"The Top Ten Project, Part 7: Post-"Moving Pictures" Rush" : THE WEEKEND MIX

JP has left a new comment on your post: 

"Here's a top 10 list challenge: top 10 Rush songs since Moving Pictures."

Challenge accepted, though I needed to hand this off to my good friend, bassist for one of my very favorite bands, The Electric Mess (check them out HERE please), and Rush aficionado, Derek Davidson.

You see, I too stopped digging Rush right after "Moving Pictures." But after listening to this collection, curated by Mr. D., I realized I'd been missing some great music.

Let me turn this over to Derek.

"Even if you hated Rush in the 80's and 90's, now you gotta give it up for them...otherwise you're just being an old d*ck head"

That is a paraphrase from Matt Stone, co-creator of "South Park" (and also the Tony winning "The Book of Mormon" in case I lost you at "South Park") from the terrific film "Beyond the Lighted Stage," a feature length, award-winning documentary on the rock band Rush.  Whether you like Rush or not, or used to like Rush or not, or even if you've always hated them, it's about time you at least paid them a little mind as they might be better than you think

RUSH POST-MOVING PICTURES TOP 10

1. "Subdivisions" (1982) - the first song off of Signals, their first album post-Moving Pictures. Notable for it's heavy use of keyboards, perhaps a foreshadowing of things to come throughout the 80's, but still great band interplay as Geddy deftly switches from keys to bass.  Also, one of their most memorable videos.

2. "The Enemy Within" (1984) - From Grace Under Pressure. Rush adds ska elements into their ever expanding sound, and skinny ties & Capezios into their wardrobe.  For Rush fans, this is Part 1 of the "Fear" trilogy (preceded by, in reverse order, Part Two: "The Weapon" (Signals) and Part Three "Witch Hunt (Moving Pictures).

3. "Marathon" (1985) - From Power Windows.  Geddy's bass drives this song.  Really nice vocal melody, and great odd-time signature break starting at around 2:55.  There are a lot of keys, but tastefully done, and rousing finale.  Great live number.

4. "Time Stand Still" (1987) - A great pop song, Rush-style, featuring Aimee Mann on background vocals and seriously high vocals from Geddy.  A much thinner, more compressed sound on this track from Hold Your Fire, their 12th album.  Check out the very cheesy video.

5. "The Pass" (1989) - from Presto.  Just a real nice song, with thoughtful lyrics about teen suicide.  Another great live song, and the keys are already quite diminished by this point, though still audible.

6. "Roll the Bones" (1991) - title track from their 14th album.  Love it or hate it (I hated it for a long time), it's a more streamlined, even funky (for Rush) sound than before, with a nice chorus, tasty guitar solo, and even a "rap" by Geddy (this is where you can love it or hate it), but admittedly it's tongue in cheek. Must be included in a Top 10 as Rush played it almost every tour since its release, dropping it in the late 2000s, Roll the Bones became Rush's first US Top 5 album since 1981's  peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200, and eventually went Double Platinum. It also gained them a new, younger audience that would sustain them through the 90's and beyond. "Where's My Thing?" from this album would be nominated for a Grammy for Best Instrumental.

7.  "Animate" (1993) - From Counterparts, Rush's fifteenth album, it became Rush's highest charting album in the US, peaking at #2 on the Billboard 200 (only behind Pearl Jam's vs), it went Platinum. Note: only pointing out charts stats to show that Rush was still a vital, best selling band even into the 1990's, more than 10 years after Moving Pictures.

8. "Far Cry" (2007) - From Snakes & Arrows, their 18th studio album.  Has an old school Rush feel to it, like something off "A Farewell to Kings" or "Hemispheres," at least to this writer.  The album debuted at #3 on the The Billboard 200 chart where it remained for 14 weeks.

9. "How It Is" (2002) - From their Vapor Trails album, their first after a 6 year lay off due to the death of both Neil Peart's wife and daughter within the same year, the lyrics take on a more personal bent overall. Shades of "Lakeside Park" and "Fly By Night" almost 30 years later.

10. "Digital Man" (1982) - also from Signals, a tight, snappy rocker, with great playing throughout, and displaying some of their great reggae chops (also in evidence on Permanent Waves, eg. "The Spirit Of Radio"), influenced no doubt by The Police, who Neil Peart has cited as "one of the new bands that had inspired them.



If the fact that Rush are third behind The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum studio albums by a rock band doesn't impress you, it should.  You'd be hard pressed to find another rock band whose first album came out in 1974, who possesses 24 gold records and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records, and still tours to packed houses around the world if the last good album they released was in 1981 and their average fan age was 48.  Rush is still being discovered and re-discovered by people of all ages. Maybe that's you.

Some fans have argued that they were better in the 70's and early 80's before all the "keyboards took over" (as if they were invaded by Martians), and depending on your tastes it might be true - but that is the purpose of this post: to show that Rush still had plenty to offer past "Moving Pictures" from 1981, arguably their peak album, on which you will find the modern rock classics "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta," "YYZ," and "Limelight" - and that is just side one!

Rush were just restless enough and inspired enough by what was going on around them, for better or worse (rather than still churning out side long prog-rock epics and "working man" guitar riffs as many "fans" would have preferred); a band who created music that was still relevant to the time they lived in, up to a point of course: they're still Rush!   Over 30 years have elapsed since "Moving Pictures," as well as ten studio albums, and they are still going strong with a new album due this year.  

This mix is made up mostly of deeper album cuts that your casual Rush fan may not know, though some songs are just too big to leave out of a Top 10 mix.  For the non-Rush fan, you may like some of these songs, you might like none of them, but if you don't at least listen, you're "just being an old d*ck head...



yyzip

James Gadson...Funky

The first time I saw this clip of Bill Withers on The Old Grey Whistle Test, I knew it wouldn't be the last. I knew this because of drummer, James Gadson. If there is a more perfect example of  being "in the pocket," I don't know what it is. I can't stop looking at him. That shit-eating grin tells me, he knew exactly how funky bad he was. 

 

I only just came across the Beat Club clip below, thanks to the great New Orleans guitarist and funk man, Billy Iuso. Again, James Gadson lays it down like a cool machine. I could watch him play this groove all day.

Dig it!

So Much For First Impressions...

When "Gentle Spirit" was released, the occasionally irresponsible British music rags talked up Jonathan Wilson as if he was the second coming of Mungo Jerry.  Both Mojo and Uncut gave the record 4 star reviews, and it ended up at #4 on Mojo's Best of 2011.

I took the bait, not just because of the reviews, but because of the kudos given by some artists I respect, like Elvis Costello and Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes. Also, I love Pink Floyd and David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name," both of which get name-checked as comparisons.

Popped the CD in the player and was immediately turned off by its 78 minute running time.

Actually, check out what I had originally wrote about it:

It's contrived bullshit from another "genius."  As Neil Young famously said on "4-Way Street," right before debuting then new song, Don't Let It Bring You Down, "It sorta starts out slow, then fizzles out altogether."  By track 4, which is already 30 minutes into "Gentle Spirit," Wilson's vocals become a whisper, as if we're supposed to feel his pain or experience his "high." This record is a relentless display of pretense. 

WHOA! Slow down there, Tex. I think I may have had one too many Jolt Colas before writing that brief review.


Well, it's almost 6 months later, and as I am wont to do, I kept at it, chomping away a little at a time, sometimes in shuffle mode on the iPod.  I've come around. I still think the record should be half as long, but whatever hype seeped into my tiny brain and caused an automatic dislike has left my system, and I now feel like Wilson's "Gentle Spirit" has a lot to offer. It is very musical and often jammy, especially the second half, which you'll eventually get to. And the Floyd/Crosby link is dead-on.

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Street Date: 2/7/12

 PAUL MCCARTNEY- KISSES ON THE BOTTOM

"If not now, when?" 

This is Paul McCartney's reasoning behind releasing "Kisses On The Bottom," a mostly harmless and straightforward...and super bland... reading of the Great American Songbook. Recorded with Diana Krall and her band, and produced by...yaaaawnn...Tommy LiPuma, "Kisses On The Bottom" is so safely presented, you'll question whether you actually heard it when it's through playing.

Paul's voice shows its age a bit, as he allows his falsetto to take over. It is both frail and occasionally charming, especially on "Bye Bye Blackbird" and a surprisingly Beatle-like take on "The Inch Worm." Problem is, who really wants to here "The Inch Worm," unless it's Coltrane. I would have been more interested in hearing Paul's band with Rusty Anderson and Abe Laboriel Jr. tackle this repertoire. That might have made for a more interesting experience. This is mostly just another standards record, with nothing special to talk about, other than it's from a Beatle. (But, maybe hanging with Diana Krall opened up talks for that long-awaited McCartney-McManus album.)




It's HERE.

VAN HALEN- A DIFFERENT KIND OF TRUTH

Whose idea was it to release "Tattoo" as the first single, Sammy Hagar? As one friend put it, "Even by Van Halen party-song standards, that song is shit."

Well, the single isn't great, that's for sure. But "A Different Kind Of Truth" really is.

If you've never been a Van Halen fan, there's little I can say about this record to get you on board. But if those first 4 classic albums were on heavy rotation back in the day, this comeback will tickle you.  Eddie and the boys manage to crank out some vintage VH sounds without sounding like parodies of themselves.


David Lee Roth sounds older, but just as stupid, and I mean that in the best possible way. These boys are having fun and as usual, Eddie's playing is still off the hook.


My picks: "China Town," "Honeybabysweetiedoll" and "Stay Frosty."


It's HERE



FAIR WARNING! THE FOLLOWING MAY BORE  NON-RUNDGREN FANS.

TODD RUNDGREN- A CAPPELLA/NEARLY HUMAN/SECOND WIND

Yet another Todd Rundgren reissue campaign has gotten underway in the UK. This time, it claims to be "definitive." It isn't.

I started with the first release, which is both "Runt" and "The Ballad Of Todd Rundgren" in one package. Making it all the more appealing, was the inclusion of the never-before-released on CD alternate takes from "Runt," as well as some live tracks originally found on the Japanese rarities collection, "Somewhere/Anywhere?"

It's hard to go wrong with this package, as it is priced at $8. But, these new reissues are not remastered, as they claim to be.  And if they are, why doesn't it say so anywhere in the packaging? (And why are they $8?)

Released today in the US, is the most interesting of the lot. This package contains Rundgren's three releases from his time spent at Warner Brothers.

"A Cappella" is Todd at his most creative, making music and sounds with nothing but his voice. It's not the easiest record to embrace if you're just stopping by, but it does contain some fan favorites, including "Pretending To Care" and "Lost Horizon," and it remains a personal favorite of mine.


"Nearly Human" should have put the man back on top. This was a brilliant return to Philly pop and soul, with a big band and some of Rundgren's best material, and remains one of my all time favorite releases.


"Second Wind" was recorded in front of a live audience over a series of performances in Los Angeles. It continues where "Nearly Human" left off, with big arrangements, but sadly weaker material.


The reason I love this particular package is because it is the first time these records have received any sort of upgrade since their initial release. Friday Music did put out "Second Wind" a few years back, but again, to my ears, there was no sonic upgrade.


My other minor quibble is, if these are indeed "definitive," why does "A Cappella" include the bonus remix of "Something To Fall Back On," but "Second Wind" does not include the ever-elusive, cassette-only track, "Jesse?

The whole campaign is questionable, but at least the catalogue is readily available at a decent price. For me, the 2006, 20K remasters from Japan are still the definitive versions, even without new notes and new bonus tracks.




They are all HERE

The Other Guitar Heroes

A friend recently posted a live Tom Petty video with the comment "Such an underrated guitar player." Of course, I can't find the video now. I'm not even sure just what he was referring to. But it did make me think of Andy Partridge. 

I'm feeling we may have had this discussion before, so forgive me for bringing it up again. I don't want to make this about "the usual suspects." I think we can all agree, even if our favorites differ, that Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton sit at the very top of the "best guitarist" list.

I was thinking more about people who never get mentioned in this discussion. Two others that immediately come to mind are Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze and Marshall Crenshaw.

Guitar solos are rare in pop tunes, but when Marshall and Tilbrook let one rip, it's usually one of taste and style. And it really isn't just about the solo. Check out Crenshaw's playing throughout the entire performance of "Fantastic Planet Of Love."

There are many other, better quality versions of this song, but I love this for one reason. Tilbrook, even in a solo acoustic setting, still rips out one of his most famous solos.

One more name I'd like to mention is Earl Slick. When people talk of Davd Bowie, they seem to almost always mention Mick Ronson and Robert Fripp...and with good reason. But Earl Slick has put in more time than either and his guitar work on Bowie's "Station To Station" alone is a reason to be cheerful.

I do have a few more guitar heroes, and I'd be remiss not to mention the Thin Lizzy team of Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson. How I wish more people would get beyond "The Boys Are Back In Town" and "Jailbreak" and discover these gentlemen.

But for now, I'd like to highlight XTC's Andy Partridge. As Red Buttons would have said, "The great Andy Partridge...never got a dinner."

I've included two versions of "Books Are Burning." The studio version includes Dave Gregory and Andy trading fours. The live version is just Andy. Also here, "Church Of Women," from "Wasp Star." This is my kind of guitar playing.

Who would you like to nominate for unlikely guitar hero? Please include an example and maybe we'll mix it up for the weekend.

"Radio On" : THE WEEKEND MIX

Here's how this one went down.

I read a review in Uncut about a 40th anniversary, Manfred Mann's Earth Band boxed set. The writer used some words I would never have associated with MMEB: New Orleans, rhythm and blues, gospel.

I was intrigued.

I headed over to AMG and read a bit more. I was surprised to find out just how many of these records received 3 and 4 star reviews, not to mention how many came out before "The Roaring Silence," the record that included their biggest hit, "Blinded By The Light," and the album I somehow came to believe was this line-up's debut.

Before I proceeded further into my exploration, I made a pitstop at my computer and dialed up  "Blinded By The Light." It still kills me after 35 years. And I still like it better than Bruce Springsteen's own version. But I digress.

The wave of nostalgia was immediate. "Blinded By The Light" brought me right back to Brooklyn, rock radio, and those enormous boom boxes that everyone seemed to own. I thought of the summers sitting on stoops, or the rocks at Manhattan Beach, listening to all those great songs that are now part of the oft-maligned "classic rock" genre.*

Manfred Mann would have to wait. I tossed aside Uncut and began compiling the songs that seemed to be coming out of everyone's box, as well as a few that only came out of mine, courtesy of some very early "weekend mixes."

I admit, this mix is for me as much as it is for you. But it really doesn't have to be Brooklyn and beach rocks. It could be front lawns in Farmingdale or convertibles in Kalamazoo. Everyone has their summer soundtrack. The real fanatics have one for every year of their existence. Don't we?

Here's one of them. I'm thinking this could be one of my TDK- SA-60s, circa 1979.


TRACK LIST

Riff Raff- AC/DC
(Far and away, my fave AC/DC tune. It's a two hour, heavy metal Broadway show in a neat 4 minutes.)

I Got The Fire- Montrose
(Before Sammy Hagar became a schmuck.)

Might Just Take Your Life- Deep Purple
(From "Burn," one of the two albums, the other being "Stormbringer," that pushed Blackmore to quit. Personally, I loved the new direction of the band.)

Rosalie- Thin Lizzy
(Listen to the handclaps. You can never go wrong with handclaps.)

Beyond & Before- Yes
(From the debut. Yes in the 60s! A criminally underrated record.)

Serenade- Steve Miller Band
(Probably not the best way to sell this tune, but I always loved how it sounded off-center. Like trying to play a 45 without an adapter.)

Teacher, I Need You- Elton John
(From "Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player," THE record. NOT "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road."

Got Enough Love- Detective
(Jimmy Page signed'em. I'm guessing because they sounded like Zep. One of my fave no-hit wonders.)

Custard Pie- Led Zeppelin
(The real thing.)

30 Days In The Hole- Humble Pie
(Is there a more Spinal Tap moment than the intro?)

Blinded By The Light- Manfred Mann's Earth Band
(See above)

I Know I'm Not Wrong- Fleetwood Mac
(Props must be given to "Tusk." It's dense and wonderful and complicated and beautiful and melodic and haunting and rocking, too. Still paying off after 33 years.)

Everytime I Think Of You- The Babys
(Pop perfection, as well as a spine-tingling use of strings. Chills.)

Heart To Hang Onto- Pete Townshend & Ronnie Lane
(Sometimes "Rough Mix" is my favorite Who record, and I blame Ronnie Lane.)

Let It Rock- Bob Seger
(My ol' pal Chris Kelly's fave version of this Chuck Berry tune. He had a point.)

The Zip

*One of the best things about the old days is that no one used the word "genre."

Don Cornelius, 1936-2012

"You sometimes overlook Soul Train's influence and that at one time Sly really was the shit."
-Gene O.


My Saturdays began so early, it was still Friday night to some. I couldn't wait for the weekend, so the excitement jolted me out of bed long before everyone else. I had little choice but to watch the crap cartoons like Colonel Three and Davey & Goliath before cool stuff like the Road Runner and Scooby-Doo came on. E-mail wasn't an option back then.

Saturday mornings were a ritual. And so was "Soul Train." Once I heard that theme music and the voice of Don Cornelius, I knew I had to get my ass in gear. If memory serves, "Soul Train" began at 11:30, and it was always on at my father's house. But by 11:30, I knew the gang was finishing breakfast and starting to assemble outside, on some block.  The sounds of "Soul Train" were my reminder that Saturday had officially begun.


Don Cornelius gave me my first real taste of the music I now love so much. The occasional 45 slipped in and out of my grubby little hands, thanks to cousins and Uncles and their hipper-than-most tastes in music. But without the "Soul Train," I would have arrived very late to the Al Green party. Or Luther Ingram. Or Barry White.

Sad news and a great loss.


It's hard to find a bad clip from "Soul Train." This one though, is stellar.
(h/t Gene O.)

(Drummer friends, that is Bill Lordon behind the kit. He went on to be part of Robin Trower's classic trio from 1973-1977.)