Re: Non-TP types you're enamored with

I would have to go with:

Townes Van Zandt
Gram Parsons (arguably an influence on *many* TP artists)
Merle Haggard

My obsession with Kylie Minogue is well documented.

Also listened to Mellencamp's most recent disc this morning and pondered how if his career had begun with Scarecrow, he'd most likely be a revered figure in alt-country circles, but he'll be forever saddled with having spent the decade prior to that as Little Johnny Cougar.

John Prine, and some Willie Nelson. Strange how most of those noted here are country or quasi-country.

so agree wityh you breno on your mellencamp assessment.

many guys in the alt country dept- steve earle, to a lesser degree guys like ryan adams, joe ely , townes van zant etc.

matthew ryan- suprised he isnt an entry in trouser press. . ive ranted a couple of times how he is the best modern day sonwgwriter .

My not being emamored but being a fan of rap n hip hop kind of started from wanting to add to the genres of music and my not being too familar and partially a sense of irony

I tend to think that there is an unbuilt, but nevertheless fully existant "Honorary Wing" of the towering edifice that is The Trouser Press (imagine a very brick-like font for that bit there, please). People like Townes Van Zandt and Gram Parsons are most certainly long-time denizens.

But if I had to roam further afield, I'm always digging things like …

From the ranks of "classic" rock (and although the first two should go without saying, I'm not letting that fact stop me):

The Beatles
The Stones.
ZZ Top
Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Kinks
Donovan
Steely Dan

...

And from The Land Of The Truly Neglected:

Link Wray doesn't have his own entry. I dig his stuff all kindsa fierce.

If the choking, ash-laden wasteland known as Madonna can have an entry, then I see no reason why Amy Winehouse should be getting the cold shoulder. Give her a break … she's 'ad a 'ard time 'uv it!

Komeda. How do they not have an entry while Whale does? Not that I have a thing against Whale. Butthead loves that chick from Whale … it's the braces, y'know?

Schtum. Grow is really fairly good stuff - think Jon Langford replacing Eddie Vedder in Pearl Jam and you're at least in the ballpark. No idea what ever happened to these guys.

Of course ... as of press time, The Clientele are ... missing. "Like a half-forgotten memory." Boo-hoo.

I was about to say "Hey! What about Los Straitjackets?" but I see they did get an entry. When the hell did that happen? All that stuff written there about "University Blvd" is dead on target. To hear that tune once is to have it welded on "heavy rotation" in your happy place forever. That tune is so damned suh-weet! Bravo Los Straitjackets!

…

And of course, there are certain bands that should be stricken from the ranks for being utterly worthless. Two of my three first ballot votes go to Smashing Pumpkins (who I loathe like a certain editor loathes Janes Addiction) and Shudder To Think. But it's not my call. Lucky for them.

I have always been a fan of Scarecrow-era Mellencamp.

And bless you, Kay, for mentioning Mr. Wray.

A few obvious ones come to my mind — Dylan, Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Byrds, Who, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Marley, ZZ Top ...

And just looking at my iPod ...

Abba
Aerosmith (up through Rocks, with the song "Draw the Line" added)
Alice Cooper
Aretha Franklin
Be Bop Deluxe (Bill Nelson has an entry, but it focuses on his solo stuff; Be Bop is mentioned only in passing)
Chuck Berry
Def Leppard
Dionne Warwick
Dire Straits
Earth Wind & Fire (and a lot of other '70s funk as well)
Elton John
James Brown
Love
Lyle Lovett
Queen
Rod Stewart
Rush
Steely Dan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Sweet
T. Rex
Van Halen

They are not really a guilty pleasure because I think they have great pop songs and I dig 'em, but ... the Grass Roots. There, I said it.

Damn! Damn! Damn! Blast!

I forgot all about T.Rex! Thanks.

-Lotsa 60s and 70s stuff, Its mostly what I listen to (Parsons and T.Rex already mentioned.)
-Some Pitchforkian stuff
-I don't obsess over Ryan Adams, but when he is on, I think he is one of the best right now.
-ELO
-I like Alkaline Trio alot, but I think I am phasing out of them. I listened to their last, and didn't feel the need to pick it up.
-I dig Hall and Oats, Billy Joel and Bryan Adams and have always. Not a deep cuts guy but still...
-Miles Davis

Duke Ellington
Tom T Hall (he's all I care to listen to about 25% of the time)
Fela Kuti
Elton John
Charley Pride
John Scofield
Howlin Wolf
Van Morrison
AC/DC
Randy Newman
Loudon Wainwright
Outkast
Pete Seeger
Sufjan Stevens (he's got any entry but I'm not feeling the love on the board)

p.s. Uh-huh is the best Mellencamp.
p.p.s. Shudder To Think DOES really suck.



Post Edited (04-24-10 23:52)

Shudder to Think had a pretty decent song (Let it Ring)on that State of The Union comp (Dischord). But everything I heard after that I completely disliked.

I'm fond of the couple of Sufjan albums I have. I'm even more fond of my Shudder to Think albums, though.

I have one Smashing Pumpkins record (Siamese Dream, of course - the Boston of 90s alternative rock). I've never found the need to own any more.

I retract my STT critique. I think I was confusing them with Thinking Fellers Union anyway. I probably loved both of them in my college years, which are rapdily fading from my brain cells.



Post Edited (04-25-10 10:56)

There're some artists that I continually go back and forth between liking and disliking. Currently I like the Thinking Fellers.

I like Patty Griffin fine but I'm not enthused about her recent directions.

Fela Kuti and Outkast also have entries.

And I'd like to vote my support for Shudder to Think and the Smashing Pumpkins.

Quote

Uh-huh is the best Mellencamp.

For some reason I always forget that Uh-Huh was the album where Mellencamp started taking control of his own career and began to get interesting. "Jackie O" was a great song. Also one of the few songs I could ever play on an instrument, since it was just one of the preset tunes on a Casio and I stumbled across it one day while hitting some buttons.

Bryan Adams...

Anything by springsteen,dylan especially bootlegs and unrealased stuff.
ALso all of their musical cousins- little stven, nils lofgren, southside johnny, steve forbert etc.
Most alt country that would be on the outskirts of tp music /
Pop music, blues and 90s hip hop.
Anything by artists from the 50s that came out afterwards after their commercial sucess. examples- 60s n 70s everly brothers, dion, del shannon
Weird cover versions- good or bad i find them all interesting .
A great pop song that has the elements of basic rock n roll- example jessies girl- rick springfield. 867-5309- tommy tutone.
Have an appreciation for billy joel and realize that we dont have a modern day equivalent of him and i think thats a bad thing.
Partially out of irony but i tell you barry mannilow is good at what he does and has some great tunes .
old soul artists especially the lesser known songs by the bigger artists or the lesser known artists same thing with garage rock

I have often said that "Summer of '69" isn't a great song by any stretch, but it has one nice set of lines that work the cliches just right:

"Standin on your mama's porch
You told me that you'd wait forever
Oh and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never"

Too bad that damned guitar line is driven into the ground by the middle of it. "This Time" has a nice melody, too.

Always surprised The Sensational Alex Harvey Band isn't in here. Maybe I just can't find it.

Patty Griffin may be too country, or too traditional, or too something or other, but I just think she's amazing. Always will.

"Strange how most of those noted here are country or quasi-country."
Well, add to that Richmond Fontaine.

Though I'm not enamored, sometimes I encourage Blandpop such as Honor Society.

[www.youtube.com]

Great choice of blonde, Honor Society. Plus you inspired me to work hard this smester and earn all As -- so I can join my school's Honor Society. Hail Honor Society!



Post Edited (04-29-10 08:58)

Pat Benatar, Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Janis Ian, 70s & 80s Grace Slick.