Tonight the Friday Night Cage Match/Fondue Party/Evolving Conversation/Dancing About Architecture goes geographical.
This week’s offering…
Chicago or Boston?
By the way, the Friday Night Cage Match/Fondue Party/Evolving Conversation/Dancing About Architecture is finally getting a little media attention. Check out what Slate Magazine had to say in the “WebTrends to Watch” section.
Boston has a tradition of tarring and feathering Lord Mayors, which makes it a good thing they haven’t had one for over 225 years. Chicago has a tradition of Daley Mayors, which might as well have lordships.
The worst traffic I’ve ever driven through is Boston. The only time I’ve been bumper-to-bumper at 70MPH is Chicago.
Boston has that “Dirty Water”. Chicago is “Sweet Home”, even if Robert seemed to think it was in the Land of California.
Boston closed captioned most of Public TV. Chicago has WGN.
New England Patriots. Chicago Bears.
Walter Peyton.
Chicago.
Oh! Did you mean the bands?
Sans Direction’s last blog post..Oooh! Shiny!
Rare form Sans. Bravo. You are in rare form tonight. Dirty water vs sweet home.
In Texas that would be Sweet Water vs Dirty Home
“Third-Rate Romance” by The Amazing Rhythm Aces and that was way back in 1975! $0.99 What a bargain! Try ‘em all!! — and that is excellent advertising, Mr Pribek.
Are there any Judge Dredd fans in here… no? Well, in the books one often finds stories about block wars. They are wars between city blocks, as a high-rising building’s tenants take on a neighbor high-rise building. They are illegal, and dangerous. Judge Dredd would have to bust one of the buildings, judge them, and sentence them after breaking up the hundred story fire fight.
It sort of reminds me of the naming of bands after a city.
I remember working with a St Louis hard drivin’ salesman, who was top notch except that when asked “Larry, where are you from?” ..he would raise his snozzola way up and say “We’re from the Kirkwood area…”
I used to say, “but you don’t have a band named after you.” What would that be: the Kirkwood Kirchof’s Kanoodles?? Blah blah
At this moment I cannot think of any other US city that this phenomenon could work for… I can only get the same feeling of tribalism from say — Paris — or Bahgdad… Lampasas, errrr Beloit?
So as representative band for an entire city I have to go with Chicago. That’s my final answer.
Pat Darnell and Fair Weather Friends’s last blog post..BuzzKill Word for the Century: Levee
Chicago – the early years – 25 or 6 to 4 is great. On one of their early albums they had a soundclip of a crowd chanting “The Whole World’s Watching” to do with, I think, the way the National Guard were treating antiwar protestors.
Gary’s last blog post..Mark Playle, Guitar Idol – 4th in the world!
Addendum to final answer:
I just reviewed May 8, 2008 post “Rock and Roll is..” with Sans Direction allusion to “Arctic Monkeys…”
Legitimate Rock and roll announces the next world event. As art forms are supposed to be advanced guard; and even if it is subjective feed, it creates.. [see: also JD Daniels definition in Rock and Roll is ..] “Does anybody really know what time it is..?”
Arctic is a very good geographic group name for 21st century.
Thus,
Chicago —}
—-subtend —} Arctic Monkeys,
————} final answer.
Pooht Barnsmell and light my Fire’s last blog post..BuzzKill Word for the Century: Levee
According to my flimsy research:
Chicago the band-Top selling band of all time named after a geographic location.
Chicago the city-
Boston the band: Second biggest selling band of all time named after a geographic location.
Boston the city-
I’ll let my position stand, but I have some additional thoughts.
On an SNL about 10 years ago, there was a game show sketch. Something like “Eat Drive Screw”. They show pictures of a meal, a car and a woman, and the fratboy contestant has to decide whether it’d be preferable to eat the food, drive the car or be with the woman. At first, it’s like filet mignon, a Lamborghini and Megan Fox, and eventually it’s something like collard greens, an AMC and Bea Arthur, and Will says something like “I don’t want to eat, drive or listen to any of those.”
I have not sought out any Boston or Chicago since I put a quarter into a juke box in 1991 and dialed up “25 or 6 to 4″. I don’t want to listen to any of those.
Come to think of it, I could name a number of geographically-named bands (Alabama and Texas, to name some off the top of my head) and I don’t so much want to listen to any of them. Well, I’m not sure if Area Code 615 or Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys really truly fits this convention.
When I think of Chicago, the first thought that comes to mind is the 1980s version of the band. The 1980s version of the band is the icky pop version of the band. It had no power, and the point of having a horn section is the raw power of horns. The band that did “Only The Beginning” should not be doing power ballads. I won’t call for Peter Cetera to be horsewhipped, because what he did was not nearly as bad as what Jeffe Lynne did, but it still isn’t good.
I’m never actually sure, when I’m hearing the good stuff, that I’m listening to Chicago and not Blood, Sweat and Tears.
Boston, to my mind, is Tom Schotz the way that the Mothers of Invention is Frank Zappa, perhaps the way the Talking Heads are David Byrne. There’s lots of people involved, but the only without that creative element, there’s no reason to care. But unlike Zappa and the Heads, I’ve never actually cared about Boston. If I have a classic rock station on, and Boston rolled up on the playlist, I wouldn’t necessarily turn it off, but I have never in my life said “Hey, I would love to hear some Boston right now.” To my mind, Tom is more important as an inventor, with his Rockman being the thing that lead to multi-effects and the like.
Like I’ve said, there’s no Boston songs that I have actively sought out, while there are a few of the older Chicago songs I have, in the past, put money into a juke box for. So, the result is the same.
In somewhat related news, I am going to a family reunion in August and will have to drive through Chicago to get there. The city, not the band. And I’m dreading it.
Sans Direction’s last blog post..No Cool Songs On The Car Radio…..
“because what he did was not nearly as bad as what Jeffe Lynne did”
Seems like you’ve mentioned Jeff Lynne in a less than positive context before, makes me a little curious. Might you expound?
I knew that Chicago started as CTA or Chicago Transit Authority but, I did not know that before that they were called The Big Thing (according to wiki) Wiki also says…
I was also unaware that Boston was originally, Mother’s Milk. More wiki..
I remember reading a Jimi quote that went something like; “The CTA makes Blood Sweat and Tears sound like a high school marching band.”
Lou says that both bands are equally responsible for screwing up horn bands forever claiming that before CTA/BS&T, horn sections would wear matching suits and dance. Post CTA/BS&T, horn players all want to solo over songs with major7 chords. Something to that, I think.
That being said, I can’t think of any Boston stuff I can’t live without. And, oh yeah-the Rockman; I had one, it was pretty handy but, I only used the “dry” sound when I would use it to practice. The fuzz and chorus sounded Bostony. I heard that the guitars on Def Leppard’s “Pyromania” album were done exclusively with Sholz gizmos.
All that being said, “Color My World”, on a given day, can be the worst song ever. A festival of Maj.7′s.
So, the elephant in my room asks; “Are any of these bands that are named after places worthy?
I think that if you allow a geographical reference as part of the name, you’ll find some real good ones. But, if you confine it to just geography, it looks pretty slim.
I would give the nod to Kansas over Boston or Chicago. U.K. had Holdsworth and even though he hated it, it was nice to hear his solos on poppy/rocky stuff. Hey, John Wetton was in that band too. Then, he went on to form Asia. He’s been out of the limelight a while. Maybe he should name a band after a hemisphere.
Jeff Lynne.
I strongly dislike the Electric Light Orchestra, but that’s not it. There are other bands I generally dislike that I would never advocate violence against. How can you justify an abiding hatred for, just as an example, Blue Cheer? Roxette. The Bay City Rollers?
Producers have influence over many artists and their sounds. Because of Jeff, Tom Petty became infatuated with drum machines, driving out Stan Lynch. He made it so the last song of note to come out for George Harrison was “I’ve Got My Mind Set On You”. He’s the guy behind the Traveling Wilburys. That a band featuring Petty, Dylan, Orbison and Harrison could suck so intensely bad, you gotta blame the producer. For this, he must be horsewhipped.
Well sure. As an artifact, Tom made the Rockman to be useful to him first and foremost, so it sounds like him. As a concept, having useful amplification come from something the size of a hip flask rather than big boxes full of firebottles was big because it was small. I don’t think you can make anything smaller than Pandora’s Box while you’re still using 1/4″ jacks, but they’ve certainly shoved a whole lot into that thing.
I find myself liking a couple of Asia songs. I feel shamed by that. There’s one song I know from Kansas, and I suspect it’s the one song everybody knows from Kansas.
This leads me to consider geographical song names. Many many many people have written songs about Texas. Many many many people have written songs about New York. Many many many people have written songs about California. There are many many many songs written about New Jersey, but they were mostly written by Bruce Springsteen. There’s no song about Indiana as a whole that was written after Stephen Foster, I don’t think. Two songs about cities in Indiana, with one being a complete fraud (“Gary, Indiana”) and the other being a complaint (“Indianapolis” – “Is this Hell or Indianapolis?”). Oh yeah, there’s the Beach Boys song that puts it in the Caribbean.
Has anyone ever written a pop song about Delaware?
Sans Direction’s last blog post..No Cool Songs On The Car Radio…..
Okay — this I like:
Eat Chicago — Drive Le Mans — Screw Ann Arbor
Pat Darnell and Fair Weather Friends’s last blog post..Untitled
Eat — Brighton Center
Drive — Union Oyster Bar Stool
Screw — Red Sox
Pat Darnell and no one loves me’s last blog post..Untitled: “Would you Like some Linguine; Mister Penguiny?”
“Going Back To Indiana” by the Jackson 5 is a great performance and purely brilliant pop.
Seems like John Cougar has mentioned Indiana is something. I might be wrong about a direct mention but he was surely pushing an Indian agenda as he was selling himself as a ruralist.
I don’t recall a Delaware song but, I do remember that when George Thorogood came out, it was George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers. I liked them better before they changed it.
“Because of Jeff, Tom Petty became infatuated with drum machines, driving out Stan Lynch.” I don’t think that Petty and Lynch were happily married before Lynne came along. And, it seems like TP was using drum machines before that (“Don’t Come Around Here No More”) but, my timeline may be off there. Lynne did put Petty together with Jim Keltner and that seems to be about when Lynch got real upset. A lot of drummers have a Keltner envy thing going on, I’ve noticed.
Blaming the producer is like blaming the manager of a baseball team.
J.J. Cale was the engineer on the first Blue Cheer record.
Eat-up
Drive-south
Screw-off
God didn’t make the little green apples, and it don’t rain in Indianapolis in the summertime.. no?
I had a personal friend that drove home at noon, who used to sing this while fornicatin’ with his bride to be, Della, in the next room, after lunch:
WHAT DID DELAWARE, BOYS?
What did Delaware, boys,
What did Delaware?
I ask you now as a personal friend,
What did Delaware?
She wore her New Jersey, boys,
She wore her New Jersey, boys,
She wore her New Jersey
I tell you now as a personal friend,
She wore her New Jersey
What did Idaho, boys,
What did Idaho, boys,
What did Idaho?
I ask you now as a personal friend,
What did Idaho?
She hoed her Maryland, boys,
She hoed her Maryland, boys,
She hoed her Maryland
I tell you now as a personal friend,
She hoed her Maryland
What did Ioweigh, boys,
hat did Ioweigh, boys,
What did Ioweigh?
I ask you now as a personal friend,
What did Ioweigh?
She weighed a Washington, boys,
She weighed a Washington, boys,
She weighed a Washington
I tell you now as a personal friend,
She weighed a Washington
How did Wiscon-sin, boys,
How did Wiscon-sin, boys,
How did Wiscon-sin?
I ask you now as a personal friend,
How did Wiscon-sin?
She stole a New-brass-key, boys,
She stole a New-brass-key, boys,
She stole a New-brass-key
I tell you now as a personal friend,
She stole a New-brass-key
What did Tennessee, boys,
What did Tennessee, boys,
What did Tennessee?
I ask you now as a personal friend,
What did Tennessee?
She saw what Arkansaw, boys,
She saw what Arkansaw, boys,
She saw what Arkansaw
I tell you now as a personal friend,
She saw what Arkansaw
How did Flora-die, boys,
How did Flora-die, boys,
How did Flora-die
I ask you now as a personal friend,
How did Flora-die?
She died in Missouri, boys,
She died in Missouri, boys,
She died in Missouri
I tell you now as a personal friend,
She died in Missouri
Where has Oregon, boys,
Where has Oregon, boys,
Where has Oregon?
I ask you now as a personal friend,
Where has Oregon?
She’s gone to Oklahom, boys,
She’s gone to Oklahom, boys,
She’s gone to Oklahom
I tell you now as a personal friend,
She’s gone to Oklahom
Why did Califon-ya, boys,
Why did Califon-ya, boys,
Why did Califon?
I ask you now as a personal friend,
Why did Califon?
She phoned to say Hawai-ya, boys,
She phoned to say Hawai-ya, boys,
She phoned to say Hawai-ya
I tell you now as a personal friend,
That’s why Califoned.
What did Mississip, boys,
What did Mississip, boys,
What did Mississip?
I ask you now as a personal friend,
What did Mississip?
She sipped a Minnisota, boys,
She sipped a Minnisota, boys,
She sipped a Minnisota
I tell you now as a personal friend,
That’s what Mississipped.
Eat — more opossum
Drive — you crazy
Screw — logic
Pat Darnell and What did Delaware’s last blog post..Untitled: “Would you Like some Linguine; Mister Penguiny?”
Delaware BB-28
(Photo # LC-B2- 923-12 courtesy of memory.loc.gov. via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C & commons.wikimedia.org.)
Pat Darnell and What did Delaware’s last blog post..Untitled: “Would you Like some Linguine; Mister Penguiny?”
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/tn/012825.gif
Delaware BB-28 Battleship
try this one instead… erase the previous dud, because I can’t.
Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics was producer for “No More”, while Petty, Campbell and Iovine (I think) had production credits on the rest of the album. But the drum machine was set faster, the beat changed after a while, and the whole thing sounded cooler.
I do get the attraction. You want to be creative. You want a drum beat to work off of. The drummer insists on having a life and doesn’t show up. You still want a beat, so you hit up the drum machine, get into that 808 state, and get something you can strum to. But you have to do better than preset 3 on a lackluster BPM every single time!
I’ve heard lots of tracks with Keltner. I don’t recall being wowed by any of it, but I might not have been not paying attention. But there are only so many magic groups out there. There was magic in Townshend, Entwistle and Moon. There was magic in Coltrane, Tyner, Jones and Garrison. There was magic in Monroe, Flatt, Scruggs and Wise. And Petty, Tench, Campbell and Lynch had their magic, and tossing Stan did a number on that mojo. (I liked Howie. He was good. But he wasn’t as core to the sound, IMHO, as Stan.) It’s easier, I guess, for me to demonize Lynne for his part than to accept that Petty’s feet are made of clay, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:USS_Delaware_BB-28_trial.jpg
Delaware being a state name, the USS Delaware would be a battleship, not a destroyer.
Sans Direction’s last blog post..No Cool Songs On The Car Radio…..
I don’t know that song, but everything I know about the Jackson Five is that it was great infectious pop. I will have to seek out that song.
Sans Direction’s last blog post..No Cool Songs On The Car Radio…..
It’s a cool song, Sans-should be the state song.
When I say, blaming the producer is like blaming the manager of a baseball team, I’m talking about the situation where they fire the manager of a team full of crappy players.
Unless you are in the room, there’s no way to know how much input a producer has. In Petty’s case, I’ve always assumed that he went after Lynne because Petty had an overall picture of what he wanted and he thought Jeff was the guy capable of helping him get it. I may be wrong, of course.
You are right as rain about the chemistry that a band can have. And, that chemistry is never going to be simulated by studio musicians.
But, with that chemistry comes other baggage.
Keltner isn’t getting paid to wow the listener. He gets paid for efficiency. Part of Keltner’s efficiency is knowing and being able to deliver, what groove/tempo/fills are going to make a particular song appealing to widest possible audience.
Actually, when I first heard the Full Moon Fever record, I wasn’t in on it because I thought it needed Stan Lynch. I though the drum tracks lacked personality. I started to listen to the cassette when I was jogging and, pretty soon, those songs were in my mind all the time. It was invasive. It was eye opening to me because, what really stuck in my brain were the melodies and lyrics, not the licks.
Pretty soon after that, I noticed that hairdressers knew every word of that whole album. Keltner plays in a way that puts the focus on the song, not the particular performance or the arrangement.
I don’t know that it’s possible to be the songwriter in a band without developing some degree of alienation from the other guys. And, the other guys are, at some point, going to feel like sidemen. Maybe, Lynch and Petty were not able to get past that and Petty just wanted to put the songs across; I don’t know.
PD-You know that one about bowlegged women?
Bowlegged women are back in style? That one, or no…?
Mr Sans, do you mind that I picked up on the tribunal Sans Directional Rating System? If so, this is your chance to tell me to leave it alone because it’s patented:
Eat
Drive
Screw
Meanwhile:
Again, listening to Rule of Seven, this AM. I think it should be background for NASA cable channel, it has that space walk EVA feel to it, stream of consciousness, while traveling at five miles per second hanging onto a billion dollar cherry-picker and feeling like nothing is moving…
Proceed.
I’ll mention the Marry,Screw,Kill game, where you are given three of a similar kind, and you judge their relative merits with one being a torrid love affair, one being a long-term relationship and one being a long walk on a short pier. For example, young Brit pop singers: Marry Lily Allen, screw Joss Stone and kill Amy Winehouse. That is, if she doesn’t take care of the job herself.
Sans Direction’s last blog post..No Cool Songs On The Car Radio…..
totally excellent, truly for peers, such wonderful diversions for surveying… truly genius: bringing forward then — marry screw kill, for 3 of a kind. Can’t wait!
Thanks again.
Pat Darnell and half-witted-friend’s last blog post..George Carlin was arrested several times after performing the bit live
OK. Whiny chick folksingers.
Jewel, Joni Mitchell (1976 Last Waltz version), Sarah Maclachlan.
Sans Direction’s last blog post..No Cool Songs On The Car Radio…..
Marry Sarah
Screw Joni [Last Waltz Ed.]
Kill Jewel
[sorry Jewel]