WNEW | Where Rock Lives

Video Classics: 'Carry On' - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

Carry On by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young is good enough to make the 1996 Firecracker 500 at spot #483, but how well does it come off live?  We'll let listeners be the judge as the view this performance live from Wembley in 1974 ...

Carry On was an appropriate title for a song featured on their 1974 tour.  Back in 1970 and '71, the band had begun to fracture, with bickering between members becoming increasingly common.  1972 and '73 were spent largely working on solo projects, in which each of them saw at least some degree of success.  However, prospects for a large-scale group project looked bleak after the failed attempt to record an album in 1973 (tentatively entitled Human Highway at Young's Hawaii studio.

In 1974, however, manager Elliott Roberts finally convinced the group to realize their commercial potential and embark on a large-scale tour composed exclusively of outdoor arenas, the first of its kind. Organized by San Francisco impressario Bill Graham, the tour was a commercial success, though the band had its share of friction and quibbles behind the scene. Nonetheless, they managed to 'carry on' and finish the tour. While they would never really attain the heights they had prior to 1970, they had ensured their place in the rock firmament forever.

Have memories of this song or the Firecracker 500? Add your thoughts to the comments below or take a look at Video Classics past...

New Release Tuesday Preview

Is it really Monday again? Seriously, these weeks are going by quicker than you can say "Pete Doherty goes to jail." Horrible jokes aside, another new week does mean another new slate of fine new releases in the world of music. So, while I may be loosing my mind, at least I have some new music to bob my head along to.

In fact, Tuesday, February 9th packs a particularly awesome indie-tastic punch. Among the many highlights of the week is the latest offering from Hot Chip. The British alt-dance outfit will unveil its fourth LP, One Life Stand, a 10-track effort described by frontman Alexis Taylor as "the most warm and soulful sounding record we've made." Like it's predecessor, 2008's Made in the Dark, the band's newest release is already drawing numerous accolade, with the Telegraph calling it a "giddy delight, seamlessly marrying their intimate, microbeat electronica with sweet, melodious, emotional pop" in its recently published five-star review. But don't take my or their word for it; you can currently stream One Life Stand, in its entirety, at MySpace.

Massive Attack returns with its long anticipated fifth studio album, the 10-track Heligoland. And while the album comes seven years after 2003's 100th Window, the trip hop duo of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall sees the band creating a darker and diversified sound, the Brits are still all about electronics and bass, as well as utilizing a list of high-profile vocal contributors. Among those lending their talents on Heligoland are Blur's  Damon Albarn, TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, Elbow's Guy Garvey, and Hope Sandoval. The album can be streamed on NPR.org.

Who(se) Generation?

I was disappointed to learn from my friend Brian, who was sitting across from me at the Super Bowl party, that the Who weren't paid for their performance during halftime last night. What, I thought, that kind of fresh new music really deserves at least some kind of remuneration, doesn't it? (Well, Pete and Rodge and the band did get their accommodations paid for and I'm guessing it was a little better that the Motel 6).

So, if there wasn't at least ten or twelve million dollars available for a scant twenty minutes work, then what was the point? My cynical self wants to know. Well, for sure there must be a bit of ego-feeding in the mix: after all, even someone as jaded as Pete Townshend must get off on playing in front of 75 million people. (Before you start dropping comments, I'll mention that I interviewed Pete Townshend in 1982 -- during their first of about five farewell tours -- and he was jaded then. Can't imagine anything has changed much since...).

Beyond ego -- and I'm making assumptions here, in case you haven't noticed -- I'm guessing it has something to do with their new Greatest Hits record being released back in December. That's right: nineteen of your favorite Who songs you've already heard too much of, available on iTunes or at your nearest peer-to-peer trader. (Did I say that? I meant at your nearest record store which, given the condition of the record industry, is probably located in Austin, Texas).

So, as cynical as I am about big name artists performing at big name events -- I ask: why not Brandi Carlile at the Super Bowl? -- I have to give the Who kudos for going out and pounding the streets a little -- OK, very little -- in the name of pumping up their new record full of old songs.

As a performance, well, I can't say I was glued to the TV. There was more discussion about first concerts (Me: the Association; Brian's Wife: Talk Talk (!!)) than there was attention to the performance. Pete banged out a decently jagged solo here and there and the drummer emulated Keith well enough (snazzy clear plastic drumset and custom Who cymbals -- I liked that) but I didn't pay enough attention to see if Rodge matched microphone swing for windmill with Pete.

The end result? A semi-OK, non-offensive performance -- just the way TV likes it -- with no wardrobe malfunctions or crotch-slides into the camera. Hardly what the Who stood for in the beginning (is that really my generation they're singing about?) but you can hardly expect better. Just the perfect time to break out the fajitas and margaritas and settle in the for the second half.

WNEW Rock News: Massive Attack Commission Seven Films

It's a multi-multi-multi-multi-media world and Massive Attack know it.

Word from the MA camp is the band has commissioned seven different independent directors to produce short films to accompany their new album, Heligoland.

Of the seven commissions, four have been completed. Baillie Walsh, who did the videos for many of MA's early songs, directs a film for Splitting The Atom, as does Edouard Salier (albeit with a different interpretation). Toby Dye takes on Paradise Circus while photographer turned director Ewan Spencer interprets Flat Of The Blade .

Go here or here to view.

Classic Recording Studios: Avatar Studios

When it comes to New York City recording studios, very few have the kind of lineage that can match that of Avatar Studios. 

Avatar was founded in 1977 by Tony Bongiovi under the name The Power Station (largely because it was built in a former Consolidated Edison power plant). Once a sound stage for the Let's Make A Deal game show, the Power Station played host to artists like David Bowie, the Kinks, Aerosmith and John Lennon. 

Since being renamed Avatar Studios in 1996, the facility has recorded top selling albums including Bruce Springsteen's Working On A Dream and Grammy nominee Allan Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi as well as new artists the Rumble Strips and Vampire Weekend.

 

Rock Flashback: The 1981 Beatles "Reunion"

Much of rock's history is shrouded in the haze of legend, or even in danger of being forgotten. Join J.A. Bartlett of the Hits Just Keep On Comin' each Saturday as he reminds us why we love this music like we do ...

Forty-six years ago this winter, when Beatlemania broke in the United States, it was in some ways a balm for the country's pain following the assassination of John F. Kennedy the previous November. Twenty-nine years ago this winter, rock fans were hurting again following the December 1980 murder of John Lennon. We craved something to make us feel better -- which is why the New York Post headline on February 6, 1981, had such an impact: "Surviving Beatles Plan New Album as Lennon Tribute."

Oddly enough, however, the "surviving" Beatles had already reunited for a "Lennon tribute," and they'd done so before Lennon's death. In November 1980, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr had joined George Harrison at his home studio, and they spent several days working on a track called All Those Years Ago. George had written it for Ringo to sing, although Ringo didn't like it much. After Lennon's murder, Harrison decided to reconfigure the song as a tribute to his former mate, rewriting the lyrics and recording them himself after stripping Ringo's vocal from the track. Paul and Linda McCartney and their former bandmate Denny Laine contributed backing vocals for the new track. It became the lead single from George's next album, Somewhere in England, and rose to #2 on the Billboard singles chart in July.

Video Classics: 'Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo' - Rick Derringer

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

Rick Derringer's sole entry on either of the WNEW Firecracker 500 lists comes courtesy of his 1973 hit Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo, the lead-off track to his album All American Boy.  The song comes in at #197 on the 1991 Firecracker 500 and #396 on the 1996 list.

Derringer is one of those musicians who seems to always be lurking about the music scene somewhere, active, talented, but never quite achieving the upper levels stardom (indeed, Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo was the closest he'd get to date). Nonetheless, he is a talented musician whose skills on the guitar have been sought after to play solos for the likes of Steely Dan, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest and KISS.

And for those of us who enjoy the odder side of the music scene, we all owe Rick Derringer an eternal debt. It was his producing skills that in the early '80s took a nearly-unknown novelty act and turned him into pop and rock's semi-official court jester, 'Weird' Al Yankovic.

Have memories of this song or the Firecracker 500? Add your thoughts to the comments below or take a look at Video Classics past...

Boz Scaggs Reconsidered

Completing our triumvirate of rock and roll reconsideration, we take a look at Boz Scaggs.

As we noted in our Wednesday observations about Steve Miller, Scaggs was a cohort of Miller's in the 1960s when the two Texas transplants crossed paths at St. Mark's school in Dallas. After a brief stint together, Scaggs began busking around Europe before landing back in the Miller orbit in San Francisco in the late '70s.

Scaggs appeared on two Miller albums (Children of The Future and Sailor) before being scooped up by Atlantic Records in 1968. He dropped one album for Atlantic before switching to Columbia, for whom he put out four solid R&B flavored records from 1971 to 1974.

The evolution of Scaggs from blues-based rocker -- wherein he played with the likes of Duane Allman -- to urban hitmaker -- wherein he was backed by session players like the Porcaro Brothers -- shows itself in his 1974 album, Slow Dancer.

But, it was Silk Degrees two years later that made it him a superstar. Down To Then Left and Middle Man also yielded hits before his star diminished and he went on to being a legacy artist on pop radio stations.

Scaggs career trajectory is somewhat though not exactly as was Seger's and Miller's. He did some great and somewhat underrated work in the 1960s and 1970s and sold a lot of records thereafter (though, to my knowledge, none of his songs have every been sold to TV commercials). The only difference is that Scaggs later records have not been so decidedly poor as have his counterparts.

So where to go when considering Scaggs? His early records deserve attention. Sometimes the material fell short but Scaggs' had such a uniquely personal soul that everything he did in that period worked to some degree. Personally, I love Silk Degrees, a product of my pop upbringing (and the fact that it was a great makeout record for us high schoolers of the time). And though a lot of his recent output has been live sets mixing multiple eras (some of which are quite good), his later work hasn't terrible.

Here's a later version (2003) of an early song (1974); shows he still has one of the greatest voices in R&B.

Forgotten Favorites: Dust

Some albums are just too good to let slip away beneath the sands of time, so each week Bill Melville pulls one out, dusts it off and offers it up for your renewed consideration ...

The Screaming Trees never reached the heights of the early 1990s Seattle scene's Big Four (Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana and Soundgarden), but they had one big moment thanks to Nearly Lost You from the Singles soundtrack and Sweet Oblivion. By the time its follow-up dropped, popular music had turned it eyes away from Seattle. That meant Dust got left in its namesake, despite being a solid blast of rock from the so-called grunge scene's waning days.

Half of Dust's 10 songs sound like potential hits, and the rest have their charm. If it hadn't arrived four years after Sweet Oblivion, it might have put the Trees over the top.

Mark Lanegan's voice shows surprising range for someone often characterized as Tom Waits-light. He often comes off as a more soulful Layne Staley. Often underestimated are brothers Gary Lee Conner (guitar) and Van Conner (bass), who have mastered the art of interplay, while drummer Barrett Martin has a tribal quality that serves the band well.

Halo of Ashes uniquely melds world beat with grunge. From a splash of Irish strumming, it jumped to Indian chord patterns and finally an engaging rock beat. While Lanegan's lyrics remain dark, they cannot muddy the lively upbeat feel built on punchy bass, tribal drumming and Indian quarter-notes. Anyone familiar with Nearly Lost You might feel like they stumbled onto the work of a completely different band.

After blowing minds with Halo of Ashes, All I Know resorts to good, old-fashioned psychedelic rock, swirling in organ, walls of power chords and some surprisingly sharp harmonies. It butts up nicely against Look at You, a mellow ballad which Lanegan performs effortlessly. Those quieter numbers excel on Dust, even if the band rarely stays in quiet mode for long.

Dying Days is another round of psychedelic rock, but the Trees prove versatile with the style. Make My Mind has similar attributes, with the guitar and bass intertwining flawlessly. The rock just rolls on Witness, guitars blazing and never easing off the gas. Bass-heavy and with tribal drum sounds firmly embedded, Dime Western leans on layered guitar riffing that propels it past rock convention.

The band would grind to a halt due to internal problems following Dust, with Lanegan concentrating on solo work and collaborations with Queens of the Stone Age, Isobel Campbell and Greg Dulli. But Dust remains a great discovery for those who might have missed one of grunge's last great records. 
 

Got memories of your own from this hidden gem? Share them in the comments section below ...

Fan Up for Free Massive Attack Tunes

With Massive Attack's new album release just around the corner (on Tuesday to be exact), the band is prepping their fans with a free download of a Heligoland Remix EP.

Become a fan and get remixes by Gui Boratto, Breakage, Tim Goldsworthy, She Is Danger, Ryuichi Sakamoto & Yukihiro Takahashi. Go here.

Here's a preview of Paradise Circus, a cut from the new one...

Video Classics: 'Listen to the Music' - The Doobie Brothers

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

The Archivist, who is not nearly as young as he or she used to be, must make a confession.  Today's Video Classics was picked by a much, much younger associate here at the office. The Archivist decided (on a whim) to give the honor of picking today's Video Classics from the Firecracker 500 lists to this person. Said young associate picked Listen to the Music by the Doobie Brothers having no idea about the musicians themselves, only that he liked the word 'doobie'. Education for both he and others shall follow after the video...

Drummer John Hartman arrived in California in 1969 determined to meet Skip Spence of Moby Grape and join an aborted Grape reunion. Spence introduced Hartman to singer, guitarist and songwriter Tom Johnston and the two proceeded to form the nucleus of what would become The Doobie Brothers.  They named their group Pud and began performing in the Bay Area, looking to solidify their style and their lineup. 

They managed both, and became force to be reckoned with in rock (particularly of the vocally-oriented variety). Throughout the 1970's, the Doobie Brothers had notable hit albums with Toulouse Street, The Captain and Me and What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits.  They also perfected their trademark sound, an amalgam of R&B, country, bluegrass, hard rock, roadhouse boogie, and rock and roll.  Listen to the Music is a prime example of this, and comes in at #438 on the 1991 Firecracker 500 and #394 on the 1996 list.

And, to answer my young friend's implicit inquiry, yes.  They are named the Doobie Brothers for the reason you'd assume.

Have memories of this song or the Firecracker 500? Add your thoughts to the comments below or take a look at Video Classics past...

Classic Recording Studios: Omega Recording Studios

Located in suburban DC, Omega Recording Studios has been in business since 1968.

Noted artists who have moved magnetic particles (or crushed digits) over the years include Ben Folds, Tori Amos, Jewel, Radiohead and Shirley Caesar, who netted the studio a Grammy for the 1999 Christmas recording. 

 

Along with being a recording studio, the facility is also the home of the Omega School of Applied Recording Arts and Sciences, which was opened in 1977.

Here are the Bad Brains, c. 82, at CBs in DC...