The year 1964 was a watershed period in British music. Before that year, British popular music was barely heard outside of the U.K. But when the Beatles achieved American success, a seemingly endless number of British bands and singers were suddenly able to crack the American market.
By the end of 1964, some enterprising filmmakers decided to create a cinematic year-in-review to highlight this new wave of British music talent. The result was “Pop Gear,” a strange but jolly little production that serves as a celluloid time capsule for that remarkable musical year.
The features opens with footage from a November, 1963 Beatles concert in Manchester -
She Loves You [more inside]
posted by carsonb
on Oct 28, 2007 -
24 comments
The Moby Quotient [I]n the late 1990s, the techno artist Moby, as hip as they come, openly boasted of having sold every track of his breakthrough album "Play" to an advertiser, or to a film or TV soundtrack. The album should perhaps have been called "Pay." In homage Bill Wyman of
Hitsville has dubbed his formula for determining the offensiveness of a rock-based advertisement. (
accompanying article)
posted by caddis
on Oct 16, 2007 -
138 comments
The Iron City Houserockers were Pittsburgh's entry in the Heartland Rock Sweepstakes that occured after the success of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger. They had literate lyrics, tough rock and roll backing, and clear-eyed vision. Led by
Joe Grushecky, a special ed teacher by day, produced by Miami Steve Van Zandt of the E Street Band, and possessed of tunes like
"Junior's Bar" (youtube), they seemed poised to hit the big time, but it never quite happened, which is the music audience's loss. He is, however the subject of a loving tribute in the form of
"A Good Life: The Joe Grushecky Story" (trailer).
posted by jonmc
on Oct 15, 2007 -
27 comments
In 1975, armed with a big pile of 8-track car stereos and a whole lot of moxie, Dave Biro set out to change the sound of rock music. He failed spectacularly. This is the fascinating and tragic story of one of the rarest instruments in rock music-
The Birotron.
[more inside]
posted by 40 Watt
on Oct 1, 2007 -
19 comments
... After take seventeen, Dylan heeds the producer Johnston’s advice to start with a harmonica swoop. Crescendos off of an extended fifth chord, led by Paul Griffin’s astonishingpiano swells (“half Gershwin, half gospel, all heart” an astute critic later wrote), climax in choruses dominated by piano, organ, and Bobby Gregg’s drum rolls; Robbie Robertson’s guitar hits its full strength at the finale. Intimations of the thin, wild mercury sound underpin rock & roll symphonics. Johnston delivers a pep talk before one last take—“keep that soul feel”—and Gregg snaps a quick click opener, and fewer than five minutes later, the keeper is in the can.
Mystic Nights - The Making of Blonde On Blonde In Nashville An account of how the many strands of that thin, that wild mercury sound were woven. And the
annotation goes on.
Via email via St Urbain's Horseman
posted by y2karl
on Sep 28, 2007 -
36 comments
NickCaveFilter: Fifty years ago this very day,
Nicholas Edward Cave [
previously] crawled from the womb and started to plot. At 16 he formed his first band which evolved quickly into the
Boys Next Door [
Shivers]. This in turn mutated into
the Birthday Party (1980) who terrorised the post-punk soundscape in Australia and the UK [
Release the Bats |
Nick the Stripper]. The
Birthday Party relocated to England and in 1984 the band imploded in an orgy of drugs and booze. Shortly after
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were born [The Ship Song -
video &
solo live | The Mercy Seat -
video &
live |
Where the Wild Roses Grow], and 23 years and 11 studio albums later (not to mention a
best selling book, a
great screenplay,
some acting and several soundtrack projects) he is still going strong. But, instead of sitting on his musical laurels he decided to get back to basics and, in 2006,
grew a huge moustache and formed
Grinderman – a four piece with a primeval hybrid Birthday Party/Bad Seeds sound [
No Pussy Blues |
Honey Bee]. Fellow Mefites, I ask you to raise a glass to
Mr. Cave… And, especially if you are not familiar to his work, don’t forget to “look inside” for my primer on the enigma that is Nick Cave, one of the
finest song-writers on the face of this miserable planet.
[more inside]
posted by the_very_hungry_caterpillar
on Sep 22, 2007 -
98 comments
Sunday Night, later named Michelob Presents Night Music, was an NBC late-night television show hosted by Jools Holland and David Sanborn which aired for two seasons between 1988 and 1990 as a showcase for jazz and eclectic musical artists.
[YouTubeFilter, via] [more inside]
posted by carsonb
on Sep 16, 2007 -
32 comments
Christs, Communists, & Rock 'n' Roll is an excellent introduction to a tradition of anti-rock writings and recordings by the Religious Right. In the 1960s, there was
David Noebel who wrote
Communism, Hypnotism, & the Beatles and
The Marxist Minstrels. In the early 1970s,
Reverend Riblett constructs a seven-foot cross out of rock music records and sets it aflame with gasoline. Michael Mills finds
hidden Satanic messages in Bow Wow Wow and the Grateful Dead, while Bob Larson valiantly
debates Mandy, a 13-year-old fan of the Cure. The motherlode is probably the
cassettes of John Todd, who traveled the fundamentalist circuit in the 1970s claiming to be a former witch and a member of the Illuminati, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. (more inside)
posted by jonp72
on Aug 20, 2007 -
31 comments
Cracked Pepper by ccc and ill chemist is a mash-up of The Beatles'
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and an amazing array of songs you know. While not quite on par with the focus and sheer audacity of DangerMouse's
Grey Album, Cracked Pepper is a smart, rich, and rewarding listen. Available track by track or as a torrent.
See inside for tracks sampled.
posted by saguaro
on Jul 30, 2007 -
35 comments
I am Murloc. Cool World of Warcraft music video. (Note: Impressed me, but I've never played WoW. Might not impress WoW players, I dunno. Won't change your mind if you already hate WoW. Horrible vocals.)
posted by Bugbread
on Jul 17, 2007 -
51 comments
Aside from the usual crap, YouTube has a great selection of
one the
most
covered
song of all time:
All Along the Watchtower. Classics like Hendrix (
live and
studio), Neil Young (at
DailyMotion
with better sound) and
U2--and some great contemporary versions like Keziah
Jones' blazingly-fast
version,
Bradley Fish's 12-instrument (including Chinese Zither)
version, Michael Hedges’
reason-to-be-excited
cover, and
even a quite good version of DMB's much-maligned
cover. What doesn't really rank: Dylan's original.
posted by FeldBum
on Jul 2, 2007 -
43 comments
Three well-received albums, but without selling many of them. One of the
greatest singles ever, but it didn't chart. An acrimonious split after only four years amidst
heroin addiction and
charges of attempted murder. A lead singer and songwriter who descended into a quarter of a century of addiction: first heroin, then crack, just about staying alive, but only just.
But
The Only Ones are back, dubbed as
cult heroes, and acknowledged as an influence on bands like Nirvana, The Replacements, Blur and The Libertines. Just a
little haggard and worn, but
playing live again (The Big Sleep, Another Girl) after twenty-five years.
posted by reynir
on Jul 1, 2007 -
35 comments
Before
Woodstock, there was the
Monterey International Pop Festival, the world's first major rock festival. It took place from June 16 to June 18, 1967, and it featured performances by, among others,
Eric Burdon and The Animals,
Simon and Garfunkel,
Canned Heat,
Al Kooper,
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band,
Quicksilver Messenger Service,
The Electric Flag,
The Byrds (
more),
Jefferson Airplane,
Otis Redding,
Ravi Shankar,
Big Brother and The Holding Company,
Buffalo Springfield (minus Neil Young),
The Who (
3 4 5),
Grateful Dead,
The Jimi Hendrix Experience,
Scott McKenzie, and
The Mamas and The Papas
posted by Silune
on Jun 16, 2007 -
35 comments
Bruce Springsteen, 1973. Stevie Ray Vaughan, 1984.
Jimi Hendrix, 1968.
King Crimson, 1969.
Warren Zevon, 1982.
Dio, 1984.
The Band, 1974.
Santana, 1975.
Elton John, 1970.
The Rolling Stones, 1978. For classic rock fans it's a drink from the firehose at
Wolfgang's Concert Vault, the web archive of rock promoter Wolfgang Grajonca, better known as
Bill Graham. If you want to download any of these shows it'll cost you ("
Based upon all the information that is available to us, we believe that performers can earn between four and six times more from Wolfgang's Vault per download than they currently receive from their record companies"), but you can stream all of them at no charge. (
Previously)
posted by jbickers
on Jun 15, 2007 -
60 comments
Kids Rock! Reaching puberty is not a prerequisite to rocking out. Check out
Gary and the Hornets,
Tony and the Tigers (featuring two sons of Soupy Sales),
The Collins Kids (with more clips
here and
here), a
10-year-old Fergie singing the Pretenders' "The Middle of the Road," mini-skatepunks
Old Skull, the
Minibeats,
Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 3rd Grade Class, the Electric Company's
Short Circus (featuring a
pre-teen Irene Cara and intros from Morgan Freeman as DJ Mel Mounds), the
Double Deckers,
Smoosh on Jimmy Kimmel Live,
Les Poppys, the
Bantams, and
Mulligan's Stew getting down with the four food groups. (YouTube-a-palooza!)
posted by jonp72
on May 28, 2007 -
37 comments
Andy Fraser, the man who wrote and played on 'All Right Now,' one of the great swaggering rock songs, talks about his music, sexuality and living with AIDS in
this exhaustive interview
posted by jonmc
on May 22, 2007 -
18 comments
The Punk Years, "A definitive history of the music that shook the world, looking at the origins and development of the punk rock movement as a social, historical, political and musical force. Achieved a record audience for Play UK on Saturday July 13th 2002."
Parts 1: Wham Bam Thank You Glam [
1,
2,
3] | 2: Year Zero [
1,
2,
3] | 3: 1977 Never Get To Heaven [
1,
2,
3] | 4: Take Three Chords [
1,
2,
3] | 5: A Riot Of Your Own [
1,
2,
3] | 6: Typical Girls [
1,
2,
3] | 7: Ridicule Is Nothing To Be Scared Of [
1,
2,
3] | 8: Punx Not Dead [
1,
2,
3] | 9: Independents Days [
1,
2,
3] | 10: California Uber Alles [
1,
2,
3].
(
via)
posted by kolophon
on Mar 27, 2007 -
110 comments
Heart attacks, not overdoses, number one cause of musicians' early demise. An almost-thorough list of dead rock stars, but there are some "cause" blanks that need filling in.
posted by usedwigs
on Jan 25, 2007 -
46 comments
Michael Brecker has passed away Arguably, one of the most influential saxophonists of all time, he has lost his fight against myelodysplastic syndrome. Truly a major loss for the jazz and rock worlds.
posted by milnak
on Jan 13, 2007 -
30 comments
"To me, I've always looked upon the stage as a much-hallowed place, a place of worship for real artists, as I said just before. That doesn't just stem from rock n roll days; to me, Judy Garland was a real artist, Al Jolson was a real artist, people like that gave their all and everything for the stage and most of them finished up dying for it as well. In my view, nobody should be allowed to stand on a stage unless they can present the total professional thing, unless they really can sing and really can play. Punk was a total anti-attitude towards music."NWOBHM: How a now-little-known nostalgic reaction to punk called the New Wave of British Heavy Metal changed the world.
[much, much more inside]
posted by koeselitz
on Jan 10, 2007 -
40 comments
