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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Pearl Jam

  • Buffy, Godfather, Lil Wayne and Gitmo – Saturday in the Park 2

    “Losing My Religion” cover
    Did this song torture anyone?  Image via Wikipedia

    The snarkfest known as Saturday in the Park begins here:

    Get your pompadours straight. Crooner Al Martino died recently. Multiple generations remember him as Johnny Fontane in The Godfather. Paul Sorvino is the character with the hot daughter who kind of looks like Martino. Martino=Godfather; Sorvino=Oh God!   Got it? Good. Sorry to hear of his passing. Now I keep thinking about the song Spanish Eyes and bottles of red wine on checkered tablecoths.

    Music and acting continue mingling when Buffymeister Joss Whedon helms an episode of Glee this season. Recall that Buffy once featured an entire episode of singing a la 1950s musicals and that Wheedon wrote the theme to Firefly, which later was rebooted as the movie Serenity. With Dollhouse on the ropes again – his third straight series to get smacked down – perhaps it’s time for Joss to head to Broadway, a good idea if things turn bad for

    Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber, diagnosed with prostate cancer shortly after announcing a Phantom of the Opera sequel would be set in turn-of-last-century Coney Island. Not suggesting that the disease is a sign from any higher beings, but get well, Sir Andrew. You deserve a chance to sit back and enjoy life. Please don’t write this show. And if you do, please collaborate with Jim Steinman again so at least the lyrics are biting.

    ALW isn’t the only sick Brit running around either. One Steven Patrick Morrisey, yes, the Morrisey who brought you The Smiths, collapsed during a concert after one song. Morrisey, who also turned 50 this year, was in and out of the hospital in a day, but no word on remaining dates.

    Morrisey had a better time of things then Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell who was killed by a coyote while camping in Canada. Just saying. Didn’t know her music, but that’s an ugly death for someone coming on the scene. I learned about her death on CNN the same day I read that 82% of that site’s visitors said in a poll that they weren’t ready to let Chris Brown move on with his career. I hate domestic violence too, but when one pays their debt to society… Tell you what, stop buying songs that objectify and demean women and then you can vote in the poll. Or maybe the 18% were the people who buy those tracks. Hmm. Let the kid do his punishment and if it happens again, lock him in a cinderblock room with some Rhianna fanboys and see what happens.

    Maybe Lil Wayne can join them. He apparently has the firepower. At least that’s what he told a judge when he copped to a weapons possession charge. Lil Wayne plays Folsom County Blues in early 2010, but at least he has time to be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live when Taylor Swift is hosting. True justice would have Lorne Michaels book Kanye and then let Taylor pull the plug, but Kanye would probably get mad and spray the place with, uh, credit cards.

    Speaking of music acts getting a little chummy around money, what were classic dinosaurs Mick Jones and Lou Gramm doing horsing around the New York Stock Exchange? Yes, we get the fact that Foreigner just added some shekels to a music label’s coffers, but not that many. Could it be that the guys and gals trading on Wall Street now went to prom when the theme song was I Want To Know What Love Is?

    That would beat the theme music down at Gitmo, which better not have been anything by Pearl Jam or REM. Seems the bands along with more than a few others have filed a Freedom of Information Act request. They want to know if their songs were among those blasted at detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Stipe used the word “torture”. Honestly, Losing My Religion is only torture the fifth time some classic rock station plays it that week. It’s catchy, got a nice beat you can dance to. I give it a 78, Dick.

    Remember, now only 56 days until Christmas, whch means This is It starts pre-orders for the DVD. Be nice to others.

  • The Sunday Seven 11/9/08: That’s Where I Want To Be!!

    My intros suck…I’m still looking for guests for this column. Don’t be shy! I want to know what’s in your music collections! Anyhow, let’s continue moving through mine.

    1) Not for You by Pearl Jam: The Vitalogy album kinda marked the beginning of the “OK, Eddie Vedder, you’re trying a little too hard to be aloof and counter-culture” period. I remember seeing him on the Grammys one year after he won the award and he said something like (I’m paraphrasing, forgive me) “We don’t understand the meaning of shows like this” or some crap like that, and I was like “then WHY are you here accepting an award?”. Sheesh. Anyway, great song, pretty good album. I love Vedder when he screams. He’s actually got a very soulful voice. I miss my copy of Vitalogy on vinyl.

    I say Eddie, Dave Grohl and Chris Cornell challenge one another to a scream-off.

    (more…)

  • Madonna, Mellencamp And The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame

    Want to know about something people care about even less than the Grammy Awards?

    How about the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame?

    Over the past couple of years, the HOF has been sort of excitement-deficient. Or more accurately, the excitement and attention has been given for the wrong reasons. Most of the attention centers on Jann Wenner’s political pull at the event (rumor has it that Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five did not meet the required votes to properly be inducted last year, but were grandfathered in by Wenner…which is nice from a politically correct standpoint but also turns the HOF into “Wenner’s Faves” rather than an actual listing of rock’s most important figures).

    More attention centers on who *isn’t* in the hall of fame, a list that includes Rush, Kiss, Genesis, Hall & Oates, Tina Turner (as a solo artist), Chaka Khan/Rufus and many other artists of deserving stature, and the MOST attention centers on what exactly is “rock & roll” and what kind of artists deserve placement in the somewhat hallowed halls.

    Of course, *I* understand that the term “rock & roll” is a fairly loose term, used to describe just about any popular music made over the past fifty years, but there are some folks out there who look at certain artists with the mindset that “rock & roll” means some dude with long hair and tattoos wielding an electric guitar. Of course, folks like that seem to forget about the guys who started rock ‘n roll, like Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and guys who wouldn’t be considered “rock” by the mookheads that listen to Linkin Park nowadays (or the snobbish hipsters who are too busy wearing tight tee shirts and listening to Spoon).

    At any rate, this year’s class is fairly underwhelming, with acts like The Ventures and the Dave Clark Five (I’ll let you guys argue over whether they are deserving of their honors or not) getting inducted over passed-over artists like The Beastie Boys, Donna Summer and Chic (two of the three are absolutely deserving).

    In addition, this year sees the induction of heartland rocker John Mellencamp (who’s work is about even with fellow inductee Tom Petty and way above fellow inductee Bob Seger-who just might be the most overrated popular rock musician in history). Mellencamp’s albums have always been interesting, and the trio of albums that marked his most successful period (“American Fool”, “Uh-Huh” and “Scarecrow”) are all close to (if not) excellent. Not only has his music been steadfastly political, but he’s also championed many young (particularly black) artists over the course of his career, working with Tony Toni Tone’s Raphael Saadiq, india.arie, Meshell Ndegeocello and Junior Vasquez.

    Of course, the most boldface name on this year’s list is Madonna. Most folks would say that Madge’s music is not true rock ‘n roll, and it isn’t. Madonna has always been a pop/dance/R&B artist. However, she brings true rock ‘n roll attitude into everything she does, and as the most important and influential female artist of the past 25 years, she absolutely does belong here.

    (However, I would say that Pat Benatar and Joan Jett, at least, also belong here)

    Another question is who are the gimmes for the future? As we move further into the MTV generation, the list of must-haves grows much thinner. Of course, there’ll be room for Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Radiohead and Soundgarden, Guns ‘n Roses, The White Stripes…The Beasties, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, NWA, Public Enemy, Sonic Youth…but what about Janet Jackson (who is eligible, as her first record was released in 1982)? What about Motley Crue? Bon Jovi? Def Leppard? Biggie and Tupac? Jay-Z? It would seem like there’ll be more artists on the bubble as we move into the future and the selection becomes less immediately iconic…

    …The plot thickens…