A Century of Music

[Zeeba Neighba]

Ramones - Leave Home (1977)
Ramones - Rocket to Russia (1977)
Saturday Night Fever (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1977)

Quite the prolific listening day today. Of course, one can knock out a couple of Ramones albums in minutes
I've said this plenty of time but I find glee in the mindless simplicity of Ramones music, the pure unadulterated joy of three-cord music played fast. Their second album lacks the raw power of their debut but is good; Rocket to Russia is much better - though with the same musicians and producers, difficult to tell why it's better - ah well, why question.

Now to wrap up the day with an album completely in the opposite direction, but certainly iconic of the era.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Ramones - Leave Home (1977)
Ramones - Rocket to Russia (1977)
Saturday Night Fever (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1977)

Quite the prolific listening day today. Of course, one can knock out a couple of Ramones albums in minutes
I've said this plenty of time but I find glee in the mindless simplicity of Ramones music, the pure unadulterated joy of three-cord music played fast. Their second album lacks the raw power of their debut but is good; Rocket to Russia is much better - though with the same musicians and producers, difficult to tell why it's better - ah well, why question.

Now to wrap up the day with an album completely in the opposite direction, but certainly iconic of the era.

Liked, even though disco will always suck.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Liked, even though disco will always suck.

I remember seeing Airplane in the theater when younger (maybe a little too young at 12 and the scene where the plane knocks over the radio station tower as it broadcasts "WZAZ in Chicago where disco rules forever". The audience in the theater let out a rousing cheer - certainly by 1980 it was clear a lot of people had had enough of disco. I was too young to ever go to a disco, but for me disco was blended in with the top 40 music of my youth and so I have always enjoyed even as I got more into rock. Granted it's a genre best enjoyed in short doses.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Iggy Pop - Lust for Life (1977)
Iggy Pop - The Idiot (1977)
The Damned - Damned Damned Damned (1977)
Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977)
Wire - Pink Flag (1977)

A far cry from the classic rock of Rumours, The Stranger, or Bat Out of Hell. What a wonderful year!
Iggy's first solo album The Idiot was followed right after by his second album (Kill City recorded in 1975 as a demo and tweaked a bit was also released this year). Both are good, but Lust for Life is just aces for me
As I've never been a tremendous fan of the Sex Pistols album (as far as a punk spirit of venomous hatred spat out on tape, ya can't top it grant it), I will point out the Damned's debut was released 8 months earlier than the Sex Pistols (even before the Clash's debut too) and is a much better listen - more of a raw, fast Ramones like energy (maybe why I like it better) rather than a fuck-the-establishment rant. Both admittedly have their place in punk music
It's tough to believe Wire's debut came out the same year as the three Brit punk groups debuts mentioned above. Completely distinct and perhaps that's why it had more of a direct influence on post-punk/alternative. I like Robert Christgau's review of Pink Flag:

The simultaneous rawness and detachment of this debut LP returns rock and roll irony to the (native) land of Mick Jagger, where it belongs. From a formal strategy almost identical to the Ramones, this band deducts most melody to arrive at music much grimmer and more frightening: Wire would sooner revamp "The Fat Lady of Limbourg" or "Some Kinda Love" than "Let's Dance" or "Surfin' Bird." Not that any of the twenty-one titles here have been heard before--that would ruin the overall effect of a punk suite comprising parts so singular that you can hardly imagine them in some other order.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Iggy Pop - Lust for Life (1967)
Iggy Pop - The Idiot (1967)
The Damned - Damned Damned Damned (1967)
Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1967)
Wire - Pink Flag (1967)

A far cry from the classic rock of Rumours, The Stranger, or Bat Out of Hell. What a wonderful year!
Iggy's first solo album The Idiot was followed right after by his second album (Kill City recorded in 1975 as a demo and tweaked a bit was also released this year). Both are good, but Lust for Life is just aces for me
As I've never been a tremendous fan of the Sex Pistols album (as far as a punk spirit of venomous hatred spat out on tape, ya can't top it grant it), I will point out the Damned's debut was released 8 months earlier than the Sex Pistols (even before the Clash's debut too) and is a much better listen - more of a raw, fast Ramones like energy (maybe why I like it better) rather than a fuck-the-establishment rant. Both admittedly have their place in punk music
It's tough to believe Wire's debut came out the same year as the three Brit punk groups debuts mentioned above. Completely distinct and perhaps that's why it had more of a direct influence on post-punk/alternative. I like Robert Christgau's review of Pink Flag:

It's interesting how tightly and competently played the Pistols' album is. I wonder how much studio musicians had a hand in that.

 

[axolotl]

(1967)

(1967)

(1967)

(1967)

(1967)

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Iggy Pop - Lust for Life (1967)
Iggy Pop - The Idiot (1967)
The Damned - Damned Damned Damned (1967)
Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1967)
Wire - Pink Flag (1967)

A far cry from the classic rock of Rumours, The Stranger, or Bat Out of Hell. What a wonderful year!
Iggy's first solo album The Idiot was followed right after by his second album (Kill City recorded in 1975 as a demo and tweaked a bit was also released this year). Both are good, but Lust for Life is just aces for me
As I've never been a tremendous fan of the Sex Pistols album (as far as a punk spirit of venomous hatred spat out on tape, ya can't top it grant it), I will point out the Damned's debut was released 8 months earlier than the Sex Pistols (even before the Clash's debut too) and is a much better listen - more of a raw, fast Ramones like energy (maybe why I like it better) rather than a fuck-the-establishment rant. Both admittedly have their place in punk music
It's tough to believe Wire's debut came out the same year as the three Brit punk groups debuts mentioned above. Completely distinct and perhaps that's why it had more of a direct influence on post-punk/alternative. I like Robert Christgau's review of Pink Flag:

Cue Rod Serling's voice: in an alternate reality, everything was 10 years ahead of its time.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Whoopsie!

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Steely Dan - Aja (1977)
Jackson Browne - Running on Empty (1977)
Queen - News of the World (1977)
Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (1977)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Some final 1977 albums today:

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Street Survivors (1977)
The Vibrators - Pure Mania (1977)
Bootsy Collins - Ah...The Name Is Bootsy, Baby (1977)

Fun Friday afternoon listen: Street Survivors, Ronnie Van Zandt's swan song is probably their best overall album. The Vibrators debut is just pure pop punk joy as much early New Wave as it is punk. And love Bootsy's second album where he turned to old partner George Clinton as the producer.

 

[Unsomnambulist]

Some final 1977 albums today:

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Street Survivors (1977)
The Vibrators - Pure Mania (1977)
Bootsy Collins - Ah...The Name Is Bootsy, Baby (1977)

Fun Friday afternoon listen: Street Survivors, Ronnie Van Zandt's swan song is probably their best overall album. The Vibrators debut is just pure pop punk joy as much early New Wave as it is punk. And love Bootsy's second album where he turned to old partner George Clinton as the producer.

Racists Ruined the Confederate Flag for Lynyrd Skynyrd

To the last original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, abandoning the Confederate flag signified the band cutting its ties to racism, the Ku Klux Klan and skinheads. To some of the band's fans, it meant cutting ties to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

www.theatlantic.com

This is topical. 2012.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Welcome to 1978 starting with the usual Monday playlist of top tracks and popular singles including:

"Roxanne" by The Police
"Don't Look Back" by Boston
"Badlands", "The Promised Land" by Bruce Springsteen
"I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor
"YMCA", "Macho Man" by The Village People
"Heart of Glass", "One Way or Another" by Blondie
"Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits
"One Nation Under A Groove" by Funkadelic
"I Wanna Be Sedated" by Ramones
"Miss You" by The Rolling Stones
"Who Are You" by The Who
"Le Freak", "I Want Your Love" by Chic
"Old Time Rock and Roll" by Bob Seger
"Rock Lobster" by B-52s
"Just What I Needed", "My Best Friend's Girlfriend" by The Cars
"Because the Night" by Patti Smith Group
"Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon
"September" by Earth, Wind & Fire
"Runnin' With the Devil", "You Really Got Me" by Van Halen
"Renegade" by Styx
"What A Fool Believes" by Doobie Brothers
"Surrender" by Cheap Trick
"Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty
"Copacabana" by Barry Manilow
"Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey
"Pump It Up", "Radio Radio" by Elvis Costello
"Is She Really Going Out With Him" by Joe Jackson
"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" by Rod Stewart
"You're The One That I Want" by Olivia Newton John and John Travolta
"Grease" by Frankie Valli
"Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush
"Reunited" by Peaches & Herb
"Got to Be Real" by Cheryl Lynn
"Hold the Line" by Toto
"Last Dance" by Donna Summer
"Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen
"Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldnt've)" by The Buzzcocks
"Is This Love" by Bob Marley & The Wailers
"Wheel In the Sky" by Journey
"My Life", "Big Shot" by Billy Joel
"Life's Been Good" by Joe Walsh
"Knock on Wood" by Amii Stewart
"(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais" by The Clash
"Hopelessly Devoted to You" by Olivia Newton John
"Love is Like Oxygen" by Sweet
"Feels So Good" by Chuck Mangione
"With a Little Luck" by Paul McCartney
"Shadow Dancing" by Andy Gibb
"Cheeseburger in Paradise" by Jimmy Buffett
"Three Times a Lady" by The Commodores
"Das Model" by Kraftwerk
"Take A Chance on Me" by ABBA
"Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones
"Shake Your Body (Down to The Ground)" by The Jacksons
"Kiss You All Over" by Exile
"I'm Every Woman" by Chaka Khan
"Hot Blooded" by Foreigner
"Take Me To The River" by Talking Heads
"Stumblin' In" by Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro
"Follow You Follow Me" by Genesis
And many many more...

 

[axolotl]

"Kiss You All Over" by Exile

I could imagine a reason to listen to any or all of the songs on this list, with the exception of this one.

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

I could imagine a reason to listen to any or all of the songs on this list, with the exception of this one.

LOL

Hey, #1 songs typically make the weekly playlist
Definitely, a song of its era would be a kind way of saying it.
And yet, I don't mind it. I actually feel guilty but I find it a bit sensuous
(you know, in a open polyester shit approaching a woman in a lounge and asking her what's her sign kind of way )

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Beginning 1978 albums:

Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
Elvis Costello - This Year's Model (1978)
Blondie - Parallel Lines (1978)
The Cars - The Cars (1978)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

The Police - Outlandos d'Amour (1978)
Van Halen - Van Halen (1978)
Billy Joel - 52nd Street (1978)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - Stranger in Town (1978)
Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove (1978)
The Jam - All Mod Cons (1978)
Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy (1978)
Chic - C'est Chic (1978)
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes - Hearts of Stone (1978)

A mix of classic rock, funk/R&B, and a bit of early new wave with The Jam. All frequent spins on my list
Hearts of Stone, for most, probably seems just like a typical late 70s rock album - the best Springsteen album that Springsteen didn't record. In fact, I had to go down the list of albums of the year quite a bit to find it. For me, though, it's fantastic - one of those album that just resonates greatly with me for unclear reasons. I've seen Southside twice in concert years ago - great shows

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Boston - Don't Look Back (1978)
The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978)
The Rolling Stones - Some Girls (1978)
Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers (1978)

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978)
Neil Young - Comes A Time (1978)
Dire Straits - Dire Straits (1978)

One wouldn't think I would enjoy Devo's debut (not much of a new wave guy), but indeed I do (though haven't broken it out recently)
Trivia about the album that I just learned about Devo's debut (you may already know these tidbits)
1) "Are we not men" comes from H.G. Wells The Island of Dr. Moreau
2) The picture on the cover originally was intended to be of golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez but, under a time crunch, they didn't get the rights so they used a heavily airbrushed image of Chi Chi. Eventually they got the rights, and Rodriguez' image appeared on the 45 sleeve for "Be Stiff" (see below)

As for this afternoon's other listens - much more mellow particularly Harvest 2: Electric Boogaloo - a low key, underrated Neil album

 

[Zeeba Neighba]

Friday AM listens:
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Kaya (1978)
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Babylon by Bus (live) (1978)
Rush - Hemispheres (1978)
Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978)