FIELD MUSIC Making A New World [Memphis Industries-2020]
It seems par for the course, a mere two days before the end of the year, to stumble upon an album that its creators deemed “accidental” and was released within the first 10 days of 2020.
But a curiosity for the band’s current status was the catalyst and so…well, that’s the kind of year it’s been.
Inspired by World War I and how its consequences affect history in diverse ways a century later, the music for Field Music’s seventh album was originally commissioned for a museum exhibit, hence the “accidental” aspect of it. And while their angular art pop (think of XTC circa Black Sea recording Apple Venus) is still present, the necessity of expressing the range of the source material means this collection of tunes expands their sound into other musical realms and might not be the best introduction to this band. (It can seem at times more like a soundtrack and less like an album.)
BREAK IT ALL: The History of Rock in Latin America [Netflix-2020]
Tracing the roots of rock and roll in the ñ world is a topic that’s important to me, so within a day of its December 16th release date I ended up binge-watching this entire six episode documentary mini series. Noted Argentinean musician/producer Gustavo Santaolalla is among the series' executive producers, so I was expecting something solid despite my initial reservations with Santaolalla perhaps tilting the story too much on the side of his homeland, an assumption which I put aside early on as I let the story unfold. Unfortunately, not only was the trepidation from my gut instinct warranted but it went a bit further than I had expected.
In a nutshell: certain aspects of the story are over-emphasized while other equally or even more pertinent elements were glossed over or left out altogether; important artists are represented by lesser songs from their catalogs (for instance: are “Persiana Americana”, “Ingrata”, “La Negra Tomasa” the songs that best capture the greatness of Soda Stereo, Café Tacuba and Caifanes, respectively?); despite its Argentine slant the series gives relatively little airtime to a giant like Luis Alberto Spinetta; and the exclusion of the Caribbean's rockers, including those from Venezuela (Sentimiento Muerto, Desorden Publico) and top, latter day Mexican acts like Jumbo and Zurdok while giving airtime to unknowns from Uruguay and rappers Calle 13 is a bit much, to say the least.
In the end, Break it All is entertaining and well-made but unnecessarily falls short where it should’ve soared. And that they had 6 hours to properly tell the story but couldn’t/didn’t is the most disappointing part of all.
The backstory is already pretty much well known but here’s the recap: a byproduct of being on lockdown due to the pandemic of 2020, the man went into his studio to ostensibly work on some film music, took a side turn at some point and ended up with a full-length solo album.
Obviously, it’s not his third but it follows in the footsteps of his two previous self-titled one-man-band albums, McCartney[Apple-1970] and McCartney II [Columbia-1980]. Unlike those two, which came on the heels of a band breakup (the Fabs and Wings, respectively) and are strong statements about where he was artistically at those particular junctures, this one feels more like the circumstantial work it was meant to be. In other words, this group of songs comes across as what the artist would have assembled regardless of outside extenuating circumstances, making the relationship to the previous two a bit tenuous. (It would have not been a stretch to title this album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard Vol.2, after his mostly one-man-band record from 2005.)
That being said, some of the ramshackle magic of the 1970 record is present in the likes of “Long Tailed Winter Bird” and “Lavatory Lil”, as well as in the hypnotic if strangely arranged eight minute-long “Deep Deep Feeling”.
Interestingly, while this is the most cohesive and polished of the self-titled trifecta and the songs greatly benefit from the man’s solid multi-instrumental prowess, there’s still a down-at-the-farm vibe to mostly acoustic tunes like “Pretty Boys”, “The Kiss of Venus” and even rocker “Slidin’”. (The latter sure to be a treat in a live setting with the powerful backing of his long-time band.)
At this late stage of the game Sir Paul has absolutely nothing to prove, of course. And the fact that he still cares about releasing new material at a regular pace in his late 70s is admirable in and of itself. But while III is not as startling as its predecessors were when released, it’s a worthy sequel that shares their honesty and a certain lack of guardedness, which gives this collection of tunes its own kind of charm.
Album number three from this sans guitar instrumental trio is an epic, five track tour de force that balances power and nuance in a seamless manner. (Full disclosure: bassist Eric Adams is a colleague and dear friend.) With two tracks surpassing the 12-minute mark, consistency and invention are at a premium, and Adam’s Castle deliver in spades throughout. And in these dark times we could all use some daylight. Definitely recommended for fans of Marco Benevento, Alan Parsons Project, Pink Floyd and Largo-era Brad Mehldau.
Jostaberry (the stage name of one Bruce Hamilton) is a one
man wrecking ball out of the Pacific Northwest with designs on tearing down
your preconceptions of what art/avant garde/prog rock is supposed to be.
On this debut album, Greener Grass—an almost hour-long worth
of twists and unpredictable turns—an alluring and seductive piano part can
segue seamlessly into a disconcerting but appealingly schizophrenic detour or a grinding assault
with a catchy melody can leave you grinning in satisfying disbelief. That’s
what this one’s all about.
Although certainly a lo-fi record whose charms are
accentuated by the method used to preserve it, at times one can’t help but
think what it could’ve sounded like if it had been recorded under more hi-fidelity
circumstances. Regardless, the high-caliber quality of the songs themselves are the selling
point here and the album delivers the goods in that department, without question.
A promising opening salvo recommended for fans of Cornelius, Flaming Lips, Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard…A True Star phase, and Super Furry Animals.
Highlights: “Zeus”, “Mountain Song”, “Nocturne”, “All Ears”,
“Someone Else”, “The Bus” and the title track.
These ladies came from the L.A. punk scene but cleaned up for the mainstream. That was just their image, tho: behind closed doors they were rumored to be as raunchy as Mötley Crüe. I always liked that. And them, of course. Looking forward to this.
Best known as guitarist for NYC's No Wave outfit China Shop, Steve Cohen's
synth experiments on Sideways/Backwards, under the Aircraft banner,
are a trippy cross between Patrick O'Hearn's mid '80s instrumental
soundscapes and some of the more interesting and similar forays found on
McCartney II, but colored by Cohen's deft touch and unique
sensibilities.
1968 – The Jackson Five sign a one-year contract with Motown Records.
1969 – Johnny Cash releases the single, “A Boy Named Sue”, a song written by Shel Silverstein.
1970 – Jimi Hendrix plays in his hometown of Seattle for the last time.
1975 – Van McCoy reaches #1 with “The Hustle”, his only chart hit in the US.
1977 – Led Zeppelin cut short their 11th North American tour after
Robert Plant's five-year-old son Karac dies unexpectedly of a virus at
their home in England.
1980 – The Rolling Stones start a seven
week run at #1 with Emotional Rescue, their eighth album to hit #1 in
the US. Emotional Rescue was the first Rolling Stones album recorded
following Keith Richards' exoneration from a Toronto drugs charge that
could have landed him in jail for years.
1986 – Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” goes to #1. It eventually becomes the most played music video in the history of MTV.
1990 – Grateful Dead keyboardist and vocalist Brent Mydland is found
dead on the floor of his home at the age of 38 from a drug overdose. His
eleven-year tenure was longer than that of any other keyboardist in the
band.
1992 – Mary Wells, referred to as The First Lady of
Motown, dies of cancer at the age of 49. Wells was forced to give up her
career and with no health insurance, was forced to sell her home.
2006 – The final edition of Top Of The Pops is recorded at the BBC Television Centre in London.
2013 – Singer-songwriter JJ Cale dies of a heart attack at the age of
74. He was best known for the songs “After Midnight” and “Cocaine” which
Eric Clapton covered and popularized.
2017 – A jury awards
Quincy Jones $9.4 million in royalties for the use of Michael Jackson
songs he produced in two Cirque du Soleil shows and the This Is It
documentary. Jones filed suit in 2013, asking for $30 million.
Today’s Birthdays include…Bobby Hebb of “Sunny” fame and the great
Darlene Love (both 79); Sir Michael Phillip Jagger (77); Queen drummer
Roger Taylor (71); former Extreme and Van Halen singer Gary Cherone and
Swing Out Sister’s Andy Connell (59); former Sum 41 guitarist Dave Baksh
(40).
By
the way, there's another important heavy record with an anniversary
today. One by a certain Bay Area combo you may have heard of. Yeah, can't let the legendary Aussies have the party to themselves, you know?
Has it really been 40 years, 50 million copies sold worldwide and now generations of fans grooving to this album? Yes, indeed.
It was their seventh album, second with producer Robert John “Mutt”
Lange, and first with new singer Brian Johnson which catapulted them to
mass international success, as well as eventually being recognized as
among the greatest albums in the history of rock and roll. But the beauty of it all—if one could use such a term with this band and this album in
particular—is that stripped of all the myth and legend, at the end of
the day, it’s a collection of, as the cliché goes, all killer no filler,
that sounds so, so good and rocks as hard as it did on that summer day
it was released all those years ago. If, as the lyrics state on
album closer and fourth and final single “Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise
Pollution", this music “ain't never gonna die”, then these 10 songs
will very likely have something to do with it. Yeah...
Recorded in the Bahamas and mixed in New York City, this perennial favorite was released July 25, 1980.
If
at the time you felt the Winger-Warrant-Poison contingent was a joke
and the Metallica-Slayer-Megadeth-Anthrax front was a tad intense, you
could probably turn to Aerosmith, right? Except they were in the midst
of a, um, permanent vacation. Talk about the right place at the right
time, huh?
One of the greatest debuts in rock and roll history
(and the best selling debut album ever by a rock band), it still rocks
as hard as it did then. Hell, maybe harder now.
1967 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience play the first of three nights at the Cafe-a-Go-Go in New York City.
1969 - The Beatles start work on the John Lennon song “Come Together”
at Abbey Road studios in London. It became the opening song on The
Beatles' Abbey Road album and was later released as a double A-side
single with George Harrison’s “Something”.
1973 - Jim Croce’s “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” begins a two week run at #1. Croce was killed in a plane crash three months later.
1977 - Despite protests, the Sex Pistols make their first appearance on
the UK music show Top Of The Pops where they lip-synched to their third
single, "Pretty Vacant". The performance helped push the song up the
charts to #7 there.
1987 - Guns N' Roses release their debut
album Appetite For Destruction becoming the best-selling debut album
by a band in the US.
1990 - Roger Waters' performance of The
Wall takes place at the Berlin Wall in Potzdamer Platz, Berlin to
commemorate the fall of the Wall eight months earlier. Over 350,000
people attended and the event was broadcast live throughout the world,
with Van Morrison, Bryan Adams, Joni Mitchell, The Scorpions, Cyndi
Lauper, Sinead O’Connor and others taking part.
1994 - Oasis play their first ever American show as part of the New Music Seminar at Wetlands in New York City.
1995 - A judge in Los Angeles throws out a lawsuit against Michael
Jackson by five of his former security guards. The guards had claimed
they were fired for knowing too much about night-time visits by young
boys to Jackson's estate. Jackson denied any improprieties.
2002
- Producer Gus Dudgeon, who worked with artists including Elton John,
David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Kiki Dee, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, The
Strawbs, XTC, and Joan Armatrading, is killed at the age of 59 in a car
accident along with his wife Sheila.
2004 - Composer Jerry
Goldsmith dies after a long battle with cancer at the age of 75.
Goldsmith created the music for scores of classic movies and television
shows including Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, The Man from
U.N.C.L.E. and Dr. Kildare.
2005 - Long John Baldry, one of
the founding fathers of British rock 'n' roll in the 1960s, dies of a
chest infection. He was the inspiration for half of Reginald Dwight’s
stage name: Elton John. (Sir Elton legally changed his name in 1972.)
2007 - Music mogul Don Arden, nicknamed “the Al Capone of Pop” for his
uncompromising business practices, dies at the age of 81 at a Los
Angeles nursing home. Arden managed Black Sabbath, ELO and the Small
Faces and was the father of Sharon Osbourne.
2017 - Justin
Bieber is banned from performing in China, according to Beijing's
Culture Bureau. In a statement, the ministry said it was not appropriate
to allow in entertainers who have engaged in "bad behavior." Bieber who
had previously toured China in 2013, joined a long list of similarly
blacklisted artists like Oasis and Maroon 5.
Today’s Birthdays
include…Herman’s Hermits drummer Barry Whitwam (74); singer/songwriter
Cat Stevens aka Yusef Islam (72); and former Faith No More guitarist Jim
Martin (59).
When it comes right down to it, these guys have made 4 albums—one in
each decade of their existence (1988, 1990, 2003, 2011) over a span of
30+ years. The first two are alt-rock classics; the other two, well… In short, not the best batting average out there.
As someone who is still under the spell of those aforementioned
classics (Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual) all these
decades later, their subsequent output has been both deflating and
disappointing. Their last time out, they
essentially left behind their classic sound and with TV on the Radio’s
Dave Sitek on board, contributing to the album on bass guitar and
songwriting, they aimed for a darker but less aggressive and less
intense sound than they are known for. If Shocking and Ritual were
beacons shining thru a fog, The Great Escape Artist is the fog itself.
After his triumphant return to the band, a decade after his departure,
original bassist Eric Avery decided his stint would be limited to live
performances and voiced his disinterest in recording new material with
Farrell, Navarro and Perkins. (Did he hear these new songs and bail?
Hmm…) Enter GnR’s Duff McKagan, who spent nine months with the band but
left before the recording of this album due to creative differences.
(No, really.) He did, however, work with them during the writing phase
and contributed to two of the album’s songs. This is one of them.
I guess this was just a long, drawn out way of saying that this is the
only thing on the album that caught my ear. And if they continue with
their release pattern and put out another album during this new decade, I
might check it out for old time’s sake, but my heart belongs to those
first two records that blew my mind and remain their greatest musical
statements.
Who knows? Maybe they’ve got another great one in them. I’ll wait in a comfortable chair, tho.
1954 - Sun Records releases the first Elvis Presley single, “That's All
Right”, a cover of Arthur Crudup's 1946 tune "That's All Right, Mama".
Only about 7,000 original copies were pressed, but the disc became a
local hit in Memphis.
1968 - Pink Floyd play the second of three nights at the Boston Tea Party in Boston.
1969 – The week’s episode of ‘The Johnny Cash Show’ includes
appearances by Ed Ames, Roy Clark, The Monkees and Joni Mitchell. Cash
introduced The Monkees by playing the first verse of their hit “Last
Train To Clarksville” with The Monkees on backing vocals, The Monkees
then performed a version of the Johnny Cash song “Everybody Loves a
Nut”, with Cash.
1972 - Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are
arrested in Warwick, Rhode Island on charges of assault after a fight
broke out with a newspaper photographer.
1975 - While on the Natty Dread tour, Bob Marley & the Wailers appear at the Lyceum
Theatre in London. The show was recorded and the live single “No Woman,
No Cry” was later released.
1975 - Paul McCartney and Wings hit
#1 with “Listen To What The Man Said”, his fourth US #1. Wings also had
the #1 album with Venus And Mars, McCartney's fourth #1 album since
The Beatles.
1976 - Deep Purple split up at the end of a UK
tour. David Coverdale went on to form Whitesnake, Jon Lord and Ian Paice
formed a band with Tony Ashton. The classic line up of Blackmore,
Gillan, Glover, Lord & Paice reformed in 1984. Glenn Hughes returned
to Trapeze and Tommy Bolin put together his own band, (but would die
before the end of the year).
1987 - Bruce Springsteen plays his
first ever show behind the Iron Curtain in East Berlin in front of
180,000 people. The show was broadcast on East German TV.
1989 -
James Brown changes accommodations behind bars after $40K in cash and
checks was discovered in his minimum security cell. The Godfather of
Soul had been given a six year sentence the previous December after
several run-ins with the law, including illegal gun possession,
resisting arrest, assault and leading the authorities on a number of car
chases.
1991 - Steven Adler, ex-drummer with Guns N' Roses,
files a suit in Los Angeles alleging he was fraudulently removed from
the group and that the band introduced him to hard drugs.
1997 - Oasis go to #1 in the UK with “D'You Know What I Mean?”, the first single from their third album Be Here Now.
2001 - Wu-Tang Clan’s Ol' Dirty Bastard, is sentenced to spend between
two and four years behind bars after being found guilty of drug
possession.
2010 - Ozzy Osbourne and his former Black Sabbath
band mate Tony Iommi settle a long-running legal dispute over the use of
the group's name. They later released a joint statement confirming they
have settled the dispute "amicably".
Today’s Birthdays
include…keyboardist George Frayne aka Commander Cody (76); bassist for
Scottish funk and R&B group the Average White Band, Allan Gorrie
(74); former Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon and Queens’s Brian May (both
73); and Bauhaus/Tones on Tail/Love and Rockets drummer Kevin Haskins
(60).
A metal icon, his old band's primary lyricist
and perhaps one of the genre's most underrated instrumentalists, Mr.
Terence Michael Joseph "Geezer" Butler (71).
Plagued by internal discord that eventually broke up the band, Synchronicity was for all intents and purposes a dry run for what
became his solo career. And so, free of the other Policemen, Mr. Sumner
teamed up with a cast of first-rate jazz musicians for his first
full-length album. Despite the critical shorthand of this being his
“jazz” album and there being a taste of it throughout, courtesy of the
assembled musicians (including the great Branford Marsalis), it opens
with “If You Love Somebody Set Them
Free”, a funky pop tune that was the album’s first single and remains
the highest charting song—reaching #3 in the US—of his post-Police
output. (It’s also, thematically speaking, the exact opposite of the Synchronicity hit “Every Breath You Take”. Hmm…)
As his old band broke up at the height of their popularity, commercial
expectations were high for this one. And in that regard it delivered, as
it became a Top 5 album in both the US and UK. (As well receiving 4
Grammy nominations.) But it ultimately suffers from “serious artist”
disease, in this case the afflicted trying a tad too hard to shed his
pop star image and history. However, there are some rewarding moments
throughout, as evidenced by “Consider Me Gone” and the singles “Fortress
Around Your Heart”, “Love Is The Seventh Wave” (which quotes “Every
Little Thing She Does Is Magic”) and the aforementioned “If You Love
Somebody Set Them Free”.
He would set his future musical template on his next album, but this one was a decent if flawed first step.
1985 - The Live Aid benefit
concerts take place simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and JFK
Stadium in Philadelphia. Among the featured artists were David Bowie,
Duran Duran, Hall & Oates, Elton John, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Tom
Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Pretenders, Queen, Run-DMC, Sting, U2,
and The Who. (Thanks to the time zone differential between London and
Philadelphia, Phil Collins was able to perform at both shows.) More
than 170,000 attended the concerts (72,000 in London; 100,000 in
Philadelphia) and approximately 1.9 billion people, across 150 countries
watched the live broadcast. It raised close to $200m.
Today’s Birthdays include...The Byrds’ vocalist/guitarist Roger McGuinn
(78); the legendary Cheech Marin (73); Dictators/Twisted Sister bassist
Mark "The Animal" Mendoza (65); and screenwriter/film director/music
journalist/honorary musician Cameron Crowe (63).
1954 - 19 year old Elvis Presley signs with Sun Records.
1962 - The Rolling Stones play their first ever show, at London’s
Marquee Club, with Dick Taylor on bass (later of The Pretty Things) and
Mick Avory on drums, (later of The Kinks). Billed as The Rollin’ Stones,
they were paid £20 for the gig (a little more than $500 in 2019 money).
1964 - The Beatles' legendary Ed Sullivan Show appearance from February 9th, is re-broadcast for the first time.
1979 - Singer/songwriter Minnie Ripperton dies of cancer at age 31.
Aside from her solo career she'd worked at Chess Records singing backup
for various artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Bo Diddley, Chuck
Berry and Muddy Waters, sang lead for the esteemed rock/soul outfit
Rotary Connection, and was also a member of Wonderlove in 1973, a backup
group for Stevie Wonder. In addition, she was the mother of
actress/musician Maya Rudolph.
1988 - Michael Jackson arrives in
the UK for his first ever-solo appearances. He performs a total of eight
nights to 794,000 people.
Today’s Birthdays include...Fleetwood
Mac vocalist/keyboardist Christine McVie (77); guitarist Wilko Johnson
of Dr. Feelgood fame (73); singer/songwriter Walter Egan (72); drummer
Simon Fox—BeBop Beluxe, Pretty Things, Trevor Rabin—(71); former Soul
Asylum guitarist Dan Murphy (58); Tim Gane, guitarist for Stereolab
(56); and guitarist John Petrucci, founding member of Dream Theater
(53).
1955 - Chuck Berry's song "Maybellene" is copyrighted in Berry's name alone, but Alan Freed's name is added as a form of payola.
1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson invites The Four Seasons to play at the White House.
1969 - The Rolling Stones put on a free concert in London's Hyde Park, a tribute to their founding member Brian Jones, who died two days earlier.
1983 - Suicidal Tendencies release their self-titled debut album. The album spawns Suicidal Tendencies' biggest hit to date, "Institutionalized."
1994 - Hootie & the Blowfish release their debut album, Cracked Rear View, the best-selling album in the history of Atlantic Records.
Today's birthdays include...The Band's Robbie Robertson (77); Hugh Anthony Cregg III aka Huey Lewis (70); MC, multi-instrumentalist, producer, actor/filmmaker Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known as Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA (51); and Cardigans drummer Bengt Lagerberg (47).
Don't
feel like celebrating. Not with 130K+ lost souls and a country on the
brink of implosion. So this song captures my mood in that regard
perfectly.
"...'cause I heard in the wind/and I saw it in the sky/and I thought it was the end/I thought it was the 4th of July..."
1956 - Elvis Presley records "Hound Dog" at RCA Studios, in NYC. (Take 31 was the released version.) The single sold over 10 million copies globally, became his best-selling song and topped the charts for 11 weeks, a record that stood for 36 years.
1962 - Jimi Hendrix is honorably discharged from the 101st Airborne Paratroopers, after breaking his ankle during his 26th and final parachute jump.
On this same date, in 1969, bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell quit The Jimi Hendrix Experience after completing the three-day Denver Pop Festival. Hendrix and drummer Mitch Mitchell would later team up with bassist Billy Cox to form the short-lived Gypsy Sun and Rainbows.
Also on this day: The Beatles (except John Lennon, who was hospitalized in Golspie, Scotland, following a car accident the previous day) work on the tracks "Her Majesty" and "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight" for the Abbey Road album.
1971 - Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon play their first gig as Queen at Surrey College, in England.
1979 - Sony introduces the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years they sold over 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital file versions, and were the market leaders until the arrival of Apple's iPod and other new digital devices.
1988 - Michael Jackson becomes the first artist to have five #1 singles from one album when "Dirty Diana" goes to the top of the charts. The other four chart-toppers from the Bad album were the title track, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Man in the Mirror".
1991 - Axl Rose causes a riot to break out during a Guns N' Roses gig after leaping into the crowd to remove a camera from a fan at the Riverpoint Amphitheatre, in Maryland Heights, a suburb of St. Louis. Over 50 people were injured and 15 fans were arrested.
2001 - Liverpool Airport is renamed John Lennon Airport. The airport's slogan "Above Us Only Sky" is from his song "Imagine".
2005 - The G8 concerts, organized ahead of the G8 summit to put pressure on political leaders to tackle poverty in Africa, are held in 10 cities, including London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg, Rome and Moscow, with participating artists playing to hundreds of thousands of people. Among the performers: Pink Floyd, The Who, Madonna, U2, Coldplay, Sting, The Scissor Sisters, Keane, Paul McCartney, Destiny's Child, Jay-Z, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Neil Young, Bjork and Green Day.
2008 - The gravestone of former Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis is stolen. Police said his memorial stone was taken from where he is buried in Macclesfield Cemetery. The gravestone had the inscription "Ian Curtis 18-5-80" and the words "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
2015 - Buddy Holly's widow, Maria Elena Holly, announces she has entrusted the publishing rights to her late husband's influential catalog to BMG. The company was now authorized to administer royalties worldwide of nearly all of Buddy Holly's recordings.
Today's Birthdays include...longtime Springsteen keyboardist Roy Bittan (71); Johnny Colla, guitarist and saxophonist for Huey Lewis and the News (68); a trio of bass players: Boomtown Rats' Pete Briquette (66), Mike Anker of The Blow Monkeys (63), Transvision Vamp's Dave Parsons (54); and rapper Monie Love (50).
First of all, it’s not meant to be definitive. At all.
Secondly, quite a few of the artists on the list are not of the power pop persuasion, but their entries here most definitely are. By my definition, at least. Which brings us to…
Power pop, as I see it, is a balance of both factors. This gets me in trouble with purists who, for instance, love The Shoes, who I consider too much pop and not enough power. But thems the breaks.
Also, these 25 tracks are all, with 2 exceptions, from the ‘90s and beyond. Make of that what you will.
Finally, I have omitted such power pop touchstones as Badfinger, Big Star, Jellyfish, The Posies, Raspberries, and Matthew Sweet but have included songs by some former members of their ensembles. Often, the mothership gets (all) the love and I wanted to spread it around.
And so, in alphabetical order by artist...
RYAN ADAMS “PS”
He has covered plenty of ground, so a bit of power pop is no surprise.
JON AUER “The Perfect Size”
The Posies’ co-frontman goes completely solo with the exception of the late Darius Minwalla on drums and it’s a more than worthy excursion.
CHRIS BELL “I Am the Cosmos”
The defining solo statement from the late Big Star co-leader.
BRENDAN BENSON “I’m Blessed”
Best known as a Raconteur, his catalog is rich in melodic, rocking gems. This one is from his debut album and was co-written by Jason Falkner.
CAFE TACUBA “53100”
Since it was Pete Townshend who coined the term “power pop”, it’s more than apropos that Mexico City’s premiere art rockers appear here with a Who-influenced tune.
WES CUNNINGHAM “Only You Know”
A gifted songwriter whose lack of commercial success led him to stop making records and turn to jingles instead. A music biz crime if there ever was one.
JASON FALKNER “I Live”
A talented multi-instrumentalist and former Jellyfish guitarist with a respectable solo career of his own.
FASTBALL “Emily”
Tasty slice of punky power pop from these Texas rockers.
GIGOLO AUNTS “Mr. Tomorrow”
Another coulda/shoulda/woulda…their key members are now songwriters for Hollywood films. This is from their final album, released in 2002.
JOE JACKSON “Tonight and Forever”
Like Adams, he’s covered a lot of musical ground, albeit in slightly different directions. This one is par for the course, tho.
JUMBO “Siento Que”
A powerful anthem of longing and love on its last sighs that would subsequently come to define the Monterrey, Mexico rockers' sound.
KARA’S FLOWERS “Myself”
The initial, commercially failed version of Maroon 5 before they changed their name and added another guitarist. I prefer this incarnation.
THE KATIES “Noggin’ Poundin’”
Without a doubt the hardest rocker on this list but its Cheap Trick-influenced vibe won it a spot.
THE LEMONHEADS “Poughkeepsie”
Evan Dando knows his way around a melody and he’s been known to rock out. Here he does both.
MATERIAL ISSUE “Diane”
Power pop lovers know this long gone beloved Chicago outfit quite well but, like all of the artists listed here, they should be even better known.
THE MERRYMAKERS “Troubled Times”
Produced by Jellyfish honcho Andy Sturmer, this one is simply Swedish ear candy bliss.
MYRACLE BRAH “Eleven”
Andy Bopp is a master at crafting hooks and melodies and deserves to be a household name, damn it!
NADA SURF “Happy Kid”
Brooklyn in the house! They went from almost MTV one-hit wonders to one of indie rock's most reliable purveyors of guitar pop and this is why.
OWSLEY “Oh No, The Radio!”
William Reese Owsley [1966-2010] was simply a brilliant popsmith who left us way too soon. It’s a point of personal pride that I have turned into a fan everyone I’ve played his music for over the years. But it’s way more about how awesome he was than my hard sell.
THE SHAZAM “Getting Higher”
Underground power poppers from Nashville with a string of great but unknown albums under their belt.
SUMMERCAMP “Should I Walk Away?”
Think Descendents with Beach Boys harmonies. Um, yeah.
LOS TRES “Feria Verdadera”
Chile’s premiere cult band have been rock royalty in their homeland and in Mexico—Café Tacuba paid tribute by recording an EP of their songs—for decades.
12 RODS “Marionette”
Produced by Todd Rundgren, the band’s third release got itself hammered by Pitchfork, who gave their terribly overrated debut a 10.0 rating. It’s all good, sometimes great and P4K was wrong both times. What else is new?
VELVET CRUSH “Hold Me Up”
Started by longtime Matthew Sweet drummer Ric Menck in 1989, with a similar sound to that of Menck’s on-and-off boss (who produced their debut album), they have been on hiatus since 2004 but reunited briefly in 2019.
THE WRENS “Dance the Midwest”
A different batch of New Jersey misfits with a taste for chaos. In this case, the angular power pop of this tune.
During his speech honoring Julia Louis-Dreyfus for being awarded the Mark Twain Prize For American Humor in 2018, Jerry Seinfeld makes
fun of the fact that network TV executives aren’t to blame for what he
stated were the invariably bad ideas they pitch to showrunners (aka
notes) since, vis-à-vis sitcoms, they are not funny people and aren’t
supposed to be. So, it occurs to me: why don’t the networks hire
comedians and/or comic writers who do have a solid grasp on humor? And
if these aforementioned executives are that clueless about their
purported jobs, why the hell are they employed in those positions in the
first place?
And it’s not just sitcoms: the vast majority of
classic and/or hugely successful books, movies, music and TV dramas have
a common origin story of repeated rejection by the gatekeepers who are
supposed to recognize quality or, at the very least, commercial
potential. Sure, there are variables out there: an executive or company
may pass on something because they’d rather not be associated with a
certain project due to sensitivity or tone, for instance. Which is why I
don’t blame them so much for the bad ideas they greenlight as much as I
do for passing on the ones that are obviously great and/or
blockbusters. I mean, unqualified people running key departments where
careers are made or hindered? Ridiculous.
So why is it so common? Or rather, why is it an
established part of the arts and commerce nexus? Sadly, I think it’s a
crap shoot. In other words, in the most simplistic but probably accurate
of terms, if you manage to claw your way to the top of the ladder and
get lucky with a couple of hit projects, you get to keep your job and
have those successes be the key part of your resumé. For a while, at
least. If not, like Denzel Washington in Philadelphia, can someone explain it to me, like I'm a six year old?
The first year of the '80s decade just might be, musically speaking, my favorite of them all; this was after all the beginning of a rich musical adventure that started with me as barely a teenager engaging with the gems below and concluded with The Cure’s Disintegration 9 years later as a young adult, with so many varied and wonderful stops along the way.
Man, has it really been 40 years?
There are so many records I loved that year but here are, in alphabetical order by artist, my Top 5:
AC/DC Back in Black [Atlantic]
There's not much I can say about this one except that it brings back fond memories of listening to it with my dear friend Yiik-Funk Chong [RIP] and that I love it as much now as I did then. ALL killer no filler, indeed. Also, all these years later, the glorious intersection where Chuck Berry and Black Sabbath meet remains as awesome as ever and just sounds sooooo good. PETER GABRIEL self-titled aka 'Melt' [Mercury]
I don't think my music directly reflects the indelible impact this album had on me, but it was along with King Crimson's Discipline [Warner Bros-1981] the album that made me want to be not just a musician but an artist as well, and evokes a time when I would eat, breathe, sleep and dream music, as if nothing else could sustain me. Man...
THE POLICE Zenyatta Mondatta [A&M]
Derided not only by the band itself (especially Sting, for the band not having enough time and too mush pressure to adequately put an album together) but the press, as well. However, we who love it have had the last laugh: it's a banger and along with the previous year's Regatta de Blanc, the primo example of the classic Police sound. (I'll always be grateful to my then-new friend Mr. S for lending me the
first three Police records in one shot, which I then proceeded to
absorb in chronological order, gazing at each vinyl record as it spun on
the turntable of our parents’ living room sound system, and culminating
with Zenyatta.)
THE PRETENDERS self-titled [Sire]
The opening salvo by Chrissie Hynde
and her killer band of co-horts was not just the best thing they ever
did, it towers over the rest of their catalog. And in the majority of
cases, dramatically so. (It is, after all, recognized as one of the
greatest debut albums in rock history.) I actually remember exactly where I was the first time “Brass in Pocket” came on the radio. Yeah...
VAN HALEN Women and Children First [Warner Bros.] You
won’t find any big hit singles like on the previous two releases but
the first VH album of all self-penned material is arguably their most
cohesive and representative. Just check out the stomp and swagger of
“…And The Cradle Will Rock”, “Everybody Wants Some"—immortalized in the
‘80s teen flick Better Off Dead—“Fools”,
“Take Your Whiskey Home” and one of the band’s very best songs, “In A
Simple Rhyme”. It was my introduction to VH and remains to this day, oh so near and dear to my heart. HONORABLE MENTIONS: GENESIS Duke [Atlantic]; DARYL HALL Sacred Songs [RCA]; HALL & OATES Voices [RCA]; PAUL McCARTNEY II [Columbia]; MOTORHEAD Ace of Spades [Bronze]; OZZY OSBOURNE Blizzard of Ozz [Jet]; RUSH Permanent Waves [Mercury]; XTC Black Sea [Virgin].
Although many recognize Steven Halpern’s Spectrum Suite album [Halpern Sounds-1975] as ground zero for the New Age music movement, its influences precede it by a decade, as the music of Phillip Glass, Pink Floyd, Terry Riley, and others, laid the groundwork.
By the mid ‘80s, New Age was a big deal and had transcended its humble bookstore and health-food store retail origins: major labels picked up indies or started their own divisions to cater to the music’s growing audience; record stores established New Age sections (in 1981, a California Tower Records was the first to do so), and certain jazz and rock musicians started dabbling and released New Age records. (A significant chunk of The Police’s Andy Summers’ solo catalog falls into that category.) Former Frank Zappa/Missing Persons bassist Patrick O’Hearn was among the latter.
A charter member of former Tangerine Dream keyboardist Peter Baumann’s prestigious Private Music label—also home of Eddie Jobson, the aformentioned Tangerine Dream, and Yanni, among others—O’Hearn’s solo debut, Ancient Dreams [Private Music-1985] is a breathtaking example of what New Age music could be in the right hands, and is rightfully considered a classic of the genre.
The dude had been seemingly AWOL from the music business after his tenure as vocalist/frontman of the one-off late '90s Stone Temple Pilots side project Talk Show. Turns out Coutts had indeed left the biz and started a family with his wife Tracy.
But the death of a former bandmate in his pre-STP band, Ten Inch Men, brought him back to making music, and in 2018 he released a couple of tracks, including "Saturday", written during his Talk Show days but left off the band's lone self-titled album.
