Solstice: 2013- More Music Notes - WaynesWord2: A Saratoga Blog By Wayne Perras

So much going on, good to have a lull– “What a lovely day to be lonelay.” as Broken Bells sing. For me the Saturday before Christmas forms such a day– not too many demands from the real estate public, nor current clients. Everyone shopping or otherwise occupied. A day to stay home for me. A day to lay back, contemplate and plan and stop being a Type A, to breathe deep instead. Take a day off from being court jester in every meeting; or conversely a calm counselor to nervous or uncertain clients. This is when musing about (and listening to) music can come to the forefront as I have the house largely to myself. I could write about The Saratoga Casino controversy that is brewing, or about what great movies are showing at downtown’s new Bowtie Theater… but for now I will stick with my impressions of a MUSICAL LIST recently compiled by WEXT– my favorite FM radio station, as most of you know from this blog.

MUSIC NOTES… and Reflections on “The Top 500 Groups”

As I write this, WEXT has just concluded a week-plus run of broadcasting their choices for The Top 500 Bands in History. I could go on and write a book at length about my reactions to that– mostly eupohoric or at least good, but some stingingly bad, and some just ugly. Let’s just say that a list that includes Asia, Bread, Kansas, & The Trans-Siberian Orchestra well ahead of Sly & The Family Stone, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Stevie Ray Vaughn’s Double Trouble, and The National– just to name a few– clearly implies that they did not ask MY opinion. Thankfully I was not listening when they played TSO, so didn’t barf in my car, or office.

But the good outweighed the bad. I could elaborate for pages here but I’m already aware my blogs are mostly too long to tolerate. Start with the WEXT (97.7 FM) Top Ten–

Predictably # 1– The Beatles

Surprisingly #2– Led Zeppelin

Falling to …#3– Rolling Stones

Intriguingly #4– Pink Floyd

Quizzically #5– Queen

Resoundingly #6– The Who

Underrated @ #7– Jimi Hendrix Experience

Maddeningly #8– AC/DC

My #1, to them #9– The DOORS

Rightfully #10– Nirvana

There were only two groups in the Top Ten — Queen, and AC/DC — that I could not agree with, nor stomach,and in fact neither would be in my Top 100. I can understand that they have huge fan bases, and had great stage shows in their day, but that is not enough to warrant Top 10– Dave Matthews Band meets those criteria and ended up down at #163, much to the chagrin of fanatic son Miles, and me. And I’m sure the impassioned Phish fans were irked or indignant at their boys being ranked #205, also, but those folk would be most likely listening to WEQX during such a countdown anyway.

I could rave a bit about how great the other 8 bands in the Top Ten are, but that would be a celebration of the Obvious, which I will leave to others. The Doors and Led Zepp I’ve already labelled as Rock Gods previously, and I could also testify ad infinitum about how much I loved the godhead Jimi, or the second band I ever saw at SPAC, early Pink Floyd. But some other time…

There are other bands that I would’ve considered for Top 10 inclusion, which meant the most to me during my lifetime, but showed up much further down the Exit977 list. They would include these–

(in no particular order on my part, but showing ‘EXT’s rankings):

#13– Derek & The Dominoes (Clapton & Duane at their mutual pinnacle, geezus….)

#16 — U2 (“The Joshua Tree” a 1987 masterpiece album/ and career high point)

#17 — Credence Clearwater Revival (“Proud Mary” a Top Ten song for the early me)

#19– Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Their ” Rockin’ in the Free World” Best SNL rock guitar act ever, kudos to Frank Stampinato & the timeless Neil)

#22– Cream (Rock Gods of ’67-’68– they were widely revered by those who knew)

#24– Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young (“Tin soldiers and Nixon comin’…” O-HI-O…”)

#26– Red Hot Chili Peppers (“Give It Away” a mind-blower first time I heard it)

#28– The Police (liked their late 90’s production more than early 80’s)

#32– Radiohead (“Kid A” a revelation when my first webmaster Eric Baker turned me onto it, year 2000)

#37– Santana (Top 10 for me, as a recording band and live act both)

#40– The Allman Brothers Band (Top 5 for me)

#41– Dire Straits (1978, a good story with that one)

#42– Deep Purple (“HUSH” is a Top 10 song to me)

#43– Jethro Tull (really old days here)

#55– The Animals (primordial Eric Burdon, great stuff)

#57– Steely Dan (back to my hoop days, radio on the bus rides…)

#58– Talking Heads (1983 Tour blew my mind)

#66– Smashing Pumpkins (among best of 90’s, to me)

#69– Buffalo Springfield (ominous line: “Somethin’ happening here…)

#72– The White Stripes (still learning how good they were)

#78– King Crimson (perhaps the heaviest stuff I heard in HS)

#82– Steppenwolf (“Born To Be Wild” a Top 20 all-time tune too)

#83– Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (Carl Landa might make them #1!)

Digging further– these would not be among my Top 10 candidates– except for possibly DMB or Blind Faith– but maybe otherwise would almost all be in the Top 100 for me– yet I was pleased to see them included:

#109– The Four Tops (among the best of Motown in my youth)

#117– George Thorogood & The Destroyers (“I DRINK ALONE!” –a fun phase,lol…)

#129– The Youngbloods (“Love One Another Right Now” — still gives me pause)

#132– Sam and Dave (“I’M A SOUL MAN!!!” Nothing quite like their original)

#139– The Zombies (still sound really good many years later)

#141– Beastie Boys (appreciated them more after they were done)

#142– James Gang (o man Joe Walsh was way cooler BEFORE The Eagles)

#143– Isley Brothers (“Whoooose That Lady?” one of the classics)

#147– Blind Faith (a legendary session, but only once…iconic music on 1 album)

#149– The Black Keys ( rare whiff of this century on the list- a very cool swagger)

#150– Canned Heat (“On the road again…” a buzzing beauty of a song)

#157– Funkadelic (Including George Clinton I presume?)

#163– DMB (those who have seen the band LIVE know how ridiculous this is)

#182– Mountain (largely forgotten, look up “Nantucket Sleighride” sometime)

#185– Little Feat (o man when Lowell George was still alive…sweet band)

#195– Prince & The Revolution (the Purple Rain tour alone qualified him…)

#202– Fine Young Cannibals (my wife & I both loved them courtship days…)

#207– Sublime (great name for a band that only seems greater with time)

#211– Foster The People!… wow that was quick…recent history pops up…

Next to #212– Captain Beefheart!! Eccentricity of an earlier era!! Great combo!!!!

#215– Spencer Davis Group (“I’m A Man, Yes I am, & I Love ya so…!”)

#216– Roxy Music (especially “Avalon”– beauty in the 80’s…)

#219– Kings of Leon (hope they tour this way again, we missed them…)

#237– Phoenix (maybe the newest group on the list, see my prior blog…)

#239– Florence & The Machine (see last September’s SPAC blog…)

#250– New Order (nasty dance music in early 80’s…back of the Metro)

#253– Jr. Walker & The Allstars (“SHOT-GUN!!” for that song alone they make it)

#259– Counting Crows (1st Sat Nite LIve appearance: “Mr, Jones!”…awesome)

#260– Human League (see number 250, ditto)

#284– Living Colour (Vernon Reid & his friends, not the Wayans Bros. TV show)

#286– Blues Traveller (John Popper’s harmonica on “But Anyway”–omg)

#298– John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers (this group had Clapton in it…)

#313– The Chambers Brothers (“TIME HAS COME TODAY!”)

#322– Cowboy Junkies (for Margo’s voice ….and her brother’s “Blue Guitar”)

#328– Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (“Tears of a Clown”)

#330– Sly & The Family Stone (one of the hippest black bands of my youth)

#335- The National (I’m a recent convert, but loved “Blood Buzz Ohio” too)

#338– Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble (one of Best I’ve ever seen live!)

#343– Return To Forever (surprise jazz-fusion inclusion–loved them @ 1 time! Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White!)

#353– Strawberry Alarm Clock (one hit wonder: “Incense & Peppermints”– but what an amazzzing single…)

#365– Weather Report (mid-70’s instrumentally mesmerizing…Joe Zawinul & Wayne Shorter, acolytes of Miles D.)

#382– Rare Earth (my hoop friend Billy Van Alstyne’s favorite band, c. 1970…)

#392– The Style Council (Paul Weller’s accompaniment to my mid-80’s despair)

#393– The Seeds ( “and We named it Rock N Roll”…nastiest ueven beat EVER)

#401– Men At Work (“Who Can It Be Now?” Colin Hay’s high voice was everywhere for awhile…)

#416– Government Mule (Warren Haynes great in any setting, but this band is HIS)

#435– The English Beat (vastly underrated: at least two phenomenal albums I loved)

#439– Yo La Tengo (amazing in retrospect, 3 decades of output…see prior blog…)

#446– Rusted Root (saw them warm up for Santana at SPAC years ago…my boys still remember that, and they were pretty young… )

#448– Everything But The Girl (soundtrack for great &/or sad romance, o yes)

#449– Massive Attack (obscure to some but everything I hear of theirs is good)

#460– Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (You had to be there, early 80″s!)

#464– Average White Band (mid-70’s/college, “Pickin’ Up The Pieces” was playing everywhere)

#469– Sugar Hill Gang (see #460 above…it all blends together in dance halls…)

#478– Culture Club (England in 1983, very popular there for several minutes…)

#479– Daft Punk (USA via France, 2013, very ubiquitous for most of this summer too…)

#481– Tedeschi Trucks Band (Derek Trucks and some horns makes this 11-piece one to watch, and his wife has a great, unique voice, a sultrier Bonnie Raitt)

#484– Soft Cell ( an 80’s flashback, brief on the scene, like #s 250 & 260, above…)

#490– Hold Steady (loved that tune about Summer…singer’s voice frantic & smart)

#493– Big Audio Dynamite (Clash split-off I liked as fat dance music, late 80’s??)

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You get the idea–just in reviewing the print version of this list, I’m rampant with opinions and memories of where I was when I heard each of the above… and a lot of great groups that did not make the list…

LIST OF SOME GRIEVOUS OMISSIONS:

Vampire Weekend– out of all the millenial groups of the last decade, I would put them in the top three with Black Keys and Arcade Fire, in terms of likely greatness and staying power… certainly more output than Foster The People, for instance…

Hot Tuna (please, where is Jorma? Where is Jack Cassady? You kidding?)

Atomic Rooster, (“Death Walks Behind You”- great rock tune… I might be the only one who remembers this bunch)

Spooky Tooth (my boyhood friend Fred loved this band, heard Chris Wienk mention them…)

Moby Grape, (my friend Hank STILL loves this San Francisco band best)

Miles Davis Band, Bitches Brew era… (a room full of assembled geniuses)

Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen (with Leon Russell! Best version of “Cry Me A River” of all time, and a slew of great tunes on their live double album– also Best version of “She Came In Thru The Bathroom Window” by The Beatles)

Ten Years After (Woodstock performers, why not on the List?)

Paul Butterfield Blues Band ( searingly good live act, famous on college circuit in 70’s)

Screaming Trees (“I Nearly Lost You…” a 90’s classic)

The Wallflowers (Jacob Dylan) (“One Headlight” is a classic)

Rage Against The Machine (surprising oversight– Tom Morello still big)

The XX (one of my faves from THIS decade we’re in)

OUTKAST (one of my faves of early 2000’s– “Bombs Over Baghdad” one of the most volatile tunes of all-time, and prophetic…)

Big Head Todd & The Monsters (How’d they miss this one?! I treasure & love their classic: “Bittersweet:)

Mahavishnu Orchestra (John McLaughlin at his arena band peak, saw them twice)

A Tribe Called Quest (bad oversight)

Morphine (really bad oversight–still played heavily in my house & car)

Treat Her Right (the late great Mark Sandman’s other band…)

Everclear (Art Alexakis? He was pretty cool for awhile, wasn’t he?)

The Minutemen (an amazing punk trio I discovered at WSPN in the 80’s, leader/guitarist D. Boon died too young, in 1985)

Mungo Jerry (“In the Summertime, When The Weather if fine…” great jingle)

Sugar Ray (“Fly” alone would qualify)

Digable Planets (hip-hop poets extending a fine but little-known beatnik tradition)

Fishbone (a memorable performance on SNL way back when….like an African juju ritual)

Renaissance (singer Annie Haslem, I believe, a siren singer of my youth, via WRPI)

Fairport Convention (also a staple of WRPI, late ’60’s into 70’s)

….and I reserve the right to add others to this list, as I think of them~

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And who would I remove, to add the above–

Glad you asked. Here are the bands that I either don’t recognize, or make me cringe, who ARE on the list, and would need to be removed, if I was music dictator of this world:

Captain & Tennile (“Muskrat Love??” are you f’reaking kidding me???)

Sugar (???)

Soup Dragons (?)

Ambrosia

April Wine

English Dan & John Ford Coley (kidding me?)

Twisted Sister (I could do without this genre altogether)

Poison (ditto)

Scorpions (ditto again)

Judas Priest (ditto times 3)

Iron Maiden (never into it)

Kasabian (just don’t know them?)

Dead Milkmen (ditto–must have missed this one)

Orange Juice (no idea)

Nickel Creek (I’m not a country music guy, presume this is?)

Night Ranger (ugh?)

Bread (please, get ’em off)

The Penguins (?? No idea who they are)

Toto (no comment)

Heatwave (don’t know who this is)

Zephyr (ditto, no idea)

Trans-Siberian Orchestra (I’ve already expressed my revulsion)

The Silver Convention (no impression of this band at all– did I miss something?)

Autograph (same comment as above, sorry, no knowledge of them)

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Among the more Famous acts that I would axe… (if I had to make more room…)

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (never could stand her “I Love Rock’N Roll”, sorry)

The Ramones (sacrilige to some, but I never liked them, especially “Sedated”)

Jefferson Starship (loved the Airplane, hated the Starship)

Asia (80’s pomposity and predictability at its worst)

The Boomtown Rats (because of how much I detest their celebration of a serial killer’s mindset: “I Don’t Like Mondays..”.)

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S0,…to the stellar anthologists and archivists Dave Michaels & Chris Wienk & KTG & Aja and all… thanks. All the deejays on this station know what they are doing… in fact, on the day I was wrapping up way too much writing on this subject, Wayne Henning was playing Vampire Weekend and Timbuk 3–( “the future’s so bright, I gotta wears shades…”), neither of which were on the list.

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Some final commentary:

As someone born in the 50’s. I should be pleased, I suppose, that the entire Top 10 (aside from Nirvana) dates back to when I was growing up– the Golden Age of Rock and Pop, so to speak. I guess there is something to be said for “passing the test of time” and becoming timeless, ironically.

But it struck me more than once, while listening to the countdown, that there were many groups on this list (like AC/DC or Queen or Iron Maiden or Nazareth or the despicable KISS) that are played on commercial “Classic Rock Stations” like PYX-106, and I am glad NOT to hear them on WEXT, as a rule. Same with Bad Company, Heart, STYX, Thin Lizzy, and Cheap Trick.

There are other tunes that one would normally only hear on specifically “oldies” stations like “Great 98”– the WTRY-kind of stuff I started out with, but now seems as dated as shag carpeting. Some of it is noteworthy, much of it is not– I love The Supremes and The Four Tops and The Impressions, in small doses, but do not want to hear Boston or The Guess Who on a regular basis, and certainly not Bread or The Carpenters, who thank Gawd did not make this list.

When I issued my reaction to the ambitious list of the Top 977 Albums of all time, I similarly felt there were NOT ENOUGH NEWER artists included– that list also tilted heavily to the past– 50’s thru 90’s– and not enough into the current century.

I feel THIS list was more inclusive and less prehistoric, and I went thru the whole 500 to filter out the groups that are from year 2000 till the present tense… or at least are still performing these days.

Here’s my take on these more contemporary acts ( in descending order on the list):

Radiohead (32– formed in the 90’s but still going strong, and getting better)

The Black Keys (149– the highest of any purely millenial group!)

Queens of The Stone Age (152–and gaining respect)

Dave Matthews Band (163– nuff said)

Arcade Fire (192– and rising!)

Phish (205– many think should be higher)

Foster The People (211– too unproven to be above some of these others)

Kings of Leon (219– heading higher)

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (233– Vermont-based faves around here)

Phoenix (237– with a bullet)

Florence & The Machine (239–a torrent of yin energy)

Mumford & Sons (244- climbing each year I believe)

Arctic Monkeys (256– but Rolling Stone thinks they’re better than this)

Snow Patrol (285)

Ben Folds Five (319)

Band of Horses (331– “Laredo” is a recent killer tune for me)

The National (335– this band is destined for greatness, & a higher ranking)

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals (362– best slide guitarist still going?)

The Heavy (374– “How Ya Like Me Now?” a wicked hook tune, even as KIA theme-song)

The Lumineers (377– Denver dudes winning over fans in a big way this past year or 2)

The Head & The Heart (378– wouldn’t have been on this list a year ago, moving up)

Nada Surf (379–an ‘EQX group I am trying to grasp)

Death Cab For Cutie (380– quirky but catchy, and Benjamin has moved on…)

My Morning Jacket (383– Jim James will only get more masterful as he proceeds…)

Meyer Hawthorne & The County (398– I didn’t see him in Albany but KTG raves about him so I believe her)

Franz Ferdinand (410– When 4 Down covered “Take Me Out” I loved it again)

Mazzy Star (425– atmospheric voice and compellingly diffferent sound)

Fleet Foxes (428– this group has grown on me since listening to WEXT)

Neutral Milk Hotel (437– same comment as #379, still learning about this one)

The Shins (438– not a fan of James Mercer’s histrionics, except in Broker Bells)

Nortec Collective (444– Josh Norec’s great Latin show has turned me on to this)

The Lone Bellow (467– noted in my last blog as an awesome harmonious trio)

Delta Rae (468– great southern spunk)

Daft Punk (479– two French dudes in Robot Gear making great dance funk)

Delta Spirit (480– like the kick of this band)

Tedeschi Trucks Band (481– extolled their virtues elsewhere)

Hold Steady (490– likewise, vastly underrated here)

Dawes (494– an LA band that is growing on me )

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings (499– glad she survived her cancer scare)

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So, by unofficial count, roughly 38 of the Top 500 are repping the period of the past 13 years, as oppose to the prior century… and some of these bands clearly started out before the Year 2000 (Phish, Ben Harper, and DMB, for instance). I am glad for the inclusion of these groups, however, while others unlisted yet, like Alt-J and The XX, Vampire Weekend and Alabama Shakes, are still announcing their presence, and will no doubt be on future lists.

In general, I was intrigued by the monumental nature of the LIST, but in thinking about it realized that in the upper echelons– it was heavily skewed toward a love of BRITISH imports– the Top 6 acts are all from England!! Until we get to Hendrix and The Doors and Nirvana, there are no domestic, American groups! Hmmm… The British Invasion still prevails.

I love and admire The Beatles– especially in terms of their prolific output, diversity of sonic palettes, harmonies, and wide range of styles– but Led Zeppelin and The Doors did a lot more for me in terms of excitement during my formative years, shall we say.
Robert Plant and Jim Morrison, along with Hendrix, remain the most influential voices in my psyche for this lifetime, so I guess I should be happy they are all in the Top Ten.

Thanks for bearing with me on all this– you must be a fellow fanatic if you read this far.

Take care and stay tuned… more to come before the Year 2013 is over!

PS– one musical oddity on television I wanted to comment on: There is a commercial now playing on national TV, advertising a video game for the new PS4, apparently. It uses the late Lou Reed’s voice singing his song “O What A Perfect Day” as it shows gladiators whack each other with swords, and race car drivers knocking each other for a loop, as they serenade each other. Great stuff, and I happened to see it for the first time on the day when Lou Reed’s death was announced on the news. Talk about receiving royalties after death– I hope his widow Laurie Anderson is getting the residuals on that deal, and am sure Lou is smiling somewhere to see his sardonic lyrics going bigtime commercial!

That’s it– finally…as I went on too long again, I know…

Wayne

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Solstice: 2013– More Music Notes

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