MetaChat - Jonmc defends the indefensible, Part V.

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17 September 2007

Jonmc defends the indefensible, Part V. →[More:] I turn your attention toward New England's largest metropolis and more importantly, to the band that bears it's name. Yes, I'm talking about Boston.

Boston is another case of a good band being blamed for the poor output of imitators. Boston's music was meticulously put together, but that was more a product of guitarist Tom Scholz's engineering backgrouns (he's an MIT grad) than any commercial concerns. Even more impressively, Scholz's involvement in the project was initially only as engineer/producer and he only learned to play guitar when he was dissatisified with the quality of the demos they made, which makes his work even more impressive.

While there's been plenty of slick, overproduced music in Boston's wake, what made their sound so arresting was the contrast between Scholz's meticulous craftsmanship and their love of power-chord laden bar-band rock. Not to mention the crystal-clear production which still sounds extraordinary today.

(also, Brad Delp, vocalist on their best known work took his own life on March 9, 2007. RIP, brother)

So here's some of their best:

Rock & Roll Band. Whether you're a punk, a country picker or a butt-rocker, this song is another in a long line of songs explaining how it's done and what it takes. 'When we got up stage and got ready to play, everybody listened..' is a pretty good summation of the rock and roll dream, actually. Good riff, too.

Hitch a Ride. Along with Kiss' 'Beth' this is one of the original power ballads and still stands as one of the best, and it shows that Scholz's understanding of the dynamics between acoustic and electric, hard and soft, slick and raw were what made this group so popular in their day.

More Than A Feeling. Still one of the great 'start the day' rock and roll songs ever, IMHO. And it features Scholz' best guitar work and the group's best harmony singing. Plus, as Dave Marsh notes it's probably the best camoflauged 'Louie Louie' rewrite ever (listen to the guitar chords at the fadeout).

post by: jonmc at: 08:13 | 52 comments

What's a butt-rocker?

posted by chuckdarwin 17 September | 08:27

It's a slang term for late seventies hard rock, especially the stuff that's disparaged by the hipoisie.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 08:28

Oh, like Molly Hatchet.

posted by chuckdarwin 17 September | 08:34

Molly Hatchet had the coolest album covers ever!

posted by Hugh Janus 17 September | 08:38

I was reading up on their late vocalist and came across Beatlejuice... I'm trying to imagine Brad Delp with a fake Liverpudlian accent.

posted by chuckdarwin 17 September | 08:39

Hugh, I was in a band that opened for The Hatchet in the early 90s.

posted by chuckdarwin 17 September | 08:40

Here's an article about the engineering side of Scholz. I've dismantled the Rockman I've had for more than a decade (it has recently failed) and it is absolutely gorgeous inside - there are two boards that face each other connected by a ribbon cable. The components are dovetailed - the tall components on one board line up with the short components on the other. That's really hard to do.

posted by plinth 17 September | 08:41

Hatchet were good for the albums where they had Danny Joe Brown.

(also, one of my famous screwheads just fell down the sink drain. Fuck)

posted by jonmc 17 September | 08:45

I haven't heard Hitch a Ride since my brother played me their first album back in the day (all I remember is that it says LISTEN TO THE ALBUM over and over on the back cover).

The intro sounds remarkably like Bon Jovi's Dead or Alive, doesn't it? Hmmm, only a couple of intervals down and we'd all be riding the steel horse.

(I prefer it to Beth, but I prefer almost any song to Beth, even that shite those kids sing on Barney)

posted by chuckdarwin 17 September | 08:48

Aw shit, that's the dog's bollocks right there, chuckdarwin.

Crap, jonmc, that sucks; do you have a big wrench handy to take the trap out from under the drain? The screwhead's probably still there.

posted by Hugh Janus 17 September | 08:49

Nah. I tried reaching in, too. I'm out of ideas.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 08:51

I mean the opening for Hatchet is the dog's bollocks, chuckdarwin, not the disliking Beth; I don't know what makes people like and dislike as they do, but Beth is the ne plus ultra of rock ballads, as far as I'm concerned.

I think, jonmc, that if you can't somehow get the trap off, you're screwed. But there may be some crazy way to float it out, like a half-gallon of liquid mercury or a hand grenade.

posted by Hugh Janus 17 September | 08:55

Magnet?

posted by JanetLand 17 September | 09:11

They're silver. and I don't know if I have a magnet. Shame to lose them, I got complimented on them a lot.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 09:12

Hugh, I may have been a wee bit be overexposed to Beth.

It's kind of like if you work in a store (as I used to) that sells laserdisc players and the only disc said store had to demo them with was "The Fifth Element". After a few months of seeing/hearing that film ALL DAY LONG, you might not ever want to see it again. Ever.

(I still have dreams about Milla Jovovich)

I have not listened to Beth properly in 30 years, but I can still recall every millisecond of it. It's mainly in A minor (because you can play it easily - no sharps), though it starts off in C.

posted by chuckdarwin 17 September | 09:21

screwheads: oh NO! We can take up a collection for a new pair.

And I do like Boston, even though it's been severely irreparably overplayed.

posted by chewatadistance 17 September | 09:24

I have a Rockman also. Although it's out of date, compared to new stuff, it still sounds good. Daughter sometimes plays cello through it.

posted by danf 17 September | 09:40

I'm a Red Sox fan and not even I like them

posted by matteo 17 September | 09:49

Losing the screwhead is a sign that you should switch to a (just-slightly) larger gauge of earring. Say, 14-gauge titanium circular barbells.

Boston? I feel about the same way about them as I do about a lot of this indefensible stuff. It's almost always made by competent craftsmen, and it's good for what it is--pop rock music, driven by commercial considerations and aimed right down the middle. It's not that it's bad--judged by its own standards, it's usually quite good--but I can see how people might be irritated to hear it on the radio every day for the last twenty years, or to be told that this stuff is great art, or the best stuff ever made. Not that I think you're doing that.

posted by box 17 September | 10:18

I liked the first side of the of the first Boston album quite a bit. The album art was highly derivative (and not very well done even to my 13 year old eye) . They pretty much stole the concept of the exploding planet spreading life to other worlds from the Yes Yessongs album cover, which was done by Roger Dean.

posted by doctor_negative 17 September | 10:35

I can see how people might be irritated to hear it on the radio every day for the last twenty years, or to be told that this stuff is great art, or the best stuff ever made. Not that I think you're doing that.

Well, I'm more looking for acknowledgement that whether one likes these artists or not (that's ultimately a matter of taste) that there's something of substance there. There's this weird middlebrow standardization that's been creeping into popular music that's kind of an anathema to me. I always felt that in many ways, say, the Velvet Underground and Boston or Sonic Youth and Twisted Sister were ultimately more alike than they were different. I like all for bands, sometimes for very different reasons and sometimes for very similar reasons. But I often encounter incredulity from other music fans when I say that I find value in all of them (and countless others). And ultimately, all of these groups started out as a bunch of people, who said 'hey, let's start a band,' so I admire that connecting thread.

I do agree with you about the overplay, although that's hardly the fault of the artists themselves. I grew up on them just like veryone else my age and I drifted away from classic rock radio for years. Then, right about the time me and Pips started dating, there was one of those countdown of all time shows on a local station. I got to hear them with fresh ears and remember how good a lot of it was. (and getting to tell her all the lore behind some of it was great, too).

Losing the screwhead is a sign that you should switch to a (just-slightly) larger gauge of earring. Say, 14-gauge titanium circular barbells.

Well, the screwheads are one of my trademark items of apparel. Only my Partridge Family t-shirt garners more (always positive) comments from strangers. I'll just have to get a new pair.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 10:37

Can't argue with you here, jon. Here's what I wrote on the death of Brad Delp.

By the way, if you truly want to defend the indefensible, I've begun a little list for you. Here's what I've got so far:

The Rolling Stones, post-Some Girls
The Who, post-Keith Moon
Rod Stewart, post- ...um, let's say 1980
The effect of Jeff Lynne on the output of Tom Petty
The wave of grunge-lite that swept in on the heels of Nirvana/Pearl Jam (thinking specifically of Bush and Stone Temple Pilots)
Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Damn Yankees
Asia (the band, not the continent)

Feel free to take on as many of those as you like. I'll keep working on it.

posted by bmarkey 17 September | 12:37

bmarkey: I'm not defending these bands from you. We've always been on a similar (if not identical) wavelength musically (although I will never understand why someone would purge their record collection just to follow a trend). These are merely artists I've seen disrespected or dismissed and that I've taken shit for enjoying.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 12:43

The wave of grunge-lite that swept in on the heels of Nirvana/Pearl Jam (thinking specifically of Bush and Stone Temple Pilots)

You are mistaken. That never happened.

At least, that's what I keep telling myself.

posted by deadcowdan 17 September | 12:46

Actually some of the artists I was thinking of defending: the Hooters, Ted Nugent, Kiss, Pat Benatar, Soul Asylum...

(if I gotta listen to people rhapsodize about Coldplay and Radiohead...well, turnabout is fair play)

posted by jonmc 17 September | 12:54

Jon, you don't have to defend anything from me.

I guess it's the framing of these essays in terms of "the indefensible" that is my sticking point. It reads as if you're apologising for your taste. I know that's not what you're doing, but it does come off that way.

As for The Purge: I was young and dumb and easily swayed. I totally bought into the Year Zero myth. It's just that simple.

posted by bmarkey 17 September | 13:22

I love Boston for a lot of reasons, but I'm going to point to my favorite person as to why she thinks they're great.

jonmc, I like your defenses. They crack me up a bit because when I was a teen in the 80s wearing a Slayer or Sonic Youth t-shirt, the cars/trucks with people screaming "Cut your hair, fag" and those people threatening me with bodily harm were always playing Boston, Journey, Bon Jovi, etc., in excessive volumes. In the midwest, though (or at least parts of it), classic rock is still fairly new rock. Whowouldathunkit.

posted by sleepy_pete 17 September | 13:29

I guess it's the framing of these essays in terms of "the indefensible" that is my sticking point. It reads as if you're apologising for your taste. I know that's not what you're doing, but it does come off that way.

No offense, but your Boston entry sounded way more apologetic and defensive than mine. And I never fall back on camp and irony in my defenses.

sleepy_pete: that's just it. I've ..confused, I guess is the word, a lot of my acquaintances over the years. My 'alternative' friends would think my love of Van Halen and Kiss was suspect, My metal friends would think digging 'college rock' to be weird (although as long as it was loud and guitar based they'd listen to anything) and a lot of the rest baffled both. So I gave up on the whole silly sham of 'cred' early and decided to just listen to and write about what I like.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 13:40

the indefensible

You keep using this word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

posted by dersins 17 September | 13:40

I was thinking of defending: the Hooters, Ted Nugent, Kiss, Pat Benatar, Soul Asylum

Kiss is waaaaay defensible, as is Benatar. They belong in a different category, I think: bands with vehement detractors, rabid fans, critical praise as often as critical hatred, and a few undeniable golden records.

The Hooters and Soul Asylum are both bands where the hate-on is stoked mostly by folks who've reconsidered their youthful fandom and are now revising their own past preferences. Both have a few killer songs, the best written by their bassists. "Cartoon" by Soul Asylum is one of the best rock songs ever.

That leaves Ted Nugent. I love the Nuge, but I can understand why anyone wouldn't, for just about any reason. Good choice.

posted by Hugh Janus 17 September | 13:55

"Cartoon" by Soul Asylum is one of the best rock songs ever.

Finally someone else who agrees!

posted by jonmc 17 September | 13:57

There is a little half-assed joke apology at the end there, yes.

Irony is a perfectly good tool, provided you don't over-use it. If you're saying that my enjoyment of Boston is ironic in nature, I assure you that it's not. I truly do admire the production values on those first two albums.

As for camp... ya lost me there.

posted by bmarkey 17 September | 14:02

Soul Asylum suffered from what played out in larger scale with the Goo Goo Dolls. It's the problem of Goo Goo Dollification; decent rock to mushy white bread pudding with kind of cute lead singer given GQing. There's was a pre-study case. That and Winona Ryder.

posted by sleepy_pete 17 September | 14:18

The Hooters were a lot of fun back in the day. I saw them open for Squeeze (great concert) then as headliners. They did a fun version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" on mandolins. (There's a sample on Amazon's Hooterization page.) They rerecorded about half of the songs on first album, Amore, on their major label albums. Amore has a great reggae-ish version of "Fightin' on the Same Side," which they drained the life from on a later album.

I also like Largo, which combines parts of the Hooters and the Chieftains.

posted by kirkaracha 17 September | 17:21

I've never met anyone else who knows Largo, kirkaracha (without my having introduced them first).

The Cyndi Lauper and Joan Osborne/Carole King tracks are great.

posted by mudpuppie 17 September | 18:20

That Largo record sounds really interesting. Thanks for the heads up. ('Karla With A K' is the Hooters best tune IMHO)

posted by jonmc 17 September | 18:23

A further heads-up, jon: You'll learn to skip over the instrumentals, which are all variations on the same Dvorak theme. They tend to get a little old after a while. Don't judge the rest of the album for it.

posted by mudpuppie 17 September | 18:27

I actually kind of like the Cheiftan's instrumentals. They did a great album with Ricky Skaggs and some other country people back in the day.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 18:33

I'm totally thirding "Cartoon" as a fantastic song.

"Never Really Been" off of "Made To Be Broken" is a great tune, too, that presaged their more radio-friendly, Grammy-winning-kiss-of-death stuff that came a few years later. I saw them opening for Husker Du on the "Flip Your Wig" tour and they were punk as fuck. Many years later, after they spiralled down the toilet of musical irrelevance, I happened to be in a bar in New Orleans and ran into a (drunk and very talkative and delighted to be recognized) Dave Pirner who gave me the whole ugly story. They really were torn apart by success and by record company harpies. Plus, the way he sang/screamed for too many years destroyed his voice. We had a drink or three and slipped out and shared a joint. I think I still have his address somewhere, dunno if he's still there now. Nice guy. Too bad about the band. He was NOT GQed out when I met him. In fact, if you didn't know he was the singer for Soul Asylum, you'd be tempted to cross the street when you saw him coming.

posted by BitterOldPunk 17 September | 18:35

BOP, we've disagreed on plenty musicwise, but you definitely get it when I ramble on. Thanks.

(also, 'ODE' of the same album as 'Cartoon' is one of the 'college rock' songs that I played for my hesher/headbanger plas that they dug. They also liked the Replacements' 'We're Comin' Out.')

posted by jonmc 17 September | 18:43

I really like Made to be Broken a lot - maybe even "top 20 albums of the 80s"-style like. (Bob Mould from Husker Du produced it, as I recall.) And the later stuff has its moments, really. It was odd to see them get as big as they did.

I don't think I ever heard anything by the Hooters other than... um, whatever their hit was.

posted by bmarkey 17 September | 18:54

"All You Zombies" was one hit (it was kind of lousy) so was "And we Danced" which was actually pretty good. "Karla With A K' though is the money song of theirs.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 18:56

Yeah, I think it was "All You Zombies", although I don't really remember a thing about it. Did it have a melodica on it?

posted by bmarkey 17 September | 18:59

Soul Asylum will always have a place in my heart. As I mentioned before, I had been a fan of Hang Time in high school. A few years later, I had flunked out of college and was working a 2am to 10am shift in the bakery of world's weirdest grocery. I was 21, the age when most people were achieving, having wild adventures, getting laid. I spent my work with a room full of non-english speakers and the handicapped and went home covered in baking supplies and I wore a paper hat. I was a mite bitter. I might still be. One night drinking my pre-work coffee at midnight, I happned to flip on 120 Minutes. They were playing "Somebody To Shove." I was glad to see the band, plus the song completely crystalized the state of mind I was in at the time. Kind of a good example of what a hit single is supposed to do.

posted by jonmc 17 September | 19:03

Musical tastes come and go, jonmc, but those who know the rock deserve much respeck. I'll bet if we compared music collections, there'd be a surprisingly large area of overlap. And anyone who hates The Smiths with every fiber of their being can't be ALL bad.

My "test case" band is Bad Company. If someone claims to dislike Bad Company, they are either: 1) ignorant, or 2) posing so hard they're about to rupture some vital organ.

posted by BitterOldPunk 17 September | 19:08

I'll bet if we compared music collections, there'd be a surprisingly large area of overlap.

I'm sure it'd be pretty huge. (you do like the Dictators, right?)

My "test case" band is Bad Company.

Let's run with the paaaaaack,....

posted by jonmc 17 September | 19:11

I was 21, the age when most people were achieving,

I was managing a Wherehouse records. Does that qualify?

having wild adventures,

Um... well, I met Jenny (of "867-5309" fame)... Oh yeah, when we went to see The Clash in San Francisco, we crammed like 7 people into a room that was supposedly only rented to my girlfriend and me! Although all the girls slept in one bed and the guys in the other, so not quite as wild as it might seem at first blush.

getting laid.

Guilty as charged, although with my GF at the time it was kinda like throwing a hot dog down a hallway.

posted by bmarkey 17 September | 19:13

I was managing a Wherehouse records. Does that qualify?

well, put it this way: did you go out in daylight?

posted by jonmc 17 September | 19:14

Yeah. Bakery hours suck, no doubt. I did a 4 AM - usually 12:30 or 1 PM shift for awhile.

posted by bmarkey 17 September | 19:19

"I'm a fuel-injected legend
I don't wanna be a bore
I just wanna live a rich life
And I wanna die poor...."

Hell, yeah, I like the Dictators!

In fact, above our fireplace at home is a picture of my wife hugging Handsome Dick Manitoba*, and next to it is a picture of me with Mike Watt.

*I just found out while double-checking my lyrics that he's now singing with the reunited MC5. I'm not sure what I think about that.

posted by BitterOldPunk 17 September | 19:35

In fact, above our fireplace at home is a picture of my wife hugging Handsome Dick Manitoba*
≡ Click to see image ≡
Heh.

(Did Handsome Dick Manitoba ever meet the late Country Dick Montana? That'd be one great double dicking)

posted by jonmc 17 September | 19:55

Hey, that's not my wife!

posted by BitterOldPunk 17 September | 20:47

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