|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 25, 2021 13:47:34 GMT
I think it's always important to keep in mind degrees of ability, too. Peter was obviously capable of being the drummer of a basic rock and roll band ... because he performed in that capacity for years. But for example, Paul and Gene both talked about how when Bob Ezrin worked with the group in advance of Destroyer, Peter lacked any concept of the form of music: they'd talk about "measures," or "beat one, beat two," etc., and he had no clue what they were talking about: he was playing how he learned to play, by ear.
Not just lacking the technical understanding of what he was doing, Peter apparently also was just sloppy. He didn't have great time, so he'd slow down or speed up during songs. A fill could throw him off the beat.
All three of the others, but especially Paul and Gene, talked about how valuable Ezrin was in that respect: he drilled into them the importance of not being good enough, but being good. Peter--according to the others--thought he was good enough already, and didn't like the "school" aspect of practicing, learning, and improving. He was already a rock star.
So really, was Peter a good drummer? Sure, compared to me. Compared to kids who played drums while I played guitar in high school. But compared to professional drummers? No. And as he became more of a drunk, and more of an addict, the problems predictably got worse. I suspect had he kept his attitude in check and his partying for "after hours," he'd have been fine for whatever they wanted him to do.
|
|
|
Post by kds on Oct 25, 2021 14:09:36 GMT
From most accounts, Peter also became more interested in the rock star life than actually honing his craft. It the time between his dismissal from the band, and the reunion in 1996, Criss wasn't really drumming. That created a lot of issues for the band when the reunion tours.
After reading of the limitations with Peter in the reunion era, I'm actually really surprised Gene and Paul brought Peter back in 2003.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 25, 2021 18:55:51 GMT
1979 had another album that's a favorite of mine, not just from that year, but of all time: The Muppet Movie. That soundtrack, cowritten by Paul Williams, has a handful of songs I simply love:
- The Rainbow Connection - Can You Picture That? - I Hope That Something Better Comes Along - Movin' Right Along
Among the musicians who played the album were some heavy hitters: Tommy Morgan on harmonica, Alan Estes on percussion; Jim Gordon on drums, and Michael Melvoin on keyboards were among the instrumentalists.
I was not quite three when the album and movie were released, but I did see it in the theater. (My little town's theater tended not to get "new" movies for a year or two...) It is also the first album I ever owned, thanks to my parents allowing each kid to pick an album in their initial purchase from BMG or Columbia House record club (and it was records at the time).
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 25, 2021 23:37:33 GMT
For those (like me) who like to reminisce, these were our guys in 1979:
|
|
|
Post by jk on Oct 26, 2021 21:38:02 GMT
For those (like me) who like to reminisce, these were our guys in 1979:
"Angel Come Home" really has come home in this extraordinary version by its composer. I have it on Dan Addington's The Ultimate Bamboo b**t and I've always loved it.
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 29, 2021 18:57:51 GMT
Before jk takes us into another year, I thought I'd slip in a couple of final albums for any comment.
First, one that I don't think anyone has mentioned but surely warrants a note, is the fact that it was in August 1979 that Bob Dylan suddenly appeared as a born-again Christian with his Slow Train Coming. While it may seem odd to some, Dylan said that in November 1978, in a Tuscon hotel room, "Jesus did appear to me as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. ... There was a presence in the room that couldn't have been anybody but Jesus ... Jesus put his hand on me. It was a physical thing. I felt it. I felt it all over me. I felt my whole body tremble. The glory of the Lord knocked me down and picked me up."
Not only did Dylan become a Christian, but author Clinton Heylin wrote that he became acquainted with (and apparently in agreement with) Hal Lindsay, writer of the apocalyptic "The Late Great Planet Earth." That 1970 book--extremely popular--combined literalist Biblical interpretations with various (somewhat fringe) end-times prophetic understandings, and tried to argue that various real-life current events signaled the impending end of the world. Dylan took those interpretations as part of what he promoted as his new worldview.
The album used a combination of Dylan's existing band and Muscle Shoals regulars, and was produced by veteran Jerry Wexler and Muscle Shoals keyboardist Barry Beckett, with heavy input from Mark Knopfler. And while it has a mixed reputation, it was a hit: #2 in the UK, #3 in the US, and "Gotta Serve Somebody" hit #24 on the US charts and won a Grammy for Best Male Vocal Performance.
The other album I wanted to name is Cool For Cats by Squeeze, a good pop (power pop?) band I think is sadly underrated. It's not their best, or their second-best, album. But it's good. It was also pretty successful in the UK, spawning two #2 hits there. Here is one of them, "Up the Junction."
|
|
sockit
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 234
Likes: 181
|
Post by sockit on Oct 29, 2021 22:08:00 GMT
I know kds mentioned this album near the beginning of this installment, but I think it disserves to be expanded on as one of the better albums of '79. That album would be The Police's Reggatta de Blanc. It's a very solid, cohesive album and IMO their second best after Ghost in the Machine. The album yielded 2 excellent singles, "Message in a Bottle" and "Walking on the Moon". "Message..." is really an incredible song. One of my former bands attempted to cover it, but we found the rhythm rather tricky, and gave up on it in the rehearsal stage. "Walking..." is a trippy little sci-fi reggae tune that I don't ever recall hearing on mainstream pop radio. It was played pretty heavily on the adult fm stations though. Other highlights in the lineup are "Bring on the Night", "The Bed's Too Big Without You", and "Does Everyone Stare". A few folks here may remember my story on one of the other forums about the time when I was eating dinner at an Applebee's and I heard "Does Everyone Stare" on the piped in music service. Surprised the hell outta me! The song that really stands out for me, and it could have easily been a single, is "It's Alright For You". This is probably one the last songs The Police recorded with their early garage punk sound:
|
|
|
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Oct 30, 2021 0:05:48 GMT
1979. ELO. Don't Bring Me Down.
|
|
|
Post by jk on Oct 30, 2021 9:14:01 GMT
1993 is probably most famous for us BB fans because it saw the release of the seminal Thirty Years box set. I'm not a hip hop fan but I do enjoy the selection of tracks my brother sent me in that decade from Snoop (Doggy) Dogg's Doggystyle. Other albums l heard in later decades are Björk's Debut, Kate Bush's The Red Shoes and Slowdive's Souvlaki -- fantastic albums all. The one CD I bought at the time was Frank Zappa's The Yellow Shark. The only other I've bought since then is U2's Zooropa. From it, this is "Lemon": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_(U2_song)
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 30, 2021 17:56:43 GMT
Here are the year-end Top 40 singles from the Billboard Hot 100, as taken from Wiki. № Title Artist(s) 1 "I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston 2 "Whoomp! (There It Is)" Tag Team 3 "Can't Help Falling in Love" UB40 4 "That's the Way Love Goes" Janet Jackson 5 "Freak Me" Silk 6 "Weak" SWV 7 "If I Ever Fall in Love" Shai 8 "Dreamlover" Mariah Carey 9 "Rump Shaker" Wreckx-n-Effect 10 "Informer" Snow 11 "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" Dr. Dre 12 "In the Still of the Nite" Boyz II Men 13 "Don't Walk Away" Jade 14 "Knockin' da Boots" H-Town 15 "Lately" Jodeci 16 "Dazzey Duks" Duice 17 "Show Me Love" Robin S. 18 "A Whole New World" Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle 19 "If" Janet Jackson 20 "I'm So Into You" SWV 21 "Love Is" Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight 22 "Runaway Train" Soul Asylum 23 "I'll Never Get Over You (Getting Over Me)" Exposé 24 "Ditty" Paperboy 25 "Rhythm Is a Dancer" Snap! 26 "The River of Dreams" Billy Joel 27 "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" The Proclaimers 28 "Two Princes" Spin Doctors 29 "Right Here (Human Nature)" / "Downtown" SWV 30 "I Have Nothing" Whitney Houston 31 "Mr. Wendal" Arrested Development 32 "Have I Told You Lately" Rod Stewart 33 "Saving Forever for You" Shanice 34 "Ordinary World" Duran Duran 35 "If I Had No Loot" Tony! Toni! Toné! 36 "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" Meat Loaf 37 "Slam" Onyx 38 "Looking Through Patient Eyes" P.M. Dawn 39 "I'm Every Woman" Whitney Houston 40 "Baby I'm Yours" Shai
Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard (soundtrack), 17 weeks Janet Jackson, janet., 6 weeks Pearl Jam, Vs, 5 weeks Garth Brooks, In Pieces, 4 weeks Eric Clapton, Unplugged, 3 weeks Billy Joel, River of Dreams, 3 weeks Snoop Doggy Dogg, Doggystyle 2 weeks U2, Zooropa, 2 weeks Cyprus Hill, Black Sunday, 2 weeks Depeche Mode, Songs of Faith and Devotion Aerosmith, Get a Grip Barbra Streisand, Back to Broadway Various, Sleepless in Seattle (soundtrack) Nirvana, In Utero Meatloaf, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell Mariah Carey, Music Box
|
|
sockit
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 234
Likes: 181
|
Post by sockit on Oct 30, 2021 18:39:44 GMT
1993 is a really good choice and worthy of discussion, although I know we are doomed to repeat some of the conversation in my 90s thread. Oh, well I'm ok with if everyone else is! '93 was a standout year for music, imo, but I wasn't into any of the top 40 pop. A lot of hip hoppy stuff going on there. As I mentioned in the other thread, it was right around this time that my new album buying peaked out, and pretty much dwindled to nothing in the following year. Aerosmith's Get a Grip was their last cohesive album imo, and a worthy follow up to 1989's equally good Pump. Anything they've put out since has done absolutely nothing for me. Def Leppard's Retro Active was a good one, even though it technically wasn't "new" material. Ok, so it was a collection of outtakes and B-sides, but it flowed pretty well and I enjoyed hearing the "old" edgier sound of Leppard. Steve Miller's Wide River was a nice straightforward album, spawning the single by the same name (although the melody reminds me of the Beau Brummels' "Just a Little" from the 60s. Speaking of singles, there were a good share of excellent singles that year: Mary Jane's Last Dance--Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Are You Gonna Go My Way--Lenny Kravitz Return to Serenity--Testament Real World--Queensrÿche Three Little Pigs--Green Jello(y)
|
|
|
Post by B.E. on Oct 30, 2021 22:16:31 GMT
Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard (soundtrack), 17 weeks Janet Jackson, janet., 6 weeks Pearl Jam, Vs, 5 weeks Garth Brooks, In Pieces, 4 weeks Eric Clapton, Unplugged, 3 weeks Billy Joel, River of Dreams, 3 weeks Snoop Doggy Dogg, Doggystyle 2 weeks U2, Zooropa, 2 weeks Cyprus Hill, Black Sunday, 2 weeks Depeche Mode, Songs of Faith and Devotion Aerosmith, Get a Grip Barbra Streisand, Back to Broadway Various, Sleepless in Seattle (soundtrack) Nirvana, In Utero Meatloaf, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell Mariah Carey, Music Box Not that I really had any concept of which albums went #1 in 1993, but Eric Clapton's Unplugged in particular surprised me. Don't get me wrong, I knew it was successful, but I just didn't realize it was that success. I'm reading now that it won 6 Grammy Awards!?
|
|
|
Post by Kapitan on Oct 30, 2021 22:45:28 GMT
I remember it as huge: "Tears in Heaven" and "Layla" both got a ton of play on MTV, at least. The show had been on a couple years by then, but it seems to me that this was one of the Unplugged specials that really helped that idea take off, not just with more MTV ones but just in general.
It was actually a mid-92 release, but obviously it had some staying power on the charts.
|
|
|
Post by B.E. on Oct 30, 2021 23:09:50 GMT
I remember it as huge: "Tears in Heaven" and "Layla" both got a ton of play on MTV, at least. The show had been on a couple years by then, but it seems to me that this was one of the Unplugged specials that really helped that idea take off, not just with more MTV ones but just in general.
It was actually a mid-92 release, but obviously it had some staying power on the charts.
Yeah, I think the cobwebs may be clearing for me, as I do remember it as being one of the more successful in that series but for comparison: McCartney's reached #14, Dylan #23, Neil Young #23. I knew Nirvana's was huge and went #1 but I'm also familiar with the circumstances (it was the first release after Kurt's death). That said, I was a pretty big fan of Nirvana's album growing up, and I'm still pretty big on Neil Young's, Clapton's on the other hand didn't leave as strong an impression. So, that probably influenced my thinking as well. Man, I haven't listened to Clapton's album in a LONG time. It's probably been a good 15 years. Maybe I'll give it a listen this week. Edit: I know "Tears in Heaven" was a huge single at around the same time, but that's a different version and I guess I just didn't expect it to drive sales of the album like it apparently did.
|
|
|
Post by B.E. on Oct 30, 2021 23:56:10 GMT
OK, I did some perusing...sorta slim pickings for me.
Albums: Nirvana's In Utero which includes the GREAT "Heart-Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" Neil Young’s Unplugged Pearl Jam's Vs. Paul McCartney's Off the Ground Bob Dylan's World Gone Wrong
Songs (including holdover singles from 1992 albums): Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance" Nirvana's "In Bloom" Stone Temple Pilots' "Plush" and "Creep" Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name", "Bullet in the Head", and "Bombtrack" Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way" Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm" ... maybe? I remember listening to Siamese Dream but looking at the titles I don't really remember them.
|
|