Uncategorized

Top 4 Worst Rock songs about Rock…too painful to add a 5th one!~

~ Cave_Guy ~ 5 Comments

1.Kiss – Rock n roll all night- it’s warm with an instant flavor packet of melodic stadiumness. It is the Ramen noodles of a rock song….no substance, but it will take the hunger away and fool you into temporarily thinking you had something, you had nothing.

2. Bob Seger -Old time rock and Roll -“just take them old records off the shelf, I’ll sit and listen to them by myself’…why don’t you do that Bob- Horrible song which may have faded away had it not been for Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear in “Risky Business” .

3. Billy Joel -Still Rock n Roll to me– This song actually made it to number 1 for two weeks in 1980- What dark days these were…Bette Midler released “The Rose” which is better than this(Don’t get me wrong, I am not a fan of Bette, but if I happen to end up in a Mexican prison and they give me a choice of these two songs to listen to, not knowing what implications making this choice will lead to, I will take “The Rose” and hope for some “wind beneath my wings” to get the hell outa there!) Also in 1980 Michael Jackson was the still untarnished  “king of pop/good angel” with “Rock with You” at the top of the charts (he had yet to hang babies out the window, marry Lisa Marie Presley for a couple weeks and sleep with 10 year olds) I am not judging here…I am just saying… he had some quirky habits.

4.Jefferson Starship– We built this city (on Rock and Roll) -Bernie Taupin was in on writing this??? Is this the same Bernie that wrote the great songs with Elton John? How do you go from “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” to this?- And Grace Slick was part of this mess? “one pill makes you change the name from airplane to starship and sing on one of the most insipid tracks of all time”. (that is a reference to Jefferson Starships’ “White Rabbit” for those that may not know-a great rock song)…What happened here? San Francisco must be some kind of city for people to produce this crap in an effort to keep paying the rent so they can stay there…that is the only reason that makes any sense.

Top 4 Rock songs about Rock- still searching for the 5th.

~ Cave_Guy ~ Leave a comment

1. Rock and Roll- Led Zeppelin – “Been a long time, been a long lonely lonely time”. This is the standard that all rock songs are measured against.
2. Rock n Roll- Lou Reed-“One fine mornin’, she puts on a New York station
and she couldn’t believe what she heard at all”. Lou Reed is the classic outsider that becomes cool- He should not be a rock star, he is short and awkward and not smooth as a singer- but he gives it all and throws N.Y.C grit in every beat. His music makes you feel like you are walking down a dark city street.
3. Rock n Roll ain’t noise pollution- AC DC– The lead singer Bon Scott has died and the critics were ready to bury the rest of the band with him. This tragic loss fueled the energy of “Back in Black”and this track is like a big -F U- to all the haters. To go on and even to reach a new level when losing a lead singer is an almost impossible feat in the history of rock.
4. I know it’s only Rock n Roll but I like it– The Rolling Stones- Simple and hypnotic. No fuss or additives thrown in. It’s only Rock n Roll but I like it says it all.
5. [ nothing here yet] I don’t have a fifth song because I wanted something that is powerful enough to sit at the table with the other four songs and hang out. There are some that could drop by for a quick visit and maybe grab a slice of pizza with these guys…but nothing that would be able to really hang out ‘till 3 in the morning when the 5th shot of tequila makes the rounds.

Memories of SVR

~ Cave_Guy ~ Leave a comment

Today would have been the 58th birthday of Stevie Ray Vaughan, it has been 22 years since the helicopter crash outside of Chicago that ended his run. I was fortunate to catch his shows a couple times. Stevie Ray was a blues man, which means you had to see him live. Blues on any recording just does not match the power of being at a live show. I will say that again…you have not heard blues until you have seen a real master performing in person. There is an energy that can’t be explained only experienced.
He played at JB’s Theatre in Albany N.Y with his brother’s band The Fabulous Thunderbirds warming up. I waited outside in the rain for tickets and got in early and stood in the front row leaning against the stage. I was only inches away from the Wah Wah pedal duct-taped to the stage…I knew the stories…This was Jimi Hendrix’s Wah Wah pedal!!! Jimi’s pedal and it was almost close enough to reach out and touch…but I could not break the sanctity and just remained awestruck. I was a bit disappointed that Stevie Ray was wearing a floppy “French-guy” hat instead of the cowboy hat he was known for. I would later learn of him fighting his demons of drugs and alcohol and seeking a more spiritual life. I don’t know at what stage in this battle I found him, I just know that losing this trademark part of his image meant something.
The thing I took away from the show was the complete dissociation from this world that took hold of him when he leaned back into a solo. I can see it now as I reflect on it…he was somewhere else. The fluid cascading waterfall of sound that happened when he leaned back was something. He really could care less if he was playing for 50,000 people or 20 people or no people at all, he was gone. He did get to his version of “Little Wing” which for me was the highlight. I never saw Jimi live….but I don’t think I would trade this moment away for it.

Rock is Dead?

~ Cave_Guy ~ Leave a comment

“Well now, everything dies, baby, that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City”
Echoes of this old Springsteen song reverberate through the cave as I think about the death of Rock music .
Rock is Dead! -Has been heard plenty as one era fades to the next. “Hell, I have said it myself!” – When you say that the music is dead, you are really saying that the music that I once enjoyed is no longer relevant. And maybe “enjoyed” is not the right word…rock music connects on a deeper level than that. Music keeps flowing and changing. Rock has died many times but it keeps coming back. Each generation and each new sub-culture brings it back and retools it. I don’t think it changes and morphs smoothly to let everyone adjust… it stops breathing and gets shocked back to life. One group of fans has to let go in order for a new group to grab on to it again.

Welcome to the Cave!

~ Cave_Guy ~ Leave a comment

I have been listening to rock music for so long that a lot of what I know has gone from the relevant to the relic. It requires a little digging in the caves of forgotten “cool” music to dig it up. I started way, way back with British bands like Slade and T-Rex…moved smoothly through Led Zeppelin and Lynyryd Skynyrd…got a little funky with Little Feat and The Talking Heads…found my soul band with the Clash…that lead me towards L.A with “X” and that emerging crazy bunch known as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I fought against the “fad” of hip-hop for years and years finally breaking down recently with the Wu-Tang Clan. All these groups were relevant for the time they were in.

I have no clue what a great band is right now. It really depends on the listener themselves. If you are convinced that Molly Hatchet is the best band to ever sweat profusely under stadium lights, then to you they are. Music is a personal thing. Believe me, if that is you- I will try to help you develop a more rounded taste of music. You should enjoy other things……AND NOT OTHER THINGS JUST LIKE MOLLY HATCHET…..I mean other things that are good and relevant to your life and soul.

And maybe that is the last thing this blog wants to be about…what do you listen to when you reach the point that you don’t have an idea what is going on anymore? When none of “new” stuff makes any sense. Do you just give up and only load Nickelback and Justin Bieber on the 3 generations ago ipod that you still have trouble finding the volume button on. Or do you step out into this brave new world and find some “now” good music.

I want to go into this cave that is ancient music and drag some relics out…but I also want to find things from today that are worthy to be painted on these walls.