People keep telling me that i know a whole lot about music, based on the variety of the music i like. Also, based on the time i did radio for 11 years i was able to host many of the other shows, from punk to house to hip hop to gospel, at the station. The truth is though, there’s way too much music out there for anyone to really know that much about it. There’s whole worlds, past and present, i have yet to see.
What i usually post here is merely an incredibly small section of music i listen to, and of course its minuscule compared to what i don’t know.
i also think about how people tend to listen to and experience music a little differently these days. A pretty significant percentage of people who consume and/or listen to music tend to do it digitally, so they may not interact with the music in the same way if it were a piece of vinyl, or even a cassette or compact disc. i’m not sure of how many people look at an album’s credits on their streaming services.
i know people listen to music in different ways in this day and age, but do people actually even experience music anymore? This is not a sarcastic or anger-ridden question; i sincerely want to know. Do people say, ‘Give me something that’s not hard or cold’?
Because that’s what Yoko said.
i know people make fun of/create memes out of Yoko Ono and still blame her for the breakup of the Beatles (despite counters from the actual band on that issue); however, she actually has some pretty cool music out there. Approximately Infinite Universe is actually a pretty good album. i also remember seeing her host a film exhibition years ago at (i think) the Whitney Museum, and i love how people were trying to impress her by name dropping, and she wasn’t having it.
‘Give me Something’ (from the Double Fantasy album with John Lennon) is a song i always liked too. When i first heard it i thought it sounded like Siouxsie And The Banshees. Given that i only have one foot, i can’t open and close the high hat. So to create that ‘effect’, i just combined the ride and high hat. Not as effective as the real thing, but it does the trick.
For this entry i combined some Detroit (MI) and Venice (CA) punk, with Negative Approach and Suicidal Tendencies, respectively. Both bands were pivotal in the early midwest and west coast hardcore scenes. NA’s ‘Pressure’ (from the Negative Approach 7″) is one of the shortest songs of all time (not beating Napalm Death’s ‘You Suffer’ though). ‘Memories Of Tomorrow’ and ‘Fascist Pig’ (from ST’s (self-titled) first album) are also fairly short, so i combined all three.
There’s nothing like some good ‘ol classic hardcore…
…And there’s nothing like some good post punk/funk.
This next song, ‘It’s Not Me’ (from the Step Off album) by ESG, actually had only bass and vocals. i decided to keep Renee Scroggins’ vocals, play the bass and add drums. It’s an entirely different song. i also have a fascination with ‘unrequited’ love songs and films. This song is from the perspective of the recipient of the love. Who hasn’t heard the words of that song themselves? Rejection is very painful, but it can also be seen as a lesson.
We end the post on an interesting note- literally. No, really. Listen until the end of the song.
‘The Ballad Of T.V. Violence (I’m Not The Only Boy)’ is the final track off of Cheap Trick’s first (also self-titled) album. (note: It’s technically not the final track (as it’s the last side on side A), but i always listen to the sides in opposite order. So it’s the final track to me. The sides of some pressings read as ‘side A’ and ‘side 1’, soooooo…).
Originally the song’s lyrics were specifically about serial killer Richard Speck, until the record label (Epic) requested they tone it down. The original lyrics must have been stress-inducing, because the reworked lyrics aren’t exactly sunshine and rainbows. Many people probably think of the band as ‘arena rock’ or maybe even just ‘pop rock’. That said, they do have songs that are more harder leaning.