Classic Rock Song of the Day (Deep Cuts now being featured!!)

[Cool Chris]

Both versions of Sounds of Silence are awesome, though I prefer the acoustic one. A rare occasion where I have no idea which version I heard first.

I've never heard of that Moody Blues song, and know nothing about them or their catalog outside 5 or so songs (that I happen to think are awesome). 

[KevShmev]

Never had any use for this group.

*smacks hef*   

I may be being a little harsh on Justin, but it does fit in with what I've heard/read from others.

As you know, after their Seventh Sojurn, they took a break for several years.  Six years later, Octave (with "Steppin' in a Slide Zone") showed up, and they were back.  Turns out the rest of the album was okay, but definitely not up to previous standards.  The sessions were also somewhat troubled, and Mike Pinder ended up leaving the band before the album was finished.

Enter Patrick Moraz, formerly of Yes, Refugee, and a long successful solo career.  Long Distance Voyager was a terrific album, IMO largely due to Moraz's keyboard work which frankly left Pinder's in the dust.  Refugee did not last long, and Moraz was not treated well by Yes (he was basically dumped when Rick Wakeman decided to quit pouting and come back) so it was very exciting for him to be in a band with a successful album and a lot of that success attributed to him.  He submitted some songs to the band (as all members of The Moody Blues do) but was basically shot down, told that he was "just the keyboard player".  It was around this time that Justin Hayward began asserting more control over the band.

There's not actually a lot of keyboards on The Present and The Other Side.  Where the credits used to be pretty evenly spread among all band members, one started seeing Justin Hayward on pretty much everything, sometimes with John Lodge and the occassional Ray Thomas.  Edge and Moraz got one collaborative credit on The Other Side.

Moraz eventually quit.  All trace of him has been removed from The Moody Blues official website.  He is not listed as a member of the band on the 80's albums on which he appeared, even though he was credited as such on the albums themselves.  Justin Hayward says that Moraz misunderstood the arrangement from the beginning.  He was always a hired gun, never a full member of the band.  The album credits don't agree, Hayward is rewriting history to suit himself, thus my conclusion that he's a dick.  I'm definitely biased (having been a keyboard player and often treated as a second-class citizen even in bands that I helped found) but revising your band's website to specifically remove someone who by many accounts helped bring your band back from obscurity is nothing less than a dick move.

Interesting.  I do wonder though if Hayward took over the majority of the songwriting through his sheer will or if the other guys simply ran out of creative gas and he picked up the slack. 

Also, as good as Moraz was on Long Distance Voyager, I can't say his playing blew Pinder's out of the water.  Hell, Pinder was the original King of the Mellotron and his playing is way too awesome on those early albums.  Granted, he wasn't a majorly technical player like Moraz, but when it came to textures and adding color to the band's sound, few at the time could touch him.

Regardless, that is definitely low budget to write him out of the band's history like that.

[Orbert]

Pinder was the first Mellotron god, I'll give him that, and it did add a lot of color to the early Moody Blues sound.  But beyond that, I've never found his keyboard work to be more than merely adequate.  He can play a Hammond, and a piano, but by time the 80's rolled around, it was the age of synthesizers and I really felt that Moraz brought something extra to the table.  I borrowed Long Distance Voyager from a friend and ended up buying a copy myself, I was that impressed.  Never picked up either of the follow-ups, but from what I've read, Moraz's role was diminished.  Maybe he and Hayward didn't get along, or Hayward didn't realize how much the band's sound had changed and didn't like it, or what.  I kinda liked the 80's Moody Blues sound.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, we never heard Pinder really progress with the times as synths became bigger in the later 70s/early 80s, so it's hard to know if he would have excelled as the times changed.  Considering his talent, it does seem odd that Moraz never caught on with another major band, especially once prog was reenergized in the 90s.

I do like select songs from the 80s Moodies records. Your Wildest Dreams will always be one of my favorite songs of theirs, and Under My Feet is a great underrated tune from The Present record.

[KevShmev]

George Thorogood - Bad to the Bone

This is probably one of the most recognizable riffs in rock history, yet you rarely hear people mention it as such when that topic comes up.  Despite it being a catchy as hell riff, I have never liked the song; something about it just annoys me, probably his vocal style, which makes most of his songs unlistenable to me.  There is no denying the popularity of this song, however.

[Jaq]

First I ever heard of George Thorogood was when he got the opening slot on the Rolling Stones Tattoo You tour, which belatedly added two dates to the Hampton Coliseum. Local radio started playing Bad to the Bone because he was going to be opening for the Stones here, and...everyone thought it was hilarious. Then, of course, the exposure of the Stones tour, and the video on MTV, meant that the song took off. He's got some songs I like, but this one, I never got over the "b-b-b-b-b-b-b-bad." 

[hefdaddy42]

I like this song, but it has almost been overplayed to death.  He has a lot of songs better than this.

[Podaar]

The Delaware Destroyers are a difficult band to hate but that doesn't mean I haven't tried. 

George is kinda a one trick pony and this song is soaked in that trick. While I did like it when it came out, it has worn thin over the years and I'm more inclined to change the channel than sing along...yet, sometimes I do. "I make a young girl squeal," appeals to the bad boy in me. 

A buddy of mine always referred to the band as; George Thoroughmud and the Underwear Resoilers. They weren't held in high esteem in the circles I traveled.

[edit] Oh, and going back to our earlier discussion; this song is a prime candidate for "perverting" the lyrics [/edit]

[Orbert]

One-trick pony indeed.  George is bad to the bone.  Also, he drinks alone.  Same song, different words.

But I actually kinda like it.  Sometimes I'll switch this one off or change the station, but a lot of times I'll let it play, because even though it's pretty monotonous, that's a pretty nice guitar sound.  And as far as bravado songs go, this is about as good as it gets.

[masterthes]

Bad to the Bone is alright

Story In Your Eyes is a great song by the Moody Blues. I got the chance to see them at Bethel a few years back. Awesome show. They played this

[King Postwhore]

One-trick pony indeed.  George is bad to the bone.  Also, he drinks alone.  Same song, different words.

But I actually kinda like it.  Sometimes I'll switch this one off or change the station, but a lot of times I'll let it play, because even though it's pretty monotonous, that's a pretty nice guitar sound.  And as far as bravado songs go, this is about as good as it gets.

My friend has a theory about Greorge and ZZ Top's 80's output that they only record one song, play it at a diffferent speed and it's another song.  Play it on it's side and it's another song, play it backwards.....


You get the point.

[Orbert]

Yeah, ZZ Top was the same way in the 80's.  They found a formula that worked, and milked it.

[KevShmev]

The Alan Parsons Project - I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You

Nice little song, but it's driving me nuts where I've heard some of those riffs before.  The opening bass line (or is is guitar?) sort of sounds like the beginning of Steely Dan's Black Cow, and I have to think that Survivor got the idea for the Eye of the Tiger riff from the end of this song.  There are other moments that sound sort of familiar to me. but I can't place them.  But anyway, like I said already, it's a nice little song that probably doesn't get much airplay anymore, but it did way back when.

[Orbert]

I've always loved this song.  I love the buildup at the beginning, with the keyboard chords slowly going from dissonant to straight to sevenths, and the interplay between the keys and guitar during the verse, almost Floyd-like.  Also a fun song to play.  I've played this one in two different bands.

[hefdaddy42]

Not familiar with this one.

[TAC]

Not familiar with this one.

[jingle.boy]

Not familiar with this one.

Though I have really been meaning to explore more of APP.

[KevShmev]

Supertramp - Take the Long Way Home

Man, I love this song.  What is even more odd is that it features a harmonica, an instrument which often gets on my nerves, but in this song, it just adds to the gorgeous melody.  Everything about this song is just wonderful, from the vocal melodies, to the piano work, to the subtle string accompaniment, to that fantastic outro.  This is a song where they really hit out of the park on all levels.  Okay, that's the end of my gushing.

[Podaar]

The Alan Parsons Project - I Wouldn't Want to Be Like You

I really enjoy keys in the intro. Even though the meat of the song is a bit of a simple arrangement for my usual tastes it creates a terrific accompaniment to the vocals which are the highlight for me. There's repressed deranged quality to the vocals that really that really grabs my ear.

Supertramp - Take the Long Way Home

I was always more a fan of side one of Breakfast in America but this is truly a great song that paints such a vivid picture of quiet, English middle class despair. Roger's voice is always so compelling and expressive.



Hey, I'm beginning to notice a pattern to my comments on this thread. It's almost always the vocal performances that really tickle me when it comes to Classic Rock. Hmmm...

[hefdaddy42]

Take The Long Way Home is a great song by a great band.  Always brings a smile to my face.

[Orbert]

Yep, another great song from a great, great album!

I love the buildup at the beginning, with the long, ominous C chord.  I love the main piano riff, with the Cm7, Gm7/C, Dm7/C, C, and then for the break they just shift the bass to all roots and the piano plays the same chords!  Suddenly we've got all major chords: Eb, Bb, F, C.

Okay fine, maybe three people out there with music theory knowledge can appreciate that, but I thought it was pretty fucking cool when I went to figure out the song.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, that's all gibberish to me, but still pretty cool nonetheless.  Such a great tune.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Yep, another great song from a great, great album!

I love the buildup at the beginning, with the long, ominous C chord.  I love the main piano riff, with the Cm7, Gm7/C, Dm7/C, C, and then for the break they just shift the bass to all roots and the piano plays the same chords!  Suddenly we've got all major chords: Eb, Bb, F, C.

Okay fine, maybe three people out there with music theory knowledge can appreciate that, but I thought it was pretty fucking cool when I went to figure out the song.

I'm not a big fan of ST, and what you're saying makes sense in the explanation, but now I actually have to listen to it to hear what you're referring to, just out of curiosity. 

[Orbert]

The song shifts to a major key for the clarinet break.  The chords are Eb, Bb, F, C.  During the verse, the bass is thumping a C, so those same four chords are Cm7, Gm7, Dm7, C.  Same resolution, but the feel is totally different.  When I realized what they'd done, I was blown away.  I love shit like that.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

It is cool when that kinda thing happens.  I'm used to seeing things from one perspective.  An entire chord on one instrument.  Similar to your example, I saw an example of something like this (I can't remember where, I wanna say it wsa a Journey song), where the music I saw had the keyboards doing an inverted G triad, while the guitars played E power chords.  I thought "Weird".  Then I realized "Oh yeah, Em7.  Slick!"

[Orbert]

Yeah, Journey does that a lot.  If I had to guess, it's mostly Jonathan Cain's doing.  He'll play Em when the rest of the band is playing CM7 or vice versa, stuff like that.

My knowledge of music theory is mostly self-taught, and I don't usually analyze stuff when I'm listening to it, just when I try to learn it.  So maybe this happens a lot more than I realize; I don't know.

[King Postwhore]

You guys are giving me a chord progression rash.

[KevShmev]

This rash is making me itchy.

[jingle.boy]

Great band, great album, excellent song.

[masterthes]

My favorite Supertramp song easily

[King Postwhore]

just listened to the 2 disk greatest hits of both bands.  Two great tunes!

[KevShmev]

Styx - Lady

The harmonies in this song are so high that when Styx was looking for a guitar player to replace John Curulewski in 1975, their main requirement was that the new guy was able to sing the high harmonies in Lady.  Tommy Shaw even later joked that the fact that he was a songwriter and could play the guitar was secondary.   But the harmonies in this song are pretty insane, so I get why that would be high on their priority list, since it was the song that put Styx on the map, and they couldn't not play it at shows since they had just hit it big.  I like the song and always enjoy it, even though it's never been a favorite. 

[Orbert]

Same here.  Good song, but not one I go nuts over.

I like its deceptive simplicity.  There are only verses, no choruses or refrain.  The same chords over and over, but by starting with just voice and piano, then gradually adding guitars and other instruments and building up the rhythm, it's totally stomping by the end and you feel like you've been on a journey, but it's just been those same chords over and over the whole time.

I feel like I tend to analyze songs a lot.  And I do.  But rather than just say "I like this one" or "this one sucks" I feel compelled to say what it is about the song that I like or dislike, and for me, that often goes to its composition and structure.  That to me is often what makes or breaks the song.

[hefdaddy42]

One of my favorites from Styx, and yes, the vocal harmonies are amazing.

I had also noticed the structural things you mentioned, Orbert.  Definitely adds to the appeal of the song.

[KevShmev]

Yep, definitely well said (as always), Orbert.