Re: Bringing Alterna-sounds To The Uncomprehending Masses

- Bruce S. cited Suicide as inspiring some of his "Nebraska" album, and covered them live.

-George Michael claimed that he loved Joy Division's "Closer" album, esp. side 2.

- Darryl Hall had a solo album produced by Robert Fripp (and appeared on Fripp's albums)

-Rush cited Japan (the band) as a fave

- Lindsey Buckingham quote "New wave is the future of music and I love Gang of Four!" (or words to that effect)

-John Lennon claiming that the B52s inspired his return to music.

- and of course the Beatles invited the Bonzos to perform in their ill-fated "Magical Mystery Tour" film.


Did any of this have any effect? Like, did hoards of Hall & Oates fans run out and buy King Crimson records?

The Monkees also famously invited a then little-known Jimi Hendrix to be the opening act on their tour in 1967. Their fan base did not respond particularly well and Jimi quit the tour after a few dates.

In most of these cases, the cited artist is too far musically from the mainstream act to interest many fans. But if there's a closer relationship, it can definitely help: I remember reading an interview with Paul Weller back in the day (probably in TP) where he said the Skids and the Ruts were two of his favorite bands of the moment, leading me to check out both.

Springsteen also covered "Dream Baby Dream" on his number 1 album High Hopes, so I would assume that put more shekels into Suicide's bank account than they'd seen before, and hopefully helped Vega out in his final years.

Eddie Vedder has not been shy about his love for Split Enz and Hunters & Collectors. I have seen multiple videos of him singing their songs on his own or duetting with Neil Finn and Mark Seymour. I'm going to guess the typical Pearl Jam fan wasn't previously hip to "Throw Your Arms Around Me." Anyway, despite my indifference to PJ's music, good on Ed for calling attention to those artists.

In the 80s, Tina Turner wanted to release Throw Your Arms Around Me as a single, the band knocked her back. These days, it appears in a car insurance commercial.
Also, back in the day, the go-to TV show for Australian teenyboppers was Countdown. On host Ian "Molly" Meldrum's segment Humdrum, he recommended The Birthday Party's Prayers on Fire and Tactics' My Houdini. I always wondered if that was his "fuck it" moment.

Aitch Wrote:
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> In the 80s, Tina Turner wanted to release Throw
> Your Arms Around Me as a single, the band
> knocked her back. These days, it appears in a car
> insurance commercial.
> Also, back in the day, the go-to TV show for
> Australian teenyboppers was Countdown. On host Ian
> "Molly" Meldrum's segment Humdrum, he recommended
> The Birthday Party's Prayers on Fire and
> Tactics' My Houdini. I always wondered if
> that was his "fuck it" moment.

Wait, for real? I LOVE H&C "Throw Your Arms Around Me" - a little soured on it because it's one of Eddie Vedder's favorite songs, too, but so happy to hear it getting new life elsewhere.

Speaking of commercials - my vote: Millions of people having heard "Lust For Life" on the Carnival cruise commercial with no idea they've already heard Iggy - numerous, numerous times.

Currently: Elton John likes Yard Act, but (sad to say) I don't think it'll help Yard Act go as mainstream as they seem to be across the pond right now.

Don't forget, George Michael covered Was (Not Was) "Where Did Your Heart Go!" [with a Peter Saville sleeve] He was hipper than he seemed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2022 01:31PM by Post-Punk Monk.

George Michael was betrayed by his own good looks and image, I think— I always felt he WAS hipper and more talented than we’d expect.

I read a lot of rock rags so I know a few examples:

Jimmy Page said he loved the energy that was coming from the Damned

Paul McCartney said he liked a good melodic song, even something like ‘pretty vacant’

Oh, and of course Kurt cobain was really good about naming influences, like the raincoats, the vaselines, etc etc….

The George Michael Paradox™: Obviously a talented teenager making pop music with a surprisingly capable hand…I just didn't like it.

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

MrFab Wrote:
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> -Rush cited Japan (the band) as a fave…

Just saying thanks for not writing "sighted." I see that all too often! That homophone gets a lot of airings in my universe.

You were wise to use the trademark… the first thing I thought was “hmmm…the George Michael paradox…. now THERE’s a good band name!!”

Rush also touted The Police and Ultravox as big favorites, around the time they released their album Permanent Waves.

John Lennon's experience hearing The B-52's both amused and inspired him -- mainly because Cindy Wilson's vocalizations in "Rock Lobster" bore a strong resemblance to Yoko's more avant-garde stylings. He felt perhaps the music audience had caught up to her.

When Led Zeppelin received the Brit Award for Album of the Year, for In Through the Out Door, John Bonham complained that he felt The Police should've won.

And I think, just a few months ago, we talked about ZZ Top being influenced by the sound of OMD's records to incorporate more synths into their sound in the '80s. I don't know whether they actually touted OMD's influence publicly, though.

Delvin Wrote:
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> Rush also touted The Police and Ultravox as big
> favorites, around the time they released their
> album Permanent Waves.

The Police influence on Rush is huge, from the synths to the drumming to the guitar tone (if not the actual playing). But I don't hear it much on Permanent Waves...Signals is the album in which they fully embrace new wave sounds. There are moments that if you didn't know it, you'd think it The Police.

I think Grace Under Pressure is the album on which Alex Lifeson really indulges his Andy Summers fandom, both in tone and playing (especially the arpeggios). He made no secret of how much he loved Summers' work, so it had to come out sometime.

Jerry Garcia said in a 1981 interview with Paul Morley that "I like Gary Numan a lot....I think his stuff is really interesting. I think he's got a real thing."

There was a video making the rounds a couple months back of Miley Cyrus doing "Heaven or Las Vegas" in concert, which she kind of butchered but props to her for even trying, given that none of the serious artistes on the recent 4ad tribute to 4ad had the nads to attempt to cover the Cocteaus.

Kylie Minogue recorded a version of "Bury Me Deep In Love" by the Triffids, but the gulf between big star and little star in that case may not be as pronounced in Australia as it seems in the US - I don't know how successful or well-known the Triffids were in their natural habitat.

Speaking of Big Star, Cheap Trick made them into the theme song of a very popular sitcom, though I think Ben Vaughn ended up with the songwriting credit for that theme song via some stupid legal technicality.

Quote

And I think, just a few months ago, we talked about ZZ Top being influenced by the sound of OMD's records to incorporate more synths into their sound in the '80s. I don't know whether they actually touted OMD's influence publicly, though.

They played OMD's first album over the pre-show P.A. during their tour immediately following meeting them at The Old Grey Whistle Test, but I doubt the Tops ever informed their audience that's what they'd been listening to. However, Billy Gibbons has never been shy about talking up Roky Erickson.

I recall an interview when Elton John bitched about receiving awards he thought should've gone to the Stranglers or Elvis Costello - he may have even said so while accepting one such award - I don't recall.

breno Wrote:
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> I recall an interview when Elton John bitched
> about receiving awards he thought should've gone
> to the Stranglers or Elvis Costello - he may have
> even said so while accepting one such award - I
> don't recall.

Well, by the time that Elvis Costello and The Stranglers were a thing, he was absolutely right! EJ's day in the sun was over. For me [such as it was] it was over by 1975.

"However, Billy Gibbons has never been shy about talking up Roky Erickson."

Gibbons and Roky ran in the same circles in the sixties - Gibbons' band the Moving Sidewalks was directly inspired by Roky's 13th Floor Elevators. When Roky (finally) did an episode of Austin City Limits, Gibbons was part of the band, imitating Tommy Hall's electric jug lines on his guitar. They were old pals. I think Gibbons' constant boosting did a lot to keep Roky engaged with his latter-day music career.

Hence also why ZZ Top was on Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye, the tribute album MrFab references. Yeah, their appearance seems jarring compared the college rock-heavy lineup (ditto Doug Sahm, another sixties Texas relic who knew Roky back in the day), but they arguably had a stronger connection to Roky than anyone else.

Ah yes, I remember how surprising it was that ZZ Top appeared on an '80s tribute album to Roky, All the other artists were your usual college rock types.
And Kylie appeared on Nick Cave's "Murder Ballads"! That must have baffled her teeny-bopper fans. Like when Debbie Gibson appeared on a Circle Jerks track (covering "I Wanna Destroy You"). Tho by that point in her rapidly descending career, Ms Gibson probably had precious few teeny-bopper fans left.

Katy Perry spelled her song "California Gurls" as a nod to Big Star's "September Gurls." Which may have upped Alex Chilton's mainstream recognizability 0.0001%.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/2023 12:10AM by MrFab.

"Katy Perry spelled her song "California Gurls" as a nod to Big Star's "September Gurls." Which may have upped Alex Chilton's mainstream recognizability 0.0001%. "

Is that really true? Because (a) that song is a banger and (b) I wouldn't've expected to see that connection. But maybe Perry got it from the Bangles cover of Big Star, because Katy Perry clearly would have loved the Bangles.

so Perry claims.
Don't know if she learned of the song from the Bangles. But that does make sense.

An explanation here.

The gist: it was her Mississippi-born manager's idea.

Let's not forget Paul Young being among the first (the first one period?) to cover Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" in 1983 (long before it became as covered as "More Than This", if not "Hallelujah").

Marc Bolan used to talk up the younger punk bands and even had the Damned as an opening act on one of his tours.

We are in the age of the Unknown Pleasures t-shirt. And even if you try and talk to someone about the music they wear, you are a patriarchal hegemony.

Not sure what you mean with that comment, nightdrive… but I think I get it. My teenaged hip hop loving son does NOT want to hear me go on about its early years or how amazing 1988 was for the genre!

(Likewise, the girl in the Unknown Pleasures tshirt probably doesn’t want to hear my approval/ opinion in line at Target… although she may actually be unfamiliar with the album… and the songs on it actually ARE ‘unknown pleasures’ for her…)

Anyway, back to the original thread idea….

Trouser Press magazine kinda did this too, doncha think?

Early issues (pre-“punk”, but not pre-punk) featured covers mentioning acts like The Who, yardbirds, Mott, king crimson.

Once they had their readership hooked, they were not shy about embracing the exciting new sounds of the late 70s/early 80s…. and bringing that readership along for the ride. Kicking and screaming maybe??

There’s no guarantee a Jeff Beck fan is going to dig Blondie or the Ramones.

Interesting point. Ira, did TP lose readers, or get any angry letters from ELO fans who wondered what's up with all this Devo crap?

Jordan Joy Division

Bip sorry for my mid-life crisis ramble, but here is some more. I think we are post-alternative. Now, the person in marketing or the bro in accounting for big business X has a sleeve and collects vinyl. There is nothing alternative about alternative. Coachella is for rich people. Punk now is just retro cosplay... which in a way thats how it was started by 4 awkward geeks in Forest hills in 50s leather jackets. At the end of the day, Hank Jr and Johnny Rotten peaked at the same time. Both had similar schticks in more ways than most would like to acknowledge. And although punk scared America in its early days, the most dangerous bands of the 70s were the Eagles, Mamas and the Papas and the Carpenters.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2022 11:22AM by Nightdrive.

Can a subculture remain rebellious for more than 40 years (while also reaching a sizable audience)? When interactive art exhibits about the Velvet Underground and then Leonard Cohen opened, it occurred to me that these artists' countercultural mystique actually makes such exploitation more likely. Creedence Clearwater Revival's greatest hits album is still doing strong on the Billboard top 200, but who would go see a museum show about them?

yesterday i saw a girl at my daughter's school in an "Unknown Pleasures" shirt. Couldn't have been more than 12 years old. Yikes, I HOPE she isn't listening to Joy Division! That's the kind of poseur that's fine by me.

This makes me think of the female country-music group Dozzi. They recorded a song, two or three years ago, in which the singer sang about her ex's Ramones t-shirt.

I just re-watched the video for that song, and listened more closely to its lyrics. Nope, she never mentions any specific details (or makes any broad references) about The Ramones. She doesn't drop any Ramones lyrics, or mention Joey or Johnny ... she doesn't say "hey ho let's go" or "gabba gabba" or even count off at the beginning of the song. It's all about her ex, and how the only halfway worthwhile thing she got out of that relationship was the t-shirt. I guess they simply saw enough Ramones t-shirts to recognize the iconic value. She may as well have sung a song about her ex's Joy Division t-shirt, except that it'd be harder to rhyme.