Do you enjoy the music of The Smiths? I sure do. I was very fortunate to see them live at least a few times in the early ’80s and, during my Rock Journalist days, interviewing Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr was a highlight of my career!
Continue reading Smiths / Morissey Tribute Band Caligula Blushed to Play NYCs Cutting Room!
I think Morrissey said it best when he sang “Has the world changed, or have I changed?” The Queen is Dead (1986): What a great song, what a great album. RIP Queen Elizabeth, you had a good, long life.
A primary reason that I chose “Nude Beach,” by California-based pop trio Roses, for this week’s Video Clip, is specifically because the video contains no nudity! Yeah, they didn’t take the easy way out with a bunch of lazy nudity, that’s for sure. Instead, the first half of the video shows the guys (their names Juan Velasquez, Victor, Herrera and Marc Steinberg) peeking out from behind leafy branches in a lush garden, or laying in beds of flowers, over music that fondly brings both The Smiths and Depeche Mode to mind. Marc’s sultry vocals address a figure who is addicted to sunbathing, but they also speak to a larger acknowledgment of our own mortality and within that realization urge us to take risks. Maybe that is why I felt like I was watch a commercial for reruns of Six Feet Under. Or maybe not.
Continue reading Video Clip of The Week: Roses, “Nude Beach”
Do you love The Smiths? I sure do. But while I haven’t necessarily remained the hugest fan of Morrissey’s wildly uneven solo work, I have found much of guitarist Johnny Marr’s post-Smiths’ output to be nothing less than utterly mind-blowing. This past fall, Marr released his second official solo album — unless you count Boomslang, his 2003 album with The Healers, which is a work of genius — which is called Playland. It is excellent, of course.
Continue reading Video Clip of The Week: Johnny Marr, “Dynamo”
Presented here without commentary.
“All The Young Dudes,” Mott The Hoople
“Fade Into You,” Mazzy Star
“Suedehead,” Morrissey
“Kickstart My Heart,” Motley Crue
“Ceremony,” New Order
“Hair Of The Dog,” Nazreth
“Love Hurts,” Nazreth
“About A Girl,” Nirvana
“On a Plain,” Nirvana
“Drain You,” Nirvana
“Spirit in the Sky,” Norman Greenbaum
“I Can’t Wait,” Nu Shooz
“Roll With It,” Oasis
“She’s Electric,” Oasis
“Superman’s Dead,” Our Lady Peace
“Crazy,” Patsy Cline
“My Love,” Paul McCartney
“Kicks,” Paul Revere & The Raiders
“Black,” Pearl Jam
“Always On My Mind,” Pet Shop Boys
“Set Adrift On Memory Bliss,” PM Dawn
“Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand,” Primitive Radio Gods
“Go With The Flow,” Queens Of The Stone Age
“Radio Free Europe,” R.E.M.
“Karma Police,” Radiohead
“Everything In Its Right Place ,” Radiohead
“Summer Breeze,” Seals & Croft
“Stand!,” Sly & The Family Stone
“Hot Fun In The Summertime,” Sly & The Family Stone
“1979,” Smashing Pumpkins
“Outshined,” Soundgarden
“The Day I Tried To Live,” Soundgarden
“In The Meantime,” Spacehog
“Connected,” Stereo MC’s
“I Wanna Be Adored,” Stone Roses
“Meant To Live,” Switchfoot
“Across The Universe,” The Beatles
“Things We Said Today,” The Beatles
“Do You Want To Know A Secret,” The Beatles
“Cry Baby Cry,” The Beatles
“How Deep Is Your Love,” Bee Gees
“Eight Miles High,” The Byrds
“Pictures Of You,” The Cure
“There She Goes,” The La’s
“Just Like Honey,” The Jesus and Mary Chain
* Playlist Originally Created by Mark Tortora and Edited by Gail