Wishful Thinking

Michael Azzerad, best known as author of highly-acclaimed indie rock tome Our Band Could Be Your Life, has started a new website, The Talkhouse, which features essays on artists written by fellow artists, a concept which we could totally get behind since we're suckers for musicians talking about their heroes. Except that upon perusing the site's content we found ourselves uninterested by either the essayist or the object of their affection. And sometimes, neither one. [sigh] Your mileage may vary, of course. Check it out here.

The Tourists - "I Only Want to Be With You"

The Tourists never made much of an impression here in the US, although shortly after the band's breakup two of their members surely did: Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. But in 1979 before Eurythmics was even a concept, the band had their lone US hit: a cover of an old Dusty Springfield tune which managed to scrape the lower reaches of the Billboard charts. This was a sign of the times, as catchy power pop tunes like "My Sharona" (The Knack), "I Want You to Want Me [live]" (Cheap Trick), and "Let's Go" (The Cars), were capturing the mainstream and The Tourists managed to ride that wave, albeit quite briefly.

The band never really capitalized on their modest success--they actually bore a strong dislike for "I Only Want to Be With You"--and broke up a year later amidst audience indifference, legal mishaps and internal tensions.
 

Death Knell Dictionary: "Dad Rock"

Labels can be helpful; they can be informative, clarify things and help save time. But sometimes they’re just plain stupid. Case in point: “dad rock”.

Supposedly, this is meant to be a snarky insult directed towards artists who follow rock tradition in their music. But here’s the thing: unless an artist is doing something incredibly new and original—which is terribly unlikely in the realm of popular music these days—it stands to reason they are operating within previously established guidelines. Therefore, these parameters were likely laid down by a prior generation. Hence, this leaves the “dad rock” designation devoid of substance and reducing it to just another vapid hipster epithet.

So, essentially, this derogatory term stems from the same group of people whose music and wardrobe fall mostly within the category of ‘80s retreads. Isn’t that ironic, Alanis?

15 Random Songs Without the Title in the Lyrics

In alphabetical order, by artist: 

BEATLES “Tomorrow Never Knows” 
BLACK SABBATH “Black Sabbath” 
DAVID BOWIE “Space Oddity” 
BLUR “Song 2” 
COLDPLAY “Amsterdam” 
FAITH NO MORE “Epic” 
LED ZEPPELIN “Black Dog” 
NIRVANA “About a Girl” 
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE “Feel Good Hit of the Summer” 
SMASHING PUMPKINS “Galapagos” 
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS “Interstate Love Song” 
TOADIES “Possum Kingdom” 
U2 “Bad” 
THE WHO “Baba O’Reilly” 
YES “Into the Lens”