: Bad R&R

Joey Ramone "Maria Bartiromo"

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:16:46 -0600

This is it. I'm ending this blog with one that will put me on the coal-in-stocking list forevermore. Joey Ramone wrote this about how much he sincerely likes (loves?) this financial reporter, apparently on his deathbed (or close to it). There. I feel horrible, yet it's the truth: it's not good.

You might think I would have saved something really excellent for the final antidote, but instead here's a song by the Feelies that I barely know. I like their first album enough to recommend it, if you can find it. Merry Xmas.

Start over. I'll leave the Feelies video, but really, how could I end this thing without featuring the greatest rock video of all time (and an excellent all-around song), Peter Gabriel's immortal "Shock the Monkey" I ask you rhetorically?

This is the end, but watch here in 2008 for occasional (perhaps weekly) posts where I'll look back and highlight some of the better, overlooked postings from 2007.

Bowling For Soup "Punk Rock 101"

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 23:12:43 -0600

I missed these guys back when I did novelty week, so here you go. Not just novelty rock, this also piles on the modern pop punk sheen. Best to avoid.

King Missile did the funny rock during the golden age of college rock. And live, they were certainly a rock band (at least when Dave Rick was in the band). Their first 'hit' (aside from perhaps "Take Stuff From Work") was "Jesus Was Way Cool". So as a novelty antidote, this works, even if this particular song does not rock. Give me a break. This blog is almost over.

Plain White T's "Hey There Delilah"

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 22:25:16 -0600

I somehow missed hearing this one until a few months ago, which is odd considering this was a Billboard #1 (the first rock song to top the chart in 5 years; Nickelback was the last one to do it, so I'd argue it doesn't count), and this is a local Chicago band. But then successful (commercially, not artistically) local bands like these guys and Filter don't get much press from the Kots and DeRogatises. I won't complain about that. It sounds like a Wilco rip, and is of course way more popular than actual Wilco.

I should probably give a Chicago antidote here. This is only by location; Jay Reatard playing the Hideout:

Yes "Lift Me Up"

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:53:28 -0600

No coincidence this was from the only Yes album released on Arista.

Yes may have been weaker than King Crimson or Genesis at their peak but I always liked "Roundabout":

Ozzy Osbourne "I Don't Wanna Stop"

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:14:49 -0600

Cleanup time. This being the final week (or so) for Bad R&R (the blog, not the phenomenon), it's time to pull out some high-profile (some may say obvious) examples that I've missed. Ozzy solo has always been problematic, something that he himself probably would agree with. The 80s started off well enough, but after his hotshot guitarist/songwriting partner killed himself clowning around with an airplane, things went downhill fast. He's been through a lot, but going 'Nu Metal' ... that's a new low.

"You! Me! Dancing!" by Los Campesinos is dangerously close to cloying, but its Pavementness saves it for me.

Save Ferris "Come on Eileen"

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:32:29 -0600

Novelty week ends with this cover of a kitschy "80s" song by a band with a kitschy "80s" name, done pop-punk-ska style to push things into a realm of "80s" kitsch that I want nothing to do with.

Here's an antidote completely devoid of kitsch, irony, etc.: Bastro live in 1991, before they changed their name to Gastr del Sol and for the most part abandoned rock:

Jeffrey Lewis "Global Warming Bob Dylan Parasong"

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:29:00 -0600

Novelty week continues with the much maligned Jeffrey Lewis. I like some of the stuff he's done (I haven't heard much) but this a cappella reworking of a Dylan tune with 'topical' lyrics falls on the other side. Maybe it's the creepy x-Fug sitting next to him distracting me, but I don't think so.

His concise history of The Fall is definitive:

Chuck Berry "My Ding-a-ling"

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:01:29 -0600

Novelty week continues with what will probably be Chuck's only #1 hit song, which would be embarrassing to your usual musician who doesn't allegedly install hidden video cameras in women's bathrooms. And that's just one of many reasons why "your usual musician" is not Chuck Berry.

The allegedly dirty old man in action:

Bryan Adams "(I Wanna Be) Your Underwear"

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:25:45 -0600

I really wish this was a novelty.

The Dwarves are no novelty.

The Offspring "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)"

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:57:50 -0600

Sort of like having a picture of your granny wearing Ray-Bans.

Sort of like red with purple flashes: The Creation, "Making Time":

document.write('uh');: Bad R&R