Supposedly Metallica’s working on some “not really Metallica music” project for a couple of weeks. Hopefully it’s the 4th edition of the ‘Garage’ cover album series, because, misguided Bob Seger tributes aside, it’s the most loose-sounding and fun these guys get. ‘Death Magnetic’ was a welcome return to form, but still, there seems to be some heaviness and pompous-ity involved with their own music.
Whereas, when they just grab some of their favorite childhood songs and let rip:
Obviously everybody gets old, but it’s really tough to watch a favorite band do so. Clutch has fallen under the spell of the blues, and that %$%$# harmonica player friend of theirs, and some sort of precision jam-hippie clean tone nonsense. Checked them out opening for Motorhead in Detroit the other night, figured the peer pressure would bring them back to the hard stuff. And they did play some of those songs, and they still play great, but it’s just set wrong. I wanna mess with the guitar amp settings so badly, maybe try and piss them all off a bit more before the show. Granted they can probably each kick my ass, but I’d take the beating if it got an old-school Clutch show.
Check out ‘Pure Rock Fury’ from 2002:
Now here’s a fan video from the same tour I saw. Now granted, the sound quality’s better on the other one, which helps my point. But can you hear how clean and polite everything is. The song is called ‘Pure Rock Fury,’ so shouldn’t you let loose a little bit?
Come on, Clutch, come back to us. We already lost Primus.
I owe Iron & Wine a lot because their last record was playing when I first made out with the woman who ended up being my wife, but I’m kinda going along with the flow of people saying this new record’s a bit too polished. Once or twice, it even heads into that dreaded “James Taylor, getting funky with the worldbeat” territory.
Still, it’s too early to give up, and this track’s been stuck in my head for weeks. I love this minute the most, the way all these wordless vocals soar off in different directions:
From the “Incredible Ways to Start a Goddamn Album” category, it’s the lead song from Public Enemy’s ‘Apocolypse 91,’ the last of their four straight untouchable albums. How are they not the rap version of Led Zeppelin, or at least Jane’s Addiction, in terms of recognition? (No airplay and too much watered stuff down since, I know..)
Also, they should use this to open every concert they do from now till the end of time.
We could easily go with just about any sixty seconds of this track, but let’s start when the incomparable CHUCK D really gets into it….
I’ll talk about Robert Plant tomorrow. Naturally, he did NOT play ‘Down to the Sea,’ but it was excellent. But today is Starchild’s birthday. Paul Stanley turns 59 today, holy crap. About 6 different times in my life I thought Kiss was the coolest thing on earth – 70s of course, also 1982 ‘Creatures of the Night,’ 1992 ‘Revenge,’ and the ’96 reunion. It looked like they were gonna get bloated and ride it out for the cash after that, cause a show I saw a few years later was really lifeless. But to their credit, they ditched Peter (always sucked) and Ace (he’s lost it, I wish it wasn’t true) grabbed two new guys and started doing great shows again.
Big credit for that has got to go to Paul, who never left the band, never wandered into movies and TV like his partner Gene, and is way overlooked when the “best frontman in rock” conversation comes up. Plus, he seems to have gained a bit of a sense of humor and understanding about his place in the world. Back around ’84 I listened to a radio interview where he savaged the film ‘Spinal Tap,’ as if it was an attack on his very soul. When the DJ tried to wind up the topic, asking if Paul would advise people to take the film with a grain of salt, Stanley angrily spat “I think they should bring a lorry full of salt!” (Credit to him, it was an English radio show.)
Contrast that with the self-deprication he demonstrates at the start of this ‘Nightline’ clip, crediting the wonders modern science can do with formaldehyde for his good looks, or the Led Zeppelin ‘Whole Lotta Love’ party he’s having here at a recent London show:
Just a wink and a nod, makes it all cool again. Now if only we can get an official release of ‘Let Me Get This Off My Chest,’ the hysterical collection of between-song raps some genius collected a few years back..
We’re off to see Robert Plant and the Band of Joy tonight in Pittsburgh, in case you were looking to rob the HQ. He’s always amazing in concert, but I’m especially excited to see tonight’s show because supposedly he’s dug out one of my favorite, obscure songs as a set-opener.
That would be ‘Down to the Sea,’ from 1993′s ‘Fate of Nations, and it’s a great choice for a number of reasons. First off, check out that big drum build up at the start – good way to say hello. Second, the lyrics serve as a perfect hello / state of the union address – “that’s where I wanna be, here where it all comes around” – all in the kind of flowery, hippie-dippie style that only he should be allowed to trade in anymore. (Much in the way only Howard Stern should be granted permission to talk on the radio in the morning.)
If you want the best minute of this song, skip ahead to about 2:20 to see why Plant and Jimmy Page aren’t playing together anymore. No way Mr.ZOSO would stand for a 20 second solo, and besides, whoever played this one knocked it out of the park. From there on we’re in the ride-out, with all sorts of great layered vocals. The whole song’s great, is actually my point. OK back to the Zeppelin marathon..
We love tribute bands, and we’ve loved KISS since, oh, about forever. So obviously a band of maniacs who dedicated themselves to bringing the best possible KISS concert our new hometown are gonna be people we like. So here’s our interview with Rich Kosak, aka ‘Starchild’ from Mr. Speed, who are playing in Akron at the Civic on Saturday, January 22.
60: When did you first see and / or hear Kiss? Was it a “oh wow” moment right away? Has your love for them ever faded (say during ‘The Elder’ era?) If so, what got you back?
Rich Kosak: “The first time that I saw KISS was on the Paul Lynde Halloween Special. I remember it being very explosive if you will and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Almost the very next day it seemed I saw the commercial for the KISS radio. I heard the beginning riff and saw the radio explode on our television and I thought to myself that I have to find out as much as I can about who these guys were. Ask me if my love for the band has ever faded during any period of their career, and I would tell you that it hasn’t. I have looked at every phase of their career as another opportunity to get more into them. In the late ’70′s and even through the ’80′s and ’90′s those eras seemed innocent. Every period of the bands career played an important part of my development as both a fan and a person.”
What was the first tour you ever saw?
“The first tour that I saw was the Dynasty Tour. The date was July 21, 1979 in Pittsburgh, PA. I was in the 5th row and it was just unbelievable. It was my third concert but by far the one that told me that this form of entertainment was going to take me places that I never dreamed that I would go.”
What made you decide to be in a Kiss Tribute Band?
“I made a friend at a record show one Sunday afternoon who shared my same passion for KISS. We began playing guitar together and before too long what we were doing was sounding pretty good. So we placed ads for a drummer and a bass player and before we knew it we had assembled a band. Then one day I saw an article in Metal Edge magazine about a KISS tribute band in L.A. called Cold Gin. This band featured Tommy Thayer as “Ace”. We got together and thought that we could do that too. We had no idea what we were about to undertake but it has been one hell of a journey.”
Do you stick to the 70′s stuff exclusively? Is “Modern Day Delilah” gonna make it to your setlist?
“We cover something from every KISS album except “Carnival Of Souls”. That even includes “Sonic Boom” from which we do “Say Yeah”, “I’m An Animal”, “When Lightning Strikes” and “All For The Glory”. Oh yeah, we even perform “Modern Day Delilah” which has been a staple in our show since the album was released in 2009.”
What did you think of their move to take off the makeup? How quick did you see them when the makeup came back on?
“When they originally took the make up off in 1983 I thought it was the coolest thing! It was KISS being KISS! I didn’t care about how it was going to impact their career. I just wanted to see them. I was fortunate enough to see them on the “Lick It Up” tour and even caught a drum stick from Eric Carr at the show. Speaking of fortunate, I was at Tiger Stadium (editor’s note – me too!) and it was amazing. Our seats were in the second to last row from the stage on the field but we didn’t care…we were there!”
‘Mr. Speed’ is a relatively unknown song from Kiss – is it one of your favorites or did you mostly think the name sounded good (which it does)?
“We chose the name of the band because we wanted to have a name that stood alone among the other tribute bands at the time. Most tributes to any artist choose a song that is easily recognizable by the fans. We wanted to set ourselves apart by choosing one that when you heard it there would be no mistaking who we were. In hindsight, it may not have been the best idea but when I met Paul Stanley on the Farewell Tour in 2000 I was introduced to him as “Rich from MR.SPEED”. To which he commented “cool song to name your band after”. Enough said.”
What do you think of Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer wearing the original makeup of Peter Criss and Ace?
“Having gone through many members of our own band I completely understand where Paul & Gene are coming from. If someone doesn’t want to be a part of the team then you find someone that does and move on with them. Musically speaking the current KISS line up is as solid as you could hope for them to be. I believe that if you are going to put a product out on stage for people to come and see then you should give them the very best that you can. I believe this to be true at their level and even at ours. I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror and know that at the end of the day we didn’t short change ourselves or the fans.”
What’s your favorite song to play live? What’s the hardest? Is there one you’re sick of but the crowd demands? Isn’t “Rock and Roll all night” kinda overrated?
“There are a few but “Unholy” is a fun song to play. The hardest would be “Hard Luck Woman”. It’s mainly because I haven’t quite figured out Paul’s picking style and there are times when I don’t feel that the song stands up in amongst all the other tracks that we play live. As for “Rock and Roll All Nite” being overrated…I’m insulted. I would rather listen to that than “Lunatic Fringe” by Red Rider or “Twilight Zone” by Golden Earring. Those songs are overrated.”
Have you ever thought of playing an entire album in order live?
“We have done this in the past. Each year we are invited to perform at the Indianapolis KISS Expo in March. The past two years respectively we have done “Hotter Than Hell” and “Dressed To Kill” at those events.”
What do you say to people who aren’t sure if they want to check out a tribute band?
“I really don’t have too much to say to them. It’s their choice if seeing the real thing means that much to them to not want to see a tribute. I get it. Our show is really for the fans that feel the music of the band that they love. I don’t want people there because they really aren’t sure if they should be.”
Your site says you’re a collector of Kiss stuff – what’s your prized possession? Got the Pinball machine? Do you want to be buried in a Kiss Coffin?
“I actually have quite a few. Most recently I met Paul in September of 2009. I had taken a poster of an unpublished shot of him from the Dynasty era to have signed. Prior to him signing it I told him of my appreciation for all that he has done and how much it means to me in my life. Of course I told him that I portrayed him in MR.SPEED. So he pondered for a few moments before signing the poster and finally wrote “Do me proud”. I think he understood what I was saying to him. I do own the pinball machine. As for how I would like to go out when my shift is over…I want to be cremated and added to the powder that is ignited in the explosions at the end of “Rock and Roll All Nite”. Pretty creepy, eh? ”
No, actually.. pretty awesome!
A big part of Addicted to Vinyl’s January 30th ‘Lemmy’ Screening at the Beachland Ballroom is Motorhead USA, a tribute band who will perform at the event. They don’t seem to have a website, claim not to have any photos, so the only way we could learn more was via interview. Enjoy!
60: How did you first experience Motorhead? What was your first song? First album? first concert? What were your first impressions?
Motorhead USA: “I borrowed the anthology double LP from my neighbor when i was a kid. Which the first song on that is “I Got Mine” which is a total fukking street jammer! The first gig I went to was in 1988 at the Cleveland Agora w/ Slayer and Overkill also on the bill. I think I got a shirt from all 3 bands, which i’m guessing was around $36!”
When did you get the idea to be in a Motorhead tribute band – what’s the story of your musical career history?
“I was in a band from the early 90′s through the early 2000′s called Boulder and we would do Motorhead songs for kicks. Then it just started doing whole Motorhead sets. It’s not something we do all the time. I don’t really consider it a tribute band but we do do the songs in tribute!”
What’s your favorite motorhead album and why? What’s your least favorite? What’s your favorite album cover and least favorite and why?
“Shit, you like to squeeze a lot of answers out of your questions! Fave LP would be anyone that’s being played at the moment (w/ Fast Eddie on it or ‘Orgasmatron’). Least fave would be any one being played at the moment w/ Mikkey dee on it! Fave cover would be the first album with the swazi. Least fave would be ‘March or Die.’”
Which lineup do you prefer? How many different ones have you seen?
“Not to sound generic but I prefer the Philthy, Eddie, Lemmy line-up. Pete Gill and Wurzel are good though too. I’ve seen every gig I could since 1988.”
What’s the most fun Motorhead song to play? The least? What’s hardest to learn?
For me right now it’s “Keep Us On The Road.” far out and groovy lyrics with a bitchin bass solo. If it’s no fun to play we won’t play it, right? It’s Motorhead it’s not supposed to be hard. If it were hard we wouldn’t put that much effort into it.
Do you look like, or attempt to look like Lemmy on stage?
“I do not look at all like Lemmy, he is a very handsome genteleman. I on the other hand have been described by my own father as a “goofy lookin son of a bitch”. Yeah i do throw on a wig and shades, but no cowboy hat!”
Do you like Hawkwind?
“More than like.” (editor’s note – this is why we cram a lot of questions together.)
What’s your take on Ween’s ‘It’s Gonna Be A Long Night?” Had you heard it before? Pretty obviously a Motorhead tribute, right?
I’m sorry I’m at the library and don’t have the time to listen to tunes. But I see that it’s Ween. I saw them sometime in the early 90′s. I remember them being entertaining but i don’t remember any of the tunes.
What about Probot, “Shake Your Blood” -did you dig that?
“It’s ok.” (see?)
Do you play songs from all eras of Motorhead, or stick to some certain range?
“Mainly we play songs from the first album up to ‘Rock n Roll.’ I’d like to play some newer era tunes in the vain that Eddie and Phil would’ve played em.”
Motorhead USA at the Beachland Ballroom January 30th as part of the ‘Lemmy’ Screening. Go see it. (I can’t, gonna go root for the Miz at the Royal Rumble!)
Oh are we gonna phone this one in. Here’s Ween, writing the best Motorhead tribute ever. Hopefully Motorhead covers it someday. And look, they even got the right bass in the photo above..
…not in person, let’s be clear. Today’s topic is the first Motorhead album I bought, which would be 1986′s ‘Orgasmatron.’ It still gets my vote for their best album cover ever (see above). I’d heard ‘Ace of Spades’ before, on ‘The Young Ones,’ but didn’t catch up on their earlier, classic albums till much later.
I got pretty lucky because ‘Orgasmatron’ is one of the most interesting records in Motorhead’s long history. Even though producer Bill Laswell rather perversely thins out the band’s sound, reducing the role of Lemmy’s bass in the music, he seems to have helped them work out some creative arrangements as well, making this one of the band’s more exotic and thrilling albums.
Of course, this is still Motorhead, so maybe only us metalheads would notice the changes. My parents hated it just as much as they would have despised any of their dozens of more straight-ahead records.
If you’ve gotten past the ‘No Remorse’ early greatest hits album, I highly recommend this, and 1995′s ‘Sacrifice’ (see Day 1) for anyone looking to learn more about Motorhead and Lemmy. The entire first side flows perfectly from song to song, and an early highlight is the second song on the album, ‘Ain’t My Crime.’ Enjoy!
(PS the band is playing in Detroit in February, with Clutch and Valiant Thorr. It’s gonna be good, especially cause I’m trusting earlier crowds on the tour to fully break Clutch of the bluesy, harmonica hippie crap they’ve leaned on too heavily lately.)
Lemmy Kilmister would be cool even if he was never in Motorhead, it’s just a matter of degrees. If all he had ever done was serve as Jimi Hendrix’s roadie, reportedly leaning against the amps to hold them upright while Jimi made sweet feedback love to them with his guitar, he’d be the most interesting guy at any bar in the world.
Soon after that, he spent a few years in the early 70s serving as bass player for space-rock pioneers Hawkwind. (They’re still around today without him.) They put out four or five studio albums, held concerts staged as audio plays with tripped out light shows and of course lots of drugs. In 1973 they put out a massive live double album, featuring insanely cool 12 (twelve!) panel fold-out artwork. So that earns him to a whole new level of permanent awesomeness. And he still hasn’t started his 35 year reign in Motorhead.
For today’s Sixty Seconds of Heaven, we’ll jump six minutes into the track ‘Orgone Accumulator’ so that you can hear Lemmy letting loose with, of all things, a jazz-bass freestyle solo. Really, to get the full effect you should listen from the beginning, but the song is something like 87 minutes long.
It’s definitely way more hippie-dippie, stretched out and cosmic then his concise, distorted work in Motorhead, but you can already hear the commanding presence and ability to hold down a groove that would serve him so well in that band. Freak out, space brothers and sisters!
(so this time.. we’re counting on peer pressure to get us back on this..)
Matt Wardlaw, over at the excellent, never slacking Addicted To Vinyl has arranged for a Cleveland screening of “Lemmy,” the documentary about Motorhead frontman, future scientific case study and all-around metal legend Lemmy Kilmister. It takes place Sunday, Jan. 30th at the Beachland Ballroom. To make it even cooler, Cleveland-based Motorhead tribute band Motorhead USA will perform, and co-director Wes Orshoski will be there. By all means, you should go!
So we’re announcing, hopefully, Motorhead Week here at Sixty Seconds. We’re not gonna get into “Ace of Spades” or anything that easy. But that’s OK, we’ve got plenty to work with, these guys put out a damn good album just about every year. The mighty AC/DC without a doubt flies higher, but wishes they were as consistent as Motorhead.
So here’s ‘Out of the Sun,’ the closing track from 1995′s ‘Sacrifice,’ one of their most dynamic and artistically impressive records. No need to find the perfect minute here, we’ll just start at the beginning, with Lemmy’s bar-weathered voice over an uncharacteristically muted electric guitar. It’s a good way for the unfamiliar to dip their toes in for, oh, about 40 seconds. Then things jump up to a more traditional Motorhead volume and tempo:
I know, I said I’d never leave you, and I lied, again and again. Maybe things will really be different now; I’ve traded three jobs for one, baby, things are really looking up for me…
Aww, look at me, down on one knee begging for your forgiveness… pathetic!
If I could play guitar like my man Prince does here on the title track to his 2006 album ’3121,’ I wouldn’t even have to ask. Listen to this solo, it just keeps unfolding, never fully resolves, covering a whole lot of ground in a very short amount of time, oh and by the way, over one of the funkiest rhythms the purple yoda has unleashed in a long time. So here it is, your daily Sixty Seconds of Heaven:
Lucky, lucky Cleveland! Several agonizing months after the release of their excellent new album ‘Signs of Infinite Power,’ the mighty Fu Manchu are coming to town this Thursday, Sept. 9th at Grog Shop. We had the good fortune to interview lead guitarist Bob Balch about the band’s long history, their new album Signs of Infinite Power, and his excellent music teaching website www.PlayThisriff.com:
60: I can’t find any interviews regarding what you were up to before you joined Fu Manchu. I’ve watched this video interview where you said that you were young at the time. It seems that ‘The Action is Go..’ may have been your first time in a recording studio. Is that true, and if so what were you up to beforehand? How did you discover this kind of music in the first place? If none of that is true, what’s the real story?
Bob Balch: “I was 19 when I recorded “Action.” There was a guy in my music class in high school that gave me “No One Rides For Free.” Fu Manchu used to practice in his garage. We are still friends with him to this day.
I was working at the local guitar store with Brad (bass) and he just got home from tour and said they were looking for a new guitar player. I already knew the songs from “No One Rides” so I kind of half kidding said, “I’ll do it.” He called me a week later and asked me to join. I was super stoked!”
60: What are your favorite songs from the new record? How does the collaborative process within the band work? Can anyone bring in a part to build on?
BB: “I really like the title track. Playing it live kicks ass. I also like playing “Bionic.” We all bring riffs to the table, and then we just go over the tune until we feel it could not be improved on. Then Hill (lead singer Scott Hill) writes vocals.”
60: How often do you play guitar on a typical day off the road? How much of it is practice and how much is exploring? When you all first get into sync on a riff like ‘Gargantuan March’ for the first time, do you just keep playing it for the rest of the day?
BB: “I own a music school in San Diego, so I’m always playing and figuring out solos and stuff. Probably 5 to 8 hours a day. We played the riff to “Gargantuan” for a while, but you have to change it up eventually.”
60: PlayThisRiff has certainly built up quite an array of clips quickly. What gave you the idea to put video lessons from yourself and peers on-line in this way, and what are your plans for the site’s future? Who’s the artist, living or dead, you’d most want to get on there?
BB: “I started filming stuff for Fu Manchu fans, then I thought I should get some other bands involved to drive up more traffic. I kind of “drunk dial” on the internet. Then I get up and see that some of my favorite artists have responded. It’s pretty rad.
I am looking forward to seeing the site grow. It’s been a ton of work so far. I think I have edited and tabbed out 750 videos so far. Having OCD is a plus in this case. I would love to see David Gilmour on the site. Or maybe Joe Walsh, Bubba from VOID, Dave Ghrol, the list could keep going and going. You just might have to log on and see how it turns out.”
60: How much do you listen to other people’s music? It seems, from PlayThisRiff.com, that you keep up with your peers pretty well. What are your current favorite records, and what are a few (records or bands) from your all-time hall of fame?
BB: “I love TORCHE! I just check out who’s coming to town, then I listen on their myspace and determine if the PlayThisRiff subscribers would be into it. My favorite record is Pink Floyd’s “Animals.” I listen to all kinds of stuff. There are too many to mention.”
60: What’s next for Fu Manchu? Some 20th anniversary re-releases, right? Any news on those? Any other musical projects you’re working on?
BB: “We are looking forward to playing “In Search Of” from start to finish. We will be taking that tour up the West Coast first, just to try it out. If people are into it, then maybe we’ll do a full on tour with it.”
60: Suppose that to save the Earth from certain doom from alien attack, you have to quickly pick the best sixty seconds of music from one our your main influences, and sixty seconds of your own music. What do you choose?
BB: “I would choose the main riff from “Signs Of Infinite Power” and “Americanized” from the first GWAR album. Just because I think a lot of people overlook that album. It’s pretty bad ass!”
..and that’s a wrap. By all means go see Fu Manchu this Thursday at the Grog Shop!
Photo: Kaleth Photography
I spent about two straight weeks listening to ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me‘ by Elton John this summer. With as much as it’s repeatedly beaten into our ears you can lose track of just how epic that song is, and how powerful the lyrics are.. “I can’t light, no more of your darkness…” not to sound high, but how deep is that?
You know that line about how cliches are cliches because they’re true? And how great songs are overplayed because they are great? Well that holds true here for sure, and the cool thing is, if you go spend $3.00 at a used record store, like I did on a copy of 1974′s ‘Caribou,’ then listen to ‘Sun’ 200 or so times, no matter how close-minded you are, eventually you’ll come across the next song on the record, ‘Ticking,’ which might be just as good:
So of course everybody knows our love of tribute bands. So far we’ve stuck to classic rock bands, but here’s a new kind of treat: A Talking Heads tribute band called This Must Be The Band is coming to Cleveland this Wednesday, August 11th at the Beachland Ballroom. We did a short and sweet interview with the band’s “David Byrne,” Charles Otto:
60: How did you discover the Talking Heads? What song did you hear first? What made you decide to play their music?
Charles Otto: “When I was in high school, I went on Napster and downloaded some Widespread Panic tunes at the suggestion of a friend. I only liked one song, and I showed it to my dad and he told me, “I know this song, it’s Burning Down the House.” The real hook for me was hearing The Name of this Band is Talking Heads in college. The addition of Adrian Belew to their lineup for that album killed me. I had never heard anything like it. It wasn’t until after college that I decided to start the band. I saw a Zeppelin Tribute and a Thin Lizzy Tribute in two days, and saw how much fun they were having. The idea struck me, that because the original bands had so many albums and so many years of development under their belts, playing their entire catalogue could make for a very well-rounded and exciting show. And the Talking Heads seemed like a good choice for me, since I felt confident I could pull off most of the guitar work. I wasn’t planning on singing, but I didn’t find anyone else that was very convincing, so I worked on it myself.”
60: How much of a mindset change is it to play in your other bands versus this one? What would you like people to know about your other bands?
Charles: “I have one other main band that I spend all my time on, called Savvy. It is funny to me that I feel much more free to express myself in the Heads Tribute, since my original songs tend to be a little more rigid and planned, while a lot of Heads music allows us to stretch out as musicians. There are certain liberties that the Heads took with songs, changing them from one show to the next, which we also take, and it’s very fun for everyone involved.”
60: Are there other Talking Heads Tribute bands you know about? How come only the classic rockers get them?
Charles: “I’ve heard of a couple. Start Making Sense is on the east coast, and their Byrne guy sounds just like the original. I don’t think it is exclusively classic rock bands that work well with tributes. I love the James Brown Tribute in Chicago, Get Up with the Get Downs, and there is even an Amy Winehouse Tribute called House of Winehouse. I’m still not sure if this one is a joke or not, but they did win Best Local Tribute Band in Chicago’s newspaper, The Reader.”
60: What is your favorite talking heads song to listen to? By contrast, what’s your favorite to play live? Or are they the same? What was the hardest to learn?
Charles: “The hardest songs to learn are the early stuff because his vocals and lyrics are OUT THERE. Faceless imagery, jaunty rhythms, I have really had a hard time putting my finger on all of it. I eventually get it though. Best example is “With Our Love.” All the phrases are so very similar, but they all need to be exactly right to rhythmically hold the song together.
Favorite song to listen to and play is the entire album Remain in Light. God that album is good. We recently recreated that album 2 nights in Chicago. It took 20 people on stage, 3 months of my time rerecording each song so I could assign parts to people. It was all worth it, it was probably the best two days of my life. There is audio from those shows on our Myspace now.”
60: Do you think the Talking Heads will ever get back together again? What do you think of their solo work?
Charles: “I don’t speculate on that. I will buy a ticket if they do. I think they are all getting really really good at writing songs. They are still evolving, and I’m glad to hear and play all of that. We play a Tom Tom Club song or two, and have about 7 Byrne solo songs under our belt right now. Good stuff.”
—
We’re grateful to Charles for his time, and we encourage everybody to go see his band this Wednesday. I forgot to ask him to pick his favorite sixty seconds of Talking Heads music, so here’s a song from their last album that could use a little more attention:
Talking Heads - Blind
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OK we keep going backwards to report on our summer vacation. On two consecutive nights last week we risked musical whiplash by first attending the Lilith Festival, then a Ted Nugent concert. The only way it all could have been more fun is if they paired them together. Oh, actually, I have a serious suggestion for Lilith 2011: Eagles of Death Metal. Everybody knows Jessie does every song “..for the ladies.” But you can read about those by clicking on either name, let’s get to our first daily sixty seconds of heaven in a dog’s age.
It’s from Billy Idol, who doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his songwriting abilities. He was on a big tear for a while there, with albums full of cleverly written songs with surprisingly sophisticated arrangements. Everyone knows “Rebel Yell,” “Cradle of Love” and “To Be a Lover,” but check out “Mark of Caine,” “Shock to the System” someday, or my current favorite, “All Summer Single,” from 1986′s Whiplash Smile.
It doesn’t jump right out at you, the opening keyboard sounded a bit dated even then, but as it slowly simmers along and adds some nice guitar texture, you start to get swept up into the moodiness of it all. Billy should really do an album of Elvis covers someday, if he wants to get back in with his former mall set of fans, he’s got the voice for it. The lyrics are intentionally vague and impressionistic, but his voice captures the restlessness and yearning of someone just looking for some simple piece of mind. Or something.
The kicker for me, though, and our daily slice of heaven, comes after the last chorus, when he lets Steve Stevens ride the end of the song out with a repeated melodic guitar lead line. If I embedded this properly, the youtube clip below should start right then:
Detroit Rock City was the place to be this past weekend. We already told you about the Dead Weather show on Saturday night, the night before it was Ween at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, which is another excellent venue. I love Detroit, have I mentioned that? First time I went there was for Kiss’ first reunion show at Tiger stadium, that kicked ass. Plus, they gave us Ted Nugent, who just blessed our town with a great show (review here!)
OK so, Ween. Loved them since my old buddy introduced me to the Mollusk while driving around Arizona heading to a Wu-Tang Clan show. I won the bet as to which two members wouldn’t show up – Method Man and ODB. At one point we were driving by this big mountain and a storm cloud that looked like a fist swallowed up the mountain just as the climax of “Buckingham Green” came up, and I was hooked for life.
So now I drag everyone I can to see them every chance I get. 1 of the 3, at Red Rocks with the Flaming Lips opening for them – was transcendent, the other two just OK but that happens when you wing it as much as they do. Anyway now we’re 2 for 4 cause this show was fucking awesome. Everyone and everything was clicking, and when Gene nailed all the high notes on “Freedom of ’76″ about six songs in the crowd lost their mind collectively cause everyone knew it was gonna be a great night. And it was. Anyone who doesn’t recognize Dean as one of our modern day guitar heroes is a moron, it’s hard to find a band that steps into and blends so many genres and makes them their own so forcefully, and the songwriting is uniformly great, even when they dig out some old thing they wrote as teenagers.
They’ve also got great taste in covers, check out this video from near the end of the main set, an excellent version of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance:”
As Uncle Ted would say, “No Shit!” Also, “What kind of music is this? SOUL MUSIC!”
(photo taken by, and from, “ninefongs” on the Ween Forum. Hope that’s OK!)
Two months and just three posts, it’s pathetic. I think two of those were “we’re really gonna get it together this time” posts, too. Here’s my excuses: Got married, which is way more work than they tell you even if they tell you it’s a lot of work. But so worth it, ask any of my friends they’ll tell you how lucky I got.
Got a full-time job writing for AOL Radio Blog. Super-nice people, so far my only complaint is that I had to write about Bruce Springsteen without using the phrase “washed up, overdramatic, preening, posing, affected speaking voice blowhard.” Got some work with the Cleveland Scene.
I also went to a ton of concerts. Working backwards, the most recent was Dead Weather at the Fillmore in Detroit, which might be my favorite rock venue right about now – great old theater, lovingly maintained, great marquee, great views, nice cushioned seats up in the balcony for the old men (oh yeah I turned 40, too) and it was cool not hot.
I saw Dead Weather last year on the tour for their first album, which I thought was fully cool but not really a revelation. Their new record Sea of Cowards is much better. Like Prince, it’s not that they’re doing any one thing in a new way but they just combine it all uniquely and forcefully. So we all expected this tour to feature a tighter and stronger band and they didn’t disappoint. The novelty of “Hey, Jack White’s the drummer!” has worn off, with lead singer Alison Mosshart more than holding her own as frontwoman, and guitarist Dean Fertita taking a more active role on stage. (The bass player just hung back, somebody had to..)
Jack would pop in with lead vocals or step out for the occasional song on guitar, but it felt like a natural part of a more confident, unified group. And really, all this before is just an extended way of saying this all kicked much butt. Check out this video from that very same show, of the song “Hustle and Cuss:”