Category: Uncategorized

I kid you not! Our favorite Saturday morning re-run rock band just released a new album, their first in twenty years. And, this year marks the 50th year of this band. Critics wrote them off in their heyday, even though the band sold millions of albums and singles. And, who cares if none of them could write them own songs, or few their instruments. They had some of the greatest rock and pop songwriters writing hit after glorious hit for them. I think it’s about time that we all re-evaluate one of the finest bands of all time, The Pre-Fab Four: The Monkees!

Go ahead and admit it! “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, “Last Train to Clarksville”, “Daydream Believer”, and the rest are classic slices of pop and power pop. You just give them their due for their status in the lives of older Gen X-ers. Go back and you will discover that many of the punk artists cut their teeth on old Monkees songs. The Monkees have a unique legacy in the rock world. They were MTV before MTV, Glee before Glee and Nashville before Nashville all rolled up in one glorious show with a shot of ’60s era camp from the Batman show and some timeless slapstick from the Three Stooges. And, they did this with the help of two or three songs per episode. And, we were lucky because we got to watch these shows in Saturday morning syndication. Jackpot!

After the TV show ran its course, the band worked hard to learn how to play their instruments in order to begin writing their own songs. And those little buggers were successful in reinventing themselves with the times of the late Sixties. They became of one the innovators of country rock, thanks to the musical vision of reluctant Monkee Michael Nesmith. Peter Tork’s writing turned the band toward a folk rock bent, all the while Davy Jones and Mickey Dolenz continued the band in the pop vein. In other words, The Monkees, in their post prime time TV and during their pre- Saturday morning debut, were becoming rock visionaries.

So, on Friday, May 27, right at the beginning of the Memorial Day three-day weekend, The Monkees dropped their first album in twenty years in order to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. The album is called Good Times!, and this time their album was headed by the sympathetic ears of early Gen X-er Adam Schlesinger of the great alternative/power pop band Fountains of Wayne (“Stacy’s Mom”).

Schlesinger’s genius was to uncover gems by original writers Carol King & Gerry Goffin, Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson and Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart. Then, Schlesinger employed Monkees fans such as Weezer song-smith Rivers Cuomo, Andy Partridge of XTC, Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab For Cuties and Schlesinger himself. He also allowed each of the surviving Monkees (Michael Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork) to write a song. Finally, the producer uncovered a Davy Jones-penned song with his vocals, in order to make the album seem as those all of the original members where involved even though Davey left us a couple of years ago.

Now, does this album hold up to the original years? No. But, it does not tarnish their reputation one bit. As a matter of fact, I would say that Good Times only enhances The Monkees’ reputations. Take the opening song, and title song, Good Times. The song was a nugget written and demoed back in the Sixties by Harry Nilsson, and Schlesinger made the demo into a full-fledged duet with Dolenz, which makes the whole thing seem timeless. And, pretty much, that is the album in a nutshell: timeless. My favorite songs are “You Bring the Summer” (written by Andy Partridge), “She Makes Me Laugh” (Rivers Cuomo), “Our Own World” (Schlesinger) and The Beatles/Beach Boys homage “Birth of an Accidental Hipster” (written by Oasis leader Noel Gallagher AND The Jam/The Style Council leader, The Modfather himself, Paul Weller). But, there are other gems on the record, such as Gibbard’s “Me & Magdalena” and Nesmith’s “I Know What I Want”.

Although I have only owned this album for a week, I have not tired of it. This album is much better than it ever has a right to be. But, thank God that The Monkees created this gem. I give this album a B+. It is not a classic album, but it is no where near the embarrassments that those albums released in the Eighties and Nineties. Go get it now so you can play it during your upcoming barbecues and pool parties! May The Monkees live long and prosper. And may we all be as cool as “The Monkees Mobile” is today.

Here it is: Day 5 of this little looksie through my music collection. Once again, these choices are the albums that have played the most important roles in my life, not the albums I believe are the best ones ever release. So, let’s get this party started.

41. Run-DMC – Raising Hell (1986). This is the album when rap became an album-oriented art. Not only that, but Run-DMC made rap palatable for suburban white teens by teaming up with Aerosmith to update “Walk This Way” into a rap classic.

42. Sex Pistols – Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977). The Pistols took the Ramones’ music and coupled it with the working class angst of the English working class of the Seventies. And when they sang “Anarchy in the U.K.” or “God Save the Queen”, you knew this was the new world order.

43. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead (1986). The US had R.E.M., and the UK had The Smiths. Both were bringing back the classic guitar sound of each home country. The Smiths invented a sound that would be called Brit Pop in the Nineties. Although The Smiths were a cult band in the States, this album opened up a whole another continent’s worth of modern rock music and introduced me to the haunting lyrics of Morrissey as well as the swirling guitar sound of Johnny Marr.

44. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (1975). I must say that when I heard the title song on Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 while helping my parents decorate our Christmas tree for one last time before my parents split. My ears could not believe what was going in them. My music tastes took an immediate change at that moment. By the way, this was the first song that I taught my boys. Seriously.

45. Talking Heads – The Name of This Band Is Talking Heads (1982). First off, I never can remember which side of the cover is the front and which is the back, so I’m showing both. Anyway, why doesn’t anyone remember this album? C’mon! On this double album, we get to listen to the “LIVE IN CONCERT” evolution of this band from a three-piece band of nervous energy to an expanded band of virtuosos that were taking their original sound and adding the funk of the Parliafunkadelicment Thang. This is my favorite Talking Heads album since you get it all, warts and all. After all of these years, the album still takes my breath away.

46. U2 – The Joshua Tree (1987). U2 moved into the upper threshold of the rock hierarchy thanks to this album. U2 perfected their sound on this album, all before they truly became great artists by ripping the formula apart and reinventing themselves on their next studio album. But, in 1987, U2 released a great album that stayed on my turntable for at least a month. That is, until Prince released Sign ‘O’ the Times.

47. Van Halen – Van Halen (1978). All of a sudden, metal was no longer going to be taking itself so seriously. Finally, humor and fun was being injected into the formula, as well as a brand new guitar hero who smiled instead of sneering. David Lee Roth brought the game show host MC-ing, while Eddie Van Halen brought the guitar fireworks. And, the rhythm section, bassist Michael Anthony and drummer Alex Van Halen brought the rock-steady beat foundation. All metal should sound like this. Oh, right, in five years it sure will sound like its trying to.

48. Various Artists – Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971 (1992). You can never have enough Motown music that was created in Detroit, Michigan. That is “The Sound of Young America”. This music was covered by bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, etc., as well as included on such classic movie soundtracks like The Big Chill and Dirty Dancing. You cannot go wrong with this box set.

49. Various Artists – Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 (1972). This double album was first released in 1972 and was not very successful. But, like what has been said about albums released by Velvet Underground or Big Star, those who bought the album all started bands. Nuggets collected great garage band singles of the mid-Sixties that have all been recognized as the influences on the initial run of punk rock in New York City and London a decade later. You are hearing the beginnings of punk rock right here in the grooves of this one.

50. The Who – Who’s Next (1971). If it wasn’t for this album, all of those CSI TV show would never have a theme song. Seriously, The Who finally lived up to the bombastic promise of their earlier albums. The whole album is the perfected sound of hard rock. Plus, The Who added the sound of the synthesizer to the mix, which would become the instrument of the Eighties.

There you go! That’s my list of the albums that have played the most important role in my listening life.

Welcome fans to Day 4 of this special countdown of the albums that have played the most important part of my life. They music on these long-players may have gotten me through difficult periods of my life or they introduced me to new sounds. Regardless, all of these LPs deserve some recognition from me, and the creative artists deserve a big “Thanks” from me. Sorry about the cheesy opening paragraph! I’m being influenced by the cheesy bubblegum music I am currently listening to. Hang on! I’m going to put on something more like the music on my list, such as an actual album from the list.

With the creative music changed (I must say, Jellyfish makes a better writing companion), let’s get on with today’s countdown.

31. Pixies – Doolittle (1988). During those heady days when my favorite alternative bands just began to make a dent on the Billboard charts, this Boston band popped up and stole my ears. Truthfully, if you want to hear where Nirvana got their idea to alternate a quiet verse with a loud chorus, this is the album they got the idea from. There is nothing like the cathartic release of a loud chorus after quiet verse. It just increases the intensity of the song, even if it is about a “Monkey’s Gone to Heaven”.

32. The Police – Zenyatta Mondatta (1980). This album broke The Police here in the States. And even though it was the third album of theirs I owned, it was the first one that I played all of the time. “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” is a great pop song; while, Sting showed us his dark side with the Lolita-influenced “Don’t Stand So Close to Me”. Personally, I love “When the World Is Running Down, You Make the Best of What’s Still Around” for its lack of succinctness.

33. Prince – 1999 (1982). This is Prince’s SECOND masterpiece, but it was the first one to get radio airplay in the Indy market. Plus, it was such a great album, that I actually began to listen to his protégés, The Time and Vanity 6. This is the album that made me the obsessed Prince-ophile I am today. B-sides, 12-inch singles, Prince-penned songs, I had to collect them now because of 1999.

34. Queen – A Night at the Opera (1975). This was the first album to incorporate the camp of the Batman TV series with the bombast of a KISS album all sung by a guy who could have been teaching one of my mom’s master’s degree art classes that I accompanied her to. This was the best well to rebel against so many things and people at the same thing. Everyone should get to have a band like Queen pop into their lives.

35. Ramones – Ramones (1976). This is the official ground zero album for the New York City punk scene. But, not only that, it was ground zero for many people my age to become punk fans alone. Look at this list of artists who wanted to “Beat the Brat”: The Clash, Sex Pistols, Motörhead, Poison, the whole new wave scene, Husker Du, et al. When one album is able to building a community for the misfits, nonconformists and revolutionaries, God bless ’em.

36. Raspberries – Raspberries (1972). I loved “Go All the Way” back when I was a small lad, but never understood the lyrics I was caterwauling at the time. Later, after Cheap Trick popped in my life, I searched for the band’s influences, which lead me to Cleveland’s Raspberries. And I was hooked!

37. R.E.M. – Murmur (1983). I remember hearing R.E.M. for the first time and not believing what I was hearing. Could it really be possible that this band was so confident in themselves that their vocals were being positioned as an instrument and not a method of intellectual influencing. Plus, they brought back The Byrds’ 12-string guitar sound. And there was so much more to love their music. This was an alternative to alternative music that sounded like it was true classic rock without being classic rock. You dig?

38. The Replacements – Let It Be (1984). The third artist of the Minneapolis musical triune god, with Prince and Hüsker Dü being the others. What the ‘Mats brought to this table was a drunken professionalism to their playing not seen since the Faces while clobbering the listener over the head with their version of Tom Petty populism. On this album, the band melded a KISS cover (“Black Diamond”), an ode to male horniness (“Gary’s Got a Boner”) and a call-to-arms for Gen X-ers everywhere (“I Will Follow”). Everyone loves sloppy rock and The ‘Mats bring it in spades.

39. The Rolling Stones – Some Girls (1978). I did not enter the Stones’ world of rock music until 1978, when they released what many say is their last classic album. But, if you are going to be turned onto the Glimmer Twins’ music late, this is a great album to become a fan of the band, especially with songs like “Miss You”,”Beast of Burden”, and the jam of my Class of ’81 “Shattered”. And, there could have been many more hits pulled from the album that amazing too.

40. Todd Rundgren – Something/Anything? (1972). This double album displayed the Runt’s prowess in all areas of rock. Of course, he self-produced it. And, he wrote everything, from hard rockers to power poppers to blue-eyed soul love songs. I became a fan of Todd after hearing this album. When an album sports “I Saw the Light” and “Hello, It’s Me”, you know it’s a masterpiece.

Now, we have 40 albums complete, and only ten more to go, I have enjoyed opening myself up to everyday. Plus, it allows me to go back in time and rediscover the magic of these masterful classics. See you tomorrow…on a Saturday, no less. God bless you all!

Like I have stated previously, this exercise has been extremely fun. I have been pulling out old albums and CDs, going through the liner notes and playing the music. I would recommend this exercise for any lover of music. So, let’s get on with the next ten albums on my chart.

21. Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973). Here it is, my ground zero into the rock world thanks to my uncle and aunt. This album exposed me not only to the pop genius of Elton John, while getting some side exposures to rock (“Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”), glam (“Benny and the Jets”) and surreal balladry (“Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”). This was my first double album, and it set the bar extremely high for such an artistic endeavor.

22. KISS – Destroyer (1976). The battle for me was between Alive! and this one. On Destroyer, KISS discovered how to nearly make a concept album, though it’s not one. They used Pink Floydian sound effects while maintaining their hard rock/glam rock roots. This was their studio masterpiece. From here, it was on to prog rock (Rush), glam rock (Slade, T. Rex), metal (Sabbath, Judas Priest), power pop (Cheap Trick) and hard rock (AC/DC).

23. The Knack – Get the Knack (1979). Sure, The Clash referred to them as “that phoney Beatlemania” in the lyrics of “London Calling”. But to an American teenager, The Knack hit the gong signifying the beginning of the age of new wave, power pop and punk. C’mon people! Give these guys their due!

24. Madonna – Madonna (1983). To be honest, back in 1983, I thought I would be writing about Cyndi Lauper over Madonna. But through her shear will, Madonna became a pop music icon by bringing back disco music wrapped up in Eighties new wave. And, then she threw some sexual controversy and girl power into her music to make her a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.

25. Bob Marley & the Wailers – Legend (1984). Marley invented reggae throughout the Seventies, but the American public had been slow to warm to this brand of music. And then, Legend was quietly dropped on an unsuspecting public, and it filled a need for warm, beautiful, exotic transcendent music. This album should be in EVERY home.

26. The Monkees – Greatest Hits (1995). To my generation, the Monkees’ TV show was our MTV, albeit with some cheesy humor. But, as we know now, their music was “A” level stuff and has been acknowledged as a power pop forerunner.

27. Van Morrison – The Best of Van Morrison (1990). I am a Johnny-come-lately to Van Morrison. Thank you Rod Stewart for covering Morrison’s “Have I Told You Lately”, because his version made me seek out this CD and not Stewart’s. And, I got so much more out of this album than nearly any other. I discovered the genius of Morrison’s work, not just on this album, but throughout his catalog.

28. Pearl Jam – Ten (1991). I loved the whole grunge scene of the early Nineties. And, yes, Pearl Jam was the least grungy of the Seattle bands. But, at least Gen X-ers around the world got their own version of Led Zeppelin IV. See you in the RRHOF Pearl Jam!

29. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Damn the Torpedoes (1979). In a pivotal year such as 1979, Tom Petty burst into my life thanks to a Christmas present from the former Kim & Lori Dunwiddie, my two “sisters” from down the street. This album literally got me through 1980 and part of 1981, until Petty released Hard Promises. Along with Springsteen, Petty opened my ears to the powerful working man’s singer, like Mellencamp, Seger and Adams.

30. Pink Floyd – The Wall (1979). Yet another album from 1979, but who has not fell under the spell of this Floydian trip through your psyche. This album and the book Catcher in the Rye are must-haves for the teen-angst years. I know “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” was the hit, I’ll take my Floyd as “Comfortably Numb” and “Run like Hell”.

Now that was a major group of ten albums! Can’t wait to continue this tomorrow. So, in the words of the prophet Casey Kasem, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the sky.”

Yesterday, I began a little journey through my music collection of albums, singles, CDs and mp3s to determine the 50 albums that had made the greatest impact upon my life. Let me clarify something about this list: it is NOT a list of which albums I feel are the best albums ever released. Instead, this list represents the albums that influenced me to change my listening habits or had something to them in their lyrics or music that changed me in some manner. I could never envision my listening habits being what they are today without these albums coming into my life. Many of you may be surprised to find out when I discovered some of these albums for the first time when compared to the album’s original release date. Yesterday, I released my first ten albums, so today I will give you my next ten.

 

11. Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True (1977). This was Costello’s debut album, and all of the music magazines that I was reading at the time were all singing the praises of this one. Needless to say, I HAD to go out and get this one. I was NOT ready for the energy of the songs, be it a reggae song (“Watching the Detectives”), power pop (“Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes”) or ballad (“Alison”), no artist before Costello convey the same passion in every song on the album. This one opened me up to the wonders of Graham Parker and Joe Jackson, to name check a couple.

12. The Cure – Standing on a Beach (1986). We moved to Oxford, Ohio, back in 1986, so I could take my first job as a medical technologist at the tiny hospital in town. Oxford is a wonderful town of contradictions, like being the size of Pendleton, Indiana, but having a major college of 15,000 students living around town nine months of the year. Back then, the town also had one of the greatest independent radio stations in the USA, 97-X, that played alternative music. This Cure album was my third purchase from the record store our first weekend living in town. Next to R.E.M., The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, this album was my entry into alternative music. By the way, this one is a “greatest hits” collection from the first half of their career.

13. David Bowie – Scary Monsters (1980). I got this one after I became a college student, thinking that my music choices indicated maturity. Maybe my ears were more discerning, but I was still that squirrely, hyperactive Keller that I was in high school. But, this was my entrance into the world of Bowie, and what a trip it was. Once again, I took the path less traveled.

14. Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo. (1978). Saw them on SNL during the 1987-79 season but did not buy the album until 1980. First, I must have driven my girlfriend at the time crazy with my constant playing of the album. Second, it introduced me to the production work of Brian Eno, who would be producing many of my favorite albums of the late-Seventies and Eighties. But, it also gave me my entry ticket into the world of nerd rock that so many of my male colleagues in the science building would be listening to in the laboratory preparation rooms.

15. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours (1977). This spot was a battle between Eagles’ Hotel California and this one. I went with the Mac because this was an album about divorce that came out while my parents’ marriage was imploding. Sometimes, this album was the only thing that could ease that pain. I related to this pain, more than the Eagles’ brand of “I’m-so-successful-yet-still-so-depressed” music. Yes, there is a time and place for that brand of Hamlet inward looking, but not while your parents’ situation is the main cause of your brand of adolescent angst.

16. Peter Gabriel – Peter Gabriel (aka 3 or ‘Melt’) (1980). Wow! Someone was actually attempting to take an African drum sound, a funk bass sound, and tried to mess the two with some of the most stimulating new-sounding music called rock that I had heard up to that point. Gabriel finally took what he learned in Genesis as far as art rock was concerned and melded a metropolitan feel with some old world sounds. Plus, he introduced me to South African activist Steven Biko.

17. Daryl Hall & John Oates – Daryl Hall & John Oates (aka ‘The Silver Album’) (1975). Yes, I was a middle school kid who loved “Sara Smile” and wanted to remind myself of the slow dances of that song. Then, I discovered that this duo was creating some of the most sophisticated and challenging rock-wrapped-in-soul pop music ever. I became a HUGE Hall & Oates fan after that album, though I tried to keep it quiet until college.

18. Michael Jackson – Thriller (1982). Sure, I loved the old Jackson 5 singles, those by the Jacksons, as well as most everything by a young Michael Jackson. Then, he release Off the Wall in 1979. But, nothing prepared me for the overnight change in the sound of Eighties pop music after Thriller was dropped. Go back and listen to it. It’s no wonder that it is the biggest selling album of all-time.

19. (tie) The Jam – Snap! (1983) and The Style Council – My Ever Changing Moods (1984). Since I purchased these gems so close together, and both groups are lead by the great Paul Weller, I had to include both of them together. Once you listen to The Jam’s career overview with Snap!, go right into My Ever Changing Moods (the American version of the album; in England it is called Café Bleu) to hear Weller’s musical vision maturing right before your ears. These two albums seem like bookends to Weller’s career up to that point. When the Jam begins, they sound like a punk band with strands of R&B, while the Style Council sounds as though they are a R&B band with some rock leanings. The change is staggering.

20. Jellyfish – Bellybutton (1990). The first thing you notice on the album cover is that the band is visually influenced by some hippy-dippy version of Alice in Wonderland. Then, you put the record on, and your hear all kinds of influences, from Raspberries and Badfinger to Queen and ELO, with Squeeze sprinkled all around. Now, I have name-checked five of my favorite artists of all-time. Jellyfish lived up to the hype by creating some very sophisticated pop and power pop that at the time I thought was a lost art form. I was so very glad to find them during my hair metal malaise.

There you go fans! Twenty down, thirty to go. This list has been fun and a little bit revealing. Yes, I am a sucker for great pop music, yet I still love to rock out too! I guess that I’m a complex man. Oh well…

See you tomorrow!

Back when I was younger, the most important things in my life included God, my family, my morals, teaching, running and playing basketball, reading and music. Now that life has taken a funny turn, the sports-related activities are gone. I used to think, and often said to potential distance runners for my track teams, that the third activity nearly everyone learns to do is to run. And, to be honest, I did take that running talent of mine for granted. The reality is, (1) if running were easy, then everyone would be doing it; and, (2) not everyone is blessed to have run as fast as I once did. Unfortunately, I never took the talent that God had given me seriously, which is unfortunate since it is gone from my life due to a stupid Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS). Now, I really try to focus on the other five things for life fulfillment, and it works most of the time. That’s why I cling to my music collection ever so tightly. I am attempting to reprogram my brain to use music to be the stress reliever that sports once were, and this blog is where I am attempting to replace teaching chemistry. Actually, some of my former students might prefer this blog with some accompanying music to my classes/labs of “Chlorophyll?!?! More like “Bore-o-phyll!”

Recently, I read another writer’s blog where he discussed the 50 most important albums to his life. From the gist of the blog, this writer most have been in his late-thirties to early-forties. Regardless, most of his picks really did not get me excite. So, I, being of inflated ego, have decided that I too need to share my choices of the 50 albums that have impacted my life the most. I am sure that those of you who know me, you will understand my choices, while others of you will scratch your heads. Oh well! It’s my story, and I’ll be sticking with it! (My apologies to the great Colin Quinn, formerly of ‘MTV’s Remote Control’ and ‘Saturday Night Live’ Weekend Update.) Let’s begin the alphabetical listing for part 1 of a five part series. I have to draw this thing out as long as I can.

1. AC/DC – Highway to Hell (1979). Not the first AC/DC album I owned (that honor goes to If You Want Blood, You’ve Got It), but it was the album that made me a fan for life, and set the stage for more hard rock and metal in my life throughout the 1980s.
2. The Band – The Last Waltz (1978). I’ve stated it before, but this is the greatest going-away concert document ever!
3. The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (1965). Sure, I had heard most of the songs as a kid. But, when I heard the album for the first time in all of its glory, I knew I had just listened to one of the greatest and most mature statements ever made in pop music.
4. The Beatles – Revolver (1966). Oh sure! Sgt. Pepper’s on EVERYONE’S list. Not mine! I like this one because it showed the diversity of each Beatles’ talent. There’s power pop (“Taxman”), there’s baroque pop (“Eleanor Rigby”), there’s freaky rock “Tomorrow Never Knows”), and there’s the song that was in our elementary songbook (“Yellow Submarine”). This album was the music of the future being heard right now.
5. Big Star – #1 Record (1972). Sure, like everyone else from my generation, I did not hear this album until I was in a record store back in 1986. And, much like the others who hear it for the first time, realize they are listening to power pop greatness that was overlooked back with the album was released.
6. Blondie – Parallel Lines (1978). I don’t think I have ever recovered that first listening session in my bedroom during the Spring of 1979. I was able to look backward to Blondie’s influences (Sixties girls groups, the Nuggets album from 1972) and forward (new wave, post-punk).
7. Boston – Boston (1976). Sure, they opened the way for Styx, Foreigner, REO, Journey, et al, but they also inspired future alternative darlings such as Smashing Pumpkins.
8. The Cars – The Cars (1978) – Power pop and new wave musics dressed up with an album oriented sound. Think about this, would we have ever heard Billy Squier, Saga, Planet P Project, Asia or Rick Springfield if it weren’t for the Cars.
9. Cheap Trick – In Color (1977). See my previous blog entry about this album. It means the world to me!
10. The Clash – London Calling (1979). This album was the sound of punk music growing up and getting ready to take over the world. I thought they were going to be the messiahs of rock music, but they really ended up playing John the Baptist to U2’s Messiah. Sorry about the religious metaphor! It’s only rock & sarcasm, and I like it, like it, like it! Yes, I do!

That’s it! The first ten albums are on the blog. Only four more blog entries for your entertainment! Peace!

Let’s get this straight right now! I’m from Indiana, and although I am not a fan of the state’s brand of politics right now, I am a Hoosier when it comes to sports. In my youth, I played some high school basketball, and as an adult, I coached basketball from the sixth grade level up to being a varsity assistant coach. Unfortunately, my health kept me from becoming a head coach, which left a huge hole in my soul. I did not leave teaching and coaching on my terms, which is what hurts the most, besides the constant back spasms, sciatic nerve pain and the pain of arthritis in the L4/L5 region of my spine.

Now, we are heading into Memorial Day Weekend, which in Indiana means the Indianapolis 500. You cannot escape it here. For the whole month of May, the practice sessions are covered, as well as every engine hiccup a car may make. But, you will get a sense of which cars will be the best come race day after all this coverage. The whole city and surrounding suburbs are abuzz with this race’s traditions.

Therefore, in honor of “the greatest spectacle in racing”, I am going to give you my Favorite 33 Songs About Cars. I chose the number 33 because the race will have a full field of 33 cars. And since the cars are placed in 11 rows of three cars, based on their speed, I will do the same, only in the order that I like them.

• Row 11: 33. Sammy Hagar – “I Can’t Drive 55” (I’ve always hated this song, but its such a standard around Race Day that I couldn’t leave it off the list.
• 32. Depeche Mode – “Behind the Wheel”
• 31. Charlie Daniels Band – “Uneasy Rider”
• Row 10: 30. Cake – “The Distance”
• 29. The Go-Go’s – “Speeding”
• 28. Bachman Turner Overdrive – “Roll on Down the Highway”
• Row 9: 27. Devo – “Speed Racer”
• 26. Tracy Chapman – “Fast Car”
• 
• 25. Paul Revere & the Raiders – “Corvair Baby”
• Row 8: 24. Golden Earring – “Radar Love”
• 23. Bruce Springsteen – “Pink Cadillac” (so what that The Boss really isn’t singing about a car!)
• 22. Commander Cody – “Hot Rod Lincoln”
• 
• Row 7: 21. Stone Temple Pilots – “Interstate Love Song”
• 20. Deep Purple – “Highway Star”
• 19. The Clash – “Brand New Cadillac
• Row 6: 18. Quiet Riot – “Slick Black Cadillac”
• 17. Foghat – “Slow Ride”
• 
• 16. John Travolta – “Greased Lightning”
• Row 5: 15. Janis Joplin – “Mercedes Benz”
• 14. Rose Royce – “Car Wash” (your ride’s gotta look nice!)
• 13. Tom Cochrane – “Life Is a Highway”
• Row 4: 12. War – “Low Rider”
• 11. Edgar Winter Group – “Free Ride”
• 
• 10. Gary Numan – “Cars”
• Row 3: 9. Queen – “I’m in Love with My Car”
• 8. Velvet Crush – “Speedway Baby”
• 
• 7. Rush – “Red Barchetta”
• Row 2: 6. Rob Zombie – “Dragula” (a hit song about the Munsters’ coffin car has to be included!)
• 5. Bruce Springsteen – “Racing in the Streets”
• 
• 4. Sniff ‘N’ the Tears – “Driver’s Seat”
• Row 1: 3. Metallica – “Fuel”
• 2. The Clash – “Car Jamming”
• 
• 1. And, on the pole position, a song that was almost chosen for the pace car, is Prince – “Little Red Corvette”

And, the pace car for this year’s Indy 500 of music is The Beach Boys’ “Little Deuce Coupe.

Now, my friends, you have a list of 34 car songs that you could use for a playlist for the race itself. I believe most people do not mind listening to the first twenty or so laps. Then, we forget about the race, usually picking back up with the race when there is 20 laps to go. In both cases, the track is congested and the drivers are more daring with their passes.

Regardless, have a great Memorial Day! Have fun with however you celebrate the race! And try to stay cool this weekend! Here’s Keller signing off until next Tuesday. Stay Frosty!

Back in the mid-Eighties, I came across several independent rock artists who were slowly gaining some cult status across the U.S. of A. You would never hear them on commercial radio, but you could hear their albums being played at independent record stores and radio stations. These artists were the direct descendants of the U.K. punk scene of the late-Seventies, but being Americans, these artists tended to crank the volume up to “11” or higher and tried to play as fast as they could. They were all about raising a racket with their instruments, and they all succeeded on various levels. These bands would tour the States in a beat up van, playing any night clubs, pizza parlors, gay club or teen dances that would book them in a city. This was the era of DIY – Do It Yourself!

These bands really did not share a sound, as some were loud and fast, while others were melodic and haunting, and all points in between. What they did share was a disdain for what was popular at the time. The bands that arose during this period were R.E.M., Sonic Youth, the Replacements, Minutemen, Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, Butthole Surfers, Camper Van Beethoven, Meat Puppets, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pixies, and the band I would like to introduce today, Hüsker Dü.

Hüsker Dü was the name of popular memory game and means “Do you remember?” in Danish and Norwegian. When the band took this name, their purpose was to play songs fast and loud, many of which would barely last two minutes in the beginning. This was do to the fact that they could not sing the French part in the Talking Heads’ classic song “Psycho Killer”. So, by playing loud and fast, while shouting the lyrics, they could skip the song’s verses that were in French, and no one was worse for the wear.

As time moved on, the band, a power trio of guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton and drummer Grant Hart began to integrate some melody into their noise that eventually would pave the way for the Pixies and another little Nineties band by the name of Nirvana. Sure, upon first listen, I really thought this was just noise, but as I listened more carefully, I discovered a sweet melody holding the noise together. This was especially true of Bob Mould’s songs, though Grant Hart’s later songs also worked around a melody. What Hüsker Dü was playing was an extreme noise version of power pop. Shoot, go listen to their song “Makes No Sense at All” from their 1985 Flip Your Wig album, and try to tell me that it is NOT a power pop song.

Unfortunately, this trio could not hold on together forever. When you have two of the three members writing songs, and one member producing the albums (Mould), there will be fights over money. Mould was making more than the other two since he was getting producer, writer and player royalties, while Hart received royalties for writing and playing, and Norton only got playing royalties. Whenever their is an unequal splitting of the cash, animosity will rear its ugly head. And, eventually, that caused the band to break up in 1987. But, during the years 1984 through 1987, Hüsker Dü had a budding career that few artists could claim.

In 1984, Hüsker Dü created and released alternative music’s first rock opera, Zen Arcade. If you think of The Who’s Quadrophenia being played at break-neck speeds, then you have Zen Arcade. The difference was that Hüsker Dü was not yearning for its youth, but they were calling out other youths who were feeling the alienation caused by the so-called “success” of Reaganomics on youth of Eighties America.

The band followed up that masterpiece of a double album, with two more classic albums that more or less mined that same theme of the alienation that comes with a “Trickle-Down Economics” policy that really did not trickle anywhere. Those albums were New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig. In addition to those two albums, Hüsker Dü also released a classic cover version of The Byrds’ “Eight Miles High”. This was all completed in 1985 while still on the independent label SST.

Finally, in 1986, Hüsker Dü signed with a major label, Warner Brothers/Sire. Much was expected of their first major label release that year called Candy Apple Grey. Though much of the harshness of the band’s instruments were taken down a notch, the American public was not ready for what these boys from Minnesota were offering. In 1987, Hüsker Dü came back with another stellar double album called Warehouse: Songs and Stories. Once again, the band was now four years too early for the ears of America. It was then that the animosity within the band got to each other and they all went their separate ways. Let’s just say that these guys have relatively nothing nice to say about the others, which is too bad since their catalog could use some remastering for the digital age. But, as long as they continue to be sour toward each other, the world will probably never get to hear Hüsker Dü in all of their glory.

Now, I have been talking about ho)w prolific Prince was. Remember that during his meaty years (1982 to 1987), Prince released five albums, two of which were double albums, 18 B-Side singles and 18 twelve-inch extended release singles, as well as shelved at least three albums: one a single album (Camille) one a double album (Dream Factory) and the other a triple album (Crystal Ball). During that same time frame, these fellow-Minneapolis hardcore rockers released two Extended Plays, or EPs, (Metal Circus and Sorry Somehow), six albums (Everything Falls Apart, Zen Arcade, New Day Rising, Flip Your Wig, Candy Apple Grey and Warehouse: Songs and Stories), and two singles (“Eight Miles High” and “Love Is All Around”). And two of the albums were double albums as well (Zen Arcade and Warehouse). What is it about Minnesota that allows their artists to be so prolific? Maybe, it’s the winters?

So, what became of the members of Hüsker Dü? Bob Mould has had a more successful solo career than the original band did, plus he did put together one of the best Nineties power pop bands called Sugar. Drummer Grant Hart had a band in the early-Nineties called Nova Mobb, but recently has begun a quiet solo career. And, finally, bassist Greg Norton is now an in-demand chef and is completely out of the music business. If this band were to ever be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we will probably never get to see them play together. But, like I said earlier, if it wasn’t for Hüsker Dü, what would have the Pixies or Nirvana have sounded like?

If you were in college during the heyday of Prince’s Purple Rain, I remember hearing people say they could not wait for his next album. I am sure they were all expecting Purple Rain II. And although I had only been a fan of Prince since his 1979 eponymous album with the great “I Wanna Be Your Lover”, I told these newbie fans that Prince’s next album will explore something totally different. Purple Rain had been the culmination of his work from Dirty Mind through 1999. Something just told me that His Royal Badness would be moving in another direction. I especially got that feeling after watching he and the Revolution stretch out many of his songs on that VHS concert film covering his Purple Rain Tour.

But, I was not ready for that pastel Easter egg of an album that Prince and the Revolution dropped on us on April 21, 1985. The Sgt. Pepper-esque album cover should have been a clue that Prince was really embracing the psychedelia of the Summer of Love and integrating those sounds into his own funk-rock amalgamation that he had forged. I had read that the Purple One had become intrigued with the sounds being created in the Los Angeles Paisley Underground scene. He was so enthralled with that scene’s sounds that he would eventually give the Bangles a song he had written during that era (“Manic Monday”) and eventually signed one of the better bands of that scene to his Paisley Park label (The Three O’Clock). The Paisley Underground embraced many of the sounds of the mid- to late-Sixties, from the Beatles’ Rubber Soul sounds of the Bangles to the Sweethearts of the Rodeo-era Byrds influence of The Long Ryders right through the baroque music of Jellyfish.

Whatever it was, Prince was inspired by these bands to go back to the real sounds of the psychedelic Sixties and began the grand experiment with his music. All of a sudden, strings were being added to dance cuts to give them a psychedelic feel. Thrown in a sitar here, Hendrixian guitar blasts there, Beach Boys-styled vocals underneath, all while still using that Minneapolis Sound that he created in the first place. All of a sudden, while on his crowning tour, Prince was plotting to scale back his career to more manageable levels, all the while expanding his music in exciting new ways.

Upon first listen, Around the World in a Day was jolting. What the heck was going on? Then, within a couple of weeks, I heard Tom Petty’s new single at the time, the classic “Don’t Come Around Here No More”, as well as the Eurythmics’ new LP, Be Yourself Tonight, and all of a sudden it was clear – a change was coming to music right then in 1985. We were entering an Ecstasy-influenced psychedelic era in music.

Around the World in a Day began with the very Sixties-sounding title song. The sound that Prince and the Revolution were creating was something altogether different than anything they had done previously. The next song was Prince’s song that became something of his theme song, “Paisley Park”. This song was Prince’s version of “Penny Lane”, in which he was remembering places in his past that would become part of utopia. Remember, the song’s title became the name of his recording studio complex. But most importantly, I remember thinking that I am NOT shaking my ass to this music! No! I was listening to it!

“Condition of the Heart” is the third song on Side One. This song was a loving ballad directed at one of Prince’s girlfriends of the moment, probably Susannah Melvoin, Revolution guitarist Wendy Melvoin’s twin sister. The song reminded me a bit of “Beautiful Ones” on Purple Rain but with more melancholia.

By song number four, we were ready for some funk. And, Prince delivered one of his all-time classics, “Raspberry Beret”. This song was his big hit on this album and the most successful experiment on this album. Finally, Prince found a way to integrate a little Beatles into his purple funk. But, this song was a masterpiece on every level: as a pop song, a dance hit, a rocker and as a heir to George Clinton’s Funkadelic utopia.

Side One wraps up with the not-so-subtle double entendre “Tamborine”. Who knew that the only musical instrument that I could play a little could be turned into a sexually-charged song. Unfortunately, the song was something of a dud. So, I used to skip this song and flip my album over to Side Two.

Prince kicks off Side Two with a confusing song called “America”. Where Prince’s protest lyrics were direct and on-target on songs such as “Controversy” or “Ronnie Talk to Russia”, Mr. Nelson attempts to tackle the whole “right versus left” thing that we were just being to experience here in the States. Unfortunately, Prince swung and missed on this song, which sounded as though he was just trying to hurry up to get this album out.

But, then “Pop Life”, a duet with Sheila E., comes up to give the listener a pop delight. This was just a perfectly executed pop song, plain and simple. But, that was the last song of any worth on this album, unfortunately.

The last two songs are the kind of self-indulgent art songs that Prince and the other artists of the late-Seventies and early-Eighties were trying to wipe out. The next to last song is the five-minute, 26-second “Stairway to Heaven”-wannabe “The Ladder”. Sorry, Prince! If I really want to listen to your version of that Led Zeppelin standard, I will listen to “Purple Rain”!

Finally, to wrap up this mess of an album is a mess of an attempted epic called “Temptation”. During this horrid song, Prince spends his time pleading with God for forgiveness for him succumbing to the desires of his Flesh. Just as Prince is condemned to Hell, Jesus steps in to save Prince with His salvation. I am certain that this song would have become the showstopper that Prince had intended it to be if he had just taken some time to improve it. But, after listening to eight-minutes and twenty-one seconds of this mess, I forgot I was actually listening to my heroic Prince and had somehow put The Moody Blues on my turntable. As much as those two songs smelled liked a dropped turd, Prince proved how he could consciously drop caca on us in the late-Nineties when he was fighting with Warner Brothers over the control of his music. At least the poor songs on this album were failed experiments in an attempt for greatness.

During this era of Prince’s career, he was reportedly recording a song per day. And, what we were getting on the B-sides of his three singles from this album were three of his best songs that SHOULD have been on this album. But, that was Prince, and this was the first time that he took a home run cut and missed with this album. But, the good songs were great on this album. Unfortunately, the bad songs were crap.

The great news from Around the World in a Day was that Prince was going to be traveling in challenging directions in his music for the rest of his career. And, those of us who were committed to follow this unique musical talent were going to be given an enriched musical life.

So, I’ve come to thank Prince for this album. Not for the music that was on the album, but for the exhilirating music that was to follow in the future. Believe it or not, at this point, Prince had given us three hands-down classic albums (Dirty Mind, 1991, Purple Rain), but he was about to drop on us five more classic albums over the next eight years!

Hold on tight! It’s going to be a crazy ride!

Although many of you are thinking this is about the fruit, sorry! I am talking about about a great power pop band from the early Seventies called the Raspberries. Many of you that are older and remember this band probably think of them as a teenybopper band or a bubblegum band. And, many they were geared toward my age group back then, but they never should have been.

At a time when Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath and the rest were all challenging the parameters and definition of rock music, as well as creating some very era-defining, there were a handful of artists who were looking back to 1965 and 1966 versions of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Kinks, the Who and Small Faces for their inspiration. These artists tended to be Americans, but there were several British artists who were taking the melodies of the Beatles and the vocals of the Beach Boys and melding them with the musical muscularity of The Who and The Kinks to create what is now known as power pop.

Power pop artists rarely get their due from the critics. Case in point, Cheap Trick. These guys had been eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2002 but had not been nominated until this year. And they were elected on their first chance. Many people tend to look at Cheap Trick, and other power pop bands, like that kid in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, who told the ticket scalper that Cheap Trick was for kids. And, that was a middle school student saying that!!!

Power pop bands are like Christian Bale’s character in American Psycho: a pleasant, nondescript exterior that covers a very aggressive interior. Now, pop power will NOT kill you in the physical sense but tends to be more insidious than a serial killer.

In 1972, four young men from Cleveland (Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Jim Bonfanti and Dave Smalley) gathered together because of their love of the British Invasion bands of the Sixties, and created music that was based in that era. However, they added some very muscular guitar work in the form of power chords that The Who and The Kinks discovered. This sweet sounding music seemed out of step with the metal and prog rock that was dominating rock radio back then. Instead, the Raspberries’ first hit, “Go All the Way”, became a Top 10 hit, reaching number five at the end of the summer of 1972. What sounded like a great pop song with a terrific guitar solo masked some very risqué lyrics for the time, where singer Eric Carmen, he of “All by Myself” fame, is being begged by his girlfriend to “please go all the way, it just feels so nice, being with you here tonight.”

Whoa!!! I NEVER heard a girl udder those words, but the Raspberries made me sure hope to hear them one day. Throughout the whole song, the girl is the aggressive one, which was a change from the whole males are always on the prowl thing. To my ears, that song is nearly perfect.

But, it’s the rest of the album’s McCartney-esque songs that make this album such a classic. It’s great on sunny days of spring, and it’s great on those cold dreary days of winter. Raspberries by Raspberries is just one of those classic records that will always put me in a good mood. There are songs that remind you of Rundgren or Harrison that give the album depth.

The album has one bonafide classic song in “Go All the Way”. But, the rest of Raspberries is a fun, cheery ride that keeps on giving more and more on the soundscape and lyrically to you as you put it on your turntable. And, then after you fall in love with this album, you find yourself seeking more and more power pop. Now, I’m going to start out slow with you, but watch out! I’ve been going nuts on this stuff since my disability four years ago.