Each of her shows is apparently a little bit different: for example, Roanoke was treated to her covering "Need You Tonight" and "Burning Down the House". I would have loved to have seen those, but we'll be happy with Bruce Hornsby as a guest.
Bonnie Raitt - "I Can't Make You Love Me"
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| Bonnie Raitt & Band plus Bruce Hornsby, 2024-11-16 |
Speaking of 1980, Danette often talks about the time she first head the B-52s: their appearance on Saturday Night Live on January 26, 1980. She would have been 13 at the time, the most impressionable and formative time for receiving new music. She describes the scenario of digging their kitsch aesthetic and sound, and her father coming in and saying something to the effect of "what is this? this isn't music!" Her father, a musician himself and a very "serious" jazz aficionado, had just unwittingly given the indirect approval that every teenager desires. She was a B-52s fan from that moment on, as were most of the freaks and geeks of our generation (even before their "comeback" LP "Cosmic Thing", recorded after the death of Ricky Wilson).
Danette enjoyed the show, but was a bit sad that they did not do "Quiche Lorraine" or "Strobe Light" (both from their second LP, 1980's "Wild Planet"). We had a discussion afterwards where I think we finally agreed that while those two songs were popular in her HS circle, they were not broadly popular.
The SNL performance is regularly deleted from YouTube, so the two songs here are sourced from Facebook and TikTok (we'll see how long they stay up). It's hard to imagine back to 1980 and understand how irreverent, fun, and fresh this sound was.
SNL, January 26, 1980: "Dance This Mess Around", "Rock Lobster" (both from their self-titled debut LP) (Trivia: the host for that episode was Teri Garr, who died two days before we saw them on Halloween.)
Pics from October 31, 2024:
Their second LP, 1981's "Killers", is an extraordinary LP with no weak moments and several that are simply transcendent. "Killers" finds them settling into their classic sound: guitarist Dennis Stratton was replaced by Adrian Smith, who combined with Dave Murray to solidify the "Iron Maiden dual harmony" sound that would define their career. In addition, "Killers" was the first LP to have their long-time producer, Martin Birch, which resulted in a slightly fuller if muddier and heavier sound than their first LP.
As I said in my review of "Iron Maiden", I enjoy the first two LPs without the crutch of nostalgia or a hint of irony (cf. my recent review of "Too Fast for Love"). They were right to fire Di'Anno in late 1981: he was a troubled addict, and Iron Maiden would never have become "Iron Maiden" had he stayed at the helm. But the first two Iron Maiden LPs are special.
Standout songs: "Ides of March / Wrathchild", "Murders in the Rue Morgue", "Killers", "Prodigal Son", "Purgatory" (Full LP)
Skip 'em songs: none.
Final rating: 10/10. A NWOBHM masterpiece.
Bonus link: my review of "Live at the Rainbow", a 1980 concert with Paul Di'Anno.
Like most people, "Too Fast for Love" wasn't the first Motley Crue LP that I heard. Originally self-released in late 1991 and then later released on a major label in 1982, this LP was eclipsed by their much larger and more successful 1983 LP "Shout at the Devil". In 1983 & 1984* (my freshman year of HS), heavy metal was enjoying an unprecedented level of mainstream success and exposure, regularly appearing on the radio and MTV. I was young, with an insatiable desire for anything loud, angry, and offensive, and Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil", along with Dio, Twisted Sister, Iron Maiden, Quiet Riot, Ozzy, etc. were a salve for middle class, suburban, teenage ennui. Finding out about new music in the 80s was difficult and expensive, and you needed to have a tape trading network to explore and push the boundaries. It was Chris Miller, my first HS metal connection, that recorded the first two Motley Crue LPs on tape for me. Even though "Shout at the Devil" is arguably heavier of the two LPs, its imagery was a conflict for me: I dug the satanic trappings, but they glam and camp was off-putting in a way that I could not articulate at the time. Though it was "Shout at the Devil" that drew me in, it was "Too Fast for Love", with its KISS / Aerosmith sound and attitude that I found myself replaying over and over.
Though they were a gateway band, Motley Crue was not important to me for long. Via Matt McClure and Scott Kinkade, I soon learned of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Venom, Celtic Frost, and various other "true" metal bands. They were faster, heavier, darker, and generally more engaging, and "Shout at the Devil" seemed insincere, clumsy, and clownish in comparison. And in a division that make both the Judean People's Front and the Peoples Front of Judea proud, I saw the metal scene divided between "real metal" and "false metal", played by poseurs. By my sophomore year in HS I had firmly embraced thrash, black, and death metal... but I kept playing "Too Fast for Love".
Its production is raw, like a garage band, but still crisp and not muddy like many low budget recordings of the time. There's a youthful urgency to the songs, accentuated by having almost no dead air between the tracks -- as if the band simply could not wait the two seconds normally employed to separate, for example, "Live Wire" and "Public Enemy #1". There's the commitment to use some combination of a guitar flanger, cowbell, or vocal reverb/echo/delay for every single song. Vince Neil sings like a chipmunk, and while they're not punk levels of sloppy, unlike most metal bands, there's no real virtuoso. Mick Mars is a good enough guitarist, but he couldn't play for your average thrash metal band. However, the song writing is excellent, and what they lack in talent they make up for with energy and attitude.
Curious as to how it would hold up today, I listened to "Too Fast for Love" all the way through after finishing "The Dirt". It held up surprisingly well, and even the weaker of the songs ("Merry-Go-Round", "Take Me to the Top", "Piece of Your Action") still had redeeming features. And the best songs? They still rawk, still produce a physical reaction, and transport me back to HS.
By the time "Theatre of Pain" came out in 1985, Motley Crue was unspeakably uncool in my circle, and they became worse with each successive LP. But even without the veneer of nostalgia, "Too Fast for Love" is a legitimately great LP. If you can somehow ignore what they'd eventually become, and pretend like it's 1982(-ish), this is still a fun LP.
Standout songs: "Live Wire", "Public Enemy #1", "Starry Eyes", "Too Fast for Love", "On with the Show" (full LP)
Skip 'em songs: The songs from their first single, "Stick to Your Guns" and "Toast of The Town", were included on the 2003 release but left off the 1981 self-release and the 1982 Elektra release, and for good reason.
Final score: 8/10. I would have scored it 9/10 back in the day, but I think I can still defend a "8/10" now.
* Seriously, a lot of good debuts as well as bands at their peak in 1983 & 1984:
Allison Krauss and Robert Plant were the opening act, and were definitely the highlight of the show -- we would definitely see them again. For example, their interpretation of "When the Levee Breaks" was darker, more predatory and menacing that Led Zeppelin's version. Drew had seen them a couple of times before, so I sort of knew what to expect, but they exceeded my expectations and we would definitely see them again.
I saw Bob Dylan once in college (ca. 1988) and he's not exactly a showman. I mostly enjoyed his show here, even though he purposefully did some of his most obscure songs. His set fit the bar room, honky tonk aesthetic of this tour, but I certainly would have appreciated at least a couple more of his classics.
Since Willie was still too ill to perform, Lukas played his set. He looks and sounds like a lot like his father, and they made the best of the situation. We enjoyed the set, but we couldn't quite shake the feeling that we were watching a Willie Nelson tribute band.
Even with the limitations, we enjoyed the concert and it was an evening well-spent (even though it was a million degrees). But the song that I am choosing to mark the event is not one that they performed, but one that we heard in between sets. It is a cover of Pearl Jam's 2009 "Just Breathe", a single from their 2009 LP "Backspacer", a late-career "hit" for Pearl Jam that I always enjoyed. I did not know until that evening that Willie Nelson and Lukas Nelson did this as a duet for Willie's 2012 LP "Heroes". It's a great song, and they turn in an inspired cover, and I could not help but think of Johnny Cash's work with Rick Rubin.
Pearl Jam: Just Breath (studio), Live at Austin City Limits (2009)
Willie Nelson (Featuring Lukas Nelson): Just Breathe (studio), Live at Farm Aid (2012)
