In Which Doctor Casino Listens to Classic Rock Classics for the First Time

Oh, rad! Always thought of AC/DC as just having fundamentally more street cred, or maybe their high just lasted longer.

I love how much thought AC/DC has put into being so thoughtless. Mal's illness has made me respect it even more, the more I read about their process. Because obviously Angus can play, and supposedly Malcolm is even better, but they put their energy into being as dumb and simple as possible. It's a hard rock salve. Also, never forget:

http://www.chunklet.com/index.cfm?section=article&IssueID=6&ID=96

I moved to Minneapolis in 1994, a cheap apartment on the wrong side of I-94. Coming home from the record store one afternoon, I got into a three-car accident a few blocks away from my place. I managed to "limp" it back to my street, but by the time I got there, I realized that I wasn't going to be able to drive it anywhere else.

I called a tow truck and waited outside. It wasn't a good moment standing out front of my shitty apartment looking at my busted car on the street. Some dude came up to me and tried to sell me some tapes out of a Case Logic carrier that he just so happened to have on him at that moment. I told him I wasn't interested just as the tow truck pulled up.

Guy loaded up the husk of my car on to the trailer, I signed the paperwork and handed the tow guy a check. As he was firming up the straps and everything, same neighborhood dude from before comes up and this time, gets a buy from the driver.

Which all leads up to this final moment of me standing on the sidewalk, watching the tow truck with its yellow siren lights turning and my car on its back, motoring south as the intro of "Thunderstruck" begins playing at full volume.

I love how the backing vocals on that and all AC/DC sounds like a bunch of massed trolls.

Great article, horse, and I love that you gave a shout-out to Carducci in the first line. Joe's a stellar guy. He wrote a book, Enter Naomi, about one of my best friends, Naomi Petersen. Joe, Naomi's brother Chris, Kara Roessler, Guy Pinhas, Scott Reeder, and I were trying to collaborate on putting together an online site that would serve as a personal tribute to her and an archive of her work, but it's been hard to coordinate with so many people involved.

Yeah, Rock and the Pop Narcotic is easily the single book of music criticism that's had the most influence on me as a writer, and Enter Naomi is fantastic, too.

naomi petersen was a fantastic photographer! her art was a huge part of how i absorbed a lot of my favorite records.

another band that strikes me as having crossed all those rock/metal/punk/glam lines is motorhead, though they were never quite as big as any of the other bands mentioned above. "ace of spades" was a huge influence, personally, in helping me find my way across some of those borders as a fan.

yeah the punks I was hanging out with in the mid-80's totally dug Motorhead

Oh, yeah, everybody loved Motorhead as well. Especially the hard rock/metal and punk kids. Nobody knew what category to put them in.

I miss Naomi terribly. I love that she is remembered so fondly. I wish she were still here.

Mainstream AOR fans and new wave fans loved Motorhead? Wouldn't have pegged that.

Obviously most of the Motorhead fans were metal kids or punk kids, but Motorhead was one of those bands that it was "acceptable" to like no matter what your chosen genre was. I did know a lot of new wavers who liked Motorhead. Not too many AOR fans that I was acquainted with knew about them, but the ones that did, liked them.

Also, to be clear, the AOR fans were by far the least interested in what was acceptable and what was not, because they weren't the most vocal fans or the ones who really had a clear subculture.

Because obviously Angus can play, and supposedly Malcolm is even better, but they put their energy into being as dumb and simple as possible.

Eh, simple maybe, but I wouldn't say dumb. For me, AC/DC is essentially the electric Count Basie Orchestra in that they do one thing: they swing in a way that no other entity can imitate, much less emulate. Malcolm is AC/DC's Freddie Green.

When I was 13, maybe 14, and getting into metal, a slightly older friend who was deep into punk gave me Motörhead's No Remorse, which he described as "the only metal record worth listening to."

Years later, I interviewed Lemmy live onstage at South by Southwest (this was in 2010 - I was picked because a friend of mine co-directed Lemmy: The Movie), and he talked about meeting John Lydon at an early-ish Motörhead gig, in full punk regalia, and remember him as a kid with long hair and a trench coat he'd spotted at Hawkwind gigs a couple of years earlier.

In high school in 84-85 Iron Maiden was the band the punk rockers and metal dudes all agreed on.

There's one band that came close in imitating/emulating the AC/DC swing: Accept.

Krokus too for awhile

Krokus went back to it. The last Krokus record is a great AC/DC record.

The Cult circa-Electric was a good fake-AC/DC.

yeah, "wildflower" is about as close to "rock'n'roll singer" as it gets without a lawsuit

In high school in 84-85 Iron Maiden was the band the punk rockers and metal dudes all agreed on.

― Gar Tooth (Jon Lewis)

Yeah, I was gonna say earlier that Maiden was another metal band that the punks I knew all liked. Especially early Maiden when Paul Dianno was the singer. They sort of drifted away a bit when Bruce Dickinson took over.

hmm by 84-85 Iron Maiden was way too associated with hessians at my school. the punks did like Metallica though.

this is clearly this thread's NWOBHM moment. and so:

SONG #31: JUDAS PRIEST "YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMIN'"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtuoFv4dcwM

(i'm reasonably sure this is one that the punk/new wave kids and the metal kids did not agree on.)

PRIEST!!!

I was both a punk/new waver and a metal head (to be fair, I was in my 20s in the 80s and I knew how to maneuver the social boundaries a little bit better) and I loved it all as long as it RAWKED.

Priest: better singles.
Maiden: better live act. Like, amazing live act.

You've Got Another Thing Comin': Is it really not "Think"? Oh well. I like "Breakin' the Law" but don't really know anything else and for some reason have always gotten them mixed up with Motorhead, another harder rock band where I only know the one most famous song about being a badass.

But we're off to a good start here, chugga-chugga. The lead coming in sounds a lot more processed and studio-y than I'd have expected. Vocals are good and energetic Kinda at the party-rock borderline here, though the kinda unclear vocals work against that pleasantly. "Caving like a Buddha's cakes, we're do or die." Actually it's distracting me trying to work out a damn thing he's saying so I should save that for my second listen. I wonder if they realized they fucked up the idiom in the title and tried to add some filter to mush it out so you couldn't tell, and in the process kinda screwed everything else up. Makes me really appreciate producers (Mutt Lange) that can get a bunch of reverby dudes shouting on top of each other and have it sound crystal-clear and punchy as shit. Judas Priest sound like they're playing inside a dumpster, or like they dragged their smoke machines and colored lights into the basement of a spaceship on a period sci-fi movie set.

I dunno, this is like, okay. I wish it weren't quite so arena-ready. It's one of those rock songs where the verses, musically, mark time and give the vocalist space for his hopefully really cool lyrics, and then the chorus is just kinda repeating the title phrase and hoping the riff is strong enough to stand in for a hook.

Second listen, just trying with the lyrics now. I'm really struggling here - I should say that I do kinda have an earache today so there could be some kinda problem on my end, or maybe it's Youtube or something. But I really am having trouble working out anything this guy is saying! I don't normally do this thing for risk of seeming like I'm trying to be wacky or whatever, but this is seriously the best I can do after several listens, though I think I did successfully correct a few of my worst guesses, like "You think I'm in the pool? Yo man, you got another thing comin'!"

Born to life, I'm gonna live it up / I'm takin' flight, I said I, I never get it up
Stay tall, I'm'a gonna caterwaul / I'm on the top as long as the music's loud
Bet you think I sit around, answering the fire / You're thinking like a fool cause it's casin', gooey guy
I'm the bees of fortune, we're easy to be had / You think I let it go, you're mad, you got another thing comin'
You got another thing comin'
You got another thing comin'
Lettuce ride, here is Will, the Talking Heads / well listen miss, tonight there will be some action spent
They're live! Harder, Conan Moe Jackson / I got an Ace card, comin' down the ruuuuts
Think you'll feel, sit around, with a shovel in your brain / Got some gyno pool, well you better think again
I'm the haze of fortune, waiting to be had / You think I let it go, you mad, you got another thing comin'
You got another thing comin'
You got another thing comin'
Endless birth calamity, we've had our share of faro / Answer now, it's gonna give in, aim for a new tomorrow!!!
(break)
Ohhhhh so hot, no time to take a rest, yeah! / Aaaaadd up, uh profane, second best
Real slow, gut in sun security / Hey I'm a big smash, I'm goin' for infinity, yeah
If you think I'm sit around, ass now rope in the fire / You're thinking like a fool cause it's a case of do or die
I'm the ace of fortune, waiting to be had / You think I let it go you're mad, you got another thing comin'
You got another thing comin'
You got another thing comin'
You got another thing.... COMIN' OH YOWH!
You got another thing comin', hey yeah iff....
Come and help me, ho yyeah, oh yeah, it's'a tall down.... (Hold me down)

I have to say that repeat listening to try and work out the words didn't really give me any greater enjoyment of the song. It just kinda stomps along with this kinda metallic weird sound to it. The main riff is fine as an engine but it's missing a personality - real contrast with "Breakin' the Law," my one point of reference, or our last song here in fact. Thumbs sideways, tilting down - if it was just in the background somewhere I don't think I'd notice it enough to be annoyed by it, but how it got into the running as a classic rock classic, I can't fathom.

I wonder if they realized they fucked up the idiom in the title

? what are you talking about

Oh duh - gotta be "Let us ride - here's where the talking ends."

The expression is "you've got another think coming," as in "If you think x..."

Ha, there was a whole thread about that back in the day: Taking Sides: Another Think Coming v Another Thing Coming

I think I'm with you btw.

This song is a little boring but some 70s Judas Priest is great. Some really good stuff on Sad Wings of Destiny and Sin After Sin.

I am squarely in the "another think coming" / "couldn't care less" camp.

B-b-but you cared enough to post about it on ilx!:P

Real lyrics:

One life I'm gonna live it up
I'm takin' flight said I'll never get enough.
Stand tall I'm young and kinda proud
I'm on top as long as the music's loud.
If you think I'll sit around as the world goes by
You're thinkin' like a fool 'cause it's a case of do or die.
Out there is a fortune waitin' to be had
If you think I'll let it go you're mad
You've got another thing comin'.

That's right here's where the talkin' ends
Well listen this night there'll be some action spent.
Drive hard I'm callin' all the shots
I got an ace card comin' down on the rocks.

If you think I'll sit around while you chip away my brain
Listen I ain't foolin' and you'd better think again.
Out there is a fortune waitin' to be had
If you think I'll let it go you're mad
You've got another thing comin'.

In this world we're livin' in we have our share of sorrow
Answer now is don't give in aim for a new tomorrow.

Oh so hot no time to take a rest yeah
Act tough ain't room for second best.
Real strong got me some security
Hey I'm a big smash I'm goin' for infinity yeah.

Ahhhhhh, "Out there is a fortune!" Never would have gotten that.

In my defense, a lot of what he says, whether I made it out or not, doesn't really make any sense, so it's not like there are logical anchors on which to base an interpretation. Does "action" really get "spent?" How does a card "come down on the rocks"? If the fortune is "out there," how is his "letting it go" even an option yet? I like that it's not just a bunch of hoary tough guy cliches, but it feels like Google Translate working over a Russian band that's trying to invent some new hoary tough guy cliches.

I think the "let it go" refers to the opportunity to get said fortune.

Ha, yeah, the first verse seems straightforward enough, then it sort of veers off. The bit about the fortune makes sense to me, though: it's sitting out there waiting to be had. He's going to get it, not going to let it go to someone else.

xpost

Yeah, okay, I'll give you that, it's the anticipated fortune that he won't let go.

Xpost I meant I insist on "couldn't care less" over the increasingly dominant "could care less"

Ah.

i think the lyric is fairly straightforward, in its own clunky way. but this, from dr. c, is a way better lyric than the actual one:

Lettuce ride, here is Will, the Talking Heads / well listen miss, tonight there will be some action spent

also, i love how the actual lyric goes totally fleetwood mac on the bridge:

In this world we're livin' in we have our share of sorrow
Answer now is don't give in aim for a new tomorrow.

Always liked Priest. Rob Halford a metal guy us short-hairs could identify with.

There were manys yuks had by DJs intro'ing this song in the weeks after Rob Halford came out of the closet.

Priest def coasting in "don't derail the gravy train" mode here but f it it's still Priest

this one is a cover of a cover of a cover, and is by the far most popular version. shoutouts to tiny bradshaw, johnny burnette and the rock and roll trio and the yardbirds.

SONG #32: AEROSMITH "TRAIN KEPT A-ROLLIN'"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EvGn22Mplg

I think the idiom is actually "Train Crept A-Rollins"

Rob Halford's lyrics are weirdly ESL for a sharp guy from England. I've interviewed him a couple of times, and he's a fantastic person to talk to, because unlike many rock singers, when you ask him a question, he pauses, thinks about it, then answers in paragraphs. So how his lyrics get so garbled and nonsensical is beyond me. I guess it's just about compressing ideas into a rhyme scheme. I don't know, I've never tried to write a song.