Ever bought crap because of trusting critic?

Have you ever been so influenced by a rock writer that you bought into his philosophy and purchased and tried to like junk? For instance

Lester Bangs - the Gods
Chuck Eddie - Jimmy Castor
the guy who does Black to Comm- Von Lmo

Just curious

trouser press turned me INTO a junkie; does that count?

In the book *Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung*, Lester Bangs conceded that his whole "philosophy" consisted of finding the most noisy, atonal, unlistenable record he could find, and writing a review to convince readers that said platter is really terrific.

Bangs traced this perverse m.o. to his college days, when he roomed with a bunch of hippies whose musical tastes ran thoroughly counter to his, and who regularly criticized his choices of records to play. He admitted: "I"ve been trying to get revenge on those assholes ever since."

I can't say for sure that I've ever been so strongly influenced by any one critic that I went out of my way to appreciate shabby records ... but check out this thread about critical favorites that left me scratching my head:

[trouserpress.com]

If you don't want your Jimmy Castor records, I'll take 'em.

"Yo Leroy, your mama's calling you!" = funKAY.

My iPod ate "Troglodyte" the other day. Am very pissed about that.

Listening to that song I'm always amazed that was a top 40 hit. They say everything was crap in 1972, but you'd NEVER hear anything that bizarre on top 40 radio these days (if such a thing as top 40 radio actually exists anymore anyway.) It sounded like WHITE LIGHT WHITE HEAT would've if Reed had hung around uptown in "Waiting for the Man" for longer than it took to buy the drugs.

Now that we're COMPLETELY off-topic...

1972 was only a crap year for rock. The late '60s/early '70s were the golden age of black music. Everything was funky, from the corniest bubblegum (The Jacksons) to the way-out heavy jazz cats (Miles, Herbie), it was like what the punk era would be for rock- a wild explosion of creativity, political rabble-rousing, and serious booty-shaking.

off the top of my head killer soul in that year of 1972 included

dramatics
isleys
tempts
james
funkadelic
curtis
o'jays
stylistics
OV
stevie
spinners
joe tex

it might have been a highwater mark in soul--note detroit, philly, and memphis getting some--in music and therefore a highwater mark in american cult

i was entering HS that year at a cool mostly black school and lunch time was a rockin--at my school, howard hewitt, switch, and james ingram were laying down beats all over the place...

and sly's back to back to back masterpieces were either in 72 or right before and right after...

well, i remember art black saying some nice things about poison, but i figured that was more a pox on him than any problem of mine...

I take it back. I just put on 16 slabs of funk cd , and half the tracks are hot. esp. It's just begun and Troglodyte. I should have kept the vinyl.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face however has been done with more force and soul by others.

1972 had:
ROXY MUSIC w/Eno
STONES – Exile
BOWIE - Ziggy
What, Me Worry?

critic-crap
Wilco
Grifters
Simple Ones
80% of Sebadoh
70% of Blonde Redhead
Further
Idlewild
Flying Saucer Attack
(OK, this is gonna get too long)

re-Jimmy Castor; I was always partial to Bertha Butt Boogie over Troglodyte. (He actually charted in 67 with 'Hey, Leroy, Your Mama's' but I don't know that one).

72 great tunes, all #1
Al Green - Let's Stay Together
Nilsson - Without You (granted, schlocky)
Neil Young - Heart of Gold (yes, Neil is technically a one-hit wonder)
Chi-Lites - Oh Girl (soul classic)
Bill Wither - Lean on Me ('nuther)
Chuck Berry- Dingaling (he's got all these rock staples and then this one is his only #1; wtf?)
Johhny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now (reggae topped charts in the UK but this is the only one here)
Temptations - Papa Rolling Stone (what a classic, 'specially on Pee-Wee)
Billy Paul - Me and Mrs. Jones (more great soul)
Roberta - 1st Time Ever Saw Face

72 Blecch:
Michael Jackson - Ben (I posit that this is a different Michael Jackson anyway)
Three Dog Night - B & W (the ink is black, the page is white; this shit would never fly today)
Looking Glass - Brandy (now it's practically camp)
Don Mclean - American Pie (possibly the most annoying and misunderstood song of all time)
America - Horse with No Name (I don't know why this one bugs me so much)
Sammy Davis Jr. - Candy Man (the most played song in 72 because it was a #1 in pop, easy listening, etc. It's complete hell)
Neil Diamond - Song Sung Blue (on certain days, I'm almost a closet Neil fan; almost but not due to this one)
Gilbert O'Sullivan (probably more camp than blechh; I didn't know his name was punny til I was an adult)
Helen Reddy - I am Woman (remember how this was supposed to be this big important statement or something? The statement: "I am schlock, hear me blechhh"; a contender against American Pie)



Post Edited (02-01-06 00:16)

One pop song from 1972 that was great was Elvis' Burning Love, which missed being #1 due to "My-Ding-A-Ling" (Arthur Alexander's original verion is also great). I also enjoyed BJ Thomas' "Rock and Roll Lullabye". A great song from 1972 that should have been a hit was the Beach Boys' "Marcella".

> America - Horse with No Name (I don't know why this one bugs me so much)

Perhaps because it sucks?

"In the desert ... You can remember your name ... For there ain't no one for to give you no pain ..." Puh-leeze!

The songs on Paganizer's 1972 "blecch" list is, without a doubt, blecch ... but 1973 would definitely out-do it all, with Clint Holmes' "Playground in My Mind."

"My name is Michael ... I got a nickel ..."

The bottom of the barrel makes it to #1. Eeeugh! (Like the Pagan said, this would never fly today ... thank God.)



Post Edited (02-01-06 10:49)

Speaking of America, what the hell is an alligator lizard and what are they doing in the air?

See, the thing with NME and UK hype is people turn it off entirely because they've been burned, but sometimes, the hype is justified - I gotta admit, I dig alot of the bands they've hyped in the 2000s (Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, ok well maybe just those two!).....I think I'll take their frothing at the mouth hype over the (mostly) "we don't even really like music" attitude of the US press......but yeah I got burned on Kula Shaker, EMF, etc. also.

I highly recommend Jimmy Castor's "King Kong," simply because it's insane. The music is cheesy but acceptably funky. But dig the percussive vocal King Kong noises: "wuh-wuh-wuh-WUUUUH-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh." Castor intones melodramatically, "Kamasame Kom!" whatever that means. The whole thing is a crazy mess. Not to be missed. Castor's early soul records (pre-"Hey Leroy") are pretty good too, though they lack the insanity/inanity of his later funk/disco novelty hits.

As for critical faves I never liked (and have checked out on critical say-so):

--Archers of Loaf (I interviewed them ... Nice guys ... Decent live show ... But the albums? Meh.)
--The aforementioned Blonde Redhead (although I am more partial to Sebadoh)
--I agree with Idlewild
--Wilco's first record was great, but while the succeeding discs are at least good, I don't understand all the critical jizz expended on them
--Deerhoof (I still don't get it ... maybe later ...)
--Fiery Furnaces
--The whole Sea & Cake/Tortoise family of boredom
--Post-rock: So what, rock doesn't exist anymore? No one told me. And this is what comes <i>after</i> rock?
--Slits: Cut. It's not all that great. Come on, critics, admit it. You just like to see naked chicks covered in mud.

As for funk/soul, here are some of my lesser-known favorites ...

War "Me and Baby Brother" -- It was a hit, but you just don't hear it anymore. Damn, that's a groove.
Maskman & the Agents - "My Wife, My Dog and My Cat"
Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds - "Get Down"

I've purchased more crap because of UK critical hype than US critical hype. NME led me down the garden path about a gazillion times in the '90s. Kula Shaker, anyone? The Bluetones? Idlewild?

Remember Mega City Four? According to the NME, they were going to be huuuuge. They hype a different band every two weeks ...

I wasn't thinking of the UK mags when I brought this up. Yeah, if you take them into acount you might have bought anything. Of course If I'd had access to such nonesense at a younger age I would have learned to trust my own judgement sooner.

I pulled out a Mega City Four cd just now I've had a few years. I guess I didn't listen to it after I pulled it out of the clearance bin. I thought maybe they sounded like the Sensless Things. I now know where New Found Glory and Simple Plan found their vocal and lyric style.

It's hilarious, they thank Leatherface, Les Thugs, Poison Idea!!? in the credits.

I'm trying to find a way to understand this "Shoes with a cold and bad production" "Ash without songs or power"? I don't have room for this in my life or on my shelf. Somewhere between 50 cents and 2 dollars gone forever. I could have bought a Kenny Loggins lp.

I regularly mention Kula Shaker as one of the worst bands ever. No one knows who I'm talking about anymore.

America:
My brother told me "Ventura Highway" is about being gay with the "hit by purple rain" line, and "you can always change your name".
And speaking of critics getting you to buy shite, my brother still hasn't forgiven me for telling him to buy "Trout Mask Replica" and the Pere Ubu box set. His only response when he listened to them was: "That was a fucking joke right?"

90% of Stereolab

Deserter's Songs