WNEW | Where Rock Lives

The Death of Buddy Holly

Too many fathers of rock have been lost to the mists of time, so join J.A. Bartlett of the Hits Just Keep On Comin' every Saturday as he reminds us who helped to set the groundwork for the music we love...

We've already covered the career of Buddy Holly here, but on this weekend, when the music world is commemorating the 50th anniversary of his death, it seems appropriate to revisit "the day the music died."

Holly was on a package tour of the Midwest in early 1959 with Ritchie Valens, J. P. "the Big Bopper" Richardson, Dion and the Belmonts, and Frankie Sardo. The "Winter Dance Party," which involved nightly shows hundreds of miles apart, would have been strenuous in any season, but in the depth of winter it was especially tough. The musicians traveled by bus, and the heater conked out almost immediately. (Holly's drummer had to be hospitalized for frostbite.) A very welcome off-day had been scheduled for February 2, but the tour promoter accepted an offer to play in Clear Lake, Iowa, that night, so after a February 1 show in Green Bay, Wisconsin, it was back on the bus.

In Clear Lake, Holly reached his limit. He decided to charter a plane for his band to travel to the next show, in Moorhead, Minnesota. Richardson had the flu and asked Waylon Jennings, a member of Holly's band, to give up his seat, which he did. Valens had never flown in an airplane before, so he asked Tommy Allsup for his seat. "I'll flip you for it," Allsup said, and Valens won the toss. Dion DiMucci decided that the price of a seat, $36, was too much, so he decided to take the bus.

Just after 1:00 on the morning of February 3, 1959, the plane took off from the airport at nearby Mason City, Iowa. Shortly after takeoff, an observer on the ground thought he saw the plane start to descend, but decided it was an optical illusion. The pilot failed to radio in a flight plan after takeoff and did not respond to radio calls, and when the plane was overdue in Fargo, North Dakota (adjacent to Moorhead) at 3:30AM, it was reported missing. A little after 9AM, wreckage was found about five miles from the airport. The three musicians and the pilot, 21-year-old Roger Peterson, were dead of severe head trauma. Investigators determined that poor weather and Peterson's inexperience contributed to the crash.

The origin of the phrase "the day the music died" is not entirely clear to me. Don McLean made it the centerpiece of American Pie, but I can't say for sure whether he's the one who coined it. The sentiment is accurate, though. The crash closes the first chapter of rock's history. The music would lose steam in the early '60s, with Elvis Presley in the army and record companies foisting manufactured idols on the teenage market. (One of them, Fabian, would replace Holly on some later Winter Dance Party dates.) Holly would be back, however, and rock would too. His ringing guitar and vocal style, as well as his songs, would inspire many of the young British musicians who shook the world from the mid-'60s onward.

Have something to add to the mix? Share your thoughts below or read through Founding Fathers past...

Umphrey's McGee Announce 'Virtual' Tour, With A Stop At WNEW

We're excited to announce that next week WNEW.com will participate in the Umphrey's McGee Virtual Tour - a groundbreaking event that will see five Umphrey's videos premiere on five different websites, over the course of five days. Each video captures a killer live performance from some of the band's most skull-crushing sets. Here's the list of sites - pencil these into your calendar so you don't miss any of the action:

UM Virtual Tour Dates

Monday, 2/2 – UM iLike page

Tuesday, 2/3 – Hidden Track

Wednesday, 2/4 – AltSounds

Thursday, 2/5 – WNEW

Friday, 2/6 – Pop Culture Madness!

We're not allowed to tell you which video gets played on which day, but here's a sneak peek at what will be showing:

Videos (in no particular order)

07.30.06 Fuji Rock Festival, Japan – “Bridgeless”
08.04.06 Lollapalooza, Chicago, IL – “Higgins”
08.31.08 Red Rocks, Morrison, CO – “Wappy Sprayberry”
10.28.07 Vegoose, Las Vegas, NV – “Wizard Burial Ground”
08.21.07 Soundstage – “Morning Song”

Forgotten Favorites: Treat Her Right, Anthology 1985-1990

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 ...

While compilations generally don’t fit Forgotten Favorites, the casual collector would struggle to find more than Anthology 1985-1990, a succinct summary of Treat Her Right’s three albums. The Boston quartet broke up long before anyone had a reason to know them. But their oddball instrumentation formed the backbone of one of the 1990s most endearing -- and sorely missed -- outfits.

Singer and “low guitarist” Mark Sandman would go onto alternative rock acclaim with saxophonist Dana Colley and Treat Her Right drummer Billy Conway in Morphine. The crazed horns of Honey White are nowhere to be found here, even if the other roots of their sound are. Sandman died following an onstage heart attack in Rome in 1999, and Morphine's remnants reemerged as the Twinemen long after their impact was forgotten.

Treat Her Right were a different animal than Morphine with Jim Fitting on harmonica and Dave Champagne playing guitar and sharing vocal duties. Through the course of three albums -- Treat Her Right, Tied To the Tracks and What’s Good For You -- the music remained sparse and rarely easy to classify.

From the start, it’s a laidback affair – Sandman’s voice dictates that pace. On I Think She Likes Me, he effortlessly croons about trying to pick up a woman only for her husband to intervene with a gun when he buys her a drink. It’s simple, yet wry in its delivery, much like his later output. Under Champagne's leadership, Don’t Look Back chugs along with the low-end riff accented by Fitting’s harp.

Sandman and Champagne mostly trade vocal outings, with Fitting taking the lead a few times on Hit a Man and the dynamite closer, Standing By Your Window. King of Beers takes a country spin on their bluesy sound to stellar effect. The inherent darkness of Morphine shows up around the edges of these songs, but does not penetrate it. Sandman presents them with a wry sense of humor at times.

Where Did All the Girls Come From? is yet another song whose title would fit better coming from a hair metal band. But Treat Her Right make it work on almost every track. Despite its lengthy title, I’m Here To Get My Baby Out of Jail is punchy and sweet. Here the vocal back-and-forth is propelled solely on Conway's drumming at times.

The atmospheric Standing By Your Window sums up this group so well -- no matter the vocalist or the songwriter, they stayed true to the vision. The slide guitar and harmonica get equal opportunities to shine while leaving ample space for the songs to percolate. 

When not dominated by Sandman, Treat Her Night should not be ignored. Their brand of music is entirely too potent for such treatment. After all, they served as Morphine’s addictive gateway drug.

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

Video Classics: 'Love Shack'

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...

Sometimes comebacks outdo the first time around. So it was with the B-52s, who enjoyed moderate success in the early '80s as a quirky, fun and upbeat New Wave party band. Following the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson in 1985 (brother to vocalist Cindy Wilson) the band went on a two-year hiatus. For most New Wave bands lacking classic rock credentials to fall back upon, that would have been the end of it, as the sounds of the '80s began to give way to dirtier, grittier sounds that would dominate the early '90s.

For the B-52s, it was different, however. In 1988 the band reemerged, with drummer Keith Strickland having switched to guitar and sporting a new backing rhythm section that included Sara Lee, formerly of the post-punk band Gang of Four. They released the album Cosmic Thing in 1989, and it turned out to be their mainstream breakthrough. Love Shack, the second single released from the album became their first Top 40 hit, going on to peak all the way at #3 (it comes in at #491 and #342 on the 1991 and 1996 Firecracker 500 lists, respectively).

The song's eponymous good-time meeting place is actually based on a real building. The original 'love shack' was a cabin near Athens, Georgia (complete with rusting tin roof) where the band conceived the song Rock Lobster, a single from their first album. Singer Kate Pierson had, in fact, lived there in the '70s. The cabin burned down in 2004, but by that time the B-52s had found enough success through Love Shack and subsequent hits spurred by that first success (like Roam and Good Stuff) that they'll be well-off enough if they ever wish to replace it.

The colorful video released with Love Shack doubtless helped contribute to the song's success. Look for an early cameo appearance by then-unknown RuPaul. After the jump, take in Love Shack performed live for the band's induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2000.

  

Have You Heard Of ... ?

Have you ever heard of a guy named Steve Bernal? Ever been to Waterloo Music and Video in Austin, TX?

If you've not been there or heard of him -- and you happen to be in Austin on February 18th -- you might want to drop in on Waterloo and find out more.

Seems he's one of those guys they call a "musician's musician". He's a bass player, cellist, composer, teacher and performer who's apparently a "first call" session player 'round Austin way. Over the past 20+ years, he's played and recorded with countless people including Alejandro Escovedo, the highly underrated 90's outfit Poi Dog Pondering as well as with Poi Dog alumni Abra Moore.

His newest record, a mix of classical, world and avante-garde music called Decibels, includes a cut named "Pluto: Requiem for an Icy World," written by William Meadows for solo 'cello and computer-generated electronics in surround-sound. That's cool.

Trusting that it never hurts to listen to something new, you might want to drop in on Bernal's composition page and get a taste of what he offers.

A.M. Nuggets: Bryan (not Ryan) Adams Playing Beacon Theater

Do you think people yell out "Magnolia Mountain!" at Bryan Adams during concerts, causing him heartache and lost sleep? Or do they just yell "Summer of 69!" at him too? Just curious. If you've ever seen Bryan Adams in concert and you have some insight please write in and let me know.
Adams is the latest artist to be announced for on the schedule at the "new" Beacon Theater. He will play a solo acoustic show on Saturday, April 4th (tickets go on pre-sale today at 10am - password HEBRYAN). Hopefully that will lure scalpers away from the Phish tickets on-sale, also today at 10am.
The folks at the Beacon have been hard at work scheduling a crazy Spring full of shows, including the two-night reopening celebration with Paul Simon, the return of the Allman Brothers Band in March, and other big shows like Leonard Cohen, B.B. King, Levon Helm, and even His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Barefoot at Carnegie Hall: From the Front Row - Andrew Bird 1.28.09

Photos by Karen Dunbar

Carnegie Hall. Just saying those two words together evokes a long history of musical elegance and sophistication. All the greats have played there for over 100 years, and now I found myself on that hallowed ground to watch Andrew Bird. The opening band was Dosh (who is Andrew Bird’s drummer) and was accompanied by the other members of Bird’s band which explored a wide variety of experimental jazz featuring saxophone and drums with electronica beats meshed in.
When the lights dimmed to start Andrew’s performance, he walked on stage to do a few solo songs as he often does. After a few notes, he slipped off his shoes, walked to the mic and said “This is going to be fun”. Andrew’s opening songs and instrumentals were simply majestic and immediately captured everyone’s attention. Very few artists I’ve seen play can command the attention that Andrew does. Complete silence is not something I’m used to at a rock concert (and this wasn’t just because it was at Carnegie Hall – I’ve seen him 4 times so far and it’s always so quiet you could hear a pin drop). Once the band joined him, he launched into songs from recently released Noble Beast and played just about every song from the new album. “That’s a lot of new songs to digest” he said – which it was.

YouTube Fun With Bruce ...

With all the excitement that comes when Bruce Springteen decides to share his latest collection of musical gems, as was the case in Tuesday’s release of Working on a Dream, and the subsequent worldwide tour that follows, it’s hard not to get all giddy, even overwhelmed when all that anticipation and eagerness that fills your mind and mine in the weeks proceeding said release are fully realized.

Needless to say, my anticipation in the weeks preceding the release of Working on a Dream reached an entirely new level. In fact, the last few have been particularly exhausting, as I found myself not only listening and relistening to all of Springsteen's 15 previous studio albums, but also surfing the web for any article, or related tidbit that would quench my ever-thirsty palate. And then, there were the YouTube videos. With my mp3 player out of batteries and the prospects of another three-plus hour live performance racing through my mind, I headed over to the wonderful little website and did a search for “Bruce Springsteen.” Little did I know that some 50 videos later I would spend my entire Saturday evening watching an eclectic collection of Springsteen-featuring moving images, many of which rare, all of which were equally fascinating. Since my original article for topic for this week, an analyzation of Coachella’s 2009 lineup fell through – umm … ya – I figured now what be a good time to share my a few of my more favorites that I stumbled onto last Saturday.

5. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (w/ Bon Jovi)

Taken from last month’s Hope Concert IV, this video exemplifies the latest example of what happens when your guest for evening is non other than The Boss himself. In this particular case, Springsteen appears to have showed up at the Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny-hosted holiday benefit concert as a viewer – notice the lack of guitar – but by the show’s end, he has taken the stage to join his fellow New Jersey natives for what proves to be a captivating performance of Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out.

  

4. Man on the Moon (w/ R.E.M.)

Who says politics can’t be any fun? During 2004’s Vote for Change Tour, Springsteen joined his fellow tourmates on a number of different occasions, including this particularly awesome rendition of Man on the Moon. The YouTube uploader calls the duet between Michael Stipe and Springsteen one of the greatest duets ever. I agree 100%

  

List-o-Mania: Concept Album Bands

Top 10 Lists: Letterman made them famous, the Internet made them commonplace, but WNEW makes them rock! Resident music pseudo-savant David Thomas brings you a classic rock Top 10 every week for WNEW's List-o-Mania ...

During Spinal Tap’s end-of-tour party, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls observe that – what with the probable demise of the band – that they are free to write Saucy Jack, their rock opera about Jack the Ripper. It’s a fine joke, all the better because the following acts have done likewise, or even worse. Here, for your pleasure, are ten of the more notable purveyors of the concept album, something that tells a story, explores a theme, or just expands on a footnote. Criteria for selection are exportability to other media, vanity, quantity, frequency and absurdity.

This is a probably a good time to confess that Styx should probably be on this list, but missed out because I’m not familiar with their music, beyond seeing them at El Paso’s 2006 Downtown Street Festival.

10. Blue Öyster Cult

BÖC only released one actual concept album, Imaginos, in 1988, but it recycles so many of the themes and songs that they and their first producer, Sandy Perlman, had been playing with since the late 1960s. The band disliked the finished product, while their fans – myself included – consider it to be one of their best records, even if it does contain a track entitled The Siege and Investiture of Baron von Frankenstein’s Castle in Wesseria. Imaginos sort of tells a story of an immortal adventurer and the secret masters who control human history. At least, I think it does. On the plus side, it’s got some superb numbers – Les Invisibles and Del Rio’s Song, for instance get played three times in a row if they pop up when I’m driving – and eleven guitarists, including Joe Satriani.

9. Genesis

Genesis have the distinction of being one of the few bands to lay down a concept album by accident: they didn’t intend their first release to be a linked cycle of biblically-themed songs; producer Jonathan King did that without asking them first; but they spawned The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway on purpose. This sprawling double album about Rael, who accidentally wanders into another world (or underneath the city) and then comes back, was Peter Gabriel’s last effort with the band. Incidentally, From Genesis to Revelation was released before the boys had settled on a name for their hip combo; the record was re-issued as Genesis: In the Beginning. 
 
8. W.A.S.P.

I once owned a box of 20 W.A.S.P. T-shirts. A friend who was working for EMI had to take them home; they weren’t shifting as promotional freebies for the album The Crimson Idol. Despite Blackie Lawless’s tale of a rocker’s life receiving positive reviews, I also got a surplus copy of the record and third row tickets to see the lads at the Hammersmith Odeon. They played most of the work, but omitted their most fun live number Animal (Fuck Like a Beast).

That omission should have been enough for their inclusion in this list out of spite alone, but Blackie went on to produce two more conceptual pieces – actually one, split over two releases – The Neon God Parts 1 & 2. Bad Blackie; but he is a recent (if not, perhaps current) adherent of the genre, and that says something.

And the T-shirts? I put them in a charity clothes bank and occasionally look for them in newsreels from war zones.

7. Yes

You might think that Yes would be higher, due to their incomprehensible lyrics, unusual time signatures and very long tracks, but they only ever released one honest-to-God concept album, the timelessly bad 1973 double disk Tales From Topographic Oceans. Odd beyond belief, it’s based on a footnote in Autobiography of a Yogi, as Jon Anderson is kind enough to explain inside the lavish gatefold cover.

What’s more, all members of Yes simultaneously and independently released solo albums during the band’s 1976 hiatus; two of them, Anderson's Olias of Sunhillow (which is really good; so good that it lets him off for Tales) and Patrick Moraz’s Story of I (also a fine – if jazz tinged – piece of work), were concept albums as well, so Yes are definitely concept-friendly.

6. Alan Parsons Project

Alan Parsons – the engineer on Dark Side of the Moon – headed, well, a project, that devoted itself to releasing ambitious themed long players and drawing on a pool of musicians and singers for the necessary talent. Thus the APP was more of a business plan than a band. Releases included Tales of Mystery and Imagination, I Robot (no comma, for copyright reasons), Eve and Ammonia Avenue. The last one is about miscommunication between industry and citizenry, as exemplified by Imperial Chemical Industry’s Billington Works. That same plant, viewed at night, inspired the design of the opening shots of Bladerunner.

Video Classics: 'Sunday Bloody Sunday'

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...

No matter how noble their intentions, rock bands tend to get a bit preachy when they get political. And very few bands are as good at being preachy than U2. And Sunday Bloody Sunday may well be one of their preachiest. So, by extension, Sunday Bloody Sunday is definitely a contender for preachiest rock song of all time. For all that, it also happens to be a pretty good song, and comes in at #423 on the 1991 Firecracker 500 and 1996 on the 258 list.

The song is written about Bloody Sunday, that occurred in Northern Ireland on January 30th, 1972. For two years prior, violence had been escalating between militant elements of the Catholic and Protestant communities (a time known as 'The Troubles'), and attempts by the British government to quell the unrest were largely ham-fisted and ineffectual. Bloody Sunday occurred when British troops fired at marching protestors for reasons that remain unclear and are under official investigation to this day. 13 people were killed.

The song grew from a guitar riff used by The Edge in 1982. To this was added a militaristic drumbeat and melodic harmonies to create what would become the opening track to U2's 1983 album, War. Bono and Edge bothed worked on the lyrics, but had to change them substantially before release because they knew the song might be viewed as sectarian and possibly place the band's lives in danger (lyrics by the Edge denouncing 'violent rebels', in particular were perhaps wisely excised).

While a promotional video was not shot specifically for the song, the band has often used the video below taken from their Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky performance, to promote the song.

  

Upon its release, some wanted to use the song in a partisan way to heap more shame upon the British government's actions, but according to U2 drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., that isn't the point. The song is a protest song, but a protest in general against the horrors of sectarian violence of any stripe. From Wikipedia ...

"We're into the politics of people, we're not into politics. Like you talk about Northern Ireland, Sunday Bloody Sunday, people sort of think, 'Oh, that time when 13 Catholics were shot by British soldiers'; that's not what the song is about. That's an incident, the most famous incident in Northern Ireland and it's the strongest way of saying, 'How long? How long do we have to put up with this?' I don't care who's who - Catholics, Protestants, whatever.

While the song had become a staple of their live shows, in 1988 Bono made Mullen's point even more emphatically when, while performing in Colorado he went on a mid-song rant condemning the Remembrance Day Bombing that had occurred in Ireland earlier that same day and especially condemning those who thought there was glory to be found in violent revolution. Sunday Bloody Sunday wasn't played for 47 shows after that, though it has gradually worked its way back into U2's lineup. The song is now played with Bono often dedicating it to the victims of senseless violence anywhere.

So Sunday Bloody Sunday is definitely preachy. But in the best of ways.

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

Cold War Kids Play Intimate Mercury Lounge Show: Setlist, Photos

One of my favorite bands, the Cold War Kids, played an intimate set last night to a sold out crowd at the Mercury Lounge. Floor space was at a premium as the band took the stage shortly after 11:00 for a set that lasted precisely one hour. Tunes from their latest record Loyalty to Loyalty were featured, like the opener Against Privacy, Mexican Dogs, and Something Is Not Right With Me. Older favorites also made it into the short set, including I've Seen Enough, my personal favorite Hospital Beds, and the encore Saint John.
If you missed the show don't worry, Cold War Kids are headed back to NYC this April 3rd for a night at Terminal 5, where there's sure to be elbow room aplenty. Tickets are already on sale (only $22!). Check out more photos after the jump.

Rock 101: The Super Bowl Halftime Show

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'...

The Super Bowl halftime show has become an entertainment extravaganza that almost rivals the game itself. Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, U2 -- stars don't come much bigger than Super Bowl halftime headliners. Rockers at the Super Bowl is a tradition that has been going on for many years. Hasn't it?

Not exactly. For the first 20 years of Super Bowl history, the halftime shows were traditional, with marching bands and dance teams. A few celebrities appeared, however: Trumpeter Al Hirt played three Super Bowls in the early years, including the first one in 1967; Broadway star Carol Channing, jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, and jazz bandleader Woody Herman also appeared, as well as the squeaky-clean youth singers Up With People, who also performed at three different Super Bowls. (Three appearances is the record: Gloria Estefan has also appeared three times.)

It wasn't until 1988 that the baby-boomer generation was represented at halftime, when Chubby Checker performed as part of the show. The first entirely made-for-TV halftime came the next year, when a 1950s-themed show was presented in 3D. Jazz bands made a brief comeback the next year in 1990 (the game was in New Orleans), but in 1991, pop music took control, never again to relinquish it. New Kids on the Block headlined a show that was not shown live on TV -- the Persian Gulf War had just begun, and ABC ran news coverage instead, showing the halftime show on tape delay following the game.

The New Kids' extravaganza, which also featured Disney characters and 2,000 children, opened the floodgates for shows that were usually overstuffed with celebrities, elaborate staging, and pyrotechnics. The NFL decided that bigger was better, and the biggest stars were the best of all. In 1993, Michael Jackson headlined the show. In 1997, the first rock band played at halftime when ZZ Top joined the Blues Brothers and James Brown. In 2001, the halftime bill reached a peak of schizophrenia with 'N Sync, Britney Spears, Nelly, Mary J. Blige, and Aerosmith on the same 12-minute show. The next year, U2 paid tribute to 9/11 victims in what is widely considered the greatest of all Super Bowl halftime shows.

Two years later, in 2004, came the most notorious halftime of all -- Janet Jackson's fabled "wardrobe malfunction." After the gigantic controversy which followed -- which was also overstuffed -- the NFL decided that classic-rock bands were safer headliners, so Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones did the next two shows. Controversy returned in 2007 when Prince performed, and some viewers objected to the phallic nature of his guitar. No such controversy dogged Tom Petty last year, and nobody's expecting any from Springsteen this Sunday. But given the history of spectacle at the Super Bowl halftime show, you can never be sure what might happen, intentionally or unintentionally.

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