Category: Pop Culture

The Original Vs. The Cover – “American Woman”

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For this month’s version of The Original Vs. The Cover we tackle “American Woman” by The Guess Who vs Lenny Kravitz’s version.  The song was originally released in 1969 by Canadian band The Guess Who.  The song went to #1 and became such a popular song in the U.S. mainly because of it’s title.

That is strange because the song is not Pro-American, but it isn’t really Anti-American either.  It is a small part Anti-War song (one line says “I don’t need your war machine”) and large part bashing of American women.  Bashing is harsh, it was more like American women were too much for lyricist Burton Cummings.  Here is what he said about the song to the Toronto Star back in 2014…

“It had nothing to do with politics. What was on my mind was that girls in the States seemed to get older quicker than our girls and that made them, well, dangerous. When I said ‘American woman, stay away from me,’ I really meant ‘Canadian woman, I prefer you.’ It was all a happy accident.”

The article goes on to describe how the song developed and it seems like it was by pure chance…

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Journey – “Open Arms” (The 45 Single)

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One of the most recognizable songs in the Journey catalog was “Open Arms”.  It was from the ‘Escape’ album and the single was released in January of 1982.  The song did pretty damn good and went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, but for some reason it couldn’t hit that #1 spot.  However, that is still one of the highest chart positions the band ever reached for a single if not the highest.

The song is believed by many to be one of the greatest power ballads ever written and is said to be one of the main catalyst for starting the power ballad movement in the 80’s.  The funny thing is that most members of the band other than Steve & Jonathan did not want the song on the album.  It was too sugary sweet for their tastes.  As tie has shown, those members of the band were wrong.

Or were they.  The band became known for this sound and it changed everything for the band from that point on.  They had to have power ballads on every album as they were now expected from the band.  And they did end up writing many more great ones and went on to superstar status.  It did get them huge successes and paydays, but was it worth it?  Probably so.

The song was brought to the band by Jonathan Cain as he already had the melody written when he tried to use it for his previous band, The Babys.  However, vocalist John Waite, was not real keen on the song and said it was too syrupy.  Wow, both bands originally stated the same thing…both were wrong.

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Turntables & Vinyl #15 – More & More Vinyl

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Vinyl, Vinyl, Vinyl…I keep getting more and more and I get more addicted to wanting more and more.  My wife shakes her head and just sighs at this point.  I guess I could be drinking, smoking or doing drugs, but thankfully that is not the case.  If I did those things, I would consume everything and I would just be throwing money away.  With the vinyl purchases, I at least could sell them if I ran out of money, so it is an investment…yeah, let’s go with that!!

There is a friend at work that her husband has 2 big crates of vinyl in their closet and she wants them out of the house.  So before they took them somewhere to sell them, she gave me first crack at going through them and letting me pick out the ones I want first. I gave her a fair price (more than any record store would give her, even more than they would in store credit).

The crates were very heavy and full of vinyl.  My wife said I should take them upstairs in the Loft and sit with the family while I went through them.  I declined as they were too dang heavy and I didn’t want to tackle the stairs with them.  Instead, I stayed downstairs for a couple hours and slowly went through the collection.

The collection consisted of albums from the late 50’s all the way up to the late 80’s.  Each crate was sort of themed.  The one crate was from the 50’s-70’s and it was all her husband’s parents vinyl.  It had stuff I had never heard of and a lot I had.  There was Elvis, Liberace (I passed on those), Oak Ridge Boys, Alabama, the Kingston Trio and I could go on and on.

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Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon – Podcast Review

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Something new on 2Loud2OldMusic.com this week will be podcast reviews.  I have been digging through a ton of music podcasts over the last few months and there are several that I have grown to love and they are now a weekly event that I listen to on the drive home from work.

First up for review is ‘Rock Talk with Mitch Lafon’ on Westwood One.  So, who is Mitch Lafon?  Mitch is a very well respected music journalists out of Canada and has been in the music scene for over 20 years.  To put it simply, he knows the rock scene.  He lives and breathes it on a daily basis.  One thing I found out is his first interview was at 11 years old back in 1980 when he interviewed Gene Simmons of Kiss.

Mitch interviews the cream of the crop in the rock world and the interviews are always compelling and full of cool information about the artist and what is going on with their music or even their lives.  At times the interviews seem like two friends sitting back and having a conversation.  Mitch has interviewed a lot of these artist before over the years and some are actually personal friends of his.  You don’t get the normal stale, boring interview.  Mitch has a way of making the artist feel relaxed and willing to talk.  Hell, most of the time the artist are coming to Mitch for the interview not the other way around.  That right there tells me a lot about his credibility.

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Turntables & Vinyl #14 – #RSD 2018

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Record Store Day is upon us.  It is April 21st, 2018 and I can’t believe I stood in line to get vinyl in 40ºF temperature.  It could be worse, it could be freezing & raining.  Thankfully, it was absolutely beautiful and sunny…just cold.

My daughter and I were tackling it again this year.  This time my daughter had something in mind she wanted.  I called the Record Store on Friday and asked if they had the album she wanted and he said he didn’t see it.  So, we made a plan to divide and conquer.  I asked my daughter to call a friend to see if they were stupid enough to stand outside with her at Lunchbox Records while I stood in line at Repo Records 5 minutes down the road.

We arrived at 7am (which means we left the house at 6:15am since it is a 45 minute drive to the record stores – we live in the boonies).  We decided on 7am since last year we arrived at 8am and the store lines were awful (except at Repo).  I get my daughter and her friend over to Lunchbox right at 7am and the line is not that long.  They jump out and get in line and I head over to the other store.

Repo Records line was shorter than Lunchbox and so I jumped in line.  Now the 2 hour wait since the stores didn’t open until 9am.  After chatting with everyone around me and everyone discussing what they were there for and what bands they liked and concerts they had seen, the doors opened.  The time flew by.  That was an enjoyable 2 hours…wait…it hadn’t been 2 hours.  The store opened a little early at 8:40am.  There is a God!! (yes, there truly is but that is another discussion).

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Turntables & Vinyl #13 – The New York Adventure

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The family and I took a wonderful Spring Break vacation to the bustling city of New York.  What an amazing city.  There are so many things to see and so little time to see it all, but we crammed in as much as we could.  I was even able to take a few hours and visit some record stores while we were down in Greenwich Village. Lucky Me!!

Before we get to that, let’s talk a little about the trip.  We arrived on Sunday afternoon and had a little time to run down to Time Square to check things out.  The kids were stunned by the huge, bright, flashing billboards and all the people…all the interesting and very strange people.

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We saw where the film the Late Show with Steven Colbert, where the Broadway Show Rocktopia was playing which was starring Pat Monahan from Train while we were there (didn’t see it though), we of course saw Time Square and even went and snapped a picture at Radio City Music Hall.

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New York City Record Stores?

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I have a question for everyone out there that shops for vinyl…I am going to be in New York City in a couple weeks so what are a couple good record stores for me to visit?  There has to be some special place you like to go.

I am looking for old vinyl, bootlegs, anything that is Rock from the 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s.  Maybe even some Punk would be good.  I would even like some old 45’s and some used CDs would also be nice.  I am looking for a cool place to get lost in for an hour or so, I think that is all the time my family will allow me to browse around.

I can look stuff up and see what is out there, but what I want are places people have actually been to or heard about.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated, just leave me a comment.  Thanks in advance.

Gene Simmons the Vault Experience or the Kiss: Kissteria Box Set – Which would you choose??

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Let’s have a little fun.  If you had $2,000, which would you buy…the Gene Simmons Vault Experience or the Kiss Kissteria Road Cast Box Set?  Yes, I know there is better things you can do with your money, but this is for fun.  I am not planning to get either of these…at least not right now.  Now before you answer the question, what is included with each?

The Gene Simmons Vault Experience

What is the Gene Simmons Vault Experience?  It is just that…an experience.  For your $2,000 you get to attend an all day Vault Experience which includes the following:

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  • Gene Meet & Greet: You and a guest will spend one-on-one time with Gene in your area (maybe 5 minutes based on what I have read, but he will sign anything you want including the top of the Vault and anything inside)
  • “Songs & Stories” Playback Session and Q&A: You and a guest will attend an intimate Vault preview
  • Gene photo/video/autograph session
  • Gene hand delivers your limited-edition personalized Vault (which has a special section with bonus items individually selected by Gene that are included that are unique to your vault – some guy got Kiss Kondoms)
  • Vault Pre-Pack: Signed Golden Ticket, T-Shirt, Download Card (with “Are You Ready”), And laminate

Let’s just let Gene explain:

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Kiss – “Tears Are Falling” (The 45 Single)

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I was out and about at one of my favorite local record stores and came across this old 45 Single from Kiss. It was for the song “Tears Are Falling” off their 1985 album ‘Asylum.  By 1985, Kiss was  fully ensconced into the 80’s Hair Metal scene.  Starting with their previous album, ‘Animalize’, the band’s sound shifted from the heavier albums like ‘Creatures of the Night’ and ‘Lick It Up’, to more of the Glam Rock sound to keep up with the music of the time.  That meant power ballads.  “Tears Are Falling” fit that mold quite nicely.

“Tears Are Falling” was released as a single in 1985 and made it to #20 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks, just not technically not a Top 40 hit since it only reached #51 on the Billboard Hot 100.  The song did have better success on MTV where it was in frequent rotation on the station.

The song was written by Paul Stanley and one of the few times we ever get a true Stanley Only song.  The next we got was not until his solo album in 2006.  That bit of tidbit surprised me, but the internet can’t be wrong…can it??  The song was recorded at the legendary Electric Lady Studios which is Jimi Hendrix’s old studio and produced by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley.  Interesting enough, Gene didn’t play bass on the song, it was played by Paul.

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1979 – The Greatest Year In Music?

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We are now on the fourth year in this series.  I have already covered the following years:

1983 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1987 – The Greatest Year in Music?

1991 – The Greatest Year in Music?

My theory is simple…Every 4 years you have one of the greatest years in music.  I agree with the three I have already done.  Will I agree with it for the next year 1979?  We will have to first examine the evidence.  What were the top albums of the year?, What were the debut albums from some of the great rock bands? and What was going on in the world of music that year?

The Sony Walkman:

walkmanOn July 1, 1979, The Sony Walkman goes on Sale in Japan and the way you listen to music is changed forever!! (at least until the CD and then the MP3).  Who didn’t have one of these if you were a kid in 1979 or the 80’s.  I definitely did.  It helped spur my love for music as it now was more portable  It was better than just the radio, I could listen to what I wanted to wherever and whenever I wanted.  I used mine while I mowed the lawn (and every now and again I would snag to cord and pull my headphones off). I had a boombox, but that wasn’t the same as the Walkman.  Nothing better (until my iPod).

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