Some Videos For A Quiet Tuesday
November 25th, 2008 by joe
There is no news on the front pages that I care enough to write about, and I am too busy with a work project to go digging … so here are a bunch of videos compiled mostly during September late at night under the influence of resveratrol.
Stones at their best: Dead Flowers
Slightly cheesy music video (from the early days of the medium, can’t imagine how they got Donald Sutherland to do it) but an incredibly beautiful song by Kate Bush: Cloudbusting
My peers will recall the great one by Billy Idol: Dancing with Myself. Really one hell of a good video.
…Although this is a pretty excellent video and version of Dancing With Myself: Boomtang Boys
And finally one from my youth, Tom Waits: Better Off Without A Wife. The live album version is better, helped me survive 9th and 10th grade. But this is pretty good.
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November 25th, 2008 at 7:55 am
I can’t watch all the videos, but I think Kate Bush is really irritating. Her song “running up that hill” gives me the heebeegeebees.
Joe, you were under the influence of something to come up with this list.
November 25th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Cath,
What? WHAT!? You have got to be joking! The album with that song and Cloudbusting is one of the best ever made. I used to listen to it over and over. It’s easily one of the top ten albums of the past 30 years.
Something tells me you are either very young and uncultured, or tone deaf.
Tell me this: Do you really enjoy the song Celebrate? Do you watch Dancing With The Stars? Do you often find yourself humming along with commercials?
If you can answer “Yes” to any of these questions then you and I are simply from different cultural milieu, and can expect that we will never agree on any form of art or entertainment.
November 25th, 2008 at 9:48 am
The Stones Video is really old. Keith looked human. Not my favorite Stones Song. can’t you Hear me Knockin is in the top 10 rock and roll songs of all time. But that’s just me.
That woman is either a midget or Donald Sutherland is 9 feet tall. The song is OK, I enjoyed it right up to when I fell asleep.
Moving right along to Tom Waits. I have enjoyed his stuff for years, although I can’t get past the thought that in one of the closets in his house is a freshly pressed Che T-shirt and a rocket launcher.
November 25th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Ok, next time I will search out some Kiss.
November 25th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Joe, Joe, Joe, I am not tone deaf, as I never said she was off key - I just can’t stand her. One of the very reasons I don’t like her is because in college I had a roommate that played the album with “running up that hill” over and over (sometimes at 6 am on the weekends) and it drove me frickin crazy. Then Kate made that song with Peter Gabriel and I still didn’t like her.
I haven’t followed her career, and I have watched DWTS but don’t even know what the song celebrate is. I’m sure I have hummed to a couple of her tunes from time to time, but to put Kate’s album up there as a top 10 of all time is crazy, in my opinion.
I am not that much younger than you that we wouldn’t have common interests in music. I graduated from HS in 1985 so I am an 80’s generation, baby.
November 25th, 2008 at 10:56 am
BTW, Kiss sucks.
November 25th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Bumble LOVES Dancing With The Stars. Don’t make me come down there …
November 25th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Hey, Cath! 1984 HS grad here … and my roomie was obsessed with Kate as well. The Cure also. And The Smiths. Guess what her favorite color was? You get three guesses and the first two don’t count.
Like you, I am not particularly fond of Kate, though I continue to enjoy The Cure and really love The Smiths.
November 25th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Say what you want about Kiss, they were very smart. To be a household name and be to able to walk down the street enjoying your privacy, brilliance.
November 25th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
Linda - I enjoy the Cure and The Smiths still and I think we had the same roommate. Perhaps I am being too hard on Kate, but her voice makes me wince. I considered her voice a form of torture and have never gotten over it. Sorry it has caused Joe so much angst.
Dan, I don’t disagree with your assessment of Kiss, but their music was never very good. Kiss knew they would never be famous because of their musical talents and were very smart in masking it in personalities and stage antics - more or less great marketing of a mediocre product. I never got into them as a kid with the whole “KISS Army” thing, but had friends that did. Gene Simmons is just gross, but a very rich man.
Anyone here a Spinal Tap fan? One of the funniest movies ever.
November 25th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I was going to ask for a poll of what everyone thought were the top ten albums of the past 30 years, but then realized all of mine would be between 1978 and about 1994 when I quit listening to music - so I’m not such a great one to run the poll.
November 25th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
good songs joe, they certainly don’t make videos like they used to. that would be an interesting poll, i could think of a few after 94.
November 25th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Why thank you, resident young whippersnapper. As you can see, I’m not having an easy time with this crew.
November 25th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Joe,
Top 10 …
Nirvana ‘Nevermind’ (1991),
Creed ‘Weathered’ (2001),
Led Zeppelin ‘In Through The Out Door’, 1978
U2 ‘Joshua Tree’, 1987
PSB ‘Please’ 1986
Depeche Mode ‘Black Celebration’, 1986
Blonde ‘Parallel Lines’, 1978
Neil Young ‘Rust Never Sleeps’, 1979
Pearl Jam ‘Ten’, 1991
The Who, ‘Who Are You’, 1978
November 25th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
the scene was stale in 94, that is why you and a lot of other people stopped listening. Things may have gotten better since then. There was a serious lack of imagination and it was getting very wrote. The Grunge Scene got old fast. Music needs hope. Grunge was the antithesis of hope.
November 25th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Cathymac is spot on Kiss most definitely s*cks
November 25th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Joe, I thought I recognized you from a Kiss concert I attended in New Jersey. Did you see Ted Nugent at the Meadowlands too?
November 25th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I saw Springsteen in Red Bank once … and that’s all I remember, but it definitely doesn’t mean it’s the only one I saw. It was a very foggy period for some reason.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Here are the actual Top 20 albums from 1979 to now (in no particular order):
Nirvana - Nevermind
Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Radiohead - OK Computer
Jeff Buckley - Grace
The Smiths - The Smiths
Paul Simon - Graceland
Pet Shop Boys - Introspective
Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps
The Clash - London Calling
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Elvis Costello - Armed Forces
Prince - 1999
Roxy Music - Avalon
OutKast - Stankonia
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
Portishead - Dummy
Joy Division - Closer
Bruce Springsteen - The River
Buena Vista Social Club
The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
November 25th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Those videos sucked. And the songwriter/singers sucked. Why didn’t you show a “Devo” video or “Wang Chung”. Sheesh. They just don’t make um like they used to.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I think this is a fine discussion, but I guess since I dissed Kate it started on a downer note.
Regardless, I’d include (best in the past 30 years):
Bruce Springsteen Born to Run
Fleetwood Mac Rumors
Boston Boston
Yes! to the Clash, Elvis Costello and U2 - some of my favorites
I am not a huge fan or a lot of music of “newer” music and a huge fan of even older music, Big Band - Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Bing and my beloved Frank Sinatra. I even think Dean Martin had a pretty smooth voice and was a lot better looking than Frank.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Add Queen to my list, one of my top ten all time favorite bands.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Aerosmith. For rock, other than Led Zepplin, ain’t no better.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Cathymac,
Never been a voice to replace that of Freddie.
November 25th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
You guys have a real knack for making me feel old. The only “Kate” that comes to mind for me is “Kate Smith.” And I hated the damn Beatles too. I once had a spat with a girlfriend because she liked the old Jefferson Airplane and I thought they were talent-less idiots. And then there were the absolutely insane “Sex Pistols”!
If you don’t stop all this crap, I’m going to file an age discrimination lawsuit against this blog!
November 25th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Wolverine, I don’t really care for the Beatles either! This opinion makes some people absolutely flip out.
November 25th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I like ‘Joy Division’, but top 10? Beatles? I thought we were supposed to pick albums from 78 till now.
November 25th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Dammit, Zimzo, we are 25% joined at the hip, at minimum
November 25th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
“Like they used to” ACTivist?? Do you mean like the Ed Sullivan Show?
November 25th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I love the Beatles and Elvis; not to mention Nat King Cole! Nat’s velvet voice is like a silk robe that wraps around you. Delicious!
November 25th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
joy division certainly should be up there. though i’d say ‘the bends’ for radiohead and ‘nebraska’ by springsteen. also, what about the pixies ‘doolittle’ and neutral milk hotel’s ‘in the aeroplane over the sea?’ the latter is one of the best albums in that past few years. way better than ‘dummy.’
November 25th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
wolf,
You are old!
November 25th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Beatles fans, last summer we saw :
http://www.wolftrap.org/Find_Performances_and_Events/Performance/08Filene/0619show08.aspx
At Wolf Trap and it was an excellent show. This year, they are returning for two shows. I was amazed that my sons 11 and 13 knew most of the words..
November 26th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Some of my favs from the last 30 years :
Michael Stanley Band - Heartland
CSNY - 4 Way Street (rereleased in 1992)
Michael Jackson - Thriller
Alabama - Mountain Music
Aztec Two Step - Aztec Two Step (one of the best folk music recordings ever released)
Eric Clapton and friends - 24 Nights
Records not making Joe’s 30 year cut :
Dan Fogelberg And Tim Weisberg - Twin Sons Of A Different Mother
Sergeant Peppers
Foghat Live
These are recordings that I still listen to frequently, and they never get old.
November 26th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Brian — old, tough, and mean as the Devil himself!
November 26th, 2008 at 12:40 am
By the way, Brian, my attorney just told me I need to get the name and phone number of your attorney. Maybe we can settle out of court. We will, however, let you keep your shirt…one of them, anyway…your pick!
Maybe I better take back that thing about Kate Smith. In truth, I only vaguely remember that lady of great voice and ample proportions. Dinah Shore, on the other hand… And I certainly do remember this: “Gooood Morning, Vietnam!!!”
November 26th, 2008 at 12:46 am
Lovisa — Nat “King” Cole and “Mona Lisa”! Now you’re talkin’ my language! You go, girl!!!
November 26th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Anybody out there among you youngsters who love what is now laughingly called music remember “Tubular Bells” (1972) by Mike Oldfield? The recording that kept Virgin Records alive for years until they were able to sign Boy George, Phil Collins, Janet Jackson, and The Rolling Stones. Virgin sold their business to Thorn-EMI in 1992 for a cool billion dollars. Now, that was “recording power”!
November 26th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I third Nat King Cole, he died too young!
November 26th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Wolv, anyone that saw the Exorcist is familiar with Tubular Bells..
November 26th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
You’re right, Dans. I forgot about that.
November 26th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Wolverine, one of my favorite performers is from an earlier generation :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvmdqkdRHZU
Have a couple of his albums on CD..
November 26th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Thanks for posting Bobby Darin. He too died too young.
November 26th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
That’s the ticket, Dans! Now, those were the days! They had great voices and great style. They dressed like adults. AND YOU COULD ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THE LYRICS!
Woooeeee, what memories! And those were even the days when the Detroit Lions won NFL championships.
November 26th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Wolv, yes, I forgot the Lions did win a championship.
They too died too young..