We're talkin' Rock & Roll

[trev]

I saw the Cars back in the day. I remember feeling so gyped when it was over. Yes, they came out, played their album, it sounded exactly like the recording and the show lasted exactly 1 hour. I had been to many concerts and not one that only lasted an hour.

[trev]

Mgo, have you posted your top rock band from these decades? Don't get me riled up.

[Atomic Punk]

[Smackie Chan]

why in hell did you wanna see U2?

Even though the question wasn't asked of me, I did see 'em a couple times, and not because I was a huge fan. I'm sure the primary reason was because they were comp tickets. The shows weren't terrible, but they weren't terribly memorable either. One of the concerts was at the Rose Bowl, and Rage Against the Machine opened for 'em. That didn't suck too much. Davy Jones of The Monkees joined U2 onstage for a rendition of Daydream Believer. That's about the only song I remember them playing.

[Jay in Phoenix]

The Cars were the most boring "rock" concert I have ever been to. They came out, played, left, just like video Wags posted. Didn't bother to say Hi, Bye, or kiss my ass. I would not be surprised if sound had been recorded prior and was being played back. It sounded EXACTLY like the records. If I had wanted to listen to the album, I could have sat the fuck at home.

I saw the Cars live once. It was just as has been described here, it was exactly one hour and they played their first album verbatim. No variation, just as recorded. On top of that, they never moved, just stood there and played like a group of automatons. The music was fine, the performance was dull. What they did do however, unlike what Dave described, was to come out into the audience after the show during the intermission and shake hands with as many people as they could, posing for photos and signing autographs. I had never seen a band do that before, and haven't since. They spent a good half hour or so being as pleasant as possible.

So boring, yeah. But that was above board and cool. So the Cars are always going to be okay with me.

[Mikey]

Journey - I did not like one single song this group did, but chicks dug it, so you had to act like you did to.

Listen to some of what they put out before Steve Perry ruined 'em...

Neal Schon was one of the best guitar players around when he came over with Greg Rolie (original vocalist and keyboards) from Santana. Aynsley Dunbar had played drums with Mayall, Zappa and a lot of other gigs before Journey. Their original style was a lot different, just not so commercial and the early albums didn't sell well.

[Mikey]

If I had ever seen Pink Floyd, I might've called it quits myself.

I lost a lot of interest in seeing concerts after seeing them (3 times - '87, '88 & '94). As I've always said - you could absolutely hate their guts and say "that was by far the best concert I've ever seen" on your exit. Maximum entertainment.

In fact - a guy went with a bunch of us to the '88 show (Raleigh) that really didn't care for them that much at all. He just wanted to go for the party. At the end, he said "holy Jesus - I've never seen any show come remotely close to that."

Never saw Pink Floyd but when I saw Yes (73 or 74? at Winterland) it came pretty close to that kind of experience. They played all of Close to the Edge so it was probably 73 because 74 was the Tales from Topographic Oceans tour. I'll have to admit, though, that the experience was artificially enhanced to a certain degree.

[BSmack]

I lost a lot of interest in seeing concerts after seeing them (3 times - '87, '88 & '94). As I've always said - you could absolutely hate their guts and say "that was by far the best concert I've ever seen" on your exit. Maximum entertainment.

In fact - a guy went with a bunch of us to the '88 show (Raleigh) that really didn't care for them that much at all. He just wanted to go for the party. At the end, he said "holy Jesus - I've never seen any show come remotely close to that."

I saw Floyd in 94 at the Carrier Dome. We were 9th row left center. That was close enough so that when the inflatable pig started shooting fire out of its mouth, we got warm. It was an epic show. But my #1 show of all time was Deep Purple in 85 at the old Rochester War Memorial. From Highway Star to Woman From Tokyo that show rocked like nothing I have ever seen before or since. The only show even close is the Robert Plant/SRV double bill I saw in 88.

[smackaholic]

Didn't know RP and SRV ever toured together. Bet it was a hell of a show. Did they perform together at all? Would love to see what SRV would do with Zep covers. I suspect he would have Jimmy Page shaking his heading wishing he could do that.

[Derron]

The Cars certainly brought that sound to the US, and made it work in a huge way. Of course it helped out that The Clash, The Kinks, and some others started doing well with that sound.

The 80's, early 90's had Def Leppard as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SluRyO4EA4


A couple of individuals who also moved around in groups, and solo gigs, had to be Paul Rodgers, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htuxb-m4-ng

[BSmack]

Didn't know RP and SRV ever toured together. Bet it was a hell of a show. Did they perform together at all? Would love to see what SRV would do with Zep covers. I suspect he would have Jimmy Page shaking his heading wishing he could do that.

Sad to say they did not jam together. That would have been enough to put that show over the top into my #1 spot.

[Goober McTuber]

I lost a lot of interest in seeing concerts after seeing them (3 times - '87, '88 & '94). As I've always said - you could absolutely hate their guts and say "that was by far the best concert I've ever seen" on your exit. Maximum entertainment.

In fact - a guy went with a bunch of us to the '88 show (Raleigh) that really didn't care for them that much at all. He just wanted to go for the party. At the end, he said "holy Jesus - I've never seen any show come remotely close to that."

I saw Floyd in 94 at the Carrier Dome. We were 9th row left center. That was close enough so that when the inflatable pig started shooting fire out of its mouth, we got warm. It was an epic show. But my #1 show of all time was Deep Purple in 85 at the old Rochester War Memorial. From Highway Star to Woman From Tokyo that show rocked like nothing I have ever seen before or since. The only show even close is the Robert Plant/SRV double bill I saw in 88.

Two of the best live shows I ever saw were also by Pink Floyd and Deep Purple. I went looking for setlists online and found some info.

4 March 1973
Pink Floyd began a 16-date US tour at Dane County Memorial Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin. The band were joined by saxophonist Dick Parry and backing vocalists Nawasa Crowder, and Phyllis and Mary Ann Lindsey. Their set list featured the whole of The Dark Side Of The Moon plus Obscured By Clouds, When You're In and Careful With That Axe, Eugene, with an encore of One Of These Days.

I was pretty much peaking when they went into Careful With That Axe, Eugene.

Deep Purple
1976-02-15
Madison, WI

101. Burn (7:51)
102. Lady Luck (3:30)
103. Gettin' Tighter / Dance To The Rock n' Roll (15:31)
104. Love Child (6:42)
105. Smoke On The Water / Georgia On My Mind (10:46)

201. Lazy / Marching Powder (11:14)
202. Homeward Strut (6:50)
203. This Time Around / Owed To G (7:34)
204. Tommy Bolin Solo (11:39)
205. Stormbringer (7:58)
206. Going Down (7:48)

Deep Purple was really loud. Or maybe I was really close.

Edit: Upon further review, I think the show they did here in 1973 was better. Haven't found the setlist for that.

[Jay in Phoenix]

Wow.

Bear in mind Sam, this guy has The Smiths (perhaps the most boring band in the history of music) as his best of the 80's.
He also listed Korn (cliche beyond cliche) as best of the 90's.
He called the Doors the best of the 60's. While the Doors are great, they aren't even in the top 20 rated bands of the '60's.

The rest of his choices are a muddle at best.

Once again, musical taste is an individual thing, and it is subjective.

But his choices as greatest band of each era are a true swing and a miss.

[smackaholic]

Didn't know RP and SRV ever toured together. Bet it was a hell of a show. Did they perform together at all? Would love to see what SRV would do with Zep covers. I suspect he would have Jimmy Page shaking his heading wishing he could do that.

Sad to say they did not jam together. That would have been enough to put that show over the top into my #1 spot.

Yeah, SRV covering some of LZ's heavier bluesy stuff prolly wouldn't suck at all. His Jimi Hendricks covers were better than Jimi himself could ever hope to play them.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Bear in mind Sam, this guy has The Smiths (perhaps the most boring band in the history of music) as his best of the 80's.

Why not? Morrissey is probably the greatest pop lyricist of his generation.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Yeah, SRV covering some of LZ's heavier bluesy stuff prolly wouldn't suck at all.

Yes it would. It would suck very much.

[Jay in Phoenix]

Why not? Morrissey is probably the greatest pop lyricist of his generation.

Taking it as a given you are being serious here, the reason "why not" for the Smiths is simple. Their music is tedious and droning. Great lyrics make for nice poetry, but they can't be stirred into a steaming pile of dog doo and turn it into gold. I take nothing away from Morrissey as a lyricist. I just find the Smiths to be a fine cure for insomnia, and nothing more.

Put it this way...Jim Morrison was an interesting poet as well. Some of the Doors songs are classics. Morrison could be profound and deep. His lyrics could also be self-indulgent and meandering, lost in a booze fueled fog. I still really like the Doors, but I can't separate them from their era and 60's drug culture. Some of their stuff is dated now.

The point being, great lyrics don't always make for great music. Great music does.

When was the last time you heard anybody play the Smiths?

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

When was the last time you heard anybody play the Smiths?

I could say the same thing about Soft Machine, or Joy Division, or Television...but ultimately the answer to that question is, quite a while.


...because people like "safe" music that doesn't ask them to feel or resonate emotionally. Nothing more unsettling than a guitar chord/rap lyric/horn stab that knocks you out of your chair. And the dirty-undershirt majority doesn't want to be knocked out of their chair. They just want more of the "same-old"...and keep it coming.

[Jay in Phoenix]

One final note on the Smiths. When you do a search for the greatest rock artists of the 1980's or 90's, the Smiths aren't even listed in the top 200.

So, while taste is subjective, sales and popularity speak for themselves. So while your listening to your worn out copy of "The Queen is Dead" or "Louder Than Bombs", just remember.

Nobody else is.

As to Soft Machine or Television...you're right. It has been a while. And you're also right in saying that people don't like to think too much, that they just prefer to be spoon fed the same old pablum over and over. Look, Morrissey is a creative and thoughtful lyricist. I've already acknowledged this. But their music is the equivalent of naval gazing to me.

Now hell, you want to talk about an interesting lyricist? Try Paul Westerberg. Guy is a complete asshole, but his lyrics are funny, cutting and brilliant. His music is great too. I never get tired of The Replacements. Live, they could be sloppy and awful. They could also be amazing and tight as hell. And always entertaining, even when they sucked.

I'll take a real-world Westerberg over a flighty and over-wrought, hand wringing Morrissey any day.

[Dinsdale]

[
HIs 80s, 90s, and 2000s choices were mind-boggling. And I am allowing for a variance in tastes as wide as the Mississippi River. I don't have to agree with someones' taste, nor they in mine, but shit is shit.

He's all over the map, and apparently has never heard of Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Who, The Beach Boys, or anyone else, but SoD for the 00's isn't too far out there.

[Jay in Phoenix]

[They broke up in 1987, were only around for 4 years.
The Smiths at Irvine Meadows just before they broke up, best concert I have been to all time.

You're kind of missing the point here. It doesn't matter that the 'Mats were only around for a short time. And I wouldn't make a comparison of their artistic "impact" due to something like longevity. By contrast, the Stones and some other bands are still around, but God and god, they really shouldn't be. Time is no longer on their side. (I don't expect you to get the reference. Look it up.)

Dude, I'm glad for you that the Smiths show was you favorite concert experience. The fact that it is suggests something about your taste and knowledge that is best left unexpressed. That you haven't seen a Pink Floyd, Who, Grateful Dead, Rush or Zepplin show (or have and still prefer the Smiths) speaks for itself.

Calling them "all shit" shows your complete ignorance.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

He's all over the map, and apparently has never heard of Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Who, The Beach Boys, or anyone else, but SoD for the 00's isn't too far out there.

All shit

Well, that takes care of that...

...the Smiffs it is, gentlemen.

Stop piggybacking off Jay. He's made some valid points.
You, on the other hand continue to reinforce the perception that you are indeed a boring stiff.

[Jay in Phoenix]

And thank her for trying to open your musical horizons.

Speaking of live shows, one of the worst I ever saw was the Doors, your favorite band of the '60's, in 1968 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum here in Phoenix.

It was at once very loud, very brief and very chaotic. I was glad I got to see them at such a young age, but honestly, it pretty much sucked.

I would kill to have seen Pink Floyd live, especially in their peak days. Consider yourself lucky and thank your mom again.

[Goober McTuber]

My mom drug me to see the Wall when I was in the 4th grade

You should go right now and hug kill your mom.

Sorry. It had to be done.

[Jay in Phoenix]

Only 60s band I heard of, I wasnt around in the 60's, it was either the doors or dick dale

Seriously? Come on schmick, never heard of the Beatles? Rolling Stones? Jimi Hendrix? It's a pretty freaking long list for that decade.

Just because you weren't around, it doesn't make for an excuse for being narrowly focused. If you know of the Doors, you know of the others.

It would be literally impossible not to have. Now stop suckling at Morrissey's teat and open your ears.

[Jay in Phoenix]

Okay schmick, given that last statement, I can cut you a little bit of slack. But instead of just taking a random stab in the dark, you would have been better off leaving the decade as a blank. If you haven't really been exposed to a certain age of music, so be it. Age can make a big difference. The thing is though, I know a whole bunch of twenty-somethings who know more about the music of the '60's and '70's than some middle aged people I've met. It all comes down to exposure and developing a palate to varying styles and tastes.

To paraphrase, badly, a rather dubious English gent of note...I appy-polly-loggies for the deprivational pain in your ol' gulliver, and would suggest you and your fellow droogies give a you-tube viddy to some classics and stop slooshieing to the Smiffys.

Viddy well little brother, viddy well.

[Mikey]

And thank her for trying to open your musical horizons.

Speaking of live shows, one of the worst I ever saw was the Doors, your favorite band of the '60's, in 1968 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum here in Phoenix.

It was at once very loud, very brief and very chaotic. I was glad I got to see them at such a young age, but honestly, it pretty much sucked.

I would kill to have seen Pink Floyd live, especially in their peak days. Consider yourself lucky and thank your mom again.

Only 60s band I heard of, I wasnt around in the 60's, it was either the doors or dick dale

Shows what a complete and utter moron you are.

I wasn't around in the 30s. 40s or most of the 50s but could name a least a couple dozen great musicians/bands from those decades.

[Truman]

I don't know what genre you place The Cars in.

Try, "80's New Wave."

out front shoulda told ya.

The Police weren't far behind defining the genre, either. Talking Heads, INXS, Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, Billy Idol, Duran Duran, and host of others could be added to the mix as well.

Besides the aforementioned Nirvana, AIC, and Pearl Jam, the 90's gave us Sound Garden, NIN, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins, Oasis, Rise Against, The Offspring, Goo-Goo Dolls (don't laugh, they're lyrically brilliant) and the Dropkick Murphys (the best bar band ever to take a stage).

As for the 00's, Wags, die of an aneurism after a Game-7-Royals-walk-off-win-over-the-faggot-Cardinals ('sup Jay). Foo Fighters pwned the decade, with stellar showings from Weezer, Green Day, Death Cab for Cutie, Muse, and Modest Mouse.

Finally the 10's. I was tempted to place Metric just to piss you off, Wags, but I'll go with Mumford and Sons and the Black Keys. Cage The Elephant deserves some run too.

[trev]

Truman just made me swoon.

[Dinsdale]

I dont like anything that pre dates the stooges, new york dolls, sex pistols...

The first two predate the Pistols by several years.

Only 60s band I heard of

[
HIs 80s, 90s, and 2000s choices were mind-boggling. And I am allowing for a variance in tastes as wide as the Mississippi River. I don't have to agree with someones' taste, nor they in mine, but shit is shit.

He's all over the map, and apparently has never heard of Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Who, The Beach Boys, or anyone else, but SoD for the 00's isn't too far out there.

All shit

A Screwey level of self-abuse.

[poptart]

Talking Heads, INXS, Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, Billy Idol, Duran Duran, and host of others could be added to the mix as well.

A Flock of Seagulls. :)

Truman just made me swoon.

Nice confession, wrong thread.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Truman just made me swoon.

Don't get your hopes up, Tru.
Apparently, more than half the dudes here give Ms. Hallway Hotdog the soggy britches.

:x

[War Wagon]

I don't know what genre you place The Cars in.

Try, "80's New Wave."

out front shoulda told ya.

The Police weren't far behind defining the genre, either. Talking Heads, INXS, Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, Billy Idol, Duran Duran, and host of others could be added to the mix as well.

Are you, or were you, on drugs? Or maybe needed to be?

First off, The Cars predated MTV by several years. Secondly, the only band on that list even remotely comparable is Billy Idol and that's a stretch. Tears For Fears? Gah!

As for the 00's, Wags, die of an aneurism after a Game-7-Royals-walk-off-win-over-the-faggot-Cardinals ('sup Jay). Foo Fighters pwned the decade, with stellar showings from Weezer, Green Day, Death Cab for Cutie, Muse, and Modest Mouse.

I'll give you Weezer, maybe Green Day. Foo Fighters sucked, just fucking horrible... why am I repeating myself?

Finally the 10's. I was tempted to place Metric just to piss you off, Wags, but I'll go with Mumford and Sons and the Black Keys.

Black Keys, yes. Mumford and Sons should be taken out behind the barn and shot, along with anybody who thinks that preposterous bile is listenable.

Then again, you think Head East was a great band. You forgot to mention Puddle Of Mudd. So here you go. :wink:

[poptart]

The Cars couldnt be considered "New Wave" because they were an American band and not part of the "New Wave" of bands that came over from England in the late 70s and early 80s. The Cars were from Boston.

From Wikipedia...


New wave first circulated as a rock music genre in the early 1970s, used by critics like Nick Kent and Dave Marsh to classify such New York-based groups as the Velvet Underground and New York Dolls.
New wave music is an umbrella term for several late-1970s to mid-1980s pop/rock styles with ties to 1970s punk rock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_wave_music



I think Truman's point is that MTV allowed a whole host of new groups of a different "rock" style to have a large platform from which to show their stuff.

Many groups (even those who came before MTV, such as The Cars) loosely fit within what common music listeners came to understand to be... NEW WAVE music.

Around that time, I certainly would have considered The Cars to be new wave.

They were not traditional rock, as I knew it to be at the time.

[Dan Vogel]

1950s: Elvis Pressly - Buddy Holly

1960s: Beetles - Rolling Stones

1970s: The Eagles - Credence Clearwater Revivial

1980s: Prince - U2

1990s: Pearl Jam - 2Pac

2000s: Dave Matthews Band - Eminem

[BSmack]

A Flock of Seagulls. :)

I saw them open for The Police in 1983. My first real concert. They also had The Fixx, who were OK. But A Flock of Seagulls did not get a very good reception in Rochester. For some reason the westside camaro mullets were not down with what A Flock of Seagulls had to offer.

[Jay in Phoenix]

Jay, was that a Stanley Unwin mention?

No, however I suppose his influence could have been a factor, though I haven't heard a direct connection between Unwin and this guy:

Alex, the character I was poorly aping.

There was a reason I referenced him and the Clockwork language, but it was sort of an elliptical one.

Schmickers, as MIkey pointed out, the fact that you weren't alive in the '60s gives you no excuse for not being aware of talented bands of that era. As old as Mikey, Goobs, and I are, none of us got to see Bach or Mozart conduct a live performance, yet we're aware of their contributions. Prokofiev's work predated my birth but I know some of his music.

Appropriate that you should mention classical composers, as Ludwig Van Beethoven was who most influenced Alex artistically, and ended up making him sick through an unintentional, forced and narrow focus. Kind of like what schmickers is doing to himself by locking into one radio station as his only source of musical inspiration. I couldn't possibly imagine listening to the same station for my entire life and have it and its corporate mentality dictate who and what I think is good and bad, and what I should and shouldn't listen to.

Freaking sad.

And what you said is more or less part of my point as well. There is music out there that goes back hundreds of years that I not only know of, but still listen to. My music library wouldn't be the same without Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, or even a Debussy, Ravel or Chopin.

The '60's and '70's were a gift of phenomenal music, an era of sound that hasn't been even remotely replicated, via influence and originality. There is some great new music and new artists that have appeared over the last couple of years, and I am grateful to being exposed to it and them. But I seriously cannot imagine that some thirty or forty years down the road, people are going to reflect back on the 2000's and 2010's and think that was the motherload of classic rock.

[Mikey]

Credence Clearwater Revivial

Best and biggest selling releases were 1968 -1969.

Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968)
Bayou Country (1969)
Green River (1969)
Willy and the Poor Boys (1969)
Cosmo's Factory (1970)
Pendulum (1970)
Mardi Gras (1972)

[Jay in Phoenix]

Horse shit, if they never played them on KROQ, I am never going to have heard their music more than in a movie or a commercial. I just dont give a shit about it, Im not trying to watch black and white movies either. that zepplin shit listened to by the dirt heads is ridiculous for someone my age to waste my time with. Its like re-enacting the civil war or dressing up like a cowboy or a pirate.

So schmickey, that means you're about what, twelve...thirteen years old?

You sound like it.

What is horseshit is your feeble analogy. Again, if your entire musical focus is being dictated by one and only one radio station, a station whose playlist is governed by who's paying for the advertising, then you really do need to pull your head up out of the sand and take a look around. And listen. There's a whole other world out there, with endless possibilities. You never know what you're going to discover if you don't come out of the dark closet of your limited mind.

[BSmack]

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