JohnO

Well, it appears I inherited this duty from Mr. Tunes. Had I known that the grand prize for winning the last NTT competition had been this, I doubt I would have responded that much....oh well....... A little bit about me first.....Without disclosing my age, just let me say that the first record I ever got was a single of Elvis' "Love Me Tender" - when it came out. My parents, whom I have since realized were very cool back then, encouraged me to listen to the radio. I remember hearing Buddy Holly, the Everly Bros., and the likes of Eddie Cochran and Genbe Vincent on the radio. Beatlemania was running rampant in the US while I was in my early teens (a GREAT time to grow up!). As I lived in a neighborhood (suburb of DC) that was integrated from the very early 60's, I also learned about R&B/soul music at a young age as well. One of my part-time hobbies/jobs now is doing record/CD/film/book reviews and interviews with musicians and show biz folks. For the past 7-8 years, I've been writing exclusively for Brutarian magazine, which is available from coast to coast in most Tower Records (and other, shall we say, discriminating book stores). We generally sell 4-5,000 copies per issue, and publish 4 times a year. (Latest issue, #45, has my interview with actress/film producer/ex-girlfriend of Andy Kaufman, Lynne Margulies - who was played by Courtney Love in "Man On The Moon"). (NOTE to Tommy T. - Ask about my Dictators interview from 2000....) As a result, I get tons of free CDs to listen to and review. This, plus the fact that my musical tastes run the gamut from power pop to trailer park trash roots/rock to soul to reggae to blues to jazz, means that my selections for the NAME THAT TUNE topic will be all over the place. This isn't going to be just "mainstream" or just alternative/obscure music. Don't expect to see softballs like lyrics from "Satisfaction" or "Saturday In The Park" from moi. That said and done.....here's the TUNE for today. Hint: I'm almost positive this song has never come out on CD. Yer sox are up and yer pants are tight Yer hair's fluffed up and you look all right Yer ten is hung and yer song is sung Yer curl is shot and fresh you're not Yer moves are all gone Yer close friends are all pawns Brother yer day has just dawned Lord how you make me yawn, yawn

God, this is next to impossible, coming up with just 5.....I'll toss out a bunch - - Starting Over, of course; - Odyssey & Oracle - The Zombies; - Harmony Row - Jack Bruce; - Moby Grape - Moby Grape (like O&O by The Zombies, this makes tons of critics' lists, but it should have made the band rich); - Flamingo, Teenage Head - Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action - Flamin' Groovies (Mark II) - Both Sire albums - The Searchers; - Forever Changes - Love (see comments under MG); - You Got My Mind Messed Up - James Carr (IMO, the best soul album ever); - Any Rubinoos album; - Any Shoes album; - First 3 Ramones LPs; - Dictators Go Girl Crazy - The Dictators; - Rage Before Beauty - Pretty Things (comeback album); - Savage Return - Downliners Sect; - Global - The Cowsills (I don't think I've ever even seen this in stores, and it's great); - Earth Vs. The Wildhearts - The Wildhearts (IMO, the best band in the world in the 90's - a perfect combo of heavy metal guitars and Beatles/Cheap Trick-power pop...they can't even get press in their native UK)

Tony - it's not that big a deal, and I'm NOT trying to bust your chops....it's just that the thread was to discuss LPs we think are overrated, NOT ones that we think suck, per se. In order to be overrated, to me, you can't sell like 50-60,000 albums; you have to be pretty successful....or, in the case of the Sex Pistols, for one example, be deified by the critics even if you didn't sell much. I mentioned The White Stripes - I've seen them live and frankly, Meg can't play the drums very well at all, and their records kinda sound to me like retarded Led Zeppelin (very primitive blues based)....but they're now multi-millionaires, hitting the top of the charts, producing Loretta Lynn comeback LPs', etc. - and I just don't get it - to me, they're way overrated.

Tony C. - Yes, I love pop music....BUT what in the Hell does that have to do with my postings of overrated LPs???? Wouldn't an album, BY DEFINITION, have to be somewhat successful, either with the critics or the public, in order to be "overrated"? Actually, I like quite a few of the LP's in my list (early Police, later Springsteen, later Clash, Sgt. Peppers) - BUT to me, they didn't warrant millions and millions of sales, their critical praise, etc. To me, a lot of these bands peaked early, then had little to say....but became ten times more popular....to me, the very deifnition of overrated. Tony - Does your definition of "pop music" include anything but Billboard hits? Just curious......

Yes, I've heard Cole's Corner a couple of times....not my cup o' tea, but very well done (if a bit over-produced in spots) Scott Walker/Chris Isaak mood music. Probably a great CD to play after bringing a hot date back to your place for the first time......

I totally forgot "Sgt. Peppers", but agree with BadfingerBarb. Also, I forgot my two biggest recent overrated acts/albums - the 3 CDs by The Strokes, and everything by The White Stripes (should be called "White Hypes"). Those two acts have got the greatest publicity agents I've ever seen. The Strokes are just bad recycled NY garage, and the White Stripes aren't doing anything that the Flat Duo Jets or Bantam Rooster didn't do first OR better in terms of 2 piece primitivism.

(1) Anything by Sting or The Police; (2) Anything by Pink Floyd, post Syd Barrett; (3) Anything by Fleetwood Mac once Buckingham/Nicks joined; (4) Anything by the Eagles; (5) Anything by Springsteen after The River; tied with (5) Clash LPs post-London Calling and, as an honorable mention, Any album with tons of "guest stars" (EX: that Santana piece o'crap that sold millions of copies). Regarding "Bollocks", I'm assuming it's considered "overrated" by critics? Because it still hasn't sold sh*t....and frankly, most of the critics who profess to love it now, didn't when it was released (Rolling Stone trashed it, later "reassessed" their take on it).

My problem with "Change Of Heart", and why it's my least favorite EC album is....you could put Barry Gibbs' voice on at least half of the songs, changing nothing else, and it would sound just like BeeGees late 70's/disco period tunes. I remember reading that this LP was his attempt to consciously go after a hit single that sounded current for the time. Myabe the highs are higher than on the GEffen EC, but I also feel that the lows were lower...but that's just my opinion.

Darlene - Yes, I know....there have probably been more borrowings from the Raspberries and Eric than vice versa....I was just responding to the claim that he ripped off Springsteen. It wasn't that uncommon (and still isn't)....at least Eric has openly admitted in interviews about most of his borrowings.

Sure, it sounds a lot like Springsteen's "Fire" (first recorded in a studio by Robert Gordon & Link Wray, BTW....later, the Pointer Sisters)....but remember, Eric's "borrowed" from lots of sources in the past (Todd R's "Couldn't I Just Tell You" for "I Wanna Be With You", the Beach Boys' "I Can Hear Music" for "Sunrise", Rachmaninoff for "All By Myself" and "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again", among others), so why is this so surprising? Personally, I'm closer to agreeing with BadfingerBarb's post than anyone else's....although I do like that album better than "Change Of Heart".

Hmmmm.....that could cover just about anything in the Billboard charts nowadays, except maybe C&W. Just curious about what African-Americans acting like they belong to another race are called? (Examples: Detroit rocker Mick Collins, Arthur Lee/Love, ANY African-American on "American Idol" who sings Broadway show tunes) While they are significantly smaller in number than the "wiggers", they do exist.

I'm also very partial to "I'll Come Running" by Lulu. I first heard it on an album by Roy Loney (ex-Flamin' Groovies) in the late 90's, and asked him where he got it from (he works at a record store in SF), and that's how I found out it was an obscure B-side by Lulu.

I really liked the 1-2-3 punch of the originals "Go Now" (Bessie Banks), "You're No Good" (DeeDee Warwick) and "I Can't Let Go" (Evie Sands)...and I've always been a sucker for the Flirtations' "Nothing But A Heartache" and the Shangri-La's "In The Streets" (resurrected by the NY Dolls live).

Ooops, I left off the following from my list: -Bettye Lavert - I've Got My Own Hell To Raise -Stooges - Telluric Chaos(Live)(Japanese import)

Let's see....if we're only counting official releases and not bootlegs (which eliminates the Raspberries' shows, Cream US shows, Mike Smith Tribute show, and Roky Erickson's comeback show in Austin)....in no particular order - -Frank Lee Sprague - Cavern -The Barracudas - The Barracudas -Big George Brock & The Houserockers - Club Caravan -Willie King - Jukin' At Bettie's -George Jones - Hits I Missed -Chris Von Senidern - California Redemption -Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth -Magic Christian - Magic Christian -Rubinoos - Twist Pop Sin -Bob Mosley - True Blue -Freddie Steady Five - Freddie Steady Go! -Neatbeats - Big Beat Mind! (Japanese import) -Bobby Purify - Better To Have It -Easy Action - Friends of Rock & Roll -Beck-Guero -The Living Things- Ahead Of The Lions -Dictators - Viva Dictators! -Saints - Nothing Is Straight in My House -Terrorvision - B-Sides & Rarities (UK import) -Hellacopters - Rock & Roll Is Dead -Lubricated Goat - The Great Old Ones The one CD or CD set that stayed the longest on my CD player during 2005 - the Rhino box set "One Kiss Can Lead To Another" - anthology of 60's girl groups

I've seen the reunited Dolls 3 times (Underground Garage Fest in 8/05, Fillmore in SF in 10/05, and 930 Club, DC last Fall), and they're GOD live!...and I was very apprehensive about this new venture, with just David, Syl, and, at first, Killer still around....then just David & Syl. Steve Conte, veteran of a bunch of NY area bands, does a great job with the Thunders licks and look, but he lays back and doesn't try to hog the spotlight (as Johnny always did). New songs they played - covers of "Piece Of My Heart", "In The Street" (Shangri-La's), "Mirage" (Tommy James & Shondells), and a new original called "Mecca". I assume they've written a batch o' new tunes over the past year and a half. David Jo's 2 blues CDs with the Harry Smiths are both quite excellent, by the way.....and to answer the question about how he dresses live, yeah, he still looks like a girl for the most part, although not favoring as much makeup as he used to. (Wore a tube top at one show). Still a great, great live act... Comparing them to Raspberries? Hell, it's apples and oranges...I love both bands. And PS - The Stooges have also put on very killer reunion shows - on a par with Eric & the boys and David Jo & co.

Tony - All good comments, and I think being on the road for weeks or months on end, coupled with having lots of free time and sometimes available cash, and lots of unsavory hangers-on (including drug dealers), is what starts a lot of musicians on drugs.....and pro athletes, for that matter as well - another occupation plagued by excessive drug use, it seems. The Beatles were introduced to drugs in Hamburg before they ever hit the big time, doing speed just so they could keep playing all the shows. Once they had money, the harder/more exotic pharmaceuticals came into play. I think the mind expansion theory played a huge part in what happened here on the West coast during the late 60's...with Owsley, Ken Kesey & LSD, etc. - which spread to the British musicians when they came over. Also, reefer and heroin were always staples of jazzmen, bluesmen and R&B singers in big cities here....and as they were idolized to a large extent by the rockers....voila, another reason to use drugs.

By the way, the closest thing out there, vocally, to Wilson Pickett at this point is Ellis Hooks, who's fairly well known in the UK and Europe. He's made 3-4 albums produced by Jon Tiven, who manned the boards on Wilson P's last recording, "It's Harder Now". Ellis H. sounds uncannily like a young Wilson P. on a lot of his songs. My guess is he's too good and too talented to ever make it in the US, where R&B and soul music, with few exceptions, in my opinion, are in the shitter.

Hmmm....I'd call it 1/3 full at best, since Ron's the only original member left of the three Isleys who had most of their best-known hits. Ernie, Marvin & Chris Jasper joined in the mid-70's, and just Ernie's left from that batch...so it's 1/3 again. (I think there were 6 brothers - 2 are now dead, and 2 retired from music.) I think the Isleys (or what's left of them) have continued to be popular because they've changed with the times - for example, Ron's adopting his new gangsta/pimp alter-ego of Mr. Biggs, who's recorded and made videos with R.Kelly. Likewise, Ron's recorded a CD of Bert Bacharach songs, which, I believe sold fairly well.

Oh, and Chris Kenner wrote and did the original "Land of A Thousand Dances", not Cannibal & The Headhunters.

Originals - "Funky Broadway" - Dyke & The Blazers from Florida (Arlester "Dyke" Christian wrote it...and one would wonder how he got that nickname!) "Mustang Sally" - Sir Mack Rice, who wrote it.

Thanks!!!! I noticed there are also numerous hotels in Wickliffe, which appears to be near those towns/areas you mentioned.

How far is the R&R Hall of Fame from, let's say, the Beachland Ballroom? It looks like there are several motels/hotels within 5-6 miles of Beachland. If I'm flying up there for the show, I figure I might as well stay for a day or two and take in the R&R HOF. Just wondering how far a drive it is....

I just read the Washington Post's obit on Wilson P. I knew he was always a Hell raiser, and had been arrested numerous times over the past 20 years or so for drunk driving, cocaine possession, and beating up his girlfriend....but I hadn't heard about his 1991 arrest for driving on the Englewood, NJ mayor's front lawn and uttering death threats, or that he spent almost all of 1994 in jail for his umpteenth drunk driving conviction (and getting his eye busted up while in the joint)...or running over an 86 year old man in '92 (drawing 5 years probation). Ya gotta love him! P.S. I also noted that 3 of the 4 songs they mentioned as his "best known" were covers (Mustang Sally, Land of 1000 Dances, and Funky Broadway)...Hell, he wrote/co-wrote and recorded tons of originals as well.

God, that's a good question.....based on past interviews, I'd say no....but he's mellowed a bit over the years. I'd have said that he'd never be in any sort of reality show on TV a few years back, yet there he was. My guess? - He'll show up and act surly, pretending not to appreciate the "honor" or enjoy himself at all. (NOTE: I was sure Dee Dee R. was going to show up wasted when the Ramones were inducted....and he may have been, but I don't think so - it was always hard to tell with Dee Dee...)