That’s all this thread is about. Some friends and I were trying to determine what the worst, most awful thing in music is. This was mine. I just think it is awful. It’s something Heart would do, and Heart were sent from Hell to torment us.
So let’s list all the songs we can in which the singer sings “Guitar!” or something like it right before a guitar solo. I am sure it has been sung by pretty cool people too, but I am sure that the majority of times it is someone like Paula Abdul or someone else doing dance music that has a horrible guitar part, circa 1991. It’s a pet peeve of mine.
I only wanted to know of occasions when singers sing the sole word, “Guitar!”, before a guitar solo. It does happen in “Stay With Me” – somehow Rod Stewart can almost get away with it.
On one of the songs on the Monkees’ first album, Mike Nesmith shouts “Pick it, Wilson” just before the guitar comes in, which has to be one of the best variations on the theme.
I have a feeling you’re thinking about Poison. I can think of two relevant instances: the first is the song “Nothing But A Good Time”, where singer Bret Michaels does in fact mutter the singular exclamation guitar before the solo; the second is the song “Talk Dirty To Me”, where he actually says, “CC, pick that bad guitar and talk to me”. How’s that for diversity?
Damn. After posting that Poison response, I remembered the AC/DC song “Let There Be Rock”. While Brian Johnson doesn’t scream “guitar!” right before the solo, he does count off the essential ingredients to a rock show against a spare rhythmic backdrop (“lights…drums…GUITAR!”) before the guitar riff comes in.
There’s a part where he says : “Guitar! Drums*! (something garbled)!”
*cue the one-armed wife beater!
Something similar appears in Queen’s The Invisible Man, where each band member’s name is spoken right before he does his thing. Right before the vocals start in the beginning, someone yells “Freddie Mercury.” Before a guitar solo, Freddie cries out “Brian May, Brian May!” A quick “John Deacon” is thrown in before a bass solo, and, to top it all off “RRRRRRRRRRoger Taylor,” right before the drum solo.
Ah, you refer to the “great rock and roll cliche”. All experienced musiscians are aware of its use and misuse.
“Guitar!” is right up there with
“let’s go!”
“come on!”
“get up!”
“get down!”
“take it!”
If you use one and you’re obvious, you’re a hack. Use one and you’re subtle, and youre a hit. Use one in such a way nonoe realizes it’s already been done a million yimes before, you’re a genius!
In “Cover of the Rolling Stone”, the Dr Hook singer yells “RAWK AND ROLLLL!!!” to introduce the most inept guitar solo ever. Inept on purpose, of course - it’s a comedy song. The guitarist abandons the solo partway through after he gets hopelessly muddled.
