A Simple Question Regarding Longevity of Bands

Martinex1:  Is a band's work considered more favorably if the group breaks up or if they stay together for a significant amount of time?

 

 

Now Accepting Nominations for Best Album of All Time

Doug: So last week I was in the basement cleaning. I didn't care for what was on the radio, didn't have my Bluetooth speaker or any earbuds. So what was a fella to do? You guessed it (did you?) -- pop a cassette tape into the old boom box. And the one I chose? Maybe, just maybe, one of the greatest albums of all time. So that's where you come in. Argue with me, nominate your own, set some parameters... you know what we do around here. Just be sure to give us your rationale, which could be based on the number of hits, cultural significance or influence, or maybe it was just a favorite of yours at a key time in your life.

Doug: I was checking through the albums when my eyes settled on the Who's Who's Next. To be honest, I'd forgotten I had it. Let's be honest -- have any of you used your cassettes in the past 15 years or so? While records have made a comeback that I think is just great, I don't know if we'll have the same sort of nostalgia for cassettes (maybe for 8-tracks, though? Nah...). So without reading the back of the tape case, I inserted the tape into the machine and hit Play. "Baba O'Reilly". Awesome. Followed by "Bargain". Jeez -- did I have a greatest hits album in the wrong case? Nope. It's just that good. The cover and contents (courtesy of Wikipedia) is below.

Doug: So I'm thinking someone's going to sing the praises of... well, again, that's your job. We'll all be waiting patiently.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Pete Townshend, except "My Wife" by John Entwistle.

Side one
No.	Title	Lead vocal	Length
1.	"Baba O'Riley"	Roger Daltrey (verses) Townshend (bridge)	5:08
2.	"Bargain"	Daltrey (verses) Townshend (bridge)	5:34
3.	"Love Ain't for Keeping"	Daltrey	2:10
4.	"My Wife"	Entwistle	3:41
5.	"The Song Is Over"	Townshend (verses) Daltrey (chorus)	6:14

Side two
No.	Title	Lead vocal	Length
6.	"Getting in Tune"	Daltrey	4:50
7.	"Going Mobile"	Townshend	3:42
8.	"Behind Blue Eyes"	Daltrey	3:42
9.	"Won't Get Fooled Again"	Daltrey	8:32

Face-Off: The Rock Operas of Pete Townshend

 

Doug: Yeah, we're fond of rock music around here. We're certainly high on the all-time greats, like the Beatles, the Stones, Led Zeppelin, etc. Today we're going to focus on one of the true geniuses of rock and roll, Pete Townshend, and his two rock operas: Tommy and Quadrophenia.

Doug: Your job is to discuss each of these albums, and the films if you wish. Which rock opera had the better radio hits? Tommy of course birthed "Pinball Wizard", but also "See Me, Feel Me", "I'm Free", and "We're Not Gonna Take It". On the other hand, Quadrophenia gave us "The Real Me" (my personal favorite Who song), "Love, Reign o'er Me", and "5:15". As far as narratives go, which story resonates more with you -- that deaf, dumb, and blind kid, or the teen with four personalities (one mirroring each member of The Who)?

Doug: On a side note, can you separate the songs "Pinball Wizard" and the "Acid Queen" from the visual concepts provided by Elton John and Tina Turner, respectively? It's tough for this guy.

Discuss: Musical Geniuses

 

Doug: It would be a nice "add" to the conversation to also discuss some producers whom you feel fall into this "genius" category.

"A Band Where Every Member's a Virtuoso"

Doug:  A few weeks ago I was engaged in a conversation on Twitter with one of our new commenters, Horace Austin.  We had begun talking about The Who, a favorite topic of Mr. Austin's.  At some point we moved into conversation about Rush and I remarked about the incredible prowess of each of the three members -- Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and the incomparable Neal Peart.  Horace came back with a statement close to the title of today's post.  So, today we bring this to the greater roster of BAB readers -- who in the annals of rock music would you consider a "virtuoso", and is there another band where every member is at the top of the field as are the three members of Rush?  I've included a few samples of Rush getting it on, and you are certainly welcome to post links to bands or musicians of your choice for our further discussion.

Doug:  And to Horace -- thanks for the idea today!

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Time Trippin' -- Things You Found Out Later

Doug:  Several weeks ago, many of us commented that we'd become aware of the Guardians of the Galaxy before we were actually fully aware of the Guardians of the Galaxy.  That is, they had that one late-Silver Age appearance that many of us were ignorant of until much later.  Similarly, I've remarked a couple of times that I heard and loved Elton John's version of Pinball Wizard years before I ever heard the Who's original recording.

Doug:  Today's a day for telling us those times, and some of these could be funny stories, that you thought life was "as we know it", and then had a little bubble burst later on.  One quite-humorous aspect of this conversation could be song lyrics.  My younger son, as a waif, was notoriously famous for singing what he thought he heard.  We used to tease him, saying "sounds like/really is" about his lyrical revisionism.  I think his best one was mistakenly hearing "Livin' in the swamp" for "Eminence front"...  I have no answer.  This entire idea of hard-to-decipher song lyrics was handled quite smartly in the recent ads for Volkswagon, using Elton John's Rocket Man lyrics as the centerpiece.

BAB Classic: We're Talkin' Song Covers

NOTE:  This post was originally published on October 7 2010.  I decided to run it again since I'm sure we can generate a little more conversation than we originally shared three years ago.  For example, a couple of songs have come to mind lately -- I prefer "Always On My Mind" by Elvis Presley over the more famous Willie Nelson cover.  I have also enjoyed Elton John's version of "Pinball Wizard" over the original Who track from Tommy; the Smithereens cover of the same song really doesn't add anything.  Your turn now (again).


Doug: Karen and I have been discussing off and on how we've become quite comic-centric around here. While that's not a bad thing -- your comments speak to the interest that our audience has in those types of things -- we used to do much more music and movie/tv themed posts. So, with a nod to the past (I guess), let's open it up to a music genre that I like to store on my iTouch -- multiple versions of the same song.

Do you have some songs in mind where you think a cover version improved on the original? How about the other way around? Do you have a song or three on your mp3 player where you've stored several different versions?

Just to kick it off, I like Joe Cocker's version of With A Little Help From My Friends over the Beatles' original recording. I like the pace better, and I can't help but see two things when I hear Cocker's version -- John Belushi's send-up on Saturday Night Live, and the intro. to the The Wonder Years. So when I was writing this, I tried to think of other songs that I have -- Van Halen's version of You Really Got Me beats the Kinks', and the Clash has done my favorite performance of I Fought the Law -- as compared to the Bobby Fuller Four and the Bryan Setzer Orchestra.

Whatcha got?

Doug (now):  Diggin' this cover of the Turtles' "Happy Together", as heard in the trailers for The Great Gatsby.

What Are You Listening To?

Doug:  We've done this in the past, but it's been awhile.  Quite simply, what have you been listening to in the past few weeks?

Doug:  I've been, for some unknown reason, listening to the Who's Tommy.  I am always impressed with the composers of musicals, whether it be Pete Townshend or Andrew Lloyd Weber, who can weave a few threads of music through an entire show.  While the lyrics to Tommy certainly tell a story, it's the score that's been holding my attention, picking out all of the individual musicians' parts.  I'm just really enjoying this at this point in time.

Doug:  How about you?

Face-Off: The Who and Led Zeppelin

Doug: Perfect storm day today, kids. Music history is full of super-groups that were in the right place at the right time and magic was created. Our topic at hand is a battle of the bands between The Who and Led Zeppelin. They are of course linked forever by Keith Moon's scoffing at the potential formation of members of the Yardbirds and the Who as going down like a "lead balloon". The rest is history.

Doug: There's a lot to love here -- for rock vocalists in the Bronze Age of Comics, it's hard to beat either Roger Daltrey or Robert Plant. For both men, their voices are instruments in and unto themselves. Guitar gods? Jimmy Page is at the top of almost every list, but Pete Townshend's certainly no slouch -- and how about Pete's stage presence? Either band was adept at the rocker and the ballad. Creatively, both bands were influential and pushed album rock as the 1960's became the '70's. And what to do with John Entwistle and John Paul Jones? Good lord, find me two better bass players! Keith Moon remains in a class by himself...

Doug: Here's a link to an interesting collection of Who songs, but all sung by Townshend. Enjoy this!

Doug: I know many of our readers have a heckuva lot more knowledge of rock and roll history than I do, so I'm wanting to just sit back and hear some good anecdotes, personal appreciations, etc. If we're going to start listing favorite songs, some of your comments may be very, very long. I'll start by saying The Real Me is unquestionably my favorite song by The Who; for Zep, I can't pick between The Girl I Love She Got Long Black Wavy Hair, Houses of the Holy, and Hey, Hey What Can I Do. I saw a YouTube user comment on a Led Zeppelin song that the greatness of the band is wrapped up in the fact that no two songs of theirs sound the same. I have around 50 cuts in my iTunes, and I can testify to that truth. Their scope is amazing.

Let the music be your master
Will you heed the master's call?

So now it's your turn -- sock it to me!

Face-Off: Bands With Two Lead Vocalists - Who Ya Got?

Doug: Today's question doesn't require much background, so I'll cut right to the chase. This is a multiple subject Face-Off, by the way. Can you think of bands that had two lead singers in the group at the same time, or in some cases two singers who were perfectly capable of carrying the band? Got one or two in mind? OK -- simply tell us which singer you preferred/enjoyed more on a given bands discography, and why.

Some nominees for consideration:

• The Beatles: John Lennon and Paul McCartney

• The Who: Roger Daltry (who sang far and away most of the band's mainstream hits) and Pete Townshend


• The Eagles: Don Henley and Glenn Frey
  


• Chicago: Peter Cetera and Terry Kath


• Journey: Gregg Rolie and (of course) Steve Perry


• The Cars: Benjamin Orr and Ric Ocasek


• The Monkees: Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz


• Three Dog Night: Cory Wells and Chuck Negron


• Earth, Wind, & Fire: Maurice White and Philip Bailey


• The Beach Boys: Brian Wilson and Mike Love


• KISS: Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (duh... can't believe I left them off! I'll have to surrender my KISS Army card! Thanks, Erick!)

Have fun, and be sure to throw out some other favorite groups!