I skimmed the thread semi-quickly and noticed no mention of Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Their last studio album, before John Fogerty left (“Mardi Gras”), was their first that was not virtually all John. Fogerty had a few nice offerings, including “Someday Never Comes” and “Sweet Hitchhiker”, but the tunes composed and sung by Clifford and Cook were drek.
Clifford and Cook plug along to this day, I believe, as Creedence Clearwater Revisited, while John Fogerty has enjoyed a nice solo career (brother Tom died 30 years ago).
Moon was very close to be fired from the Who not long before he died. He was living in Malibu and partying almost non stop. He moved back to London not long before he died. I think he moved back mostly to save his job.
Re: The Doobies & Tom Johnston–he rejoined the band in 1987 after the group had pretty much evaporated in '82. They’ve had various personnel changes since and never again reached the heights of the earlier incarnations, but they’re still a popular live act.
By the way, if you’re a fan, the recent Rhino “Quadio” Blu-ray box set is really excellent, especially if you have a surround system.
Spike had a few good songs. “Deep Dark Truthful Mirror” is probably my favorite. Mighty Like A Rose also has some good songs, particularly “The Other Side Of Summer” and “Playboy To A Man.” But this is a very far cry from albums like This Year’s Model and Trust where EVERY SINGLE SONG is an absolute monster. I will grant however that different people have different musical tastes and different thresholds for greatness.
Blood and Chocolate (particularly the expanded anniversary edition) might actually be my favorite. But if so This Year’s Model and Armed Forces are #2 and #3.
It’s not that I don’t prefer early EC - I do. It’s just that I don’t think Bruce Thomas was particularly critical . It’s more that Costello like many, many artists was at his most fertile peak earlier in his career.
When Bruce was in the band, the sound of the band was more evenly balanced with EC. It wasn’t just “EC and his backup band,” despite the and [the y] format of their name; it really was much more like Led Zeppelin or The Who, where the sound of the band as a totality was more dominant than any individual member, including the frontman. The departure of Bruce marked a shift towards the band taking a backseat to the singer. It changed their sound very dramatically. But I don’t think it was “the biggest drop-off”, really. That would imply that they TOTALLY sucked after the lineup change, which they didn’t.
The two Joe Perry/Brad Whitmore-less Aerosmith albums were pretty bad. After they rejoined the band had a second peak in popularity.
Here in Los Angeles, they went from headlining a festival at Ontario Speedway in front of 350,000 people in 1978 to not being able to sell out the 6000 seat Greek Theatre two years later.
And “God’s Comic” and “Tramp the Dirt Down” and “Satellite” and “Pads, Paws and Claws” …written with Sir Paul, as is the upbeat-but-heartbreaking “Veronica” (for his grandmother with Alzheimer’s). Speaking of bass work, that’s Paul’s Hoffner bass… (I mean, he’s no Bruce Thomas…)
Here’s a demo, acoustic and sketchy. Nice when you’re used to the studio version.
This is one of my favorite EC albums (never thought I’d be excited about one of his albums ten years after I was wearing out My Aim is True).
What’s weird is, even when I can’t stand their increasingly sappy songs and vocals, the brass is still spot on. A couple of the original guys have hung in there.
I was a huge Brass Rock fan (is there a term for that…that I didn’t just make up?). I got to see a couple of those bands in the Twenty-Teens, and they are still tight. With great lungs, obviously… even though The Ides of March looked like they should have had oxygen tanks attached to their walkers.
Around the time I graduated from high school in 1981, Aerosmith was booked to play at a BAR in my hometown! And not a bar with a big performance space, either.
Did the actual Sex Pistols even play on any of the studio recordings? I always rather assumed those were put together by session musicians. Of course I never saw them live so I can’t judge their actual musical abilities. Anyone seen any of their gigs?
I also haven’t seen them live (I was too young in their heyday, and I wasn’t interested in their comeback shows in the nineties because I thought they were a joke), but I’m quite sure that everything on “Nevermind The Bollocks” and the early singles were played by Glen Matlock on bass, Steve Jones on guitar, Paul Cook on drums and John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) on vocals. I’ve never heard that session musicians were also used, and the recordings are very basic and unpolished, like you’d expect for a punk record. Sid Vicious though, Matlock’s successor on bass, wasn’t a musician at all, just a superfan who got the gig because he was friends with the band. He had never played bass before (heck, he hardly could hold his bass guitar on stage most of the time).
You say the main songwriter/lead singer/lead guitarist/keyboard player left, and the drummer & bass player just couldn’t carry on the same?
Rik Emmett was awesome in his heyday. I remember in the 90’s he was playing at a local ribfest, but I couldn’t get my friend & girlfriend interested in going. I’m sorry I missed that. Sometimes these older guys put on a great show, and you have a great view, unlike when they were on the top of the charts. Plus, you know, RIBS!!
Dammit, why couldn’t I talk them into going? I think I’ll call up my buddy and bitch him out for that right now. . .bonus points because it’s past midnight where he is. I’ll just rant at him for 30 seconds, tell him he KNOWS what he did, then hang up. That’s always a hoot.
Heh. I remember seeing The Tubes at a small bar (not a club or event space) in Indianapolis somewhere around 1988 - 1993. I think it was something about a record contract or taxes or something that had them in financial dire straits.
It was really strange but really cool to sit down at the bar next to Prairie Prince and talk between sets.
. It’s more that Costello like many, many artists was at his most fertile peak earlier in his career.
