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Pop Rock Nation

Author: Paul Lorentz

  • The (Old) Boys of Summer

    I had a disturbing realization last month. Disturbing, at least, from the point of view of a guy whose entire adolescent self-identity was wrapped up in the idea that he was ahead of the curve in all things pop music, that he could tell you with metronomic precision the Top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 at any given moment (at a time when the Top 10 actually changed from week to week – and not just due to the latest event single). At the end of the summer, I’m looking back on the music I’ve purchased and listened to this year, and I’m finding that a disproportionate number of my favorite records of 2008 are by old farts.

    Willie Nelson. Photo by Kjell Ove Hattrem.
    Willie Nelson. Photo by Kjell Ove Hattrem.

    Now, I realize that as most people settle into their adulthoods and are faced with the imminent onset of middle age – dear god, I can already smell the despair-laced liquor and cigarette smoke at the hall of my 20 year high school reunion – with growing debt loads, and growing children with growing attitude problems, it’s perfectly natural for a guy to reassess his priorities away from discovering the hottest new pop thing. No offense, Katy Perry, but it’s perfectly natural, and even admirable, for a guy like me to spend his Sunday night watching an inspirational Disney movie on DVD with his kids and dogs rather than sequestering himself in his basement tracking the hit parade according to Seacrest. And as we settle into our cosy adulthoods, it’s perfectly natural to fall back on the favorites and golden oldies (like “Rock the Casbah”!) we grew up with.

     

     

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  • Paul’s Found Vinyl – Episode 1: Tycoon

    Artist: Tycoon
    Title: Tycoon
    Label/No.: Arista AB 4215
    Year: 1978
    Peak Chart Position: #41
    Producer: Robert John “Mutt” Lange
    Singles: “Such a Woman” (Pop #26), “Slow Down Boy” (not charted)

    SIDE A:
    Such a Woman
    Slow Down Boy
    Out in the Cold
    Don’t You Cry No More
    Too Late (New York City)

    SIDE B:
    That’s the Way It Goes
    Don’t Worry
    How Long (Can We Go On)
    Drunken Sailor
    Count On Me

    Judging by the Cover: I’ll be honest. It was all about the mustaches for me. And the band got co-credit for the art direction! Actually, the combination of the airbrushed 70s faces and the cover’s obvious debt to Kraftwerk makes the band look like a bunch of Stepford Gays.

    What It Sounds Like: Don’t let the drawn-out, dramatic introduction to “Such a Woman” fool you. This early “Mutt” Lange production is all about strong pop hooks, gigantic, seamlessly layered harmonies, and a thick, hard pop/rock sound that still leaves some room for some sleazy New York blue eyed soul moves (see “How Long (Can We Go On)”, the band’s slinky ode to gettin’ a little on the side) – a prototypical version of the sound he brought to Foreigner 4, though the band’s sound was too diverse (whiffs of reggae here and there) and distinctive to dismiss as a mere corporate rock clone.  Lead single “Such a Woman” made a respectable showing on the disco-dominated pop charts in early ’79 – no doubt helped along by a pornographic picture disc single. But the catchy, straightforward rocker “Slow Down Boy” seems like the more obvious candidate for heavy rotation. Even better than both the singles is “Don’t You Cry No More”, a soaring rock ballad with a majestic a capella opening that sounds awesome on headphones. 

    The band followed this album up with a record called Turn Out the Lights in 1981, but it tanked, partially due to the ascendance of new wave and synth pop, partially due to their label’s apparent indifference.  Tycoon was dropped from Arista’s roster shortly thereafter, and while a third album, called Opportunity Knocks, was recorded, the band was unable to secure a deal to release it.  In November of 2007, lead singer Norman Mershon, pictured at the far right on the album cover, died from liver disease at the age of 57.

    Recommended if You Like: Foreigner, Those New Swiffer Commercials, Big Gay 70s Mustaches

    CD Availability:  Tycoon was issued digitally via iTunes a few years ago, thanks to the band’s friend and former manager Dean Sciarra, who runs a supercool website called ItsAboutMusic.com.   He also sells digital downloads of this album, along with the band’s second album Turn Out the Lights (1981) and their otherwise unreleased third record Opportunity Knocks, completed after they were dropped from Arista Records.  CDs of these albums are also available through ItsAboutMusic.com.  I had a chance to chat with Sciarra and while he confirmed that these are CD-Rs, he vouches personally for the integrity of both the sound mastering and the CD packaging which attempts to recreate the individual album and sleeve art to the greatest extent possible; given his personal relationship with the band, I’d take him at his word (and the iTunes downloads I purchased confirm the integrity of the sound).  The other cool thing about ItsAboutMusic is that the artists set their own prices for the CDs/downloads, and bank 90% of the actual purchase price.

    The album was reissued on the Renaissance label as a twofer with the band’s second album Turn Out the Lights.  But while this CD is readily available on Amazon.com (and a less expensive option), note that among reissue labels, Renaissance has a very poor reputation.  According to Sciarra, for the Tycoon two-fer, Renaissance acquired incorrect masters for the records, and so what you hear on the vinyl is not what you get on the CD.   Keep the vinyl. It’s good. 

    The Highlight Reel:  Snippets of “Such a Woman”, “Slow Down Boy”, “Don’t You Cry No More”, and “How Long (Can We Go On This Way)”

  • Commercialisms: Swiffer vs. Player

    Player\'s 1977 Self-Titled Debut Album
    Player’s 1977 Self-Titled Debut Album
    Who knew that a shaggy mop or an old fashioned feather duster could inspire such an emotional response, but in the new ads for Swiffer, I actually feel for them – no matter how much the folks at Proctor & Gamble want me not to. Of course, my reaction has everything to do with the ads’ use of Player‘s disco-era soft-rock chestnut “Baby Come Back”, and the urgent harmonies with which the band beg forgiveness – you can blame it all! on! me! I was wrong – on behalf of obsolescent cleaning supplies everywhere. The best spot features an unsuspecting Swiffer-iffic housewife peaking out the window to find a sombrero-sporting trio serenading her with a mariachi style version of the song, and a feather duster peaks out sheepishly from behind one of their legs. The poor thing reminds me of the look on my dachsund’s face after we’ve scolded him for doing a #2 on the livingroom carpet. With the anthropomorphizing power of classic 70s pop/rock songcraft on the feather duster’s side, who wouldn’t give up the sleak, stylish green now-ness of the Swiffer – the cleaning supply equivalent of a Pharrell hook, perhaps – for the scruffily sincere feather duster?

    The irony is that there’s really nothing at all scruffy about “Baby Come Back”, except perhaps for certain band members’ faces, circa 1977. The song opens with a cool, syncopated bassline and a tidy, just shy of uptempo, beat – the L.A. quartet had certainly absorbed some production lessons from their labelmates at RSO, the Bee Gees. The guitar harmonies on the song have an instantly identifiable, warbly tremelo effect that I don’t think I’ve ever heard on any other song, and if I had, it would almost certainly make me think of Player; and the verses have a soulfully aimless drift to them which makes the desperate pleas of the chorus that much more monumental. Unfortunately, for Player, the song proved an impossible act to follow, and while they recorded four studio albums and scored a couple of minor hit singles – their 1980 single “Givin’ It All” was a transparent rewrite of “Baby Come Back” – before they called it quits in the early 80s, Player were never able to replicate the success of their debut. Thank God for licensing.

    The quartet reunited in the mid-90s and even put out a new album called Lost in Reality in 1996 for the River North label. In 1998, they released an excellent best-of set which collected a handful of songs from each of their albums (including the reunion record), and, at this point, you can probably pick that up for less than the price of a Swiffer Duster.