"Yes we can can!" said Little Nicola.

[cujas]

Tommy James was in the "Hang on Sloopy" category of artists--a few weak, mediocre hits that people bought in between something really worthwhile. Maybe a little better than the Archies.

 

Now The Rascals were in a competely different category. They were near the top--near The Doors or Sly. Felix and The Rascals--were first rate--from "Good Lovin"--to "Groovin'" on down.

 

Nothing personal against Tommy James--But his abilities and hits don't even come close to an above average band like--Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels.--And Mitch wasn't anyplace near The Rascals in creativity or technique.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Great unknown Rascals song-------"A Ray of Hope"..... "Beautiful Morning", "A Girl Like You", and "How Can I Be Sure" were also great............and of course, their best line ever, "Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie."

 

Edited by: finance on May 1, 2011 1:30 PM

 

Edited by: finance on May 1, 2011 2:42 PM

[C.Bogle]

I'd put Tommy James a few pegs above the McCoys or Mitch Ryder.

And commercially speaking, there's no contest. They were basically

one or two-hit wonders, while James had a succession of hits during

the mid and late sixties. Of the three, he's the only one who could

release a greatest hits collection that would be legitimate.

 

Yep, James could not reach the artistry of the Rascals, but that song

sounds a bit like one of the Rascals laid-back peace and love numbers.

[DownGoesFrazier]

Many can name the individual members of the Rascals. Can anyone name the Shondells? I doubt if Tommy James could even do it.

[C.Bogle]

Probably true. I wouldn't put Tommy James in the same league as the

Rascals, but I would put him above the McCoys, he's somewhere in a

middling position. Still, some good pop songs.

[C.Bogle]

Liberty is where you find it. Sublime with 40oz. to Freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DownGoesFrazier]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKacWnIfy2E

Here are Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish, Dino Danelli, and Eddie Brigati-----enjoy!

Edited by: finance on May 2, 2011 3:40 PM

 

Edited by: finance on May 2, 2011 3:42 PM

 

Edited by: finance on May 2, 2011 3:42 PM

[misswonderly3]

The Tragically Hip is a Canadian band who are ferociously beloved in Canada and absolutely unknown in the U.S. They've never been able to make the cross-over, so to speak, nobody knows why. They are at least as good as many Canadian bands that do make it in the States.

 

Here is a typical Tragically Hip song, At the Hundredth Meridian:

 

 

 

If you get an ad at the beginning of the video, sorry. I hate it when they do that.

Thinking Canadian today because it's the morning after a national election here. Many big changes. Yes, the death of Osama Bin Laden is huge news, I wouldn't argue that, but it didn't upstage the election - at least, not in Canada.

[misswonderly3]

What's "AOR"? (I think we are all too fond of acronyms.)

[phroso]

"AOR" is short for "Album-Oriented Rock," a popular FM radio format devoted to longer, non-pop songs from rock artists. (Example: any station that plays "Stairway to Heaven" or the Abbey Road medley is probably an AOR station.)

[C.Bogle]

Pretty hip. Interesting video too. I'm sure there are Canadian bands who are popular

at home, but never made it big here. That happens to English bands too. I've noticed

that sometimes the ad pops up and sometimes it doesn't, seemingly at random. Not

sure the client appreciates that.

[DownGoesFrazier]

AOR originated in SF in about '67. The father of AOR was Tom Donahue, a former top-40 DJ in Philly. They played album tracks rather than singles. While the Rascals, e.g., were a great band, they were singles rather than albums- oriented. I would guess that as the hip people started to listen to AOR, such a development paved the way for the death of groups like the Rascals, the Association ("Along Comes Mary"), The Turtles, and Tommy James and the Shondells. Acts benefiting from the AOR format included Hendrix, Buffalo Springfield, Jefferson Airplane, and the Byrds.

 

Edited by: finance on May 3, 2011 1:54 PM

[C.Bogle]

Yep, so long Three Dog Night. I used to listen to WNEW-FM. For a period they

were a very popular AOR station, but nothing lasts forever.

[C.Bogle]

A little MORish guilty pleasure, some awkward dance moves, and a bit of

European history. ABBA on the way to their own fashion Waterloo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[misswonderly3]

Ok, true confession time. Although I do not and never have owned any Abba recordings, I'm always delighted to hear their catchy hummable music whenever I encounter it.I don't know if they wrote their own stuff, or someone else did it for them, and I don't really care. They were one of those groups that captured the essence of unabashed hook-y pop, just about all their songs were hits, and you can see why. No, you can hear why.

I have to admit that I really enjoy their extremely poppy and pleasant tunes. Having said that, I'd probably get tired of them if I listened to them all the time- everyone enjoys a bag of chips now and then, but not for a steady diet. Whatever. Waterloo was always my favourite. Abba, you rock ! Maybe not? Ok,; Abba, you pop !

[DownGoesFrazier]

I respectfully disagree about Abba (phwew!)............Today is the anniversary of the Kent State massacre. I'm going to try to post CSN&Y's "Ohio" later, if someone doesn't beat me to it..

 

Edited by: finance on May 4, 2011 9:24 AM

 

Edited by: finance on May 4, 2011 9:41 AM

[misswonderly3]

S'ok, finance, I know Abba is not a popular choice for many people. But are you sure you dislike their music, or is it the "manufactured pop - too - commercial to be real - Euro-trash" image stuck to them (quite fairly) that puts you off?

If you cast aside all prejudices about them and listen to their songs as though you don't know who they are, just judging the tunes on the basis of whether they rate as quality pop or not, I wonder if you might grudgingly concede that they're not too bad.

After all, you do enjoy a bag of chips or an ice cream cone now and then, don't you?

 

Agreed, Abba is about as far from AOR as you can get.

[misswonderly3]

Today is a good day for REM's Orange Crush . It's a good tune from their Automatic for the People album. It's worth posting anyway, but today I have an arcane reason, related to a recent event in Canada (not arcane to the citizens of Quebec.) Not getting political here, no opinion being stated, just thinking about Orange Crush:

 

 

 

(It's a rather disturbing video, I hesitated to use that one. But I think it's the original, the one REM made, so I'm going with it.)

[C.Bogle]

I'd have a similar soul bearing. I was mostly indifferent to ABBA during their

1970s/1980s prime, but for some reason started to like them later on. I don't

have any of their regular albums, but I do have ABBA Gold, a greatest hits

CD. And I'll probably be playing it today. They're addictive in a You Will Learn

to Love Big Brother way. Benny and Bjorn wrote most of their songs, so they

knew a pop hook when they heard one. Maybe it's time to form an AA group-

Abba Anonymous.

 

I knew Orange Crush was not from Automatic, but I couldn't remember exactly

what album it was from. They tend to get mixed up after so many years. It's Green.

It does have a certain martial beat to it. Politically, it could be an IRA tune. Like the

song, but not the drink. Maybe someday R.E.M. will write and record Yoo-Hoo.

[C.Bogle]

And I believe tomorrow is Karl Marx's birthday, not that there's any connection.

When I was looking through the few 45s I still have left, I came across War Song,

credited to Neil Young and Graham Nash, from 1972 I think.

[C.Bogle]

Fishbone was a music style-bending band somewhat reminiscent of the PFunk

crowd, equally, and perhaps even more, bizarre. And that's without claiming any

interplanetary origins. Fishbone, with a little Cold War nostalgia, playing Party

At Ground Zero.

 

 

 

 

 

[misswonderly3]

You're right, Orange Crush is from the album Green, *not* Automatic for the People. I had an uneasy feeling at the time that it maybe wasn't correct, but I'm afraid I couldn't be bothered to look it up. I always get Orange Crush mixed up with Ignoreland, which is from Automatic ftP. I don't know why, they're pretty different.

 

That was a pretty scary video, on several levels. It had kind of a "ska" vibe to it, but I couldn't enjoy the music because the visuals were so disturbing. Between the mushroom clouds and those double visor/masks the party people were wearing, who needs nightmares?

[DownGoesFrazier]

Ice Cream, yes...Chips, no. Abba, casting aside all prejudices, stil no. When I think "pop hooks", I think of Squeeze, not Abba. (I also eat oranges)

 

Edited by: finance on May 4, 2011 3:35 PM

[DownGoesFrazier]

 

 

OK, here it is----hard-hitting video------Remember, and hope that nothing like this ever happens again.

 

Edited by: finance on May 4, 2011 3:12 PM

[cujas]

FYI--My visiting journalism Prof at KU was the reporter that won the Pulitizer Prize for the Kent State Story. He was a much better instructor and grader than the "real" profs at the J Sch.