David Bowie - David Bowie (The 1967 Album)

David Bowie

David Bowie

1 June 1967

                Bowie’s first album has a very different tone than what you expect. It’s pop. A sort of baroque pop.

                It’s actually very hard to talk about this album seriously, due to its content and what came after it. That and I can’t even compare it to any other artists. No one but Bowie can do this drastic change of genre. Even ELO’s first band, The Idle Race, has the themes that continued into ELO. David Bowie the album is almost generic, but Bowie’s songwriting saves it.

                I think the right thing to say about this album is that it doesn’t fit. It doesn’t fit in Bowie’s catalogue, it doesn’t even fit in 1967 standards. Lyrically it does fit into Bowie’s catalogue, with some lyrics mentioning abortion and cannibalism and overall pushing the edge with storytelling.

                Bowie’s vocals are strange. I feel like he’s not putting as much effort into it as he would later, and it shows. Rubber Band is an exception, as Bowie’s vocals slowly become more powerful. He even yells off-mic to “play that thing!”  

                The album starts off pretty weak, but starting at Rubber Band it gets better. There Is a Happy Land has an enjoyable premise and We Are Hungry Men is the real Bowie trying to shine; more of a rebellious theme which just sounds silly in a baroque pop album. It does end in the best way; Bowie singing in the rain while digging a grave with no instruments in the background while he occasionally inserts an "oh god..." That's great. 

                I just think it’s weird that I don’t like this. I’ve got albums from bands like The Left Banke that have the same baroque style, and The Left Banke’s album Walk Away Renée/Pretty Ballerina was also released in 1967. But I’d take that album (with a name so generic that you’d think the songs would follow suit) over David Bowie (the 1967 album).

                But thank God he’s David Bowie, and there is something for everyone.

Overall:

                Generic 60’s pop sound with Bowie’s songwriting and voice. For me, it just doesn’t reach anything higher than average. Even after having this album for a while.

Highlights:

·         Rubber Band (because it’s how the whole album should be)

·         Love You till Tuesday (because it’s how the whole album also should be)

·         We Are Hungry Men (because the vocals are good and cannibalism)

·         When I Live My Dream (if you are like me and imagine Roy Orbison singing this song)

·         Please Mr. Gravedigger (because it’s perfect)

a-ha - Hunting High and Low (30TH ANNIVERSARY SUPER DELUXE EDITION)

a-ha

Hunting High and Low (30^th Anniversary Super Deluxe)

Released: September 18, 2015

                The average American music fan knows a-ha for Take On Me. The average UK fan might even know more. It’s been 30 years since the album that made a-ha pretty much a household name was released, even if they’ve been almost forgotten except for Take On Me. To celebrate, our friends at Rhino made a super duper deluxe edition of Hunting High and Low. Because that’s what Rhino does.

God I want to work at Rhino.

Grateful Dead - Europe 72'

                I decided to review an album, and the album would be chosen by the result of my music player’s shuffle feature.

                Today, it just so happened to land on Europe ’72 by Grateful Dead.

Subterranean Jungle

*This is part of my ongoing, personal project of listening to every Rolling Stones material released, posted onto this blog for everyone to read and for opinions to flourish. The rating doesn't mean much, because I hate ratings, but might as well.*

Alright well, thought I might do something for once for the site, so I decided to review Da Ramones.
Since they are the musical equivalent to Potato Chips, I've already listened to every album and feel like a whore for doing so. So let's start off at random, and by that I will pick Subterranean Jungle, from 1983. Why that album, well I just listened to it so might as well write about it.

Subterranean Jungle comes from a weird time for The Ramones, right after the godawful mess of Pleasant Dreams, the Ramones were at a miss, and really had no direction.So they got Ritchie Cordell, (who worked with and even wrote for Tommy James and the Shondells) and got back to a more hard guitar sound that was missing on their last two albums. While on the subject, I will say that the production is arguably the best thing about this album, the guitar sound is great, and feels like Johhny is cutting through my brain with his Mosrite whenever I listen with headphones on. There are also little touches to the songs that make them a tad bit more memorable than they would be without them. The drum sound, while hated by Marky*, is nice. I like the drum machine sound they got, I always liked the sound and I think it actually helps keep the relentless beat of the songs.

Also, it is worth noting that everyone in the band, except Johhny, was going through some shit during the recording of this album, since both Joey and Marky were drinking too much and Dee Dee was addicted to cocaine, among other probable drugs. So that is probably why Johhny had a large say in the production and sound of the album. But, let's cut the shit and talk about some Ramones.

1. Little Bit O' Soul
Well fuck me does the album start off wrong. I don't know, it's not bad, that's for sure, but the album just starts with a nice drum and bass combination, but really I do not think that starting with a cover was a good idea. That saying, I hold the same opinion for the next track, I Need Your Love, so I will not repeat myself.

3. Outsider
Alright now things are getting started, a nice little song with a nice bridge sung by Dee Dee. Simple G and A chords with a chord change at the bridge, but they make it work, but it's the Ramones, they always make simple songs work. None the less, this song was always a favorite of mine.

4.What'd Ya Do?
This was what I was talking about, with the whole drum machine thing, since they really push in a fuck load of 16th notes in certain parts, and the whole song is filled with a bit of anger, and betrayal.The guitar work is nice here, with the solos, that were probably not played by Johhny.

5.Highest Trails Above
So as someone who has had a serious problem with amphetamines in the past, I will say that this song encapsulates the dreamy immature haze that stimulants cast over one's brain. I don't know how to put it, or why I connected the song with this, but apparently Dee Dee liked the song, or someone did, because the lyrics to this song are on his gravestone. So kids, don't go past the edge of Disney Land.

6. Somebody Like Me
Well fuck me, I hear Blitzkrieg Bop in the opening, and that is not a good sign. The Ramones were usually good about avoiding direct self plagiarism, their songs may all sound the same but rarely do they directly copy the same song.

7. Pyscho Therapy
This is one of the songs that really got me into the Ramones, with it's break neck speed and insane music video, this song gets inside your head and never leaves. While the subject matter is a retread of mental illness, I am perfectly fine with it. You got a problem, don't listen to all of the Ramones albums then.

8.Time Has Come Today
Well, the guitar sound is nice, but this song is not the sweet jam that the Chamber Brothers wrote up. Though I would be remiss if I did not say that this song introduced me to the original version, so at least it did that. Also Marky did not play on this track, since he was kicked out of the band before they did this song so they got session musician Billy Rogers to do it, and did a nice job, so good for Billy Rogers.

9. My-My Kind Of Girl
The standard ballad for the Ramones, and usually I love their ballads, but this one is really forgettable, but it does have a nice acoustic demo, which is available on the CD re-issue of this album.

10. In The Park
I dig this song, it works well and brings up a swell of a chorus, and I think Dee Dee wrote this one about his own childhood, I've heard him in interviews talk about drinking bum wine and doing dime bags of heroin in the park around the time of Woodstock, which sounds like a dandy childhood.

11. Time Bomb
Well, Dee Dee sings this one, and hey, it even has a swell little oriental (Christ that sounds racist) sounding riff, It also melts at the end which is a nice little touch.

12. Everytime I Eat Vegetables It Makes Me Think Of You
A nice track to end the album on, and I love the odd title. I can relate to soviets taking away my girlfriend, the slut. But I do have to say I love the chorus, I am a sucker for F# to G sound, it just gets me hooked.

So over all, not the best Ramones album, despite my kind review. The Ramones played about half of these tracks live, and they played the ones I really like, so at least there is that. This is not one you need to listen to, that's for sure, but if you are a Ramones fan, I think you will dig it.

I guess I will give the album like, 5/7?

* I am getting this from the Wikipedia page for the album, I know legit right? I have heard Marky in interviews talk about hating the album, since I binge on that kind of shit. I know I have a problem.

Ringo Starr - Postcards from Paradise

Postcards from Paradise 

Ringo Starr

Ringo Starr’s Postcards from Paradise, released March 31, 2015 (but I only heard of its release today for some reason.) It’s Ringo first album in three years, and my first album of 2015.

                My favorite Ringo quote so far is “if you show up at my house and you can play, you’re on the record.” Because that’s exactly what his albums are, and that’s just great. Of course that makes a large collection of musicians, you do get people like:

·         Van Dyke Parks, lyricist during The Beach Boys’ Smile album

·         Joe Walsh

·         Steve Lukather from Toto

·         Peter Frampton

Among others.

                Ringo’s last album, Ringo 2012, stays at an average rating level through most of its reviews. For me, it’s always nice to see a Ringo album, and while I hate to say it, you don’t expect something magical out of the album. But it is Ringo, and it is rock, and its laid back, so you take it with open arms. You give Ringo your money because he’s Ringo, and he loves music. And so do you. And a musician who loves his music is all you can ever ask for.

                And so here it is.

Rory and the Hurricanes

Ringo already wins my heart using two different keyboard parts in the song. Of course, the song is about a band that Ringo Starr was a part of before The Beatles. It reminds me of In Liverpool, another song that tells a part of Ringo’s life in song that was on Ringo 2012 (and yep, it was written by the same people: Ringo and Dave A. Stewart)

The song is that innocent Ringo you know and love alongside great instrumentation. What are you expecting?

You Bring the Party Down

                You enter a different song, one not like regular rock songs. A mix of steel drums and regular drums thrown in with a sitar (at least I think it’s a sitar, it’s not mentioned in the musicians list) and a regular guitar.  Mesmerizing.

                The song has a great guitar solo in it.

Bridges

                You can hear the influence of Joe Walsh in this one. A guitar centric, laid back piece.

                There’s a bit of robotic voice on this song, more so than the rest, but I think it’s more for effect rather than helping his voice. Still, I’m not a fan. But hey, the guitar work and his drumming sound great on this song, so whatever makes it work I guess.

Postcards from Paradise

                There is so much goddamn Beatles (and Ringo solo) references. Every verse. That is not an understatement. It’s what happens when Ringo puts a little drop of psychedelic into his music, but just a bit. It’s most prominent during the chorus.

                I do like guitar solos that come out of these songs though, and it does not disappoint. The drums are also high in the mix and it sounds great.

Right Side of the Road

Ringo Reggae.

The robot voice returns. Ringo uses a lot of a melodyne-type sound on his vocals, which isn’t auto tune but rather an effect. If you need comfort in knowing Ringo doesn’t actually need auto tune, watch any of his recent live performances. He actually does a better job than Paul most of the time.

Not Looking Back

                Beautiful song. Piano and string heavy, probably one of my favorites on the album. More pop than rock, but that’s ok.

Bamboula

                Funky. With an accordion, too. Sure it’s fun, but I think it’s the most forgettable on the album.

Island in the Sun

                Returning to reggae for this song. Well, reggae with a lead guitar. I guess it makes sense when you put the album name in, it’s a place where Ringo is relaxed. The song was written by everyone involved in the Ringo Starr All-Star band apparently, so that’s pretty cool.

                But hey, look at that, there’s a sax solo.

Touch and Go

                I hear that keyboard part Ringo. Don’t try to hide it in the mix. This is more of the Ringo Rock we’re used to. It’s a pretty catchy song, and it has a great beat. It’s my new favorite, but Not Looking Back will always have a place in my heart. I think the chorus and the guitar solo afterwards makes it for me.

Confirmation

                Another Ringo reggae song, but I like it. The instrumentation is great, and Ringo’s vocals here are some of the best on the album. It’s this style he seems to really enjoy doing.

Let Love Lead

                This song blends in with everything else, which was the main problem with the album. But at the same time, it’s got a great, strong guitar part.

Everything keeps a beat.

Laid back, but forgettable.

Great musicians = great performance on every song.

Too much use of melodyne for my liking.

                Postcards from Paradise keeps the Ringo formula that was solidified in Y Not? And continued in Ringo 2012. It’s a solid album with a great beat. Because of the album’s large selection of musicians, while everything seems to blend in, each member of the band does a great job. Really, everyone does a fantastic job on the album.

                A big chunk of the album was more of a laid back style, one that can be forgettable at times.

                Halfway through the album I had given it a 7 / 10, and was pretty sure that wasn’t going to change.

                My favorites are Rory and the Hurricanes, Not Looking Back, and Touch and Go.  I guess my least favorite are Bamboula and Let Love Lead; they just seem to blend in and aren’t really anything special.

                So altogether, the album is solid and what you want from a Ringo album. It’s a collection of great musicians at their best, nothing flashy or special.

                So yeah, I’d give it a 6.5 / 10, but that seems a bit low for the album, so a 7/10 is what it gets. Nice, laid back, but forgettable. I'd like to see what you think, because I'm probably extremely biased.

(Single) Street Fighting Man / No Expectations

Street Fighting Man / No Expectations

The last single of 1968 Stones

Format: Mono, Singles 1968-1971 release (2005)

Street Fighting Man

It took me a second listen to fully appreciate this song. The first listen stopped a quarter of the way because I was worried something was wrong with my listening devices. unfortunately, Jagger’s vocals just could not escape the mix well enough.

In case you didn't think you were out of the over-produced Stones era yet, this is the most raw sound I’ve heard yet from all of the Stones. It’s pretty basic but powerful, with a strong acoustic sound and the drums that produce power. This song (the single version, mind you) is just mixed so oddly, and everything just blends in together. It makes sense on a song like that, but I still don’t particularly like the mix.

I can’t find anything else to say about this. Maybe it’ll grow on me. Single material, never the less.

No Expectations

The song continues the simple yet effective sound the A-side had, but this time it’s not a raw rocking song. Instead it’s the opposite, a soft song with a prominent slide guitar played by Brian Jones.  Everything about it is slow and peaceful, yet with a touch of sad that comes with the style of blues rock. My favorite part of the song comes from the lyrics, and how many people interpret the song into their own. Johnny Cash did a version completely different from this version; a different tempo and a different mood, but good for a different reason than the original was.

It’s simple and sweet, and that’s why I have a problem picking out anything. It does what it sets out to do.

The single is two different personalities that are simple, yet get the job done. While nothing to frame on a wall, the messages and mood of both provide an entertaining performance, one that was the last major contribution by Brian Jones. As many people put it, the “swan song.”

The next piece of Stones will be the Sympathy for the Devil movie.

Honeybus, a History

This was written on June 8, 2014. I love to write, and sometimes I just write for the hell of it. Here is something I wrote for myself that actually ended up being somewhat complete.

So this is a small history of Honeybus, an obscure band from 1970 with one album that I enjoy. I remember digging for hours finding all this information. This is presented to you without any reviewing of it's content since it's creation. So even the format most likely sucks. And I'm sure it does.

Here's a picture from Wikipedia. Also, for a band with one album, they spawned 5 compilation albums.

Honeybus. Many of you will not know this name. To fill you in, Honeybus is a “pop” band from London, England from 1967. It’s a story filled with setback after setback for a band that could have been far, far more successful than they were. I honestly don’t know how to set up a biography / study, so I’ll start with Mr. Pete Dello and work my way up.

Pete Dello, born Peter Blumsom, was born in 1942 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. In the 1950’s, Pete co-founded Grant Tracy & the Sunsets with, of course, Grant Tracy (born Roy Barker). Before this, however, both men played at the 59 Club, which was actually a church called the St. Mary of Eton church, run by John Oates. To get a gig at the church, all you had to do was attend services, to then they could perform in front of church members and others, usually reaching numbers in the thousands. The 59 Club is now a famous motorcycle club, with a motorcycle section added in 1962. Grant Tracy & the Sunsets were officially formed in 1961, which included Grant Tracy (vocals), Pete Dello (guitar), Ray Cane (guitar), James Hurley (drums), Norman Smith (bass), and John Oates as their manager until the church requested he come back. From 1961 to 1965, they released eight singles and an LP. The LP, Teenbeat, released in 1963, contained all the singles released up into that point plus four new instrumental tracks (MTV even acknowledges this album on their website, although they use January 1 as the release date, and I also use that for the release date on albums with an unknown release date.)

Teenbeat, and the singles released before it, failed. Miserably, in fact. Some time after the collapse of Grant Tracy and the Sunsets, Pete Dello, Ray Cane, and ex-Them drummer Terry Noone formed The Yum Yum Band, created five singles (on Decca!), and Dello had to stop due to a collapsed lung in early 1966. Finally, Honeybus was formed, with Pete Dello (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Ray Cane (vocals, bass, keyboards), Colin Hare (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Pete Kircher (drums, vocals). Honeybus took an opposite route to what Pete Dello was doing before this; they stayed away from clubs and focused on studio recordings, with overdubs and orchestration being looked at, which is reminiscent to what The Beatles did after they realized the stress of live performances took a toll on their music.

Decca moved Honeybus to their “Dream” label, which was focused on the current sound: Psychedelic Pop. Honeybus’ first single, “(a) Delighted to See You / (b) The Breaking Up Scene)”, was created with help from Bon Henrit and Russ Ballard from The Roulettes fame. While this single, and their second single “(a) (Do I Figure) In You Life / (b) Throw My Love Away” were well received, they did not chart. Fortunately for them, their third single, “(a) I Can’t Let Maggie Go / (b) Tender Are the Ashes) charted in the British Top 50 for three months and went to number 8, and became arguably Honeybus’ only hit.

A number one hit is the greatest thing to happen to any band, except Honeybus. Pete Dello left the band after the single finally got it’s radio playtime, perhaps for fear of touring. While Pete still played with Honeybus for the rare TV appearance, that was it for him. Pete would record one solo album with the remaining songs he had in 1971, titled “Into Your Ears,” and stopped completely to study music instead of playing it.

Obviously that pretty much spelled death for the band. While Dello was replaced by Jim Kelly, during the creation of their first and only LP “Story,” the drummer left to join Englebert Humperdincks’ band (which, really, I’d stay with Honeybus than to join a band run by Humperdincks.) He was replaced by both Lloyd Courteney and Bob Henrit. The band was dead: but they did have to reform for a single spring season to promote the album, because no one else was pushing it. Because of that, the album was forgotten and was never given its fair share of publicity.

Colin Hare created his own album, “March Hare” in 1971, and as noted before Dello had his “Into Your Ears”, which also saw Ray Cane working on it as well. Jim Kelly released a single in 1969 that did not find any success. Later, he joined the “Sleaz Band” in 1970, who released their own single and worked on an album that was never released.

Then, suddenly out of nowhere, a glimmer of hope for the defunct Honeybus. Dello got the whole band back together to create a single single, “(a) She is the Female To My Soul / (b) For Where Have You Been,” released in 1972. Warner Brothers scooped them up for a record deal, and Honeybus started to work on their second album, Recital.

All this hope was just false hope. Warner Brothers shifted around internally, and suddenly the interest in Honeybus disappeared. Recital was dropped, never to be released. However, there seems to have been some test pressings that some fans have gotten ahold of, so we’ll just see if that ever surfaces.

Now begins the “Where are they now” portion of the story. The main character of this story, Pete Dello, gave the song “I Can’t Let Maggie Go” to a commercial which became a big hit, which saw the single re-released several times. That was his only success after Honeybus (reborn) however, as he tried to push his own material, which failed, and faded away to nothing.

Ray Cane went to Bo’flyers, signed on Pye records, with ex-Them drummer Terry Noon.

Jim Kelly found no more music work and died on December 26, 1995 from a long battle with an unknown illness.

Pete Kircher probably found the most success, as he joined up with many bands before drumming with Status Quo. After their performance at Live Aid, however, Kircher retired from music.

Everyone except Pete Kircher gave up music by the time the 80’s rolled around.

What’s left of Honeybus? They reunited once in 2003 for a Dutch TV show called “Single Luck” in 2003. Colin Hare came back into the music spotlight and released solo material in 2002, before gathering up Pete Dello and a group of other people and created a new Honeybus in 2007, which isn’t really Honeybus. Because, you know, only two people remained. But luckily for them, they have a whopping one and a half albums to choose from to play live.

And that’s it for the history portion of this blog. Today’s subject was Honeybus, and obscure 70’s band that many people called “Decca’s response to Rubber Soul.” You know, in 1970. Five years after Rubber Soul. That’s like saying the submachine gun was America’s response to the Civil War. Or not.