pierson

the tommy allen prod. version of "open wide" is way superior to the one evweryone else knows... it's one of those sins against humanity that it hasn't been released....

not so true... technology actually makes it harder as more musicians and producers lose sight of the basics as many faux-type replacements and the absence of tape change the dynamics

if u listen back to the 4 albums there's a pretty clear progression sonically... although I'd say the drum sound on "Side 3" (especially "Tonight") is the most impressive... still, something like "Overnight Sensation" is a production masterpiece and a great realization of the band and Jimmy's powers... Quite the peak if u had to choose one... Also, (and Eric would probably know this best), since the band was a "new" band on a major label for their debut, the production and engineering had to be more in the hands of Jimmy & the engineers (even though it sounds less "produced" than the others) and the same probably goes for "Fresh" since it was done so shortly after they broke... after that it makes sense that Jimmy & the band grew more comfortable around each other (not too many bands go 4-for-4 with a producer) and the band was able to have more input in the process (especially Eric)...

It was hard for me to miss him since he was from Syracuse, NY where my friends the Flashcubes hail... 'Cube drummer Tommy Allen produced a great 3-song demo with him in the early '90s...

Black leather basically begins with the early rockers like Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran... it's the old biker/greaser/rocker outfit... it was embraced by the early Beatles pre-Brain Epstein... he softened their image much to John Lennon's chagrin... Leather made a comeback with the '50s revival in the early '70s and with punk rock like the Ramones (who wore torn jeans and black leather jackets)... In heavy metal leather was worn by less audacious and more straight ahead bands like AC/DC and Guns & Roses... it's safe to say that it's primarily heavy metal bands who opted to wearing leather pants on stage more than any other genre of music... studs, too...

you basically hit it on the head... Guided By Voices are a good band... but they always fail to transcend... there's a limit to their appeal that keeps them from being a totaly incredible band... the lyrics are always a bit cryptic and there's always a bit of repetitiveness that doesn't help... that said, they've created a gazillion songs of which so many sound spectacular and cool when someone gives them a spin...

TK's latest is a strong one (i dig it much more than the last one).... it also marks the 20th anniversary of the release of "Songs From The Film"-- i'm not exactly sure what day, but I remember it being early 1986...

since the advent of radio it's always been about The Business (although even in sheet music era, it was a biz too)... and as u said, it's been discussed with regards to the Berries & Eric's career in the '70s... A good chunk of the people in the music industry have always been in it to make money... and never had much of a clue as to rock & pop's artistic merits... even the ones who seemingly grew up and joined the ranks with a true love for music... depending on what year you look at, some have more good guys than bad guys... The Beatles & Bob Dylan are the anomoly in the equation and the period which followed Sgt Pepper was a brief moment in time where rock bands and singer songwriters had a great shot at making it with credible music on the BIG field... but it REALLY only helped if that band/artist became huge on their own terms and than could use that power to leverage themselves autonomy from the record labels (i.e. Neil Young, Led Zeppelin & Pink Floyd) even that concept faded (right around the time the Raspberries split...) ...few bands ever found it easy to work within the system no matter how lenient the times were towards artistic credibility. and even during the best period there was total manufactured pop being shoved down the throats of the masses and many great artists being lost in the shuffle... it's just that we were lucky to have a label like Reprise from 1969-1974... In the '80s you could say the same for Sire... In the '90s it went indie w/ Sub Pop & Matador. as for exposure and radio & mtv... like Eric stated in an earlier post it's a new era (paradigm) we're dealing with... there's also a lot more outlets for people to hear music-- and it really isn't that crazy expensive... most normal suburban homes have a computer and broadband will only get cheaper as it becomes the norm... a lot of cable & dish setups have Sirius on them too... any kid fascinated with hearing what's new will be able to get his hands on stuff more easy say than me in 1979 trying find the new 20/20 album or the Adverts: stuff never played on the radio outside very few regional spots. Now it's just a click away... (i.e. almost anyone can sample stuff on Amazon that's available all over the world)... get your kid a gig cutting lawns or delivering newspapers/pizzas and a debit card & he's set... you can find a lot of decent used CDs for $0.01 a pop... sure the shipping cost is there, but what the "f"-- that's heaven compared to when I grew up...

i wish colin's name had more recognition attached to it-- he's the main voice of the zombies-- also had some fine early '70s solo stuff

no he's much more like this era's colin blunstone

they are all equally solid.... here's the best way to choose: Overcome By Happiness: their 1st one-- pretty straight ahead... maybe their most mellow one of all The World Won't End: #2 ...Bob Allen's fave... I would try this one after you decide you like them Yours Mine & Ours: #3-- in my opinion their strongest showing... absolutely stunning head to toe, although they do start to explore a little post punk things (Cure-ish acoustic rhythmn guitars, but it hardly gets in the way) this is where I'd suggest anyone to start Discover A Lovelier You: #4 maybe their most "progressive" one yet... a little more zip in its heel too... no clunkers yet...

how come no on mentioned Gabe Kaplan ("Welcome Back Kotter") and Jerry Seinfeld... both were/are "writers" who decided to try acting... and were lacking a lot of skills, which makes watching them a lot of fun...

eric, u read my mind... i was either gonna ask bernie or tommy a to see if they'd send something to you if i compiled it... there's definitely some great things out there (especially from 2001, a great "lost" year for independent pop music)... & considering where your roots lie, there's some things i know you'll like...

two words: Jon Brion

it was 200 hundred but it was cut down... easy to do these days w/ 40+ years of rock and roll to dig into

i'm not trying to piss on anyone's parade as much as i'm trying to talk about the reality... I would much rather see Joey Molland tour as Joey Molland (of Badfinger) and perform all the stuff he wrote & sang and do his solo stuff... the fact that it doesn't draw people out to see him is what doesn't allow him to do it... that says a lot more about the people than Joey... Joey is a class act and does a great job at doing something that's not the easiest thing to do... I saw his "Badfinger" show about a year ago and I thought he looked and sounded great, but it didn't make me want to go back and see it again. the Fleetwood Mac anaolgy isn't a great one either... Fleetwood Mac was always a band with changing members (especially singers)... but I doubt when the Buckingham Nicks version exploded they were puling out any Peter Green material... or doing "Black Magic Woman"...

Raspberries- Raspberries Ray Charles- What'd I Say Dramarama- Cinema Verite Dwight Twilley Band- Sincerely Roxy Music- Country Life Beatles- Meet The Beatles Who- Sing My Generation Echo & The Bunnymen- Heaven Up Here Simon & Garfunkel- Bookends Byrds- Mr. Tambourine Man Bob Dylan- Blonde On Blonde Neil Young- On The Beach John Lennon- Plastic Ono Band Yoko Ono- Plastic Ono Band Paul & Linda McCartney- Ram George Harrison- All Things Must Pass Mott The Hoople- The Hoople T. Rex- The Slider REM- Murmer Alice Cooper- School's Out New York Dolls- New York Dolls Slade- Slayed? Ramones- Ramones Dictators- Bloodbrothers The Jam- Sound Affects 20/20- 20/20 Nilsson- Pandemonium Shadowshow Fotomaker- Fotomaker Pilot- Morin Heights

Well, if they were on heroin, than there wouldn't be much speed... that's why Sid couldn't keep up with Glen Matlock's stuff.... Energy can be paramount to a song's intensity & power... the Beatles even did this in their early days (they were on speed back in the Hamburg days, so it makes sense)... not all punk bands mastered it... the Dickies, at times, do sound silly in comparison, but the Ramones remain very high and mighty... never once (on record) losing the song's essence, but empowering it with speed and vitality (i.e. "Let's Dance," "California Sun").

someone should make Tony an Artful Dodger comp with just the songs sung by Gary Cox... definitely an easier voice to stomach... songs like "Silver & Gold" and "Who In The World"...

Waits doing "All By Myself" would be interesting & yes, much better than any diva doing it... u made me pull out the 1984 "Eric Carmen" album... some really good songs, atrocious production (although the vocals are very strong... i just can't handle the faceless female backing vocals and drum machines and cheesey synths-- all of which was "state of the art" back then)... Scissor Sisters could have a go at "I Wanna Hear It From Your Lips" "American As Apple Pie"... no comment

Bill Maher was on network TV every night and was taken off by commercial pressures after he stated that the terrorists who flew the planes into the Twin Towers were not cowards... an incredibly politically incorrect thing to say, which the majority of this country did not want to believe was true... hard to believe no one wanted to face the fact that someone who does such an act has an enormous amount of guts, no matter how insane, cruel and evil it is... a coward would've failed to have finish the task and not got on the plane...

Lines should be drawn that make sense... and they should respect the band's integrity... if they had any... Integral members can mean anything from John Bonham (one of the most important "band" decisions ever made imo) to Keith Moon (one of the worst band decisions ever made imo)... You can not sit there with a straight face and say The Who made the better decision. Led Zeppelin stand tall as beacons of good taste & judgement. The Who looked desperate, despite putting on a good face. It's not so much about death as it is who's in the band. As much as I hate the idea of bands keeping their name after their original lead singer leaves, it's NOT a definitve point to "end" the band, if the core remaining members want to keep it going and do a reputable job of it... Pink Floyd and Genesis come to mind... although by "And The There Were Three" Genesis should've called it "Asia" or something... The Small Faces were smart to finally drop the "small" and go with Faces after Rod replaced Steve... On the downside was the post-Ozzy Black Sabbath which just doesn't make sense... Van Halen after David Lee Roth might've opted for a name change, although it's the brother's band, so it's OK... just not the same... As far as 21st century rules go, a lot of these reunion bands have ruined the legacy of rock which was for those of us who grew up with it, a different world from the previous one where faceless '50s pop bands toured without any of the original members or with long distant cousins of the lead singer backed with the drummer's uncle and and a bunch of union musicians... Granted, seeing Paul Rodgers sing with Queen or Ian from the Cult w/ The Doors isn't the worst thing in the world, but it smacks a little of desperation, or just a bunch of old dudes looking to get their rocks off with not enough respect to the original band. The New Cars is very close to a worse case scenario. I think Ric Ocasek sleeps very well, while Todd Rungren & Elliott Easton have many recurring nightmares and are always watching their backs. Not a cool way to be when, in Todd's case, you have so many options at your disposal. Granted, it (a Todd solo tour) would be a smaller paycheck, but it wouldn't be seen as such a lame idea. I forget who's still touring these days, but there shouldn't be any band out there as "Thin Lizzy" "Lynyrd Skynyrd" "Sweet" "Yardbirds" "Badfinger" "Beatles" "Little Feat" "Jimi Hendrix" "Mamas & Papas" etc...

it's weird to rank artists/bands, but judging from what I gravitate towards... they're all intertwined... i'm too mixed about Eric's solo stuff to rate it, although he's not nearly as disappointing as Alex Chilton... as of today here's 100... 1. Big Star 2. Beatles 3. Todd Rundgren 4. Neil Young 5. Pernice Brothers 6. David Bowie 7. Raspberries 8. Byrds 9. The Jam 10. Joni Mitchell 11. Beach Boys 12. Dwight Twilley Band 13. Zombies 14. The Who (64-71) 15. Kinks 16. Small Faces 17. Prefab Sprout 18. Dramarama 19. Elvis Costello 20. Ramones 21. Cheap Trick 22. Frank Sinatra 23. Mott The Hoople 24. Clash 25. Sex Pistols 26. Blur 27. Radiohead 28. Ed Harcourt 29. Alice Cooper 30. Turtles 31. The Smiths/Morrissey 32. Roxy Music 33. Trashcan Sinatras 34. Bob Dylan 35. Hamell On Trial 36. Flashcubes/ Screen Test 37. Jon Brion 38. The Church 39. Nilsson 40. Badfinger 41. Hollies 42. Led Zeppelin 43. Rolling Stones 44. Faces 45. Dictators 46. Dusty Springfield 47. Replacements 48. Pulp 49. Stevie Wonder 50. Velvet Underground 51. Suede 52. Marshall Crenshaw 53. Nirvana 54. Monkees 55. Dirty Looks 56. Tommy James & The Shondells 57. Posies 58. New York Dolls 59. Pink Floyd 60. Ivy 61. REM 62. Robyn Hitchcock 63. XTC 64. Al Green 65. Steely Dan 66. Psychedelic Furs 67. Patti Smith 68. Lloyd Cole 69. Nick Drake 70. Chamber Strings 71. Elliott Smith 72. Grant Lee Buffalo 73. Elton John (1970-75 only) 74. Adorable/Polak 75. Marjorie Fair 76. Magnet/Even Johansen 77. T. Rex 78. John Lennon 79. Paul McCartney 80. George Harrison 81. St Etienne 82. Buzzcocks 83. English Beat 84. New Order 85. Tommy Keene 86. Jesus & Mary Chain 87. Slade 88. Eno 89. Echo & The Bunnymen 90. Duffy/Lilac Time 91. Rockpile/Nick Lowe/Dave Edmunds 92. Artful Dodger 93. Van Duren 94. Emitt Rhodes 95. Simon & Garfunkel 96. Johan 97. Wonder Stuff 98. Squeeze 99. Bongos/Richard Barone 100. Everly Brothers

terrible comparison Lew... the Badfinger we came to know and love and cherish was Pete Ham, Tom Evans, Mike Gibbins and Joey Molland... a baseball team always changes players... a great rock band should be the antithesis of that... and as far as input is concerned, Joey was on the low end of the three, although it wasn't as obvious as a "John Paul & George" ratio... I never felt the least bit uncomfortable with the fact that Joey and Tom continued with "Badfinger" after Pete Ham's death... they did the legacy justice... but after Tom died, whenever Joey made an album, it was "Joey Molland." To respect the fans & the audience, this is the way it should be. Joey should not go out on the road as "Badfinger." He should tour as Joey Molland (from Badfinger) and perform the songs he wrote and sang on with all the rest of his solo stuff. Hearing him do songs Pete Ham once sang, doesn't really do anyone any favors except reinforce how much we truly miss Pete Ham and his rare gifted voice. That said, I know it's an irrational concept. Since he needs to put food on the table, it seems impossible for him to tour as "Joey Molland" and that going out as "Badfinger" is a necessity. Don't think for a minute that the thought that he can't go out as "Joey Molland" and make the same amount of bread hasn't crossed his mind. But that's not his fault. It's just the lame reality we have to live with. And he doesn't do a bad job of the Badfinger hits when he sings them. It's just the purist in me that takes offense.

Besides that, you get Kevin Junior (aka Chamber Strings) coming out of hibernation-- if you're looking for a current pop songwriter in the league of Todd Rundgren & Eric Carmen circa 1972-73, he's very very close... and what an amazing pure pop voice...