Musiclectic

"Who Are You" - The Who

This is my favorite of The Who's non-Tommy songs.  I like all the different things going on here musically (particularly interesting when listening with headphones). 

MTV's page about The Who tells why they smashed guitars:

...completely by accident, at a gig at the Railway Hotel, Townshend smashed his first guitar. It happened by accident, because of a temporary stage extension that the band had built, which was higher than the stage itself, and caused him to accidentally hit the ceiling with his instrument -- frustrated by his damaging of the instrument, and the crowd's reaction, he struck it again, and again, and soon it was in pieces, and it was only by using a 12-string Rickenbacker that he'd recently gotten that Townshend was able to finish the show. The following week, he discovered that people had heard about this, and had come to the Railway Hotel to see him smash his guitar. He eventually obliged with encouragement from Keith Moon, who attacked his drum kit -- and while Lambert and Stamp were at first appalled, Townshend smashed another guitar to pieces a little bit later with Lambert's encouragement, as part of his publicity campaign (and it worked, despite the fact that the journalist for whose benefit he committed the destruction never actually saw it). In reality, he didn't smash guitars at every show in those days, and what he was doing, in terms of generating feedback, sufficed in most audience's minds -- smashing the guitar, when it did take place, only punctuated the feedback...

• The Who's website
• Songfacts has a long discussion of the lyrics
• Who are You was one of the Who's biggest U.S. hits (getting up to #14).

"Always Be" - Jimmy Eat World

My daughter was listening to Chase This Light this weekend.  Always Be is my favorite song of the ones I heard.  Every time it came on, I said that I hadn't posted on Musiclectic lately, and I should definitely post this.  By the last time or two, my older son grinned at me at the sound of the opening chords.

The music video is fun (I also enjoy its accurate portrayal of field trip reactions).  
I've always wondered about the band's name, but never bothered to look it up.  It doesn't refer to the name of the lead singer, Jim Adkins.  Instead, as Last.fm writes:

Tom Linton’s [co-vocalist/guitarist] younger siblings, Ed and Jimmy, fought constantly when they were younger. Jimmy, who was stronger and heavier, would usually win. On one instance, Ed, as revenge, drew a picture with crayons of Jimmy shoving the entire world into his gaping mouth with the caption, “Jimmy eat world.”

• Jimmyeatworld.com

"Fly By Night" - Rush

I had forgotten this song until I saw it mentioned at At Water's Edge.  Our high school had a "radio" station, which played in the lunch rooms.  The DJs enjoyed playing certain songs unusually fast, and this was one of them. 

I still enjoy it, and I love the cover art.

• Rush website

"Why Can't This Be Love?" - Van Halen

I pretty much missed pop/rock in the 80's.  I was at the NC School of the Arts, focusing on classical music, for a few years at the beginning of the 80's.  After that, I spent most of my time  getting to know folk music and Broadway soundtracks so I rarely listened to pop radio. 

 I caught up eventually.  Some parts took longer than others, and, although I had heard Why Can't This Be Love on the radio, I hadn't really paid that much attention to it until the last few years.  I recently put it on my mp3 player, and I've really enjoyed it - particularly the guitar interlude.

This video is from their 1989 Japanese tour:

• Van Halen's website
• Rolling Stone's Van Halen section

"Hold on Loosely" - .38 Special

In 1981, "Hold on Loosely" (from Wild-Eyed Southern Boys) was .38 Special's first top ten rock hit.  I like the energy of the song. 

• .38 Special's website
• .38 Special's MySpace page

"Rebel Yell" - Billy Idol

In the summer, I tend to listen to more pop and rock music.  1984's "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol has been a recent favorite (yes, I end up with current favorites that are often decades old so this is relatively young).  I like the music, but never really paid much attention to the words (which often happens with me).
 

 

• Rolling Stone review of the album
• The Unsung Feminism of Billy Idol at Pop Feminist

"Who Knew" by Pink

Another post thanks to my daughter.  She's up to date on current music; I'm not.  When we're driving around, we surf radio stations.  If it's an older song, I'll keep it on - except for the ones she doesn't like.  Newer songs - she'll tell me this is a good one and we listen.  Recently, a number of those have been songs by Pink.

"Who Knew" is, Pink says, a song about the death of friendship (from her album, I'm Not Dead).  She lost friends to drug overdoses, which is reflected in the video:

If someone said three years from now
You'd be long gone
I'd stand up and punch them out
Cause they're all wrong
I know better
Cause you said forever
And ever
Who knew

 

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The song of hers that I know the best is Get the Party Started because it's quite popular on aerobics CD's.

"CrushCrushCrush" by Paramore

Thanks to daughter who played this song (from their album, Riot) for us since I may not have run across it otherwise.  I like the sound of it - it just washes over you.  Daughter says it's the only current punk band fronted by a woman.  From their website:

As Hayley explains, “For us, the title ‘RIOT!’ literally means an unbridled outburst of emotions. When we were writing, it seemed like our thoughts and emotions were coming out so fast that we couldn’t control them. It felt like there was a riot within us. So the album takes our passion to a new level; it’s just all raw energy.”

• Paramore's website.
• Paramore's MySpace page.
• Review of Riot at SmartPunk.com.
• Review of Riot at Spin Magazine Online.