WNEW | Where Rock Lives

Forgotten Favorites: 'Mic City Sons'

Some albums are just too good to let slip away beneath the sands of time, so each week Bill Melville pulls one out, dusts it off and offers it up for your renewed consideration ...

The loss of singer-songwriter Elliott Smith five years ago still stings. With his death never confirmed as either a murder or a suicide, unanswered questions linger about the tortured genius.

But little murkiness surrounds his production of spare yet potent songs. Smith's oeuvre stretches well beyond his Good Will Hunting breakout, his Beatles-influenced later albums and the sparse acoustic music that drove his early solo work.

His previous band, Heatmiser, rates even less of a mention. Their final long player, Mic City Sons, shifts through a spectrum of moods, even some not associated with Smith. But this band was the magic 8-ball with all signs pointing to "Yes" for Smith's future songwriting successes. Sharing songwriting and vocal duties with guitarist Neil Gust, they go out on a high note of stripped-down, melodic alt-rock.

Heavier than any Smith solo material outside of Basement on a Hill, it rumbles to life on Get Lucky, a bottom-heavy groove reminiscent of Morphine minus the saxophone. Plainclothes Man could fit comfortably among Smith's later material with its restless, pained melodies.

When Low Flying Jets kicks in, don't dare turn away -- the album's centerpiece, it undoubtedly deserves renown. Heatmiser goes low-key after that bold declaration with Rest My Head Against the Wall. It might sound generic coming from another band, but Smith's lyric resuscitate it.

Gust sweeps in for lead vocals on Eagle Eye, which could pass for a Sebadoh outtake, and Cruel Reminder, with guitar and bass lockstep, goes in new directions thanks to Smith's backing vocals.

Ironically, Smith sounds almost joyous on Pop in G, which would devolve into generic indie pop in lesser hands. He goes for two in a row on Blue Highway, a fuzzy rocker that owes a debt to Hüsker Dü.

While the album closes on gentle, fragile Half Right, the hard-hitting moment comes on the bouncy See You Later. Its chorus line, "See you later, if I see you at all," stings harder coming from an artist taken too soon.

Looking at how drug addiction dragged down someone as potent as Smith is always difficult. But Heatmiser's last album with him opens new doors on his immense, troubled talent.

Got memories of your own from this hidden gem? Share them in the comments section below ...

Video Classics: 'Ziggy Stardust'

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

With the Guitar Hero phenomenon still sweeping the world, young people everywhere are being exposed to tracks from rock's heyday that they might otherwise have passed by. Ziggy Stardust, from David Bowie's ambitiously-titled (and extensively-titled) 1972 concept album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars is almost certainly one of these.

Falling at spot #157 on the 1991 Firecracker 500, and #282 on the 1996 list, Ziggy Stardust is named for the concept album's central character. Ziggy is a rock star, ostensibly the human representative of an alien being that means to bring a message of peace and hope to the final years of humankind through rock and roll. The exotic and androgynous-looking Bowie was ideally suited to bring this rather far-fetched concept to life on stage, touring as Ziggy in a silver 'space-age' costume, heavy makeup and thigh boots. Musically and visually, those who experienced Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust period were in for something different.

While the real-life inspiration for Ziggy's rise then downfall at the hands of drugs and his fans was Playboys frontman Vince Taylor, the name comes from several sources. From Wikipedia ...

Bowie claimed that the name came from a tailor's shop in London called Ziggy's. He later told Rolling Stone it was "one of the few Christian names I could find beginning with the letter 'Z'." "Stardust" comes from one of Bowie's labelmates, a country singer named Norman Carl Odam, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy. Bowie covered a Legendary Stardust Cowboy song, I Took a Trip (On a Gemini Spaceship) thirty years later on Heathen.

The video below is taken from a live performance from Bowie's 1973 tour, and is a good snapshot of his flamboyant Ziggy Stardust stage persona. For the studio version, look after the jump.

Music for the Gluten-Free Days of November

While the rest of the guys are spending Halloween indulging their inner transvestite (on the one day of the year when they can go 'public' in that little black bustier they've been wearing around the house when their wives are away on business) followed by a guilt-ridden night sucking down Hersey bars (to kick off the annual slide toward that nadir of gastric distress we call "The Holiday Season"), I have more important fish to fry.

I'm preparing for the whole of November (or as I like to call it, Gluten-Free Diet Awareness Month). Yeah, baby, I'm mashing up some spelt, tossing it with some tofu and wrapping it in a big ol' wad of seaweed to the sounds of Peter Gabriel's Bread & Wine

When I'm done, I'm going to download Steve Miller's Fly Like an Eagle and celebrate Aviation History Month with a flight to Georgia. After all, it's National Georgia Pecan Month down in the land of hamhocks and cornbread. I'll brunch on nothing but pecan pie at Ray's On The River while my iPod ticks off a version of Georgia On My Mind by my favorite reb, Willie "Feed The People, End The War" Nelson.

I won't get too comfortable, though. I've got to get back home by midnight to kick my no-job, no-haircut good-for-nothing son and his electric guitar out into the street (while he sings along to Franz Ferdinand's You're The Reason Why I'm Leaving). Why? 'Cuz November is Celebrate Empty Nester Month! You didn't know?

That's probably because you've cloistered yourself away in that empty nest of yours with your classic Remington typewriter, your tweed jacket and your Sir Walter Raleigh in a can to finally write the next great novel a la Faulkner. All you need is a little inspiration, like knowing it's National Novel Writing Month. You won't allow yourself to take a break except to both celebrate Vegan Month and National Peanut Butter Lovers Month by slathering some Skippy on a zucchini while dancing naked to Paperback Writer.

Happy Halloween - Go See Some Music

Happy Halloween everybody. Did you wear your costume to work or class today? We're accepting any and all costume photos - click "Contact Us" at the bottom of this page and mail 'em in, we'll post them here today.
LOTS of great music going on tonight, so forget going door to door for candy and do your tricks and treats in a sweaty rock venue somewhere. We've got Ryan Adams & the Cardinals at the Apollo, we've got Phil Lesh & Friends at the Nokia, and we've got MGMT at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. There's also Zappa plays Zappa at the Blender Theater, Black Crowes at the Hammerstein, and Bob Weir & Ratdog in Westbury.
Our friends in San Fran are in on the fun too - they've got Umphrey's McGee, the New Deal, and Chris Cornell. If you're in Chicago you can choose from Kings of Leon, the Decemberists and Conor Oberst.

Where will you be tonight for Halloween? Leave us a comment - let us know. Maybe I'll see you tonight at Phil.

The Rumble Strips Are Everywhere: Acoustic Tracks on WNEW, CMJ Photo Show, Big Bowery Ballroom Show This Saturday

Our friends the Rumble Strips are playing the Bowery Ballroom on Saturday, putting a cap on their whirlwind tour of the US which started right here at the WNEW.com studios just one month ago. These guys are masters of their instruments and blend ska rhythms with rock basslines and some killer brass to form a really fun and danceable sound. This Bowery show is sure to be a good time - just what you'll need to wipe away the Halloween hangover.

Here's a tasty preview of this weekend's show. This is the Rumble Strips in the WNEW.com studio performing two acoustic tunes off their album Girls and Weather.

Alarm Clock

No Soul

I caught the Rumble Strips at one of their CMJ sets last week - click through for the setlist and a look inside the show at the Red Bull Space.

We Have A Winner! Cardinals Halloween at the Apollo Contest

Congratulations Mari S. - you're the winner of our Cardinals Halloween Show giveaway. You're going to see Ryan Adams & the Cardinals at Harlem's famous Apollo Theater. Thanks for tuning in to WNEW.com.
To everybody who didn't win this time, thanks for entering and please keep checking WNEW.com for our latest contests and giveaways. We've still got some great prizes like tickets to see Phil Lesh & Friends at the Nokia Theater, an autographed Mickey Hart DVD, and The 27s book, with more great prizes right around the corner. Bookmark this page and check back often.
Congratulations Mari!

Video Classics: 'In the Air Tonight'

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

Not many musicians can claim their very first single was a #2 hit (later #114 on the 1991 Firecracker 500), and that it moreover helped define the musical sound for an entire decade. But with In the Air Tonight, Phil Collins is one of those musicians.

Of course, by 1981 Collins was no newcomer to the music scene. He had a decade of work under his belt with Genesis as its drummer and later lead vocalist. With the departure of Peter Gabriel, Genesis began to leave its progressive rock roots behind and move more toward the pop scene, to generally positive reviews.

In the Air Tonight (like many of Collins songs of the period) is very darkly atmospheric, a phase he later attributed to the failing marriage he was going through at the time. The lyrics tell of a man who has witnessed another individual perpetrating some unnamed act, revealing to the perpetrator that he knows what was done, and indicating that some equally unnamed consequences are coming soon. Along with the music's haunting chords, it gives the song a very sinister feel (which is compounded when paired with the video).

The drum sounds from In the Air Tonight are especially notable. Created with a drum machine that Collins had purchased to help him make music while getting through a difficult time with his wife, and utilizing a 'reverse talkback' process that had been discovered accidentally back when Collins was helping record Peter Gabriel's solo album Intruder, it was in many ways the song's most memorable element. Music critic Stuart Maconie has called it 'the template for all the '80's drum songs after that'.

An urban legend persists that the song was written about an incident where Collins observed a man fail to act to save someone from drowning, then wrote the song and used it to single out the man at a later concert. Collins has debunked this myth, saying he wrote up 99% of the lyrics 'on the spot' after coming up with the chord progression.

Have memories of this song or the Firecracker 500? Add your thoughts to the comments below or take a look at Video Classics past...

Rock 101: Duane Allman

Not everyone is a rock expert, so here is your weekly Thursday primer on the events and happenings that shaped Rock and Roll from J.A. Bartlett of the Hits Just Keep On Comin'...

For years, Duane Allman has been considered one of the greatest guitarists ever to strap one on. But the body of work released during his lifetime was really quite small: two albums with an early band called the Hour Glass, a lot of session work with other musicians, and three albums with the Allman Brothers Band. His accomplishment only increases the tragedy of his early death, which happened this week in 1971.

Duane Allman and younger brother Gregg were turned on to music when they attended a B.B. King show in 1959. Gregg had started on guitar first, but would acknowledge in later years that once Duane took it up, he "passed me up like I was standing still." Duane was also a natural on slide guitar, the instrument he would be most identified with. Not long after taking up the slide guitar, Allman was hired for session work at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. After playing with soul singer Wilson Pickett (who nicknamed him "Skydog"), Allman was hired by record executive Jerry Wexler for session work at Atlantic. He backed King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter, and most famously, Boz Scaggs, playing lead on Loan Me a Dime. During Duane's time at Muscle Shoals, the Allman Brothers Band began to form. In 1969, the band relocated to Macon, Georgia. An intense two-year period of touring and recording followed.

Shortly after the release of the second Allmans album, Idlewild South, the album's producer, Tom Dowd, introduced Duane and Eric Clapton. The meeting and its results were described in the film Tom Dowd and the Language of Music:

Allman's work on Layla may be his most single famous performance. He played on the rest of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, but turned down an invitation to join Clapton's band permanently to stick with the Allman Brothers Band. In early 1971, the Allmans recorded the legendary live album At Fillmore East, which became a hit that summer. That October, Duane was enjoying some time off at home in Macon. On October 29, he was riding his motorcycle when a truck stopped suddenly in front of him. Unable to stop himself, Allman crashed the bike and died of internal injuries. He was 24 years old. (Thirteen months later, Allman Brothers bassist Berry Oakley would die in another motorcycle accident, three blocks from the site of Allman's wreck.)

Two anthologies collecting Allman's work were released after his death; bootlegs of assorted Allman Brothers shows from Duane's era are widely available. But if you want to hear him at his most magnificent, click the YouTube link above. Even if you've heard Layla 10,000 times, you've never heard it like that.

Not the way you heard it? Add your thoughts below or check out Rock 101s past...

A.M. Nuggets: Who's Winning The Cover Wars?

You know that guy that yells "Free Bird!" at the band, regardless of what band it is, the first time there's a quiet moment at the show? Does he really think they're going to play it? Does he really think that's still funny? Yes, yes he does.

Well we know better - we hate that guy. But we love it when bands throw down a good cover tune. And so do the guys at Hidden Track. They've got a weekly feature that you need to check out - it's called Cover Wars. Each week they pick a tune and then find the best live cover versions out there, and pit those bands against each other in a blog battle royale. Last month they featured one of my all-time favorite reggae tunes Sitting Here In Limbo; this week it's Van Morrison's And It Stoned Me. Contestants this week include Jerry Garcia Band, Widespread Panic, David Gray, and my pick Gov't Mule. Past editions of Cover Wars featured tunes like Wind Cries Mary, Bell Bottom Blues, and Them Changes.

James Jackson Toth: 'Waiting in Vain'

Though he's been an underground hero to the New York avante-garde as leader of the freak folk outfit, Wooden Wand and The Vanishing Voice, and his solo album, Waiting in Vain, was released several months ago, James Jackson Toth was unfamiliar to me until I saw an ad for him in the latest issue of Mojo. Intrigued by the Joe Jackson-meets-Nick Drake look of the photo, I jumped into Waiting in Vain to see what was happening.

If this is indicative of what 'freak folk' is all about, then twist my tail into dreadlocks and call me freaky. Nothing Hides, featuring background vocals by Toth's wife, Jexie, lopes along with a tumbleweeds-in-Torrance sort of vibe that fits nicely the Byrds and I See Hawks In L.A., two bands that I totally dig.

Doreen immediately reminds me of a slightly off-kilter Tom Petty while Becoming Faust takes Tom on a ride with the Violent Femmes.

Toth keeps no secrets about his influences (his MySpace page lists a couple dozen) and he took no prisoners in signing up a lauded list of musical confederates to help him out, including Nirvana producer Steve Fisk and players from Vetiver, Geraldine Fibbers and Deerhoof.

I'm attracted to melodic, acoustic tunes I can sing loudly in grocery stores (for the purpose of embarrassing my kids) so some of the heavier-handed stuff (like The Dome) falls flat for me.

But, overall, I'm 'freaking out' to the sounds of James Jackson Toth and highly advise that you give him a taste yourself. You can hear snippets of JJT at last.fm and Waiting in Vain can be purchased on disc, by download (or on vinyl!) at Amazon.

Video Classics: 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

As a musical accompilshment, the title track to the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band may not seem like much. It's barely two-and-a-half minutes of song that's really only an extended introduction for the next track (With a Little Help From My Friends). But it hits #174 on the 1991 Firecracker 500 and rises almost 100 spots to #76 on the 1996 list precisely because it is the title track to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the album many consider to be the magnum opus of the biggest pop/rock band of all time.

The album was recorded in 1966 and 1967, the zenith of the Beatles' career as a group. The days of Beatlemania and breathlessly dashing to concerts and from crowds of screaming fans were coming to an end. The days of internal fracturing, sporadic effort, and individual projects were still a bit in the future. The group maintained the discipline and focus of their early days, but had seasoned and matured musically, and also had access to the world-class equipment at Abbey Road Studios to turn their ideas into reality.

It was Paul McCartney who came up with the idea for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and it arose from the band's decision earlier in 1966 to give up the hectic life of touring and become a studio band. From Wikipedia ...

With Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles wanted to create a record that could, in effect, tour for them — an idea they had already explored with the promotional film-clips made over the previous years, intended to promote them in the United States when they were not touring there.

McCartney decided that they should create fictitious characters for each band member and record an album that would be a performance by that fictitious band. This "alter-ego group" gave the Beatles the freedom to experiment with songs. The Beatles' fame motivated them to grow moustaches and beards and even longer hair, and was an inspiration for the disguise of their flamboyant Sgt. Pepper costumes.

Ultimately, only two tracks from the album were recorded with the Sgt. Pepper idea in mind. John Lennon, in particular, was adamant that the songs he contributed to the album weren't tied in to the concept. Nevertheless, because of integral way the songs on the album are woven together, blending with one another, many consided Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to be a prototypical concept album.

The video below is taken from the later movie Yellow Submarine, with the bright, psychedelic animation capturing a great deal of the 'Sgt. Pepper' feel and concept. After the jump, watch Sir Paul perform the song at Live 8 with a little help from his friends, in this case U2.

This Week in Rock History: All-Birthday Edition

Rock music has a robust history, so every Wednesday, J.A. Bartlett of the Hits Just Keep On Comin' talks about the biggest and most intriguing moments from years past...

This week in 1939, Grace Slick was born in suburban Chicago. After a brief career as a model and a stint in a band called the Great Society, she became one of the first full-fledged female rock star with the Jefferson Airplane. She retired from the music business in the late 1980s, although she does appear on the Airplane's 2008 album Tree of Liberty.

... in 1946, guitarist Peter Greenbaum, known since age 15 as Peter Green, was born in London. One of the founders of Fleetwood Mac, Green may be best known for his periodic disappearances from and reappearances on the music scene. He was institutionalized for a time during the 1970s and lived as a recluse in the '80s, but revived his career with Peter Green's Splinter Group during the late '90s and early '00s. Over the last couple of years, he's been out of sight again.

... in 1947, Timothy B. Schmit was born in Oakland, California. After eight years with Poco, he replaced Randy Meisner as bassist in the Eagles. Although he appeared on only one album during the Eagles' 1970s heyday, he remains a member of the band today.

... in 1961, Larry Mullen Jr. was born in Dublin, Ireland. Mullen was the founder of U2, although he says the group was "the Larry Mullen Band for about 10 minutes, then Bono walked in and blew any chance I had of being in charge." Mullen added the "junior" to his name after U2 became successful, to keep his father from receiving large tax bills meant for him.

Did we miss something this week? Add it to the comments below...