7 posts tagged “music”

Earlier this week, I took a trip on my lunch break to a local merchant to pick up the next volume for a book club to which I supposedly belong.  ("Supposedly," because - to date - I have read only one and one third of the books and attended only one third of the meetings.  It seems a little premature to consider myself a full-fledged member.)  A co-worker joined me on this excursion, and promptly headed toward the books on graphic design while I tracked down mine.  Apparently she had exhausted the topic when we were there last, because she'd moved on in the short time it took me to locate my book.

So with my copy of "The Secret Life of Bees" in hand, I wandered the Barnes & Noble looking for my co-worker until a book placed specifically to catch my eye on a table near the escalator caught my eye.  I picked it up and read the back cover.  It was written by a neuroscientist who used to be a sound engineer and record producer, and it proclaimed to be an exploration of the neurological effects of music on the brain.  I leafed through a few pages, and it occurred to me that this book might address some of those questions we have all asked from time to time.  What is it about Hotrod's particular brain chemistry that makes his taste in music so impeccable?  Why is it that a reasonably intelligent individual like Dabysan can be so musically misguided?  How did Emma become such an accomplished music aficionado despite a severe hearing disability?  Would Cap'n Crunch even like music at all if he'd been denied access to his big brother's record collection?  Needless to say, I was intrigued.

Early in the book, the author describes a dinner with another engineer and mentor, John R. Pierce.  Pierce was a giant in the field of telecommunications, building the first transistor and launching the first the first telecom satellite, among other things.  But by 1990 - the year in which this dinner occurred - he was eighty years old.  And what's more, he apparently - for all his achievements - didn't know the first thing about rock and roll.  So he asked the author to compile and play over dinner "six songs that captured all that was important to know about rock and roll."  This is the author's list:

Even the most feeble-minded among us can see that this list is retarded.  First of all, nobody who has graduated from high school takes that particular Eric Clapton song seriously.  Secondly, Little Richard can blow me.  And nobody, but nobody would say there is a more overrated guitarist (with the possible exception of Stevie Ray Vaughn) than Jimi Hendrix.  Now, I see what the author was trying to accomplish here.  Several of these songs open multiple topics of conversation.  The Jimi selection could lead to a discussion of Bob Dylan as well as Jimi and his overrated axe.  Likewise, the selection of the Beatles covering Chuck Berry.  And really, if you're going to distill nearly sixty years of popular music into six songs, you're going to have to be creative with your selections.  But, obviously, this list has some issues.

Naturally, this got me thinking.  "I like music," I thought to myself.  "And I like making lists.  Which songs would I choose to capture rock and roll for an octagenarian who spent the last forty years of his life living in a cave?  And maybe if I post an introduction today and then a song a day for the next six days, that will to some degree help fritter away the time until I go on a long overdue and much needed vacation."  So over the next six days, until I leave for a long overdue and much needed vacation, I'll be posting a song (and I guess a brief discussion of said song) from the correct list of six songs that captures all that is important about rock and roll.  Am I smarter than a neuroscientist/record producer/sound engineer?  Why, yes.  Yes I am.

Today is a big day - one I've been eagerly anticipating for over seven years.  Sister #2 begrudgingly acknowledged that the gingers might like a CD of rock tunes from old Unkie Hotrod.  I'd say more, but I need to get started right away.  Gotta go!

One of the best things about early January - better, even, than the merciful end to the dreaded Holiday Season - is the plethora of "top ten" or "best of" or "my opinion matters" lists regarding popular culture.  Fortunately for you, dear readers, you are already plugged in to the the only opinion that really matters.  And we loooooove making lists of stuff.

The year Two-Thousand and Seven was an odd one:  The recorded music scene was unusually terrible, but that mediocrity was compensated - perhaps overcompensated - by better than usual years in both (and especially) film and (in the DC area, at least - and in spite of impossibly shitty venues) live music.  Books - well that's always tough to judge, since we don't often read books in the year of their release (and we're making some concessions here).  And what else is there, really?  Lists follow below, and top selections may or may not be (but hopefully "may") expanded upon in further detail before the end of the month.

Toledo native and HoHo Swiss cake roll enthusiast Maggie remains in Georgia this weekend, but a little bit of Ohio has come to her.  Grandma and Papa arrived yesterday, presumably to partake in today's birthday festivities.  Seven is a big year.  I'm not sure exactly what's in store but I believe it will be at least in part (high school) musically themed.  I strongly suspect that's why she's asked for a guitar.  It's only a toy guitar, but I am still beaming with pride anyway.  This means it's almost time for Unkie Hotrod to start teaching her about good music.  I have to.  Her mother sure ain't gonna.

Have a terrific birthday, Maggie.  I'd teach you three chords and the truth, but I never learned the chords.

Maggie

What are your three favorite album covers of all-time? Any honorable mentions?

Question submitted by Tamara.

i'm gonna stay away from the obvious choices here (and no - sgt. pepper is NOT one of the obvious choices.) and limit the exercise to those in my collection  how about - in no particular order....

"Pyromania," by Def Leppard
"Yoko," by Beulah
"Diary" by Sunny Day Real Estate

honorable mention:

"And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out" by Yo La Tengo

oddly, i am glad it's a song i know.

NICE GUY EDDIE: When I was coming down here, I was playin it. And "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" came on. Now I ain't heard that song since it was big, but when it was big, I heard it a million-trillion times. I'm listening to it this morning, and this was the first time I ever realized that the lady singing the song, was the one who killed Andy.

MR. BLUE: You didn't know Vicki Lawrence killed the guy?

NICE GUY EDDIE: I thought the cheatin wife shot Andy.

MR. BLONDE: They say it in the song.

NICE GUY EDDIE: I know, I heard it. I musta zoned out whenever that part came on before. I thought when she said that little sister stuff, she was talkin about her sister- in-law, the cheatin wife.

JOE: No, she did it. She killed the cheatin wife, too.

UPDATE: so i was curious....  i only vaguely knew it, so i downloaded it from itunes this afternoon.  and i like what i hear.  not only is it relevant to QT's best film, but it's a damn good song to boot.  of course, i am a sucker for both old country songs and - in noah webster's sense of the word - ballads (which this is both).  why didn't anybody tell me before?