Jack Green - This is Japan

Shinto and rock and roll at the Buddakan

Pick of the Week

“This is Japan” by Jack Green (1980)

With its references to ‘Highway 2’¹ and ‘Indian Summer’² Jack Green’s “I Call No Answer” seemed like it was about Alberta. In fact Alberta seemed to have a profound affection for this English rocker in the early 1980’s – it was a regional anomaly which does not happen very often.

 In the early ‘80’s I recall driving this particular piece of highway (the #2) a bit and one of my favorite road soundtracks for the ride was ‘Humanesque” (of course vinyl recorded onto cassette tape – which always sounded better than the cassette tape format to me).

 I had a pair of white canvas Nikes that lent themselves to the style of the times which I would sometimes wear a dress jacket over a  tee-shirt and narrow leg jeans. It just was the style. If you look at the videos of the time, that is what they wore – the post-punk uniform if you will.

Jack Green seems to be underrated and somewhat forgotten except by his most ardent fans. Was he ahead of his time? Behind the times? Or was it a lot of things like life usually is?

The sound Jack Green made was derivative of a few experiences he had. He had been a member of the T-Rex and The Pretty Things (he was on the recording of ‘Silk Torpedo’ and “Savage Eye’). He had been writing songs professionally since he was 16 years old and had already had two hit singles in Holland and Germany. He was in the cast of ‘Hair’ and played with Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Not bad credentials!

The influence of punk and then more new wave opened the door for his more punchy power rock. The guitar was the thing and he played it well.  Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple) even came out to help out on “I Call No Answer” when Jack recorded it.

‘Humanesque’ still plays well from beginning to end (That is if you can get a hold of a copy – seems to be somewhat rare strangely).

There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or this could be hell

 Songs Everyone Should Know

“Hotel California” by the Eagles (1976)

The surfer boys were growing up and moving on by the late sixties. The beautiful sons and daughters of the migrants to this magnificent coast with its tinge of the Mexican influence were changing. California was not the same place as the fictitious Joad family sought out in “The Grapes of Wrath”. It wasn’t the California of real characters like Brian Wilson’s father’s family either – they had moved to California from Kansas when he was five and were so poor they tented on the beach.

No indeed California of the ‘60’s had become the dream. From  surrealistic places like the LA suburb called Laurel Canyon Joni Mitchell (remember “Ladies of the Canyon”) the Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield (with transplanted Neil Young) and others like a young Jackson Browne, had made a sound of their own – what loosely could be called the Southern California sound.

As the decade clicked off into the seventies a young DonHenley from Texas met Glen Frey from Michigan at the Troubadour club in Los Angeles. Both of them had their own bands and wanted to make it big in California. It was Linda Ronstadt who by instructing her manager John Boylan to recruit her some session musicians in spring of ’71 who set in motion the events that would ultimately produce one of the biggest bands of all time.

Maxi Priest - That Girl

She's the kind of woman who lets you know when she knows what she wants she won't let go

Pick of the Week

“That Girl” by Maxi Priest featuring Shaggy (1996)

You can hear the R&B influence – kind of like a green-onoionish Booker T and the MGs sound running behind this song which is not a surprise really. That was one of the influences underlying reggae in fact this style is often called ‘reggae fusion’.

Booker T. and the MGs

The island sound of reggae music is irresistible. In 4/4 time if you emphasize the third beat and not the first and put in a strong funky bass line that sometimes meanders you have the musical rhythm for reggae. Of course there was Mento, then Ska, Rocksteady and dub but reggae is the most well known universally. As I have often talked about, music is often influence by other music and evolves. No different with reggae: Traditional Jamaican folk music and then Mento was influenced by Jazz and then R&B to become Ska/Reggae toward the end of the 1960’s and into the 1970’s.

There is a spontaneity about reggae. It is soulful music that has its origins deep in folk music of sorts.

Christmas Albums that don't suck!

Beach Boys' Christmas

Vince Guaraldi - Charlie Brown Christmas

Phil Spector - Christmas Gift for You

Nat King Cole - Magic of Christmas

A chip off the ol' block!

It is interesting to note that sometimes it doesn't matter what your Dad did for a living - or does it?

Below is the names of 13 rocks stars and 13 occupations. See if you can match the rock star with the occupation of their father........Ready, Go!

Rock Stars

Prince

Madonna
Elton John

Neil Young

Jim Morrison

Gwen Stefani

Carly Simon
Deborah Harry

Eddie Van Halen

Keith Richards

Jimmi Page

Janis Joplin

Olivia Newton-John

Occupations of their father's in no particular order:

 

Sports writer/editor

Navy Admiral

Co-founder of famous publishing  company

Clarinetist, saxophonist and pianist

Pianist and songwriter

Design engineer for Chrysler and General Motors

Gift shop proprietor

Flight lieutenant

Factory worker, stormed the beach at Normandy

Yamaha Marketing Executive

MI-5 officer

Personnel manager

Engineer at Texaco

Good luck!

The Mamas & The Papas ~ Monday Monday

Monday Monday, can't trust that day, Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way

Songs Everybody Should Know

“Monday, Monday” by the Mamas and the Papas (1966)

Why would a song writer think that anyone could relate to a day of the week? I guess because it is a universal experience – wake up on Monday morning (“Manic Monday” the Bangles, “I Don’t Like Mondays”, Boomtown Rats), get your butt through the week (“Tuesday Afternoon” Moody Blues). Get over hump day (“Wednesday Week” Elvis Costello, “Wednesday Morning, 3AM” Simon & Garfunkel) and cruise through to Thursday (“Thursdays Child” David Bowie) until we make it to Friday (“Friday I’m in Love” the Cure, “Friday on my Mind” Easybeats). Then comes Saturday, (“Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” Elton John, “Another Saturday Night” Sam Cooke, “Saturday Night” Bay City Rollers¹, “Saturday Night” Skyhooks).

So I think you get my point. It is the cheating lyricists’ way out. Of course we can relate – we are alive aren’t we!

This particular day of the week song was the 1966 #1 hit for the Mamas and the Papas from their debut album “If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears”.  It is a great album which also has their hit “California Dreaming” which is absolutely embedded in the tapestry of popular culture now. I mean teenagers know this song and that is saying something. This is prime hippy freedom/hedonism gone commercial. But a very solid album blessed by the song writing of John Phillips – not too spacey so that you can’t relate to it. No, it was sort of a folk-rock melodica, somehow transcending pure folk.

Classics - Always Good!

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy

Boston - Boston

T.Rex - Electric Warrior

Rod Stewart - Atlantic Crossing

Queen - Crazy Little Thing Called Love (Live Montreal 1981)

There goes my baby She knows how to Rock n' roll She drives me crazy She gives me hot and cold fever Then she leaves me in a cool cool sweat

Pick of the Week

“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by Queen (1980)

He was born to be a showman. With his flamboyant charismatic presence, the soaring, brilliant, multi-octave voice of Freddie Mercury is easily worthy of being called one of the top male voices in rock ever.

His lives on in videos, DVDs, records, CDs, Mp3s and millions of people’s memories all over the world.

Born Farrokh Bulsara he was born in Zanzibar, Tasmania and was raised in India till he was a teen. In Bombay he had already started playing piano when he entered St. Peter’s British-style boarding school at age 8. Soon to be called Freddie, he formed his first band when he was 12 and did Cliff Richard and Little Richard tunes.

After school he returned to the family home in Zanzibar only to leave again for England due to the Zanzibar revolution that saw thousands of Arabs and Indians killed. In Felltham, Middlesex he enrolled in Islesworth Polytechnic where he studied, what else, art. His diploma in Arts and Graphics was later put to good use when he designed the ‘Queen’ logo.

After kicking around with a few bands he teamed up with Brian May and Rodger Taylor who were a bit nervous about the name “Queen”, but reluctantly agreed. It was about this time that Freddei changed his surname from Balsara to Mercury.

Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe with whom Mercury recorded an album, said of him, “The difference between Freddie and almost all the other rock stars was that he was selling the voice. His technique was astonishing. No problem of tempo, he sung with an incisive sense of rhythm, his vocal placement was very good and he was able to glide effortlessly from a register to another. He also had a great musicality. His phrasing was subtle, delicate and sweet or energetic and slamming. He was able to find the right colouring or expressive nuance for each word.”