The music jerk is free!
Sorry about the lack of posts, The Man was trying to throw your music jerk in jail. Eek!
So yesterday was Prince's birthday. He turned 48. 48?!?! How is this guy 48?! Honestly, he looks like a 28 year old weasel/human hybred. But in the end he made Purple Rain. Purple Rain.
So for some odd reason last night I remembered this old show on VH1, I believe it was called The List. They would have four guests, give them a topic and name the top three things in that given topic. I remembered this one episode where the topic was the three songs you'd send out into space in order to try and explain rock and roll. It was pretty interesting. So yeah, here's my three:
1) "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry - This song IS rock and roll plain and simple. It's a rock song about rock and roll played by the TRUE king of rock and roll, Chuck Berry. Don't give me that Elvis horseshit. Chuck Berry, son. This song effectively shows everything rock and roll is and ever could be.
2) "Ziggy Stardust" by David Bowie - first off, Bowie is a God-damned genius; I wish a plague on anyone who doesn't see it that way. This song is excatly like "Johnny B. Goode," it's a wonderous rock song about rock and roll. It's like Bowie just remade the song and updated it for the 70s. Just like Berry's song it tells a great story.
3) "When Doves Cry" by Prince and The Revolution - Okay, so this one is definately one of those "what the hell is this jerk thinking" picks. But in the end, it's one of those songs that happen to show many things about rock. It shows how you can show your feelings through the medium rather than just tell a story like the two previous songs. It proves that you can move away from a traditional rock sound yet still be undeniably rock and roll.
All these songs are wonderfully catchy and everyone should sing along when they pop up on the radio. The define what rock is, without a doubt.
Got a good pick? Let me know.
I'm going to see the white boy funk stylings of !!! this Friday. I'm sure I'll have something to say about that...
And I'll be talking a bit about Depeche Mode and dumb kindergarden answers to music questions in the next installment.
So yesterday was Prince's birthday. He turned 48. 48?!?! How is this guy 48?! Honestly, he looks like a 28 year old weasel/human hybred. But in the end he made Purple Rain. Purple Rain.
So for some odd reason last night I remembered this old show on VH1, I believe it was called The List. They would have four guests, give them a topic and name the top three things in that given topic. I remembered this one episode where the topic was the three songs you'd send out into space in order to try and explain rock and roll. It was pretty interesting. So yeah, here's my three:
1) "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry - This song IS rock and roll plain and simple. It's a rock song about rock and roll played by the TRUE king of rock and roll, Chuck Berry. Don't give me that Elvis horseshit. Chuck Berry, son. This song effectively shows everything rock and roll is and ever could be.
2) "Ziggy Stardust" by David Bowie - first off, Bowie is a God-damned genius; I wish a plague on anyone who doesn't see it that way. This song is excatly like "Johnny B. Goode," it's a wonderous rock song about rock and roll. It's like Bowie just remade the song and updated it for the 70s. Just like Berry's song it tells a great story.
3) "When Doves Cry" by Prince and The Revolution - Okay, so this one is definately one of those "what the hell is this jerk thinking" picks. But in the end, it's one of those songs that happen to show many things about rock. It shows how you can show your feelings through the medium rather than just tell a story like the two previous songs. It proves that you can move away from a traditional rock sound yet still be undeniably rock and roll.
All these songs are wonderfully catchy and everyone should sing along when they pop up on the radio. The define what rock is, without a doubt.
Got a good pick? Let me know.
I'm going to see the white boy funk stylings of !!! this Friday. I'm sure I'll have something to say about that...
And I'll be talking a bit about Depeche Mode and dumb kindergarden answers to music questions in the next installment.
posted by Mike at
3:54 PM
2 Comments:
Yeah, I wanted the songs to be about rock and roll somehow actually.
AC/DC might be a good call, I think I'd take "Hell's Bells," I love that song, what would you take in terms of AC/DC?
This is the trouble with taking ONLY three songs, I missed a lot more than so-called stadium rock. Punk, new-wave, blues, grunge and the 90s as a whole. That's what makes the question tough, you're going to have to leave out a lot of things that are obviously important.
I like my picks, I think they do a good job of showing the essence of rock and roll.
Out of curiousity, what would you pick?
Thanks again for the comments.
By
Mike, at 8:04 PM
Good call on the Iron Butterfly. I like that pick a lot.
Don't you love it on that rare occasion when you find the entire obnoxiously long version on a juke box at a bar?
The idea behind the "When Doves Cry" pick is to try and show that there can be some degree of escape from traditional rock sounds and still be very good, rock and catchy.
It still amazes me that this song was number one, he put it on the album at the last minute, put it in the movie at the last minute (all but taking out another great song out of the movie, "Computer Blue"), and getting rid of the bass was a gutsy "Fuck this, rock n' roll!!!" move.
By
Mike, at 5:04 PM
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