In the Golden Age of 45’s, we would’ve called Rich Arithmetic’s latest single a Double-A side. On YOU ARE ALWAYS RIGHT, Rich opens one of his most vital arteries, and with his longtime singing partner Lance Morgan, they spill sweet harmonies on to a canvas of late ‘60s folk rock (by way of mid-’80s Athens jangle). Kansas guitar …
INTRO In the artistic aftermath of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” pop and rock critics were speculating about what would be the Next Big Thing in Rock. Some bands spun off into art and prog rock, others went back to the rootsy basics, and still others were helping along the evolution of folk-rock as …
A couple weeks ago I was working up an acoustic arrangement of Van’s song, “Crazy Love,” for May May and me to sing with another couple. After a few passes at it, I abandoned it for a different song by a more harmony-inclined band. Despite the catchiness & simplicity of “Crazy Love,” it just isn’t …
After Sgt. Pepper, many of us Baby Boomers became so, uhhh, “sophisticated,” that we began sneering at many of the early British Invasion bands who served as our first introductions to rock ‘n’ roll. So many superb bands, including The Hollies and The Zombies and The Searchers, got shuffed off by us in our unwashed …
Back in the days before Marvel’s more “realistic” super heroes overthrew DC’s dominance in the comics marketplace, DC would sometimes feature what they referred to as “imaginary stories,” which was a rather endearing way of saying the plot pursued an alternative story arc that didn’t fit in the overall fictional continuity of the characters involved. …
Last night Bill Larsen and I and a few others were sharing some musical memories from the late ’70s, and it struck me that I really can’t underestimate the cumulative effect that several records from roughly 1979 or so had on me — “Starry Eyes” (The Records), “Girl of My Dreams” (Bram Tchaikovsky), “Too Late” …
As rock ‘n’ roll evolved into Rock in the later Sixties, there arose a distinct category of bands, the “Superstar Bands” in which each individual member was a so-called superstar instrumentalist (Cream, Blind Faith, Led Zeppelin, for example). During that period it became rather popular to say that The Beatles and that Ringo in particular …
The start of baseball season is still several weeks away. But in the meantime, your own Spring Training should include watching four particular fabulous baseball films from the 1980’s. Frankly, it’s hard to go wrong with a baseball film; every decade has had great ones. But for some reason, the ’80s were a particularly golden …
50 years ago The Beatles were introduced to America. Aside from their music, which still stands on its own merits, they helped launch what we now think of as The Sixties. They didn’t start it, of course. After all, the other strands were there — the yearnings for racial equality, artistic restlessness, and a burgeoning …
Merry Christmas from James Nicholson and me, along with all the other artists at Optional Art who made this one of the most fun musical projects I’ve ever worked on. Originally released in 1996, Cool Yule is still an annual revisit for many. Think of it as It’s a Wonderful Life meets A Peanuts Christmas …
Not that I have anything against bluegrass (a lot of which I love), but this banjo riff is closer to something you might hear from Andy Partridge and XTC than Union Station. Another terrific acoustitristic song from my favorite brother, Mark Horton. – Rich Horton
“You Don’t Own Me” was a great pre-feminist pop nugget from 1964. But it’s ironic now, nearly 50 years later, that we need reminders from a song this old. Then again, Lesley Gore was ahead of her time. – Rich Horton
I love “Route 66” (the road, the song and the TV series), I love Brian Setzer, and I love the sound of a Gretsch guitar. It all works here. – Rich Horton http://youtu.be/Ck6sGWn99jQ
This youtube clip has had 1,580,728 people watch it (as of 7/10/12), can they all be wrong? You decide, cast your vote now… – Pat Thomas is the author of the recently released work, Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 Just when I’d come to believe I was safe from ever …
[Your comments are appreciated, what are some other great moments from Nick Lowe’s career? Please join in below.] For my money, “Bring the Family” by John Hiatt (1987) is Nick Lowe’s production highlight. Lowe’s production of this record (like most of his productions) perfectly suits Hiatt’s songs and arrangements. Only the barest production tricks and …
She’s probably been one of the most adventurous artists of the past 25 years, dipping her toe in more genre-stretching experimentation than almost anyone I can think of and still maintaining a solid melodic & harmonic core. Usually, her experiments have succeeded, but even her “failures” have been noble. The pity is that most folks …
Davy Jones, the diminutive “cute one” of The Monkees, has died. He was 66. There was a time in the mid-’60s, roughly following the releases of “Rubber Soul” and “Pet Sounds,” when the rock audience grew up. Or, at least, we thought we had. In any event, we became rock-snobs and started looking down our …
As the son of a preacher myself, when Dusty Springfield first released this record, I fancied it was about me — which was pure narcissism on my part, to say the least. Aside from that, it’s still a great record, and Dusty was at her peak when she made it. – Rich Horton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go7mSyRohII
http://youtu.be/qAkubiZhly4 “To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To anyone who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest …
RIP, Andrew Gold. Many in the public probably think of Gold as the guy who had a couple minor hits back in the day, “Lonely Boy” and “Thank You For Being A Friend,” but he was the musical instrumental, arranging, and production genius behind many of the big name pop & rock stars of the …
We common folk and our pesky entitlements are being blamed for the debt & deficit disaster. But when Bush came into office, we had a surplus that was quickly erased by (1) unfunded tax cuts that primarily went to the wealthy, (2) two simultaneous wars, and (3) a recession that was directly attributable to deregulation …
Up until the late 1960’s it was rare that a Top 40 hit single broke the three-minute mark. Sure, there were exceptions, such as Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” and The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” both of which ran well over three minutes. But so much was exceeding the three-minute barrier …
Just when you didn’t think it was possible to do an even more wholesome version of the 1980’s A-Ha “Take on Me” bubblegum video from the early days of MTV, here comes C.N. Blue’s impossibly catchy and wholesome-to-a-fault “Love Girl.” Now, as a somewhat cynical guy who’s been around the block a few times, I …
It’s Easter season, and I am reminded that it’s not only the political authorities but also the religious establishment that is threatened by the message that the last should be first, the poor should be blessed, the peacemakers should inherit the earth, and the hungry should be fed, with no qualifiers about the “deserving poor” …
This is a moral issue. The fact that nearly 64% of the nation’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of 5% of the population is a scandal, while 80% of the population holds only 13% of the country’s wealth. Yet, the Right, particularly those with a “moral” agenda, concentrates its outrage on people’s sex lives …
Yes, it will, according to this Billboard article: Beach Boys’ Lost ‘Smile’ Album to See Release in 2011. I love Brian Wilson and am glad to see this. However, I hope fans realize that this will not really be the “Smile” album in any real sense, as “Smile” never was finished being written or recorded, …
Hollywood movie makers of the 1940’s didn’t necessarily set out to make cinematic history. In fact, many of them were European émigrés escaping Nazism, who were merely trying to adopt the tone and voice of their new country, which they discovered in no less an American style than hard-boiled pulp novels. But their more sophisticated …
Richie’s Reprisal: Thoughts from the Pallid Pilgrim OUT-SPECTORING SPECTOR by Rich Horton In the days before multi-tracking, producers of rock-influenced pop records were stuck with the thorny problem of how to translate rock’s bombast over the tinny car radio speakers by which most American teenagers heard the music. Phil Spector’s solution to the problem was …
“Weren’t Young Fresh Fellows more important in the grand scheme of things than Nirvana? And wasn’t Popllama more significant than SubPop? – East Portland Blog Critic’s Roundtable, Part 1 (This conversation has four parts.) Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 Through the 1980s a couple of different strains ran through …
Prior to and contemporaneous with, Grunge, Seattle was a center for great melodic pop from such luminaries as the Posies, the Young Fresh Fellows, (whose leader Scott McCaughey went on to play in REM for years) Sister Psychic, Flake, Stumpy Joe, Model Rockets, Presidents of the United States of America and numerous others. Out of …