Music

MTV Turns 40

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AARP Magazine ran a fun article noting that MTV turned 40.  “MTV forced established acts to think visually or risk disappearing; a song was no longer just a song, to be interpreted by a listener’s imagination, but the basis of a micro-movie in which performers would be judged by their hair, dancing, clothes, and shooting locale.  No surprise that MTV helped popularize a new wave of image-conscious artists who eagerly embraced this star-making medium.”  Let’s review a few.  Michael Jackson, of course.  Cyndi Lauper, Culture Club, Robert Palmer, The Police, Madonna, Bruce, Bowie, The Bangles, Devo, A-ha, Wham!, Big Country, Whitney, Salt-N-Pepa, Billy Idol, Van Halen, Eurythmics, Billy Joel, Prince, Pat Benatar, ZZ Top, Huey Lewis, and Janet Jackson.

I would argue that the music suffered a bit compared to music from the 70’s but I’d also have to admit that the visual art created was really quite amazing.

– Jet Cannon

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Audio Endorphins

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Your favorite music via state-of-the-art headphones is tough to beat.  Combine audio excellence with iconic design and you have Jimi Hendrix V-MODA headphones.

“V-MODA is proud to present the first collaboration in our Artist Series, which features guitar icon Jimi Hendrix.

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, Jimi Hendrix rose from humble beginnings to become oneof the most influential and respected musicians of all time. Often called an “electric alchemist,” he launched guitar playing into a new era with his innovative musical style and pioneering use of tone-altering effects like fuzz, wah, phasing, and more. 

Featuring powerful 50mm dual‑diaphragm drivers with CCAW voice coils engineered in Japan, Crossfade 2 Wireless produces audio that can please even the most discerning sound engineer, with a clean, deep bass, vivid mids and a wide 3D soundstage. Experience your music as if you were really there for 14 wireless hours on a single charge, and in certified Hi‑Res Audio when wired. 

Check them out at v-moda.com

– Jet Cannon

Light My Fire

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Per Guitar World magazine, https://www.guitarworld.com/news/jimi-hendrix-bobblehead, Jimi Hendrix fans will be happy to learn about some new Jimi paraphenalia. 

As the greatest electric guitar player who has ever lived, there exists a wealth of merchandise associated with Jimi Hendrix. And now, his estate has made that merch pool even bigger by partnering with Kollectico for a brand-new bobblehead figure.

Commemorating Hendrix’s 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival – which he concluded by dousing his Fender Stratocaster in lighter fluid and setting it on fire – the “Live at Monterey” bobbleheads are officially licensed, hand-sculpted and painted and come in collector’s boxes.

The bobblehead’s pose appears to be modeled on an iconic photograph taken by then 17-year-old Ed Caraeff.

The “Live at Monterey” bobblehead – of which only 1,967 will be made – is set to ship in August 2021. For more information, head to Kollectico.com.  We found the opportunity to order at bobbleheadboss.com.   $49.95.  We’re not bobblehead collectors so we have no idea if the limited production will add to the value over time.  Regardless, it’s kind of fun.

– Jet Cannon

The Good Old Days

Music / By

Was it the drugs? Something in the water?

1970’s Best Rock Albums

  1. John Lennon, ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’
  2. Simon & Garfunkel, ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ …
  3. Neil Young, ‘After the Gold Rush’ …
  4. Van Morrison, ‘Moondance’ …
  5. Derek and the Dominos, ‘Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs‘ …
  6. George Harrison, ‘All Things Must Pass’ …
  7. Black Sabbath, ‘Black Sabbath’ 

1971’s Best Rock Albums

  • Santana, ‘Santana III’
  • Traffic, ‘The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys’ …
  • Deep Purple, ‘Fireball’ …
  • Humble Pie, ‘Rock On’ …
  • ZZ Top, ‘ZZ Top’s First Album’ …
  • John Lee Hooker & Canned Heat, ‘Hooker ‘n Heat’ …
  • Jeff Beck Group, ‘Rough and Ready’
  • Led Zeppelin !V

1972’s Best Rock Albums

  • War, ‘The World Is a Ghetto’
  • Little Feat, ‘Sailin’ Shoes’ …
  • Jeff Beck Group, ‘Jeff Beck Group’ …
  • The Raspberries, ‘Fresh’ …
  • Jackson Browne, ‘Jackson Browne’ …
  • The Beach Boys, ‘Carl and the Passions – So Tough’ …
  • Bonnie Raitt, ‘Give It Up‘ 

1973’s Best Rock Albums

  • ‘Mott’ Mott the Hoople. …
  • ‘For Everyman’ Jackson Browne. …
  • ‘Aladdin Sane’ David Bowie. …
  • ‘Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd’ Lynyrd Skynyrd. …
  • ‘Band on the Run’ Paul McCartney & Wings. …
  • ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ Elton John. …
  • ‘The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle’ Bruce Springsteen. …
  • ‘Quadrophenia’ The Who
record player, teac, music-3663725.jpg

Pissed about the List?

Music / By

Per wpdh.com, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, whose judgement in admission selection some, like me, have questioned over the years, has a new greatest all-time list of classic rock songs. Here are the top 10 songs:

  1. Joan Jett – I Love Rock ‘N Roll
  2. Queen -Bohemian Rhapsody
  3. Pink Floyd – Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)
  4. Led Zeppelin – Black Dog
  5. Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer
  6. Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
  7. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sweet Home Alabama
  8. AC/DC – You Shook Me All Night Long
  9. Boston – More Than a Feeling
  10. Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion

For the record, Stairway to Heaven was number 154.

Read More: There’s a New ‘Number One’ Classic Rock Song of All Time | https://wpdh.com/theres-a-new-number-one-classic-rock-song-of-all-time/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

Great songs are in the ear of the beholder so we can make our own list.  Some of my picks would probably get me laughed off the school playground so I’m keeping my list private.

– Jet Cannon

Spinal Tap to Play Jazz/Folk Festival

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That’s not true.  No word on a Spinal Tap tour.  But according to ultimateclassicrock.com, many bands are restless after Covid Cabin Fever.  Acts you may remember include the Stones, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, Motley Crue/Poison/Joan Jett, Chicago/Rick Springfield, Rod Stewart, Journey, Foreigner, Metallica, Cheap Trick, Pearl Jam, Bon Jovi, Green Day/Fall Out Boy/Weezer, Elton, Guns N. Roses (with Slash and Duff), Kiss, Ozzy, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ringo (with Steve Lukather and Gregg Rolie), Aerosmith, Black Crowes, Styx, Sammy Hagar/Whitesnake/Night Ranger, Grand Funk, ZZ Top and The Who to name a few.  Check the InterWeb for dates near you.  

– Jet Cannon

musician, person, guitar
cold hand dark alcohol

Endorphins The Hard Way, The Yummy Way, and the Rat Pack Way

Endorphins, Fitness, Food and Drink, Good Clean Fun, Music / By

Noted Buzzed Boomer contributor, Old Man Wrong, will drop into Seattle today from the Bay Area to share his expertise in catching a Buzz in multiple ways.  Faithful readers may remember OMW’s posts on the art of cooking steak, popcorn, and….. Brussel Sprouts. He also knows a bit about fitness.

An open water swimmer, OMW will first brave the brisk waters of Puget Sound to fire up those exercise endorphins.  Brrrr!  I’ll be doing some beer can curls from the safety of the beach.

Next, we will visit B & E Meats, established in 1958 by Bob and Earl Green, where OMW will select the proper steak for pan searing and grilling later in the evening.  Yum.  

Finally, a stop is planned at the Tin Room Bar for a classic, poured-at-the-table, dry gin Martini.  “Quite simply, no other drink even comes up to its knees.”  Further quoting Jay Jacobs in A Great And Sudden Glory, we shall “stoop to pay obeisance to this wonder.  The pursed lips draw off a modicum of the only liquid to which the adjective “brittle” can be applied.  The taste buds undergo extreme arousal, and a great and sudden glory is experienced in the general vicinity of the pharynx.  With startling clarity the drink seems to irradiate its own descent through darkness from gullet to gut.”  Queue Frank Sinatra.  

We will look forward to some of OMW’s takeaways from this quick trip to the Pacific Northwest in a future post. Meanwhile, cheers!

– Jet Cannon

person, human, joy

Too Much Perspective

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Buzzed Boomer’s At-Large Contributor, Hunter S., suggested recently that Buzzed is too focused on sex and drugs and not enough on rock and roll.  So today, we will note some classic rock and roll birthdays this May 17th.  

Taj Mahal – 79 years old today

Bill Bruford – Yes and King Crimson drummer – 72

Paul Di’Anno -Iron Maiden lead singer -63

Trent Reznor – Nine Inch Nails lead singer – 56

Others with birthdays in May:

Frankie Valli – 87 

Bob Dylan – 80

Pete Townshend – 76

John Fogerty – 76

Stevie Nicks – 73

Rick Wakeman – 72

Bernie Taupin – 71

Feel better?  Maybe I will after my nap.

– Jet Cannon

Cartoon courtesy of cartoonstock.com

Steel Panther – Rock and Roll For Challenged Boomers Like Me

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Baby Boomers lived through the creative blossoming of fine music.  In 1973 alone, many amazing classic albums were released including Dark Side of the Moon,  Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Houses of the Holy, Quadrophenia, The Wild the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, Band on the Run, Pronounced Let-Nerd Sin-Nerd, Aladdin Sane, For Everyman, and Mott to name just a few.  

Throughout this prolific era, I rarely heard the lyrics correctly and usually didn’t really get the intended message or symbolism involved.  For example all the references to “rockin’ all night” I assumed meant we’d be listening to music all night.

The band Steel Panther solves all that.  Warning: their music is beyond explicit.  It’s politically, and in all other ways, incorrect. They pretty much just come right out and say what they mean without symbolism.  And they’re funny.  Which I also appreciate.  Per Wikipedia, “”Steel Panther is mostly known for its profane and humorous lyrics, as well as exaggerated on-stage pastiche of the stereotypical “glam metal” lifestyle.””  No question what they’re singing about.  Their recent release “F*** 2020”…..Well the message is clear.

If you’re not easily offended and you enjoy humorous rock and roll, a la Spinal Tap, check them out.

– Jet Cannon 

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