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Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

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  • New Release(s) of the Week 3/31/09: Prince

    princeWhen Prince left Warner Brothers back in ’96, one major sticking point was that his then label refused to allow him to release music at the pace he wanted to. Among the many issues Prince had was the fact that his magnum opus, 1987’s “Sign O’ the Times”, was whittled down from 3 discs to a more consumer-palatable 2. Prince finally got his 3-disc set upon his release from Warner with ’96’s “Emancipation”, which, while not bad for a 3-CD set, you can find for five bucks used at most retailers these days.

    After slowing down his release schedule slightly, Prince has returned with yet another three-disc set: “Mplsound”, “Lotusflower” and “Elixir” are all being released as one package tomorrow. The catch? This set will only be sold at Target stores and via target.com. Prince is following the model set by AC/DC and The Eagles (successfully) and Christina Aguilera and Guns ‘n Roses (not so successfully). We’ll see if the Purple One still has what it takes. Judging from public response to his performances on Leno last week, I think it would be foolish to count the little man out.

    A few other things to look out for this week:

    Keith Urban “Defying Gravity”- A new album from Mr. Nicole Kidman and the first set he’s recorded since completing rehab a couple years back. The Aussie country star should wind up with the week’s biggest-selling debut.

    Bow Wow “New Jack City Pt. 2”- He’s not been Lil’ for some time now, and Bow Wow has, quiet as kept, been one of hip-hop’s most consistent sellers over the past decade or so. I wonder if he’s writing his own lyrics yet, or if Jermaine Dupri’s still hiring ghostwriters for him. I won’t discuss the stupid title for fear that our own GG might jump through the screen and strangle me.

    UGK “UGK for Life”- This should wrap things up for the Houston-based hip-hoppers, seeing as 1/2 of the group, Pimp C, passed away a year and a half ago, sadly following their biggest commercial success with “International Player’s Anthem”. This album features a bevy of guests paying tribute, from MCs like Too $hort and Eightball & MJG to smooth soul singers like Raheem DeVaughn.

    Gavin DeGraw “Free”-The piano man returns barely a year after his last album with a stripped-down, raw set of original tunes and covers.

    Flo-Rida “R.O.O.T.S.”- So I was watching MTV the other day and Flo-Rida was announcing videos, and he saw fit to explain his name as “Florida” broken up into “2 syllables”. Hey genius, both “Florida” and “Flo-Rida” have three syllables. Someone send dude back to 5th grade. Anyway, this guy’s had the #1 single in the country (“Right Round”) for something like 6 weeks now, so someone’s gonna buy this, right?

    Get your complete list of this week’s releases right here.

  • Taylor Hicks’ “The Distance”: True To No One But Himself

    taylor

    Taylor Hicks by far received the most derision of any “American Idol” winner in the show’s existence. He wasn’t “young”, he wasn’t “cute”, he wasn’t “pop”, and there was the whole screaming “Soul Patrol!” thing that rubbed a lot of folks the wrong way. But I’ll put my musical reputation on the line and say that Taylor was the most musically sound “American Idol” winner in the show’s history. With years of singing in smoky bars and clubs behind him, Hicks personified a musician’s musician. Which also explains why he butted heads with the major-label suits who didn’t know what to do with him and wound up releasing the worst-selling debut album by an “American Idol” winner in history (although with a not-too-shabby shiny Platinum record, we shouldn’t cry for Taylor too much).

    Despite the relative lack of success of Taylor’s debut, it was still the first album by any “Idol” contestant that I ever bought with my own money, and I enjoyed it a good bit. Hicks would have been right at home on the charts with Steve Winwood, James Ingram and (the singer he most resembles) Michael McDonald, on the charts back in 1986, and since that’s an era of music I’m particularly fond of, his music sounded just fine for me. However-it didn’t sound just fine for his label, and Taylor and the folks at 19 Management and RCA Records agreed to part ways.

    So now Taylor Hicks is an indie artist, which is probably right where he wants to be, making the album he wants to make. That album, “The Distance”, shouldn’t be much of a surprise to those who’ve been following the grey-haired crooner since his “Idol” days. The music is straight-ahead pop/rock, with no trendy bells and whistles. The production, helmed by British pop legend Simon Climie, is solid if a little too clean (and completely recorded on “live” instruments! Barely a synthesizer to be found!), and then there’s Taylor’s husky voice. While he’ll never be the soul singer he fancies himself, it’s fairly obvious that this man has the right set of influences and has listened to his share of Marvin Gaye and Ray Charles.

    So, here’s the thing about Taylor, right? You know the guy’s going for the obvious, hokey cliché, but you go there with him anyway because he obviously believes what he’s singing. Take the track “Nineteen”, one of several songs on “The Distance” with a bit of a country flavor to it. You’ve heard songs like this a million times before-kid witnesses 9/11 and decides to enlist to serve his country. Despite the obviousness of the song concept (and here’s a spoiler-the kid doesn’t die), Taylor infuses the song with such a personal investment in the lyrics that you can’t be mad at him.

    Ultimately, that’s “The Distance”’s saving grace. Taylor takes boilerplate lyrics about topics like racism (the well-intentioned but kinda cheesy title track) and the media’s celebrity obsession (the cheeky rave-up “Keeping it Real”) and, by virtue of his delivery (which nevertheless skates around Michael Bolton aneurysm territory a couple of times) makes them listenable. However, don’t let another soul singer get within sniffing distance. Fellow Season 5 finalist Elliott Yamin shows up for a cover of 2009 Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer Bobby Womack’s classic “Woman’s Gotta Have It”, and his warm, Stevie-inflected delivery leaves no doubt as to who should have really won “Idol” that year.

    In a time when we have previous “Idol”s tucking their tails between their legs and kissing corporate butt for a hit (hi, Kelly Clarkson. I’m talking to you), I’m backing Taylor Hicks just on principle. The kid (and I can afford to say “kid” because he’s younger than me) came in with a plan to get himself heard, accomplished it and then went back to doing what he loved best, only with a bit more fame to carry his name. Something tells me he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #28: No More Mr. & Mrs. Nice Guy & Gal

    Warren Zevon's classic single "Werewolves Of London"

    WARREN ZEVON  “Werewolves Of London” b/w “Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner”  (Asylum Records #45472, April 1978)

    A key feature in my hometown Sunday paper was a little syndicated column that published the lyrics and musical accompaniment to a current popular song.  I clipped it every week, even if it was a song I didn’t necessarily like (the ability to take requests always comes in handy, right?), and kept a little musical scrapbook.  One week in ’78, the featured tune was none other than THEE most badass song ever written, Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves Of London.”

    See the video for Werewolves Of London by Warren Zevon

    Zevon, who got his first big break in the music business playing piano behind The Everly Brothers, recalls the song’s origin in the liner notes to his 1995 anthology, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead:  “Phil Everly said, “I’m making another solo album.  Why don’t you guys write a song for me — a dance song.  Call it, ‘Werewolves Of London.’ “  I was at LeRoy (Marinell)’s house a few days later, and he was playing that little V-IV-I figure when (guitarist) Waddy (Wachtel) walked in.  “What are you doing?” he asked, and we answered, “We’re doing the Werewolves Of London.”  Waddy said, “You mean, Ahhooo — those Werewolves Of London?””  And obviously, the rest is history.

    I'll Sleep When I'm Dead  

    Of course, from the perspective a young kid growing up on a steady diet of Dr. Madblood’s Movie, Forrest J. Ackerman’s Famous Monsters Of Filmland magazine and 3-D triple-features at The Suburban, nothing could be cooler than this 3-chord D/C/G stomper, with drums & bass provided by Fleetwood Mac’s rhythm section and lyrics like, “Little old lady got mutilated late last night.”  Anyone who could push a track like this into the Top 40 was my hero, and so Zevon remained until his untimely death from lung cancer in 2003.

    The Jackson Browne-produced track spent 6 weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #21.  It has since become a ubiquitous classic, popping up in hit films and being either sampled or covered by nearly everyone under the sun.  And of course the rock and oldies stations still crank it up once in a while, most notably on Halloween. 

    See Warren Zevon perform Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner

    Again from Zevon himself:  “In 1974 I ran off to Spain and got a job in an Irish bar called the Dubliner, in Sitges, on the Costa Brava.  The proprietor was a piratical ex-merc named David Lindell.  He and I wrote this song at the bar one afternoon, over many jars.” 

    Enjoy Every Sandwich  

    Sucked into the Irvingesqe mythology of this B-side’s fictional title character, I borrowed my older brother’s copy of Excitable Boy to see what other great gems lay waiting.  I listened in amazement as the LP swung from the caustic title track (a meditation on rehab more disturbing than “Alice’s Restaurant”) to the broken-hearted sorrow of “Accidentally Like A Martyr,” hitting all points in between.  Zevon’s songs, sometimes built around narratives resembling miniature noir films, proved to be the kind that you could enjoy in the moment, and appreciate further as time passed.  A rare find in the pop world. 

    Over the ensuing years, Zevon scored many points both high and low, and though he never managed “Werewolves…”-caliber chart success again, he left behind probably one of the most challenging, beautiful, and brutally honest song catalogs in American history.

    NEXT WEEK:  Gee, El…Oh, are eye!  Eh?