Please, Hall of Fame, Get This One Right on the First Go ‘round

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is about two weeks overdue in producing it list of nominees for induction in 2007, no doubt due in part to a change in the administration and committee members. So, while I wait for the list to come out any minute now and find its way to the media, I’ll take the opportunity to opine here and save my friends the trouble of rolling their eyes with the “Here we go again” comment.

By 1981 I was so sick of hearing REO Speedwagon, if I had to hear “Take It on the Run” one more time I was going to have to do something desperate like throw my oversized radio headphones from a freeway overpass while skating over on my old school roller skates. Top 40 sucked, The Beatles were now playing on the “oldies” stations anything remotely alternative (a word that had not been used to categorize music yet) was classified as “punk”. A new generation was waiting to kick the end of the Baby Boomers off the disco floor and slam dance to the music that would define their generation. America, in between recessions and still recovering from the black eye of the Iranian hostage crisis, needed to have some fun again. In L.A., a band that had formed 3 years earlier, just completed recording an album with a line up of players that was finalized just six months prior; they were Charlotte Caffey, Belinda Carlisle, Gina Schock, Kathy Valentine and Jane Wiedlin. They were of course, the Go Go’s and within one year the album, Beauty and the Beat, would hold the number one spot on the Billboard Charts. The Go Go’s became and are the iconic representation of fun in the 80’s. In fact, they put the F U in fun. They would spearhead a musical and cultural revolution, and light the spark that would ignite the fire in countless little girls to pick up a guitar or drum sticks and rock to their own music in their own words. They smacked an unsuspecting world in the head and finally answered the question “Can an all girl band, writing and performing their own material be commercially successful while maintaining artistic integrity?” The album success and the mania that followed answered that question with resounding affirmation. “Yeah, you bet your ass we got the beat!…and a Multi-Platinum album too” they added while applying a fresh coat of eyeliner.

“…the influence and significance of the artist’s contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll” That’s the chief criterion considered by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when the nominating committee selects its list of potential inductees. Also, 25 years must have passed since their first record release-which means 2007 is the first year the Go-Go’s are eligible. The global popularity of their music and cultural influence for about a 5 year period in the early 1980’s is indisputable, and had they not imploded so soon into their original effort, their induction would probably be a slam dunk, but as it is my first pair of 501’s lasted longer than their first incarnation. So, what’s left for consideration? Four original albums, one of which was released 17 years after their initial breakup, a few singles and whatever influence and significance they produced. Is it enough to warrant Rock and Roll Hall of Fame status? Of course it is and here’s why:

• During their original run, they released 3 solid albums: Beauty and the Beat (1981), Vacation (1982), and Talk Show (1984)-not a lot in terms of volume, but in terms of lasting influence, these albums produced a handful of tunes which will be forever associated with that period as “Blue Suede Shoes” will be with the 50’s, “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” will be with the 60’s or “Stairway to Heaven” will be with the 70’s. Beauty and the Beat, which reached Billboard’s #1 spot in March of 1982, went Multi-Platinum and delivered “Our Lips are Sealed” and “We Got the Beat”. Is there anybody alive who hasn’t heard these songs? Have you ever heard anyone ask “Who sings that song again?” Vacation, the album climbed as high as # 8 and “Vacation” the single peaked at Top 40. “Head Over Heals” came from the Talk Show album which peaked at #18. Everybody knows this song too, they just don’t know when the handclap comes in. Of course shortly after it’s release, the band officially broke up and probably killed whatever success Talk Show may have still had in it. Seventeen years later God Bless the Go Go’s was released, its most recognizable song “Unforgiven” was co-written with Billy Joe Armstrong of Greenday. Return to the Valley of the Go Go’s, a two-disk anthology released in 1994 contains some of their earliest recordings and documents their evolution from punk to power rockers. Three new songs were recorded for the collection and though they had an updated sound they had classic Go Go elements: foot-tapping tunes, backed by Kathy Valentine’s melodic bass lines and Gina Schock’s time perfect drumming with singable lyrics and just a smidge of darkness. One of these three, “The Whole World’s Lost its Head” reached #21 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart (and you didn’t even think they were still recording in 1994.)

• The Go Go’s remain the gold standard for the “girl group” genre, the measuring stick to which all other female bands are compared. Though not the first all female band (props to Daisy Chain, Fanny, The Runaways, etc.) their success and popularity reached a level seldom attained by any band of any gender make up. The success of bands like The Donna’s, The Ette’s, and Go Betty Go and any to come in the future will forever be measured in comparison to the achievements of the Go Go’s, and as of yet, none has even come close. Unlike many of the female bands before them, they were largely responsible for their own look and sound, writing all their own material (with the exception of Donald Storball’s “Cool Jerk” every song on all four original studio albums was written completely or in part by the Go Go’s) and choosing to stick with a more classic guitar/drums/bass sound at a time when many bands were using synthesizers and drum machines. While many female groups have come after them, none has yet realized the recognition or success that the Go Go’s have, because they were and are above all else, not just a “girl band”, but a rock band (or punk, or new wave or whatever label you want to put on it) and their emotion and energy translated from the vinyl to something we felt in our gut.

• They practically invented the sound that would become known as “power pop”. Their punk roots mostly forgotten (but fondly remembered on Valley of the Go Go’s) and with all the energy intact, the style that brought them so much success evolved into its own genre. Hard enough to be popular with the young crowd, mainstream enough to get Top 40 station play, a number of acts to come would find success in this middle ground sound they popularized.

• Other than the music, their most significant contribution was to the overall regard towards women and their role in rock music. They proved women could be more than just a successful vocal group in shimmering evening gowns, or just the songwriting genius behind the music, they could write songs about cars, love, sex, or just silliness that would appeal to both men and women, strap on a Gibson SG and perform those songs to sell-out, crazed audiences and of course they could move records off the shelf. No major records labels were inclined to sign all-female or female fronted bands until the Go Go’s proved it could be done profitably. Not only did the images inspire, but they helped open the door for other female rockers, aware or not of the facility afforded to them by the success of the Go Go’s thanks to the changed attitudes in the industry.

Love them, hate them or indifferent, you can’t ignore the Go Go’s reign, albeit short, on the music world and the lasting influence they would have on creating the next generation of rockers. The images of them clad in bath towels or waterskiing in formation are still instantly recognizable as the covers from their 1st and 2nd albums. (In 2003 VH1 named the cover of Vacation #24 on their list of the 50 Greatest Album Covers) Their music has popped up in movies from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) to Superstar (1999) Cinderella Story (2004) 13 Going on 30 (2004) and I’m sure I could find more, but I’m too googled out to look them up. 25 years later, major brands like Papa John’s Pizza, Pantene and Priceline wouldn’t be using their music in national advertising campaigns if people didn’t react positively to “We Got the Beat”-or Meat in this case, “Head Over Heals” or “Vacation” all of which ran in the last year. Despite sometimes large gaps between projects, they have continued to tour and record new material over the last 25 years and have a new project in the works, the Pogo’s with Disney, but until any new material is released, it’s surely the work they released in the 80’s that will be considered in estimating their influence and significance.

On the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s website is a timeline with various off-shoots that highlight a specific genre and significant events. Among the other tabs they could appropriately be filed under is one titled “girl groups”. Of course the early influences and great vocal groups of the sixties are there, but is there any other band, (by “band” I mean people who actually wrote/played their own music) that deserves to be there more than the Go Go’s? While there is a laundry list of people who deserve to be inducted into Hall but haven’t, this would smack of some kind of bias if they weren’t. Now that the 25 year mark has passed, any list that doesn’t include the Go Go’s would be incomplete and leave a gaping hole in the musical history of that period. So please, Rock Hall, don’t discount what their music has accomplished and get this one right on the first go (go) round. My friends will thank you for it.

Thanks to Melissa Henry and Besty Cruz for contirbuting and Rick Russell for the current pictures

Video of the Week: REM & the Minus 5 performing “Country Feedback”

Here is a great video of the 4 original members of REM performing with the legendary Minus 5 on "Country Feedback" live at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia.

Record Review: Denise James - Promises (Rainbow Quartz Records)

The nice thing about reviewing records is that you really get a chance to listen to stuff that covers the full spectrum of rock and roll. While I may have a particular fondness for garage punk and power pop, I nevertheless enjoy stuff that’s more of a roots rock persuasion or hard rock and heavy metal. It all depends on my mood and whether it gets some part of my body moving in time to the music. A lot of what I get here at R&R central is great rock and roll and some is not so great but some stuff I get just throws me for a loop of indecision followed by gradual acceptance finalizing in absolute joy. Denise James‘ latest record “Promises” is just one such CD.

As a gifted Detroit-based songwriter for other musicians she has had great success but to listen to her own material is to take a trip back in time to a place where the young solo “girl” singer sang of unrequited love and heartbreak. Think Petula Clark, Lulu and Ronnie Spector for a sound check. As a matter of fact, if Phil Spector wasn’t currently in jail for murder I would say that Denise James would benefit greatly from the classic “wall of sound” treatment. Her music is definitely jangly but soft, heartfelt but optimistic but all of it is undercut with a definite “today” vibe. Just listen to “What Happened to the Love We Knew.” What sounds like a mid-sixties paen to love gone bad is suddenly infused with a deliciously sounding nasty guitar break that you know could not have come from anybody back then (well ok maybe Ike Turner but I digress).

The album pretty much follows that pattern. Sweet but not sacharine, sad but not despondent, “Promises” is one of those albums that you just think “man they don’t make them like this anymore” and that is as much a tribute to the excellent songcraft as it is some nostalgic take on how it was better “in the day.” Have a listen for yourself and give this CD a chance. It will probably stand out in your record collection as a bit of an aural oddity but then, some of the best music follows this pattern. A captivating CD from a lost time. Wonderful.

Check out these bands at the CD Baby Store!

THE RIPLETS: Love Special Delivery BoyTight punk-rock ‘Donnas” style with a 60’s garage/70’s powerpop touch

THE ANACONDAS: Snakin’ All OverSURF-ROCK

T-99: Strange Things HappenA jewel on the European Blues- and Roots scene

YEARLINGS: UtrechtCatchy pop-songs with a twang from the Netherlands

SEATSNIFFERS: Let’s Burn Down The CornfieldEurope’s no.1 Rootsrock combo is back with their 6th album and it’s a scorcher.

Playlist for Armitage Shanks on Drastic Plastic Program for September 25, 2006

Here is the playlist for Armitage Shanks gig on Drastic Plastic on CKUT FM on September 25, 2006. Remember you can alsways listen to Drastic Plastic by checking out the playlist at the CKUT archives.

Band - Song Title - Album Name (or single)

1. Arctic Monkeys — Leave Before the Lights Come On / (SINGLE)

2. Boy Kill Boy — Civil Sin / CIVILIAN

3. Razorlight — America / RAZORLIGHT

4. Guillemots — Trains to Brazil / FROM THE CLIFFS

5. The Automatic — Monster / NOT ACCEPTED ANYWHERE

6. Long Blondes — Weekend Without Makeup / SOMEONE TO DRIVE YOU HOME

//

7. Sway — Products / THIS IS MY DEMO

8. Klaxons — The Bouncer / (SINGLE)

9. ¡Forward, Russia! — Twelve / GIVE ME A WALL

10. The Young Knives — Weekends and Bleak Days / VOICES OF ANIMALS AND MEN

11. Towers of London — Air Guitar / BLOOD SWEAT AND TOWERS

12. Dirty Pretty Things — Deadwood / WATERLOO TO ANYWHERE

13. The View — Wasted Little DJs / (SINGLE)//

Fender Center Helps Kids Rock, Free!

For those of you in southern California, or if you’ll be visiting the sunshine state soon, check out some sweet rides and help the Fender Center’s Kids Rock Free program, at the annual Rollin 4 the Kids Truck Show and Concert, Sunday October 1at the Fender Center in Corona, CA. 12-4 PM, free (hooray) to the public

SideThree’s guide to rock and roll on You Tube

SideThree is a cool new blog that unearths all those hidden gems on You Tube that are just incredibly fun to watch. Check it out!

Later.

Dewey Beach Music Fest coming September 28th - October 1st, 2006

The Dewey Beach Music Fest is coming this weekend (September 28th - October 1st, 2006) with its usual array of great bands and panels and speakers. Check out the video here.

Later.

WOXY.Com will be back!

I recently reported that Cincinnati’s WOXY.com "the future of rock and roll" was going off the virtual air. Well they are coming back according to an article in RAIN which is good news for fans of rock and roll radio everywhere. Great news.

Later.

The Indie News Beat for September 25, 2006

INDIE NEWS BEAT

September 18, 2006 Edition

* Colombian Singer Songwriter Wins Two International Awards

* The Mosaics Want You In Their Next Video

* A Brokeheart Pro Releases Her First Album, “The Kitten Next Door” On KittenCore Records

* City Canyons Releases HIGH SCHOOL, The Debut Album Of The Dynamic Minnesota Trio, The Alrights

* Mashed Buddha Full-Length Debut “Subdue Your Mind” Now Available

* WorkshopLive Reaches Online Music Lesson Milestone With Portfolio Of 1,000 Guitar, Bass And Keyboard Lessons

* Music Choice Announces A Nationwide Search To Find An Undiscovered Artist Or Band

* Pink Floyd Manager Calls For Widespread Blanket Licensing, Copyright Reform

Colombian Singer Songwriter Wins Two International Awards

In the town of Popayan Colombia known on one hand for its beautiful colonial architecture but on the other for ransom kidnappings and clashes between guerrillas and Colombian army lives the half Colombian half Australian singer/songwriter Melany Moloney. This tall blue eyed blond seems completely out of place in this town made up mostly of short stature native Indians, original descendants of the Incas.

This month Melany was on receiving end of some good news. Two of the songs in her soon to be released album won not one or two, but three prestigious international awards. Her song Rompecabezas won 1st place in both the John Lennon International song contest and the US West Coast contest Latin category. Another song El-Remedio won honors at the Canary Islands International Song Contest. Asked about the awards Melany said “I am both surprised and extremely thrilled at the recognition of my work by my peers and needless to say the several thousands of dollars in prizes will be very welcome”. The contest judges included international celebrities such as Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and Robin Gibbs of the Bee Gees. Melany’s album is due within a couple of months and will include 13 Latin songs. Melany describes her music as Euro Latin with a touch of Colombian spice.

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The Mosaics Want You In Their Next Video

The Mosaics will be shooting a video for the track ‘Runner’ sometime in late February/early March 2007, aaannnd we need a young couple to star in it!

Who could we ask, we thought… friends, family??? Perhaps a fan of the band?… Perhaps one of our MySpace friends? Thing is, MySpace spans the globe. So, if we ran a competition the winner could be from anywhere… literally! So, we thought for a moment and decided… our student grants/loans will be due… what the hell, lets open the competition to anyone and everyone!

So, how do you enter? Well, there’s two ways…

Firstly, between now and December 31, 2006, anyone that either is or becomes our MySpace friend and sends us a private message with their email address, full name and where they are in the world (city and country will do for now), will be entered into the competition draw.

Secondly, as an extra reward for the support, anyone that downloads our new single from our Popworld Promotes page and then forwards their receipt PIN Code to us, we’ll put their name in the hat 10 times to give them an extra 9 chances of winning.

The winner will receive free return travel to the UK and 1 week’s accommodation for two: the winner and their partner… boyfriend, girlfriend or just their best friend (of the opposite sex please… to play the GUY and GIRL in the video). And of course they get their starring role in the video!

A Brokeheart Pro Releases Her First Album, “The Kitten Next Door” On KittenCore Records

A Brokeheart Pro, (Jeannette of The Chubbies, Sympathy For The Record Industry) will release her debut album, “The Kitten Next Door” on KittenCore Records out of Inland Empire.

A Brokeheart Pro is Jeannette Kantzalis’(formerly of The Chubbies, Sympathy For The Record Industry) latest project. Think Mazzy Star backed by Chris Isaak’s Silvertone band. The album swings hauntingly between rockabilly and alt/country, sort of like Mazzy Star backed by Chris Isaak’s Silvertone band.

Once again Jeannette writes, plays, records and produces 12 haunting tracks all by herself on her 8 track in her bedroom. These “demos” have an intimate quality that have launched her myspace page into a strange and popular phenomenon. So much so, she had to start a second page to accomodate all the interest.

The album entitled “The Kitten Next Door” is a chronicle of her recent break up from longtime boyfriend, Matt Phuzz of Squirtgun and The Phuzz fame.The sound is as warm and dirty as a desert drive. Many have commented that it should be the soundtack to David Lynch’s next film, The Inland Empire, which by pure coincidence, Jeannette was born and raised.

With this vision, Jeannette has created an amazing album to be released January 2007 preceded by a video for the single, Dark Red and Loud, a “Lost Highway” homage and a Classic pinup calendar, think Vargas meets punk princess.

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City Canyons Releases HIGH SCHOOL, The Debut Album Of The Dynamic Minnesota Trio, The Alrights

Appropriately enough, The Alrights‘ new album, HIGH SCHOOL is being released just in time as the kids head back to school. Manhattan-based City Canyons Records are releasing the album in September, with a wider, national release on Oct 17. The Alrights, based in Duluth, Minnesota will tour extensively in support of HIGH SCHOOL throughout the midwest and northeast with the support of a a national radio promotion throughout North America in association with college, independent and Triple A stations.

HIGH SCHOOL features catchy, memorable, original material with songs featuring a rich gumbo of musical influences — all melding into one tasty sonic treat. Whether music fans listen to HIGH SCHOOL in its recorded form or have the pleasure of seeing the band live on its current tour, they will inevitably hear true diversity. One song is rock, another is soul influenced. One sounds like a spiritual, another punk. One may be smooth and exact with complex vocal harmonies and thoughtful arrangements, the next might be raw, almost garage. Whatever form each song takes, the music comes together in a superb and seamless whole and marks the band as among the best young alternative rockers in North America.

The core of The Alrights is the musical wizardry of vocalist and guitarist/ivory tickler Toby Churchill. The other components that further refine the distinctive sound of the band are the rock solid presence of Chad “Chavo” Amborn on drums and the sweet harmonies and the steady yet fluid, funky and emotional bass playing of Danny Cosgrove

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Mashed Buddha Full-Length Debut “Subdue Your Mind” Now Available

Mashed Buddha’s creator John Corda decided to stop waiting for the band of his dreams and instead created his own album of original music. Attracted to the complex drum stylings of jungle and drum n bass, he used this as a rhythmic foundation for much of the music on ’subdue your mind.’ Not content with creating just another drum n bass record, he added grooves that are at times hypnotic, dissonant, symphonic, emotional, or all of the above. The result is an organic approach to electronic music.

Subdue Your Mind () was recorded in John’s Western Massachussetts home studio using warm analog synths, electric pianos, various percussion, and effects. Most of the mixing was done here as well, with additional mixing and final mastering completed by Myles Mangino at Planet of Sound Studios in Hartford, CT.

John has performed live with a diverse array of bands, encompassing such styles as funk, reggae, jazz, rock, blues, and jam band. In these bands he has opened up for Tower of Power and on the complete other end of the spectrum Great White. In college, he studied jazz composition and classical piano, where he received a BA in jazz studies. Before college he obsessively wrote music and improvised, fascinated with how chords, melodies, and rhythms could be combined endlessly, and that fascination continues to this day.

This summer, John was nominated for best keyboardist in the prestigious Valley Advocate newspaper. Writer Gary Carra of the Valley Advocate says of Mashed Buddha, “From the swirling, trance-inducing ‘Spikes’ to the Prince-ly overdrive of ‘Edge,’ it’s clear that this one-man effort … is as inspired as it is unconventional.

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WorkshopLive Reaches Online Music Lesson Milestone With Portfolio Of 1,000 Guitar, Bass And Keyboard Lessons

Less than a year after launching its revolutionary online learning service, WorkshopLive announced completion of its 1,000th music lesson. Thousands of subscribers worldwide can now access online guitar, bass and keyboard lessons, any time of day or night, in the comfort of their own home.

WorkshopLive is a unique educational platform that delivers personalized and completely individualized music lessons through a broadband Internet connection. Its patent-pending technology determines how each student learns best, then delivers the teaching options, lessons and learning environment that best suits the student’s needs.

The one-thousandth lesson was “The Modes of the Harmonic Minor Scale” from Jody Fisher, a southern California jazz artist who has played virtually every style of music professionally. He has performed at many important venues such as the Hollywood Bowl and Universal Amphitheater, and has recently worked all over the United States, Canada, England and Germany.

Besides Fisher, who is author of The Complete Jazz Guitar Method and other instructional books, WorkshopLive’s faculty includes author Susan Mazer [Guitar for the Absolute Beginner]; guitarist/singer-songwriter Matt Smith [Matt Smith Chop Shop for Guitar]; keyboardist Amy Rosser [Max Keyboard], and guitarist/author Lou Manzi [Beginning Fingerstyle].

David Smolover, founder and CEO of WorkshopLive, said, “Our faculty has created a remarkable array of lessons, in every style and for every level, from the absolute beginner to the most advanced. Jody now has more than 80 guitar lessons available that have been utilized by more than 600 players from all over the world, and that’s just one teacher. We’re very proud of reaching this milestone, and even more proud of being associated with such an enthusiastic and talented group of music teachers.”

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Music Choice Announces A Nationwide Search To Find An Undiscovered Artist Or Band To Showcase On Its Popular Music Show, Fresh Crops

Music Choice, the leading multi-platform music network that reaches millions of music fans through their TVs, PCs and cell phones, announces a nationwide search to find a breakout artist or band to feature on its popular music show, Fresh Crops, the music show only available on Music Choice On Demand which showcases today’s hottest emerging artists across multiple music genres. Unsigned artists and bands interested in participating in the contest will be asked to submit 60 seconds of an original music video with the artist or band performing their best original work. The search ends on October 20th. The winner, as determined by a team of judges, will be featured in the 2007 premiere edition of Fresh Crops, the exclusive music show that features emerging artists across multiple music genres. For more information on the Fresh Crops contest, including entry details and rules, go to http://www.musicchoice.com/freshcrops

“By searching for, and showcasing, the talents of an undiscovered artist or band on Fresh Crops, Music Choice is once again demonstrating its commitment to supporting the next generation of music stars. We are also engaging with our audience to create user-generated content to compliment our unique programming,” says Damon Williams, Vice President of Programming and Production for Music Choice.” The winner of this promotion will get exposure to over 13 million homes nationwide through the most popular free music video-on-demand music service in the country, Music Choice On Demand.”

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Pink Floyd Manager Calls For Widespread Blanket Licensing, Copyright Reform

“Beyond The Soundbytes” Takes Stock Of Three Years Of Music Industry Think Tanks. It marks the first real attempt from within the UK music industry to solve the ongoing and underlying challenges of new technology and new consumer attitudes in the digital age.

Peter Jenner, author of first MusicTank report “Beyond The Soundbytes”, is one of the music business’ great serial offenders, with a 40 year career which encompasses staging The Rolling Stones’ legendary free concert in Hyde Park, 1969, and managing artists from Pink Floyd to The Clash, Ian Dury and Billy Bragg. Peter is also Secretary General of the IMMF (International Music Managers Forum), and the Chairman of the ELMF (European Live Music Forum).

In composing this first ever review of MusicTank activity, Peter has summed up MusicTank’s regular of-the-moment Think Tank debates (from DRM to future radio) which bring hot topics into sharp focus and pinpoint the opportunities created by disruptive technologies. He has also taken this opportunity to look beneath the immediate issues to unearth the fundamental and seismic changes which new technology and new consumer attitudes continue to affect within all areas of the business.

The four main areas of contention are:

- How does the modern listener want to consume music? How can the industry devise better models of delivering music which meet these needs while ensuring creators get paid?

- How can the record industry license music to new models which better meet the digital music consumer’s expectations? What changes would this necessitate to collecting societies / licensing regimes?

- How should the artist / label relationship evolve (including copyright term and ownership) as music is delivered to consumers in different ways, with different expectations of use?

- What are the next steps to effect real change? What research is necessary? Who will take responsibility?

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Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright © MusicDish LLC 2006 - Republished with Permission

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