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Pop Rock Nation

Category: News

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  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #25: Gentlemen Prefer Blondie

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    STEELY DAN  “Peg” b/w “I Got The News” (ABC Records #12320, September 1977)

    As much as I love lo-fi bands that can’t play their instruments, I also go totally Star Trek for impeccably-produced prog and jazz acts with serious chops and boss material.  No American duo better encompassed this phenomenon, mixing in plenty of post-’60’s LA-outsider snark while at it, than Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the core of Steely Dan.  Nevermind the details, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” was hands-down the soundtrack to the summer of 1974, as I flailed apeshit on a rented raft with a snow-cone down at Oscar’s Beach on any given sun-soaked Saturday.  I can still smell the seaweed and coconut oil.  And I can remember staying up past midnight on a school night in late ’77, just to catch a special radio broadcast of their new LP, Aja, played front-to-back with no commercials.

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    It all seemed so “adult” then, so mature…like I was peeking into a world I wasn’t supposed to see yet.  Maybe it was the somewhat sexy subject matter.  Or maybe I was just happy to hear something other than “Hotel California” on the radio.  Either way, I completely flipped over “Peg,” Aja‘s first single, much to the dismay of nearly everyone around me.  This 30-plus-year-old track is now a LiteFM staple the world over, so I don’t need to play it for you, but behold this incredible “behind-the-scenes” clip from YouTube.  Thoroughly entertaining.

    Watch The Making Of Steely Dan\’s PEG on YouTube

    That swing-poppin’ Rick Marotta/Chuck Rainey rhythm section, Jay Graydon’s Sol Hoopii-on-shrooms guitar slides, a mountain of Michael McDonaldses…no nerds on Earth could resist.  And resist they didn’t, as Aja sold millions and “Peg” spent 11 weeks in the Top 40, peaking at #11 first week of January.   1978 turned out to be a banner year for The Dan, as they placed two other tracks from Aja, plus their classic theme from the not-so-classic movie, FM, in the Top 40 by the time school was back in session in September.  And you said you were never going back there.

    “I Got The News,” a pumping, pulsating, and very funky album track (featuring a smattering of Larry Carlton and a smidge more Mike McDonald), rounds out this single’s B-side.  Listening to Aja today, it seems very brief, with a total of 7 songs clocking in at just a hair past 40 minutes.  Today’s magnum over-70 minute CD opuses and infinite MP3 playlists dwarf it by comparison, but quality over quantity is what makes The Dan great, and Aja a timeless (and heavily sampled) classic.

    Oh, and just for fun, here’s a link to one of my all-time favorite internet time-wasters, The Steely Dan Dictionary.

    NEXT WEEK: All I want is your extra time and your…uh…something…

  • First Spin 2/24/09: Jonas Brothers, Chris Isaak & More!!

    jonasI must say, it’s a bit difficult to drum up the enthusiasm to put this column together when there isn’t a damn thing coming out that I’m interested in. For as long as I’ve been buying music as an adult and following release dates, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten this far into a year while buying so little music. Even worse, I’m strangely ambivalent about most of the music that I’ve bought. Weird, huh?

    Anyway, here’s what’s out today:

    B-Real “Smoke & Mirrors”– I think I wrote something a while back about unnecessary solo albums, and here’s yet another one. Do we really need an entire album of B-Real and that VOICE without the respite that Sen Dog’s angry barks provide? Does anyone really care that B-Real has an album out? Has anyone given half a fuck about anything Cypress Hill has recorded in a decade? Talk about flaming out. 2 good albums and then they went straight down shit street.

    Chris Isaak “Mr. Lucky”-I like Chris Isaak. He doesn’t take the being a star thing too seriously, he’s got an appealing voice and he’s quite attractive. That said, I own nothing by Chris Isaak save for a greatest hits compilation. I don’t really feel like I’m missing anything either. Anyhow, Chris has a new TV show premiering which is proably quite good, so he’s hitting us from both angles. Go, synergy!

    Jonas Brothers “Music from the 3-D Concert Experience”– Labels don’t seem to learn when it comes to teen groups. To wit: NKOTB-studio albums, Christmas album, remix album. Hanson-studio album, “early years” release, Christmas album, live album. The result in both cases? People stopped caring. Anyway, the Jonases, fresh from being embarrassed on the Grammys by Adele and embarrassing themselves with Stevie Wonder, are releasing their very first live album, something like six months after their last studio album came out. How long till the bubble bursts? Cue teenage girls going crazy.

    K’naan “Troubadour”– I don’t know much about this guy, other than some great reviews I’ve seen. Considering how little else is out, I might give this one a shot. Looks like he’s working the same alt-rap vibe that fellow Canuck MC k-os does, and the guest list (Adam Levine, Mos Def, Damien Marley) is pretty stellar for an artist unknown in the US. This might be worth it for the right price.

    Van Morrison “Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl”-Yup, it’s Van the Man, performing the songs from one of his best-known and most-loved albums forty years after the fact. Albums like this are so unnecessary. I’d rather just listen to the original.

    Elsewhere, there seems to be at least one release from every genre imaginable. If you’re a hip-hopper, you might want to check out Joe Budden’s long-awaited “Padded Room”, his first studio release in something like seven or eight years. Blues rockers will take to JJ Cale’s “Roll On”, while you’ll get more of a straight-ahead blues sound with Shemekia Copeland’s “Never Going Back”. Metalheads will go for the new Lamb of God and Hatebreed releases, while Prince fans (like me) will dig on Wendy & Lisa’s new one, called “White Flags of Winter Chimneys”, which I believe is only available digitally (meaning that I won’t buy it).

    On the reissue tip, Stax is re-releasing some of Isaac Hayes’ classic work, including the seminal “Black Moses” album. Erasure is summarizing their career with a 40-song Best of, reggae superstar Elephant Man has his first hits comp arriving in stores, and in the category of albums no one asked for: there are best-ofs arriving from Bloodhound Gang and Insane Clown Posse.

    Get the full list of releases here.

  • First Look: NKOTB’s 2 in the Morning

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    For the fourth video off of The Block, the New Kids have decided to go the ballad route. While 2 in the Morning isn’t necessarily the ballad I would have gone with, it’s still a nice change of place after three uptempo singles. If radio gives this one a chance, I think it has the capability to be a decent-sized hit, although the amount of Auto-Tune used on this song (not to mention the rest of the album) is really fucking annoying.

    Anyway, the video follows the song’s lyrics pretty literally, and it’s a cute little love/hate story. What’s up with four of the five New Kids sporting that gelled-up in the middle faux-hawk though? Anyway, let us know what you think of the video…