MetaChat - It's been a really rough couple days,

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19 May 2008

It's been a really rough couple days, and while this song is probably dumb, sexist and corporate or whatever, I've been listening to it all day, so let's all sing along. And whatever else you want to say about these guys, they had better-looking women in their videos than most other bands.

post by: jonmc at: 16:53 | 28 comments

Yay! I hated that song when it first came out, but had an abrupt change of heart seven or eight years ago. Probably because I fell in love with the Emm Gryner version and it spilled over. (And I was listening to that version most of last week.)

posted by occhiblu 19 May | 16:56

When I become a stripper (and don't lie, everybody thinks about that... right?), that will be one of my pole songs!

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 19 May | 16:58

I get the joke of the Emm Gryner version but I still prefer the Lep's version. (and the Lep still get more props for simple human decency and cameraderie than any other band on the planet simply for keeping Rick Allen on board post arm loss)

abrupt change of heart seven or eight years ago.

well, it's just a song of boyish sexual exuberance, ultimately. with a killer chorus.

posted by jonmc 19 May | 16:59

I think it's just that it came out originally at a time when I was geeky and gawky and awkward, and I didn't really get the whole 80s rock thing, so I retreated into the Oldies/Classic Rock stations for a few years and avoided middle school dances as if my life depended on it.

Which is also how I missed Poison until recently, too.

I get the joke of the Emm Gryner version

I don't know how she intended it, but it never came across as a joke to me. Just a super-sexy song from an unlikely source.

posted by occhiblu 19 May | 17:02

I don't know how she intended it, but it never came across as a joke to me.

The joke was that it was a typical male sex fantasy (I got the peaches/you got the cream, etc) sung in a female voice.

and I'm sure I was just as geeky and awkward as you. The metal/hard rock subculture was the biggest collection of dorks and misfits of all time, even bands like Lep that made it big.

posted by jonmc 19 May | 17:06

The joke was that it was a typical male sex fantasy (I got the peaches/you got the cream, etc) sung in a female voice.

I guess I'm thinking of it more as a "commentary on" than a "joke," but I may just be splitting hairs. She's got an entire album of covered songs, with "Pour Some Sugar on Me" far and away my favorite, but it doesn't really feel disrespectful or jokey as much as it's just expressing the curiosity of "What happens when you flip the genders here? What about here? What changes? What stays the same?"

posted by occhiblu 19 May | 17:12

simply for keeping Rick Allen on board post arm loss

It helps that he was still a ridiculous drummer, arm or no.

posted by muddgirl 19 May | 17:16

That song popped up in the mix among a bunch of current R&B dance hits at a party I was at Saturday night. The ladies in the house dug it.

posted by me3dia 19 May | 17:17

but it doesn't really feel disrespectful or jokey as much as it's just expressing the curiosity of "What happens when you flip the genders here? What about here? What changes? What stays the same

I don't mean joke in the disrespectful sense, more in the wink-wink turnabout-is-fair-play sense. And the differences in musical accompaniment may tell you a lot about the differences in sexual fabtasy between the genders.

Also, since you mentioned Poison, why hasn't anybody done this as a country weeper yet? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

simply for keeping Rick Allen on board post arm loss

It helps that he was still a ridiculous drummer, arm or no

For what Lep were about he was fine. And better than any drummer in yes. *sticks out tongue*

posted by jonmc 19 May | 17:18

I got the peaches/you got the cream, etc

This meant something almost, but not quite entirely different to gay boys in the 80s.

posted by WolfDaddy 19 May | 17:38

as long as were talking music, this song has been hitting me so close to the bone lately. It completely describes how I felt when I was a 21 year old guy driving to my late-night job in a supermarket bakery. How a multi-millionaire rock star 30-odd years removed form that can still capture that feeling is amazing to me.

wolfie: I'm sure.

posted by jonmc 19 May | 17:41

For what Lep were about he was fine. And better than any drummer in yes. *sticks out tongue*

Well, I'll admit he's no Phil Selway *crosses eyes*.

posted by muddgirl 19 May | 17:50

Rick Allen does/did (are Def Lep still around?) just fine for his band, but he's no match for Bill Bruford. I have no use for Yes, but there's really no comparison there.

posted by bmarkey 19 May | 18:07

Rick Allen does/did (are Def Lep still around?) just fine for his band, but he's no match for Bill Bruford.

Well, Bruford was basically a jazz drummer making money in a rock band whereas Rick Allen wwas a clubber in a rock band who whatever his shortcomings was really into what he was doing, which trumps technical proficiency every time. Plus I simply admire the rest of the band's loyalty to their friend.

posted by jonmc 19 May | 18:39

Oh yeah, kudos to the band for waiting for him to figure out the new drumkit, absolutely. I still maintain that Bruford's the better drummer, though. Especially the work he did with King Crimson.

posted by bmarkey 19 May | 18:46

Is that, like, reverse Rockism? Allen is more admirable because he has less skill and better marketing*? :)

disregarding the only one arm thing

posted by muddgirl 19 May | 18:46

Allen is more admirable because he has less skill and better marketing

Nah, Allen's more fun to listen to because he was actually enjoying himself while Bruford was just picking up a paycheck and doing his usual 'look ma, no hands' routine.

posted by jonmc 19 May | 19:17

Allen's more fun to listen to because he was actually enjoying himself while Bruford was just picking up a paycheck and doing his usual 'look ma, no hands' routine.

Um... OK. I'm assuming you can link to something where Bruford says he had absolutely no fun drumming ever - or that Allen wasn't in it for the money.

posted by bmarkey 19 May | 19:23

bmarkey, you know what I'm getting at. Bruford was all about virtuosity and I remember a radio interview with him where he refers to his time in yes as 'playing in a pop band,' which tells me all you need to know about him. Allen played like a kid delighted to make big noises (and yes, I'm sure he didn't mind the cash and groupies a bit, but what musician does) and I'll take that over 'chops' anytime, although when you combine both (see Kieth Moon, John Bonham, Max Wienberg, bernard Purdie) it's incredible.

posted by jonmc 19 May | 19:27

The original statement was that Allen is/was better than any drummer in Yes. (And for the record, Yes was a pop band. The snobbery you're implying is not necessarily there.)

We can talk about enthusiasm vs. technicality if you like, but I'm willing to bet that if we called up Rick Allen right this very minute and asked if he were a better drummer than Bill Bruford, he would say no. And then he'd fire the person who's supposed to be screening his calls for him.

posted by bmarkey 19 May | 19:47

I'm willing to bet that if we called up Rick Allen right this very minute and asked if he were a better drummer than Bill Bruford, he would say no.

Yes, brufors is more technically proficient than Allen. But would you rather listen to 'Roundabout,' or 'Saturday Night (High & Dry)?" That's the ultimate test of whether the mission has been accomplished.

posted by jonmc 19 May | 19:51

I'd rather listen to anything off of Discipline than either of those.

posted by bmarkey 19 May | 19:58

I remember when "Pour Some Sugar on Me" came out. I liked it. I still do. It's one of those songs that you blast in your car but don't admit to liking. I'm sure there was a period in my life where I despised it.

It came out when I was in junior high. I have a memory at the lockers. I was rummaging through my locker and glanced over to the kid next to me. He had written "Pour Some Sugar on Me" artfully and huge in blue ink pen on his folder. The title is so in-your-face sexual. Seeing it on a seventh-grader's folder made me a little uncomfortable and embarrassed even though I was a seventh-grader too.

posted by LoriFLA 19 May | 20:17

Q: What do you call a guy who hangs out with musicians?
A: A drummer.

Anyhoo. I can't stand Def Leppard. I liked Pyromania when I was 12, but I can't stand the fabricated sound of everything since. Plus, my father in law keeps trying to tell me their vocals are amazing, and I think he's nuts...

A melodic or artsy drummer is not for me. I like the guys who are super tight, super sharp, and make the music they play better with their presence. Like the guy from the Arctic Monkeys. Man, he's good. Then, there's the other kind I like...the Levon Helm style.

posted by richat 19 May | 20:22

I have to say, I'm with bmarkey on this one. Bruford kicks ass. I saw him with king crimson and the double trio. I give Def Leppard a lot of credit for the band they were, but they basically were a well practiced metal band. Quite frankly, I prefer Yes to the Def band, but that's just my personal preference. The idea that Bruford was just collecting a paycheck is asinine. I think the dude's more serious about his music than that. And really, what does it say about Def Leppard that it doesn't matter if the drummer is one armed or two? Really? Yeah, it's great that they stuck by the dude and all, that's a given. But, obviously the music is pretty simple. And, don't try and tell me he could play anything any other drummer could, well maybe any other metal drummer. Dude doesn't hold a candle to my rock drumming hero Keith Moon. So there. :p

posted by eekacat 19 May | 21:39

But, obviously the music is pretty simple.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Seriously, it's rok and roll, it's at it's best when it's simple.

posted by jonmc 19 May | 21:45

I guess simple is one thing, simple and boring is another. I don't necessarily think it's at its best when it's either simple or complicated. It's at it's best when it's good. If you're saying "Poor Some Sugar On Me" is (sic)rok and roll at it's best, well good for you. I guess that teeny-bopper stuff has to appeal to someone...

posted by eekacat 19 May | 23:31

Rick Allen, with two arms anyway, was an unremarkable drummer. And, as I recall, his post-accident kit included both the then-state-of-the-art in electronic drum pads and sample-triggering devices and, well, a whole lot of foot pedals.

posted by box 20 May | 11:42

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