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Post by Deleted on Jan 18, 2016 22:25:06 GMT -5
Omfg! This takes me back to almost pre-junior highschool! I was obsessed with these guys. D'oh! I had the biggest crushes ever on them. *blushes* I used to love these guys when they were in the House Party films and Class Act. I used to watch them ALL the time in my younger days. |
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Post by Mormel on Jan 19, 2016 0:03:07 GMT -5
I've been listening to A Hard Day's Night by The Beatles, but its' time for something more uptempo. Mormel, have you listened to the rock cover of Blue Monday from the late 90s? If you like harder rock at all, it's a very good cover. Is that the one by Orgy? I'm going to check that out, thanks! |
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Post by impulse on Jan 19, 2016 0:50:10 GMT -5
It is. Enjoy!
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Post by berkley on Jan 19, 2016 2:09:37 GMT -5
I have decided that T. Rex's Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow has just about everything in life that I need, listening-wise. I have this cd but don't know the album well, except for the three tracks that appeared on Light of Love, which was the first T. Rex record I really listened to a lot - it was a North American release made of those 3 songs from Zinc Alloy plus 8 more from Bolan's Zip Gun. So my two favourite songs from Zinc Alloy are:
and especially
(edit:) BTW, more comic book references in Teenage Dream |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2016 8:07:51 GMT -5
I have decided that T. Rex's Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow has just about everything in life that I need, listening-wise. I have this cd but don't know the album well, except for the three tracks that appeared on Light of Love, which was the first T. Rex record I really listened to a lot - it was a North American release made of those 3 songs from Zinc Alloy plus 8 more from Bolan's Zip Gun. So my two favourite songs from Zinc Alloy are:
and especially
(edit:) BTW, more comic book references in Teenage Dream Silver Surfer!  Bolan, like Bowie, was very much ahead of his time. I don't know where he failed that Bowie succeeded, though. I cannot quite seem to figure it out, other than Marc passed too early. But I *think* his career started fading out before he passed, didn't it? I will have to look more into it. He couldn't quite make his music as accessible in America as Bowie did. It didn't take off as well here. But the music he made with the beautifully voiced background singers sure makes his music fun and quirky. When I hear his background singers sing, beautifully, "Gardenia and the Mighty Slug", it makes me laugh. |
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jan 19, 2016 16:07:00 GMT -5
Well I was there during the T Rex phase (I was there when the drum was invented but that's neither her nor there). I always thought Marc Bolan had just 2 good albums Electric Warrior and The Slider. His earlier work as acoustic and folky and not as good as Dylan, Donovan and others that inspired him. He went electric, was a bit too bubblegum, had a good sound but it wasn't varied enough. In fact, The Slider (to me) started sounding derivative by the time you got to side 2. The American public must have agreed with me because he quickly dropped from the charts. I believe he had a motorbike accident that also stalled his career. Never heard anything after The Slider that I particularly liked
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2016 16:32:29 GMT -5
Well I was there during the T Rex phase (I was there when the drum was invented but that's neither her nor there). I always thought Marc Bolan had just 2 good albums Electric Warrior and The Slider. His earlier work as acoustic and folky and not as good as Dylan, Donovan and others that inspired him. He went electric, was a bit too bubblegum, had a good sound but it wasn't varied enough. In fact, The Slider (to me) started sounding derivative by the time you got to side 2. The American public must have agreed with me because he quickly dropped from the charts. I believe he had a motorbike accident that also stalled his career. Never heard anything after The Slider that I particularly liked See, I have listened to Donovan, and I have listened to Dylan. I think he sounds completely different and separate from them. But, I am of a different generation, so I was not hearing these musicians as they first appeared in the scene. So, I think that might make a difference? Either way, I love Marc's music, and I think he was truly talented. But I have already stressed my bias towards him previously in this thread. I won't gross you all out by going fangirl again. |
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Post by berkley on Jan 19, 2016 17:30:02 GMT -5
I have this cd but don't know the album well, except for the three tracks that appeared on Light of Love, which was the first T. Rex record I really listened to a lot - it was a North American release made of those 3 songs from Zinc Alloy plus 8 more from Bolan's Zip Gun. So my two favourite songs from Zinc Alloy are: [Venus Loon and Teenage Dream] (edit:) BTW, more comic book references in Teenage Dream Silver Surfer! Bolan, like Bowie, was very much ahead of his time. I don't know where he failed that Bowie succeeded, though. I cannot quite seem to figure it out, other than Marc passed too early. But I *think* his career started fading out before he passed, didn't it? I will have to look more into it. He couldn't quite make his music as accessible in America as Bowie did. It didn't take off as well here. But the music he made with the beautifully voiced background singers sure makes his music fun and quirky. When I hear his background singers sing, beautifully, "Gardenia and the Mighty Slug", it makes me laugh. I'd almost be tempted to turn that question around and ask how Bowie ever did succeed in the US while being so out there, when other avant-garde pop acts like Roxy Music were never accepted to the same degree. But I think the answer to both questions has to do with the fact that T. Rex were a chart-topping singles act in the UK, and Bolan, with his movie-star good looks (worked as a model for a time, didn't he?), had a more mainstream pop-star image there than Bowie. But at the same time, he had some of that androgynous appeal that was so much a part of the glitter era in the early 70s and his music wasn't always as straightforward as would be expected from a mainstream pop act in the US. So my thinking is that he was too far out to be marketed to the mainstream pop audience in the US, which is what they tried to do because that's the kind of star he was in the UK. Perhaps if they had tried to sell him in America as more of a cult act along the lines of Bowie and Roxy, he might have enjoyed that kind of success of there, but it was probably too tempting to try to carry over the same kind of success he had in the UK. |
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Post by berkley on Jan 19, 2016 17:39:51 GMT -5
Well I was there during the T Rex phase (I was there when the drum was invented but that's neither her nor there). I always thought Marc Bolan had just 2 good albums Electric Warrior and The Slider. His earlier work as acoustic and folky and not as good as Dylan, Donovan and others that inspired him. He went electric, was a bit too bubblegum, had a good sound but it wasn't varied enough. In fact, The Slider (to me) started sounding derivative by the time you got to side 2. The American public must have agreed with me because he quickly dropped from the charts. I believe he had a motorbike accident that also stalled his career. Never heard anything after The Slider that I particularly liked was quite good, I thought, and Light of Love is a personal favourite, partly because it was the first full T. Rex album that I listened to in depth, but only partly - its quality has stood up over the years, in my estimation. Agree that Slider and especially Electric Warrior are the best two, but definitely don't agree that they're the only ones worth listening to. The taste of the American public is notoriously bland and closed to anything outside its narrow comfort zone (speaking generally, no aspersions cast on Ish's or anyone else's individual taste here; and Canadian public taste is even more debased, if anything) so I wouldn't take T. Rex's lack of commercial success over there as proof of a lack of artistic value. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2016 20:33:54 GMT -5
Silver Surfer! Bolan, like Bowie, was very much ahead of his time. I don't know where he failed that Bowie succeeded, though. I cannot quite seem to figure it out, other than Marc passed too early. But I *think* his career started fading out before he passed, didn't it? I will have to look more into it. He couldn't quite make his music as accessible in America as Bowie did. It didn't take off as well here. But the music he made with the beautifully voiced background singers sure makes his music fun and quirky. When I hear his background singers sing, beautifully, "Gardenia and the Mighty Slug", it makes me laugh. I'd almost be tempted to turn that question around and ask how Bowie ever did succeed in the US while being so out there, when other avant-garde pop acts like Roxy Music were never accepted to the same degree. But I think the answer to both questions has to do with the fact that T. Rex were a chart-topping singles act in the UK, and Bolan, with his movie-star good looks (worked as a model for a time, didn't he?), had a more mainstream pop-star image there than Bowie. But at the same time, he had some of that androgynous appeal that was so much a part of the glitter era in the early 70s and his music wasn't always as straightforward as would be expected from a mainstream pop act in the US. So my thinking is that he was too far out to be marketed to the mainstream pop audience in the US, which is what they tried to do because that's the kind of star he was in the UK. Perhaps if they had tried to sell him in America as more of a cult act along the lines of Bowie and Roxy, he might have enjoyed that kind of success of there, but it was probably too tempting to try to carry over the same kind of success he had in the UK. This really makes complete sense. Thanks, berk! |
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Post by berkley on Jan 19, 2016 23:04:47 GMT -5
Too bad Dan B. isn't here, I think he was a big T. Rex fan and I'm sure would have something to add to the conversation.
For myself, I'm looking forward to getting into more of the earlier acoustic stuff one of these days. Haven't listened to enough of that yet.
Here's another couple favourites I don't hear talked about much:
From Light of Love (and Zip Gun),
and from The Slider
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2016 7:31:23 GMT -5
Too bad Dan B. isn't here, I think he was a big T. Rex fan and I'm sure would have something to add to the conversation. For myself, I'm looking forward to getting into more of the earlier acoustic stuff one of these days. Haven't listened to enough of that yet. Here's another couple favourites I don't hear talked about much: From Light of Love (and Zip Gun), and from The SliderBolan's Zip Gun is one of my faves. I lovelovelove "Girl in the Thunderbolt Suit". I have not given Slider much of a listen, I will have to do that. I am still obsessing over Zinc Alloy. His use of background singers on this album (and Zip Gun) continues to amaze me (listen carefully for the girl in the background singing/yelling "BULLSH!T!" repeatedly): This is one of my faves from their earlier stuff. It's not completely acoustic, but it's sooo Marc. And I know this song was a chart topper in the UK back in the day, but it's a shame this stuff never did well here in the US. "Tyrannosaurus Rex the Eater of Cars"? Yes, PLEASE. And still my most favorite: |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jan 20, 2016 9:12:54 GMT -5
Silver Surfer! Bolan, like Bowie, was very much ahead of his time. I don't know where he failed that Bowie succeeded, though. I cannot quite seem to figure it out, other than Marc passed too early. But I *think* his career started fading out before he passed, didn't it? I will have to look more into it. He couldn't quite make his music as accessible in America as Bowie did. It didn't take off as well here. But the music he made with the beautifully voiced background singers sure makes his music fun and quirky. When I hear his background singers sing, beautifully, "Gardenia and the Mighty Slug", it makes me laugh. I'd almost be tempted to turn that question around and ask how Bowie ever did succeed in the US while being so out there, when other avant-garde pop acts like Roxy Music were never accepted to the same degree. I've thought about this a lot myself. It fascinates me. Not to sound like a music snob, but it's almost as if Bowie should have been too artistically sophisticated for the mainstream to latch onto...but they did. Granted he didn't become a superstar until the early 80's, but he was still a huge star. Having become a fan of Roxy Music, it puzzles me that they didn't eventually break big in the U.S., but I think that might have had something to do with the public not getting Ferry's pop-culture satire and generally not getting the concept of the band. I think Bowie had a sort of space-age theatricality that appealed to people who liked the spectacle's of Alice Cooper and Kiss, even though he was a much more serious artist. Every now and then the mainstream latches onto a critically acclaimed artist that otherwise would have been relegated to cult status. REM always struck me as an odd popular choice for stardom. I think they more than deserved it, of course, but they almost seemed "too good" for their level of fame. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2016 11:52:28 GMT -5
And, yeah, where has Dan B. been???
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2016 14:39:15 GMT -5
what is the first song on my cardio/walking tape?
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