Tue, 27 August 2019
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's album Blues for Allah. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - The Dead's 7th studio album, came out in September 1975 - The band's highest-charting album until 1987 - Very non-commercial record - Jay: The best thing about the album is the cover - Moved in a much different direction from previous album - Band had stopped touring after From the Mars Hotel - Mickey Hart was back - Also in 1975, Zeppelin had released Physical Graffiti, Talking Heads and Sex Pistols played their first shows, disco started hitting the charts - Phil: Very sparse, subdued jazz-rock album - Studio songs are blueprint, but they change after repeated live playings - Dead fans were used to changing sounds - The live show was the thing - Commercial success was less important to the band and its fans - Some songs on this album went on to become concert staples - Not a lot of bands that have fans following them around the country: Phish, Afghan Whigs, Pearl Jam, Tragically Hip - Album has a Middle Eastern feel; a few years later, they played in Egypt - Jay: Liked the first few songs, then it started to meander - Next album was live album Steal Your Face, which many fans didn't like - Next we'll listen to Terrapin Station and Cornell '77 - Springsteen's live shows are long, but full of songs (as opposed to long jams) - Phil just saw Apocalypse Now for the first time Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Wed, 21 August 2019
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's album From the Mars Hotel. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ on the 13th birthday of the podcast - The Dead's 7th studio album, came out in June 1974 - Watergate hearings were the big news story - Beer was a lot cheaper back then - In '74, there was a good variety of rock acts releasing important albums, plus funk - Mars Hotel had some classic Dead songs - Phil Lesh sang two songs, which was rare, and Bob Weir had one - Garcia is in prime form on this record - The Dead was touring with the "Wall of Sound," a massive "distortion-free" speaker setup - Playing larger venues - The cost was so high that they eventually quit touring for a few years - Maybe the last great Dead studio album - The Grateful Dead Movie was taken from the final shows of this tour - Working out new songs in the live setting - Rivalry between lyricists Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow - The Dead would play with guest musicians from time to time including Pete Townshend, Branford Marsalis, Santana, Huey Lewis - The Dead probably got some airplay on FM rock radio in the '70s - Rock radio has changed a tremendous amount over the years; it's mostly corporate, formatted now - College and online stations have the most freedom - Second-tier album in the discography - Pretty representative of the Dead's sound - Next: Blues for Allah Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Mon, 12 August 2019
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Gary Barth as we discuss the concertgoing experience. Show notes: - Recorded in Gary's car on the way to the show - Driving before and briefly after an Iron Maiden concert at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA - Jay: Big fan of club shows - Like to get up close to the stage - The downside of theater shows - Some shows are made for big venues - Getting your face melted by Ty Segall - Demographics: We're the target market for Maiden, but often among the oldest when seeing newer acts - If you were 30 when you saw Maiden during their early days, you're pushing 70 now - Still weird to be "the old guy" - No institutional knowledge of what came before - Gary: Raised our kids on the Beatles - Jay: My kids love Taylor Swift; at least she writes her own songs - I listen to a lot of pop these days when I drive the girls around - Making the kids listen to your music - Gary: We played Beatles Rock Band a lot as a family - Will we still go to rock shows as senior citizens? - No such thing as guilty pleasures - We both love the Bee Gees - Jay: Traded the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack for a Zeppelin album - Reconciled with my disco-loving childhood - People who watch a show through their smart phones - Making Gary self-conscious about phone use at concerts - Artists who ban cellphone use at shows - After the concert - We paid extra to park in a lot to get out earlier - High energy, over-the-top stage show - Saw some people with toddlers - Fun to go to a big show with friends - Gary's next show: Raconteurs in September - Jay's next show: Sleater-Kinney in October - Gary plays about 20 shows a year Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Mon, 5 August 2019
Celebrating 13 years of podcasting with part 1 of my conversation with guest Gary Barth as we discuss the concertgoing experience...while we drive to a concert. Show notes: - Recorded in Gary's car on the way to the show - Driving to an Iron Maiden concert at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA - Gary's first concert: Huey Lewis and the News in 1985 - Huey's got rock cred - All the big shows back in the '80s were at hockey rinks - Many bands now play smaller theaters and clubs - Jay: Used to go see arena shows only back then - Arenas in Worcester, Portland, Providence - Shows were cheaper back then, but we had less money - People would get really wasted before concerts - The guy who sat behind us and still missed the entire Maiden show - Getting rides to concerts from parents - Gary plays in a Grateful Dead cover band, Deadbeat - Listening to some "nice hahd rawk" - Jay's (very) short-lived high school band - Jay: Liked a lot of metal and hard rock in high school, turned away from it in the '90s - We both started listening to Maiden again in 2006 - Bands don't make money from selling albums anymore - Saw Drive-By Truckers at the local theater in Beverly - Go see Deadbeat at the Bull Run in Shirley, MA on 8/9 - Cover bands are doing pretty well these days - Heavy Metal Cul de Sac - Bands keep touring into their old age - The Iron Maiden guys are all in their 60s but put on a high-energy show - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
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