Author Topic: Classic Rock Song of the Day (Deep Cuts now being featured!!) (Read 160784 times)

Cool Chris · « **Reply #875 on:** April 18, 2013, 12:48:09 PM »

I know there were others from that magazine. I recall seeing a 'Princess Bride' reunion picture.

The best part, which I hope isn't lost on everyone, is that they are eating pizza in Mr. Hand's classroom.

KevShmev · « **Reply #876 on:** April 18, 2013, 12:51:51 PM »

Yep, eating pizza was one of the first things I noticed. Sadly, Ray Walston (who played Mr. Hand) died in '01, so he is not in the picture.

Orbert · « **Reply #877 on:** April 18, 2013, 01:32:11 PM »

Yep, but those reunion pics always find a way to include the deceased. In this case, his name on the board. With "The Princess Bride" reunion, photos of the deceased cast members were included.

masterthes · « **Reply #878 on:** April 18, 2013, 05:32:40 PM »

I was bummed Fred Savage wasn't there and I think it would've been appropriate if Phoebe had her bikini top in her hand

KevShmev · « **Reply #879 on:** April 19, 2013, 12:25:52 PM »

The Outlaws - Ghost Riders in the Sky

This is pretty much a

song. I defy any classic rock fan to listen to this tune and tell me it isn't awesome. You can't do it.

KevShmev · « **Reply #880 on:** April 20, 2013, 08:48:25 AM »

Wow, not a single person knows this song or wants to comment on it??

Jaq · « **Reply #881 on:** April 20, 2013, 08:55:40 AM »

I remember MTV playing a live version of this song for about a month, but otherwise by the time this album came out, local radio had largely reduced the Outlaws to "the band who did Green Grass And High Tides."

Cool Chris · « **Reply #882 on:** April 20, 2013, 09:55:35 AM »

Neither the band name or the song sound familiar, and I can't search for it while at work.

Orbert · « **Reply #883 on:** April 20, 2013, 01:34:02 PM »

You said

Quote

I defy any classic rock fan to listen to this tune and tell me it isn't awesome.

and I didn't want to defy you in your own thread.

I like The Outlaws. "Green Grass and High Tides" is great song. "Ghost Riders in the Sky" is also a pretty good song, even if I always thought the lyrics didn't make any sense. But The Outlaws' version just never did anything for me. After Johnny Cash, how could they measure up? By adding electric guitars and all? I guess they do add something, but the song itself just seems to work better in a more spare setting.

And let's be honest. Southern Rock has a lot of C&W flavor to it, and not all C&W is bad. Johnny Cash is proof of that. But "Ghost Riders" is a full-on C&W song, and IMO The Outlaws' attempt to get a crossover hit out of it was somewhat misguided. Sorry.

KevShmev · « **Reply #884 on:** April 20, 2013, 01:35:50 PM »

Quote from: Orbert on April 20, 2013, 01:34:02 PM

You said
Quote
I defy any classic rock fan to listen to this tune and tell me it isn't awesome.
and I didn't want to defy you in your own thread.

Sonofabitch. I just got owned.

Orbert · « **Reply #885 on:** April 20, 2013, 01:42:17 PM »

Also, the first thing I thought of was a The Far Side comic called "Ghost Riders in the Kitchen". I tried to find it to include here, and apparently it does not exist online. Maybe due to copyright, but that never seems to stop most people. But, disappointed by that result, I just gave up.

The closest thing I could find was a recreation by someone, which I thought was an odd thing to do.

"Hurry up or you're gonna miss it - ghost riders in the kitchen!"

KevShmev · « **Reply #886 on:** April 20, 2013, 01:58:50 PM »

Okay, on to another...

Sugarloaf - Green-Eyed Lady

I think this is one of those classic rock songs that most people over the age of 50 probably know, but ask them all who it is by and I'll bet a fairly large percentage couldn't tell ya. It actually surprises me that this song is from 1970, as it sounds more like something that would have been out in 1967 or 1968. The difference in a few years might not seem like a big deal now, but back then, there was so much going on from year to year, so many leaps in what bands were doing, as well as sounds, that the difference was pretty significant back then. Anyway, I like this song quite a bit.

Orbert · « **Reply #887 on:** April 20, 2013, 02:06:20 PM »

Yeah, it's a good one. Also, the Hammond part is a lot harder than it sounds. I noticed this when trying to learn the song a few years ago.

You're right about Sugarloaf. Most people either know this one, or "Don't Call Us, We'll Call You", but not both, or don't realize that they were by the same band.

Jaq · « **Reply #888 on:** April 20, 2013, 06:17:06 PM »

Oh, THAT song!

For a very long time-until the mid-90s, in fact-local television featured a weekend B-Movie/horror movie show, presented by a local DJ doing really bad Frankenstein riffs. The opening theme was the intro to this song.

Nowadays, after midnight you get fucking informercials, not locally produced horror movie shows. TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #889 on:** April 20, 2013, 08:12:43 PM »

Just reading the song title makes me think of that riff.

KevShmev · « **Reply #890 on:** April 21, 2013, 12:46:21 PM »

Steely Dan - Reelin' in the Years

Probably the most classic "classic rock" Steely Dan song, and they have quite a few. But this is the one that everyone knows, and the one that even people who don't like the band that much tend to like. Interesting, too, as this is such straight-head, guitar-driven, rock and roll, and they never really had another classic rock tune that was like it. Personally, I loved it the first time I heard, and still do.

Unlegit · « **Reply #891 on:** April 21, 2013, 04:04:46 PM »

Good song, but not of their best.

Orbert · « **Reply #892 on:** April 21, 2013, 04:29:30 PM »

I like it. It's catchy, and it's different from everything else that came later.

Jaq · « **Reply #893 on:** April 21, 2013, 04:35:54 PM »

It's different from everything else on the same album, actually.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #894 on:** April 21, 2013, 07:18:54 PM »

Funny you talk about the "Steely Dan Classic Rock" Kev. I've always had this conversation with my cousin who is a huge Steely Dan fan and there is a definite divide when they were a jazzy rock band to a contemporary jazz band for a lack of a better term.

DebraKadabra · « **Reply #895 on:** April 21, 2013, 08:35:10 PM »

Quote from: KevShmev on April 20, 2013, 01:58:50 PM

Sugarloaf - Green-Eyed Lady

Love that song, and NO I'm not over 50.

Quote from: KevShmev on April 21, 2013, 12:46:21 PM

Steely Dan - Reelin' in the Years

Quote from: Unlegit on April 21, 2013, 04:04:46 PM

Good song, but not of their best.

I'm with Unlegit here.

Cool Chris · « **Reply #896 on:** April 21, 2013, 09:55:56 PM »

Quote from: KevShmev on April 20, 2013, 01:58:50 PM

Sugarloaf - Green-Eyed Lady

Ugh

Quote from: KevShmev on April 21, 2013, 12:46:21 PM

Steely Dan - Reelin' in the Years

Yawn.

KevShmev · « **Reply #897 on:** April 22, 2013, 10:02:40 AM »

Emerson Lake & Palmer - Karn Evil 9 - First Impression, Pt. 2

And now we have a classic tune that I would bet most could not tell you the full name of if you asked them.

Most would probably just identify it by the first line of the song. Anyhow, I remember being blown to shreds the first time I heard this song; I thought it was the most furious and bad ass thing I had ever heard before. I still love it a lot, 20 years later.

Orbert · « **Reply #898 on:** April 22, 2013, 10:27:36 AM »

We talked about all this in my ELP Discography thread, but I can't help commenting again.

I have mixed feelings about this one. As a single, I suppose it's pretty good, and I can see why people like it.

But this "song" is actually the closing 1/3 of a longer song which is itself only the first part (first "impression") of an even greater work. The full epic was so damned long that it wouldn't fit on one side of the original LP, so the first 2/3 of the First Impression ended up on Side One and the rest went on Side Two. It was a happy side effect of this that "Karn Evil 9 - First Impression, Pt. 2" was about the right length for a single and had all the right ingredients in approximately the right order and proportions.

My introduction to Emerson Lake & Palmer was their live album, on which the First Impression (actually the whole epic) is played straight through, as originally written. I was familiar with it for years before "classic rock" radio stations appeared much later, and when I first heard "Karn Evil 9 - First Impression, Pt. 2" I was amazed and confused. Why would they play "part of a song"? But at the same time, the answer was obvious. I had Brain Salad Surgery and knew how they'd cut up "Karn Evil 9" to make it fit, and I'd heard this "song" many times, after flipping the record over. And yeah, it was about the right length and composition for a single.

But to me, it will always be "part of a song", the closing part. It contains the shorter recapitulation of the guitar theme, the introduction of which most people haven't heard, and the simpler recapitulation of the synth hook (the middle triplet is omitted) which most people haven't heard. And of course, it's not all of the verses. So it just sounds weird to me.

Hey, if people like it, that's cool. If it got some people to pick up Brain Salad Surgery or one of the thousands of "greatest hits" compilations and, from there, get into Emerson Lake & Palmer, that's cool, too. But it always bugs me to hear this cut on the radio. It just seems to emphasize the divide between how music is composed and how it has to be served up in bite-sized pieces on the radio.

Orbert · « **Reply #899 on:** April 22, 2013, 09:54:28 PM »

Whoa, I think I killed the thread.

Unlegit · « **Reply #900 on:** April 22, 2013, 10:32:23 PM »

KevShmev · « **Reply #901 on:** April 22, 2013, 10:52:44 PM »

Anyway, I get that this song is just a small part of a longer piece of music, but I still think it works extremely well on its own. Maybe it's because I heard it on its own first and didn't hear the rest of Karn Evil 9 till months later, but having had decades to let it stew, I still think that.

Orbert · « **Reply #902 on:** April 23, 2013, 07:29:13 AM »

If you heard the edit first, then it works. Usually the first version of a song you hear will always be the "right" one. Not always, but usually. Your brain wraps around it and accepts it, and other versions will always be compared to it, consciously or otherwise. It's not quite the same thing here, but similar. In this case, hearing the rest of the epic, or even the rest of the First Impression, was probably quite a revelation to anyone who started with the edit. Going the other direction has always been tougher for me. If I know there's more, especially if I've already heard it and am familiar with it, I'm genally not satisfied with an edit.

Jaq · « **Reply #903 on:** April 23, 2013, 10:41:23 AM »

While Brain Salad Surgery is my favorite prog album ever, and it's largely because of Karn Evil 9, I don't mind that the First Impression, Part 2 has become the part everyone knows. It's pretty much the best way to introduce someone to ELP I can think of, and winds up, even though it's only part of a song, being one of the more digestible, single ready songs the band ever did, which is a pretty neat trick.

KevShmev · « **Reply #904 on:** April 23, 2013, 11:56:44 AM »

The Police - Roxanne

I love this band, but I really, really, really hate this f'ing song. Like, when it comes on, I want to rip my ears off so, a) I don't have to be subjected to hearing any more of it, and b) I have something to throw at Sting for shrieking the most annoying word in rock history. "Rooooooox-anne!" JHC, that sucks. This is at the top of my list of "Rock songs I can't believe were popular."