Post a controversial music opinion

it's true women do find Uli Jon Roth incredibly sexy

lean on me is a great song why did that even come up

I saw Johnathan Richmon do a solo show at a small nightclub while I was in college and it was, without hyperbole, one of the worst shows I have ever seen my life.

The rest of the crowd absolutely loved it 30 years later I still cannot fathom why

they could not resist his stare

lolll!

Maybe he gave them a discount on pizza ovens.

Was he literally alone, just him? I saw him in college with a drummer (prob. Tommy Larkins) and an upight(?) bass player, and it was awesome... I knew nothing about him, had never heard the Modern Lovers... thought he'd be some crusty punk guy

Yeah it was just him with his guitar spechgesanging

Heh, somehow I knew it would be the jolie-laide singing that put you off.

Will to Power "Freebird" > Skynyrd "Freebird"

I've got just the writer for you.

The 1950s produced more innovative, vital, sophisticated and hip-shaking rock music than the 1960s did.

that's kinda one of the central truisms of OG Punk in the UK at least

Especially true if you include the pre-British Invasion '60s with the '50s, since musically they seem more similar.

Are you including the early ‘60s… like the general range of (pre-British Invasion) U.S. rock ‘n roll? ‘Cuz if so, I agree (with the caveat that terms like innovative, vital, and sophisticated are squishy)

(xp!)

I'm inclined to say apples and oranges...I wouldn't want to have to give up one to keep the other.

I think it's fair to include at least '60 and '61 in a kind of long '50s. Also, the '70s kind of starts around '69. So the '60s proper is only maybe 6 or 7 years long.

xp

Also, the '70s kind of starts around '69.

I've always taken an the opposite view, that the '60s don't really end till '73.

(That's when grammar ended too, evidently.)

god if only the 60s would end

To explain what I mean: the proliferation of singer-songwriters (especially on Top 40) is an extension of the '60s, all the great neo-classical soul of 1970-72 (Al Green, Stylistics, Spinners, etc.) is an extension of the '60s, and just in general Top 40 is filled with people trying to fill the vacuum created by the Beatles breaking up. The '70s start with the ascension of glam and K-Tel junk in '73, plus the first stirrings of disco.

"Classic" rock eras, ranked:

1953-1959
1969-1975
1964-1969
1960-1963

1960-1963 is the worst because there was really nothing happening at all, but there was a lot of incredibly terrible music made in 1964-1969, so it's a weird kind of toss-up situation.

I would break it down by saying that I would keep all my comps of doo-wop, “Golden Age of American Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and girl-group music over most any Sixties Rock Albums™️ (Dylan and a few other things aside)… but at that point I’m really just talking stylistic preferences and not decades, I guess.

I wonder what DJP would have thought if it had been the actual Jonathan Richman and not this Johnathan Richmon imposter.

1960-1963 is the worst because there was really nothing happening at all

I think it's fairly easy to generate a list that says otherwise. If you judge that era by the worst of it--the teen idols--yes, but there was much, much more.

nothing happening at all

From what I understand, the solution was to tune to a “New York station”…

lol

ILX poster finefinemusic to thread!

I've always taken an the opposite view, that the '60s don't really end till '73.

I guess you can look at it in different ways. I admit that it's hard to say '69 is not part of the '60s when Woodstock happened in '69. But at least in terms of what currents were starting to take hold, I see musical events like "Nashville Skyline" and "The Gilded Palace of Sin" and "Trout Mask Replica" and "Let It Bleed" happening. Cultural events like Nixon taking office and the draft lottery starting. It seems like the vibes were shifting. But there are always multiple eras coexisting, especially in music.

1960-1963 is the worst because there was really nothing happening at all

"Be My Baby" is 1963, arguably one of the greatest rock singles of all time.

I saw Johnathan Richmon do a solo show at a small nightclub while I was in college and it was, without hyperbole, one of the worst shows I have ever seen my life.

The rest of the crowd absolutely loved it 30 years later I still cannot fathom why

I think the Modern Lovers LP is great and Richman's solo career is mostly garbage.

'60-'63: beginning of Motown, girl-group heyday, Sam Cooke and Ray Charles all over the Top 40, Beach Boys and Four Seasons, Gene Pitney/Del Shannon/Roy Orbison...there's just so much.

^^Plus the Doo Wop revival. A lot of what we think of as classic '50s Doo Wop records where actually made in '60-'62.

Yeah, tons of the tracks on those Golden Age comps are from that period...

In addition to the Beach Boys, there was Surf Rock in general.

Like just check out the tracklist of the first volume... a sprinkling of these bangers are from '58/'59 (and two are from '56), but the rest are '60-'63: https://acerecords.co.uk/the-golden-age-of-american-rock-n-roll

As for Richman – Jonathan Sings! is the only solo album I really have an ear for... but the Modern Lovers album, man

(xpost) Yes--came back to post about the same thing, the big doo-wop revival. We're all just talking about the really visible stuff so far--there were also incredible one-offs like Donnie Brooks' "Mission Bell," Dick & Dee's "The Mountain's High," Gene Chandler's "Duke of Earl," etc. (Not necessarily one-hit wonders, but people strongly identified with one song.) I think those all fall into the '60-63 window.

Dick & Dee's "The Mountain's High,"

fucking love this tune, great secret weapon at my restaurant/bar DJ gig

I also love that track, a pal used to drop it at his soul nights

Jonathan Richman is a class act, a first rate songwriter, a one of a kind human being, a daily inspiration

So yes, I agree that some of the posts itt are v controversial, good job

"The Mountain's High" is epic--always though of that, "Mission Bell," and the Miracles' "Way Over There" (same '60-63 window) as kind of a mini-genre of Apocalyptic Early-'60s Pop.

Wow, I don’t think I’d ever heard “Way Over There”… what a great song

My Motown knowledge is pretty underbaked (other than the big songs everyone knows)

dig in! there is so much goodness. they have cool motown comps of lesser known great stuff that are put together well.

Jonathan Richman is a class act, a first rate songwriter, a one of a kind human being, a daily inspiration

agree

he is also a voice of resistance to change, albeit a very friendly one

boring motherfucker who can’t sing

they have cool motown comps of lesser known great stuff that are put together well.

― scott seward, Friday, February 23, 2024 11:48 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

any you'd recommend? The lesser known Motown stuff is a big blind spot for me, but I always enjoy these songs when they turn up anywhere

Jojo saw the Velvet Underground 157 times, his songs have been covered by Wire (1976!), The Sex Pistols (1979!), Arthur Russell, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, John Cale, Siouxsie & The Banshees...

But one thing I learned recently (I even inquired about it on a thread on ILM but this detail was not mentioned) is that his shift away from proto-punk to more widely-approachable songwriting was due to his volunteering at the Boston Children's Hospital singing and playing for terminally ill children who were often alone and dying and he was haunted by that experience and was challenged to bring them joy.

Another anecdote is he played a show for kids at our local independent bookstore a year ago after working his day job all day. He looked exhausted, face sunburnt and wrinkled ... clothes covered with his dust, dirt and cement... but yet, after he was handed a guitar he transformed into a professional musician out of nowhere and kept the kids in rapt attention, smiling and singing along, it was really supernatural.