This is part 34 of an ongoing series where the kind folk of the music business reveal their favourite album of all time.
Ask people in the music industry the seemingly simple and straightforward question, “What is your favourite album of all time?” and you’ll find that it’s not always easy. After all, my industry peers listen to hundreds of albums a month – thousands of songs during that time. Because the question isn’t the best album of all time – the one that’s made them the most money in sales – but the one release they personally can’t live without, that one title they have two copies of in several formats, in case one breaks. It’s also about that album that for them has the best back stories and the one that has the most meaning in their lives.
Suzanne Raga, founder of After The Show I Am The West, Lovers
The strength of the lyrics is what first struck me – with the clever, playful, poetic use of language in individual songs and with the recurring animal imagery throughout the album as a whole. The 10 tracks on I Am The West successfully bridge tender, intimate, and thoughtful vocals with catchy, upbeat electro-pop in a way that I’ve never heard before. I Am The West is full of dichotomies – but it’s how Carolyn Berk of Lovers manages to balance and sometimes blur the lines between the extremes that makes this album so special to me. The songs are introspective but not tortured, full of yearning and confusion yet resolved to accept the uncertainty. The album is rooted in a gentle, calm, and kind purity of spirit, which you can hear especially clearly in the vocals of “Let’s Stay Lost” and “I Have Been The Moon.” Sonically, she blends the cold rigidity of electronic drums with warm, emotive strings and guitars. As someone who usually dislikes electronic drums, I was shocked to love this sound. But by blending indie/folk/rock instrumentation with an almost hip-hop vocal percussiveness (another thing I usually don’t like!), Berk provides all the rhythmic complexity needed with the speak-singing she does in some of the songs’ verses. And because the drums are mechanized (imagine the exact opposite feeling that free form jazz evokes), your ears have the space and freedom to focus on everything else — like the smooth, somehow effortless shifts from staccato vocal delivery to soaring, mellifluous guitars.
Gregory Miller, New York Post Blackout, Britney Spears
The absolute best blend of sugary pop and dark grit that pop music has ever seen. No album has so succinctly reflected the essence of a celebrity at this level. Spears’ empty, robotic vocals are hypnotic, giving all the more power to gut-wrenching lectures on how fame destroyed the pop princess in tracks like “Piece of Me” and “Gimme More.”
I was entering an age of family circa 1999. My son was born, got married and things where in need of change. Learning how to keep myself grounded and being a giant music aficionado classic/psychedelic/prog rock of the underground was really driving it’s way into my life. Hence my 2nd child Emerson (now where’s Lake and Palmer, ha!) I noticed this album had this Jesus type face full blown on the cover of the album, and knowing Mike did the soundtrack for The Exorcist got me to thinking. Is this Jesus who did the soundtrack for The Exorcist? What else can he accomplish? The album didn’t really hit me right off the bat since it is so unconventional in it’s ways. Worldly instruments and only 2 songs. It’s a trip that needed some full blown attention. Then it finally came, everyone went out for the night and I had the place to myself. I put the record on and it began. What was I seeing? What was I hearing? Where was it taking me? What is happening? After listening to the album 10 times that night I knew things would be different from here on in. I woke up and the whole world was nothing like it seemed and for Mike Oldfield’s Ommadawn I would never look back.
Kateryna Topol, Quip Magazine Built on Glass, Chet Faker
The album is very together, each track leads into the next and they almost need to be heard in order, though on their own they are equally magical we well. I love the story, the voice and impeccable production of this album.
Bill Knowlton, We Love Metal Heaven & Hell, Black Sabbath
The doom oriented feel of the title track combined with the soaring vocals of Dio brought me back to metal when I had started to stray. As music is therapy, personal issues in my life prevented me from doing things I really wanted, but I took the last few dollars I had at the time and bought a used copy of the CD. I consider it life changing in the fact that I knew at that moment getting off the couch and making the changes needed would be my only ticket to getting the life I wanted. How this is attributed to the gloominess of Black Sabbath I will never know… My life long obsession with Ronnie James had begun and his music was something I turned to when I needed that extra push, but if I needed to be “shoved” Heaven & Hell is what I turned to; and still do to this day.
“There are some things that are blown out of proportion in terms of their media presence. Some years ago where Amanda Palmer had a crowd funded record that was very successful, it made her a million dollars. Then she mounted a tour to promote that record and she was trying to crowd source musicians to play her music on stage with her. That just seemed incredibly cheap to me.
“I made a couple of comments about that and that became what passes for music news these days, which is that somebody said something about somebody else. So I had to deal with that for a couple of weeks and that seemed overblown and ridiculous. I don’t think I was wrong but I also don’t think that it was that big of a deal.
“So it’s actually considered legitimate journalism now to see something on a message board or twitter and copy it and paste it into a news release and to say that this happened on twitter. And that this is suitable copy for journalism. I find that staggering. That something as insignificant would be used to substitute legwork and reporting and research, and general knowledge and everything that I’ve described is a result of that. It has nothing to do with me speaking out about something or something catching the public consciousness, it has to do with the manner of journalism now. It has been reduced to very superficial stuff. Literally stuff being copied off twitter and presented as news.” – Steve Albini
Today in 1958, one of the greatest rock and roll songs ever released, Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls Of Fire” hit #1 on the US Billboard Chart. It’s the very first single I ever bought with my own money, after hearing the song once in 1976 on CHUM AM while in the car with my parents. 1 minute, 52 seconds. That’s the entire length of the song, and the length of time it took me to really understand the power of rock and roll.
To celebrate the chart-topping time, here are 5 fun facts about the song:
1. Even though it will forever be Jerry Lee Lewis’, he didn’t write the song. It was written by Otis Blackwell and Jack Hammer. Blackwell was no stranger to success by the time he was done in music – he wrote Little Willie John’s “Fever”, Jerry Lee Lewis “Breathless”, Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel”, and “All Shook Up”. Hammer didn’t fare so well, even though he wrote many songs during the “Twist” fad of 50’s and 60’s, including an album released under his main stage name, Jack Hammer, under the title “Twistin’ King” released in France.
2. “Great Balls Of Fire” was an instant hit. The song sold one million copies in its first 10 days of release in the United States and sold over five million copies, making it both one of the best-selling singles in the United States, as well as one of the world’s best-selling singles of all time.
3. The song was featured in a performance by Jerry Lee Lewis and his band in the 1957 Warner Brothers rock and roll film Jamboree, which also featured Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, Buddy Knox, and Dick Clark.
4. The song title comes from a Southern expression, which some Christians consider blasphemous, that refers to the Pentecost’s defining moment when the Holy Spirit manifested as “cloven tongues as of fire” and the Apostles spoke in tongues.
5. Among the artists who have covered the song? Let’s see…There’s The Kingsmen, The Crickets, Electric Light Orchestra recorded a version for their 1974 The Night the Light Went On in Long Beach, Fleetwood Mac, who included the track on the 1999 release of the Shrine ’69 album, even Tiny Tim recorded a version as his b-side to “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.” Garth Brooks did a version for his Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences album, and Ronnie James Dio & the Prophets recorded this song for the Live at Domino’s album.
While working for Cobain’s wife Courtney Love, Tom Grant, best known for his unproven theory that Kurt Cobain was murdered, was given access to Cobain’s suicide note and used her fax machine to make a photocopy, which has since been widely distributed.
After studying the note, Grant believed that it was actually a letter written by Cobain announcing his intent to leave Courtney Love, Seattle, and the music business. Grant asserts that the lines at the very bottom of the note, separate from the rest, are the only parts implying suicide. While the official report on Cobain’s death concluded that Cobain wrote the note, Grant claims that the official report does not distinguish the questionable lines from the rest of the note and simply draws the conclusion across its entirety. One of the biggest ‘what if?’ questions in music, Grant believes there are far more questions than answers.
And so it goes.
The note: “To Boddah
Speakings from the tongue of an experienced simpleton who obviously would rather be an emasculated, infantile complainee. This note should be pretty easy to understand. All the warnings from the Punk Rock 101 Courses over the years, it’s my first introduction to the, shall we say ethics involved with independence and the embracement of your community has been proven to be very true. I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to, as well as creating music, along with really writing something for too many years now. I feel guilty beyond words about these things, for example when we’re backstage and the lights go out and the manic roar of the crowd begins. It doesn’t affect me in the way which it did for Freddie Mercury, who seemed to love and relish the love and admiration from the crowd, which is something I totally admire and envy. The fact is, I can’t fool you, any of you. It simply isn’t fair to you, or to me. The worst crime can think of would be to pull people off by faking it, pretending as if I’m having one 100% fun. Sometimes I feel as though I should have a punch-in time clock before I walk out on-stage. I’ve tried everything within my power to appreciate it, and I do, God believe me, I do, but it’s not enough. I appreciate the fact that I, and we, have affected, and entertained a lot of people. I must be one of the narcisists who only appreciate things when they’re alone. I’m too sensitive, I need to be slightly numb in order to regain the enthusiasm. But, what’s sad is our child. On our last three tours, I’ve had a much better appreciation of all the people I’ve known personally, and as fans of our music. But I still can’t get out the frustration, the guilt, and the sympathy I have for everybody. There is good in all of us, and I simply love people too much. So much that it makes me feel too fucking sad. The sad little sensitive unappreciative pisces Jesus man! why don’t you just enjoy it? I dont know! I have a goddess of a wife who sweats ambition and empathy, and a daughter who reminds me to much of what I use to be. full of love and joy, every person she meets because everyone is good and will do her no harm. And that terrifies me to the point to where I can barely function. I can’t stand the thought of Frances becoming the miserable self destructive, deathrocker she become. I have it good, very good, and I’m grateful, but since the age of seven, I’ve become hateful towards all humans in general. Only because it seems so easy for people to get along and have empathy. Empathy only because I love and feel for people too much I guess. Thank you from the pit of my burning nauseas stomach for your letters and concern during the last years. I’m too much of a neurotic moody person and I don’t have the passion anymore, so remember, it’s better to burn out, than to fade away. Peace, love, empathy, Kurt Cobain.
Frances and Courtney, I’ll be at your altar.
Please keep going Courtney
for Frances
for her life which will be so much happier without me.
I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU!”
Willie “Popsy” Dixon, drummer and vocalist of the critically acclaimed soul/blues band The Holmes Brothers, died in Richmond, Virginia on Friday, January 9. He had recently been diagnosed with stage four bladder cancer. He was 72 years old.
Dixon, born in Virginia Beach, Virginia on July 26, 1942, was celebrated for his soaring, soulful multi-octave vocals and his driving, in-the-pocket drumming. He first met brothers Sherman and Wendell Holmes at a New York gig in 1967. Dixon sat in with the brothers and sang two songs. “After that second song,” recalls Wendell, “Popsy was a brother.” They played in a variety of Top 40 bar bands until 1979, when the three officially joined forces and formed The Holmes Brothers, which The New York Times described as “deeply soulful, uplifting and timeless.” They toured the world, releasing 12 albums starting with 1990’s In The Spirit on Rounder. Their most recent release is 2014’sBrotherhood on Alligator.
Dixon first played the drums when he was seven. He told Blues On Stage, “My mom and dad took me to the store and told me to get anything I liked. There was this tiny red drum set, with a tiny little kick drum and snare…little cymbals. Now, that’s what I wanted! By the next morning, the thing was in the trash can. I beat it all to death. But, I tell you what…I knew how to play after that. I just knew. I had the rhythm down pat and had timing too. Just that fast. I been playing ever since.”
The Chicago Tribune described Dixon’s voice as “otherworldly…a gift to the world of music.” Living Blues said, “Popsy’s voice is a wonder…spontaneous and raw.”
In September 2014, The Holmes Brothers were honored with a National Endowment For The Arts National Heritage Fellowship, the highest honor the United States bestows upon its folk and traditional artists.
Dixon is survived by daughter Desiree Berry and longtime partner Isobel Prideaux.
Funeral service information is pending. Interment will be at the Holmes’ family plot in Saluda, Virginia.
Treasured Canadian comic Bruce McCulloch, of Kids in the Hall, returns to the TV screen with a new 13-episode scripted comedy series, YOUNG DRUNK PUNK. Filmed in Calgary, Alberta, this original half-hour show was created by Bruce McCulloch and will premiere on City TV on Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 8:30pm ET/PT.
From the clever and caustic mind of McCulloch, YOUNG DRUNK PUNK tells the tale of two teen rebels on the fringes of society . . . or in the suburbs of Calgary, circa 1980. Set to a soundtrack that includes Pointed Sticks, The Buzzcocks, The Demics and The Diodes, Ian McKay and his best friend Shinky are searching for ways to grow up without selling out. In those lost years between high school and “what’s next,” they fight against conformity all the while dodging parents, cowboys, oilmen and responsibility.
“You don’t even know. There’s so much happening in the world, you don’t even understand. Mom, I won’t live in your microwave oven world anymore!” – Ian McKay
YOUNG DRUNK PUNK stars Tim Carlson (Gracepoint) as Ian McKay, Atticus Mitchell (Fargo) as Archibald Shinky, Bruce McCulloch as Ian’s father Lloyd, Tracy Ryan (Nancy Drew) as Ian’s mother Helen, and Allie MacDonald (House at the End of the Street) as Ian’s sister Belinda.
“Remember, the world isn’t run by people who were popular in high school . . . so our future must be very bright indeed.” – Ian McKay
YOUNG DRUNK PUNK is produced for television by Accent Entertainment and SEVEN24 Films and broadcast on City.
I hav a new rule I’d like to implement. If, after, several times and a few minutes you still don’t realize what side your gas cap is on, you don’t get to drive.
