Monday, April 11, 2005
"All your base are belong to Billy!"
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glisten: FAMILY VALUES SEVEN: BIG POPPA
For more info about the FAMILY VALUES series, go here.
Chris Rock - "My Father"
Dad: Even though this here isn't all that funny, Chris Rock can often make me laugh.
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Mom: I guess it's funny. Isn't it?
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Sis: Of course, we love Chris Rock.
Buy "Born Suspect", Rock's '91 comedy album debut, from Amazon.
Chris has cooled down a bit (being obscenely rich and revered tends to reduce one's edginess) but in his prime, Rock was the word of god.
This is pretty short, as clips go, so here's a bonus track for my loyal listeners:
Chris Rock - "Your Mother's Got a Big Head"
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Visit Chris' official site.
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Here's some warmed-up news: The infamous Chris Rock cell-phone number story.
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Read the Onion interview.
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Watch Rock's opening monologue from the '05 Oscars.
Tough fuckin' crowd...
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Chuck Berry - "Dear Dad"
Dad: According to Joel Whitburn's "Record Research", 'Dear Dad' was Chuck Berry's last Billboard charted single, climbing up to #95 in the Spring of 1965, but I don't recall it getting any airplay in the New York area at that time.
Dad's forgotten about "My Ding-A-Ling", but probably only cause he stopped looking after 1970.
By 1965, Chuck Berry's style of rock and roll was considered dated. However, as this track attests, he was still in his prime. The guitar is stormin' and the lyrics are brilliant.
The manner in which society has disregarded Chuck Berry is very shameful. He made great, enduring American Art.
Roll over, Beethoven.
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Mom: Oh yeah! Go man, go! I'm a dancin'! This is a fun song; I remember Chuck's suave manner and his smooth hair back from when I was a kid. He's an original and he's got the right attitude. He's out for fun. (mom pumps a fist)
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Sis: “Dear Dad” will always be one of my favorites. Not only is it ROCKING, it’s lyrically brilliant (though, Of course, that can be said for most of Berry’s work). Chuck’s the man.
Any of us driving something older than Britney Spears can identify with this one. Autophiles will appreciate the nice little dig at Ford Motors.
Buy "Anthology", Chuck's fifty-song/two-disc greatest Greatest Hits album, from Amazon.
A music collection without Chuck Berry is like an alphabet without vowels. Regardless of where your tastes take you, you're obliged to know where you came from. If you're into pop or rock music on any level, Chuck got you there. Show some respect.
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Visit Chuck's official site.
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Explore the Collector's Guide to the Music of Chuck Berry.
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Read this brief historical sketch of the life of Chuck.
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Hangin' with the Ford Family
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FORKSCLOVETOFU SEZ: Anthony Miccio is a poprocka and th' Hut's expert on all things big, radio-friendly and glistening that might otherwise escape our more rockist readers earholes.
Anthony dispenses wisdom and choice bon mots at Anthony is Right.
Sloan - "False Alarm"
"If there was any justice in this world, this song would be a hit" is a sentiment I rarely see applied with logic. It's always about a song that lacks the biggest quality that an audience expects from a pop smash - a "never-was" is always deniable. This song is one of the few "indie" album tracks I've heard in recent years that I'll go to bat for as a soundtrack stunner truly waiting for the chance to clog the radiowaves. An Interpol/Beach Boys mash-up, the excitable younger brother of "You Make Lovin' Fun," insistent, compact, catchy as hell and sweet as fuck.
While I'm not surprised the song hasn't gotten any attention in the U.S., where these gawky guys are unknown and Koch Records (their latest label) doesn't hold a lot of industry weight, I can't believe that this wasn't one of the three (THREE!) singles released off of "Action Pact" in Canada, where the guys are radio mainstays. Somebody up North doesn't like making money.
This is only the latest of Sloan's many pop-rock classics, but this post isn't about them - it's about the song. The next time John's out, I promise I'll do a more fleshed out look at the band.
One bit of nerdery for the converted: isn't it so sweet when Patrick's voice comes in at the very end? Why don't they do more stuff like that? If they did some Sleater-Kinney vocal interplay I'd just - aw, man! SLOAN!!! YEAH!!!
Buy the import version of Sloan's "Action Pact", with bonus tracks, from Amazon.
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Be on the look out for Sloan' new hits comp and reissues in May!
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Check out the band's official site.
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Labels: Anthony Miccio, Family Values, music
