What are you listening to?

[Savonarola]

The Dictators - Go Girl Crazy! (1975)

An immediate precursor to The Ramones, they have the same sort of juvenile humor and questionable musical ability.  They're a little different, The Dictators are more like professional wrestling while The Ramones are more like a fright night horror movie (actually, that's probably a better description of Devo.  How about The Ramones are more like after-school detention?)  Some of their songs are a little naughty "Back to Africa" and "Master Race Rock" would certainly not fly today (though the latter is obviously a joke - and most of the members were Jewish.  It reminded me a bit of Kiss coming under fire for their lightning bolt s's even though Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons ( ) are Jewish.)

It's a strange coincidence that I was just reading about the MC5.  The lead singer of The Dictators, Handsome Dick Manitoba (possibly not his real name), would become the lead singer of the MC5 during their 2000s era (he also worked as a cab driver after The Dictators broke up.0

[Savonarola]

War - Why Can't We Be Friends? (1975)

There are some bright spots, but the rest of the album doesn't live up to the two hits (Low Rider and Why Can't We Be Friends?)  I think that's the problem with most of the War albums I've heard; a couple brilliant tracks and a lot of fill.  Still, when they were good, they were really good.

[crazy canuck]

I now have both songs running on a loop in my head.  I can't tell you how many times I heard them played on the radio in the 70s

[Savonarola]

I now have both songs running on a loop in my head.  I can't tell you how many times I heard them played on the radio in the 70s

Sorry, I think "Why Can't We Be Friends" is especially bad for that since the chorus is catchy, but it's the same line sung four times ("Yellow Submarine" is kind of like that too).  "Low Rider", I think, is a little better as you can escape by focusing on the percussion (and the Beastie Boys sampled it, so you could think of their version if you're familiar with it.)

[Neil]

Counting Crows have a new album out.  I've given it a couple of listens, and I'm broadly pleased.  It's definitely a continuation of their tendency to use older rock sounds in their recent albums, and the lyrics are predictably strong.  I'm going to go to their show in Vancouver this month. 

[Savonarola]

Neil Young - Tonight's the Night (1975)

Not at all like the Rod Stewart song.   

This is the last and, in my opinion, the best of Young's "Ditch Trilogy."  Written mostly in response to deaths by drug overdose of one of his roadies and a band member of Crazy Horse.  It's a downer of an album (except in "Borrowed Tune" where he sings about ripping off the Rolling Stones) but also heartfelt enough to be worth listening to.

It struck me as funny that Young is no longer on Spotify (he is on Amazon Music) as several of his albums are worth listening to, but not worth buying (the entire ditch trilogy for instance.)  The streaming model is ideal for him.

He does the main song/reprise thing that he'd do again, to much better effect, on "Rust Never Sleeps."

[Admiral Yi]

Neil Young made downer music?  What a shocker.

[crazy canuck]

Too bad Southern men didn't keep their head.

[The Minsky Moment]

Secret whores with ancient vices
Lucky has the lowest prices.

[Savonarola]

Neil Young made downer music?  What a shocker.

Heh, well he usually throws in an upbeat song or two or at least a rocker that rocks hard enough that you don't care that he's singing about mortality.  "Tonight's the Night" is a downer even by Neil Young standards.

[Savonarola]

In any event it's the fiftieth anniversary of

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run (1975)

Why would the New York Rangers hold their homecoming in Harlem?  Doesn't their fanbase live elsewhere?  Do the Islanders meet up in the south Bronx? 

 

All the stars aligned and the boss made the masterpiece he set out to make.  It's quite a vision, sort of like Chuck Berry goes Broadway; with all the guitar licks and saxophone breaks but with an infectious sense of theater.  I read one critic who described as a "Four square record" in that both sides of the album begin with excitement and promise ("Thunder Road" and "Born to Run" and end with disillusionment and disappointment ("Terry" and "Jungleland,") I thought that was insightful.  While Bob Dylan and Van Morrison are still influences on the lyrics; it's not as obvious as on the previous two albums and it sounds more influenced by Beat poetry.  He also plays up more to his strength in quick character sketches (and he would largely abandon the abstraction and metaphor on subsequent albums.)

[Savonarola]

In honor of their soon to be Kennedy Center Awards:

Kiss - Alive (1975) 

Kiss's first three albums were released to sluggish sales.  They tried to do a live album, believing that would capture their sound better.  It worked, they shot up the Billboard Charts to number 9 and stayed on the charts for 110 weeks.  They also penned their anthem/credo "Rock and Roll All Nite."  Critics at the time didn't get it; today it sounds like the definitive hard rock album (or, at least, it would be hard to fit in more hard rock concert cliches in an hour than this album does.)

Kiss had caught on in the rust belt prior to this album.  The Kiss Army had started in Terre Haute.  There was a high school in Cadillac, Michigan, whose football team played Kiss in the locker room before their games (and won ten in a row after doing it.)  Two of the venues on the album were in Cleveland and Detroit (the other two were New Jersey and Iowa.)  We must love spectacle as Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop were both from Metro Detroit.

Also, in reading, I learned that Condoleezza Rice was a member of the Kiss Army.  That amused me.

Was anyone ever a member of a bands official fan club?  (I wasn't)

[Savonarola]

Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)

A continuation of "Court and Spark" with a bunch of breezy jazz-rock.  The lyrics are sharper, and more observational rather than confessional.  A number  of critics say that the jazz is more avant-garde on this one, but to me most of them sound similar to "Help Me."  The exception, and I think the best song on the album, is "The Jungle Line," which has a Burundi drum line and is played on the Moog – managing to both prefigure the world beat of Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon and David Byrne; and to be tied right to the moment.

[Savonarola]

Queen - A Night at the Opera (1975)

I don't think it's Queen's best album (I prefer "Sheer Heart Attack") but I think it's the Queen's queenliest album; as bombastic, fantastic and over the top as they were capable (which was a great deal.)  There are a couple dead spots on it; I think "The Prophet" isn't very good (especially not the a cappella part) and "You're My Best Friend" is like adding a heaping spoonful of sugar onto a bowl of Froot Loops.  Otherwise it's great throughout.

On this listen I thought it was funny that Led Zeppelin and T. Rex would use a car as a metaphor for sex/woman ("Trampled Under Foot", "Jeepster", "Bang a Gong") while Queen uses girl as a metaphor for the car ("I'm in Love with My Car.")

[Josephus]

Joni Mitchell – The Hissing of Summer Lawns (1975)

A continuation of "Court and Spark" with a bunch of breezy jazz-rock.  The lyrics are sharper, and more observational rather than confessional.  A number  of critics say that the jazz is more avant-garde on this one, but to me most of them sound similar to "Help Me."  The exception, and I think the best song on the album, is "The Jungle Line," which has a Burundi drum line and is played on the Moog – managing to both prefigure the world beat of Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon and David Byrne; and to be tied right to the moment.

Lots of people say this is her finest moment. I still say it's Hejira.