Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Top Ten Of The Week-My Version Of Classic Rock

Anything released after last week counts as my version of classic rock. Yours may vary.

1. Witchy Woman-The Eagles 1972 Dedicated to the toothless hag that frequents State Street and tried to pick a fight with me. There's a reason why your homeless witch. It's hard to take pictures when some toothless skank blows smoke in your face and tells her homeless friends to watch out for that crabb. I thought about driving deep in my pockets with all my change, throw it up and the air and say something hey folks, here's some change for your crack habit or smokes. Rock on.

2. I Will Dare-The Replacements 1984 While walking through Madison on State Street, I had some pasta at Noodles & Company and they actually played this song. Despite the evil voodoo hag bothering the working folk and tourists, it's a pretty happening place when the light comes up and the sun goes down. In fact when I was at Noodles & Company, I thought I seen Margaret Cho, getting an order of something, this woman was Oriental and she had tattoos all over her in spots that reminded me that it might have been Ms. Cho. She's supposed to do a comedy show in Madison on Thursday but I figured not to bother her. Who knows, it could have been Margaret's double for all I know.

3. God Knows I Love You-Solomon Burke 1970 By now you know that Burke died at age 70 of natural causes en-route to a show in Stockholm. I think I read that he had like 21 children, goodness we all know what he liked to do in his spare time. Better known for his hits on Atlantic this little number was his last single for Bell Records and produced by Mac Davis who co wrote this with Delaney Bramlett. Remember the days of the 10 45s for 2 dollars? They would sandwich two big hit 45s and the middle would stuff it with singles that didn't sell. This was one of the mystery 45's in a box collection that Grandma Ambrose brought me at around 1971. Grandma would have been 92 this year.

4. The Ballad Of Evermore-Led Zeppelin 1971 Going to Pawn America, that super pawnshop that opened up in the old Circuit City in Madison yielded some amazing cds that I found for a buck apiece and goodness I found plenty. They even had the remastered reissued of Led Zep IV or ZOSO and I really didn't need it but it was in like new shape and so I bought it. Funny how everytime I hear songs off that album on classic rock radio bores me but when I play the album in the car in its entirety it sounds better. And it's still an A plus album. Of course it helps Sandy Denny adds her vocals to this. That woman could sing.

5. Omaha-Moby Grape 1967 I didn't tell you but the find of last week was going to Goodwill and coming across a copy of Moby Grape's first album with the Don Stevenson middle finger picture for a dollar fifty. Of course the album was well played but side one was actually kinda listenable and I didn't see much scratches that would make the record skip but side 2 looked pretty beat. But it's the album cover which I would never see again in my lifetime so had to get it. The record was mono, so the introduction kinda loses its flash beginning from left to right speaker.

6. MTV-Deep Purple 2006 You gotta credit Ian Gillan for a dry sense of humor as he recounts a meeting with a classic rock radio station more interested in Smoke On The Water rather than Rapture Of The Deep, which was the last DP album. Pretty much says about the current affairs of FM radio today like it did four years ago.

7. Stargazing-Spectacle 1998 I'm sure nobody knows about this band so I'm wasting my time telling you about this lost classic from the 90s. This was the final stages of alternative rock before Limp Bizkit and the Telecomm Act of 1996 killed it off but Spectacle sounded a bit like Ride via Stone Roses with a bit of Brian Wilson thrown in for good measure. Came out on Island/Supreme just before Polygram got bought out by Universal and Spectacle went to the dollar bins soon after. Worth seeking if you have a open mind.

8. Rock On-David Essex 1973 On the way from Madison, I stopped at Mineral Point to look for the haunted Walker House that's down the hill from Downtown MP and this song was actually playing when I stopped and took some midnight pics hoping to find a ghost or shadow in the picture that I took. Too dark to see. For the adventurous, The Walker House is up for sale so if you're not afraid of ghosts or things that go bump in the night, here you go.

9. Kid Gloves-Rush 1984 Grace Under Pressure didn't get all that great reviews since it was following a bunch of classic Rush albums (Moving Pictures, Signals) and even my best friend whose the biggest Rush fan I known wasn't that crazy about it but I don't mind the new wave sound of this song. Or the album for that matter but it would get worse. Power Windows and Hold Your Fire anyone?

10. Buzz Buzz Buzz-The Primitives 1988 I suppose with these 10 songs this week I'd be fired from a classic rock station for the inclusion of a Deep Purple song that's not from Machine Head and throwing Solomon Burke and the Replacements as curves but rock and roll knows no era especially classic rock. But then again I think outside the concept more often than Clear Channel or Cumulus Radio and their shitty format. Alternative rock can be considered classic rock and in my world that's classic rock to me. I remember hearing this being played on the alt rock station in Phoenix back around 1990 when Rockaway Records was at the hopping Fiesta Village, which now sits empty for the past 11 years. And didn't know who did it till I found the cd in the buck bins at HP Books and now I so impressed I'm off the find the followup to this album. It rocks, it rolls and that's all you need to know.

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