Rock Show (link) Track and Show Commentaries Commentary Index Shows 4 - 6 If you’re interested in what albums have been the best over the decades, look up the Pazz and Jop poll online which lists all of the albums each year considered the best by a large panel of music critics and no I haven’t mispronounced or mis-spelt the website name! Rock is music art. Even Punk rock is an art form. The early rock bands and today’s too play what they like as best they can and there’s often great and real musicianship involved. Punk bands might even be horrified to hear their music described as an art form, but it’s true. Rock from the 60’s is alive now as it was when the early rock bands started playing. As well as being a cultural thing, it’s deeply ingrained in our subconscious and often in our daily lives and loves, and greatly enriching our experience as we live our lives! I haven’t played any country rock yet. Country music had a lot to do with providing the spark that set the tinder of Blues and R&B alight with Rock ‘N Roll emerging from the fire, and leading on eventually to today’s rock scene. It’s said that the average amount of time for a band to last these days is once around the Sun, just a year. Some bands of course last much longer and a few have been around since the 60s or 70s. Wishbone Ash for instance have produced no less than 23 very high quality studio rock albums, though only Andy Powell has lasted out the distance as the mainstay of the band, whereas the Stones lineup is more or less unchanged over the years! Rolling Stone Magazine did an updated 500 best rock songs list in 2010 and it is interesting to look at the split across the decades, 2 tracks from the 40’s, 69 from the 50’s, 195 from the 60’s, 131 70’s, 55 80’s, 22 90’s and 36 2000’s or noughties tracks. Rock Show 4 We’ll start with the great Jimi Hendrix and one of his best and best known numbers All Along The Watchtower . It was released as a single in 1968, just 6 months after Bob Dylan wrote and recorded his version. But Jimi made the song very much into his very own Hendrix style. Fleetwood Mac are still around and we’ll be having some tracks from their later albums in the future, but for now it’s back to the 70’s and taken from their spectacularly successful 1977 album Rumours, with Go Your Own Way which is by Lindsey Buckingham, with the lyrics being written following her relationship difficulties with Stevie Nicks. It was first released in 1976 as a single, prior to the release of Rumours. Most songs by The Beatles are well - known but I’m playing one of their lesser known numbers, it’s a cult favourite called I'll Follow The Sun and It was released in 1964 in the UK on the Beatles for Sale album and on the Beatles '65 album in the United States. It was notably written as early as 1960 by Lennon-McCartney in their days of performing as the Quarrymen! Great song, very melodic and tremendous lyrics! The Black Crowes are an American rock band who formed up in 1989 and gained their finest recognition in the early 1990’s. I’m playing Remedy and it’s from their 1992 album The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion and is one of their very top hits! Ok. More from Led Zeppelin. ‘Thank You!’ was written by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and released on their 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. It was the first song for which Robert Plant wrote the lyrics and paved the way for his song-writing for Zeppelin. It features some delicate keyboard playing by John Paul Jones and some very nifty and hefty drum playing by John Bonham, and often featured live in Zeppelin concerts. So here’s Thank You! by Led Zeppelin The American band ‘Journey’ often close their gigs with Any Way You Want It . It was released as a single in 1980, and also appeared on their album called Departure of the same year. They re-recorded it in 2008 for their Revelation album but for today, here is their 1980 version! Very nice catchy rock tune! The American rock band Boston recorded More Than A Feeling for their self-titled debut album in 1976 and is another rock classic staple! This one from 1976 no less, and the one by Journey from 1980 in this show showcase the rock style that came to be prevalent throughout the 80s! ‘Kiss’ are yet another American rock band who formed in 1973, and Rock and Roll All Nite is their signature number. They always close their concerts with this track and it’s from their 1975 album Dressed To Kill. We move northwards a bit now, to the celebrated Canadian rock band ‘Rush’. Rush formed up in 1968 and there’s a new album of theirs out May. Tom Sawyer is a very well known and well-liked track of theirs named of course from Mark Twain’s literary character, from their 1981 album Moving Pictures and is another out-and-out all-time rock classic. Ok, travelling very far south and also right around the globe, we come to the extremely popular Australian rock band AC/DC who’ve done more than their share of turning rock upside down, or at least down under in their time! Back In Black is a very big hit of theirs from their 1980 album of the same name. It has a terrific intro guitar riff and was written as a tribute to their former singer Bon Scott. Faith No More are yet another American band, this time formed in 1981 and are recognized as one of the most influential metal/rock bands of the late 80s and early 90s, and are credited for inventing alternative metal rock music Epic was a breakthrough hit for them and it’s from their 1989 album The Real Thing, being released the same year in the USA, and a year later here in the UK, both times as singles. It features highly in Metal charts. It’s about time that I had Guns 'N Roses number! Guns 'N Roses or G ‘N R formed in LA in 1985 and have performed and recorded some amazing rock music with over 100 million albums sold. Paradise City is a particularly well-known number from their 1987 album Appetite for Destruction and came out as a single the following year in 1988. The lyrics are particularly celebrated but have a much darker undertone, starting off very lightly as they do with "Take me down to the paradise city/Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty. Oh won’t you please take me home” Oasis haven’t made my show either until today, so time to put that right, right now! They were an English rock band who got together in 1991 but sadly disbanded in 2009. What better way to introduce one of their tracks than Wonderwall . According to Noel Gallagher the band's guitarist and main songwriter, "Wonderwall" describes "an imaginary friend who's gonna come and save you from yourself." It was written for their second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? After last week’s Freebird we’ll have another Lynyrd Skynyrd number this week and it’s the jazzy blues rock track Call Me The Breeze . It was originally written and performed by J J Cale in 1970, and has had many cover versions, of which Lynyrd Skynyrd’s from their 1974 album Second Helping is best known. Many cover versions of this song have been as a tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s original line-up. So Call Me The Breeze and it’s by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Pearl Jam haven’t featured before, and I’ll have another track of theirs next week too. Pearl Jam formed in Seattle in 1991 and have contributed greatly to the grunge scene and movement. They are considered one of the most influential alternative rock bands around. Their debut album was called Ten and Even Flow is a 1991 hit single from that album that reached No 3 in the charts! Black Sabbath are the first and foremost heavy metal band around, getting together as a band in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 and the English band Black Sabbath are cited as the pioneers of heavy metal. To their credit, they perform the top-rated heavy metal number of all time, Paranoid, released as a single from the album of the same name in 1970, that charted at the no 4 slot in the UK charts. A remarkable achievement for a heavy metal band! The German rock band Pink Cream 69 has two British members of the band, though one of these is a replacement for another previous British member of the band! Shelter is a tremendous track of theirs with heavy guitar undertones and is another track from their ninth album Thunderdome released in 2004. The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey (lead vocals, harmonica and guitar) with Pete Townshend (guitar, keyboards and vocals), John Entwistle (bass guitar, brass and vocals) and Keith Moon (drums and percussion). They became known for energetic live performances which often included fireworks and breaking guitars and everything else on-stage! On one occasion they destroyed their equipment live on German TV for the first time and used a well-dangerous amount of fireworks explosive in their bass drum! Quite shook up the camera team! Won’t Get Fooled Again is typical of this era and was released as a single in 1971 from their album Who’s Next. Stevie Ray Vaughan was a very reputed American guitarist, and singer-songwriter who lived until 1990. He was unfortunately killed in a helicopter crash but is rated very high amongst the all-time top guitarists. Crossfire is a splendid track of his from his last and final album In Step. Even hard rock sometimes has a softer and more melodic side to it, but here’s a soft rock power ballad by Bryan Adams that’s very well-known, and it’s Everything I Do I Do It For You . It featured on the sound track of the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and on Adams' 1991 album Waking Up the Neighbours. Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor who formed the American rock band The Revolution in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1979, though they had disbanded by 1986. Prince And The Revolution hit fame with the 1984 track Purple Rain and similarly named album, which also featured as the soundtrack for the film Purple Rain, again in 1984. Last week we had the fantastic track London Calling by The Clash. This is the much more traditional fifties style rock ‘n roll number of theirs Should I Stay Or Should I Go from their album Combat Rock. It was written in 1981 and featured Mick Jones on lead vocals. It became the band's only number-one single in the UK Singles Chart, ten years after its original release.
Rock Show 5 And what better way to start for once than with some Punk rock from one of the top ten punk tracks ever, by Richard Hell And The Voidoids. Richard Hell was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, held up by large safety pins! The track is of course (I Belong To The) Blank Generation from the 1977 album Blank Generation which has influenced a whole generation of punk rockers! Best I Ever Had is the first single from Canadian rapper Drake's first EP So Far Gone and was released in 2009 becoming a huge hit, but has had Drake defending a lawsuit by the copyright owner’s Playboy, from alleged infringement of a Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds 1975 hit called Fallin’ In Love. Anyway, no problemo. Here’s Drake with Best I Ever Had. Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. No two studio albums featured exactly the same band line-up. MISS Mistreated is a great track from their album Straight Between the Eyes released in 1982. You may not have heard of Rank & File but they are a great American country band from who got together in the early 80’s, joining the Cow Punk Scene! Sundown is from their first same-named album of 1982, considered one of the very best albums of that year! A really cheerful number to sing along with! James Roger McGuinn started off as Jim McGuinn until a Guru told him to change his stage name to Roger to find true success. Which is strangely enough exactly what happened! You might know him better as the lead singer/guitarist from The Byrds but he’s had a very successful solo career too, headlining for Bob Dylan in 1987 - and this is a protest number ‘The Trees Are All Gone’ from Roger McGuinn’s 1991 album Back From Rio. Incubus is an American alternative rock formed in 1991 who have done very well commercially and achieved critical acclaim. Wish You Were Here is a super track from their 2001 album Morning View. It’s heavy in places and very highly melodic in others! Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band from New York who came into being in 1967 and they went through many name changes before settling on their present name in 1971. (Don't Fear) The Reaper is a very successful track of theirs from their 1976 album, Agents of Fortune. The Groundhogs never rocketed to fame after the early 70’s but sat back on their laurels and only released a small amount of new material, preferring to play their most successful numbers live up to the present. Their biggest claim to fame is supporting the Rolling Stones on the Stones’ 1971 tour. Rock is full of surprises and the next track is no exception, being a surprisingly melodic number, given that The Groundhogs are a hard rock band! Well there is some hard rock later in the track! Black Diamond is the title track from the same-named album of 1976. The Stranglers are a very successful English punk/rock music group who formed up in 1974. No More Heroes is one of their most successful singles and it’s from their 1977 album of the same name. The Eurythmics are a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but they do get together to reunite from time to time! Sweet Dreams was released as a big hit single in early 1983, and was the title track of their album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). This is a grittier version than that the somewhat sweetened version normally played on-air! Ok I have got a few top names and top bands! Here’s The Who and one of my favourite numbers from them, My Generation released as a hit single in 1965, also appearing in the same-named album. It’s rated as one of the best and most recognised Who’s numbers. "Alive" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam and was their first single, appearing on the band's debut album, Ten (1991). Written by guitarist Stone Gossard, "Alive" originated as an instrumental titled "Dollar Short" and was included on a demo tape circulated in hopes of finding a singer for the group! Alpha & Omega are a very prolific English roots and reggae dub duo who have been working together since the mid 1980s. Dancing On A Rainbow is from their 1998 album The Sacred Art Of Dub. Great track this one, by the way! Here’s a real delight of rock music. Razorlight are an English indie rock band formed in 2002. America is a very famous and exceptionally melodic track from their second album, Razorlight and was released as a single as well in 2006. It’s one of those tracks that I thought for some reason to have been around much longer than it actually is, probably because it’s such a fantastic track! I don’t often have similarly named tracks but in this instance, they’re completely different tracks. Roy Buchanan was an excellent American guitarist and blues musician who has been called the 'The Best Unknown Guitarist in the World.' He started recording in 1958 and lived up ‘til 1988. Sweet Dreams by Roy Buchanan is from his 1992 compilation album Sweet Dreams: The Anthology And this one is a rather less well-know track by the very great musician and song-writer Paul McCartney. It’s called This Never Happened Before and is a song from his 2005 album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard released as a single in 2006 in the US and on the soundtrack of the 2006movie ‘The Lake House’ . So let’s have a listen to this Never Happened Before by Paul McCartney - well I never played this before! Def Leppard are a British hard rock band formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave Heavy Metal movement, and had their greatest success between the early 80’s and early 90’s. ‘Animal’ is a great song of theirs recorded in 1987 from their album Hysteria, also released as a single. Well what can one say about this next track except it’s one of the tracks that set the whole Rock ‘N Roll machine and movement in motion and in progress, and also has one of the very first rock guitar solo’s, performed by Scotty Moore. Hound Dog by a certain somebody called Elvis Presley, was initially released as the B-side to the single "Don't Be Cruel" in 1956 with both sides of the record topping the charts and released again as a double A side in 1960. (Well he was just an unknown and still to be discovered artist, but Hound Dog changed all that!) Shinehead, or Edmund C Aiken is an English born Jamaican reggae singer/toaster/rapper who started his musical career in New York dance halls in the 1980s. His best known single is the cover version of Sting's "Englishman In New York", re-titled as Jamaican In New York and released as a single in 1993. Richard Thompson is a British songwriter, guitarist and recording and performing musician. Highly regarded for his guitar techniques, Thompson has been awarded the Orville H. Gibson award for best acoustic guitar player in 1991 and Francesca is a lovely track from his 2007 album Sweet Warrior. Transvision Vamp were a British alternative pop rock group who lasted from 1986 to 1992. Baby I Don't Care is their sixth single and the first to be taken from their second album Velveteen, and it was released in 1989. Baker Street is a ballad written and first recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. Released as a single in 1978, it was very successful in the charts almost reaching the top spot. The song was subsequently included on his second solo album, City to City. Ok well this is another almost similar title, again being a completely different track and it’s I Don't Care which is a pop rock song by British based female duo , Shakespear’s Sister from their successful 1992 album Hormonally Yours. Clea was an English girl group whose members met on the television show Popstars: The Rivals in 2002, but they broke up in 2007. Stuck In The Middle is Clea's second single. It was released in the UK in 2004 giving them their second Top 30 hit. ‘The Beautiful South’ was a successful English alternative rock group formed at the end of the 1980s, lasting through again to 2007. Rotterdam (Or Anywhere) is a great song of theirs, taken from their Blue Is the Colour album of 1996. Lovely melodic and very tuneful number! Rock Show 6 I’m starting off today with Richard Ashcroft who is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and occasional guitarist for the alternative rock band The Verve from their formation in 1990 until they split up in 1999, and he has now embarked on a solo career. A Song For Lovers is the opening track on his 2000 album, Alone with Everybody. This song was also released in 2000 as a single from that album. Here we go then with Richard Ashcroft’s A Song For Lovers . Crazy is the debut single from Gnarls Barkley, an American soul duo, and is taken from their 2006 debut album St. Elsewhere. It became a top ten hit throughout Europe, North America and Australia. So my second track for today . . . Gnarls Barkley with Crazy . Rascal Flatts is an American country band who joined together round-about 1999. Life Is a Highway is a song written by Tom Cochrane, from his 1991 album Mad Mad World. The song was Cochrane's most famous song but I’ve chosen the version by Rascal Flatts for today’s show! . . . Rascal Flatts and Life Is a Highway The American country music group Perfect Stranger founded in 1986, though they’ve now only one member from their original band. They’ve released three albums up to the present. You Have the Right to Remain Silent from the same named album was recorded by them and was a big hit charting in 1995!. This is a lovely country rock number - You Have the Right to Remain Silent by Perfect Stranger, about a girl who is now available for romance. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is an American indie rock group from New York and Pennsylvania. Their debut album, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, was released by them in 2005. The track from the album that I’m going to play, has a most unusual name but it’s a great track, called The Skin Of My Yellow Teeth by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Take That are a British five-piece vocal pop group who have been through a couple of line-up changes mostly by Robbie Williams going on to an immensely successful solo career, but he rejoined the band in 2010 and they have more recently changed musical direction. You wouldn’t normally associate them at all with rock music, but here’s a distinctly rock track from their 2010 album Progress called Affirmation. The new Take That album rapidly became the fastest selling UK album so far in the 21st century. So we’re going to have Affirmation by Take That. I’ve a another very recent track next, by the American recording artist Usher and also featuring the rapper Pitbull. It was released as a digital download in 2010 and is called DJ Got Us Falling In Love. by Usher ft Pitbull American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were founded in 1976 and are still going strong. Mary Jane's Last Dance is the title of a song written by Tom Petty and recorded in 1993 while Petty was recording his Wildflowers album. Let’s get right on and it’s one of their very best tracks Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Dio was an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 and lasting until 2010, with several line-up changes, and included several members from the previous heavy metal rock group Black Sabbath. Rainbow in the Dark was Dio’s second single and it’s taken from their 1983 album, Holy Diver. So let’s have Rainbow in the Dark by Dio Foghat are a British rock band who had their peak success in the mid- to late-1970s. And we’ve got Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was a Fool) a successful single from their 1975 Fool For The City album. How many times have we tried things and only eventually got things right?! Foghat and Third Time Lucky (First Time I Was a Fool) The Allman Brothers, an American rock/blues band formed up as a band in 1969 but dissolved between 1976 and 1989, having a brief reunite in the interim. They continue to record and perform since 1989 with some major line-up changes. Ain’t Wasting Time No More is a track recorded live from CD3 of the 4 CD album set Dreams released by them in 1989. . . Let’s have The Allman Brothers with Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More. In Your Arms Rescue Me is a song written In 1965, it was originally released as a single by Fontella Bass. Quite a number of artists have since released/recorded their own versions. It has also been remixed by Nu Generation, titled (Rescue Me) and released in January 2000, which I’m playing next! Nu Generation are an English Indie Pop/Rock band from Bournemouth formed up in 2010. Right, on we go with . . . In Your Arms Rescue Me performed by Nu Generation. American alternative Rock band Third Eye Blind was formed in the early 1990s in San Francisco though their first album, named after themselves, wasn’t released until 1997. I’ve a single from their second album Blue that did very well in the charts and it’s called Never Let You Go by Third Eye Blind. Aretha Franklin said in 1968 that there were only three things happening in England at that time The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Terry Reid! Terry was offered a place with Led Zeppelin as a singer/song-writer and guitarist, but was refused leave from a contract by Micky Most. Terry in fact recommended Robert Plant to Led Zeppelin, and the rest is, as they say, history. Terry went on performing solo and though himself never achieving high commercial success, has recorded some great tracks. Season Of The Witch is a tremendous track of Terry’s from his 1968 album Bang Bang You’re Terry Reid. So to Season Of The Witch by Terry Reid. Can’t believe I’ve got to my sixth show without one from Aerosmith. Aerosmith have been likened to The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin for their influence on Rock! They formed up in 1971 and are the best-selling American rock band of all time, even outselling The Eagles in overall sales. So we’ll put this right with Walk This Way a 1975 single, one of their best known tracks, from their Toys In The Attic album of the same year. And it’s Aerosmith with Walk This Way ! Petra Marklund better known as “September” is a Swedish female singer and songwriter. Can't Get Over is a single from September's third album Dancing Shoes released in2007. I’m playing the 2009 UK remix version - Let’s have Can't Get Over radio version by September! I know nine times out of ten, if I see an extra artist featured, that it’s likely to be a modern track. This next one is from October of last year and is nothing like as pop-treated or sweetened-up as this year’s versions by other artists! So let’s have a listen to Jar Of Hearts (in the raw) by Mercury Red ft. Francesca Blind Melon is an American rock band active from 1989 to 1999, and from 2006 onward. They are best known for their song No Rain from their 1992 debut album Blind Melon and also re-released the following year. On with No Rain by Blind Melon Wishbone Ash or ‘Ash’ are a great British rock outfit who are still performing 42 years on! Standing In The Rain is a great rock track from their 1991 album Strange Affair Right-ee-oh Wishbone Ash with Standing In The Rain Another one I’ve left and missed out on so far is Queen, so there we are that’s another great band just waiting to be plucked right off the shelf! And a great track of theirs for you You're My Best Friend by Queen. Now for a more unusual band. Shed Seven are an English indie rock band from York formed in 1990 and they’ve produced 5 studio albums and a singles collection album Going For Gold, an appropriate title to mention this year! Chasing Rainbows is a single of theirs from 1996, that was also re-released as a piano pop version last year to mark their 15th anniversary as a band. I’m playing the 1996 original rock version Chasing Rainbows by Shed Seven. Die 3.Generation was a top German band from Berlin active from 1998 to 2004 Leb (Also known under the title Big Brother) is a highly rated single from 1999 by them. Lyrics are German, but it’s a great rock track! Die 3 Generation with Leb. Gary Moore, who lived up to 2011, was an Northern Irish musician, most widely recognised as a blues singer and guitarist. Over The Hills And Far Away is a great track by him, released as a single in 1986 from his 1987 Wild Frontiers album. Let’s have a listen along to Over The Hills And Far Away by the late but great by Gary Moore. I’m signing off for this week with a song from Justin Bieber, who is a young 17 year old very talented Canadian pop/R&B singer and songwriter with a big fan following! Stuck In The Moment is a song from his 2010 album My World 2.0 Right let play Stuck In The Moment by Justin Bieber to close the show for today.
|