For those of you grousing about The Who’s over the hill performance at halftime of the Super Bowl yesterday, thank Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson. Thanks to JT’s lyrical boast that “I’ll have you naked by the end of this song” we are stuck with a classic rock soundtrack as we plate more nachos, and crack open fresh beers during halftime. I have no doubt that a reuniting of band with front man will bring bands such as Van Halen and Journey to the Super Bowl in the near future.
There was a middle period in my musical appreciation of The Who where I grew to kind of despise them for a few years. One of my buddies who I went to school with would play The Who in his car four out of five mornings on our way to school and after awhile Daltrey’s voice became the singular thing that I was sure would cause me to drop out of school. That was many years ago so I’m good with The Who again and can now even count one of the songs that Tom made me listen to as one of my favorites. “Eminence Front” was the rock radio mainstay off of this album but “I’ve Known No War” is the one that seems like it should have become one of The Who’s patented rock anthems.
I’ve known no war
And if I ever do I won’t know for sure
Who’ll be fighting whom
For the soldiers lonely tomb
Now opens as soon as the
referee’s gun starts to roar
I’ll know no war
Carrie Underwood’s rendition of the Star Spangled Banner will mark the third straight year that the anthem has been sung by a former American Idol contestant. So, while everyone else is trying to predict which team will win tomorrow (I’m saying the Colts by two TDs), how many times Kim Kardashian will appear live on the broadcast (I’m saying that if I was the TV producer I would show her 173 times for a total of about two hours, and only show tiny parts of the game so that no one would ever want to see KK again), and what the outcome of the coin toss will be (on edge like my all time favorite episode of The Twilight Zone would be kind of cool), I’m going to take a stab at who will sing the anthem next year.
If it’s going to be an American Idol veteran, it might be time for a guy, so how about Daughtry? Or, of course how about the winner of this season, so maybe the gal from Seattle who covered Melissa Etheridge (Danelle Hayes) might be there. The SB is in Dallas next year and since Texas is where former Idol winner Kelly Clarkson is from, she could get the call. Lady Gaga dressed as the Statue of Liberty in fishnets?
While I think on my prediction for a second, let me offer up one of thee all time great pop songs. There was a nice rendition done on the American Idol auditions last week which really got me thinking about this song. I’m only a Beatles fan of about a three rating on a scale of one to five, so it makes me realize how great they were when I hear other people cover their songs, and I just say to myself, wow that’s an awesome tune. There really aren’t that many artists that can be covered by a wide range of people, and have the song come off as being really special on a consistent basis.
“Hey Jude” (1968) – The Beatles
So, I’m going to predict that the SB AI streak will be broken and the singer next year will be….. (drum roll, please)…. actually, singers…. The Jonas Brothers. Boo and hiss, or shriek and scream, but not much in between.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are one of those bands that most of the hipster blogosphere seems to be totally infatuated with. I’ve given their debut, self titled album a few cover to cover listens and while I find it to be a nice, kind of catchy collection of songs, I just don’t see how this band is getting that whole crazy “It Band” tag. They remind a little of The English Beat, or Psychedelic Furs…. I ain’t hatin’, just not totally diggin’.
By the way, in a half hearted attempt to prove that I’m not all about pop radio, a couple of the bands that the indie, obscurist, hipster crowd are digging that I am also totally on board with are The XX, and Animal Collective.
He’s the son of Steve Earle, and named after Townes Van Zandt. He’s a torch carrier for the honky tonk, shot a well whiskey and beer chaser, no frills brand of country. I’m a guy who for many years claimed that he had no use for country. The fact is that I’ve got a lot of love for the kind of country that the Earles churn out. Justin will be coming to Seattle in two weeks, and hopefully I’ll be attending that show.
For the couple of hour’s worth of the Grammys that I saw last night, this was the co-best performance of the night with the Mary J. Blige/Andrea Bocelli my other favorite. The Grammys are nominally a music awards show but the whole thing is so much about image and appearance that it is often times the exception to have a performance to be all about the music. DMB and their multi-ethnic/dimensional sound played out kind of as a jam session full of secular players worshipping nothing but the music.
Want to pack your bags something small
Take what you need and we disappear
Without a trace we’ll be gone
Moon and the stars will follow the car
And then when we get to the ocean
Gonna take a boat to the end of the world
All the way to the end of the world
Oh, and when the kids are old enough we’re gonna teach them to fly
So, PJ, U2, Green Day, Kings of Leon, or The Boss is going to get a win tonight at The Grammys for The Best Rock Song. I’ve heard four of the nominated songs (U2 being the exception) a combined total of about 500 times, and if it hadn’t been for the heavy personal rotation, I’d probably be excited that one of them will win. Actually, maybe I wouldn’t be excited since I think there’s at least one song on each band’s album that is better than the nominate song (PJ – “Just Breathe”, Green Day – “East Jesus Nowhere”, KOL – “Notion”, Bruce – “My Lucky Day”).
The envelope waits though and someone will win with a typical, radio friendly rock song. His version probably didn’t meet all of the criteria (whatever that is) that make a song eligible for a Grammy nomination, but I think that Adam Lambert’s version of the Tears for Fears song, “Mad World” was about the best performance, if not song of the year.
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
the dreams in which I’m dying
Are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It’s a very, very
Mad World
Mad World
Reeking like a pigsty
Peeling back and gagging free
Flaccid ego in your hand
Chokes on dry tears, can you understand?
She’s jeering at the shadows
Sneering behind a smile
Lunge and thrust to pout and pucker
Into the face of the beguiled
Style, talent, originality, and influence transcending genre; Siouxsie and The Banshees covered all the bases. I heard this song for the first time in a long time tonight while watching the very nicely done movie “Son of Rambow.”
Well when you’re sitting back in your rose pink Cadillac
Making bets on Kentucky Derby Day
Ah, I’ll be in my basement room with a needle and a spoon
And another girl to take my pain away
Take me down little Susie, take me down
I know you think you’re the queen of the underground
And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won’t forget to put roses on your grave
Katy Perry. On a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being Annoying and 10 being Super Annoying, where would you rank Ms. Perry’s performance as a guest judge on American Idol last night. To get all catty with fellow judge Kara is one thing. Kara’s a big girl and is raking in a big pile of dough, so she can deal with it. Perry’s flippant attitude with contestants and acting like she had somewhere more important to be is what gets her perfect 10, a 10 with a big “T”, on my scorecard. Katy, tell your brasses to sit/stay for a second so you can hear this.
The fans who have been kind enough to put some money in your bank account, did so because you kissed a girl and liked it, more so than because they heard your music and liked it. My free career advice is to keep churning out songs about kissing girls unless you want people to stop putting you on TV and their IPods. You know the whole “act like you’ve been there before” cliché? Maybe try being a role model or a mentor to a couple of kids hoping to catch a break? Apparently not, but that’s okay because I doubt that you would have much to offer unless some poor kid wants advice on what kind of fruit they should dress up as.
Yikes, that was all a major violation of a key tenet of the Play On mission statement which calls for this blog to be a No Hater Zone. So, for the record, I don’t hate Ms. Perry, she’s just annoying. My cat’s annoying but I put up with him. I think I’ll dress my cat up as a watermelon, the next time he starts in with his paranormal, dead zone, guttural yowl.
And for today’s song, here’s something totally unrelated to my rant.