Prince at the Superbowl

I meant to put in an entry on this last night, but work got in the way. So here are some thoughts.

I'm not going to lie, I was nervous about the Super Bowl performance. They are generally disappointing affairs - medleys, cheesy visuals, subpar performances. There's just something about the very nature of them that often lends itself to a sort of Vegas-type act (insert pun here). I've also been hugely skeptical of half time shows since the late '80s, when the buildup promised a 3-D halftime spectacle. I got the glasses from CoGos, I waited with anticipation. And it was the lamest thing I'd ever seen. Not only was the music horrible, but the 3-D didn't work. [A quick google led me to Wikipedia, which jogged my memory - the performer was a damn Elvis impersonator named Elvis Presto.]

At any rate, I was pleasantly surprised by last night's performance. Although Prince's original songs were predictable choices (wasn't this fairly similar to the Grammys performance a few years ago?), the quality of the performance and Prince's energy made up for it.

Visually, it was interesting. The purple symbol stage looked much cooler than it probably should have. The sheet/silhouette bit was cool (although methinks this was a trick appropriated from MJ, who probably took it from somewhere else), particularly when Habibi was strategically positioned as Prince stroked its neck (Pete over at IckMusic astutely noted this oh-so-brief moment of Prince naughtiness). I haven't watched it since the original broadcast, but the bolt of lightening that started the set was good theatrics. For a split second, James and I wondered if it was planned, if the power was out on stage, etc. It had been raining throughout the game, afterall.

The cover of "Proud Mary" was unexpected. He used to do this in the Gold/Exodus era, but to my knowledge hasn't done it recently. The Hendrix/Foo Fighters cover is something I'm warming up to after the Howard Stern clip last week. I haven't listened to the Foo Fighters since their second album, so I'm unfamiliar with this song. But it suits Prince's rock mode, and this was probably the best vocal moment of the set.

Musically there were some flaws (which again, have been duly noted on IckMusic), but overall the performance was better than I'd anticipated. Prince has been much more public since the Grammy's performance, and it's great to see people responding so well. It restored my confidence from Friday's newly available track "Guitar," which I found largely uninspired and unenjoyable. At any rate, the halftime show leaves one wondering what his next move is. The Vegas gig ends next month if I recall, so who knows. I'm still hoping that when he does tour again (whenever that may be), it's akin to the One Night Alone tour, i.e. smaller venues, more interesting setlists, etc. But we'll just have to wait and see.

"our so called leaders speak"

This quote has become ever so relevant in recent years, eh?



Alright folks. It's been a long (but productive) day. I've been sitting on this entry for a few days, so here's something else to cross off of my list.

No doubt my fellow music geeks have heard the news of the impending reunion of The Police. This is huge. The Police are one of two bands that I've most wanted to reunite (the other is The Talking Heads). I figured both would never happen, aside from the little one-offs they've done. Rumours have been flying for the last few months about The Police, but the cat is now out of the bag. After what will likely be the only redeemable performance of the Grammys on February 11, the band will continue rehearsals for their upcoming tour. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that this show will be incredibly expensive. I'm equally certain that I will do everything in my power to see it.

The Police are undoubtedly one of my top ten bands of all time (although I just said this about the New York Dolls below, I assure you that I don't award this status willy-nilly. Just a coincidence!). The Police are an incredible power trio. In addition to Sting's incredible voice (which has sadly been matched with a fairly uninteresting solo catalog), each member is simply a master of their instrument. Beyond that, they were/are great songwriters. There is not a single song in their proper catalog that I don't like (the qualifier of 'proper' bars "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" and the like).

I was certainly aware of The Police coming up. My parents most definitely had a few of their tapes that were road trip staples. It wasn't until I started getting heavy into music that I really appreciated The Police, and dug deeper than their hits. My first high school band, Dead Uncle Frank (the name is an interesting tale which I'll save for another day) practiced in my parents' basement. I learned a lot from those guys, both in terms of playing and music in general. At any rate, the guitarist left his backpack behind one day, which had a number of tapes in it. One of them was Zenyatta Mondatta. After listening to it I was hooked. I dove in and bought the Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings collection, which ended up being one of the most worthwhile purchases in my music-buying history. It still gets pretty heavy play, and I recommend it to any music fan.

This reunion is something that I and millions of music fans have been waiting for. I'm still sort of in shock that it's happening. I mean what's next, Van Halen touring with David Lee Roth??

In celebration of this occasion, here is a show from 4/28/80 in New Castle. I believe this comes from a BBC broadcast, but I'm not sure on that. It's also the first time they played "Driven to Tears" live, and the last show of the Regatta de Blanc tour. Enjoy!

Thanks to the original uploader.

Part 1
Part 2

Rock Mix for James

James is a friend of mine. We frequently exchange mix tapes. Yes, tapes. James has brought me back into the fold of the art of the mix tape, which is undoubtedly a much different art than a mix cd. It's also great because it gives me more options, i.e. my vinyl. Our first round were general mixes. Then I made him an all funk tape, and he's since made me two tapes of 1970s/1980s UK alternative stuff, which I've loved. So the theme here began as garage, but naturally expanded to include punk, surf, British invasion, etc. Still, it turned out rather well. Still don't have a name for said mix, but here is the tracklist:

Side Rock
Beasts of Bourbon -“Psycho”
The Raveonettes – “Attack of the Ghost Riders”
The Ramrods – “War Party”
The Replacements – “Bastards of Young”
The Buzzcocks – “What Do I Get?
Iggy Pop – “Sweet Sixteen”
The Black Keys – “Midnight”
The White Stripes – “Death Letter”
Johnny Thunders – “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory”
The Vaselines – “Son of a Gun”
The Who – “So Sad AboutUs”
The Dave Clark Five – “Anyway You Want It”
Barry and the Remains – “You Got a Hard Time Comin’”
The Rolling Stones – “I Wanna Be Your Man”

Side Roll
The Greenhornes – “I’m Going Away”
Pink Floyd – “Candy and a Currant Bun”
The Golliwogs – “Fight Fire”
The Mourning Reign – “Satisfaction Guaranteed”
The Chesterfield Kings – “I Can’t Get Nothin’”
The Turtles – “Eve of Destruction”
The Kinks – “A Well Respected Man”
Link Wray and his Wraymen – “Rumble”
The Bambi Molesters – “The Wedge”
Blood on the Saddle – “Blood on the Saddle”
The Misfits – “Last Caress”
The Ramones –“Bonzo Goes to Bitburg”
The Clash – “Police on My Back”
Television – “Marquee Moon”

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Up next: Una entrada en La Policia.

Bowie: Secrets

New York Dolls Newsflash

This just in from the glam rock affairs desk:

This Thursday (2/1), the New York Dolls will perform on the PBS program Soundstage (check local listings). Usually the show is geared more towards the VH1 crowd (Michael Macdonald, Fleetwood Mac, Sheryl Crow), so who knows how our beloved Dolls got their high heels in the door. I'm not sure when exactly the show was taped, but it was very recent.

The tragedy is of course, an abbreviated set list. Below is the full set, with asterisks indicating the songs that will be making the broadcast:

Looking For A Kiss*
We’re All In Love*
Puss ‘N Boots*
Gotta Get Away From Tommy*
Take A Good Look At My Good Looks*
Gimmie Luv & Turn On The Light*
Private World*
Dance Like A Monkey*
Plenty Of Music
Pills
Volcano
Lonely/Arms
Punishing World*
Rainbow Store
Trash*
Jet Boy*
Personality Crisis*

It still ends up being a pretty good looking set, but I would switch things around (i.e. Plenty of Music and Pills instead of Tommy and Gimmie Love). At any rate, I'm looking forward to it. PBS is one of the few stations I get!

I still haven't seen the newly reformed Dolls, though I've been wanting to from the time they reunited for the Meltdown festival a few years ago. Granted, only two of the real Dolls remain, but this group has inched its way into my top ten artists over the past few years, and I'll take them any way I can.

Visit their website (see sidebar). If you haven't picked up last year's One Day it Will Please Us to Remember Even This, I recommend it. Not stellar, but much better than I would have anticipated. More importantly, you should check out two documentaries, the bittersweet New York Doll and the incredibly entertaining All Dolled Up.

Cheers for now.

Quickie

I'm overwhelmed by the newest addition to my blogroll, Lossless Beatles. Check it out, Beatlemaniacs.

More substantial post is forthcoming.

Introductory Post

Hello there.

I've decided to go ahead and make this a regularly (in the loose sense of the term) updated music blog. Because really, there aren't enough music blogs on the Internet (yes, that's sarcasm you smell). This is partially motivated by a colleague's recent blog - check out Minds Like Knives, wherein said colleague pontificates about music and popular culture.

Anyhow, that sort of pushed me to try to make this a proper blog, rather than an annually updated repository for my year-end mixes. What can you expect to see here in the future? Music rants. Recent discoveries, contemporary and antiquated. Random music videos from YouTube. Reviews. Track lists for mixes I've made. Commentary on mixes others have made for me. Reactionary accounts of happenings in the world of popular music (I can guarantee a post-Superbowl post on Prince's halftime show). Interesting artists found on myspace. Mp3 links. And anything else that strikes my fancy regarding music.

I don't expect this blog to reach beyond my circle of friends. As I alluded earlier, this is one of who knows how many music blogs. But it's something to occupy myself when I don't feel like reading/writing/researching/prepping for class/etc. So here's to it. Look for the first legitimate entry soon.