In The Light- Led Zeppelin
Seven Years In Tibet- David Bowie
Ch-Check It Out- Beastie Boys
Loose Ends- Bash & Pop
Alice- Mott The Hoople
Don't Make Promises- Timebox
A Man I'll Never Be- Boston
I had a few conversations with myself about the notes I'd write for this week's selections and most included the voices of the detractors. Mention Jimmy Page's brilliant riff on "In The Light," hear the voices saying Zeppelin sucks or calling Page a thief...again. Talk about the daring foray Bowie had taken into electronica on the underrated "Earthling," get the usual strikedown about how all his records sucked after "Scary Monsters." Mention the Beastie Boys, clear the room completely, regardless of how funky and hook-filled a song might be, because rap ain't music. And forget about Boston! I've been wanting to share "A Man I'll Never Be" for years. This song is big and has one of the great rock vocals of all time. But ya know, Boston sucks.
Then I thought, fuck it. I can take it. If things got really bad, at least Bash & Pop would cheer everyone up. And I could tout Timebox one more time, one of my favorite bands that no one knows. Here they cover Tim Hardin, but I highly suggest listening to the Deram collection, which has great single after great single. (Timebox featured Ollie Halsall, John Halsey and Mike Patto who then went on to form Patto, by the way.)
Maybe I just won't write any notes and let the music do the talking.
Dig it.
20 comments:
Let the music do the talking would be a great song title. Oh… wait
John Halsey was also in the Rutles and so was Ollie Halsall (as comedian Eric Idle wasn't a musician). Halsall briefly appears on a photography as Leppo, the fifth Rutle, in the "All you need is cash" film ...
Sorry to hear that you get those types of responses. I come here because I respect and look forward to your comments and suggestions, not to argue with or contradict you. Let the music do the talking, for sure, but keep up your talking, too!
Bob,
Thanks for the kind words. I don't mind the arguing. I am always up for a good musical debate. I just get tired of the same arguments about said artists.
Well, nobody hates Mott the Hoople.😯
Thanks for continuing to post these. I look forward to my Sunday rabbit hole. Today is Timebox. I never knew they covered Beggin'. Wow - awesome.
The first concert I went to was Boston on the Don't Look Back tour. I was 14 and enjoyed it, though I learned to avoid the big arena shows as much as possible. A Man I'll Never Be is the best song on that album.
Around the same time, I bought a used copy of Physical Graffiti on my friend Steve's recommendation. It's my favorite of theirs, especially side 3 which kicks off with In The Light and doesn't let up. I haven't played it in years, though, mostly because I find Plant's vocals are too often an annoying whine (e.g., Custard Pie). When he just sings, as on PG side 3, he's fine.
Timebox is new to me (but Patto isn't), so I'll have to give them a spin.
- Paul in DK
I always enjoy your pithy comments appended to the tracks, be a shame to lose that pith. Good selection in this week's zip and the Boston tune is classic...er... classic rock. And Brad Delp was a great rock vocalist, equally at ease on the ballads, his tragic end was very sad.
Keep the pith! Timebox??!! New to me. And Led Zep's Physical Graffiti is terrific. Maybe their best; maybe my favorite.
You have voices in your head too?
I grew up thinking I ought to hate Boston. I can't even remember why, really. For years I wouldn't give them the time of day. But like a lot of my teenage opinions, it was wrong. The stuff I liked then I was usually right about, but a lot of the stuff I thought I hated is actually good. I still agree with my teenage self about the Eagles and Steely Dan, though -- I'm never going to like them.
That Boston song is on play a bunch in my head and on my computer.
I don't hate Led Zeppelin, and certainly wouldn't snark at anyone who's a fan. But I've never truly loved them the way I love the Beatles and Stones. A critic once described them as the blues, but as cold and white as a wooly mammoth buried in the Siberian tundra. Hyperbolic? Yeah, sure. But maybe not ENTIRELY wrong.
Yeah, don't stop commenting!
Hey, when I played that Today's Cover Version selection -- a keeper, by the way -- there was a song in the Recommended column called 'White Hop' by the Aggrovators that I clicked on, and I'm thinking you (Sal [and other reggae/bluebeat/rocksteady fans]) might like it as I did, if you don't already have it.
C in California
Ah, never mind the recommendation of the Aggrovators. I see it's basically the same thing as Roland Alphonso's 'Whiter Shade Of Pale'. I thought it sounded familiar!
C in California
IIn The Light- Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti came out during the Winter Quarter at UCLA. Sandy and I were sophomores. I missed the Fall Quarter because I spent it in Western Michigan. We were anxiously anticipating the new one because it got delayed. It had also been nearly two years since Houses.
In the meantime, a tour was in the works. They ended up doing seven dates in SoCal. We got really good floor seats for all seven. Tickets were all mail order/money order. One of our regular pot customers worked for Concerts West and got us killer comp seats for the Long Beach and Forum shows. He also tipped us off which day they were going to announce ticket sales. We had our orders in the mail two days before they announced and got Grade A seats for the San Diego shows.
A little over a month after buying tickets, the album, which was supposed to be released in January, finally came out. Like the previous three albums, it broke a lot of new ground. And we loved it. Another step forward for the band. And the die-cut packaging, part of the reason for the delay, was pretty cool too.
Within two weeks we saw the twin pairs of concerts in Long Beach and San Diego. They did four songs from Physical Graffiti. We enjoyed the shows, especially the No Quarter jams, but were somewhat bummed that they didn’t do more from the new one. In particular, the inspirational and majestic In the Light. Seemed to us to be a perfect vehicle for live performance. They never played it live ever, unfortunately. Oh well, Great White pulled off a pretty fine live version on their Great Zeppelin release. I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for Great White. Of all the “hair bands” that rose in the 1980’s they were the most low-keyed and tasteful. Their covers of Train to Nowhere and Afterglow of Your Love were decent. They’re coming from a good place. I’ve known them since their Dante Fox days. They played at a few keggers I sponsored, even after the name change to Great White.
VR
Seven Years In Tibet – David Bowie – In early 1997 I had an indiscreet one-night-stand with a guy who owned a chain of local pancake/breakfast restaurants. Years earlier he had been one of my Seventh Grade teachers. So that was kind of weird. It got weirder, but I’ll spare the details. Anyway, the guy had become very wealthy as a restaurateur and lived in this exclusive gated community in Chino Hills called Payne Ranch. Snoop Dog would later own a home there. He wanted me to stay the weekend but I had better shit to do. I was gonna drive up to Modesto to hang with my cousin and lifetime kindred spirit. I needed to put some premium in the Aston for the trip and there was a Mobil station right around the corner (now a vacant lot). While waiting for my gas to pump, a good-looking guy in his early thirties began walking toward me. He looked like Happy Sad Tim Buckley. The smile on his face said that he knew me. But I didn’t know him from Adam. I assumed he was just going to admire and comment on my car, like many people had done before. He walked up to me, looked in my eyes and said “Vickie?” I affirmed and he reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulled out a copy of Earthling. He handed it to me saying “may it serve you well.” I asked him who he was and he said that didn’t matter. He walked back to his car and fired it up. Zappa’s Guitar album was blaring out of his windows as he left. To this day I don’t know who the fucker was. How did he know my name and where I’d be? I’d never been there before. It was so random. And why did he give me Earthling ten days before street date? If somebody was fuckin’ with me, they were doing a pretty good job. I figured that the restaurateur that I slept with might have been responsible. I rang him up on my cell phone but he said he had nothing to do with it. He was damned convincing. The instigator has remained silent about it for over 25 years.
It was normally a five-and a half hour drive to Modesto, so I figured I’d gobble down a couple of Adderall blues. I had a coin purse full of them. For nourishment I had some huevos rancheros and a couple of beers at the Taco Factory, which was in the same Albertson’s anchored shopping center as the Mobil station. The food was top notch so I ordered a carne asada burrito and a six pack of Michelob Dark for the road. I put everything on ice and hit the highway. The Dead’s Dosin’ was in the CD changer and was sounding pretty good. The traffic was non-existent and I had it punched. When I passed through Arcadia on the 210 I figured I’d check in with Sandy. We giggled when I told her what I was up to the previous night. I told her that I was already on my way to my cousin’s and that I would miss her. Then she apologized for not putting the Adderall’s back in my purse. I asked what she was talking about. I just took a couple. She started laughing and said, uh oh, you just took two tabs of ecstasy. A couple of days earlier, Sandy bought a jar of ecstasy. She had transferred my Adderall’s out of my coin purse and into a prescription bottle. And put scores of ecstasy tabs in my coin purse. The tabs were blue so I didn’t notice. We laughed our butts off. Michelob and Molly, breakfast of champions. Whatever. I could handle it. I told Sandy that, by the time I hit Santa Clarita, I’d be rollin’. There was no congestion on the I-5 whatsoever and I was hauling ass because it was wide open. As I approached the Grapevine, I slipped Earthling into the CD magazine.
VR
They hype surrounding the album for months had been that it would be a return to his Ziggy Stardust style. Boy were they wrong. It was kind of techno. Let me tell you that no matter what anyone says about it, I dig the majority of Earthling. This might be because the first time I heard it I was flipping on Vitamin E while driving 110 mph down the Grapevine en route to Bakersfield. It grabbed me right away and wouldn’t let go. And I don’t usually go for this kind of shit. Seven Days in Tibet is the obvious monster track. The mystery guy at the Mobil station was right. It did serve me well. I was cooking all the way from Magic Mountain to Fresno where I saw my first cop. I saw him getting on the freeway so I turned on the retros. He pulled along side of me and checked me and my car out. I smiled at him and he shook his head while smiling back. He pulled off the freeway after a couple of exits so I stabbed it. I ended up getting to Modesto in a little over four rather than five and a half hours. Can’t say I’ve played the album much since. That first time ruined me for future listens. It served its purpose.
Ch-Check It Out- Beastie Boys – my kid re-introduced me to the Beasties in 2004. We had Ill and Boutique in the family jukebox but I kinda lost track till Boroughs. A comeback.
Loose Ends- Bash & Pop – great song from super underrated album. Stinson deserves more respect,
Alice- Mott The Hoople – just listened to this several times a while back when Sal had us pick overrated/underrated my pick for Mott was Dudes/The Hoople. My favorite track on the album and that’s saying a lot considering the quality. The 1974 Hoople never played this song live. Ian did it on that faux MTH 2019 tour. IMO none of the various reunions’ shows were very good.
VR
Don't Make Promises- Timebox – I had the Patto albums when they came out circa 1970-1972. I got turned on to them by a guy named Mike, who had a radio show on KCPK. It was the station at Cal Poly Pomona which was only broadcast on campus via powerline FM. He knew a great deal about music. I first met him where I danced at the Wildcat in Pomona, which was a couple of miles away from the campus. I did end up dancing to Money Bag in an extended session which was pretty out there. The guys loved it. Mike also told me about Timebox being in Patto’s family tree. I didn’t pursue their 45’s at the time.
A couple years later, a sweet import 2-LP various artists compilation was issued. It was called Hard Up Heroes and featured rare early singles by artists who later made it big. Any one who seriously collects records should have it. It featured Timebox’s cover of the underrated 4 Seasons song Beggin’. It barely made the UK charts and was their most successful single. It was decent but didn’t pique my interest enough to seek out their singles. Fast forward five years and I’m at Moby Disc in Sherman Oaks flipping through albums and double back to one with lousy art with a moose smoking a joint. My first Timebox compilation – The Original Moose on the Loose - $5.99 plus tax. I liked it. But 20 years later Deram had the huevos to release a comprehensive anthology and most of it is really good.
As far as Don’t Make Promises goes, I don’t think any one’s ever done it justice. Not even Tim Hardin. And it’s been done a lot. Timebox has an interesting arrangement but it’s a bit messy. If I was trying to sell people on the band I’d pick a different track. Still, it’s the best version of the song I know. Three Dog Night’s version would have been my favorite had they taken more care. Sounds like a rush job. Chuck’s off-key and the fade out portion sucks. It just peters to shit. But I like the arrangement and the changes they made to the melody. They should have stuck with one lead vocalist. The one line each for Cory and Digger blows it for me. They should have only been background vocalists on the track.
A Man I'll Never Be- Boston – They had a sound but they never grew. Second album breaks no new ground. They never found an edge.
VR
Oh, I forgot. The Beau Brummels did a pretty decent cover of Don't Make Promises too.
VR
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