MetaFilter posts tagged with rock and rocknroll

A whole freaking bunch of classic rock performance videos

Kattullus — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:55:36 -0800

My Beat Club has a whole ton of classic rock perfomance videos, mostly from old German TV shows Musikladen and Beat Club. Among the videos on offer are Small Faces' Tin Soldier, Chuck Berry's School Days, Ike & Tina Turner's River Deep, Mountain High, The Who's My Generation, Country Joe McDonald's I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag, The Everly Brothers' All I Have to Do is Dream, The Ramones' Sheena is a Punk Rocker, Mungo Jerry's In the Summertime, T. Rex's 20th Century Boy, New York Dolls' Looking for a Kiss, The Byrds' So You Want to Be a Rock n' Roll Star, Thin Lizzy's Whiskey in the Jar, Slade's We'll Bring the House Down, The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Purple Haze and so much, much more!

Our Band Could Be Your Comic

interrobang — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:42:18 -0800

Metafilter's own COBRA! has been producing a great comic about a rock band for quite awhile; and now it's been released as a book! Get to know the Awesome Boys in Nowhere Band.

Ziggy really sang, screwed up eyes and screwed down hairdo

fire&wings — Sun, 03 May 2009 12:53:06 -0800

Of all the pretenders to the throne of "British Elvis" in the pre-Beatles UK music scene, none had the swagger or moves quite like Vince Taylor. His stylings, pitched halfway between Gene Vincent and Pressley, found success in the early 60's, especially in France. The man who Joe Strummer described as "the beginning of British rock'n'roll," was on the verge of stardom in 1963, but already hooked on a cocktail of Preludin, speed, LSD and alcohol, he instead fell apart. Believing himself to be the apostle Matthew or the son of God, he gave sermons on stage while wrapped in a white sheet, ate only eggs, and carried around a map of Europe, trying to point out to people where the UFO's would land. David Bowie, living in London in 1966, met and was transfixed by this already burnt out, drug addled heartthrob who had "fallen into a chasm too deep to ever climb out of." Inspired by the rock star who "thought he was some composite between the Son of God and an alien," he put pen to paper. The song? Ziggy Stardust. From the late 1960's it was all downhill, and although Taylor emerged sporadically for various comebacks, a few albums (including 1972's "Vince is alive, well and rocking in Paris") his later years were for the most part a blur of incoherent performances on small scale tours and periods spent in religious communes and psychiatric wards. He died in 1991 after a short period working as an aircraft mechanic in Switzerland. --- Vince Taylor: * There's a Whole Lotta Twistin' goin' on * Shakin' All Over * Peppermint Twist * Too Much * 20 Flight Rock * What I'd Say * Brand New Cadillac (audio only)

HistoryShots—information-related history graphics

cgc373 — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 10:41:58 -0800

Looking for the graphic "The Genealogy of Pop/Rock Music" I remembered from Tufte, I found HistoryShots. [previous mention]

Nick Cave, the Black Crow King, is fifty today

the_very_hungry_caterpillar — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 16:59:54 -0800

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. The Boys Next Door released a couple of singles and an album, Door, Door (1979) [although the early Birthday Party singles and debut LP were originally credited to the Boys Next Door]. Not much remains except for the LP (re-released on CD), the promo video for the single Shivers, an interview and one decent live recording (1977). The Birthday Party were a tour de force, fuelled primarily by booze and drugs. They made three stunning LPs, the eponymous Birthday Party (later re-released with two singles as Hee-Haw ), Prayers on Fire and Junkyard. The band imploded in 1984 with Mick Harvey leaving the band temporarily. Check out: Junkyard, Sonny’s Burning, Deep in the Woods [discography]. (Mick Harvey gets an honourable mention as he is ever present in Nick Cave’s music, 24 years to date, playing drums, bass, guitar and keys at diferent times. He has also release several critically acclaimed solo LPs.) Cave re-surfaced straight away with Mick Harvey, Barry Adamson and Blixa Bargeld as the Bad Seeds. (Blixa Bargeld of Einsturzende Neubauten also gets an honourable mention, playing guitar with the Bad Seeds from 1984 to 2003.) The Bad Seeds hit hard with From Her to Eternity (1984), taking up the primeval growl where the final Birthday Party EPs left off [ From Her to Eternity | I Put a Spell On You]. They also released a cover of In the Ghetto. (Elvis and Johnny Cash are strong influences in Cave’s music, along with John Lee Hooker, the Stooges and Nina Simone.) They followed this with The Firstborn Is Dead (1985), with a more laid back, bluesy edge (although Cave dislikes this being referred to as bluesy) [ Tupelo | Wanted Man]. 1986 saw two LP releases: Kicking Against the Pricks (an LP of cover versions, including Hey, Joe) and Your Funeral, My Trial (a really dark LP with a dense sound) [The Carny, featured in Wim Wenders “Wings of Desire”, and also Scum, for the journos] [Interview] 1988 saw Tender Prey released (selfIndulganceFilter: my personal favourite, along with Henry’s Dream). The album has a fantastic Elvis-esque sleeve and contains The Mercy Seat (widely regarded as Cave’s signature tune and played at most of his shows since 1988, and covered by Johnny Cash) [Deanna | Mercy]. Cave, Bargeld and Harvey scored the soundtrack to Ghosts… Of the Civil Dead, in which Cave acted as well as co-writing the screenplay. The Good Son [1990] was Cave's first release after kicking his heroin addiction, and he produced his most accessible music to date. Songs such as the Weeping Song saw Cave attract a new audience with a mellower sound [Jack the Ripper]. In 1991 a road movie filmed in B/W on Cine 8 called The Road To God Knows Where was released. Henry’s Dream (1992) is an intense LP [Straight to You | I Had a Dream, Joe] which is captured vividly in their Live at the Paradiso video. 1994 saw Let Love In [Red Right Hand], and in 1995 Cave dueted with Kylie Minogue on Where the Wild Roses Grow. [Written interview]. This single was included on Murder Ballads (1996) [Stagger Lee], which also included Henry Lee (with PJ Harvey). He also rejected his MTV Award. 1998 saw the release of The Boatman’s Call - a really beautiful, chilled piano led LP [Into My Arms | Lime Tree Arbour | Far From Me | People Ain’t No Good ]. Cave’s debut novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel was released in 1999. In 2000 he released Secret Life of the Love Song & The Flesh Made Word – two philosophical lectures [transcript]. 2001 saw the mellow No More Shall We Part released [God is in the House | Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow], followed in 2003 by Nocturama (not their finest, best left alone) The double LP Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus was released in 2004. A truly beautiful LP, characterised by a lush production (and featuring members of The London Community Gospel Choir) [Nature Boy | Breathless | Abbatoir Blues | Oh My Lord]. The film The Proposition was released in 2005 (a gritty Western, set in Australia) and as well as writing the screenplay, he and Warren Ellis also recorded the soundtrack. 2006 saw Cave form Grinderman, a raw, stripped down four piece recording and mixing their debut (Grinderman, 2007) in 12 days [Grinderman | Electric Alice | interview]. Cave is joined by Martyn P. Casey, Warren Ellis and Jim Sclavunos – all from the Bad Seeds. Even at 49 Cave was kicking against the pricks. Their debut live performance was at the All Tomorrows Parties festival (2007) and... (selfIndulganceFilter:) I was there! [And finally... Other Cave YouTube Interviews, and other performances: John the Revelator, I feel so Good, Mack the Knife]

How Would Jesus Rock?

jonp72 — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 20:13:48 -0800

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)

Cracked Pepper

saguaro — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 09:24:58 -0800

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.

"I hate music / Sometimes I don't. . . . Tommy said so-so-so-so-so what?"

bardic — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 13:36:18 -0800

"So I think we maybe have this sort of snobbish reputation. But we're just really honest, opinionated music fans." (via)

Vault Radio

bigmike — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 05:34:44 -0800

Vault Radio. Remember Wolfgang's Vault? They've now started releasing the massive amounts of music that they discovered via FM-quality 128k stream. The current rotation isn't huge (not much worse than commercial radio), but there's a lot of great stuff on there that you've never heard before, presumably.

Wolfgang's Vault

bigmike — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 05:27:38 -0800

Wolfgang's Vault : Bill Graham, of Fillmore fame, was born Wolfgang Grajonca in Berlin. He grew up to invent, more or less, the modern rock 'n' roll promotion industry. He also had an eye for the future, stashing away posters, T-shirts, backstage passes, tickets, and photography for posterity (us).
Now, 15 years after his death, you have him to thank not only for $350 Rolling Stones tickets but also for $3800 Rolling Stones posters.
Purchased from ~~Satan at a crossroads~~ Clear Channel a few years back, the vault also contains a bunch of audio and video that Clear Channel didn't know it had and which we may or may not ever get to experience.

Let Her Dance, Let Her Dance, Ket Her Dance All Night Long....

jonmc — Fri, 07 May 2004 20:23:16 -0800

Bobby Fuller was a Texas based rock and roll singer best known for the immortal rebel anthem "I Fought The Law,". Considered by many to be the heir to Buddy Holly as the king of Texas Rock, he built on Holly's style with songs like the aforementioned "...Law," "Jenny Lee," "Love's Made A Fool Of You," and the 2 1/2 minute masterpiece "Let Her Dance." And then it ended, at age 22, in very weird circumstances. Over the years, interest in Fuller and his work has ebbed and flowed, and plenty of archival material surfaced, but the mystery of his death remains unsolved, although many have speculated. Ann odd end for a footnote character in rick history, but who was bound for more

That's All Right, Baby Boy

amberglow — Mon, 03 May 2004 21:12:22 -0800

50 moments that shaped popular musical history in the last 50 years --from Elvis walking into Sun Studios 50 years ago to last fall's entirely non-white Billboard Top Ten for the first time ever. Anything missing?

Kevin Shields interview

xmutex — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 16:04:13 -0800

The seminal shoegazing band My Bloody Valentine hasn't released a record since its ground-breaking 1991 release Loveless (Amazon samples). MBV's primary voice and reclusive in-general genius Kevin Shields finally gives an interview to The Guardian after 12 years of silence.

500 Most Influential Rock Songs

MiguelCardoso — Wed, 19 Nov 2003 12:03:18 -0800

Spot The Essential, Seminal, How-Could-These-Imbeciles-Have-Forgotten? Popular Song: A well-made list, specially if it's authoritative and includes no less than 500 songs, is just asking to be cruelly inspected for omissions, ridiculed for certain inclusions and generally derided. This one is, admittedly, a toughy. But perhaps way too US-centric and too Rockist. I mean, honestly, sometimes you Yanks act as if you'd invented Pop music! ;) (Via the newly-discovered Rivurcated Bifets.)

Music

adamms222 — Wed, 27 Nov 2002 05:34:56 -0800

Rock n Roll! We know that Sex and Drugs ain't good for us, but researchers at McGill University are using very fancy devices to learn how our brains react to music. (Probably not much to discuss, but it's an interesting article)