Fuck indie cred and ironic hipsterism; it’s a gorgeous summer Friday evening, and I’m on vacation next week. It’s time to break the seals on my Chest of Guilty Pleasures and unleash the power of good ol’ fashioned rawk music. A bottle of Boone’s Farm and a burnt orange Camaro (or custom van conversion) are not required, but are recommended to complete the experience. The parking lot by the baseball fields beckons; will you and your leather vest answer the clarion call to party?
J. Geils Band – Must of Got Lost (from The Best of the J. Geils Band, 1979) – When I brainstorm ideas for posts, I often use my wife as a sounding board, and her input has been invaluable. When I mentioned to her that I was going to include this track in my classic rock round up, her only response was, “I don’t like that song.” 70’s J. Geils’ music is a lot like Jell-O shots -- removed from a party time atmosphere, they become fairly nauseating to ingest.
Slade – Cum On Feel the Noize (from Get Yer Boots On: The Best of Slade, 2004) – Accept no substitutions. I don’t need a metallic sheen on my bubbleglam.
Blue Öyster Cult – Burnin' For You (from Fire of Unknown Origin, 1981) – “No Cult. I ate twenty-four pairs of Blue Öyster Cult tickets last time around. I was this close to working at 7-11. No Cult.” – Mike Damone, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 1982
Electric Light Orchestra – Don’t Bring Me Down (from Discovery, 1979) – Jeff Lynne joins the ranks of rockers trying to cash in on the disco craze, and with spectacular results. While similar efforts by the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, and Kiss produced some of the most embarrassing music of the era, this song is a throbbing masterpiece of seventies futurism (its last gasp, really) which evokes the lurid electric sleaze of T-and-A pinball machines and dodgy carnival rides.
Ten Years After – I’d Love to Change the World (from A Space In Time, 1971) – I first heard this song on the legendary Freedom Rock compilation sold via TV in the late eighties. Despite the extremely mockable commercials (“Turn it up, man!”), the comp itself had a damn fine mix of tracks from the late sixties and early seventies, as the Summer of Love gave way to the long, dark Winter of Self-Absorbtion. If you listen close, you can hear a generation’s idealism die.
J. Geils Band – Must of Got Lost (from The Best of the J. Geils Band, 1979) – When I brainstorm ideas for posts, I often use my wife as a sounding board, and her input has been invaluable. When I mentioned to her that I was going to include this track in my classic rock round up, her only response was, “I don’t like that song.” 70’s J. Geils’ music is a lot like Jell-O shots -- removed from a party time atmosphere, they become fairly nauseating to ingest.
Slade – Cum On Feel the Noize (from Get Yer Boots On: The Best of Slade, 2004) – Accept no substitutions. I don’t need a metallic sheen on my bubbleglam.
Blue Öyster Cult – Burnin' For You (from Fire of Unknown Origin, 1981) – “No Cult. I ate twenty-four pairs of Blue Öyster Cult tickets last time around. I was this close to working at 7-11. No Cult.” – Mike Damone, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 1982
Electric Light Orchestra – Don’t Bring Me Down (from Discovery, 1979) – Jeff Lynne joins the ranks of rockers trying to cash in on the disco craze, and with spectacular results. While similar efforts by the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, and Kiss produced some of the most embarrassing music of the era, this song is a throbbing masterpiece of seventies futurism (its last gasp, really) which evokes the lurid electric sleaze of T-and-A pinball machines and dodgy carnival rides.
Ten Years After – I’d Love to Change the World (from A Space In Time, 1971) – I first heard this song on the legendary Freedom Rock compilation sold via TV in the late eighties. Despite the extremely mockable commercials (“Turn it up, man!”), the comp itself had a damn fine mix of tracks from the late sixties and early seventies, as the Summer of Love gave way to the long, dark Winter of Self-Absorbtion. If you listen close, you can hear a generation’s idealism die.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment