ALBUMS: Empty Glass (1980); Rough Mix,w/Ronnie Lane (1977)
MVC Rating: Empty (4.0/$$$$), Rough (4.5/$$$$)
Here’s two excellent albums that are still affordable and find-able. Up front, I want to acknowledge that Rough Mix is an almost equal collaboration between Ronnie Lane and Pete. I have talked about it in the blog before but don’t remember why, and I know I didn’t review it.
This is a good thing folks: I’ve done so many records I can’t remember them all, or, if I’ve done them. I’m closing in on 100 left of my 678 records. When I get there, probably in the next few days, I’ll do a short health update and look-ahead piece. Now on to the day’s albums.
Of the several all solo albums Townshend did, this is the one to get. It sounds like a Who album in many respects without Roger Daltrey’s powerful pipes, mind you. ‘Rough Boys, the opening song, is one that has that feeling of a long lost Who track. “And I Moved’ is an atmospheric piano driven piece that leaves me sad. Townshend’s jaunty hit song ‘Let My Love Open the Door” got quite a bit of radio play.
Rough Mix is a different album altogether as Townshend brings in Ronnie Lane, an English rock and roller who injected English folk music into much of his songs with the Slim Chance Band and Small Faces. ‘Annie’ is a beautiful example of Lane’s style. So is April Fool and ‘Nowhere to Run.’ Eric Clapton, who played guitars on much of the album, gets co-writing credit for Annie. Townshend, too, writes some excellent new songs: ‘Keep Me Turning,’ ‘Street in the City,’ and ‘Heart to Hang Onto.’
I know it looks like a typo: ‘The the’, but that is the group’s name. I guess your could pronounce it Thee The or The Thee but I’m sticking with Thuh thuh.
This British techno group was the vehicle for Matt Johnson. Hanky Panky was a rock/techno treatment of Hank Williams covers. It is fun but not part of my countdown because I have it only as a CD. ‘Infected’ was an ambitious mess (and their best selling album). It featured heavy synth vibe and too many words. Soul Mining was the debut and still probably the best that I’ve heard. Top songs included ‘This is the Day,’ ‘Uncertain Smile and ‘Giant.’
Uncertain Smile has a piano solo by Jools Holland (of Squeeze fame) that is one of my all time favorite rock piano solos.
Johnson was fond of putting together quixotic lines and singing them over and over until different meanings surface. For example:
I tried so hard to be myself I was turning into somebody else — Out of the blue (Into the Fire on Infected).
How can any one know me if I don’t even know myself? — (Giant from Soul Mining.’
For me they were the classic band that when they were good they were excellent and when they were bad they were very bad. Johnson’s voice, for example, lived or died on his over-emotive delivery. Not everything you are singing, Matt, deserves the Jim Morrison treatment.
Moving more into the ‘T’s, I am here with an Irish rock band headed by the talented and charismatic Phil Lynott.
Sadly, he died of complications of drug dependency, including pneumonia, in 1986.
When I went to Dublin, Ireland as part of my bucket list, one of my first stops was the Irish Rock ‘N’ Roll Museum where Lynott is prominently featured along with such Irish greats as Van Morrison, U2 and the Pogues, among many others.
A museum tour guide told us that Lynott’s mother Philomena often dropped by the museum to chat with museum-goers. Unfortunately that didn’t happen during my visit. (She died in 2019, several years later)
Philomena is white and Phil’s father, who didn’t play a role in his life, was black. Phil joked about being the only black person in Ireland. Or, at least that’s how it felt sometimes. Lynott a bass player, wrote nearly all of the Thin Lizzy’s songs. Their first hit, though, was not a Lynott song but a cover of the Irish traditional folk song ‘Whiskey in a Jar.’ Their biggest hits included “The Boys are back in Town,” “Jailbreak,” ”Don’t Believe a Word,” and ‘Dancing in the Moonlight (It’s Caught Me in Its Spotlight).”
Lynott set Thin Lizzy above your average hard rock boogie band with his streetwise, world weary songwriting and singing.
‘You can surely lose your heart but you can never lose your head,” Lynott sings in Johnny the Fox about a man who ends up getting shot robbing a drug store.
If only Lynott had heeded his own words. But it’s as if he sang on the album I have: ‘Don’t believe me if I tell you, not a word of it is true.”
The drummer BTW, Bryan Downey. is co-founder with Lynott of the band, is a very good drummer.
“Daddy,” said the boy pointing to the television. “Why are all the people at the Capitol building hitting and kicking each other, and breaking windows and spraying stuff in people’s faces.
“Whoa, slow down there son,” daddy said, “That appears to me to be just a normal tourist visit.”
“But I don’t remember breaking stuff and fighting when we toured the Capitol last year while on vacation,” the son said. “And the news says that more than 500 people have been arrested for violent things that happened there on Jan. 6.”
“Son, I don’t think you understand, it didn’t happen.”
“But dad, it says they are still looking for 300 people, including 200 who hurt police officers.”
“Son, you need to quit watching the TV news and quit reading the newspaper; the news media is helping cover up the fact that the current president stole the election.”
“Do you mean President Biden didn’t really win?” the son asked.
“Now your getting it son,” daddy said.
“So now we can act like President Trump is president.”
“Exactly,” said daddy.
The son thought about it and smiled a mischievous smile.
“Hey dad, can we go to Disney World?”
“Why son?”
“Well, Donald ‘The Duck’ says the Disney park is full of foreigners. He says we need to protect Snow White.
“And Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks said it’s time for folks to come on down to Orlando town and kick some Goofy and Pluto ass.”
This is an opinion/humor column by Mike Oliver who writes about current events, music and his battle with Lewy body dementia at www.myvinylcountdown.com
In the late 1970s in my high school in Georgia we had maybe five students who dressed all in black, used black eyeliner, black lipstick, dyed black hair, etc.
But I’m not really sure what Goth is. I mean is there a group of shared ideals beyond the fondness for black?
For me it conjures up images of medieval castles with gargoyles, Morticia on the Addams Family, the Rocky Horror Picture show, witches, dwarfs, the devil, and Igor. I’m letting my imagination run here.
They must only come out at night these days as I don’t see nearly as many folks rocking the Gothic gear as I did in the 1980s. Although, actress Pauley Perrette on the NCIS television program plays ‘Goth girl’ Abby, beloved by millions who watch that long running program. So maybe the real Goths on the street think the movement has gone too commercial and that’s why I don’t see them so much anymore? I don’t know.
This group Sisters of Mercy write darkly driven synthesizer and guitar rock songs about dreams of floods, and this corrosion.
From the song Lucretia My Reflection:
I hear the roar of the big machine/Two worlds and in between/Hot metal and methedrine/I hear empire down
The fact is, there are some catchy songs on here, even if it makes no sense lyrically. The whole album sounds like it was recorded in the basement of a dark, dank medieval castle.
It’s the Fourth of July and I’m sitting here thinking about drum solos. Makes sense, right? Fireworks go boom. Drum goes boom boom.
Actually, what got me interested in this was yesterday I was playing Derek and the Dominos In Concert. Now their sole studio album is one of my favorite all time records. This concert album is missing Duane Allman and in need of some editing but it is good to hear Eric Clapton blaze away. And Bobby Whitlock always made it fun with his back up vocal shouts and keyboards.
So side two, record 1, has two songs on it. (Dead giveaway it’s a live album). The songs Let it Rain and Presence of the Lord. Now, these are fine fine songs can be played on low volume or high, so I turned it up. I’m moving along, listening to guitar solos and vocal harmonies with Bonnie Bramlett when suddenly Jim Gordon launches into a drum solo halfway through a 20-minute Let It Rain.
And after a few minutes I wasn’t digging it.
They needed to stop the solo, dip back into the lyrics and melody and end it quietly. (eventually, Clapton pulls Gordon out of the drum banging showcase with some stinging guitar fills before moving back to the song. And I was happy again.)
When it started, I thought to myself ‘Don’t drum solo this.”
Now I think I’ve invented a new catch phrase like ‘woke’ or ‘the big lie.’ Here’s the usage: Biden is on TV talking to the American People, And he’s talking and talking. You shout at the TV: “Biden, don’t drum solo this.
In fact you can shout this at any politician who goes on for more than 45 seconds.
Your spouse is giving you a piece of mind about failing to take out a particularly large and stinky bag of garbage so the collectors can haul it away. Now we’ll have to wait until Monday she says. Do you know how much that is going to smell. As she continues, you politely say: Hey I get it. No need to drum solo this. Meaning no need to go on and on.
‘To drum solo something helps one avoid the violent cliche’s: Don’t beat it to death or don’t beat a dead horse.
I am hereby formally announcing claim to this new verb I’ve created. Use it freely just remember where you heard it first.
Now I was going to give you top drum solos or best drummers but I’m out of my field in this, even though my brother played drums in a band. At the risk of drum soloing myself I’m going to list a few good, technically adept drum solos as praised by rock fans. And then introduce you to a drum solo that I actually think works — even though neither the band nor the drummer ever really made it big.
John Bonham, Led Zeppelin (Moby Dick). Sure it’s good but I could have gone to the kitchen, fixed myself a turkey sandwich, let the dog in and called my Mom and JB would still be hitting the drums.
Ginger Baker, The mad wild genius with Cream. Clapton scowled at Baker taking so much time on a drum solo, then Baker would scowl when Clapton guitar soloed. See GB here.
Keith Moon The Who, also wild. Also crazy. But not Ginger Baker crazy.
Neil Peart, Rush, The guy has more drums than Rush has signature changes.
Phil Collins, Genesis; (‘In the Air Tonight’ opening as solo artist.) And like Collins, anyone who can drum and sing lead vocals gets my attention like the Band’s drummer Levon Helm.
Ron Wilson, Sufaris, iconic drum solo in Wipeout.
Charlie Watts, Stones. (Honky Tonk opening).
Karen Carpenter, the smooth voiced singer played drums since childhood. She played in concert and on records.
Grand Funk (opening to We’re an American Band.)
There’s hundreds of good drummers out there so I won’t drum solo this. But I will leave you with one as I promised to see if you think it is any good. The group is called the Illusion.
Yes, I have Bobby Sherman, teen idol. I bought this out of pure nostalgia. One of his biggest hits was ‘Julie, Do Ya Love Me.’ My brother and I would torment my sister, Julie, by singing along extra loud and pointing our fingers at her when it came over the radio.
Bobby Sherman was in all the Teen Beat magazines which I would sometimes buy for a quarter or two. And he became a star of a television show called ‘Here Come the Brides.’ He also made appearances on many other TV shows including Laugh In, the FBI, the Partridge Family. and Frasier. He was No. 8 in a Time Magazine list of all time greatest TV teen idols
Sherman’s story takes an interesting turn when he becomes an EMT and a deputy sheriff in California, according to Wikipedia.
It was his appearance in the TV drama, ‘Emergency’ that steered him down the path to being an emergency medical technician. He was eventually promoted to Captain with the LAPD and was a medical training officer who instructed thousands of police academy recruits in first aid and CPR, Wikipedia reports.
He was named LAPD’s Reserve Officer of the Year in 1999.
Not a record I listen to much. It’s loud (except for Dirt) and Iggy and his gang of Stooges sometimes sounds like the worst garage band in the world.
But this was the first layer of punk music. The kind of music that got more ‘turn-that-shit-offs’ until Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music several years later.
I bumped it up a notch on the rating scale because of its historical significance. The band was shooting for that 2.5 but I’m not giving it to them. Iggy Pop was an underground legend. You think the Rolling Stones played sloppy? You think the Stones had a wiry, spindly lead singer with a mouth that covered half his face?
The difference: the Stones worked hard to make songs that made money. They could still be outrageous but not at the expense of their songs which sold millions not thousands.
The Stooges sold practically nothing when they first released Fun House. Over the years it has gained cult status for presaging punk rock years before Johnny Rotten.
The godfather of critics, Robert Christgau, gave this album an ‘A-‘ in his ‘Consumer Reports.”
“It always interests me intellectually, though–with its repetiveness beyond the call of incompetence and its solitary new-thing saxophone, this is genuinely “avant-garde” rock. The proof is the old avant-garde fallacy of “L.A. Blues”–trying to make art about chaos by reproducing same.”
By the way, I remember exactly where I bought this. It would have been about 1985 in Oklahoma City. The Birmingham News sent me up there as part of an investigative project I was working on about small plane crashes. The trip was fruitful in that I talked a lawyer representing some of the plane crash victims into letting me hole up in his basement going over (paper) documents. I gleaned enough to show there was a link between a type of autopilot that was malfunctioning. Amid scouring NTSB and FAA reports, I had time to pop into a record store and here I am writing about it.
This is a country album by two sisters — Janis Oliver and Kristine Arnold. Janis was once married to country all-star guitar player and performer Vince Gill.
Her name, I suppose, would then be Janis Oliver Gill or Janis Gill Oliver. What’s my point? My full name is Michael Gill Oliver. Coincidence?
I think so.
Nonetheless, they go by ‘Sweethearts of the Radio.’ I just go by Sweetheart.
As for the music, I find it pleasant. There’s some country ballads, some neo-traditional country buck dance material, there’s some sweet vocal harmonization from the sisters.
Pleasant, impeccably produced, and not one that finds its way on my turntable much. Maybe it will now, but my sudden urge is to find the Byrd’s album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo. That 50-year-old album is a classic.
