Music

“An old refrain, it lingers on: l’amour, toujours, l’amour…”

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I did not love Roxy Music, but I did love their song “All I Want is You”. I heard it on WBCN in Boston back in the 70s. Rock songs are not usually romantic love songs. When they say “love” they mean “gettin’ it on”. But this one is that rarity, a romantic love song, and — unusually for the arch, idiosyncratic and somewhat abstract Roxy — a genuine rock song.

Via the unspeakably great You Tube, here is a live version of “All I Want is You”. Having listened to this about 20 times, I have decided to share the joy with the ChicagoBoyz community. The always dapper Bryan Ferry is fabulous in some kind of state trooper uniform. But he was no mere fashion plate. The man had the greatest enunciation in popular music. The band is in the pocket. These guys had the goods.

This one really took me back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10QSJUAkDgo&playnext=1&list=PLD14F4DE950D93E74

Here are two other Roxy Music gems from their golden era, Do the Strand and Virginia Plain.

And as curiosity/bonus for our beloved readers, here is the recently resurrected Mission of Burma, old and gnarly but still full of spit and vinegar, playing Roxy’s Editions of You with the guy from Dinosaur, Jr. on guitar. Roxy is part of the deep structure at this point. Which is a good thing. (Thanks to Carl Ortona for the Burma link.)

(Here’s a cool Bryan Ferry interview from 1972.)

Lyrics below the fold.

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Gus and Fin Play “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” on Ukeleles

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As an addendum of sorts to my recent Ramones post, here is a really very fine version of a classic Ramones tune:

Jonathan Richman once said, some place, that punk rock consisted of music you could play on instruments that you could bring to the beach. I always thought he was totally wrong about that. Now, seeing this, I am not so sure.

Johnny Ramone, Phil Spector, The Ronettes, etc.

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I recently had a post up about The Ronettes, with a link to a killer You Tube video of the girls in all their glory. I mentioned in that post that my favorite records back as a teenager were The Ramones’ Rocket to Russia and The Ramones Leave Home — and The Best of the Ronettes.

Michael Blowhard is a huge YouTube junkie, like me, and he kindly linked to the Ronettes post. And as it happens he’s a Ramones fan, too. Today he has a Ramones post with much gabba gabba goodness.

In an off-blog conversation we talked about Phil Spector as a link between the Ramones and the Ronettes, and he asked me if I had loved the Ramones album Phil Spector produced. Michael suggested I post my response which, amounts to a hymn of praise to the greatness of Johnny Ramone — one of my heroes — which, in revised and expanded form, follows:

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A Mystery Unveiled

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I have a five hour commute twice a week, so the scan button on my car radio gets a vigorous workout. Too often, I find myself asking “Who listens to this s**t, anyway?” Stupidity doesn’t suffice as an explanation. There aren’t enough cretins to go around; and besides, the cretins I know are Ramones fans. Or leftists.

Now we come to find out that Sony actually has to pay radio stations to play Jennifer Lopez, Good Charlotte, and Jessica Simpson. This comes as a relief. I have a higher opinion of the American people than the playlists at the various “KISS” radio stations across these fruited plains would warrant.

Next: Will Eliot Spitzer find out that they have to pay people to watch “reality TV” (whoa, an oxymoron rush!)?

Getting to Know You

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More student exchanges have to be a good idea. And a Tunisian high school student might leave with a better understanding than ABC’s. One student reports: “Before, I thought the Americans were like the Europeans – no religion, no moral values, taking drugs, having sex, drinking all the time.”

“Drinking all the time” might describe country videos and none (or very few) would have the anti-war stance the host family seemed to take. But despite their passionate patriotism, surely they are not only more realistic but more appealing representations of American life than Britney Spears. (Though I’m sure Lex would prefer that other host families followed the lead of the one that banned television viewing.) Maybe Hammerstein is schmalzy, but modern pop is cynical with adolescent angst.

And perhaps to these North Africans, a man would attract in a way that a boy does not. Spiked emphasizes: “Even as a young man, that’s what Presley sounded like – a man” rings true. I wasn’t of a culture nor a region that found Presley appealing. I’ve never seen a Presley movie through. But a few years ago when, in a tribute to him, various modern singers covered some of his originals, followed or enclosed by his versions, I was struck by how much fuller, deeper, richer his were. Switching stations, I’d never intended to alight on that one, but called out to my family and we watched it for a while. His biography may not be that of a man, but his voice was. And whatever interest he had in pubescent girls, he sounded like he was interested in women.

Thanks to AL for both.