Jet Rock

I was on a plane, I was listening to tunes, and I jumped around and around with the songs.  It’s odd how your mood can change so quickly from song to song.  The tracks below were ones that I thought you might enjoy.  Isn’t it nice to share? 

La Roux, Bulletproof.  People criticize me that I’m stuck in time, and not bopping to the relevant beat of today.  Hey, I love the Justins (Timberlake and Beiber), Gaga, and many others.  Here’s yet another example, La Roux.  This is pure synth pop, but it’s a grooving song that gets the Kid up and embarrassing himself on the dance floor.  
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​Brownsville Station, Smoking in the Boys Room and Sweet, Barroom Blitz.  Don’t ask me why I think these songs are bookends, but I think they’re bookends.  They came out about the same time, they both rock, and they’re both one-hit wonders.  I saw a really great cover band at Acme Feed and Seed in Nashville this summer that just completely ripped on Barroom Blitz, and it reminded me of what a marvelous song it is.  Remember them using it in Wayne’s World?   Smoking in the Boys Room reminds of me of many days in high school when I went into a men’s (boy’s?) room in school only to find it completely filled with cigarette smoke.  I guess now they would simply use a vape, but back then it was the real thing.  

​Gregg Allman, I’m No Angel.  I miss Gregg Allman.  I saw him a few times right before he died.  One time was pretty average, but the other show was phenomenal.  He didn’t live an angelic life, but he certainly did entertain us and give us much to discuss.  This song reminds me what a great blues voice he had, and how he could carry a tune and give it meaning beyond the mere words of the track.  

​Graham Parker and the Rumour, Discovering Japan.  Wow, what a track.  The signature guitar riff that begins the tremendous Squeezing Out Sparks LP just promises great things to follow, and boy, did that album deliver.  It’s sad that GP didn’t become a huge star, but in my mind, he’s one of the most influential of the “new wave/angry young men” artists to have arisen in the late 70s and early 80s.  This song packs a wallop, both sonically and lyrically, and allows the Rumour to stretch themselves to deliver a pure rocker that is ingrained deep inside of my brain.
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​Rush, The Spirit of the Radio.  Well, that was a quick change, right?  I’m not a prog rocker, never was, never will be.  That being said, I’m a closet Rush fan.  They have enough tracks to fill a nice set that I would enjoy immensely.  Last July 14, I put on their song Bastille Day and forgot how long that particular track is – and I loved every minute of it.  But I think my all-time favorite Rush song is The Spirit of the Radio.  Radio is less important today than it was, but homage’s to the delivery device of my youth is still welcome.  How can you not like a lyric about being a rock star that says:  “But glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity, yeah.”  Yup, sure enough.  

​Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, Devil With A Blue Dress On/Good Golly Miss Molly.  I was just hanging out with a neighbor who is from Detroit.  Too bad about his Tigers and Lions (let’s not mention his Red Wings or Pistons), but he was going on a bit about all the bands he had seen in Detroit.  Seger, a bunch of the Motowners.  He didn’t mention Mitch Ryder, Iggy Pop or the MC5, but hey, Detroit is one of America’s great music towns.  Mitch Ryder was completely full of himself, but if you listen to this tandem of songs, you’ll come away saying, well, he had every right to be.  Imagine what this would sound like with modern production techniques?  Like touching an electric fence?  Yeah, something like that.  

​Rufus, Tell Me Something Good.  Funky, funky, funky.  I remember about 15 years ago I was hanging out with a dude who could drink more beer than anyone I’ve ever met in my life, and he loved putting this song on the juke.  Every time I hear it I think of him and wonder where he is now.  I still remember being in a bar with him in some backwoods town in Kentucky, and he told me he was going to be a father.  He kept asking me what it was like, and I told him it was great and he would love it.  He wasn’t satisfied with that answer and kept pressing as we kept drinking.  Finally, I told him it was the biggest damn fool mistake of his life, and he burst out and said “I knew it!  I’m screwed!”  Hahahahaha.  Put on some funk, my man, and remember when you didn’t have no babies.

​Haim, Summer Girl.  I’m not a very big Haim fan.  The sisters have a big buzz, but when I listen to them, I hear boring singer-songwriter stuff.  However, I’m nothing if not flexible, and when a good song comes along, I’m into it regardless of who puts it out.  I heard this song a few times recently, and it got under my skin.  It’s pretty cool.

​Fang Fang, I’ve Got A Good Feeling.  Philly’s singles machine, Fang Fang is the new “it” band in the Delaware Valley.  I’ve only heard a few of their tracks, but I’ve pretty much liked them all.  Here’s another one – this is a band to watch, just like Philly’s RFA.

​The Menziners, After the Party.  This song rocks, and it rocks hard.  Can you imagine seeing the Menzingers in a basement?  I saw a lot of bands in basements in college – I remember one band was made up of English Department grad students, and they weren’t playing your typical b.s. cover stuff.  They were playing songs like Nick Lowe’s Let’s Eat and Devo’s Whip It.  Anyway, the Menzingers rock it, their live shows are stuff of legend, and this video is a relationship-in-3-minutes that is pretty well done.

​OK, the plane is landing.  Why do I want to hear the B-52s now?  And maybe a track by the Clash?  Or KC and the Sunshine Band?  I want to shake my booty for sure.  I haven’t been feeling good of late, but am now way on the road to recovery.  It’s easy to forget how much we take our good health for granted – take care of yourself, and make sure you eat plenty of processed foods, sit and watch TV on the couch, and avoid fresh fruits and vegetables like the plague.  A big slovenly “later” to you!