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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 1, 2020 18:20:24 GMT -5
Just watched the Showtime Go-Gos documentary. Nothing I didn't reall know; but, there is some great footage of their early days, in the LA punk scene (both as fans and a young band) as well as the tour of the UK, opening for Madness and The Specials. Kind of ignored legal issues in recent years, like lawsuits from Gina Shock and Kathy Valentine, though it does cover their earlier complaints about how much they were making, vs the other three. Wiedlin and Caffrey wrote the bulk of their songs, so they were making more off songwriting royalties; but, it was a pretty sore point, for quite a while.
Meanwhile, Belinda Carlisle looks like she has been at the botox pretty heavily. The rest seemed content to age naturally and gracefully, if not quietly.
I was always a big fan; really underrated band who could rock. So of course, like Pat Benatar, they aren't in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Probably didn't help they called up Rolling Stone to complain about being objectified on the cover, with a tag line that said "The Go-Gos Put Out."
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Aug 1, 2020 21:48:50 GMT -5
The Go-Gos were a pretty good pop rock band, but I've always felt that the Bangles kinda did the same thing much better. Certainly, I think the Bangles' material is stronger.
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 1, 2020 22:43:52 GMT -5
I liked them both, Go-Gos and Bangs/Bangles. I even like the Runaways (which initially had Bangle Micky Steele in). There were sure a bunch of cool gal groups in L.A.! I remember having the Beauty & The Beat LP as well as other early '80s LPs by Blondie, The (English) Beat, The Bus Boys, Devo and Greg Kihn. In fact I still have them, and sometimes the CD editions as well.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Aug 2, 2020 6:17:00 GMT -5
Another pretty cool early 80s all-girl rock group from the early 80s was The Pandoras. Like the Bangles, they came out of the LA Paisley Underground scene, but their material (and image) was much more slavishly 60s garage rock based than even most of the Paisley Underground groups.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 2, 2020 9:45:16 GMT -5
Well, one of the qualifiers used with the Go-Gos is that they wrote their own material (a couple of later covers). The Bangles had songs from other folks, such as Prince, who wrote "Manic Monday." I agree that they are probably better singers and musicians, though I tend to prefer the energy of the Go-Gos songs more.
There is also supposed to be a documentary out there about Suzie Quatro, called Suzi Q. Saw the trailer on Youtube and it looked good, with plenty of participation, including family and people like Henry Winkler, talking about her gig as Leather Tuscadero.
There was a great Blues Rocker, from the tail end of the 80s, that I discovered, via late night MTV: Joanna Dean. She had a video for the song, "Kiss This," which got a little play on MTV and radio. After first hunting down who it was, then obtaining the album, found it was great. She covered a Rolling Stones song or two and I prefer her vocals to Mick, any day (Gimme Shelter was one of the songs). It was a great driving album, as I would listen to it during the 5 hour drive between Athens, GA and Charleston, SC, when I would go visit my parents, while attending the US Navy Supply Corps School. I looked around on-line for more from here, as I never saw another album, but haven't come across anything. The album was titled Misbehavin and is damn good. Loved to hear more from her and find out what happened.
My favorite band, of any era is Concrete Blonde, in large part due to the voice and songwriting of Johnette Napolitano (they have covered some other songs, too) and guitar of Jim Mankhe. Really great songs, powerful and soulful vocals, wide range of material. They were a label mate of the Go-Gos, at Miles Copeland's IRS Records; but, timing and fighting with Copeland hurt them, over time. They had an early college radio hit with "God is a Bullet; but, the big breakthrough was their third album, Bloodletting, with the song "Joey", in the early 90s. They also covered Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows," on the soundtrack for the film Pump Up the Volume. Drummer Harry Rushikoff had a drug problem and was replaced for Bloodletting, came back to record Walking in London, then was gone permanently. They fought over artistic stuff with Copeland and were a guitar band in a synth era, in the early days. The 90s alternative scene was perfect for them, but they didn't get the promotion from IRS and were mostly ignored after "Joey." Both Walking on London and Mexican Moon are fantastic albums, with the totally awesome spectral romance song, "Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man," on the former and the title track on the latter as standouts. They reunited later, with the original line-up and made a pretty good album (not quite as good as the previous, but mostly good material), then Rushikoff was F-ed up again and they had to replace him for the tour. Their kind of last hurrah was a concert album, from Rio, with a great crowd and tight renditions of their songs, including from the later album. Napolitano had two side projects that were also good: Vowel Movement and Pretty & Twisted; both of which produced one excellent album.
Here's the Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man video...
Johnette singing Mercedes Benz, live...
No autotune here!
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 2, 2020 12:51:41 GMT -5
One of the few times I bought a record at a street market was a Pandoras LP. I really should've looked for others since then! Rhino was flush with money from Monkees releases for awhile there. I communicated with Patti Quatro briefly when buying a CD of their '60s girl group The Pleasure Seekers... they had some great singles! Patti later played guitar in another all girl group of the '70s, Fanny, who released a number of albums with varying line-ups. Johnette & Concrete Blonde kicked butt, real life!
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 2, 2020 14:36:45 GMT -5
Live version of the song "Tomorrow Wendy, written by Andy Prieboy, of Wall of Voodo, based on a friend, with AIDS. Powerful song, especially with the emotion Johnette gives it..
My other really big musical favorite is Pat Benatar, ever since I first heard her, back in the day. Awe-inspiring voice and a lady who can kick the ass of any rocker on the planet, whose been married to her guitarist husband for decades and sang with her daughter on stage. Cool as all hell, able to capture the emotion, and punctuate a song. Great heart, too...
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Aug 2, 2020 16:25:26 GMT -5
Well, one of the qualifiers used with the Go-Gos is that they wrote their own material (a couple of later covers). The Bangles had songs from other folks, such as Prince, who wrote "Manic Monday." I agree that they are probably better singers and musicians, though I tend to prefer the energy of the Go-Gos songs more. The Bangles did still write an awful lot of their own material too though. If you look at their albums and EPs, there is a fair amount of self-penned material, which is of a very high standard. I mean, sure, some of their biggest hit singles, like "Manic Monday", "Walk Like An Egyptian", and "Going Down To Liverpool" were written by others, but equally, hits like "Eternal Flame", "Hero Takes A Fall", "Walking Down Your Street", "In Your Room", and "Be With You" were written or co-written by the band members themselves.
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 2, 2020 17:04:17 GMT -5
Well, one of the qualifiers used with the Go-Gos is that they wrote their own material (a couple of later covers). The Bangles had songs from other folks, such as Prince, who wrote "Manic Monday." I agree that they are probably better singers and musicians, though I tend to prefer the energy of the Go-Gos songs more. The Bangles did still write an awful lot of their own material too though. If you look at their albums and EPs, there is a fair amount of self-penned material, which is of a very high standard. I mean, sure, some of their biggest hit singles, like "Manic Monday", "Walk Like An Egyptian", and "Going Down To Liverpool" were written by others, but equally, hits like "Eternal Flame", "Hero Takes A Fall", "Walking Down Your Street", "In Your Room", and "Be With You" were written or co-written by the band members themselves. Not saying they didn't; but just that the Go-Gos legacy usually comes with a lot of qualifiers, since they weren't the first girl group, or the first to play their own instruments, or write their own songs; but, got to Number 1 doing all that. The Bangles got their success a little later, which will always throw them in the shadow, by comparison. I like the Bangles and their songs, their sound. Their version of Hazy Shade of Winter is outstanding. Really, both bands come from different influences. The GoGos evolved out of the punk scene into more of a pop band, while the Bangles grew more out of 60s Folk and Rock, into a pop band. Both bands could rock when called for, though the Bangles could harmonize better and they were definitely better on the guitars. I think they got pigeonholed, partially because of their looks, and because of timing. The Go-Gos hit it big when MTV was becoming a thing, which got them a ton of attention. Our Lips Are Sealed in one of the early music videos that got played on multiple outlets, on American tv. By the time the Bangles were hitting their stride, MTV had become the mainstream; so they kind of got lost in the shuffle, though "Walk Like an Egyptian" got a ton of play and Manic Monday got the radio attention (Walk, too, but Manic Monday was probably a bigger radio hit, in the US, compared to the video rotation). I always wanted to see the two bands jam and maybe even play with some of the other women of the era, like Joan Jett, Lita Ford and Pat Benatar; sort of a Lilith Fair for the lest angst-ridden set. The 90s saw a bit more of women musicians fronting bands and some great ones, like 4 Non-Blonds, The Breeders, and the Cranberries, with Delores O'Riordan, plus female musicians in bands like Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and singer/musicians like Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield and more. I think the runaways (and Joan Jett and Lita Ford as solos), the Go-Gos and the Bangles all had a hand in that; plus women like Wanda Jackson, Patti Smith, Chrissy Hynde, and Tina Weymouth, of Talking Heads, not to mention singers like Debbie Harry, Siouxsie Sioux, Allison Moyet and some others.
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Confessor
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Post by Confessor on Aug 2, 2020 18:03:23 GMT -5
The Bangles did still write an awful lot of their own material too though. If you look at their albums and EPs, there is a fair amount of self-penned material, which is of a very high standard. I mean, sure, some of their biggest hit singles, like "Manic Monday", "Walk Like An Egyptian", and "Going Down To Liverpool" were written by others, but equally, hits like "Eternal Flame", "Hero Takes A Fall", "Walking Down Your Street", "In Your Room", and "Be With You" were written or co-written by the band members themselves. Not saying they didn't; but just that the Go-Gos legacy usually comes with a lot of qualifiers, since they weren't the first girl group, or the first to play their own instruments, or write their own songs; but, got to Number 1 doing all that. The Bangles got their success a little later, which will always throw them in the shadow, by comparison. I like the Bangles and their songs, their sound. Their version of Hazy Shade of Winter is outstanding. Really, both bands come from different influences. The GoGos evolved out of the punk scene into more of a pop band, while the Bangles grew more out of 60s Folk and Rock, into a pop band. Both bands could rock when called for, though the Bangles could harmonize better and they were definitely better on the guitars. I think they got pigeonholed, partially because of their looks, and because of timing. The Go-Gos hit it big when MTV was becoming a thing, which got them a ton of attention. Our Lips Are Sealed in one of the early music videos that got played on multiple outlets, on American tv. By the time the Bangles were hitting their stride, MTV had become the mainstream; so they kind of got lost in the shuffle, though "Walk Like an Egyptian" got a ton of play and Manic Monday got the radio attention (Walk, too, but Manic Monday was probably a bigger radio hit, in the US, compared to the video rotation). I always wanted to see the two bands jam and maybe even play with some of the other women of the era, like Joan Jett, Lita Ford and Pat Benatar; sort of a Lilith Fair for the lest angst-ridden set. The 90s saw a bit more of women musicians fronting bands and some great ones, like 4 Non-Blonds, The Breeders, and the Cranberries, with Delores O'Riordan, plus female musicians in bands like Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and singer/musicians like Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield and more. I think the runaways (and Joan Jett and Lita Ford as solos), the Go-Gos and the Bangles all had a hand in that; plus women like Wanda Jackson, Patti Smith, Chrissy Hynde, and Tina Weymouth, of Talking Heads, not to mention singers like Debbie Harry, Siouxsie Sioux, Allison Moyet and some others. It's one of those weird trans-Atlantic taste things that the Go-Go's never really did much here in the UK. They're definitely one of those bands that mean a lot more to folks in the States than over here. Songs like "We Got The Beat" or "Our Lips Are Sealed" aren't indelibly linked to the early 80s music scene in the general public's mind in the UK in the same way that they are in the U.S. Same goes for the Runaways, actually; they never came close to having a hit over here. The Bangles definitely resonated more with British Record buyers. They had quite a few hits in the mid-to-late 80s, including a number 1 with "Eternal Flame". I think my favourite song associated with the Go-Go's is probably Jane Wiedlin's solo song "Rush Hour". It was only a middling hit over here, but I've always thought it was a brilliant pop song and ripe for covering by some young pop star darling. Here's Jane performing it on what was then the UK's flagship music program, Top of the Pops...
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 2, 2020 19:03:30 GMT -5
Well, the Runaways weren't quite that big in the US,even; not in the mainstream, anyway. They had successful shows, but not the big hits that drive things here. They never quite cracked the hot 100, but had a dedicated following. I think a lot of hindsight gets attached to them and Joan Jett's solo success kind of gets lumped in with their history. US radio still had a lot of regional independence, as a lot of stations still programmed their own music and ownership was still limited, by law. They had a dedicated following and a lot of people thought they should be bigger or were poised to be so, but, their internal stuff hurt them , which also affected the Go-Gos, after their early success. I think they were very influential; but, a lot of people discovered them after the fact, especially after Joan Jett achieved mainstream success. It always seemed like they were more of a cult thing, until the 2000s and the memoirs and documentaries and movies were being made.
It's kind of funny how these things go, speaking of trans-Atlantic tastes. I grew up in the 70s, but, most of the music acts of that era I really enjoy are British, but they weren't as widely played in the Midwest; well, locally, at least. Chicago was a ways away and I didn't get to listen to WLS, one of the big rock stations, until the latter 1/3 of the 70s, when I could control my own radio. I missed most of Glam Rock; but, enjoyed ELO on the regular stations. By the later 70s and dawn of the 80s, local radio was mostly disco and arena rock, but, WLS played some of the New Wave bands and groups like Cheap Trick. MTV came to us when they were entering their second year, with a lot of British acts, which were vastly different than the US mainstream. I had been, slowly, finding the US New Wave stuff, like Blondie and The Cars, who were the big bands, but had also found the Motels and the Tubes and the Go-Gos. MTV brought in stuff like ABC, Duran Duran, The Beat (called The English Beat, here) Yazoo (shortened to Yaz, here), Human League, Adam Ant, Bow Wow Wow (ironically), and a few others. The Police had been a mainstream success here and really took off, with their videos. MTV also introduced me to the Punk stuff I had missed, like the Clash and the Sex Pistols, plus the Damned (who I saw on The Young Ones, which MTV brought over to the US audience). It also brought me more of the Heavy metal scene, with Def Leppard and iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Scorpions and Ronnie James Dio, before all the hair metal stuff took off. There were also some Canadian bands, as MTV was more of where I found Rush, rather than radio, as well as Triumph, Saga and even Loverboy (not a huge fan, but their stuff was okay). Asutralian bands, too (INXS, Midnight Oil, and even Men at Work). SCTV was also a big help, as the music guests they got, when they were on NBC, were fairly eclectic.
My soon-to-be-ex and I had different paths. She grew up in Chicago, with regular access to concert venues and the big bands, plus a brother-in-law, who introduced her to a lot of progressive rock stuff. She's very album-oriented and big on stuff like ELP, Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, etc... I grew up with American bandstand, Saturday Night Live and a radio station that played more light rock and pop, though I did get exposed to quite a bit of R&B and soul, as well as arena rock and disco. Once WLS came into the picture, the scope widened, as did the influences of things like SCTV and MTV. I kind of hit my musical stride in late high school and college, compared to my contemporaries. I was busy with comics.
British acts were still big on my playlist, until the 90s. The alternative scene here was bigger with me, than what seemed to be coming from the UK, by that point. I was listening more to things like Stone Temple Pilots and the Breeders, Concrete Blonde and 4 Non-Blonds, REM and such and didn't care much for stuff like Oasis or many of the pop acts. The one exception was Chumbawumba, who I quite liked, but only got attention for Tubthumping (I bought the follow up and liked it). Probably why I liked Never Mind The Buzzcocks, when I found episodes on Youtube. The piss-taking of the British pop acts kind of fit my thoughts on many of them, while I also caught many of the people I did like (though more in the early Mark Lamar days, than the Simon Amstell and guest host days).
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Post by codystarbuck on Aug 9, 2020 15:17:42 GMT -5
On vacation, chillin' to some 70s Glam Rock, with a little Alvin Stardust.......
or as my wife wrote, after downloading it, Alan Starburst....
I'm all set for a week off: Slade, Sweet, Mud, Alvin, Roxy Music, T-Rex (and Marc bolan solo),The Arrows, Suzi Quatro and some Rockpile (and Nick Lowe and Dave Edmonds solo). May throw some Kinks and David Bowie in.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I feel like dancin'......................
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 9, 2020 23:30:13 GMT -5
"It's still Rock & Roll to me."
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Post by beccabear67 on Aug 9, 2020 23:51:04 GMT -5
It's weird but I sort of have The Go-Gos filed as retro right next to The Stray Cats and Joan Jett... I was listening to them at the time, also Shakin' Stevens, and that one Neil Young '50s Rockabilly style album (that he got sued over for not sounding like himself by the label that signed him). There was a 'this is fun/old time rock' vibe also communicated in their graphics. Maybe the B-52s should be in that mix as well, my DJ brother had their LP, but other than Rock Lobster I wasn't listening really, I'd probably filed them next to Split Enz. Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe could do a retro thing as well, I remember Edmunds on that SCTV fishing show parody. Big Country, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Joe Jackson, Yaz... I'm not sure I was able to conveniently file them at all. Maybe Yaz as 'synth' and yet what a huge voice Alison Moyet had (another reason to be thankful Vince Clarke was born)!
It used to be exciting to stumble upon a new group like say The Cure, Oingo Boingo, or (SCTV appearing) The Plastics! from Japan... that stopped happening as often somewhere in the past. Anything different I would latch on to and want to hear more... The Grapes Of Wrath, The Proclaimers, Bjork, Matthew Sweet, Stereolab. I remember the opening riff of Sooner Or Later when the (English) Beat played American Bandstand and was sure I was hearing something like kids in early 1964 heard from the fab four on the Ed Sullivan show! Of course they broke up soon after, and only scattered weirdos across the U.S. 'got' the 2-Tone Ska thing just as it was falling apart into smaller sized remnants (and then I got into some of these great U.S. third wave combos, some equally short lived... oh, plus Fishbone of course).
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2020 7:19:39 GMT -5
Wasn't Kerrang! a metal music zine? Still is, though it's on hiatus at the moment, courtesy of Covid and the consequent shut-down of live music
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