for some reason the honey ruined the lovely model’s skin in some sort of allergic reaction and ended her modeling career. This, of course, turned out to be a false rumor.

But that wasn’t the only dark rumor that this album spawned. Their second single from the album, “Love Rollercoaster” spawned an even darker urban legend. Having posted last year about the urban legend surrounding the Phil Collins’ song “In The Air Tonight,” you can tell we love our urban legends around here. Especially when they involve “Murder and Mayhem,” like one of our playlists… I asked the Rock Chick and my friend RJ if they had heard the famous story about “Love Rollercoaster” and both had not heard the legend. I feel it incumbent upon myself to share the story…

Like I mentioned, I was only 11 when this record came out. I remember I went over to this kid in the neighborhood’s house. Jeff was his name. Jeff was a year older than me. We were casual friends, probably more like acquaintances. He had an older sister and a younger sister. They lived in this split level house and the downstairs was just one big room as I recall. They were a musical family and there was always an electric guitar propped in a corner or a keyboard in the middle of the room. Although admittedly, I never saw or heard anyone actually playing the instruments. My parents had a stereo but they rarely turned it on. I seem to recall at the Peterson’s house (name changed to protect the semi-guilty) there was always music playing somewhere in the house.

I’m over at the house and Jeff asks me if I’ve heard “Love Rollercoaster,” a record – a single, in fact – his sister had recently purchased. I’d heard the song on the radio somewhere. He then asked me, with a straight face, if I knew about the murder that had been recorded and purposely placed in the back ground of the song. Well, I was only 11, this kind of thing scared the crap out of me, much like the time some high school buddies of mine and I played “Stairway To Heaven” backwards… I could have sworn I heard “Satan…” but as usual, the Devil is in the details, not the music.

Jeff puts the record on the record player and lo and behold, in the middle of the song, there’s a breakdown. Just drums and the funky guitar. And then I heard it in the background… a blood curdling scream. This scream was the type of sound that turns your blood to ice water. I jumped back from the record player in a state of sheer terror. I think I immediately left the Peterson’s house…Jeff had gotten his intended result, I was freaked out. Apparently, according to Jeff the record producer – whatever that was, who knew at 11 what a record producer was – stabbed the girl on the cover, who was his girlfriend and recorded it because he was crazy. He must have been crazy because then he put the recording of the poor woman’s scream in the middle of the song…like you do when you’ve killed someone. The blood curdling scream was the last sound the poor murdered woman ever made.

Here’s the song directly from the album. The scream begins at the 2 minute 32 second mark. If you can find the single version, it’s at the 1:24 mark.

Obviously, this is another urban legend that turned out to be completely false. The scream was done by Billy Beck, the Ohio Players’ keyboard player. It turns out a DJ out in California made a crack about someone in the band killing a girl in the background in order to hit that high note and the rumor took off like fire in a dry summer field of wheat. The band took a vow of silence on the rumor which had the intended affect – it fanned the flames of the murder story and fueled more record sales. Scary shit sells. But in the end, as the saying goes, no beautiful women were hurt or killed in the making of this funky single. However, it does appear they burned through quite a bit of honey.

The track was later covered by the Red Hot Chili Peppers for the Beavis And Butthead soundtrack…alas, no blood curdling scream included though. However, that RHCP’s version is the Rock Chick’s favorite version of the song.

Hats off the the Ohio Players and their wonderful song “Love Rollercoaster.” Well played, gentlemen. When I played the song and highlighted the piercing scream to the Rock Chick, she said, “This has to be an urban legend kind of thing, right?” It’s hard to get one past the Rock Chick… well, if you don’t count me somehow tricking her into marrying me.

Cheers!

Review: Def Leppard Release ‘Pyromania – 40th Anniversary (Super Deluxe)’ – A Simply Awesome Album

~ kcorsini ~ 2 Comments

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1983, for me personally, was an awful year. I thought after I posted last year’s Playlist: 1983, made up of songs from that year I’d put ’83 behind me… Then last week Billy Idol revisited his album from that year with Rebel Yell – Expanded Edition. And now Def Leppard has released Pyromania – 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition, a four CD celebration of their landmark 1983 album. I figured when I posted my Playlist: 1984 made up of songs from that year of blockbuster albums, I was moving on from the early-80s and headed to the mid-80s. Now that Def Leppard has put out this Pyromania box I guess to paraphrase Godfather III, “Just when I thought I was out of 1983, they pull me back in…”

I have to admit it was only a small surprise to me that I have never posted about Def Leppard. I still like Def Leppard and have included their songs on several of my playlists, as recently as our Playlist: April Fools, but I’ve never written specifically about them or their music. I do have an awful memory associated with the song “Rock Of Ages,” but that doesn’t explain it. I asked the Rock Chick, who was a big Def Leppard fan back in the day and she admitted she doesn’t listen to them much anymore either. It could be that Def Leppard fell into that category of music I outgrew, like the REO Speedwagon/Styx/Journey we were all force-fed by local radio back in high school (although I still have a fondness for the Steve Perry/Greg Rollie era of Journey, especially Captured). Admittedly, when Def Leppard were at their zenith they were more pop-metal (which I like better than the description “power pop”) or a term I like even better, metal-lite. As I got older, I got deeper into Black Sabbath (the Ozzy years) and Judas Priest and they were so much heavier. And I started getting into punk which was edgier and much more raw than the Leppard’s rock n roll. This 40th anniversary edition of Pyromania has been a nice chance to reconnect with Def Leppard’s music.

I was actually a bit of an early adopter on Def Leppard. Their debut album On Through The Night generated two songs that got a lot of airplay on local radio and that we all loved, “Rock Brigade” and “Wasted.” Of course “Wasted” had the lyric “I’m wasted, stuck in a hole” that was somehow widely misinterpreted at my school as “I’m wasted, smoking a bowl.” All the young pot smokers loved that sentiment and more power to them out behind the school smoking cigarettes. I actually saw Def Leppard live on their tour in support of that album when they opened for Ted Nugent and the Scorpions. What a triple-bill! It was my first rock concert (my first concert was actually comedian Steve Martin). Even though I was in the cheap seats, I could see that these guys were young. They looked liked guys that might have gone to my high school only a few years earlier than me, who had forgone college for rock n roll.

I actually had their second album High N Dry on cassette for a while…but someone absconded with it. I repurchased it on CD many, many years later. It was the first album that saw the Leppard team with uber-producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange who had earlier done AC/DC’s Back In Black. I really liked High N Dry because despite the presence of Mutt, it still maintained a raw, unpolished, hard rock edge to it. “Let It Go,” the title track, and of course “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak” were all favorites, especially that last track.

Two albums in and quite a lot of time on the road saw Def Leppard poised for hard rock superstardom by 1983. They went into the studio determined to come out with a hit and Pyromania delivered. The songs on that album had more hooks than a fisherman’s old hat. They generated four hit singles from the album. But in the process of making Pyromania, I’ve always felt that the band let Mutt Lange…well, take over. He got co-writing credits on every song. The band had also gone through a lineup change – guitarist Pete Willis was replaced by Phil Collen… Willis played a lot of rhythm parts before being fired, and Collen overdubbed solos. Collen seemed to be a better foil for Steve “Guitar” Clark, the other Leppard guitarist who later drank himself to death which isn’t as cool as it sounds. Singer Joe Elliott, drummer Rick Allen, and bassist Rick Savage all remained. Lange not only produced the album, you might say he “overproduced” the album. He effectively smoothed out all of the rough edges from these guy’s music. It was so polished you could almost see your reflection in the music.

All of that said, this was a huge album. Everybody liked Pyromania. By smoothing out the rough edges Lange made Def Leppard a rare beast in 1983 – a hard rock band that even the ladies liked. They had become like wine coolers – while I preferred whiskey, I always bought wine coolers because my date would drink them. I know that sounds like criticism but I mean it as a compliment. Listening to this was a great reminder of how great this band was. The singles “Photograph,” the aforementioned “Rock Of Ages,” “Foolin'” and “Too Late For Love” (which I always considered an explicit sequel to “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak”) were all great songs. They were everywhere. The tracks on this album were severely overplayed which might also be a reason I haven’t listened to it in a long time.

Returning to this album I was struck by how much I liked the deeper cuts from the album. “Billy’s Got A Gun” and “Rock Rock (Till You Drop)” jumped out at me as classic rock songs. I had a roommate named Tim for a while and he was huge “Die Hard The Hunter” fan, and listening now, I can understand why. I can’t believe “Comin’ Under Fire” wasn’t the fifth single. “Stagefright” actually musters some of that old, raw-boned Def Leppard sound. This album is an absolute classic, from start to finish. There’s not a dud on the album. I think if you played this for any fan they’d be able to identify every track on the record. Only a classic record has that kind of reach.

In the box set for the 40th anniversary, you get the original, classic Pyromania on disc 1. It may come in Atmos or Dolby or some crazy audiophile mix but I’m not an audiophile. Give me a beer and crank up the stereo and I’m fine. Sure, I love something that sounds good, but there’s a limit.

On disc 2 of the box, for the first half of the disc, you get a bunch of – and forgive this phrase – useless demos. They’re all instrumental, early recordings of riffs. There’s an outtake, “You Can’t Do That,” also an instrumental. I like demos and early version of tracks, but I can honestly say I can’t imagine anybody returning to re-listen to any of this. Finally, at the end of disc 2, after suffering thru demo Hell, we get a “rough mix” of Pyromania. It may have been the power of suggestion, but the “rough mix” versions of the songs did sound a little harder edged than the originals and I enjoyed that version of the album. Joe Elliott’s vocals were a little farther up in the mix on the “rough mix,” perhaps he did the rough mix? I don’t think anybody will choose the rough mix versions over the originally released ones, but it’s nice to have.

Disc 3 and 4 are both discs of live material from the tour in support of Pyromania in 1983. Disc 3 is taken from Germany. I was really surprised at how great these guys sounded live. My only complaint is that disc 3 is only six (6?) songs? Where’s the rest of this performance? Why would you only put 6 songs on a disc? Perplexing…

I will say the concert from disc 4 which was taken from a show in L.A. is a great listen. I think it’s been previously released so it’s not really “new” or “recently unveiled” or anything. I’m also sure it was widely bootlegged before it was released in the 30th anniversary edition of this record. With Mutt Lange not standing over their shoulders, the Leppards rock pretty damn hard. Elliott is of fine voice and the band actually does really nice backing vocals. The crowd heartily sings along. Collen and Clark’s guitar rock with abandon. I really like that songs from the first two albums also play heavily on the setlist. They pull great performances of songs from all three of their albums. This would have definitely been the tour to see Def Leppard on. Frankly, I’m not sure why they didn’t release this as a stand alone live album while they were in limbo between Pyromania and 1987’s Hysteria. But then, the 80s weren’t really a heyday for live albums…

If you didn’t pick up the 30th anniversary, I’d have to say the live concert from L.A. on disc 4 is worth the price of admission here. If you’ve never purchased Pyromania, I can only ask if something is wrong with you? This is classic, 80s, metal-lite that literally ruled the world. Turn this one up loud, put on your leg warmers, crack a wine cooler and get down, baby!

Cheers!

 

Review: Billy Idol Revisits His Landmark LP, 1983’s – ‘Rebel Yell – Expanded Edition’

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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Lately, I’ve been rather focused on the year 1984, having just done my playlist based on tracks from that big year in music, but with Billy Idol releasing Rebel Yell – Expanded Edition, I find myself turning back to 1983… which I thought I was done thinking about after last year’s Playlist: 1983. I’ve been looking forward to Rebel Yell – Expanded Edition since Billy released an outtake from those sessions, the Rose Royce cover “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore.” As I thought about Rebel Yell, I couldn’t help but come to the realization we’ve become pretty big Billy Idol fans around here at B&V over the last decade or so… we’ve seen him twice in concert in both Kansas City and Las Vegas and really enjoyed some of his more recent EPs like The Cage.

Of course, it wasn’t always this way – it took me a while to get into Billy Idol. His debut solo album came out the summer of 1982 and frankly, I didn’t discover Billy until I went to college that fall when I started seeing him on MTV. Billy had come out of the punk rock scene having been in Generation X and still looked the part – buzz cut, bleached blond hair, snarling lip, leather clothes. It may come as a surprise but for Midwest kids who grew up in the suburbs, we didn’t get a lot of exposure to punk. The only punk rock I ever heard was when 60 Minutes did a piece on punk in England in the late 70s… my father was so terrified at the prospect of punk “rubbing off” on me and my brother he threw himself on the television like it was a hand grenade… you’d have thought of a nude lady had popped up on the screen. When I got to college in Manhattan, Kansas the radio was abysmal – no rock n roll, just pop and country – and so my only exposure to Idol was on MTV. Rather than listen to the music and realize that “White Wedding,” “Hot In The City,” or “Dancing With Myself” (which wasn’t on the original album) were great rock n roll songs, we were all just hung up on that punk look. The skinny guy punching his fist in the air was too much for our suburban mind to wrap around… He rocked but he just didn’t have the long hair and spandex we were used to like say, David Lee Roth.

However, when his second album came out in 1983, the landmark Rebel Yell, even those put off by his appearance in the videos – and this may be the only case of a video hurting an artist with his rightful fan base – began to come around. I remember hearing the title track in the car, away from the video, and thinking, “Damn, that’s a great song.” I found out shortly after that from our new roommate Walt (name changed to protect the guilty), that Idol’s guitar player was named Steve Stevens – perhaps one of rock’s greatest underrated players. When “Eyes Without A Face” came out as a single, I began singing at inappropriate moments, at the top of my lungs, “Steal a car, go to Las Vegas, Ooh, gigolo pool…” prompting one of my bosses at the time to ask, “Steal a car? Vegas? What the fuck are you on?”

It was indeed our intrepid roommate Walt who finally turned me fully on to Idol. He sat me down and played “Blue Highway,” and something just clicked. I’d been so locked in musical spelunking from the 60s and 70s, I was blocking out music from “now.” I immediately taped Walt’s copy of the album from his cassette to a blank cassette. Years later I picked the album up on CD… and even later, just recently, on vinyl. It is an absolute masterpiece, there is not a bad song on the album.

The anthem of a title track is a heart thumper. The aforementioned “Eyes Without A Face” is the ultimate “not love” song. “Flesh For Fantasy” just shimmered out of the speakers. Idol came with that punk rock attitude, but he combined New Wave synths – and there are a ton of synths on this record – with Steve Stevens hard rock/classic rock guitar and found gold. Even the deep tracks like “Blue Highway” or “Do Not Stand In The Shadows” or “Crank Call” are just fantastic rock songs. The only track that isn’t a complete 10/10 might be “The Dead Next Door,” the atmospheric closer.

This Expanded Edition provides us with a bonus disc that has mostly demo’s of the songs on the album. There’s the aforementioned Rose Royce cover, “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” that’s just dynamite. I guess Madonna covered the song in 1984, which I didn’t know about… clearly I’m not a big Madge fan. There was some question as to why Idol didn’t include his version on Rebel Yell, but when you’ve got nine “cooking” originals, who needs a cover? Of equal interest to me was another outtake, an Idol/Stevens original “Best Way Out Of Here.” It’s another great song… a little funky in parts, but I could have seen it replacing “The Dead Next Door” as a closing track. There’s another track, “Motorbikin’ – Session Take” – which brings to mind the Montrose song “Bad Motor Scooter” – that reads as a “live in the studio” track. I wish they’d spent a little more time developing that little rocker, I kind of liked it.

Alas, most of the rest of the bonus material are demos. I’d have loved a live concert from this era. The demos may be of interest to some folks, and there are some interesting moments, but I doubt folks are going to want to pour over Billy Idol’s creative process the way Dylanologists pour over Dylan’s early versions of songs. The exception might be the two demos of “Flesh For Fantasy.” The demo version here is a fast, sped up track. It only shares the title/chorus with the version we all know and love from the album. Then there’s a version from a “session take” which shows they’d started to go from the faster version to the slinky version and back again… Again, some of the early demo versions have different lyrics, but I was impressed at how many of the demos represent a close-to-final vision for the songs. Idol and Stevens were certainly on a roll!

Regardless of having only a handful of gems on the bonus material – and they are gems – if you’ve never bought Rebel Yell this is a nice way to pick it up. After the two main outtakes – “Love Don’t Live Here” and “Best Way Out” – the rest of this is nice to have, not need to have. But Rebel Yell remains a spectacular album and those two tracks are ones fans will certainly want. The source album is so brilliant, I have to recommend this package – on CD so it’s affordable – to any Billy Idol fan. This album plays so well it’s like a greatest hits record. Turn this one up loud and pump your fist in the air, baby!

Cheers!

David Gilmour Of Pink Floyd Announces New Solo LP, ‘Luck And Strange,’ Releases First Song, “The Piper’s Call”

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It appears the rumors I’ve been hearing are true and erstwhile Pink Floyd guitarist/singer David Gilmour is set to release his fifth studio album Luck And Strange this coming September. Today he’s released the first single from the album, “The Piper’s Call.”

It may seem odd that David Gilmour, a very famous musician, has only put out five studio albums (if I include Luck And Strange) over the years. Of course from the 60s through the early 80s he was busy in Pink Floyd with Roger Waters, Rick Wright and Nick Mason. And from the late 80s on he was busy… well, in Pink Floyd with only Rick Wright and Nick Mason. I don’t think there was a more contentious break up in rock n roll history as Pink Floyd’s split between Gilmour/Mason/Wright and Waters. These guys make the Beatles break up look like a slightly unruly evening at a bingo night at the local church.

I have to admit, like most critics I’ve been up and down on Gilmour’s solo career. His guitar playing is some of the most melodic, recognizable, soulful sounds ever generated from the instrument. When Gilmour played guest guitar on a Pete Townshend or Paul McCartney record, you knew it was Gilmour. Pink Floyd ranks amongst Zeppelin and the Stones in the 70s pantheon of “cool” bands that every rock head loved. If you weren’t into those bands you might as well have been listening to disco. You were simply “uncool.”

However, in his solo career Gilmour has been less successful. Of course a lot of Pink Floyd “purist” would say that A Momentary Lapse Of Reason and The Division Bell, Pink Floyd’s albums without Waters are merely Gilmour solo records disguised as Floyd records. Sigh… Most critics will tell you that About Face from 1984 is the “pick of the litter” in terms of his solo career. I would probably agree with that assessment but I really liked his last studio album, Rattle That Lock. One of the issues that most critics, and fans for that matter, bring up is that Gilmour’s songwriting partner and lyric writer is his wife Polly Sampson. You get the usual “Yoko” kind of complaints about that. Hey, the guy can partner with whomever he wants, and he chooses to partner with his wife. Although I’m not immune to the ol’ trope that it’s a bad sign when you invite your significant other into the band.

Having enjoyed Rattle That Lock, I’m actually sort of looking forward to Luck And Strange. I’ve been listening to this new track, “The Piper’s Call” all morning. It wouldn’t have been out of place on his last album. The track starts off with a quiet acoustic guitar, quite lovely actually. It’s almost a Spanish guitar thing. Suddenly Gilmour’s voice – which I’ve always loved – comes on. The guy has lost nothing vocally over the years. The track kind of meanders along until the chorus when some fabulous Gilmour electric guitar comes in. He’s so plaintive in the way he plays. The track is mellow for the first minute and a half. But that chorus with Gilmour’s distressed vocals and wonderful guitar drew me in. His guitar playing is the main reason to stick around. Here’s the track:

It’s not a track that’s going to change anybody’s life or reignite a career the way say, Billy Joel’s “Turn The Lights Back On” did, but it’s not a bad little song. And if you’re a Pink Floyd fan – and who among us isn’t? – you’ll probably dig this one.

The album isn’t out until September but rest assured B&V will be out there with our ear to the ground… heeding the piper’s call, so to speak.

Cheers!

Review: Pearl Jam’s 12th Studio LP, ‘Dark Matter’ – A Triumph!

~ kcorsini ~ 5 Comments

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While I was in the midst of mourning the loss of former Allman Brothers’ guitarist/singer/songwriter Dickey Betts, who passed Friday – which required me to listen to the entire early Allman Brothers’ catalog over the weekend including “Mountain Jam” – Pearl Jam released their 12th album Dark Matter. My apologies for the delayed reaction to this new Pearl Jam, but everyone mourns in their own way. I hate to be one of those guys who say, “This is Pearl Jam’s best record since…” but this is Pearl Jam’s best record… well, in a long time. It’s only been four years since their last LP, the uneven Gigaton, which of late is rather quick for Pearl Jam. They’d gone 7 years between Lightning Bolt and Gigaton prior to that. That seven year gap didn’t see Pearl Jam disappear. They toured almost every summer. It began to feel like Pearl Jam was treating the studio pretty casually… like they were old buddies from high school who got together every summer for a “guy’s trip.” Only in this case the “guy’s trip” was a world tour.

I began to wonder if they even cared about making studio albums any more which is unfair. Any of us who were fans of their early work – Ten, Vs, or Vitalogy – tend to have very high expectations of any new Pearl Jam release, not dissimilar to the expectations that surround any new U2 release. It’s just that Pearl Jam’s early stuff was so earnest and it touched an emotional chord in so many of us and I think we all long for a similar dopamine hit like we got from those early records. Those expectations were probably a drag for the band. But as everyone knows, Pearl Jam started to change their music – perhaps like a lot of bands it was to shun the fame and attention they’d garnered – and their albums sold less and less. For me, Riot Act was the album where Pearl Jam almost lost me. It may have been “the record they always wanted to make,” but man, it was a grim affair. Although, like every Pearl Jam record there were a few stone cold classic tracks.

It seemed like they’d really re-dedicated themselves on the self titled 2006 LP, Pearl Jam. A lot of bands try to make a major statement with a mid career eponymous album but that record didn’t really take off and was seemingly overshadowed by the Chili Pepper’s Stadium Arcadium at the time. They continued putting out really strong albums every 3 or 4 years since then – Backspacer (2009) and Lightning Bolt (2013) – and I really liked those records. But I don’t know if the sales or the attention were what they expected. So they did what a lot of bands did, they went on tour a bunch and kind of ignored the studio work. Gigaton dropped right before COVID hit so I feel a bit like that was a “lost album” of sorts. I still like “Superblood Wolfmoon.” But I have to admit, I’ve liked all of those Pearl Jam records since Pearl Jam, so it’s hard for me to pin down the “best Pearl Jam album since…” conversation. Pick your last favorite Pearl Jam LP and use that one in that sentence.

Dark Matter is simply put, the best Pearl Jam album I’ve heard in ages. Song by song, it’s their most consistent, strong album in perhaps decades. They just seemed so focused on this record. And while there haven’t been a lot of changes in approach, everything seems to be taken up a notch. Much of this may be because of the presence of producer Andrew Watt who worked with Vedder on Earthling. He’s also worked with Ozzy (Ordinary Man and Patient No. 9), Iggy Pop (Every Loser) and the Stones (Hackney Diamonds). Some of the ol’ audiophiles complain that Watt-produced albums sound “brickwalled” (highly compressed to sound louder), but I’m a huge fan of Watt’s. He seems to pull the best out of the artists he works with by getting them to do what they do best, to “be themselves.” The record was recorded quickly over a three week span, where as the band says, “Watt kicked our ass.” I love Pearl Jam, but if there was ever a band who needed an ass kicking in the studio…

Pearl Jam remains Eddie Vedder (vocals/guitar), Stone Gossard (guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), Jeff Ament (bass) and former Soundgarden member Matt Cameron (drums). Watt also added some guitar and keyboards. The band also brought former Chili Pepper Josh Klinghoffer who has been touring with them – and who was in Vedder’s backing band on his tour for Earthlings – into the studio to play some keyboards and guitar.

With that same personnel, the band sounds like Pearl Jam, but as I said, it’s all taken up a notch. The first thing I noticed was Vedder’s vocals. On their most recent albums, I’ve liked the ballads and slower tracks better because Vedder – who has one of the best and most emotionally expressive baritones in all of rock – actually sings on those songs. On the recent rockers, which often sound very punk influenced (“Mind Your Manners” for example), Vedder almost barks the lyrics, like he’s mad at us for listening. Not so on Dark Matter. From the title track to the ballads, Vedder is emotively singing and that is a very good thing for a Pearl Jam record. And might I say, Watt seems to have just completely unleashed Mike McCready’s lead guitar. I just love it every time he solo’s on this record. With those two stepping up, it makes this a great record, but Gossard/Ament/Cameron lock in the riffs and grooves and create a great foundation for each song.

There’s so much to like here. I loved the title track, “Dark Matter,” but have already posted on that one, I’ll add no more here… While I had to listen to “Scared Of Fear” twice before it clicked, it’s a great Pearl Jam rock song. McCready just shreds. I love the riff and the bouncy nature of the song… “We all like control, I surrender to you, dear,” Oh, yes. “React And Respond” is another tough rocker that may require a little more time to grow on me. I like Ament’s bass on that one. It’s a twitchy, punk thing. “Running” is a meet-me-at-the-finish-line, full tilt rocker. But again, here Vedder sings vs barks and I like it. It’s a heavy track. “Got To Give” competes with “Dark Matter” for my favorite rocker. It starts with some lovely acoustic guitar and then Cameron comes hammering in on the drums (in a good way). It’s an uplifting track and I believe will be sung along to in many a stadium near you this summer.

“Wreckage,” a track I saw someone compare to Tom Petty which I don’t hear, is another personal favorite. It’s a midtempo ear worm that I can’t stop listening to. “Won’t Tell” is another gorgeous tune. I’m calling it midtempo but it’s got a nice riff and beat. I love Eddie’s vocal here, but I’m starting to gush… “Waiting For Stevie” is epic rock at it’s best. It’s a track that must be listened to loud… not to improve it, I just like it loud. “You can be loved by everyone, And not feel, not feel love.” A lot of these lyrics seem to center around loss of some kind – loss of a relationship or the loss of American democracy, it’s hard to tell.

I will admit there are no ballads that hit me as hard as say, “Sirens” or “Yellow Moon” (the Rock Chick’s favorite) that were on Lightning Bolt. But the ballads here are all still great tunes. “Upper Hand” is the first one coming roughly in the middle of the album. It’s probably my favorite of the slower tracks. “Something Special” is another great one. “Setting Sun” ends the album on an atmospheric, acoustic note. They’re all three really good ballads but for the first time in quite a few Pearl Jam albums, my favorite songs are the rockers not the ballads.

Pearl Jam remains one of the greatest American bands ever. It’s nice to see them dig a little deeper, try a little harder, and come up with such a stunning late career album (or it maybe mid-career, one never knows about longevity). A good friend of ours procured a couple of tickets to see these guys on their upcoming tour and the Rock Chick and I couldn’t be more thrilled. It’ll be great to see our good friend and the lads in Pearl Jam as well… they feel like old friends too at this point. In the interim, I’ll just continue to keep Dark Matter on high rotation.

Play this one – one of the best albums of the year so far – up loud. Cheers!

RIP Dickey Betts Of The Allman Brothers, The Ramblin’ Man’s Journey Has Come To An End

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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*Photo of guitar legend Dickey Betts shamelessly taken from the internet and likely copyrighted

I had no sooner hit the “send” button on yesterday’s post containing our playlist compiled from rock songs from 1984 when I saw the news that former Allman Brothers Band lead guitar legend Dickey Betts had passed away at the ripe old age of 80. I’m not gonna lie, this one is gonna leave a mark. I had intended to listen to the new Pearl Jam today, but we’re in full Allman mode as a tribute to the man who wrote “Ramblin’ Man.” I’ve gotten through the Allman’s first two studio records, with Live At The Fillmore East – one of, if not the greatest live album ever – teed up next. In unrelated news the Rock Chick is gritting her teeth and rushing to get out of the house. I guess the Allman Brothers are more of a “guy” thing, like Pink Floyd but I digress…

Of the original lineup of the Allman Brothers, with Dickey now gone, there’s only one surviving member, drummer Jaimoe aka John Lee Johnson or Jai Johanny Johanson. Jaimoe has more nicknames than Deion Sanders. It was guitar legend Duane Allman who, with his brother Gregg (vocals/organ) who formed the Allman Brothers. Duane and Gregg had been knocking around in different bands for a while. If you’ve never heard the Hourglass song (Duane & Gregg’s early band) “Power Of Your Love,” you need to. The brothers ended up in California. Duane finally had enough and left. Gregg had to hang for a year…where he befriended singer/songwriter Jackson Browne. Duane ended up pulling a band together down in Florida. He recruited drummer Jaimoe first. Then came Barry Oakley on bass, Butch Trucks on drums as well. Duane wanted a different kind of band, he had a clear vision and he knew he needed a second lead guitar to fulfill his vision and eventually through Trucks he found Dickey Betts. And make no mistake this wasn’t a lead/rhythm guitar situation, both Duane and Dickey played dual leads. Duane’s legend is a bit bigger than Dickey’s but perhaps that’s because he died so young.

Eventually freed from the Hourglass contractual obligation Gregg joined his brother and the rest of the band in Florida. He was a little intimidated by the musicians in the band at first, but his brother told him to “sing his ass off” on a version of Muddy Waters’ “Trouble No More,” and uh, Gregg complied. This was in ’69 and by the end of the year they’d put out their first album, The Allman Brothers, followed in 1970 by one of my all time favorites, Idlewild South. Oddly enough, it wasn’t until I had graduated from college and moved down south to Ft. Smith, Arkansas that I purchased those two records. It’s hard to believe that it took me until my early 20s to find the Allman Brothers… although when I started listening to rock music in say, 1978, the Allmans were broken up.

While the Allman’s debut album consisted of songs written by Gregg Allman and a few covers, Idlewild South saw the debut of Dickey Betts as a songwriter. He contributed the epic instrumental “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed.” In their early days the Allmans used to practice in a cemetery and Dickey pulled the name off a tombstone, which is just damn cool. Dickey also contributed another song on the album, “Revival,” sung by Gregg that’s another all time fav. Although those first two albums are fabulous it wasn’t until their landmark live album, the aforementioned Live At the Fillmore East, that made the Allmans famous. By the time they recorded that live album their reputation as a live band was already immense.

Duane and Dickey – and the rest of the band – played the blues with a jazz ethos. There were long, extended guitar duels between Duane and Dickey that were borderline Miles Davis vibing off of John Coltrane. They’ve been described as “southern rock,” but they were so much more than that…although admittedly it took me briefly moving to the south to get into the Allmans. They’ve been described as a “jam band” but again, they were so much more than that. Many bands struggle to find one competent lead guitar player whereas the Allmans had two (and actually quite a few more if you look at their entire history). The live album was the only way to capture their magic conjured on stage vs a studio. For some bands it takes the live LP to break them.

Alas, tragedy was to hit the Allmans when in late ’71 Duane was killed in a motorcycle crash. Bassist Barry Oakley would suffer the same fate a year later. The Allmans soldiered through but Betts took more of a leadership role in the band and especially on stage. He was largely seen as the front man in the band, likely because Gregg was stuck sitting behind an organ. I think Gregg resented Betts assuming the leadership role in the band – a band with his name on it – and the rest of the Allman’s history was to be a tumultuous one.

Betts continued to develop as a songwriter. Many of his tunes have a country music vibe. But his songwriting credits are quite impressive from instrumentals “Les Brers In A Minor” and “Jessica” to “Ramblin’ Man” (the Allman Brothers biggest “hit”), “Blue Sky” and “Southbound.” After Brothers And Sisters in 1972, whose songs were predominantly written by Betts, Gregg dropped his solo-debut album Laid Back and the band began to splinter. Betts dropped his solo debut in 1974, Highway Call, but neither solo or with Great Southern, his side band, he never achieved the acclaim that Gregg’s solo stuff did.

The Allmans broke up in ’76, and reunited in the late 70s/early 80s, but finally called it quits again in 1982. I remember Allmans playing benefit shows for Jimmy Carter’s campaign. Jimmy Carter at a podium flanked by Dickey Betts and Gregg Allman was quite a sight. The Allman Brothers band lay dormant for a decade, until 1990. Dickey had started to put together a band that included Butch Trucks and Jaimoe and a newcomers Johnny Neal (keyboards), Warren Haynes (guitar) and Allen Woody (bass). I remember reading the band was going to be the Dickey Betts Band but Dickey realized they needed to get Gregg back in the fold and come back out as the Allman Brothers Band, a wise decision. The comeback album Seven Turns was an unexpected hit. Dickey wrote and sang the title track (with a haunting second vocal by Gregg) and co-wrote the hit “Good Clean Fun” with Gregg and Johnny Neal.

Under Dickey’s helm the Allmans began touring successfully and put out a string of great late career LPs: Seven Turns (1990), Shades Of Two Worlds (1991), and finally Where It All Begins (1994). That ’94 record was the biggest the Allmans had put out in a long time. That was the first tour I was able to see them live and watching Dickey and Warren Haynes (who was playing the Duane parts) spark off each other was nothing short of breathtaking. Many an air guitar was played that night.

Alas, the old tensions between Betts and Allman began to drag the band down. Betts was drinking pretty heavily (and perhaps was doing drugs as well) and Gregg had finally gotten sober. Betts kept getting into altercations. Eventually the band sent him a fax – demanding that he sober up/get clean and basically fired him. A band who he’d help found went on without him. Betts went on to record and tour solo but never found that solo fame he so richly deserved.

In 2017 we lost both Butch Trucks (alas, to suicide) and Gregg Allman from cancer. And now Dickey Betts has gone to that great concert hall in the sky. The Allman Brothers were a lot like brothers. They made fabulous, epic music but man, they also had a sibling like conflict underlying it all, especially Gregg and Dickey. Maybe if Duane had taken the bus that day in 1971 instead of riding his motorcycle, he could have kept more control over the band. They all worshiped him… Dickey named his kid Duane… but that’s consigned to the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” file.

While Dickey may have had demons – and who amongst the rock stars doesn’t? – his sublime guitar playing and great songwriting make him a legend in the rock n roll world. I was a fan of his and the Allman Brothers for a long time… still am. It’s a sad day here at the B&V labs. There will be many an Allman Brothers’ jam played in this house today…with perhaps a few sips of a sour mash along with the guitar solos… I might need to go buy some Southern Comfort today…

RIP Dickey Betts, guitar legend.

It’s a long, dark ride, take care of each other out there. Cheers.

Playlist: We Look Back 40 Years To The Epic, Blockbuster Year, Rock N Roll In… 1984

~ kcorsini ~ 11 Comments

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We’re fond of constructing playlists here at B&V and have been publishing them pretty much since we started this blog. It wasn’t until three years ago that we did our first playlist built from rock n roll tied to a specific year, in that case it was 1971. What a landmark year for music that was! It was so much fun, the next year we did a playlist of rock n roll from 1972. And after that we’ve had this rolling 50 year-lookback playlist we do to kick off every year. It was when I was doing my 1972 and later my 1973 playlist that I realized looking back 40 years to the 80s would be fun too and ended up doing playlists for 1982 and 1983. I guess I need to circle back and do 1981 at some point, since I didn’t do it the year I did 1971, but I digress. We did 1974 to kick off this year and now seems as good a time as any to look back only 40 years to 1984.

Ah, 1984… It wasn’t the dystopian nightmare of George Orwell’s novel but it was a pretty uptight time. I was in college and was surrounded by some of the most uptight young adults in the history of college. Don’t get me wrong, I met a lot of kindred spirits in those days: Drew, RK, Walt, the accountant, and Stormin’ to name a few who I actually still mention in these pages. While 1984 the actual year looked nothing like 1984 the novel, the Reagan administration was doing everything they could to bring it about. It seems we’ve saved the mass surveillance, permanent warfare, “cult of personality” and doublepeak (and alternative facts) for today’s world. I seem to remember the women had extremely tall hair and wore leg warmers. But then again so did a lot of the rock stars. “Greed is good” was a mantra. There was the L.A. Olympics, sadly boycotted by the Russians. I knew a guy who participated in those Olympics… he introduced me to Belinda Carlisle once after a Go-Go’s concert, but I’ve already told that story. Sadly nothing in that meeting happened that could have made a VH1 Behind The Music episode.

Despite all that grim stuff, we still managed to have a really good time. The movies were exceptional that year. The original Ghostbusters remains one of my all-time favorite movies. Beverly Hills Cop was another great comedy with Eddie Murphy, perhaps his best flick. I also dug the latest installment of the Indiana Jones franchise. I seem to remember watching a lot of Miami Vice and Magnum PI on television. I think the 49ers started their NFL dynasty around that time, but I don’t like the 49ers so I don’t know. But the thing that really got us through 1984 was the rock n roll. What a year that was! It was no 1971, but man it was pretty epic.

When I think about the 80s, and ’84 in particular the first thing I think is: synthesizers. In the 70s bands like Rush, Queen and Van Halen eschewed synths as an evil to be avoided. But by the mid-80s it had invaded the sound of every major band: Rush, Queen, Springsteen even used them, famously Van Halen, and a litany of synth-based pop bands. Along with the all conquering synth the second thing I remember about 1984 is the sound of the acoustic guitar virtually disappeared. It was odd. The main thing about 1984 was the large number of blockbuster records we got that year: 1984, Born In The U.S.A., Purple Rain, Heartbeat City, Learning To Crawl. It seems like every rock group who released an album that year released a huge selling album that spawned multiple hit singles. Granted the production values of the time immediately tie these albums to that particular era, but oh well, I still dig the music.

I also remember a proliferation of the types of music we listened to. Alternative rock was being born on college radio. Hip Hop was beginning to get noticed, even amongst the uptight folks I described earlier. Hair Metal had begun to raise it’s highly coiffed head. Synth pop/synth rock bands began to proliferate. Classic rock still existed but it had begun to change. As mentioned the synth popped up on every classic rock artist’s record. Most of those big 70s bands had split up and the 80s saw either the dawn of a solo career (Roger Waters, Steve Perry) or the continuation of a solo career (David Gilmour, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, John Lennon, Paul McCartney). Let’s admit it, MTV and the visual images the acts chose had a huge influence on what we heard and absorbed. I could sit drunk in front of MTV and watch for hours, mindlessly. Now I’m more likely to see a music video on the Weather Channel than on MTV.

I’ll be the first to admit to you, I was not cool enough to actually have been listening to some of these bands – especially the synth pop or the alternative rock bands – in 1984. Some of these bands took years for me to discover. I was too busy listening to music from the 70s to pick up on the then-current music of the 80s. I’m lucky the Rock Chick was a huge fan of a lot of this music and turned me on to much of it. She lead me to the Cult, Psychedelic Furs, and Echo & The Bunnyman. Some times it matters when you hear a song if you’re going to be a fan… sometimes you have to be ready to hear it. I was not ready for a lot of this in 1984… immature ears. Well, if I’m being honest, my immaturity went way beyond my ears but again, I digress.

With all these great albums and songs from 1984 to choose from, I used my usual tactic. I picked only songs from albums that were released in 1984. I chose only 1 song per album (you may like a different song from the album, which is cool). This is a rock n roll blog so I didn’t put much pop on here – there’s no Madonna or Wham!… although admittedly I like “Careless Whisper.” Kenny Loggins had his big hit “Footloose” but I like ’70s Loggins, not ’80s Loggins… and it’s a song about dancing. I don’t dance. I tried to capture the melange of different styles and moods from ’84 which means I can go from Sade to Metallica. You can listen straight through or you can shuffle. If you hear something you don’t like, skip it… if you hear something you like, turn it up. As always, I put these playlists together to remind you of a song you haven’t heard in a long time or better yet, to turn you on to something you’ve never heard before. Hence, all the different styles of music in one playlist. Below, you’ll see my pithy insights on each track… Enjoy!

  1. Van Halen, “1984” – Well, where else was I going to start? A keyboard instrumental entitled “1984” from an album entitled 1984 that introduced Eddie Van Halen‘s new fascination with keyboards and kicked off the year 1984. I do consider this to be merely the intro to “Jump,” so you’re getting two Van Halen tracks for the price of one.
  2. Van Halen, “Jump” – Such an iconic song all these years later (same for the video). I guess Eddie figured if he can fuel a Michael Jackson song (“Beat It”) to the top of the charts with one of his guitar solos, he could put out a synth heavy track and do the same for his own band.
  3. Bruce Springsteen, “Born In The U.S.A.” – This title track is my favorite song on the album. I can remember where I was when I first heard this album. The story of an anguished Vietnam vet, back in America trying to pull his life together.
  4. Queen, “Hammer To Fall” – Queen pulling out all the stops on this “balls-to-the-walls” rocker. Great guitar from Brian May. This was a comeback of sorts for the band everywhere in the world except maybe… the U.S.A.
  5. Sammy Hagar, “I Can’t Drive 55” – Sammy expressing the collective American highway angst when the speed limits were only 55 mph. Bill Clinton lifted that restriction during his first administration.
  6. Pretenders, “Middle Of The Road” – Chrissie Hynde singing, “I’m not the cat I used to be, I’ve gotta kid I’m 33, baby,” is what I live for. The Pretenders had been through a lot since their sophomore album… they’d lost two members and Hynde had her first kid. We were just glad they were back.
  7. David Bowie, “Blue Jean” – From the much maligned album, Tonight. I still love this track. I think there were 3 separate videos for this song. I considered “Loving The Alien” from this one too, another exceptional song on a so-so album.
  8. The Cars, “You Might Think” – We just posted about the epic record this song was from, Heartbeat City. I could have chosen almost any song on the album but went with this, the first single.
  9. Prince, “When Doves Cry” – From Prince’s masterpiece, Purple Rain. I considered “Let’s Go Crazy” or “Purple Rain” but there’s something about this song that pulls me in, 40 years later.
  10. Bon Jovi, “Runaway” – From their debut. I’m not a huge Bon Jovi fan, but I love this song. When that falsetto comes in at the end… crank that up and hit the gas pedal.
  11. Whitesnake, “Slide It In” – My all time favorite Whitesnake tune. I was playing this song, while doing “research” for this playlist and the Rock Chick wandered by the door and I heard her say, “Ooooh, that’s a great song.” Indeed.
  12. John Lennon, “Nobody Told Me” – From John’s first posthumous release. It was bittersweet hearing it – I dug the song, but it made me miss John Lennon… still do.
  13. General Public, “Tenderness” – Having just seen Dave Wakeling play this song when the English Beat opened for Adam Ant last month, I had to include it. Great, great song! (Great show too).
  14. Christine McVie, “Got A Hold On Me” – Probably her biggest solo hit. I remember the video, which made fun of making videos which was a thing back in ’84. Sad to think we just lost Christine McVie.
  15. Ratt, “Round And Round” – As I mentioned, Hair Metal had started to rear it’s heavily coiffed head by the mid 80s… This was a worthy example of the genre from Ratt’s debut.
  16. Dio, “The Last In Line” – I love Dio’s work in Rainbow, Sabbath and solo… but this is my all time favorite song of his. The video, where a kid gets in the elevator and it freefalls into Hell…and Ronnie has to descend down from a rooftop in New York to save him. Oh, Hell yes! That’s money.
  17. Scorpions, “Rock You Like A Hurricane” – Love At First Sting was the second Scorpion’s album I bought on vinyl (the first was Animal Magnetism). I’d recorded Blackout on cassette… I love this album. The Scorpions put out Rock Believer a while back and it took me back to those glory days.
  18. Talk Talk, “It’s My Life” – Always liked this song… No Doubt did a great cover version of it.
  19. Thompson Twins, “Hold Me Now” – I know nothing about the Twins of Thompson, but everyone I knew dug this song.
  20. The Smiths, “What Difference Does It Make” – From their debut, seemingly answering the question, “Were they always sad?”
  21. Missing Persons, “Surrender Your Heart” – A track I’d completely forgotten about. I quickly added it to my Valentine’s Playlist, Songs About Hearts.
  22. Wang Chung, “Dance Hall Days” – A track the Rock Chick introduced me. “To Live And Die In L.A.” is still my favorite of theirs, but this is a great song.
  23. April Wine, “This Could Be The Right One” – A dying gasp from April Wine… at least for radio play in K.C.
  24. David Gilmour, “Blue Light” – One of two competing albums from former Pink Floyd members on this list.
  25. Joe Jackson, “You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)” – Joe Jackson in full jazzbo mode!
  26. The Go-Gos, “Head Over Heels” – I met Belinda Carlisle on the tour for this album in ’84. I wish I’d known more about how hard she partied before meeting her… that meeting could have gone a lot differently.
  27. INXS, “Original Sin” – I never get tired of hearing INXS.
  28. Run-D.M.C., “It’s Like That” – I’m on record as not being a huge Hip Hop fan, but this song did catch my attention way back when. A dude down the hall was a fan. Great stuff from these O.G.’s of Hip Hop.
  29. The Icicle Works, “Whisper To A Scream” – Another great song it took years for me to discover.
  30. R.E.M., (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville” – Reckoning, their second album, was the first one I bought.
  31. Rush, “Red Sector A” – Grace Under Pressure is probably the last Rush album I absolutely loved. This track, which was inspired by Geddy Lee’s family’s experience during the Holocaust, is stunning.
  32. Lee “Scratch” Perry, “Heads Of Government” – It’s always important to have a reggae legend on your playlist. Here he’s spouting truth to, well, the heads of government.
  33. Roger Waters, “5:06AM (Every Strangers Eyes) – From his odd first solo album which details a man’s midlife crisis through an early morning dream cycle. After complaining about Gilmour and guitarists in general he goes out and recruits Eric Clapton to play on The Pros And Cons of Hitchhiking. My buddy Drew bought the album the day it came out and thus has the original album cover where the hitchhiker in question is naked and not obscured. Good for Drew!
  34. Echo & The Bunnymen, “The Killing Moon” – A great tune I included on my Playlist: Songs About The Moon.
  35. Lou Reed, “I Love You, Suzanne” – From Lou Reed’s most accessible album, New Sensations. Lou just sounds happy on this record.
  36. Steve Perry, “Oh, Sherrie” – It’s hard to explain how much we all loved Steve Perry back in the day. I owned this record on vinyl.
  37. Twisted Sister, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” – A nice rallying cry of a song. I saw Dee Snider live in a city park in Winter Park a few years ago.
  38. Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Cold Shot” – From the epic Couldn’t Stand The Weather. I could have gone with the title track, but I’ve always loved this bluesy, post-breakup tune.
  39. Tina Turner, “What’s Love Got To Do With It” – I’m on record as being a bigger fan of Tina’s earlier rock n roll work, but now that we’ve lost her, I’m all in on this song.
  40. Jefferson Starship, “No Way Out” – Another 60s iconic band with an album out in ’84. I bought this record on the strength of this song about a cheating boyfriend and his forgiving girlfriend.
  41. Bruce Cockburn, “If I Had A Rocket Launcher” – A favorite track of my buddy Arkansas Joel. Oh, if I only did have a rocket launcher…
  42. Hagar, Schon, Aaronson, Shrieve, “Whiter Shade Of Pale” – Sammy Hagar and Journey’s Neil Schon form a supergroup (with Schon’s former Santana bandmate Shrieve on drums) and record a Procol Harum song. I do think Annie Lennox’s cover is better but this isn’t a bad track.
  43. Siouxsie & The Banshees, “Swimming Horses” – I feel like I should have been a bigger Siouxsie fan back in the 80s.
  44. John Waite, “Missing You” – My brother bought this song on a 45 for me. It was a song that used to mean something to me in a galaxy far away. It was nice of him to notice how much I liked the song.
  45. Elton John, “Who Wears These Shoes” – I didn’t remember this song until I pulled up the Breaking Hearts track list. I like this one so much more than say, “Sad Songs” from this album.
  46. Rod Stewart, “Infatuation” – At the time, this was his first collaboration with Jeff Beck, who played guitar on the song, in years… it led to Rod singing on Beck’s next album on “People Get Ready.” I wish these guys could have done something else before Jeff Beck’s demise last year.
  47. Elvis Costello & the Attractions, “Only Flame In Town” – Yet another great song from Costello.
  48. Glenn Frey, “Smuggler’s Blues” – A track that help land Frey a role on Miami Vice as, I believe, a drug smuggler. In terms of ex-Eagles I’ve always been more of a Henley guy – or if I’m being completely honest, more of a Joe Walsh guy – but I like this song.
  49. The Time, “Jungle Love” – I was already a fan of Prince’s when I saw the Purple Rain movie (friends had turned me onto 1999), but I left the theater a fan of the Time.
  50. Sade, “Smooth Operator” – Sadly, in ’84 I was far from being a smooth operator. I’m still not a smooth operator but I love this song. A beautiful woman with a beautiful voice singing a beautiful song.
  51. The Psychedelic Furs, “Heaven” – Another great alt rock song that I didn’t hear until well after ’84. There was so much great music out in the mid 80s that I could have discovered if I’d just paused my intense listening of the Faces and Zeppelin.
  52. Lindsey Buckingham, “Go Insane” – I had a roommate named Walt (name changed to protect the guilty) who loved solo Buckingham. He was ahead of his time. I remember him playing this cassette in the room. I must admit, at the time, I didn’t need to “go insane,” I already was.
  53. Billy Squier, “Rock Me Tonite” – I defy you to find anybody who lived through the 80s who didn’t like Squier.
  54. Red Hot Chili Peppers, “Police Helicopter” – I read in Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis’ autobiography, that the producer of their debut album labeled this song as “shit.” I’ve always loved it. But then, I used to date women from the sketchy part of town… saw too many police helicopters hovering over the neighborhood… but those records are sealed.
  55. Scandal, “The Warrior” – Scandal opened up for Elton John, the one time I saw him, in 1982. I was never a huge fan, but if Eddie Van Halen considered hiring Patty Smyth to replace Roth, she must have something.
  56. Stevie Wonder, “I Just Called To Say I Love You” – I was told this was the Motown Legend’s biggest hit and that stunned me.
  57. A Flock Of Seagulls, “The More You Live, The More You Love” – Another song I’d completely forgotten about but rediscovered during my “research.”
  58. Hanoi Rocks, “Up Around The Bend” – A Hair Metal band covers a Creedence Clearwater Revival song and scores their biggest hit only to lose their drummer, Razzle – killed by Vince Neil in a drunk driving accident – all in the same year. Is there anything more ’84 Hair Metal than that?
  59. Judas Priest, “Freewheel Burning” – Wonderful, punishing metal.
  60. Metallica, “Ride The Lightning” – The title track from my favorite Metallica album. They are one of the few bands to overcome the sophomore slump and put out an even better second album.
  61. Iron Maiden, “2 Minutes To Midnight” – I forget how melodic Iron Maiden is. This is a great track, even if I don’t have a clue what they’re singing about.
  62. The Cult, “Spiritwalker” – Another debut from a band I love. Dreamtime. And for all of you out there, he’s singing “wind walker” not “weed wacker” towards the end of the song.
  63. Kiss, “Heaven’s On Fire” – I was never a member of the Kiss Army but they always had a handful of decent tunes. Their 80s stuff was pretty paint-by-numbers Hair Metal…melodic but rocking stuff.
  64. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, “Cherry Bomb” – Where Joan goes back to visit the first big hit from her first band, the Runaways, “Cherry Bomb.” It was originally sung by Cherie Currie but I dig Joan’s turn on lead vocal here.
  65. Depeche Mode, “People Are People” – I love Depeche. Last year’s Momento Mori had to grow on me, but it was a great record.
  66. Midnight Oil, “Minutes To Midnight” – A band my buddy Doug always liked.
  67. Ramones, “Howlin’ At The Moon (Sha-La-La) – I didn’t realize the Ramones were still alive and kicking in ’84. I thought they’d gone their separate ways by then.
  68. U2, “The Unforgettable Fire” – I could have gone with “Pride (In The Name Of Love),” the big hit from this album, but I went with the title track. I’ve always loved this slinky song and the cool video. I once won a bet with Arkansas Joel (a huge U2 fan at the time) who was insisting there was no title track from The Unforgettable Fire.
  69. The Replacements, “I Will Dare” – Hats off to any band who had the balls to name an album Let It Be.
  70. Talking Heads, “Psycho Killer – Live” – I typically skip live albums for these playlists, but I’ve come to realize that’s a mistake. Stop Making Sense is one of the greatest live albums of all time so I had to include a song. I consider this the definitive version of “Psycho Killer.”
  71. Julian Lennon, “Too Late For Goodbyes” – I think this is a first that I have song by both father and son on a playlist. I hated the video for this but I dug the song.
  72. Paul McCartney, “No More Lonely Nights” – Great song, with David Gilmour on lead guitar, from an ill-advised movie and soundtrack.
  73. Autograph, “Turn Up The Radio” – I think these guys recorded a local versions of this song for every market. In Kansas City, I recall hearing the singer at some point sing, “KY102” which was the local rock station at the time. Although my memory can sometimes be fuzzy…
  74. Deep Purple, “Perfect Strangers” – As I said recently when writing about Machine Head, it may be their masterpiece, but for those of us of a certain age, Perfect Strangers was “our” Deep Purple album. This is not only one of my favorite Deep Purple songs, it’s one of my favorite songs.
  75. Philip Bailey (with Phil Collins), “Easy Lover” – I tried to veer away from “pop” songs but this great song from Earth Wind & Fire singer Philip Bailey with Phil Collins on drums/vocals was so popular, it was hard to not hear it. I kinda dug it.
  76. Bryan Adams, “One Night Love Affair” – I’m on record as not being a huge Bryan Adams fan, but I’ve always had a soft spot for this one. The story of two people who end up in a one night stand but just might have been looking for something more substantial. Much more interesting than the usual one night stand songs.
  77. Eurythmics, “Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)” – From a soundtrack for a movie adaptation of Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984. A novel that perhaps has more relevance today than ever. This song was actually banned and very hard to find for a long time. Big Brother is out there.
  78. The Honeydrippers, “Rockin’ At Midnight” – Robert Plant’s side project where he played old rock songs. “Sea Of Love” was the big hit, but I always dug this one. Jeff Beck plays guitar on this song! I think Elvis did it back in the day.
  79. Don Henley, “Boys Of Summer” – Henley’s masterpiece song, co-written with Heartbreaker Mike Campbell. The video “made southern California look like the south of France.” I always liked the lyric, “I saw a Dead Head sticker on a Cadillac, a little voice inside my head said “Don’t look back, you can never look back.” A lot to love in this song.
  80. The Kinks, “Do It Again” – The Kinks are just always kick ass. I feel like they deserve even more respect than they already get. This is just a great rock song.
  81. Triumph, “Follow Your Heart” – One of the last songs from Triumph that I remember hearing get radio airplay. Such a great Canadian power trio.

I’m not going to lie to you, my first attempt on this playlist had 120 songs. So there are a lot of songs from a lot of albums that I left “on the cutting room floor,” as the saying goes. There’s only so much typing one man can do in one sitting. If there’s an album you’re fond of from 1984 with a great song you think would be a nice addition to this playlist, drop it in the comments and I’ll add it. I like to think of these playlists as “our playlists” not “my playlists.” I will warn you, I do my homework and will have to verify the record is actually from 1984. Other than that rule, I welcome all suggestions. I do hope I bring a song back to your ears that you haven’t heard in a while and it stirs up a fond memory of those halcyon days… or better yet, you discover a song you haven’t heard before and it causes you to do a little musical spelunking and you seek out that album… You never know where you’re going to find a gem!

Enjoy this one, Cheers!

Review: ‘Steve! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces’ – An In Depth Look At The Legend’s Career & Life

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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After struggling with my streaming for a week or so I finally got a chance to watch the new documentary on the life and career of comedy legend Steve Martin entitled, STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces. At three-plus hours over two installments the documentary digs deep into Martin’s entire life, leaving no stone unturned, as the saying goes. We’re predominantly a rock n roll blog around here, but I thought we might change lanes on this one to comedy… and Steve is a legend so I feel I can get away with it.

I’ll admit up front, I am a HUGE Steve Martin fan. Even before I started listening to rock n roll I was a comedy fan. We all were. I was introduced to Martin’s comedy from watching Saturday Night Live. How else would I have discovered him? I was a preteen, it’s not like my parents let me hang around in comedy clubs on school nights. That first cast of SNL, “The Not Ready For Prime Time Players,” was legendary and even I got stay up late to watch them on the weekends and that’s where I saw Martin for the first time. The 70s really was a golden age of comedy. The comedians of that era really were the true rock stars: George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Cheech & Chong and then Steve Martin, Robin Williams and so many more. In the 70s some of the comedy albums – usually a recording from a live show – sold more copies than many rock n roll albums.

Martin’s avant garde and just plain wacky brand of comedy just hit my funny bone. I can remember seeing the grey haired man in the white suit with bunny ears on and being blown away. I’ve posted on this blog many times about my first album, Some Girls, from the Stones. That’s a true statement in terms of music… but if I’m being totally honest, my first album was actually Steve Martin’s A Wild And Crazy Guy. And my first concert – at the enormous Kemper Arena no less – was to see Steve Martin on September 30, 1978. I was still nearly 2 years away from seeing a live rock show. The couples in front of us passed a joint around and I thought my father was going to shit himself… Somehow, I’d seen an ad for Martin’s show in the newspaper and begged my parents to take me, “for my birthday present.” I can remember it like it was yesterday. I’d never felt that kind of comedic energy in a room, and this was a large room. I had memorized a lot of his bits from the album and would repeat them at school… My good friend Stormin’ once told me he did the same thing… memorized Martin’s comedy albums and regurgitated the bits at school to make “the chicks laugh.” Well played, Stormin’, well played. The show I saw ended with Martin performing “King Tut.” God it was comedy heaven.

My fandom extends to his movies. I’ve seen most of them. I read his novel, Shop Girl. I saw a performance of his play Picasso At Lapine Agile over at the UMKC theater department. I’ve read several of his books from Cruel Shoes to his comedy memoir Born Standing Up. I say all of this so you can understand the depth of my love of this man’s comedy and artistic work. I actually went into this documentary thinking there was nothing I didn’t already know about Steve Martin… I was, as usual, wrong.

I really liked the documentary. The first piece was all about his stand up career. It starts where all documentaries start, with his childhood. His father was cold and distant, it sounds like an unpleasant childhood. His father always had something shitty to say about his work. Martin seemed like an “overnight sensation” when he hit in the mid 70s but he’d actually been grinding on the comedy circuit for 10 years. He was a writer for the Smothers Brothers television show. You get to see some of his bits develop, which I found fascinating but some people might find dull. The first piece really takes off, like his standup career, towards the end. Part one ends around 1980 when Martin walked away from stand up and transitioned to the movies.

The second piece of the documentary covers not only his movie career, but really his life – who this man Steve Martin is, and who he’s become. I thought it would just be a linear progression through his movie career and then his return to stand up with comedy partner and good friend Martin Short. But it wasn’t linear at all. It was more like an hour and a half of hanging around with Martin. It felt like spending an afternoon with an old friend. He mentions many of his movies – the good ones and the not so good ones. I defy you not to tear up when he talks about John Candy. Martin says in the documentary, “As you age you end up being the worst version of yourself or the best version of yourself,” and that really hit home to me. The whole second part of the documentary was centered around Martin’s personal journey and attempts to be that best version – or at least a better version – of himself.

I thought this thing was a home run. Like his comedy it wasn’t a traditional doc. This really felt personal. I was happy to hear that Martin, now in his 70s, married and a father, is finally happy. That’s a damn good story. If you’re a fan of comedy, or of Martin this is a must see. Jerry Seinfeld and Martin sit down and talk in part 2 of the doc and can I just say, Jerry is just a funny, funny human. This thing is a celebration of a life and a celebration of comedy. And believe me, we could all use a laugh right about now. It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon laughing and remembering all that great comedy.

Cheers!

Review: Black Keys, ‘Ohio Players’ – Slightly Flawed Albeit Fun & Fabulous Album

~ kcorsini ~ 3 Comments

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Last Friday the Black Keys released their twelfth studio album, Ohio Players. Clearly the title is a tip of the hat to 70s soul masters The Ohio Players who hailed from Dayton, Ohio. The Keys – Patrick Carney (drums/percussion) and Dan Auerbach (guitars/vocals/keys) – are originally from Akron, Ohio. But the album title clearly cuts deeper than mere geography. This is an album that sees the Keys putting some groove into the tunes. And God knows, the Ohio Players were all about groove! “Love Rollercoaster,” anyone? And if I may digress, as a former league bowler as a kid, I love the cover art.

The Black Keys have been putting out consistently great records for so long – and so often by today’s standards, roughly every 2 years – that it’s easy to miss how far they’ve come from those early, raw, garage rock/blues punk days. As I think I’ve shared in the past, I got on the Keys bandwagon on the Rubber Factory album, which was their third album – and as I’ve stated before the third album can be very critical in a band’s career. It was the early 2000’s and I was really into the White Stripes and so it was only natural I’d get into the Black Keys. Although for some reason, after a few listens, I put the album back into our enormous pile of CDs at the time and didn’t return. I wandered into the music room some time later to find the Rock Chick jamming on Rubber Factory. “These guys are kick ass!” she exclaimed… Perhaps this band merited further study…and before I knew it, we had purchased their debut album, The Big Come Up.

I really dug that blues punk, raw rocking sound of the Keys early days, especially that debut. After 2008’s Attack & Release the Rock Chick and I have been all over every album the Keys have put out, save Turn Blue, which I couldn’t connect to. With each successive album, the Keys have developed their sound. They maintain that great, guitar/drums rock base, but have expanded to include additional musicians – bass players, keyboards, back up singers. And I’ve embraced every step they’ve made. But as I listened to Ohio Players, it suddenly dawned on me how far they’ve come since “Do The Rump.” Some of that musical expansion of their sound probably comes from the heavy collaborations on this album with Beck – who was co-wrote 7 tracks and sings backing vocals on a number of songs (and co-lead on one) – and with Noel Gallagher who co-wrote three songs. This album is produced by a gentleman named Dan The Automator, who I’ll admit I haven’t heard of before.

The album is 14 tracks long, but only clocks in at 44 minutes. Many of the tracks glide by on a smooth groove and before you know it, the album is over. I think the collaboration between the Black Keys and Beck is one made in rock n roll heaven. There is a ton I like here on Ohio Players. First and foremost I love the lead single “Beautiful People (Stay High).” I reviewed it when it came out, so I won’t go into too much detail other than to say that song is nothing short of an epic party anthem! That’s a track, co-written by Beck where the collab just works.

And don’t get me wrong, there are songs that are classic Black Keys, thick, fuzzy riffing guitar and insistent drumming. “Only Love Matters,” co-written by Gallagher, is one such great track. “Please Me (Till I’m Satisfied)” is where Auerbach’s guitar really kicks in. It’s a stand out track. In fact, the latter third of the LP reads like a slightly smoother early Black Keys album. All the back end stuff is great – “Live Till I Die” may be my favorite track. “Read Em And Weep” has a noir-ish, James Bond (or maybe Dick Dale) kind of guitar thing that I really like. “Fever Tree,” another Beck co-write is trademark Keys but with a Beck feel. “Every Time You Leave,” co-written by producer Greg Kurstin (who recently produced the Liam Gallagher/John Squire album) ends the album on a bright rocking note.

However, as I said earlier, there are a lot of Beck styled groove tunes here. The album starts with “This Is Nowhere,” with a heavy bass and a smooth groove. It’s a great song, although I’m not sure it’s what I’d have led off with. It leads to “Don’t Let Me Go” which is downright soulful. Auerbach employs a nice falsetto vocal on that one along with a cascading guitar figure. “On The Game,” co-written by Gallagher, has echos of Oasis but maintains the Keys sound. I was kind of hoping we’d see some guitar pyrotechnics and dueling between Auerbach and Gallagher, but alas it didn’t happen. Noel mostly provides backing vocals.  “You’ll Pay” might be my favorite of the Gallagher collaborations. It’s got falsetto vocals and a funky groove. And who doesn’t love a good “you done me wrong but you’re gonna pay” kinda song.

The Keys pull out a cover song, written by singer William Bell and none other than Booker T. Jones (of Booker T & the MGs), “I Forgot To Be Your Lover” and it’s sensational. I’m always a sucker for a soulful ballad. Sadly, for me there are two missteps to my ears here. “Paper Crown” starts off promising and features Beck singing lead. But at the end they have Juicy J come in and rap. I’m probably showing my rock n roll bias, but I just couldn’t connect with the song. The same story goes for “Candy & Her Friends” which features Lil Noid who raps at the end of the song. Again, it just felt jarring and out of place on a Black Keys album. The Stones had some rapping way back on “Anybody Seen My Baby?” and I liked it… it worked better than this for me. At least “Paper Crown” had that Beck feel and it made more sense to me… I’d have preferred an epic guitar solo.

Again, this is another great album from the Keys. There were a couple of tracks I didn’t connect to, but overall the Keys are so consistently great that the rest of the record overcomes it. I know there are songs on this album that I’ll be coming back to for a long time. I recommend this album highly – as usual played at high volume – but you might end up skipping a couple of the tracks along the way. Overall, this album is gonna get a lot of airplay down here in the B&V labs! And remember, “all those beautiful people stay high,” so try to stay up and good out there.

Cheers!