Two power pop musicians passed away recently. Just when we thought Alex Chilton of the power pop group Big Star earlier this year in March, was as big of a loss and enough to handle, we lose another member of Big Star four months later along with another power pop musician who died weeks ago. The founding member and former bassist of Big Star, Andy Hummel died recently, adding to the loss of yet another power pop musician mostly known for his solo work, who has also collaborated with Chris Bell and Alex Chilton of Big Star, who died just weeks ago: power pop musician Tommy Hoehn. Rough year for poor Memphis, power pop, Big Star and company...
“He was such an inspiration,” said Big Star drummer Jody Stephens, now the lone surviving original member of the band. “I’d known Andy since the 7th grade. What an impact he had on my life. He will be sorely missed.”
Hummel’s death comes during what has been a bittersweet year for the Big Star family. In the fall of 2009, the band — which reunited sans Hummel in the early ’90s — released a critically acclaimed multidisc box set and a played series of high-profile performances in London and New York. But the past 10 months have also witnessed the deaths of Big Star frontman Alex Chilton, producer Jim Dickinson, band associate Tommy Hoehn and now Hummel.
Post-punk masters Gang of Four, announce release date for recently confirmed new album, Content. October 4th. "The album will be available on CD, vinyl and as an Ultimate Content Can, which will include the album, new photos, a book version of an art piece by King and Gill on ceramic titles and, to top it off, vials of the band members’ blood." I gotta say, I'm looking forward to hearing this, considering the band's classic post-punk work on previous albums (their debut album Entertainment! and the Damaged Goods EP, being some of their best releases) and their success at making great songs of and with the various genre's they've explored (punk, reggae, dub, funk, etc.) while keeping the Go4 feel. If The Slits' Trapped Animal was the definite post-punk album of 2009 from the creative post-punk pioneers themselves (who've also stricken the listeners with their dark sounding, snotty, English, and female-but-not-girly take of reggae and dub-reggae induced punk much likely inspired by the likes of the also English punk rock bands The Clash and The Ruts) then Content will be the definite post-punk album of 2010 that will stand out as more professionally done and as a "big brother" release to all the new, indie & post-punk revival bands' (who seem like copyists in the way that they also use the genre-crossing method but fail at bringing anything original sounding to the scene, scenario, mix, and sound) weak 2010 releases covering up most of the "New Releases" section of rock music websites or the "New Releases" section of your friendly-neighborhood, (if even existent!), record store. So, I'm not sure if it will be the 'best new rock album of the year' or anything like that, but almost positive it will be a stand-out album from one of the original, first-wave, (i.e. Wire, Public Image Ltd., The Pop Group, and Magazine) and one of the most critically acclaimed post-punk bands, Gang of Four. http://www.nme.com/news/gang-of-four/52028
The album's leading single "Who Am I?", will be released September 13 this year.
(My first song shared to you readers of my blog. Woo-fuckin-hoooo... Note: Totally just picked it because Go4's news came through by the way and it was necessary to post that and this song; this wouldn't be my opening song if I ever had like a radio-station or anything like that. That would be such a hard fucking choice between which Clash song to play first...) "5.45" by Gang of Four:
Tuli Kupferberg, singer, poet, Beat, and founding member of his band The Fugs, has passed away on July 12th, literally not too long ago. The Fugs formed in 1964 in NY, and played strange folk and psychedelic rock music often with a lot of swears with a lot of swears which was very uncommon and shocking for its time. For more information, check their wiki page.
The Fugs and Tuli's music and lyrics were described as very protopunk and avant-garde - think The Velvet Underground (also from NY) but with a ton of swearing and satirical lyrics about society, famous politicians, killing, war, and boobs. Tuli did it so brilliantly; the way he made every idiot who favored war, killing, and bombs look so evil and foolish. Tuli was one of my favorite lyricists, poets, and musicians. His writing was very unique, lewd and subjective... Really important New Yorker, selling his own art on the streets, Bohemian, kind of guy. Perhaps the last hippie too. Rock in peace. His anti-authoritarian, lifestyle, music, and poetic writings will forever be looked up to in the rock and punk genre.
Secondly, the "godfather of dancehall", Sugar Minorr, passed away on July 10th. Sugar Minott was one of the innovators of dancehall reggae. To be remembered forever as an important musician in reggae. Let's hope 2010 isn't anymore worse for reggae, we've already lost Yabby You and Lynn Taitt earlier in the year. Dancehall has lost one of its finest vocalists.
Welcome to my music blog. Originally was going to be called "For the Average Rock & Roll Obsessed Man" but Person instead of Man sounded less outdated or whatever, also less sexist. It's titled For the Average Rock & Roll Obsessed Man, but you'll here more than that. You'll find early rock 'n' roll here, yet I'll probably post more real, rebellious, and rawer sounding rock 'n' roll. Think of rock & roll as more like a catch-all phrase. You'll get anything (look at the genres I have posted way below for a better idea) that is authentic, challenging, motivating, and inspiring - the way rock and roll is supposed to be. (I know, I sound like a 60 year old music critic, I need to stop saying that term.) I have started this blog in order to help those young people, like myself, who just won't put up with the shit awful stuff out there today, and even older folks who are still rocking hard, find a place to talk about their favorite newly released or newly-found-but-old record, favorite song off a given album, new song that is just so fucking mind-blowing that you can't get it's awesomeness out of your head, favorite new or old rock 'n' roll group, discuss, get shared to you, and hear underrated or overlooked new or old songs, discuss your opinion of what makes an album be the best album, discuss who was/is the best band, discuss your: favorite Velvets bootleg, favorite Stooges tune, favorite CBGB's shot, favorite Nuggets comp album, favorite Trojan Records Box Set: release, favorite Chuck Berry, John Lee Hooker, or Johnny Thunders/New York Dolls song to play on the guitar, or favorite Bo Diddley song to play drums - gotcha! They're all the same! - or favorite discovered gem of the past, you get the idea... For those who love or like any of the following artists: (note: no, this is not all the artists I know/have, mainly just the big influences. Also is in non-hierarchical order):the Stones, T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, the Dolls, Bowie, The Replacements, Dylan, The Nerves, Big Star,Big in Japan, Big Black, Big Boys, Black Flag, Hüsker Dü, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Pixies,The Animals, The Yardbirds, the Flamin' Groovies, Ramones, The Damned, The Clash, Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Wreckless Eric, Graham Parker, Gene Vincent, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Cecil Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, The Saints, The Swamp Rats, The Stooges, MC5, The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Nico, John Cale, New York Dolls, The Cramps, Dead Boys, Dead Kennedys, Dead Fingers Talk, Dead Milkmen, Operation Ivy, The Toasters, The Piranhas, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Mighty Diamonds, U-Roy, I-Roy, Culture, The Specials, The English Beat, The Selecter, Madness, Bad Manners, Bodysnatchers, The Ruts, The Members, The Slits, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Wire, The Fall, Gang of Four, Joy Division, Plasmatics, , The Vibrators,The Lurkers, Pere Ubu, Television Personalities, Television, Charlie Feathers, Charlie Parker, Johnny Cash, (hmm... I have so many Johnny's to chose from, which one should I pick next?..) Johnny Clarke, Screaming Lord Sutch, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Rich Kids, Rich Kids on LSD, Descendents, Adolescents, The Zeros (US), The Zeros (UK), Zero Boys, The Wailers (JA), The Wailers (US), The Kingsmen, The Seeds, Count Five, Music Machine, Manfred Mann, The Kinks, The Gories, Ornette Coleman, Only Ones, Question Mark and The Mysterians, The Quick, X-Ray Spex, X, Ultravox, The 101ers, Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, The Jam, Janie Jones, Etta James, Nina Simone... Adverts, Ella Fitzgerald, Ian Dury and The Blockheads, Otis Redding, Undertones, the list goes fuckin on and on.. In order to help those people who care fuck all about work or school and care about music and nothing else, in order to find a place to read about things, download songs, albums, vinyl rips, etc. most likely found and paid for (if paid for) the cheapest fuckin' cost then uploaded so you can download for free and continue the lewdness, in order to place to get more information about lesser known (particularly older) artists - I don't mean obscure new indie bands.. (though if I ever run out of ideas or other things to share, I might post or share a song, album, or two of the Primitives, Vaselines, bands like that, the kind of bands the Smiths listen to, etc. that AREN'T their most-listened-to already [You have no idea how much I hate when people do this with well-known bands...] and/or maybe post the kind of early independent, alternative rock shit Kurt Cobain liked). Also, the blog was made, in order to help those who still read stuff like Creem, Trouser Press, punk zines, etc. and look for them on eBay. For those who listen to records and look hard for original pressings of your favorite albums. For those who listen to surf rock and the Circle Jerks while skateboarding... - To cut the corny introduction short, you could probably know what type of music blog I'm going for based on the blogs displayed somewhere on this thing that I visit. So basically I go for that good old overlooked punk rock group, and those never-mentioned reggae artists, or all the early rock and roll and beat groups overshadowed by the Beatles and the Stones, or that loud screaming rockabilly singer, hearty folk and lonesome blues singers, or that wild garage rock & psychedelic rock record with that fucking awesome sleazy sounding fuzz guitar solo that you just can't stop playing over and over when you are bored at home, or whatever... I'm really fucking lazy right now, so along with the shit I just said you'll get: weird avant-garde kind of stuff, outsider music, zydeco, mento, exotica, world, 60's girl groups, free-jazz, hardcore punk, bebop, ragtime, cumbia, new wave.. ...ska, rocksteady, reggae, punk rock, swing, rockabilly, rock and roll, and all the types of genres on London Calling, ...dub-reggae, calypso, mock gospel, jazz, r&b, soul, and whatever's on Sandinista! ...honky tonk, country, blues, folk rock, and all the other types of shit off Exile on Main St. ...big band, alternative rock, roots rock, lovers rock, power pop, post-punk, experimental music, experimental rock, art rock, whatever the fuck you would label Captain Beefheart and Tom Waits as, and glam rock.. yeah, lots of that. Sorry though, you probably won't get a lot of country pop, contemporary country, mainstream rock, modern reggae, contemporary r&b, christian rock, christian rap, christian anything, mainstream rap, gangsta rap, progressive rock, or any types of metal.
Yes, yes, all that was very nerdy and cheesy to the max, had too many commas, genres, hyphens, slashes, double too many parentheses, and bands no one's heard of, and especially unexpected from a 16 year old kid, but I could honestly care the fuck less and it's a fucking introduction. There will not be this much rambling, bolding and italicizing random words, band listings (except mention of the band, and maybe similar ones, I'll be talking about in the post), genres (that probably only half of, by the way, will probably be posted. I'll post artists within close to all the genre, maybe, eventually) as there is too much to handle even within one genre, or even this much words in the posts to come. So, there you have it. Not really good at introducing, as there is always too much to say, and will always forget to mention at least one thing, so... more in the next post and thanks for coming!
