Devo - "Uncontrollable Urge"

Happy birthday Danette!!!

Last year, I was back to picking a song that reminds me of Danette, independent of whether or not she actually liked it ("The Story").  This year, I'm picking a song she actually likes, while still being especially relevant to her.  

The song is "Uncontrollable Urge", from Devo's 1978 debut LP "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!".  Due to the unlikely and meteoric success of 1980's "Whip It", it's tempting to think of Devo as a one hit wonder, but a closer inspection reveals that's not even close to true.  They got a lot of MTV airplay back in the day, even if "Whip It" might have been the only song to make the radio.  Some minor hits they had include: "Love Without Anger", "Girl U Want", "Freedom of Choice", "Through Being Cool", "Peek-A-Boo", and of course, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", a cover of The Rolling Stones classic for which "Uncontrollable Urge" was the B-side (bonus: our shared love of B-sides was covered three years ago).  

I suspect it was similar for Danette: I always liked Devo since my exposure to them in 1980, but I was really too young to fully get the message: de-evolution, Bob & The Church of the SubGenius, etc.  The pre-teen me detected something more than just silly novelty songs, but it wasn't until college that the full context was exposed to me.  Like Danette, you can enjoy Devo on the surface, or you can take the time to really explore their deep point of view and aesthetic.  Or, preferably, both.  

But the reason for this particular song?  It's the opening theme song for the MTV series "Ridiculousness", a show that Danette is obsessed with.  MTV will run daily marathons of this show, and she'll watch them all.  The show consists of the hosts and the special guests reacting to short videos from social media, mostly people doing stupid things (frequently due to testosterone poisoning), making bad decisions, falling down, etc.  The videos are sometimes positive (cute animals, people avoiding catastrophe), but they're almost always silly.  "Low brow" is not what one thinks of when they think of Danette, but this guilty (?) pleasure for her allows her to disengage from the gravity of her normal circumstances, and nicely captures her duality: though not everyone knows it, she can be quite fun and silly.  Danette is like Devo wearing their energy domes and playing purposefully and awkward classic rock covers: it might appear silly on the surface, but it's 10X more mischievous, biting, and clever than you anticipated.  

Though the members of Devo are baby boomers, their music is more closely associated with GenX, and is part of the soundtrack of the misfit intellectuals, weirdos, lost souls, geeks, and punks of our generation.  If you are to understand us, you must understand songs like "Uncontrollable Urge".  

Devo: "Uncontrollable Urge"  

Previous birthday songs:

2023: Brandi Carlile - "The Story" 
2022: Plastic Bertrand - "Ça plane pour moi" 
2021: Adam and the Ants - "Christian D'or" 
2020: Walk Off The Earth - "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall"
2019: Nicki Minaj - "Monster"
2018: Bear Hands - "Giants" 
2017: Alvvays - "Archie, Marry Me" 
2016: Molly Hatchet - "Flirtin' With Disaster" 
2015: Avett Brothers - "Kick Drum Heart"
2014: Ani DiFranco - "32 Flavors" 
2013: The Green Pajamas - "Kim the Waitress"
2012: The Cure - "High"
2011: Blink 182 - "Josie"
2010:  Dead Milkmen - "Punk Rock Girl"  

Motley Crue - "Too Fast for Love" (LP Review)

I recently watched "The Dirt", the 2019 biopic based on the 2001 book of the same name, which tells the story of Motley Crue.  Although I had not read the book, I was familiar with most parts of the story, since Motley Crue was a contemporary band for musical education, and was briefly very important to me in early HS.  The cultural context for this LP and Motley Crue itself is important.

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:

Gogmagog -- "I Will Be There"

With all of the good backlogged music I have, why am I taking time to talk about this best forgotten metal history footnote from 1985?  It's actually fascinating, in that it illustrates why supergroups often fail, and why each group needs a strong, primary songwriter.  Imagine having a metal supergroup with this pedigree: 

• Paul Di'Anno (former Iron Maiden)
• Pete Willis (former Def Leppard)
• Janick Gers (former Gillan and future Iron Maiden)
• Neil Murray (former Whitesnake and future Black Sabbath)
• Clive Burr (former Iron Maiden)

And releasing something that's really, really bad? Not just "not good", but something that sounds more like show tunes than metal?  The folks listed above formed Gogmagog, a supergroup that existed for about a minute in 1985.  To be fair, this project was really the brainchild of BBC impresario Jonathan King*, and not really a "band" in the conventional sense of the term, and we really should limit how much blame we place on the participating musicians.  King wrote two of the three songs Gogmagog recorded, and hired gun Russ Ballard wrote the third.  And therein lies the problem: while this lineup's pedigree appears impeccable, there's not a primary song writer in the bunch, no Ian Gillan, Steve Harris, nor David Coverdale to shoulder the load.  The ones with the most songwriting credits to their names, Paul Di'Anno and Pete Willis, were both kicked out of their original bands for substance abuse and as a result past the prime of their careers.  For all practical purposes, Di'Anno, Willis, and Burr never really did anything of note after this, Murray continued as a journeyman bassist, and Gers is the only one whose career improved after Gogmagog.  

I know there's a trend for the hip folks to try to rehabilitate objectively bad LPs (e.g., "Wild Honey", "Crazy Horses"), and "I'll Be There" sometimes is spoken of similarly.  But don't let the novelty and your love of them in their former bands distract you: this EP's obscurity is well-deserved.  

Standout tracks: none

Skip 'em tracks: all (yes, all of them).

Final score: 2/10 

* And as it turned out, BBC pedophile.  And no, not that BBC pedophile, King is yet another one.  

Willie Nelson - "Just Breathe"

 

A month ago, we went to the Outlaw Music Festival in Va Beach.  It was an outstanding lineup: Allison Krauss & Robert Plant, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson.   Unfortunately, Willie Nelson was sick and while he was originally projected to return to the tour in time for the Va Beach show, he did not join until the next show on the tour.  I missed a chance to see Willie Nelson in Norfolk in 2008, and I had hoped this would be a chance to make up for that.  He's 91, so realistically my chances of seeing him live are running out.

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)

Pink Floyd - "Animals"

I listened to Pink Floyd's 1977 LP "Animals" this weekend, something that I'm not sure I've done in 25+ years.  I certainly listened to it enough during and immediately after college, but it was an LP I never acquired on vinyl or CD.  Despite not having listened to it in so long, it's an LP that I think of frequently.  More on that later.

To begin, it's arguably Pink Floyd's most "forgotten" LP, if normalized for the status of the band at the time.  Sandwiched between landmarks of 1973's "Dark Side of the Moon" and 1979's "The Wall", and even 1975's slightly lesser masterpiece "Wish You Were Here", with no singles released and song running times of "1:24", "17:04", "11:28", "10:20", and "1:24", "Animals" is a singularity in their canon.  You could make an argument for "Obscured by Clouds" or "More", but those were movie soundtracks and probably should not count.  Even "Atom Heart Mother" had radio-friendly"Fat Old Sun", and "Meddle" had concert favorite "One of These Days".  Maybe "Ummagumma"?  But it doesn't feel right to compare Pink Floyd ca. 1969 to Pink Floyd ca. 1977 -- they were two very different bands in the space of about 8 years. 

This not to say the LP was not consequential -- in addition to providing an iconic cover (for example, see The Orb's 1993 tribute), did well on the charts, and generally had a cultural impact, if for no other reason than its associated tour providing the inspiration for "The Wall".*   It's just this: when's the last time you listened to this LP?  Even though you probably also quite like it?  

Why do I think of "Animals" more than I listen to it?  The reason is a theory that I hope to pursue further in future posts: "Animals" is the kind of LP that rounds out and strengthens a band's discography.  While every band wants to have a run of "Dark Side of the Moon", "Wish You Were Here", and "The Wall", most bands need more "Animals".  And you know who has released several "Animals"-level LPs?  Radiohead.  Not to belabor the Pink Floyd -- Radiohead analogy too much, but I would argue that their last three LPs, "In Rainbows", "The King of Limbs", and "A Moon-Shaped Pool", are all "Animals"-quality: important LPs that round out and strengthen the Radiohead discography, while still being obscured by LPs like "The Bends", "OK Computer", and "Kid A".  Think about it. 

Standout songs: All, but with special mention to "Dogs". (Full LP)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final Score: 9/10

* Also, the lyrics give us a preview of "The Wall": It's the same "stone" in both "Dogs" ("Who was dragged down by the stone") and "Hey You" ("Hey you, would you help me to carry the stone?").

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Live KEXP 2023-03-25

 

This is for Terry, who recently turned us all on to Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs (aka Pigs x7) a UK metal band that he's seen in concert (just once, I believe).  They straddle the stoner, doom, psychedelic genres, and like all such bands, they have a significant sonic debt to Black Sabbath (though on their second track, "Big Rig", there's also a definite Rage Against the Machine influence). I've yet to explore their full discography, but I've certainly liked what I've heard so far.  KEXP concerts are always excellent, and this one does not disappoint.  I don't see any nearby shows on the schedule now, but hopefully this will change in the future. 

The Moody Blues - "Go Now"

 

Denny Laine, co-founder of both The Moody Blues and Wings, died last month.  Most people consider Wings as just a Paul McCartney solo project, and that's mostly true, but few realize that Laine was a constant member of the band (along with Linda), pretty much from start to finish. In addition to other various projects, Laine was also a member of Ginger Baker's Air Force.  

Although he left before what we now consider the "classic lineup" of The Moody Blues, he did sing lead on the "Go Now", which wasn't their first single, but probably their earliest single that still gets airplay today.  It was only today that I learned that "Go Now" is actually a cover of a song originally recorded by Bessie Banks, with her version predating the The Moody Blues version by a few months.  Normally I credit the original artist, but The Moody Blues version is a great way to remember Denny.  

The Moody Blues - "Go Now"

Wings - "Go Now" (live, 1976)

Bessie Banks - "Go Now"