Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is another man’s Poison

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  • Joe Wylie, in reply to nzlemming,

    Never really got the music but I loved the Robert Crumb cover!

    That'd be the late Neon Park. If ever a band's music was overshadowed by the album artwork . . .

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Lilith __,

    by being prepared to cross the floor for the anti-nuclear issue, she did help precipitate the 1984 snap election.

    Until then she propped up a government full of homophobic rednecks. I could never figure out how she reconciled herself with that.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Hebe,

    I could never figure out how she reconciled herself with that.

    Ms Waring is a definite one-off, like her record. I believe that Brian Staff chose the cover picture, as she showed no interest once she'd recorded the song. I can't remember where he sourced it, but it's nothing to do with her. Somehow I got the impression that she treated stuff like party affiliations as equally trivial. Eye on the big picture & all.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Ah. That makes some sense to me --I wasn't being perjorative, just puzzled.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Hebe,

    Originally the band that Jimmy and I had talked about forming was a lounge jazz band and I think we'd tossed around Reptiles as part of that. When the idea mutated into punk the first name we came up with was AFAICR The Suburbans. The two merged around about the second practice.

    Later, Phonogram wanted to drop the Reptiles part but we said no.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Ms Waring is a definite one-off, like her record

    Bryan mostly treated all the stuff he recorded like that. The Swingers aside, Ripper Records was a series of one offs, wacky ideas and semi-novelty records - many of them actually rather good - rather than artist development or anything that time consuming. Marilyn's record (she and Bryan were close friends) was one of those.

    I don't think she was ever required to be interested in it once she left the studio.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Martin Lindberg,

    Back in 83 I’m pretty sure I hated Hall & Oates and this song:

    But then, seeing this cover, it made me think about how it’s possible to recognise a great song, removed from its initial performance. Plus, substituting a saxophone for a kazoo must alway be a win, surely.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=WJiCUdLBxuI&feature=player_embedded

    .

    Stockholm • Since Jul 2009 • 802 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to JacksonP,

    ELO and Olivia Neutron Bomb. It was a match made in... Xanadu..

    Xanadu is one of those "great soundtracks, shame about the movie" deals. (Though it's fun trying to guess how much cocaine had been inhaled around the shooting of any given scene.) And, yes, I have them both tucked away in an undisclosed location.

    It still hurts my brain trying to figure out of Gene Kelly headlined the greatest movie musical every made (that's Singing in the Rain,) and ended up here...

    Now, I've got to get back to explaining why you should make your tweenies watch Battle Royale and avoid The Hunger Games like a whore with the pox.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Chris Waugh, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Xanadu is one of those "great soundtracks, shame about the movie" deals.

    Huh? I thought Xanadu was all about a poet, opium, and dreams featuring Khubilai Khan?

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 2401 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Eye on the big picture & all.

    What’s the Maori Party doing in coalition with National? Hoping to achieve more in government than in opposition.

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Biobbs, in reply to JacksonP,

    I do, albeit vaguely. They obviously liked Simon Gallup circa Faith.

    Nice version this.

    Alternative versions like that really let you appreciate good songs even more. Like this one - which proves how much better songs are when they don't have saxophones on them:

    The River Mouth, Denmark • Since Jan 2011 • 114 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Now, I've got to get back to explaining why you should make your tweenies watch Battle Royale and avoid The Hunger Games like a whore with the pox.

    What about The Running Man, which predates the both of them by more than a few years?

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Biobbs, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Not Barry ‘Dr Rock’ Jenkins?Jenkin, without an s if I recall correctly. I also remember him interviewing, was it Buster Stiggs(?) from the Reptiles, on Radio With Pictures. The Doc wore one of those razor blades around his neck for the occasion, and generally encouraged Mr Stiggs to reassure the viewers that no, punks didn't really bite the heads off babies. And I found myself thinking, well shit, if it was me I'd want my money back.

    I have to give Dr Rock's late-night 1ZM programme credit for switching my musical tastes on to punk and new wave. I used to pretend to be asleep on a school night with my tiny red transistor radio under the pillow, and one of those little white earphones with the curly leads snaking around under my neck and inserted in the ear that wouldn't be visible if mum or dad looked in. There were two songs he had on high rotation that changed my life. This one:

    and this one:

    Howard Devoto has aged so well!

    The River Mouth, Denmark • Since Jan 2011 • 114 posts Report Reply

  • DexterX,

    "Queen" - turns my stomach - The worst of the current/recent radio fodder that I have heard of late is that "Adele" - "Someone like you" - The Moo Moo Whining song.

    A genre that I can't handle is "Gangsta", "Gangsta RAP", Gangsta RNB - whatever it is that is the label for that sugary chain jinglingjuggly jive bass arsed heavy crap love ooh ooh voice box vox love club derivative synthetic crap that passes for a type of music/commerce.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1224 posts Report Reply

  • JacksonP, in reply to DexterX,

    "Queen" - turns my stomach

    So I'm guessing a Wham/Queen combo wouldn't be your favourite either?

    Auckland • Since Mar 2011 • 2450 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Biobbs,

    Howard Devoto has aged so well!

    Not a problem for someone who could turn Dostoyevsky into a classic four minute pop song. Perhaps Dr Rock empathised with that track, given his ghost in teh machine role at the preening temple of meathead smugness that was ZM.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to JacksonP,

    I am tremendously fond of you for many reasons. The posting of that video is just one of them.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle, in reply to DexterX,

    sugary chain jinglingjuggly jive bass arsed heavy crap love ooh ooh voice box vox love club derivative synthetic

    I don't know exactly what this is, but it sounds AWESOME. Where can I find it?

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • Will de Cleene, in reply to 3410,

    Just been flipping through a Peter Gabriel bio. I dislike Phil Collins' music as intensely as the next guy, but - oddly enough - he seems to come across as a pretty decent geezer.

    Tony Banks, not so much.

    I can't hate Phil Collins too much. He might have ruined Genesis with MOR pop and sold out with twee soundtracks, but in his day he could drum. But greater respect goes to Peter Gabriel. He pushed the Fairlight and tried to remain experimental even with major label expectations leaning on him.

    Tony Banks; not a people person, eh.

    Raumati • Since Jul 2011 • 107 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    Lilith___

    Thank you, Ross,

    Old but sometimes useful.

    Now Xanadu. DDDBM&T. Loved it!! …….I betcha Barry Jenkin looked like this….once.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard, in reply to Will de Cleene,

    I can't hate Phil Collins too much. He might have ruined Genesis with MOR pop and sold out with twee soundtracks, but in his day he could drum.

    I can forgive him, given the production on "In The Air", and the pop-progginess of "Home By The Sea".

    But greater respect goes to Peter Gabriel.

    Thanks for posting that: I only knew the version on Mister Heartbreak. Speaking of which:

    William Burroughs, Peter Gabriel, Nam June Paik, John Giorno: I'd forgotten how much Anderson's career was like a 1980s hipster bingo.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to DexterX,

    A genre that I can't handle is "Gangsta", "Gangsta RAP",

    Is that the same as the pointing-and-chanting (copyright Bob Jones) assaults that get up my nose?

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart, in reply to JacksonP,

    So I'm guessing a Wham/Queen combo wouldn't be your favourite either?

    Ah, the video of George Michael winning the Queen auditions. That night was all about making it painfully obvious how talented a singer Freddy Mercury had been.

    The worst of the current/recent radio fodder that I have heard of late is that "Adele" - "Someone like you" - The Moo Moo Whining song.

    There may be, musically, nothing wrong with Someone Like You, but it'll be a long time before I can tell. Well after they stop constantly playing it in shops.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • JacksonP,

    One man’s Meat Puppets is another man’s Poison

    One woman's Kate Bush is another man's Placebo?

    Auckland • Since Mar 2011 • 2450 posts Report Reply

  • 3410,

    Attachment

    A genre that I can't handle is "Gangsta", "Gangsta RAP",

    I can't believe that after all these years, Winamp still has this one as a genre option.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report Reply

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