Monday, March 31, 2008
Cheap Trick in the heartland
Out where the west was won... well, ok, not nearly that far west... but west of the big shouldered metropolis, out where the the corn is not even planted much less ready to rise in muddy fields, there arose Cheap Trick. I saw them Saturday at the NIU Convocation Center (that being a place where people convoke) and they put on a rockin' good show.
To see Cheap Trick is to see bits and pieces of the last thirty years or so of my musical life. When I first saw an ad for their first record some time in 1977 I didn't know what to make of them. The ad was split up into four sections spread out over four separate pages. Each section gave a brief biography of a band member and I distinctly remember thinking the bit about Bun E. Carlos being from Venezuela, or some such place, was a bit of hooey. "Carlos" looked goofy, as did the ball cap wearing Rick Nielsen. The other two guys were pretty, with hair like Stevie Nicks. They seemed a little cartoonish, a little jokey. I was amused and intrigued. And the music itself was in my wheelhouse, power pop songs, driven by guitar, with melodies evoking the Who and the Beatles, and chords (especially in a song like "He's a Whore") that sounded punk. Suicide was mentioned in "Downed" from the second album. All these elements seemed to matter to the teen boy I was.
But whatever. Who cares about sentimentality now in the 21st-century? Their music, at least some of it, has stood the test of time, and they're still making Cd's with good rocking power pop. Just listen to their last CD "Rockford" and you'll understand that.
They put on a good show, loud, almost too loud and distorted (are they trying to cover up some weaknesses?), distractedly entertaining the crowd of townies and city slickers (you know, the people from the big city of Rockford).
Nielsen, wearing a lumpy black suit with a black bow tie and looking like a gas station attendant from 1950, prowls around the stage, jumping, posing like a geeky guitar god or just acting the goof. He's the heart and soul of the band and just looking at him puts a smile on my face. He is a sight to behold, a rock and roll entertainer of the sort that hardly exists amongst younger acts.
Robin Zander still is in good voice after all these years and, physically speaking, can still get away with wearing tight leather pants and a sleeveless t-shirt. Very rock n roll, Robin. Tom Peterson is a good bassist and kind of fun to watch as he seems a little spacey. He has a smile and a far away look in his eye through most of the show. Maybe he's just happy. The aforementioned Bun E. Carlos is what he always was, a steady, unflashy drummer.
I don't know that these guys have been given their rightful due in the rock music world. Granted, there were some bad musical decisions along the way; too much radio friendly pop in the '80s and they seemed to fall off the edge of the earth through most of the '90s. But even in the down times there was occasional greatness. 1983's "Next Position Please," produced by Todd Rundgren, is an underrated classic. All along, they were road warriors, and when they did the theme song for "That '70s Show, " Cheap Trick came a little more into the light again.
The Trick as a live act can be a little frustrating as they can seem distracted at moments. But all in all they are a great live band. They have fun on stage and the audience has fun too. Opening act Joan Jett joined them on stage during the encore to sing back up on "Surrender." She looked like she was having fun. Cheap Trick do not take themselves too seriously. They get it. It's rock n roll, not nuclear science.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts opened up for Cheap Trick. She is another road warrior, maybe just a warrior in general. She's been around for at least thirty years now, something I don't think most people realize. Jett looks pretty damn good for someone who's been in this profession for so long (take a long look at Keith Richards as an example of someone who doesn't look so good).
Jett and her band (all men, some quite young) rocked the house with newer songs like "A.C.D.C." and old classics of hers like "I Love Rock and Roll" as well a classic that wasn't hers originally, "Crimson and Clover." Jett's version is better than the original. She owns it now. She also puts a really cool spin on the theme from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
Jett's music has a great punk rock sensibility and she herself seems to have an undefeatable spirit that shines brightly in her onstage presence. She's a joy to watch and made me feel younger, but for a moment or two.
In case you want to celebrate in some way, April 1st is Cheap Trick Day in Illinois. No, really, it is. This year and for ever more. Maybe you can honor the day by putting on "Surrender" and jumping around your living room and singing along. Just make sure nobody's watching.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Still the Best Game in the World
"To understand America, you have to understand baseball"
-Alexis de Toqueville
"Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world."
-Babe Ruth
"What does a momma bear on the pill have in common with the World Series? No cubs."
-Harry Caray
I always said, and it is probably not an original thought of mine, that baseball is like life. Life can be moving along at a normal, sometimes even dull, pace and then, wham! All of a sudden, something exciting happens, your heart quickens, your eyes are wide and you feel more alive than ever! You are happy and cheerful, as is everyone around you. Or, depending on what happened, you are sad and despondent, as is everyone around you. Or really angry at the authority figures who have very obviously made a grievous mistake with a horrible result. Then things gradually return to a normal pace. Or sometimes exciting things happen one, two, three or more times in a row. And then back to normal. Like life, like baseball.
Baseball is like a picnic in a stadium. Baseball is a day in the sun with a cold beer, and there is nothing better than that first sip of cold beer on a hot afternoon. Baseball is hot dogs or brats with "stadium sauce" or a bag of peanuts.
"A hot dog at a ball game beats roast beef at the Ritz."
-Humphrey Bogart
The advent of baseball at the beginning of April (or end of March in these modern times) means the arrival of spring and spring means summer is around the corner. And summer means you can take a day or an evening (and a small loan to buy tickets to a game) and spend a leisurely few hours in the ballpark of your choice. A baseball game provides respite from the troubles of your day. They are gone for a few hours, replaced by men on the field playing a child's game.
"You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you, too"
-Roy Campanella
And that field! That grass, the wide expanse of lawn they call an outfield, the dirt of the pitchers mound, the batters box. The aroma of grass and food and beer and the sounds of the people and the music and the players. It is all beautiful, be it under God's sun or a thousand man-made suns.
The arrival of baseball is the arrival of hope. Hope that your team will do well, or at least not embarrass itself. It is hope that we all feel for ourselves and our loved ones: try to do well, but at the very least, don't embarrass yourself.
Well, here's my chance to embarrass myself. Predictions on who's going to finish where:
National League Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Houston Astros
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
National League East
1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins
National League West
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Diego Padres
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. San Francisco Giants
American League Central
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Minnesota Twins
American League East
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles
American League West
1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Seattle Mariners
3. Texas Rangers
4. Oakland Athletics
The Yankees will be a threat under new manager Joe Girardi, but at some point in August, the team will have a losing streak and Hank Steinbrenner will fire Girardi, only to rehire him the next day. Distractions will sink the Yankees and the Red Sox are just too strong and good a team not to return to the Fall Classic.
The White Sox will unfortunately prove that 2005 was a fluke, Kenny Williams is not a genius and that signing Ozzie Guillen through 2012 was the dumbest thing owner Jerry Reinsdorf has done since forcing out Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson after winning six NBA championships.
The Dodgers will have a good year under former Yankee skipper Joe Torre and will just barely edge out the Padres and Greg Maddux in their division.
My World Series prediction: Cubs in seven games and countless heart attacks amongst fans, over the Red Sox.
Yes, there I said it, I meant it. All horrific things must come to end. The century of futility will come to a close and a new century of hope will begin with the Cubs winning the World Series. They have the horses, and the right jockey in Lou Pinella. If not this year, then never. And no, I don't believe I've jinxed the Cubs by predicting a World Series win. It's time for Cubs fans everywhere, and they are indeed everywhere, to stop talking like fools about jinxes and curses and all that other crap. The time has come to act like winners, and once the Cubs take the Series we will all be forced to figure out how to do that, because we're just not used to it.
-Alexis de Toqueville
"Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world."
-Babe Ruth
"What does a momma bear on the pill have in common with the World Series? No cubs."
-Harry Caray
I always said, and it is probably not an original thought of mine, that baseball is like life. Life can be moving along at a normal, sometimes even dull, pace and then, wham! All of a sudden, something exciting happens, your heart quickens, your eyes are wide and you feel more alive than ever! You are happy and cheerful, as is everyone around you. Or, depending on what happened, you are sad and despondent, as is everyone around you. Or really angry at the authority figures who have very obviously made a grievous mistake with a horrible result. Then things gradually return to a normal pace. Or sometimes exciting things happen one, two, three or more times in a row. And then back to normal. Like life, like baseball.
Baseball is like a picnic in a stadium. Baseball is a day in the sun with a cold beer, and there is nothing better than that first sip of cold beer on a hot afternoon. Baseball is hot dogs or brats with "stadium sauce" or a bag of peanuts.
"A hot dog at a ball game beats roast beef at the Ritz."
-Humphrey Bogart
The advent of baseball at the beginning of April (or end of March in these modern times) means the arrival of spring and spring means summer is around the corner. And summer means you can take a day or an evening (and a small loan to buy tickets to a game) and spend a leisurely few hours in the ballpark of your choice. A baseball game provides respite from the troubles of your day. They are gone for a few hours, replaced by men on the field playing a child's game.
"You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you, too"
-Roy Campanella
And that field! That grass, the wide expanse of lawn they call an outfield, the dirt of the pitchers mound, the batters box. The aroma of grass and food and beer and the sounds of the people and the music and the players. It is all beautiful, be it under God's sun or a thousand man-made suns.
The arrival of baseball is the arrival of hope. Hope that your team will do well, or at least not embarrass itself. It is hope that we all feel for ourselves and our loved ones: try to do well, but at the very least, don't embarrass yourself.
Well, here's my chance to embarrass myself. Predictions on who's going to finish where:
National League Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Houston Astros
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Cincinnati Reds
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
National League East
1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins
National League West
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Diego Padres
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. San Francisco Giants
American League Central
1. Detroit Tigers
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Minnesota Twins
American League East
1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles
American League West
1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Seattle Mariners
3. Texas Rangers
4. Oakland Athletics
The Yankees will be a threat under new manager Joe Girardi, but at some point in August, the team will have a losing streak and Hank Steinbrenner will fire Girardi, only to rehire him the next day. Distractions will sink the Yankees and the Red Sox are just too strong and good a team not to return to the Fall Classic.
The White Sox will unfortunately prove that 2005 was a fluke, Kenny Williams is not a genius and that signing Ozzie Guillen through 2012 was the dumbest thing owner Jerry Reinsdorf has done since forcing out Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson after winning six NBA championships.
The Dodgers will have a good year under former Yankee skipper Joe Torre and will just barely edge out the Padres and Greg Maddux in their division.
My World Series prediction: Cubs in seven games and countless heart attacks amongst fans, over the Red Sox.
Yes, there I said it, I meant it. All horrific things must come to end. The century of futility will come to a close and a new century of hope will begin with the Cubs winning the World Series. They have the horses, and the right jockey in Lou Pinella. If not this year, then never. And no, I don't believe I've jinxed the Cubs by predicting a World Series win. It's time for Cubs fans everywhere, and they are indeed everywhere, to stop talking like fools about jinxes and curses and all that other crap. The time has come to act like winners, and once the Cubs take the Series we will all be forced to figure out how to do that, because we're just not used to it.
Monday, March 24, 2008
I'm goin' in...
What better way to celebrate the day after Easter than a 30 year old clip of the best thing to come out of Australia, AC/DC, singing about "Sin City"...I remember seeing this the first time round, on an actual TV, not on a computer (which shows you how old I am), and not really knowing what I was looking at: a hard rock band, a punk band, a cartoon band like the Archies but with an edge? All of the above? I didn't know what it was, but I liked it, cuz this, my friends, was rock n roll.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
I Sit Corrected
I am getting my Hollywood Golden Era musicals a tad mixed up.
In an earlier posting I wrote that "Easter Parade" was a Bing Crosby movie. On the contrary, the 1948 film "Easter Parade" starred Fred Astaire and Judy Garland but most assuredly not Der Bing, and it is Ms. Garland who sings the title song, along with Mr. Astaire, and you can find that on this blogs accompanying playlist.
My confusion came from the fact that the song "Easter Parade" did indeed appear in a Bing Crosby movie, "Holiday Inn" from 1942, which also starred the aforementioned Fred Astaire. "Holiday Inn" also introduced audiences to the now standard Christmas classic, "White Christmas."
Glad I could get things straightened out. Now, if only I did research before I wrote the blog postings...
In an earlier posting I wrote that "Easter Parade" was a Bing Crosby movie. On the contrary, the 1948 film "Easter Parade" starred Fred Astaire and Judy Garland but most assuredly not Der Bing, and it is Ms. Garland who sings the title song, along with Mr. Astaire, and you can find that on this blogs accompanying playlist.
My confusion came from the fact that the song "Easter Parade" did indeed appear in a Bing Crosby movie, "Holiday Inn" from 1942, which also starred the aforementioned Fred Astaire. "Holiday Inn" also introduced audiences to the now standard Christmas classic, "White Christmas."
Glad I could get things straightened out. Now, if only I did research before I wrote the blog postings...
Jesus and the Easter Bunny
"London Calling" by the Clash is not an Easter song.
I heard it in the car on the way to Easter dinner earlier today. While I love the song, it doesn't exactly put me in an Easter state of mind. But then I thought, what song would? Musically speaking, Easter does not have the treasure trove of musical selections that Christmas has. Christmas music covers all genres from classical to rock and every artist, even ones you would not expect, like say, Twisted Sister, has recorded at least one Christmas song, if not a whole CD.
Christmas has a lot more characters to sing about: Jesus, Santa, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, etc, etc. And let's not get into the commercialism that surrounds Christmas and how that affects our feeling towards holidays...that's be another blog. Maybe.
As for holiday characters, Easter has Jesus and the Easter Bunny. As for Easter music, there's that Peter Cottontail song, and I think there's a song by the name of "Easter Parade," taken from the Bing Crosby movie. Why is this the case? Does Easter not inspire the same musical spirit in composers? Does the average person not have the same sentimentality about Easter as he does toward Christmas?
I'll admit, Easter does not give me the same warm fuzzies I get about Christmas. Christmas is about warmth in the dead of winter, a gathering of family to celebrate a birth of something new and unknown, full of hope for the future, something untarnished by the cuts and wounds of a life already lived.
Easter is a different animal entirely. While it celebrates re-birth and a new chance at everlasting life, there is also the pall of death after a painful life on Earth. But I think it is the season in which Easter falls that makes the difference in the way people feel when they get together to celebrate. The long winter is over and, if you're in Chicago, there's still snow on the ground but it is melting under the rays of an increasingly warm sun. The countdown to baseball is eight days. That means summer is right around the corner, what with its cold beers on hot days and retreats from the humidity into the air conditioning. Easter is just a different vibe from Christmas, man.
What was my original point, though? Oh yeah, Easter songs. Does anybody know the words to "Peter Cottontail"?
"Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin' down the bunny trail, flippity floppety floopity floop, Easters' on it's way." I don't think that's quite it...
I heard it in the car on the way to Easter dinner earlier today. While I love the song, it doesn't exactly put me in an Easter state of mind. But then I thought, what song would? Musically speaking, Easter does not have the treasure trove of musical selections that Christmas has. Christmas music covers all genres from classical to rock and every artist, even ones you would not expect, like say, Twisted Sister, has recorded at least one Christmas song, if not a whole CD.
Christmas has a lot more characters to sing about: Jesus, Santa, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, etc, etc. And let's not get into the commercialism that surrounds Christmas and how that affects our feeling towards holidays...that's be another blog. Maybe.
As for holiday characters, Easter has Jesus and the Easter Bunny. As for Easter music, there's that Peter Cottontail song, and I think there's a song by the name of "Easter Parade," taken from the Bing Crosby movie. Why is this the case? Does Easter not inspire the same musical spirit in composers? Does the average person not have the same sentimentality about Easter as he does toward Christmas?
I'll admit, Easter does not give me the same warm fuzzies I get about Christmas. Christmas is about warmth in the dead of winter, a gathering of family to celebrate a birth of something new and unknown, full of hope for the future, something untarnished by the cuts and wounds of a life already lived.
Easter is a different animal entirely. While it celebrates re-birth and a new chance at everlasting life, there is also the pall of death after a painful life on Earth. But I think it is the season in which Easter falls that makes the difference in the way people feel when they get together to celebrate. The long winter is over and, if you're in Chicago, there's still snow on the ground but it is melting under the rays of an increasingly warm sun. The countdown to baseball is eight days. That means summer is right around the corner, what with its cold beers on hot days and retreats from the humidity into the air conditioning. Easter is just a different vibe from Christmas, man.
What was my original point, though? Oh yeah, Easter songs. Does anybody know the words to "Peter Cottontail"?
"Here comes Peter Cottontail, hoppin' down the bunny trail, flippity floppety floopity floop, Easters' on it's way." I don't think that's quite it...
Friday, March 21, 2008
So lighten up already!
Ok, so I've been a little serious lately, what with the whole impeach everybody now and let's talk about guns and death culture and all that...so I needed to lighten up a bit...but staying political, this clip does have political pundit (whatever that means) Chris Matthews...
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