Blog: Rock Town Hall

Last night the family and I drove over to Weber's, an old-fashioned, American Graffiti -style drive-in near us for after-dinner milkshakes and root beer floats. I recently loaded The Cars ' first album on my iPod to please my wife during summer drives. It's on of her high school favorites, and I figured it would be a good time to introduce our boys to the album on our short drive. A massive thunderstorm broke out, so the normally 5-minute drive took a good 20 minutes. We ended up letting the album play out as we enjoyed our desserts. [...]

Whatever song this guy's playing ain't cutting it! Taxpayer, Super-Patriot, and Townsman hrrundivbakshi 's recent tale of walking out on a poorly executed and inappropriate performance by a US Army rock and soul band raised the obvious question: What would be the appropriate setlist for proper, rocking execution by a US Military rock and soul band? Here's an excerpt of HVB's super-patriotic rant: ESPECIALLY since the band showed no taste or common sense at all [...]

Stay tuned to your Rock Town Hall for details in the coming days. If you can't wait, you can pre-order here . Original post blogged on b2evolution .

I just finished reading Simon Reynolds' Rip It Up , which documents the Postpunk movement. In the afterword, Mr. Reynolds says, "What changed in the mideighties was that bands increasingly soundposted their reference points and that spotting these allusions became an integral part of the listener's aesthetic response and enjoyment." He goes on to discuss the C86 movement, REM, Husker Du, and The Smiths as bands that clearly reference back to the "guitar chimes and folk-styled vocals" of the '60s. Today's bands also seem to be very transparent about their sonic influences. [...]

What's going on in the great bowling alley of your mind? Original post blogged on b2evolution .

Even Chas Chandler managed to look cool in the '60s! In this morning's wee hours, while driving back from a show in Hoboken, NJ, my close personal friend, Townsman andyr, posed an interesting question from the passenger's seat: Did any musician beside Bill Wyman manage to have a bad Look during the 1960s ? I think a number of you would agree with us that the decade offered a variety of sound rock fashions, covering all body types, hair textures, and ethnic and racial [...]

There is one thing that bums me out the most about the legacy of The Clash : that the song "London Calling" is generally considered their anthem and stock song for modern-day artists to cover. It's not that I don't like the song "London Calling"; it's a keeper, but I consider it most valuable as a set up for what follows on the band's breakthrough album by the same name. I also consider it a song that only The Clash have the right to play. Of course, maybe that's why the song has taken [...]

Some of you may be following my ongoing efforts to rebuild Team Hippie for the modern age . The time is right for long hair, free (or at least inexpensive) love, and dancing in the streets, but I'm looking for a few good Peace Warriors to lead us out of our current cultural doldrums. As I interview prospective Peace Warriors, one question must be answered: Do you care enough about peace and love to fight for it? Read more » Original post blogged [...]

After RTH's recent global World Cup of Rock 'n Roll lovefest, I did a little research about my own fair city and found out that there has been a war going on right here in San Francisco . Apparently, there has been SERIOUS disagreement about the city's official song. It wasn't enough that Jeanette MacDonald lustily suggested that you "open your golden gates" in the title song from the 1936 film San Francisco . Instead, Tony Bennet 's later nostalgia about leaving his heart here was viewed as a serious [...]

It's not only a box of 2009 Robert Pollard record releases that I'm behind on reviewing but more, much more once-new (in some cases) material that's been submitted by independent musicians who are probably more professional in their musical pursuits than I am in any of my own pursuits as a rock journalist. In rapid-fire format, let's see if I can't catch up and give these artists their hard-earned and overdue due! Gemini Wolf, Synchronized Eyes Let's [...]

• Gemini Wolf, "Sudseyfuss" » Sudseyfuss.mp3

Today Townsman k. steps to The Main Stage with the following Last Man Standing competition. Take it away, k.! Those of us following the RTH World Cup of Rock 'n Roll saw cdm 's Australian squad play The Hoodoo Guru's "Like Wow, Wipeout!" - complete with an all-feedback solo. Although it may be a bit of a cliche move these days, I generally like this musical device when it comes in at just the right time. To clarify, I am [...]

Start playing at 3:15. All this reminiscing about the godawful Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie got me thinking about the weirdest moment in an otherwise already super-weird decade in filmed musical entertainment: the 1970s. That moment has to be the grand finale of the Robert Stigwood-produced Sgt. Pepper's movie. The movie is stupid enough, but -- for the huge chorus finale -- you can tell Stigwood put a call out to all his cronies, cohorts, and coke dealers to round up [...]

STOP, in the name of love! Last night I watched most of Taxi Driver for - what - the 25th time? [Make that 26th time - the cable station that was playing it played it again, back to back, so I had to watch it again to see what I'd missed earlier, and then I wanted to see the rest of the movie in sequence.] No director's movies resonate with me more deeply and consistently than Martin Scorsese 's classic films, from this 1976 breakthrough through [...]

Townsman shawnkilroy: you asked for it, you've got it! As a comment in another thread the man wrote: I would rather listen to Motley Crue's "Helter Skelter," than The Beatles' version. It works better. Just as i would rather hear "Mr. Tambourine Man" sang by The Byrds, than Dylan. Same goes for The Bangles' "Hazy Shade of Winter" over the S&G original. different thread i guess. I guess so. Here it is! [...]

Workin' their mojo. I ran into an acquaintance from the Halls of Rock recently who had been following the recently completed Rock Town Hall World Cup of Rock 'n Roll . "You know the most striking thing I learned?" he confided, "The Beatles are heavier than The Rolling Stones." "That's interesting," I replied, not surprised that he would come to that conclusion and, based on my own prejudices, almost immediately swayed by his conclusion. He continued. "I love Charlie Watts - don't get me wrong [...]

Children's books aren't what they used to be. My daughter, for example, is reading the novel I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want To Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb. It's story of Oliver Watson, an evil genius disguised as dorkish new boy who wants his father's love and will do anything to get it. Yep, anything. Even introduce middle grade kids to Captain Beefheart and Trout Mask Replica . Oliver explains to the reader why Beefheart was an [...]

What's your hidden talent? Original post blogged on b2evolution .

Casting Call Did anyone bother to see that movie on The Runaways ? I had no interest in seeing it, but I'd be tempted to see a rock biopic on Blondie . How about you? The tide is high, and a casting call is going out to Townspeople to cast the band members and related scenesters (eg, Seymour Stein, members of Talking Heads and The Ramones). For starters I'd propose Kirsten Dunst as Debbie Harry and Jason Schwartzman as [...]

It may have been inevitable that the heavily favored Team England won the inaugural Rock Town Hall World Cup of Rock 'n Roll over Team Jamaica - and there is less joy in Mudville than English fans had hoped - but congrats to England for its victory. Congrats are also due to Jamaica and coach bostonhistorian for a masterful tournament run. It was interesting, throughout the tournament, to follow the exploits of "tournament-built" underdog teams like Jamaica and Sweden and contrast their approaches with some of the struggling deep-catalog nations, like [...]

After a while, can you take your eyes off the heavy petting about to break out, behind Marvin Gaye 's left shoulder, between the tuxedo-clad gentleman and his lady? And what is it about "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" that made it one of the most heavily covered songs of its time? Is it really that great a song? Beside Nick Cave and whoever covered it on a likely Hal Willner -produced Jimmy Webb tribute album has anyone covered this song since the mid-'70s? I mean, I [...]