I mentioned the other day I was involved in watching season four of Saturday Night Live. Somehow there was a mix-up down at Blockbuster and they sent disk two before they sent disk one. Eventually disk one arrived and I was able to look at that season's opening episode, which featured the Rolling Stones.
American music in 1978 was on the precipice between the punk rock and disco eras. The Stones had just released Some Girls with “Miss You,” a strongly danceable track, opening the album. This SNL appearance would throw all disco pretense out the window as they took the stage for a classically ragged performance.
“Get out of my life / Don’t fuck my wife.” Did that really make it past the censors? Keef, reportedly so drunk at dress rehearsal that he was dropped from a sketch, makes it onstage to play (he’s a trained professional, kids). Mick’s voice blown into ragged hoarseness. The band a mesmorizing mess. This is the Stones in boiled down, punk rock mode. Barely even recognizable as the band we’ll see three decades later in Shine A Light.
These tracks were unofficially released as part of a boot titled Sucking Don on SNL. Along with the SNL appearance, the disk includes performances from Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, as well as the SNL rehearsals. I owe big, big thanks to Dino over at D&P’s Bootleg Tunz World for finding this for me. I had spent quite a bit of time looking for Sucking Don before I reached out to Dino. Within a few hours, one of his readers had located it and passed it along. His site is great and I want to encourage you to visit it early and often.
I spent some time yesterday watching part of Saturday Night Live’s fourth season, which was, I think, the last year with the original cast. It aired during the 1978-79 television season. What’s great is going back and seeing so much stuff and so many characters that have become part of pop culture: John Belushi’s samurai; Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin as the swinging Czech brothers; and Garrett Morris’ Chico Escuela, just to name a couple.
One absolute classic that appeared that season was the Blues Brothers. They opened the Nov. 18, 1978, show with a manic version of “Soul Man.” I couldn’t help but smile at Danny Aykroyd’s spastic dancing and Belushi’s cartwheels as I watched this yesterday.
I vaguely remember seeing this when it originally aired and I remember not being sure if it were real or shtick. No doubt there’s plenty of shtick behind the act, but there’s also some real love of the blues, especially on Aykroyd’s part. Enjoy some delicious copy-pasta from the Blues Brothers’ Wiki:
Following tapings of SNL, it was popular among cast members and the weekly hosts to attend Aykroyd’s Holland Tunnel Blues bar, which he had rented not long after joining the cast.... It was here that Dan and Ron Gwynne wrote and developed the original story that Dan turned into the initial story draft of the Blues Brothers movie.... It was also at the bar that Aykroyd introduced Belushi to the blues. An interest soon became a fascination and it wasn't long before the two began singing with local blues bands.
The article goes on to talk about Aykroyd growing up in Canada and attending blues shows at Ottawa's Le Hibou Coffee House and other influences on him personally and on the Blues Brothers act.
After John Belushi’s 1982 death, Aykroyd would occasionally join up with John’s little brother James and/or John Goodman to perform as the Blues Brothers, but, in my opinion, that original spark was gone. It’s also been diluted through various tribute acts and bad movie sequels.
“You know, so much of the music we hear these days is pre-programmed electronic disco we never get a chance to hear master bluesmen practicing their craft anymore. By the year 2006, the music known today as the blues will exist only in the classical records department of your local public library.” ~ Elwood Blues, from the opening of Briefcase Full of Blues
‘This Song Makes The Car Look That Much More Badass’
I may have mentioned once or twice my distaste for bands who sell their music for television commercials and/or theme songs. I’ve long held the belief that those songs are sacred and should be treated as such. But in a perverse twist of logic, I like when I hear something new and appealing, no matter the source.
Such is the case with the song “Light of the Morning,” which is currently in play on advertisements for the 2011 Ford Mustang. The first time I heard “I wanna see you in the morning...” and the power chord-filled, start-stop, classic rock crunch, I no longer cared about the Mustang (which I’ve always found uncomfortable to drive anyway) but I had to know where the music was coming from.
With some crafty googling, I soon found out the band is Band of Skulls, a fairly new quartet from London. “Light of the Morning” comes from their debut Baby Darling Doll Face Honey, which they released in March last year. Although it got generally positive reviews, the album didn’t exactly fly off the shelves, not even making the British charts until this past February.
“Light of the Morning” hasn’t been officially released as a single, but in an era where government radio doesn’t play unproven artists, this commercial may be the break Band of Skulls needs.
In light of my past comments, “Light of the Morning” has also caused me to rethink my whole hatin’-on-songs-in-commercials thing. There’s always the possibility that a 13-year-old somewhere is turning on an episode of CSI, hearing the theme music and thinking, This band is fucking amazing; who is it?
Oh wait, that’s a different story. How about “when I was back there in high school...”
... I saw Devo make their network television debut on Saturday Night Live. Although many of my tastes were very white bread and mainstream, I was also drawn toward music that was outside of that box. In the harsh world of high school, those tastes were seldom met with approval.
Such was the case when, the Monday after their October 1978 appearance on SNL, I went to school raving about this band who had quirkily covered “Satisfaction” and had the gall to appear dressed in yellow jumpsuits like some freaks from another planet, while preaching de-evolution. And all this just a week after the Stones themselves had graced the stage at Studio 8H.
SNL was still relatively new and hip then, so everyone watched it and everyone had seen Devo and everyone hated them. Those of you who are still just a few years removed from high school will remember how fear of the unknown and different is a potent virus that pervades every school, everywhere. So of course a couple of weeks later, when I showed up at school sporting a Devo t-shirt, it was greeted with hatred and derision by the cool kids rocking their Mahogany Rush tees.
tl;dr? I’m posting Devo, not Mahogany Rush.
This is a collection of live Devo, recorded at various venues and at various dates, from the 1978 SNL appearance through a 1988 performance of “Girl U Want.” Unfortunately, other than rough dates, I don’t have any additional information on where the songs come from.
In the past hour, my childhood has passed in front of my eyes. Busy at work all day, I had no idea Farrah Fawcett had died until I got home this evening. I turned on the TV and saw that on the ticker while CNN was reporting first that Michael Jackson had been hospitalized, then that he had died. As of now (7 p.m. EST), the L.A. Times is reporting Michael has died, although that has not yet been officially confirmed.
Neither star was in the best of health recently: Michael’s overall health was questionable, although he was reportedly in training for his planned tour; and Farrah had been battling cancer since 2006. While their deaths don’t come as a surprise necessarily, it is still shocking that two such iconic people have passed.
I remember watching the Jackson Five cartoons on Saturday mornings when I was maybe eight or nine years old. Some of the early Jackson’s singles were among the first records I ever got: “ABC,” “I’ll Be There,” all that old stuff. And of course, Thriller, the biggest selling album ever. Even though by the time the album came out, I was hardly the Michael Jackson fan I had been as a kid, there was no way I could deny the impact of the record. I’ve never owned the album, but there is not a song on it I don’t know. That’s how influential and how much of a phenomenon the album was and, frankly, still is.
And Farrah, too. Wow – this is nearly overwhelming. You find me a male who was a teenager in the late 70’s and didn’t own the Farrah poster, and I’ll show you... well, whatever. That poster – in its way – was every bit the phenomenon Thriller was. Sales estimates range from five million to eight million. Farrah said at one point she earned more in royalties from poster sales than from her salary for appearing in “Charlie's Angels.”
Oh my God, what has happened to Ozzy? Ozzy Osbourne – the only Black Sabbath singer who mattered; the self-proclaimed Prince of Fuckin’ Darkness – now reduced to jumping around wearing tights in a Flashdance parody.
Their reality show was one thing: It showed a funny, human side to Ozzy and it was mostly tolerable. This new venture makes me think Ozzy could be a short step from squeezing into a white jump suit and booking Vegas.
If you didn’t see it, the show combined some skits (Ozzy and Sharon as foul-mouthed children) and some sort of a something where a girl was going to dump her boyfriend if he didn’t immediately propose. Of course he gave in and the happy couple was married on TV. Whee!
All this fun stirred up some controversy, naturally, and several stations refused to air the show or aired it later. One station in Milwaukee didn’t air “Reloaded” until just after 1 a.m.
I’m pretty sure that at this point Ozzy isn’t doing these things for the money. I just can’t figure what he’s doing or the logic behind appearing on an idiotic variety show. What would have been so wrong with advancing into elder metal statesman, a la Lemmy?
I’d be interested in hearing from any of you if you tuned in. Drop a comment and let me know what you thought. Meanwhile, here’s some classic Sabbath.
I’ve been obsessed with Shirley Manson since she started appearing last season as Catherine Weaver in “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” Something about that emotionless beauty appeals to me. Her and Summer Glau.
Anyway... Yesterday I heard a Garbage song that I had not heard for some time: “#1 Crush.” I wasn’t sure what album it was on, and it took me some time to find it, but in keeping with my OCD, I wasn’t about to give up until I found it. It turns out the song has shown up as a couple of b-sides and on the soundtrack for the 1996 film Romeo & Juliet. I don't think it's actually on a Garbage album at this point.
I can tie this whole post together very neatly if I tell you what Shirley said about the song: “All real love is a form of obsession; if you love someone more than anything else, that degree of exclusivity requires an abnormal amount of passion and care.”
And while we’re tying things together, I also found “Samson and Delilah,” the Blind Willie Johnson song Shirley sings during the opening scene of last season’s first episode of “Terminator.”
Last night’s David Letterman was a home run; the best I’ve seen from him in a long while. Not so much Dave, who is always Dave, but his guests, all of who were solidly entertaining: Tracy Morgan, Kat Von D, and the Dropkick Murphys.
Tracy Morgan was bizarrely and hilariously distracted. Every time “D.L.” would ask him a question, Tracy would respond with something completely irreverent and only slightly related to what they were talking about. At one point, they’re talking about the writer’s strike and Dave asks Tracy what he’s doing with his free time. “I’m just doing karate and trying to get females pregnant,” Tracy says. “At the same time. Karate and gettin’ females pregnant – that’s what I do.”
Check this link here to watch one of the funniest Letterman moments in years.
The very pretty and very tattooed Kat Von D was the second guest. She wasn’t up to much, just plugging her TLC show, LA Ink. Dave flirted with her some and she showed him a little David Letterman caricature tat she had just gotten earlier that day. “Believe me, this is the only way a goofy looking guy like myself would get on your thigh,” Dave said.
Finally, the musical guests were the Dropkick Murphys. DKM are one of those bands I’ve always liked, but at the same time, I’ve never seemed to get around to getting any of their music. They played “The State of Massachusetts,” the single from The Meanest of Times, their latest album. What made a lasting impression on me was – I guess it’s James Wallace who plays the tin whistle? – how he looks like someone who could and would beat the crap out of you if you asked him why he plays a flute.
Anyway, after seeing them on Letterman last night, I got The Meanest of Times today, which is where today’s music comes from. “Jailbreak” is a bonus track, which I don’t think is on the US release.
Here’s an example of muscle memory. I lived in Southern California for a little more than 35 years. Up until mid-1998, my TV came from Los Angeles, where CBS is on channel 2. So last night, after a few or so beers, I put the TV on to watch a Letterman rerun before calling it a night. What remote button does my beer-soaked finger automatically push? You guessed it.
Here in Mee-yami, the CBS affiliate is channel 4 or 6 or something; I’m not sure. Anyway, my point is that channel 2 here is the local PBS station. And when I hit that channel last night, I saw a clip of Mick Jagger and John Lennon talking. I squinted at the screen and sort of cocked my head, like, “What the hell is going on here?”
Turned out this is PBS fundraiser week and they were airing “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus.” Unfortunately, I had missed about half of the program – Mick and John’s conversation was the introduction to Lennon and the Dirty Mac doing “Yer Blues.” After that, I saw “Whole Lotta Yoko,” then a few Stones performances.
I gotta admit that I have never seen the entire “Rock and Roll Circus” show. I was bummed about missing Marianne Faithful, especially since even the PBS guy was raving about her. I also understand that Tony Iommi’s performance with Jethro Tull is notable as part of his very short time with that band before moving on to other things.
The history behind “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus” is well known, so I probably don’t need to get into it here. The Wiki entry is pretty concise if you need some quick background.
In the Magic City, “Rock and Roll Circus” airs again Dec. 10 at midnight. The rest of you, check your local PBS schedules. And maybe send ‘em a few bucks if you can.
There’s this new TV show that debuted on Fox last night. It’s called “The Next Great American Band,” and is an “American Idol”-type thing, where bands compete for a recording contract or something. I’ve been seeing the advertisements for a few weeks, but couldn’t really see a reason I needed to watch any more of music’s homogenization process.
Turns out I may have been wrong about the show. At least for now. I put it on last night while I was eating dinner (I don’t like to dine alone) and I was somewhat surprised by the variety of bands. I saw Detroit rockers The Muggs, who apparently have an established fan base and are looking to break nationally. I saw a pack of 14-year-olds play the hell out of some Iron Maiden. And I saw a bass player who has no arms.
I didn’t watch the entire two hours, or however long it was, but I will probably tune in again. Here’s the reason. I saw a bluegrass trio last night that absolutely blew me away. I’m going to be pulling for The Clark Brothers to go all the way. These three got up on that stage and just tore it up.
I couldn’t find much information about these guys. They said on the show they come from a family of 11 siblings and, if I remember, their dad is a musician. There’s not much on their MySpace space, other than to tell me they are from Nashville, Tenn.; Adam plays the mandolin and guitar; Ashley sings, and plays the guitar and fiddle; and Austin plays the dobro and sings. Austin and Ashley have also appeared with Carrie Underwood at the Country Music Awards, so they have some talented and successful fans.
The song I’m posting, “This Little Light Final” is the full version of what they played on “The Next Great American Band.” It’s on their MySpace – these guys don’t have a recording contract yet.
This post comes from the files of my love/hate relationship with Aerosmith. They’ve disappointed me so much in recent years that I can’t really consider myself a fan any more. But back in the old days? Now that’s a whole ‘nother story.
I’ve got a couple of stray tracks today from “The Other Side” single. “The Other Side” was released in 1990 as the fourth single from Aerosmith’s 1989 album Pump.
My disk says “Made in Germany” on it, so I probably picked it up as an import somewhere. The only difference from the US release is mine is lacking the LP version of “The Other Side.” Instead it has only the “Extended Club Mix,” and “The Honky Tonk Version,” along with the two other tracks, “My Girl” and “Theme from Wayne’s World.”
So let’s talk about the “Theme from Wayne’s World.” In February 1990, Aerosmith was the musical guest on an episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Tom Hanks. During the “Wayne’s World” sketch Garth gets his cousin Barry (Tom Hanks), a roadie for Aerosmith, to talk the band into appearing on “Wayne’s World” to help publicize the band’s upcoming show. In return Wayne and Garth agree to put Barry on the air. Aerosmith makes an appearance and...
Wayne: Okay, we're just about out of time, right? But it's always been my fantasy to play with you guys. And I was wondering if you wouldn't mind singing the “Wayne's World” theme with me?
I mentioned the other day I was involved in watching season four of Saturday Night Live. Somehow there was a mix-up down at Blockbuster and they sent disk two before they sent disk one. Eventually disk one arrived and I was able to look at that season's opening episode, which featured the Rolling Stones. 
These tracks were unofficially released as part of a boot titled Sucking Don on SNL. Along with the SNL appearance, the disk includes performances from Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, as well as the SNL rehearsals. I owe big, big thanks to Dino over at D&P’s Bootleg Tunz World for finding this for me. I had spent quite a bit of time looking for Sucking Don before I reached out to Dino. Within a few hours, one of his readers had located it and passed it along. His site is great and I want to encourage you to visit it early and often. 
