Music for the purpose of dancing

  • Thread starter Thread starter chuckduffy
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chuckduffy said:
I love all those bands, and the Talking heads. I think they got lumped in because they were from NY and the time period. To me early talking heads were an 'art school' band, not even remotely punk. I know out of my friends, none of us had any shame in mixing an album like Fear of Music or Remain in the Light with our circle jerks or fear or kennedys or what have you. Back then it was pretty much Top 40/Hair Metal versus everything else. Shit we even listend to Depeche Mode and the Cure with straight faces :-)
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proving flat_feets point that NYC claimed the heads :-) I had totally forgotten they met up at RISD.
 
fat_fleet said:
Yeah, rock and roll in general has always been an American art. Not to be nationalistic or whatever, but the British Invasion was mostly brits aping American blues guys, and NY did probably have the most varied early punk scene. I'd definitely call TH a R&R band though, for lack of a better term. At least they started out as one. Their first couple albums are pretty raw compared to other things that were happening at the time. I only like certain things by them, but whatever. It's funny, they met at RISD in my home state, so we're always laying claims to them. But so does NY, and I have a cousin from Maryland and I guess David Byrne was born there and a lot of True Stories was shot there too, and he says that Maryland is always claiming Byrne and TH as theirs too, so I know there are at least 3 states laying claims to Talking Heads. Kinda funny. They should go to war over it.
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There is a great quote - I think it is maybe BB King - said in the 60s - 'Them white boys want to play the blues so badly, and they play the blues so badly'.
 
chuckduffy said:
I love all those bands, and the Talking heads. I think they got lumped in because they were from NY and the time period. To me early talking heads were an 'art school' band, not even remotely punk. I know out of my friends, none of us had any shame in mixing an album like Fear of Music or Remain in the Light with our circle jerks or fear or kennedys or what have you. Back then it was pretty much Top 40/Hair Metal versus everything else. Shit we even listend to Depeche Mode and the Cure with straight faces :-)
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Yup, I agree, well maybe not about the Cure or Depeche Mode. Lol. I remember back in my day, we relied on older siblings and skate/surf magazines to clue us in. Kids in the burbs had no way to be touched by the likes of the Circle Jerks or Dead Kennedy's. I had a lot of friends with high school and college aged brothers and sisters that would come home with piles of records and tapes and we would sort through them. I remember my first taste of The Misfits was at my friend's house while we were raiding his older brother's music collection. I saw "Walk Among Us" and thought "these guys look awesome!" They were. That's still in my opinion one of the best albums ever made, and at the time it was infinitely cooler than RATT or Madonna.
 
In my town (Scranton PA lol) it was always the skaters who turned us on to the cool stuff. They are all still skating, and digging up cool music and art and weird shit almost 30 years later. I keep up with most of them on FB.
 
chuckduffy said:
In my town (Scranton PA lol) it was always the skaters who turned us on to the cool stuff. They are all still skating, and digging up cool music and art and weird shit almost 30 years later. I keep up with most of them on FB.
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Yeah man, I was a skate rat too. I had a 9 ft halfpipe in my backyard. Lol. There was also a major skatepark in Houston and it was pretty common to skate with the Zorlac and H-Street guys. Craig Johnson, Ken Fillion, & John Gibson were always there. They were filthy and disgusting and much older than us, but they skated huge and were really nice guys to us pissant gremmies. The ramps were steel and gigantic and these guys would blast massive airs and land at 2000 mph and shake the whole ramp. It was pretty breathtaking to skate with these guys. We stayed pretty clued in on the cool music though.
 
That guitar sound is great! Very surfer Joe to me.

Can't escape the feelin' ;)
 
CBGBs seems to be the commonality. It was a "scene" that supported new & different hence Television being included in the punk thing - & like THeads & Blondie they were a millions miles for the sound & even ethos. Well, once Richard Hell left they were - but even with him they were pretentious, ambitious & driven.
The Dolls - they predate the rest really - glam, drag & garage made for some excellent songs.
Ramones were just about perfect from debut.
The Dead Boys - I don't know I have had the LP Young, Loud & Snotty since the 70's but it wasn't what I was looking for.
Dictators - more cartoonish in their way than the Ramones.
The Heartbreakers - LAMF - which ever mix I listen to is still pretty cool.
Television - i LOVE.
Blondie's 1st couple of albums were great pop
& I've addressed THeads.
The Cure's 1st 2 or 3 LPs were excellent! Once Robert Smith started wearing lippy it was obvious he'd adopted another agenda - 1st heavydoompop & then just pop.
 
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I used to have a version on cassette - I reallly dug it - & guess it was the commonly available verison of the 80s.
I bought "the LOST 77 Mixes" a couple of years ag.o It has a vid for Chinese Rocks & a 2nd CD of demos etc. The album is enough: train wreck rock at its peak.
Who had the name 1st - Petty or Thunders' crew?
 
I have LAMF and LAMF revisited. Different mixes. I think Thunders had the Heartbreakers name a good year or two before Tom Petty.
 
rayc said:
I used to have a version on cassette - I reallly dug it - & guess it was the commonly available verison of the 80s.
I bought "the LOST 77 Mixes" a couple of years ag.o It has a vid for Chinese Rocks & a 2nd CD of demos etc. The album is enough: train wreck rock at its peak.
Who had the name 1st - Petty or Thunders' crew?
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train wreck rock - I LOVE that, i wonder if that is already an album title, if not.... :-)
 
I'm with the crowd on this one--sounds great. Not a cheesy copy of the genre, but an authentic member. And while others have commented on the sound and the mix, let me say I was hooked as soon as the lyrics kicked in. The first line is brilliant all by itself: "All good lies are complicated." Nice work!
 
WhiteStrat said:
I'm with the crowd on this one--sounds great. Not a cheesy copy of the genre, but an authentic member. And while others have commented on the sound and the mix, let me say I was hooked as soon as the lyrics kicked in. The first line is brilliant all by itself: "All good lies are complicated." Nice work!
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Hey Strat - I really appreciate the kind words. Most of my songs have a handful of words tucked away in the music and it makes my day/week/month/year when someone notices. Thanks! :-)
 
chuckduffy said:
Hey Strat - I really appreciate the kind words. Most of my songs have a handful of words tucked away in the music and it makes my day/week/month/year when someone notices. Thanks! :-)
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Around here I'm mostly thought of as an instrumentalist--and that's fair enough, considering I mostly (or always!) post instrumentals. But words are my first love. I've been writing lyrics forever--I just can't do 'em justice by singing them with my own voice! So yeah, I noticed. Your lyrics killed it in this tune.
 
Whitestrat,
I can understand completly - I write words & then have to find a mouth to utter them. Sometimes it just doesn't get sung. I've been so desperate on occasion that I've actually considered talking the lyric just to get it recorded. I haven't done though; my speaking voice is too much stuck in my day job.
ChuckDuffy - I did notice the lyrics as I mentioned and found them & my mishearing quite engaging.
THe music you created is a terrific vehicle for words by the way.
 
WhiteStrat said:
Around here I'm mostly thought of as an instrumentalist--and that's fair enough, considering I mostly (or always!) post instrumentals. But words are my first love. I've been writing lyrics forever--I just can't do 'em justice by singing them with my own voice! So yeah, I noticed. Your lyrics killed it in this tune.
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Man I really appreciate the compliment. You gotta sing your songs though, please... Just let em out.


rayc said:
Whitestrat,
I can understand completly - I write words & then have to find a mouth to utter them. Sometimes it just doesn't get sung. I've been so desperate on occasion that I've actually considered talking the lyric just to get it recorded. I haven't done though; my speaking voice is too much stuck in my day job.
ChuckDuffy - I did notice the lyrics as I mentioned and found them & my mishearing quite engaging.
THe music you created is a terrific vehicle for words by the way.
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Ray - I know you commented on the lyrics, and I liked your mishear as I think it works as well, if not better than what I sang :-)
 
Hey chuck, this is really, really good. Lots of cool stuff going on, good melody and a great bass line. Your stuff really comes alive on the songs with synths, they complement your style well. I'd just bring up the "I can't escape the feeling" line a little, but other than that I don't hear any mix issues, well done!

It didn't make me think so much of Talking Heads as others have mentioned, but it really bring to mind Enola Gay - I wondered whether this was a conscious reference point when you were recording. Drum machine intro, wonky synths and strong synth riff - not that I'm saying it's blindly derivative or owt ;)

fat_fleet said:
Definitely reminds me of the 80s. Good job! I'm fond of the first half of Remain In Light. :)
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I'd go as far as saying the first three quarters of the album is excellent, before the corny lyrics of Listening Wind and then the awful dirge of The Overload to close ruin the ending.
 
robgreen said:
I'd go as far as saying the first three quarters of the album is excellent, before the corny lyrics of Listening Wind and then the awful dirge of The Overload to close ruin the ending.
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It's probably my favorite by them, they get that big ensemble sound I love, shakers congas, Adrian Belew's "Elephant Talk" guitar, Tina's repetitive grooves...
 
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