Month: July 2018

From the moment I first heard Weezer, I have always been struck by how much they remind me of a young Cheap Trick. Seriously, go back to Cheap Trick’s classic studio albums from the late-Seventies and tell me you don’t hear it. Both tackled quirky subjects in their songs, from strange dates with strange people to a perverse love of all things pop culture. C’mon! Cheap Trick was truly Nerd Rock nearly two whole decades BEFORE Weezer popped on the scene. And it is the similarity between the two which has always been the selling point of Weezer to this aging Gen X-er.

While Cheap Trick burst on the scene with five terrific studio albums and a live album all within four years, Weezer was almost immediately a MTV darling with their first album, released a second album that was initially panned but eventually grew into one of music’s more influential music, causing Weezer to go on hiatus for four years while leader Rivers Cuomo pursued a Harvard degree. The parallel continues at this time, in that Cheap Trick’s early-Eighties were spent in a futile attempt to give their record company another “I Want You to Want Me,” while Weezer remained quiet.

Finally, when both band came back, they came back as established masters of their muse, unafraid of simply being themselves, even if being themselves would mean fewer sales. So, Weezer, Fathers of the whole Emo Rock world, whatever that is, continue to crank out underappreciated power pop masterpieces, be it a single here or a whole album there, much in the same corner of the musical map in which Cheap Trick currently inhabits. In other words, these two great power pop bands continue to make great music for their FANS, not the critics at Stereogum or Pitchfork, just their fans. And, it’s both band’s abilities to stay true to themselves while advancing their sound that is both laudable and endearing.

So, today, I will present my ranking of every Weezer studio album, from their eponymous debut album from 1994, commonly referred to as “The Blue Album” up to, and including, their latest released last year, Pacific Daydream. So, buckle up people, you are in for a bumpy ride!

12. Make Believe (2005). Yes, this album has “Beverly Hills,” one of the band’s biggest hits of all-time. Then again, this album has “Beverly Hills.” This album proved that Rick Rubin really cannot save every artist he produces.

11. Hurley (2010). Weezer fans generally hold this album in higher regard, but I don’t get it. This is a lame album that is only outdone in lameness by Make Believe.

10. Death to False Metal (2010). I hear if I were a “true” Weezer fan, I would NOT include this “odds and sods” albums of songs that were sitting around the vault. However, some of these songs are more compelling than many of the songs on the previous two albums.

9. Weezer [“The Red Album”] (2008). Only Weezer could have a hit song entitled “Pork and Beans.” But, then again, did we really need it? For some reason, Weezer recorded a weird version of The Band’s classic song “The Weight,” for which I give the band a 10 for effort, but only a 5 for execution. And, the rest of this album is equally as strange.

8. Raditude (2009). This album is uniformly panned by Weezer fans around the world as the worst because the band brought in some “song doctors” to help make their songs poppier. Personally, I found the experiment much more endearing than Hurley‘s lame attempt to rediscover the sound of Pinkerton.

7. Maladroit (2002). This, the band’s second album back from their four-year hiatus was the band rediscovering their sound, the unique Nineties heavy take on power pop.

6. Pacific Daydream (2017). Initially, I hated this album. But, lately I have decided that THIS was the album that Weezer was trying to make when they released Raditude. On this album, we get to hear the rock and soul influences of Eighties icons like Daryl Hall & John Oates had on the band members during their youth.

5. Everything Will Be Alright in the End (2014). I was about to totally give up on Weezer when they released this comeback album in 2014. And, thank God they finally found their true power pop/arena rock sound on this album! Since this album was release, the band has been on a creative roll, which is great timing for them as the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will be evaluating their worthiness for induction.

4. Weezer [“The White Album”] (2016). Usually, when Weezer releases an eponymous album with a different colored background, it means they have made an album of tough sounding songs that will be worthy of the band’s history. And, this album is the best of their late-career renaissance.

3. Weezer [“The Green Album”] (2001). This album represents the band’s first comeback, reminding all of us just what we had been missing during the intervening years they ceased to record new music. This album is full of songs with great riffs, sweet melodies and memorable lyrics. Thanks for coming back to us Weezer!

2. Pinkerton (1996). Initially panned by critics and overlooked by fans, disappointed with the apparent self-absorbed lyrics. But, this album gave rise to the whole emo rock sound that was so popular during the Aughts, characterized by angst-ridden lyrics laid against an aggressive pop-punk sound. It’s all power pop to me, but what do I know? Still, this is widely recognized as a classic album, as it should.

1. Weezer [“The Blue Album”] (1994). This album had everything this old power popper loved about this kind of music. Great, self-deprecating lyrics set to hummable melodies with a powerful rhythm section and screaming guitars. Plus, any album that has “Buddy Holly” on it is a classic to me.

There, I’ve done it! I have ranked all 12 Weezer albums. Let me know what you think.

My boys and I finally got a day in our schedule coordinated so that we were FINALLY able to go together to see a concert. Now, you may be wondering what band or bands could possibly bring us all together, especially now that R.E.M. have retired? In reality, it took two bands actually coming together on tour to central Indiana’s weak concert market that would interest the Keller boys? Keep in mind that I am in my mid-Fifties, while the boys are in their early-Thirties and late-Twenties, so consensus can be difficult. Yet, when we found out that one of our favorite Eighties alternative bands, Pixies, teamed with Weezer for a tour, it was a match made in heaven for the three of us. My boys actually grew up listening to Pixies’ classic album, Doolittle, on vinyl I might add, while their childhood is filled with the music of Weezer. And, I loved the fact that Weezer seemed to fill the Cheap Trick role in my boys’ lives much as Cheap Trick had done for me, bringing the screwed up view of teen life alive with the sounds of powerful power pop.

By the way, the concert was everything that I had hoped it would be. The concert began with a short set from The Wombats, who were okay. Then, the Pixies entered to a solid sound of applause, though many sits were empty. The set that Pixies played seemed to be arranged as a reminder of the band’s legacy, as if it were a wake-up each night to the tone-deaf voting committee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. If the committee is hellbent on putting in popular bands, then they had better begin recognizing the contribution of the Gen X artists, such as Pixies, who came out with guitars a-blazin’. Pixies were a sound to behold, as masterful feedback sounds emanating from guitarist Joey Santiago’s raging guitar brought intensity to Black Francis’ abstract lyrics upon a melodious bed, all the while one of rock’s finest rhythm section of drummer David Lovering and bassist Paz Lenchantin set the bedrock bottom end. The band’s whole set was a reminder not only of the band’s power, but also their sheer genius and influence upon a generation of artists, beginning with Nirvana.

Then, Weezer entered with “Buddy Holly,” complete with a background set reminiscent of the Happy Days set of the song’s classic video that broke Weezer wide open back in 1995. Today, that first eponymous album, known as the “Blue Album,” for its blue background, is considered a classic album, and it’s reputation seems to be growing as the years go on [Remember, the Blue Album is 25 years old in 2019! Anyone else feel old?]. And, all night long, Weezer just played the “hits,” or at least all of the songs that made them the best power pop band in the game today.

I feel as if Weezer were also reminding those RRHOF voters of their greatness as a band  on this year’s tour. Weezer is eligible for election for this upcoming induction in 2019, so who can blame the band for that attitude. The second part of their set utilized a garage background that allowed the band to get back their beginning. And, still, the hits kept coming. Then, as a change of pace, lead singer/lead Weezer Rivers Cuomo went halfway into the amphitheater, which was only eight rows from our seats! For the first time in my life, the stars got close to me. From this vantage, Cuomo sang two acoustic songs as the rest of the band kicked back and rested. The songs were “Island in the Sun” and a cover of a-ha’s New Wave classic “Take on Me.”

Upon completion of the mini-set, Rivers made his way back to the stage, where the band finished in full rock band mode with the usual rock star stage set, including their Van Halen-slash-Wonder Woman influenced “W” symbol lit up behind them. The whole concert, which was a Weezer version of Neil Young’s Rust Never Sleeps Tour with their background changes, was a pile-driver of a concert.

Well, now I have one concert down this week, with one more to go later on. My wife and I are going to see an odd line-up this week as Styx is headlining Joan Jett & the Blackhearts supporting and hair metal weaklings Tesla in the opening slot. Personally, I am excited to see Joan perform again, though it’s been since 1982 since I last saw her. Plus, I saw Styx way back in 1979! Tickets were MUCH cheaper back then.

Warning! I feel one of my hyperfocused super-obsessions coming on! And, to be quite honest, an hour ago, I had absolutely nothing. I was more focused on simply finding the strength to stand up straight and make it back to my music room to simply read the sports section of the newspaper. But, you never know how inspiration works, but I was in the type of pain where mellow music is the sound du jour. There are days where the pain can only be counteracted by aggressive, obnoxious music (Think: Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, anything by Metallica or, even worse, that nearly unlistenable collaboration of the two called Lulu. I really don’t want to report on those days, but it might make for some good reading.). Today, I pulled out a CD from last year that I absolutely loved, yet for some reason the public really did not show it much love in return. I am talking about Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie’s eponymous duet album.

Let’s begin by stating the obvious: If you are around my age (mid-Fifties), then Fleetwood Mac was arguably one of the biggest bands in the world as we came of age in the mid-Seventies through the mid-Eighties. I distinctly remember getting a copy of Fleetwood Mac’s “White Album” toward the end of 1975 from my mom because she thought the songs she had heard might be “timeless.” Who knew that my Barry Manilow-loving mom could actually discern contemporary music. Okay, so let’s just say her batting average was still only a paltry one-fifty, but even those hitters connect on the random home run every so-often. And, giving credit where credit was due, Mom sure connected on that one, as I played the hell out of Fleetwood Mac.

After a year or so, in 1977, the “Big Mac” dropped their masterpiece about band standing resolute in the name of artistry as we bore witness to the couples within the band whose relationships were disintegrating on this album called Rumours. Over the past four decades, this album has taken on a life of its own. While I loved the album, it remained for years a difficult listen for me as my own parents’ marriage was blowing apart when this album debuted. Unfortunately, how could a teenager NOT project what he was witnessing in his life onto these very personal songs. As the songs from the album continued to receive airplay, the further I pushed the album back in my collection, becoming more and more difficult to play. But, today, as an adult, I love the album once again, able to hear the way each member cared for the other, regardless whether that person is a former lover. It’s as if the five understand that the art they make together far outweighs the acrimony left in the aftermath of this emotional wrestling match. Today, Rumours continues to sell well, as it remains in the Top 20 Albums in Sales Numbers of All-Time.

Then, as the punk rock began to kick the so-called dinosaurs or rock music, like Fleetwood Mac, to the sidelines, the creative visionary in the band, Lindsey Buckingham, became inspired by the production work of these newer artists hitting the scene. So, he helped push the Mac Attack into the present on their double-album oeuvre Tusk. Maligned upon its release in late 1979 for eschewing the Rumours sound, Tusk has become something of any overlooked classic album. And, as the Eighties progressed, Fleetwood Mac maintained a low profile by only releasing two albums, while most of the members did their own things, most famously Stevie Nicks.

For the better part of the Nineties and Aughts, Fleetwood Mac’s line-up was in constant turmoil. Buckingham was out, then back in. Singer/keyboardist Christine McVie was in and out. The classic line-up from their 1975 “White Album” to 1987’s Tango in the Night reformed for President Clinton’s first inauguration back in 1993 and released a disc from their MTV Reunion special called The Dance. Then, Buckingham left again. Finally, in recent years, that classic line-up reformed for a tour, this time with Christine McVie in tow. Unfortunately, word came out of the Mac camp saying that Buckingham had been fired and replaced by former Heartbreaker guitar slinger Mike Campbell AND Crowded House singer/guitarist/songwriter Neil Finn for the upcoming 2018 tour. With Campbell, the band gets a better guitarist, a terrific songwriter and record producer and was Tom Petty’s right-hand man since the beginning of time. Then, in Neil Finn, the band gets one of rock’s biggest secrets in songwriting excellence, who, like Buckingham before him, has a penchant for pop eccentricities. Overall, it appears to be a great trade for the longevity of the band, and this change is far more convincing and exciting to me than previous attempts, including the rumored addition of Sheryl Crow to the band to replace Christine McVie, which never happened.

Which brings me back to this duet album between Lindsey and Christine. I must admit that I was NOT excited at all by the prospects of this album. Then, I listened to it and liked what I heard. Then, I put it away for a day or so. When I pulled it out again, I liked the album even more. It sounded as if Buckingham and McVie had much more chemistry between them that at what had ever been hinted on Fleetwood Mac’s albums. Plus, in reality, this album almost IS a Fleetwood Mac album, as the band’s rhythm section of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie join the pair on the album. Still, the duo fought to keep the project theirs instead of inviting Nicks to the party. The outcome is surprisingly inspired.

Sure, the whole album sounds like a Mac album, but its missing Nicks. And, instead of a whole album of duets, the album trades lead singers for each song. The album begins with a Buckingham song and is followed by a McVie ditty, continuing the pattern throughout. And, as always, the production work Buckingham did is impeccable, yet it does not sound like a throwback album. Actually, it sounds as if Fleetwood Mac had been learning from HAIM’s and/or The Aces’ production work on their albums, took notes and applied the new lessons admirably to this album.

Unfortunately, Buckingham/McVie’s music will never get picked up by today’s Hit Radio stations, which would rather reward songs that sound the same when played next to each other with singers whose ranges are similar as well. Today, radio only gives up the stems of the flowers but removes the colorful petals from the different sounding bands and artists who are out there making fine music. Even if said music were recorded by two artists pushing seventy.

So, lovers of the classic era of Fleetwood Mac and not the blues-based jam band from the late-Sixties and early-Seventies who were bigger in England than here, Buckingham/McVie will be a surprising delight. And, young people out there: if you want to hear a couple of masters who are still performing at the top of their games, then Buckingham/McVie is the album for you. It’s sure been a great album for me.

Not surprisingly, I have been a HUGE fan of The Big Bang Theory since I ran across it while channel surfing one day during the series first season. I was immediately taken by the show because of all the science and pop culture references throughout the series. And, since I was a Microbiology major with a Chemistry minor, I knew many fellow students in college who could have been the inspiration for the characters on the show, including, with all honesty, myself. For better or worse, it is the show to which I go whenever I am overwhelmed by, specifically, my chronic pain, or, universally, whenever I feel overwhelmed by the events of the world. I do not fully understand why this show brings me such comfort but it does.

But, it is not just The Big Bang Theory that helps me deal with my world. That’s where music has been the constant in my life. And, yes, most of the time, I go back to the music of my past in order to find that comfort, since that’s when music was coupled with the heighten senses and hormones of youth. Today, I no longer get obsessive about albums of new music like I did in my teens and twenties. And, I truly miss that intensity, though I am very well aware that those days are in my rearview mirror of life. Now, I am on a quest to find new music to which it is enjoyable to listen.

Well, a couple of months again, I stumbled upon the new album from an indie pop band called The Go! Team. For some reason, this English band has flown under my radar. But, after my first listen to their latest album, SEMICIRCLE, I was hooked upon the band’s canny mix of samples, live instrumentation, Nineties alternative-stylized guitar spurts, cheerleader chants and Eighties Top 40-slash-New Wave pop/rock attitude. To sum up this album in a single word is easy: fun.

The last truly fun album that I have heard over the years was MGMT’s debut album, Oracular Spectacular, way back in 2007. Remember, back in my heyday, I was being fed a constant nutritious barrage of tasty fun by the likes of The B-52’s, Stray Cats, Duran Duran, and all the others. And, now, here is this band that is not afraid to sample the recording of some high school marching band from the early-Eighties and turn it into a fun, compelling pop/dance song. Back in the day, many of these songs would have turned many a frat party into a dance marathon. To my ears, it is so nice to hear actually fun, pop melodies as opposed to all those critically-acclaimed anti-rock artists running around that are either attempting to be My Bloody Valentine-like drones without the sense of melody MBV has underneath the feedback or some kind of lame Sonic Youth knock-off that refused to go back to listen to that band’s influences. Or, worst of all, the prefabricated rhythm-oriented, Auto-tuned vocals of the dance/pop/hip hop/R&B fields.

Yet, whatever The Go! Team is doing, they NEVER lose their humanity even whilst engaging in the latest technological production dew-dad. It’s as if these Brits have a direct line to speak to The B-52’s in order for the elder band members to aid the newer band in how to balance musical talent with pop culture kitsch. And, in all honesty, I really don’t care from whence The Go! Team’s inspiration comes. I’m am just happy hearing their end results.

Though to my ears, there is nary a clunker on SEMICIRCLE, it is not the perfect album, as The Clash’s London Calling remains to this day. Still, The Go! Team got pretty darn close here. Sometime, I need to go back into The Go! Team’s career to hear their earlier albums, since they have actually been on the scene since 2004 (Do I live under a rock or what?!?!). According to http://www.allmusic.com, my personal favorite website for album reviews and other artist information, many of The Go! Team’s earlier albums are better than SEMICIRCLE. If this were the Eighties, The Go! Team would definitely have hits with “Semicircle Song,” “All the Way Live” and “If There’s One Thing You Should Know” the band’s three strongest songs. But, this is the twenty-first century, so I doubt today’s youth will truly get into a band such as The Go! Team.

Whatever! It’s their loss.

Happy Fourth of July to all of the citizens of the USA! Today, also known as Independence Day, the day that is generally remembered, incorrectly I might add, for the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, a document which lives on today. The document itself is full of contradictions and hypocrisies (a nation of free men, while many of the document signers  owned slaves) continues to be world renown for it’s ideals. Still, that document has also lead to something of a jingoistic-based air of superiority that Americans hold over the rest of the world, known as “American exceptionalism.”

Sure, I admit that I won the Golden Ticket of Life when I was born in this country, especially as a white man. Yet, I am troubled by the world’s perception of the USA now that President Agent Orange (my apologies Busta Rhymes). So, today, I would love to bring to light the true meaning of one of the most misinterpreted songs ever. For thirty-fours, I have witnessed this song being wrongly co-opted by people who have obviously only listened to the chorus and not the lyrics. And, no matter how many times Bruce Springsteen introduces this anthem to audiences across the world as a protest song, the general population only bothered to memorize the chorus.

So, today, I am declaring Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” is one magnificent protest song against the status quo of not simply the Eighties but of all eternity. Now, if you lived back in that Summer of 1984, you will remember that summer was the summer of the Los Angeles Olympics, one of the most political Games of the modern era as the propaganda was extremely heavy-handed. Additionally, 1984 was an election year, so Americans everywhere were being subjected to those Ronald Reagan political ads declaring that it was “Morning in America.” And, into this patriotic cauldron of witches’ brew was added “Born in the U.S.A.” and its simple, meant-to-be-ironic chorus.

Born in the U.S.A., the album, and “Born in the U.S.A.,” the song, were both co-opted by the self-proclaimed patriots of this nation because of the whole flag motif. In other words, everything about this album was totally being taken at face value with no regards to the message in its lyrics.

So, let’s take a closer look at the true meaning of “Born in the U.S.A.,” by reading the lyrics of the song WITHOUT the choruses.

Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much
‘Til you spend half your life just covering up now

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says, ‘Son, if it was up to me…’
Went down to see my VA man
He said, ‘Son, don’t you understand?’

I had a brother at Khe Sanh fighting off the Viet Cong
They’re still there, he’s all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I’m ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go

Songwriters: Bruce Springsteen, “Born in the U.S.A.” (Remastered) lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing 1984.

Without the “I was born in the U.S.A.” refrain, the song reads on the bleak side of the American experience. The character in the song is a Vietnam War veteran, those people who were sent to southeast Asia under little fanfare, unlike today’s guilt-ridden “Thank you for your service” messages that constantly greet members, both active and retired, of the military that was totally missing in the Vietnam Vets lives. Instead, these unfortunate sons were met with jeers upon their return to the U.S.A., which lead these men to a bitter malaise, that coupled with the economic depression here in the rust belt, led to many a veteran to feel disenfranchised. And, in that vacuum stepped The Boss to give voice to these true American heroes.

In the lyrics of “Born in the U.S.A.,” we see the hard life facing this Vietnam veteran, forgotten by the big promises of trickle-down economics, which seemed to be a full on piss on the hero of this song. Everywhere he turns, there is death of the society he knew before he went to “kill the yellow man.” Obviously, these lyrics are NOT any kind of Reagan-esque imagery of a “City on the Hill.” It reads more like a “Dying City on the Hill.”

So, when Springsteen does reach the refrain of “Born in the U.S.A.” in the song, it’s more of a sigh of resignation and embarrassment than the collective love-fest for which conservatives mistook the ubiquitous refrain.

In essence, “Born in the U.S.A.” is yet another misinterpreted song of patriotism. Sure, it IS a patriotic song, just not the jingoistic display of American exceptionalism many thought it to be. Instead, it is a scathing indictment of America not only in the Eighties but in this conservative era of the past fifty years, at least since the death of Robert Kennedy and subsequent of the last American tyrant-wannabe Richard M. Nixon.

No, Springsteen traveled the more artistically satisfying road traveled by the likes of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan before him. The same road that many rap and R&B artists, such as Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, to name a few, are traveling today. How “Born in the U.S.A.” is misinterpreted is the same way conservatives try to sing Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” by stopping after the first two verses, while the third verse is the powerful statement of America needing to actually take care of its ugly warts.

So, while all of us U.S. citizens are celebrating this Independence Day, try to remember that our country IS great, but it is FAR from perfection. I once heard a quote about Johnny Cash that could be applied to us as citizens of the U.S.A. Someone said that Cash was so compassionate to others because he understood the darkness and weaknesses within himself. We could all use that humility, don’t you think?

 

It must have been in 1993, though it could have been 1992. Whatever! I don’t know for sure because times were crazy then. I had two young boys, was working full-time and going back to college to take education courses in order to take a HUGE pay cut as a medical technologist so I could become a public high school science teacher and coach. As I remember it, I was driving between work and school, listening to the lame Central Indiana radio stations, back when I was still listening to “Hits Radio,” when I heard this brilliant song begin with one of the greatest opening lyrics in all of rock history: “Tell me do you think it’d be alright/If I just crash here tonight/You can see I’m in no shape for driving/And anyway I’ve got no place to go…” And, I was hooked. And, to this very day, the song moves me to both euphoria and sadness. It just may be the most honest lyrics to a song ever.

That song was “Hey Jealousy” by the Arizona band Gin Blossoms. Their major label debut album, New Miserable Experience, in general, and this song specifically was released at the height of grunge, but sounded as if it had be place in a pneumatic tube and sent to us in the Nineties from someone in the late Sixties or early Seventies, though the guitar and drum sounds might tell us otherwise. This was something of the anti-grunge sound, based upon the jangle guitar sounds of early-R.E.M. and Eighties power pop, with a touch of country rock thanks to Gram Parsons. That sound was something of a rage in the underground back in that time frame, what with bands such as Toad the Wet Sprocket, Del Amitri, The Rembrandts, the influential band The Meat Puppets, the totally overlooked band The Jayhawks, the underappreciated Counting Crows and even the much-maligned, though unfairly in my opinion, Hootie and the Blowfish. These bands shared a strong pop sensibility, with a love of country rock and power pop. Think of mixing up Neil Young, The Beatles, Big Star and the Flying Burrito Brothers in a blender, and these bands came out.

But, today, I came to praise Gin Blossoms, not to bury them. For, they have been unfairly forgotten and relegated to passing play on Classic Nineties radio, when, if you give New Miserable Experience a re-evaluation, you will find a sound that has been all but forgotten with today’s mainstream artists, most of whom are focused more on the beat and over-produced vocals than getting to the heart of the matter.

Back when the Gin Blossoms released this album, which was actually their second album, the band was in the midst of a personnel storm. Their main songwriter and guitarist, Doug Hopkins, had been drinking heavily and suffering from mental health issues, both of which you can hear in his all-too-honest lyrics, such as those I quoted earlier. As one who has battles with his own darkness, I find a kinship with such artists as Hopkins. Unfortunately, his demons were keeping him from being the major creative force in the band that he had been since the band’s beginning in 1987. So, during the album’s production, Hopkins was forced out by the band’s label, A&M, and their management. The breakup was so bad, that the companies took cruel advantage of Hopkins state of mind and forced him to sign away a major portion of his writing credits to his songs, which included not only “Hey Jealousy,” but also another major hit song “Found Out About You,” in addition to other songs on that album. In another sad casualty of the rock star-making machine, Hopkins committed suicide as his band became more and more successful, without the fame and fortune due him because of the unscrupulous actions of the non-creative vampires sucking the life out of their cash cow.

Although, Gin Blossoms were signed because of the songwriting of Hopkins, vocalist Robin Wilson and guitarist Jesse Valenzuela began to hit their strides as songwriters themselves, giving the band what could have been a triple-threat of terrific songwriters. If only we could go back in time. Still, this band is totally underrated. Hopkins wrote the sad, dark lyrics set to jangly melodies that stuck in your head. Wilson mines the country-side of the band, giving Gin Blossoms a touch of Americana, while Valenzuela lands in the middle, with beautiful melodies and honest lyrics.

After Miserable New Experience finally ran out of steam in 1995 after selling four million copies, the band recorded a song for the Gen X actor-vehicle movie Empire Records which became the band’s biggest hit, “Til I Hear It from You,” a song co-written with one of my power pop favorites Marshall Crenshaw. The song, the biggest on the soundtrack, peaked at number 11, eclipsing all songs released from New Miserable Experience. The band was set for superstardom with their next album.

But, something happened in the intervening time between “Til I Hear It from You” and their 1996 follow-up, Congratulations…I’m Sorry. That something was Hootie & the Blowfish blowing up big time. Everywhere you turned in 1994 and 1995, it seemed like you heard Hootie. And, people got sick of it. Unfortunately, Hootie’s success meant a backlash to this whole jangle pop-thing was on the horizon, and Gin Blossoms, however unfairly, got swallowed up in the whole thing, along with Counting Crows and those other bands who had experience a modicum of success melding country, pop, rock and power pop. The rock tastes had shifted, and new sounds were in vogue, including the awful Nu-Metal rap-metal hybrid first made famous by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More, but popularized by bands like Korn, and lesser talents such as Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and P.O.D. So, all of those brilliant mid-Nineties jangle pop bands were buried alive and forgotten.

On Congratulations, Gin Blossoms took on a harder edged sound, eschewing the subtle jangle pop they seemed to be perfecting on Experience. Plus, they were missing those heartbreaking songs that Hopkins was mastering. Now, the band’s lineup were all involved in the songwriting, so some of the songs seemed like paint-by-numbers Gin Blossom songs, especially the hit “Follow You Down.” Needless to say, Congratulations did not have the longevity that the previous album experienced, which can be explained away by both the backlash and the lack of focus of the songwriting. Still, the album is not the clunker that it is often made out to be. But, the damage was done, and Gin Blossoms were no longer the flavor of the moment. Still, as far as the long term was concerned, the merry-go-round was over, a break was needed, but artistry would eventually be attained after a hiatus.

Today, Gin Blossoms continue to tour and just released their first album in eight years a couple of weeks ago called Mixed Reality. Wilson and Valenzuela had broken up the band in 1997, but reformed in 2006, releasing two albums before this year’s album. I have not listened to Mixed Reality closely yet, but it does hearken back to their salad days of their big radio hits in ’93 through ’96. No, they will never have the success they once had, but at least they are still creating great music and bringing their fantastic songs to the public that needs them. Unfortunately, a majority of teens need these songs, and they don’t even realize it. And, critics need to re-evaluate these guys because they are a pretty darn good band.

I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic lately. Yesterday, I spent the afternoon listening to albums that were released in 1984, the year during which I met my wife. In all honesty, from January 1982 through around October of 1984, some of my very favorite music. As many of us remember, those years are most often associated with the great music of Michael Jackson, Prince, Bruce Springsteen, The Police, The Go-Go’s, Men at Work, John Cougar Mellencamp, Tina Turner, Daryl Hall & John Oates, R.E.M., Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, just to scratch the surface. Those artists dominated the musical landscape in ways that are totally unimaginable today. These people were not just rock stars, they led all of pop culture and fashion. It was heady and exciting times.

Back in 1984, like everyone else, I was totally enthralled with all things Prince. To me, this was the natural culmination of everything the musician had be reaching for during the first six years of his career. As we all know, Prince had the number one album, single and movie at the same time. Additionally, he had three protege acts, all of whom had released albums and singles in the wake of his multimedia hit Purple Rain. We all remember two of those acts that were given roles in the film: The Time and Apollonia 6, formerly known as Vanity 6.

The third act almost got lost in the shuffle. First, this woman only had a quick moment in the film, a kind of “now you see me, now you don’t” part as Time lead singer Morris Day’s jilted lover, who was thrown into a garbage bin near the beginning of the movie. That musician was the beautiful and talented Sheila E., originally known as Sheila Escovedo. The daughter of Santana percussionist Pete Escovedo, the niece of singer/songwriter Alejandro Escovedo, and the goddaughter of percussionist extraordinaire Tito Puente, Sheila seemed destined to be a musician. Then, you couple her prodigious talent with her unparalleled beauty, and we had a pop star in the making.

By the time Sheila was in her early twenties, she had already toured with jazz great George Duke, soul man Lionel Richie and former Supreme Diana Ross. After she met Prince in 1978 at a concert, the pair struck up a friendship that led to a mutual admiration club and, according to her book, a close relationship as arguably one of Prince’s true loves, as she was a near equal as a musician. But, since Sheila had such a minor role in Purple Rain, it has been easy to overlook the beginning of her solo career as being under the watchful eye of Prince.

Sheila E.’s first three albums were all released under the guidance of Prince, with Prince writing or co-writing three of the six songs on her debut album, The Glamorous Life, as well as producing and playing on her first three albums, which the latter two albums being released on Prince’s recording label Paisley Park. Sheila also received much help from many of the musicians that were either members of The Time or part of Paisley Park’s stable of musicians.

As the opening act on Prince’s Purple Rain Tour, Sheila E. was able to parlay the exposure to land her sole Top 10 solo hit with the title song of her debut album, the impeccable “The Glamorous Life,” a song written by Prince. But, for some reason, maybe the overexposure of the Minneapolis Sound, Sheila E. was not able to score another Top 10 hit. For my money, Sheila’s musical peak with Prince was reached on her second album, Romance 1600 and specifically, a twelve-minute funk-dance workout duet with Prince himself, “A Love Bizarre.” The song hit the top spot on the Dance Chart and peaked at number two on the R&B Chart, but, for reasons unknown, stalled at a disappointing number eleven on the Hot 100 Chart. Of course, I have great memories of dancing to this very song at every club my wife and I visited in 1985, be it the truncated version for radio or the hot, long version from the album. Next to Prince’s other duet with Miss E., the B-side of “Let’s Go Crazy,” one of Prince’s most famous B-sides, “Erotic City,” as the purple one’s best dance anthems. To me, “A Love Bizarre” is one of the finest songs from Prince’s most famous era of music.

Now, what I loved about Sheila E.’s take on Prince’s sound was the addition of her Latin rhythms, which only enhanced Prince’s need to appeal across the multicultural spectrum. While his solo material aspired to this musical universality, it did not occur until Sheila E. added her spice to the formula. That’s why it was so musically satisfying to me when Prince added her to his band upon the demise of The Revolution. And, it’s also not a surprise that when Sheila E. became his touring drummer and touring band leader that Prince’s music completely to another whole level of sophistication as he arguably created his masterpiece Sign o’ the Times with Sheila E. as her drummer.

Although Sheila’s drumming pushed Prince’s music to new heights during her tenure in his band, that turn also slowed the progress of her solo career, to a degree that this exposure was unable to overcome. And, that was the public’s loss, quite honestly. Even though Sheila E.’s third album, 1987’s eponymous release, peaked at a respectable 56, the album had a relatively truncated stay on the chart and did not yield a Top 40 hit. Yet, she did have two Top 40 R&B hits, most significantly a number three hit with “Hold Me,” the last Top 10 R&B hit of her career.

Upon leaving Prince’s band after the Lovesexy Tour of 1988, Miss Escovedo released one more album on Warner Bros, the commercially disappointing Sex Cymbal. After that album, Sheila was free to follow her muse, releasing three albums during the new century, but none experiencing the heady days of her association with his Purple Badass. Today, she continues to tour, even participating in the concert to honor Prince after his untimely death. Additionally, Sheila E. has toured as part of Ringo Starr’s Touring All-Starrs. But, her recording career has taken a backseat in the intervening years.

Now 60, Sheila E. is still every bit as beautiful and talented as she was at her commercial peak. Unfortunately, I am worried that many of our youth have missed out on her talents, as music has become more reliant on recorded rhythms as opposed to those created by talented drummers (my apologies to the great ?uestlove of The Roots). Sheila E. is still one terrific percussionist and should be remembered as one of rock’s greatest, not just one of rock’s greatest female percussionists.

 

So, how about a Sheila E. compilation?