According to Bono, the world needs more Canada because “something is going on here. (Canada has) avoided a stigma that’s attached to the West . . . that other parts of the world regard with such suspicion” said the Irish rock and roll superstar at last weekend’s Liberal Party leadership convention. We are in fact so polite that he feels we could take over the world just by saying please! Now who am I to argue with Bono. If a rock star says we are the greatest, then it must be true right? I have always been a (ahem..) big fan of U2 since they were a struggling band out of, ummh Ireland and this just reinforces by love for all things U2. Way to go Bono! You can come back to Canada anytime. (Yes I’m promoting Canada while being sarcastic at the same time. I really got to dig out some U2 albums soon.)
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I blew it, I admit it. Information Leafblower asked me to contribute a list of the top 10 bands in America (twice) and I fumbled the ball and neglected to take part. Coolfer of course took part and the end results can be seen here. After reading this list, I realize that it’s going to cost me a fortune since I have a ton of CDs to buy. All this is in direct response to the recent Guardian Unlimited article “The 40 Greatest US Bands Today” which needless to say inspired a tad bit of “debate.” Since I am Canadian I should have contributed since we Canadians are known for our fair and considerate opinions and our balanced, peace loving viewpoints (and our liberal, socialist/communist leanings right Dubya!). Gotta like the list though. While I’m familiar with most of these bands I got me some learning to do. Thanks for all the hard work Information Leafblower.
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If you ever wondered what life was like in the waning years of Led Zeppelin’s hedonistic existence, Good Times, Bad Times is just the article for you. Written by the former publicist for Led Zeppelin in the late seventies, it just reinforces the belief for me that despite the fact that I love Led Zeppelin, these guys definitely had some bad mojo about them. Nice to see that Richard Cole wasn’t completely loose with the truth but it’s all kind of sad nonetheless. But jeez these guys could rock! Pass me my copy of Physical Graffiti.
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There is no point in denying it, Christmas is right around the corner. If you are looking for some cool rock and roll books for gifts you should definitely check out Helter Skelter books. As far as I’m concerned this is the source for all books rock and roll, and I say this as a struggling Amazon affiliate! Based out of London England, these guys have the most incredible selection of rock and roll books anywhere. If you have a friend who is into the early history of Slade, or Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Review, Helter Skelter has the book for you. Check ‘em out now since you know as well as I that before you know it you’ll be scrambling to the local mall 2 days before Christmas thinking, “Why didn’t I listen to The Rock and Roll Report?” And you will kick yourself. Probably twice.
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So this January marks the 50th birthday of Playboy magazine. I can just hear the screams of derision from some of you for me even bringing up this sordid rag and the howls of disbelief from some of you who do not think that I am giving Hef the respect that he deserves (actually the greater majority of you probably didn’t realize and don’t care, a typical problem facing the bunny empire these days). Be that as it may, Playboy and rock and roll are quite closely linked. Every major rock artist of the ‘60s, from the Beatles to Dylan, has been featured in the pages of the magazine. Bill Graham used to pen a column on the “Psychedelic Sounds” of the late ‘60s. Brian Jones used to stagger about the London Playboy club with a blonde on one hand and a bag of pills in his pocket. Hell the Rolling Stones stayed at the Playboy Mansion in ’72 during the Chicago and Mid-West leg of their infamous “cocksucker blues” tour of North America. The connection is sill there today with their Sex & Rock ‘N’ Roll website which is billed as “dedicated to the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle” (whatever that is). Believe it or not, this site is not half bad. OK not all of you are going to be thrilled with the “sex” part but then hey, this is rock and roll, it’s all part of the package. Some of the stuff like the rap/rock and hip hop bands is to me just pandering to what is supposedly “hip” today but I do enjoy the “Breaking Bands” section which features new up and coming rock and roll bands and the article “From the Underground: Buzz Bands” by Michael Reynolds was great. Go ahead, click on the link. After all, you’re just going there for the articles, right? Right.
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In this day and age of illegal downloading, iTunes and Napster 2.0 and the continuing debate over the fate of technologies like MP3 and AAC, there is one simple fact that gets lost in the shuffle. There is a lot of good, free, perfectly legal music out there available for downloading right now. And you don’t need an iPod or Rio to enjoy it. This fact was made perfectly clear when I checked out the website Fingertips which bills itself as “An intelligent guide to free and legal music on the web.” What is their definition of intelligent? They consider music to be intelligent that is “produced with discrimination and spirit.” Ok that leaves things quite wide open but website operator Jeremy Schlosberg seems to be up to the task as I downloaded stuff from Steve Wynn, Tom Waits, Pete Townsend and Death Cab for Cutie that I would probably not have otherwise. A great idea that looks like it could be a real help for those trying to go legit. I especially like their smaller record labels with MP3s section. All in all this site looks to be growing weekly and I recommend you check it out regularly. Don’t be afraid to offer suggestions but it doesn’t look like at this time Fingertips is too concerned with unsigned bands so make sure your suggestions are on a label somewhere. They also have a blog located here. Good stuff.
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Well, another one bites the dust as Kindercore Records has folded according to this post. Mike Mills favourite label is gone, another voice in the battle for musical diversity lost but this does bring up the point that record labels do need money to survive so having a business plan before setting up your alt-surf punk jazz label is always a good idea. I never even got a chance to check out their roster, which brings up another point. If you like a particular indie rock record label BUY THEIR CDs. There comes a time where you must put your money where your mouth is.
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Thought libraries were boring? Check out The Psychedelic Library for all your “educational” needs. Groovy man.
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Tony Thompson, ace session drummer and formerly of Chic and Power Station died at 48. Thompson was part of the ill-fated XYZ project, which was basically the remaining members of Led Zeppelin after John Bonham died with Thompson on drums. He also backed the surviving members of Led Zeppelin at Live Aid. Since he had no health insurance, contributions for his medical bills are gratefully accepted at www.tonythompsonfund.com.
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I just came upon the site La Ricreazione on I think the Bomp mailing list and I’m still trying to figure out what it’s all about. Very interesting. Try reading the site in Italian! Ciao!
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Shindig magazine, which I have posted about in the past, has published their November record reviews. Always helpful, always fun to read.
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The Rock and Roll Report Radio Station of the Week is Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs Radio. Another classic from Live 365, Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs radio plays some of the tastiest, sugar coated power pop music ever made. From The Beatles to Weezer, this station is great. Pull up a chair, grab your big spoon and dig in. Guaranteed not to give you cavities! Plus, any radio station named after something from Calvin and Hobbes is automaticaly cool in my book.
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There is a new music magazine about to hit the racks and it’s called Tracks. Aimed at a more “adult” market, Tracks is essentially going after the Mojo/Q/Uncut reader. Can they survive in today’s market? I will pick up the first copy and let you know but I hope so. And so does Scott Woods at Rock Critics Daily where I pinched this link from. Thanks Scott!
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What do you think of these: “Fighter Fighter, Josephine, Ballroom, Forget, Beat, Makeshift, Paint, What’s Up With Gus?, You, Cook, Dancer.” Random words just tossed together for the sake of making up space in this post? Not this time! Actually these are the names of a bunch of new songs that The Tragically Hip performed at the end of October in a tiny, tiny bar in Whistler B.C according to the fantastic fan site Hipbase. And what you are hearing above the din of The Hip’s original style of rock and roll is the collective exhalation of a rock and roll nation who had been holding their breath wondering what the boys from Kingston, Ontario have been up to these past months. After touring behind In Violet Light for the better part of last year and a smattering of shows this summer, some fans of Canada’s The Tragically Hip were wondering whether The Hip would be back for another kick at the rock ‘n’ roll can. In light of the band releasing long time manager Jake Gold (now of Canadian Idol fame. Aacck!) and some off hand comments from drummer Johnny Fay wondering if they were still even a band, coupled with Gord Downie’s string of amazing shows behind his solo CD Battle of the Nudes, fans were getting a little nervous about whether they would hear from The Hip again. Well fear not. After contributing to the excellent Gordon Lightfoot tribute CD Beautiful: Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot, the boys are in the process of writing for their next album in beautiful British Columbia and they should be ready to hit the stage sometime next year. If you are not too familiar with The Hip (yes I’m talking to you our American neighbors to the South), you must check out these guys at the next available opportunity. I’m not going to saddle them with a “they sound like…” tag but if bizarre lyrics about Canada, hockey and being locked in the trunk of a car coupled to primal, snarling rock and roll with the odd psychedelic interlude appeal to you then you will most probably like The Tragically Hip. I guarantee that when you leave a show by The Hip, the smile on your face will be more impressive than the pounding in your ears and the beer stains on your pants. And I definitely guarantee you will become consumed with trying to figure out what the hell Gord Downie is rambling on about. And you will like it.
For those of you who already know what I’m talking about, here is the set list from one of the shows:

1. NOIS
2. *Fighter Fighter
3. Puttin Down
4. *Josephine
5. ABAC
6. *Ballroom
7. *Forget
8. Nautical Disaster
9. *Beat
10.*Makeshift
11. Poets
12. *Paint
13. 100th Meridian
14 *Whats up With Gus
15. Music At Work
16. Wheat Kings
17. *You
18. Fire In The Hole
Encore
19. Blow At High Dough
20. *Cook
21. *Dancer
22. Little Bones

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Boy the reviews have been all over the place for the new R.E.M. best of collection In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 (Special Edition). All I have been reading are either “R.E.M. are such a great bunch of guys and boy are they ever wonderful and they get along so great and they’re re-energized, etc.” kind of fluff to “That’s it, they’re dead. Releasing a Greatest Hits means that R.E.M. have zero left to say and they should have hung up their guitars when Bill Berry retired. Plus Bad Day just sounds like It’s The End of the World As We Know It” type of complaining (a good sampling of reviews can be found at the excellent R.E.M. fan site Murmurs). I think that the reality lies somewhere in the middle. Peter Buck and the boys are currently in the midst of writing a new album so I don’t think that they are out of ideas yet but I just think that the loss of Bill Berry was a more severe blow musically and socially than they are willing to admit. I like Bad Day and Animal and now I don’t have to buy that crappy Vanilla Sky soundtrack so for me In Time is a good buy but it is sad to see all the bad press surrounding the band. Quite frankly I am happy to see them being a little less “popular” so that hopefully they will do a small theater tour in the near future and that would be worth all the pitiful sales they have been experiencing in North America. And I want to see Peter Buck up close do his scissor kicks again. The best since Pete Townsend.
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Now this is an interesting change. ABCKO Records (with Mr. Turtleneck Alan Klein and his daughter at the helm) will be releasing the Rolling Stones ’60s recorded output on limited edition vinyl (Classic Stones Albums Getting Vinyl Treatment). This is a trend I fully support. Turntables to be used for something other than DJs scratching at night clubs. Bring on Aftermath!
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So I installed my 120 day trial version of Windows XP Pro last night to check it out and evaluate whether I should buy it and use that instead of my usual Windows 98 SE. It installed fine and I must admit that things like the automatic setting of my screen resolution and the quick and painless Internet set up impressed me. I was less impressed with the “Simpsons” style colour scheme used as the GUI and I will probably revert to the crappy Windows 98 default colour scheme if I stick with XP. The one thing that amazed me was what happened when I checked out the Windows updates site to see what patches I needed to apply to a product on a CD that was released in 2002. There were 43 critical patches required to update this particular version of XP! Holy cow! I always keep my system up to date in both Microsoft issued patches and virus definitions but it was still mind boggling none the less. I didn’t bother installing the patches and will probably wait until the weekend as I suspect it will take awhile. Over all the user experience is quite good and very helpful and straight forward. I will be installing a version of Linux on the same system and evaluate that to see how difficult a Windows to Linux migration would be. I’m currently in the planning stages of a new website/project (it will deal with space or the environment, still not sure yet but not rock and roll so stay tuned) and I am hoping to go all Linux on that to keep all my options open so I’ll let you know how that goes. I think that The Rock and Roll Report is pretty much stuck with Windows since I need to easily access sites with Windows Media files but I have no such requirements for the new site so this will give me the opportunity to dive head first into the world of open source. Should be alternately fun and frustrating but isn’t that the way with all computer related endeavors?
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According to the NME Oasis will be heading back to the studio in early 2004. I love Oasis and I am not being sarcastic. I like big, loud, sing along rock songs that go chorus, verse, chorus, verse all held together by some delicious hook that gets you within the first 5 seconds. Throw in some obvious ’60s influences and mix it up with attitude and assholeness (a new word!) and you’ve got everything that good rock and roll should be about. Oasis are a great rock and roll band, period. Noel Gallagher is a brilliant writer who knows what he wants and single-mindedly (is that a good word?) goes out and gets it, no apologies. Sure they have put out some duds but overall their consistency is incredible for a band that changes line ups more than I change pants. 2004 will be a great year for rock and roll with Oasis back in the mix. Thank god for that. The tide has turned. Get ready.
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These men and women gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today. Thank them in person while we still have the chance.
Peace.

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

To find out more about the man who wrote this poem, vist McCrae House.
I would also encourage you to visit the Juno Beach Memorial for a taste of what was involved in one of the key battles of World War 2.
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For any of you who are in or around the Montreal area on Wednesday, November 12th, you might want to pop into the Casa del Pop-olo on 4873 St. Laurent for the Pop Extravaganza Night. It will feature Glam & Glitter Pop, Psych Pop, Bubblegum Pop, Folk Pop, Electro Pop, Sunshine Pop, Yéyé Pop, Power Pop, British Pop, 60s pop, McCartpop, Spectorpop, Bonzopopband, Harmonies Pop, Punk Pop, Sitar Pop, Melodic Pop, Trippy Pop, Baroque Pop, etc. you get the idea plus the Dirtbombs and DJs Crawdaddy Simon (yes of Bomp list fame) and Mimi la twisteuse! An excellent night to rock ’till you pop!
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So Creem magazine is coming back but will it be the Creem that we remember? During the magazines’ heyday I don’t think that describing it as “irreverent” would be out of place but that’s what it was and that’s what differentiated Creem from say Circus or Hit Parader. The online version is available here and it looks kinda cool so I’ll give them some slack and see how things turn out. I could always use another high quality rock mag for when I’m sitting around the pool so let’s see if the new Creem is up to the task. I will vote with my wallet as should you.
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According to the article “Online music singles sales blow away CD singles” single song downloads are outpacing their CD counterparts. First off, I never realized that there was much of a market for these overpriced CD singles so why is this such a surprise? Stick a song on a CD from an album that is already out, add a “remix” version of the song (maybe even twice) and name it something like the “Sir Bump a Lot Tease Hip Hop Mix” and possibly even add an “unreleased” instrumental track and sell it for $8.99. Wadda ya mean no one wants to buy it? Sheesh!
(How about that incredible “Les Nessman” style headline huh?)
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Who was Raymond Scott? Visionary? Genius? Musician Extraordinaire? Legend? Sure he was all these things, but you say you have never heard of him? Sure you have. Raymond Scott was the man behind the music of Looney Tunes. Are you smiling now? I thought so. Visit the Raymond Scott Official Site and discover the man Peter Buck proclaims “sounds like nothing so much as the future.” A very cool man in my books. After checking out this site I think you will tend to agree.
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With the announcement that BMG and Sony are to merge and the possibility that EMI might buy Warners, we might be soon stuck with only 3 major record labels. How bigger equates better in this day and age is beyond me since you would think that smaller would be more responsive to the constant change in the record business these days but I guess that’s why I only write this little rock and roll blog and don’t run a major record label.
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I am old enough to remember record cover art and I remember that it actually was significant to me as a rock and roll fan at the time. Checking out the latest Rush or Pink Floyd record, the excitement of the 6 different covers to Led Zeppelin’s In Through The Out Door or the cutouts on Some Girls by the Stones were all part of the fun of buying records. It seems I’m not the only one who misses this. Great Tunes, but Where’s the Cover? really made me nostalgic for the craft of putting an album together. From the music, to the sequencing, to the cover art and the liner notes, there was a crafstmanship that doesn’t seem as noticeable today and the trend to downloads will all but kill this artform. I guess I’m just showing my age.
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