Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
I didn’t see that your posted Spirit in the Sky at all. I was responding to Steve bring it up.
Friday afternoon music
- Thread starter DaveInDenver
- Start date
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Yea, I know, but both that and the Year 2525 can be argued to be sappy nonsense. Is bubblegum folk a thing? They would be to the 60s folk/roots movement what Green Day was to punk. Just noisy enough to upset June and Ward but not much threat of inspiring another Susan Rosenberg.
Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
I like plenty of sappy nonsense, and have a deep, deep love of 60s bubblegum pop. My criteria are: is the song well written and arranged? Spirit in the Sky is not. It’s monotonous trash.
Here’s some light and frilly sappy nonsense that’s a little bit bubblegum. And I love it. Nice cover of a Del Shannon tune. The arrangement is spectacular- strings, bells, guitars that fit well in the mix without being too busy, great harmonies, the piano that drives the melody during the chorus. And then there’s Del Shannon’s writing - the lyrics are timeless (if sappy) and the chord change at the end of the chorus just wrenches your heart. The bridge is a nice touch too. The sort of inverted chorus at the fade-out is wonderful. Just a great song.
Simple Minds must have believed in truth in advertising as the name certainly described the quality of the band’s writing skills. Their song Don’t You (Forget About Me) was way overplayed and the second half of it was pure filler. Gack. Yes, I judge. How else are you going to define your tastes? I absolutely love Peter and Gordon. Chad and Jeremy too.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
I'm -not- knowledgeable enough to understand the musical ins and outs so I like what I like. Now in year two of the experiment to learn guitar and I'm bad. I mean really lousy and struggle mightily with the music theory. Apparently you either got pitch, timing and rhythm or you don't. And I don't. I listen to Simple Minds. On MP3 sometimes, too. So I don't judge anyone's talents or tastes.
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Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
I think people over complicate the joy of understanding music, as well as get too down on themselves about it. So what if you’re just starting out on guitar? You have ears and have been around music your whole life. A part of a song really grabs you, so listen to it. What’s going on that grabbed your attention or your heart like that? Lyrics? A chord change (even if you can’t name or define the chords)? Another instrument that got brought in? Does it sound very spread out or is it dense? Same goes for when you don’t like a song? Does it sound “flat”? Are you having trouble hearing all the instruments and that clouds your perception of the song? Is there a really ugly tone from a particular instrument? The more you start noticing, the more you’ll notice other things.
Think of it like a painting: composition, colors, subject matter, is the work right to the edge of the canvas or just a couple blobs in the middle with a lot of empty space? What is it saying and how does it move you? And I know NOTHING about painting….
Not once in your life you’ve heard a piece of music and thought to yourself “that’s not good”?
Some cats got it, some don’t. That’s why I stand on the audience side of the stage. We can’t all be musicians or football players, etc. Without an audience the act of making music wouldn’t be the same, imo.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
No, all the time. Lots of music I don't like. I just shrug and move on down the dial. Like "Horse With No Name." I hate that damn song. But infinitely more now that it seems like every friggin' beginner guitar series has it as the first one you're supposed to learn. Makes me want to go Full Townsend and you never want to go Full Townsend without Townsend sort of money to get another guitar. My point is that I listen to a lot of what would be call simple or bad music. I also listen to rap and some of that is arguably not really even music. Perhaps it falls into performance art, I dunno.
The discussion of music as a business is a very interesting one. I see a lot of bands, almost weekly. But I will not spend real money most of the time. So I see a lot of the local bands for $15 and musically it's pretty sketch. So my philosophy I think is more about supporting people who want to be heard rather than want to be perfect and make it career. It's why I ride a bike instead of watch it on TV. Couldn't care less about most professional sports. I listen to music for right brain stuff since it helps balance my left brained personality. The emotional stuff, the lyrics, the feelings. I intentionally try not to break them apart otherwise it'd be even more impossible for human-like things to relate to me.
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DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
This thread swerve made me think of this.
"Look man, you can listen to Jimi but you can't hear him. There's a difference man. Just because you're listening to him doesn't mean you're hearing him."
Do Ron Shelton movies count as good or bad? Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump, The Best of Times, Blue Chips. Can I get a ruling from the jury?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8mQlT9loAU
"Look man, you can listen to Jimi but you can't hear him. There's a difference man. Just because you're listening to him doesn't mean you're hearing him."
Do Ron Shelton movies count as good or bad? Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump, The Best of Times, Blue Chips. Can I get a ruling from the jury?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8mQlT9loAU
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tacomaJoe73
Rising Sun Member
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Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
On that song... Mitch Mitchell left and Buddy Miles joined. I consider both to be great and both served the songs really well, but totally different styles. Mitchell, as with most all of the contemporary British Invasion bands of the time came from jazz. Before rock and roll was invented, it was all jazz. That older generation were the drum teachers that taught the 60s British guys, and Americans to a lesser extent. Even the way they tuned their drums was the same way jazz guys did. Big, open, ringing sound. Miles was an R&B drummer. Tighter, dryer groove, less looseness and flare. Dude was solid as a rock though. Certainly jazz & big band influence was in everything in the 60s, as that was the popular music in the 40s-50s. It was unavoidable. Certain folks of the younger generation stuck to that more closely than others though, primarily the British guys. And yeah, there's more nuance for sure, but that's my broad-brush feeling on it. Vince Taylor and Johnny Kidd and some of those bands in England in the late 50s were certainly already playing rock & roll. America had plenty of the blues & R&B guys starting to play faster, harder, and more simple stuff that by any definition was rock & roll.
@DaveInDenver Playing music - even at the most basic level - activates something in your brain that you don't otherwise get. Keep going! Also being "simple" doesn't inherently make music "bad". Some of my favorite songs have two chords, or even one. Horse With No Name has two chords, but that doesn't make it a good song haha.
I have the beginnings of tinnitus, so I have some grasp on what you're saying and how it affects your ability to listen and focus on music. Maybe one day there will be a cure.
On this video it’s the original Experience band with Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding on bass. The first original member to leave the Experience was Redding being replaced by Billy Cox. Then Mitchell left replaced by Buddy and the band became Band of Gypsy’s. The Woodstock band was a conglomeration that didn’t do anything outside of that event.
Ginger Baker is a great example of a very good jazz drummer becoming the best rock drummer of the 60s and early 70s. I loved Keith Moon’s power and brashness but he is basically a pounder that would have made any rock band better along the line of Buddy. Ginger, while he could pound with the best of them, gave touch and finesse a place in rock. Got to see Cream in ‘68 and his fifteen minute solo on Traintime was a complete lesson on every piece of his drum kit and anything but boring. Then came John Bonham who developed into the best rock pounder until his untimely passing.
Yes, protect your hearing at every opportunity. Tinnitus sucks.
Ginger Baker is a great example of a very good jazz drummer becoming the best rock drummer of the 60s and early 70s. I loved Keith Moon’s power and brashness but he is basically a pounder that would have made any rock band better along the line of Buddy. Ginger, while he could pound with the best of them, gave touch and finesse a place in rock. Got to see Cream in ‘68 and his fifteen minute solo on Traintime was a complete lesson on every piece of his drum kit and anything but boring. Then came John Bonham who developed into the best rock pounder until his untimely passing.
Yes, protect your hearing at every opportunity. Tinnitus sucks.
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DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
How many drummers does it take to change a lightbulb?
Five: One to screw the bulb in, and four to argue about how much better Stewart Copeland or Neil Peart could do it.
Why do all bands have a drummer?
Because he owns the van.
What does a drummer use for contraception?
His personality.
How can you tell a drummer's at the door?
The knocking speeds up.
And a bonus one not about the drooling thumper.
Why should you never leave your banjo in an unlocked car?
You will end up with two.
Five: One to screw the bulb in, and four to argue about how much better Stewart Copeland or Neil Peart could do it.
Why do all bands have a drummer?
Because he owns the van.
What does a drummer use for contraception?
His personality.
How can you tell a drummer's at the door?
The knocking speeds up.
And a bonus one not about the drooling thumper.
Why should you never leave your banjo in an unlocked car?
You will end up with two.
Say what you will, in my experience drummers always get the best chicks. Jim?
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Didn't mean to touch a nerve. No, wait, yes I did.
What's the difference between a guitar player and a vacuum?
When you unplug the vacuum it no longer sucks.
Why is your lead guitarist stuck outside?
He couldn't find the key.
What do call a guitarist in a suit and tie?
The defendant.
How do you get a guitarist to stop playing?
Put sheet music in front of him.
What do you throw a drowning bass player?
His amp.
What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians?
A bass player.
What's the difference between a bass and an onion?
Nobody cries when you chop up a bass.
When you ask the bass player about his best gig.
They clapped so hard, they almost broke their handcuffs.
What's the difference between a guitar player and a vacuum?
When you unplug the vacuum it no longer sucks.
Why is your lead guitarist stuck outside?
He couldn't find the key.
What do call a guitarist in a suit and tie?
The defendant.
How do you get a guitarist to stop playing?
Put sheet music in front of him.
What do you throw a drowning bass player?
His amp.
What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians?
A bass player.
What's the difference between a bass and an onion?
Nobody cries when you chop up a bass.
When you ask the bass player about his best gig.
They clapped so hard, they almost broke their handcuffs.
Cruisertrash
Rising Sun Member
The drummer in my band IS my best chick (Karen), so it kind of flips that joke on its head!
Well, I wasn’t joking because my point is accurate. Chicks know that drummers can keep the beat for a long time.
You are a lucky man!
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7C4FuY-yUQ
"Love Is The Law"
The Suburbs
Love Is The Law (1982)
RIP Beej
Beej Chaney of The Suburbs: 1957-2025
Beej Chaney with Hugo Klaers of The Suburbs © 2013 Tom Wallace/Minnesota Star Tribune It was sad news for Corn-Fed New Wavers® last week with Blaine John “Beej” Chaney having died on Ja…
postpunkmonk.com
Well I was walking through the middle of town
And I said to myself, "What's going on?"
People breaking the law just to make ends meet
People breaking their hearts just to stay off the street
And written on the wall for everyone to see
Was "Love is the law" right there on the street
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DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56djaixrXQk
"Orange Blossoms"
JJ Grey and Mofro
Orange Blossoms (2008)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxA_AujcXeo
"White Room"
The Cache Valley Drifters
Pickin' on Clapton (2006)
They had a couple of albums from years ago in the playlist ahead of the Fretliners last night. These guys are getting really tight, they're going places.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li4q-OKsLgg
"Dreaming of the Dawn"
The Fretliners
The Fretliners S/T (2023)
I'm getting amped for festival season.
DaveInDenver
Rising Sun Ham Guru
Today's mood.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvS-qAqvp34
"Depleted Uranium Is A War Crime"
Anti-Flag
For Blood And Empire (2006)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFOvBdSzzus
"What's Left of Me"
Beast & Fish
Keep It Simple (2020)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvS-qAqvp34
"Depleted Uranium Is A War Crime"
Anti-Flag
For Blood And Empire (2006)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFOvBdSzzus
"What's Left of Me"
Beast & Fish
Keep It Simple (2020)