The 21st Century (Mostly) British R&B Revival

The movement never had a name (probably to it's benefit), but there was a thriving explosion kicked off by the somewhat surprisingly huge success of Amy Winehouse. 60's style R&B with a modern twist was suddenly vogue, and acts who had previously faced careers of obscurity as niche artists got a ticket to the big time thanks to record labels looking to cash in on what became a trend.

Amy had a go at becoming a Jazz singer in the vein of Norah Jones or Diana Krall. Raised on her dad's records and a guitar player from an early age, her first album, Frank, indicated the arrival of a young adult wonderkid, adept at standards and songs she wrote that sounded like standards. But the key were the songs that sounded like something else entirely. (There's a great article about Amy's early career and transition here.)

It was this which attracted the attention of a young producer named Mark Ronson, who knew that he might've found a kindred spirit. An experienced DJ well versed in Hip Hop, he melded his sensibilities with Amy's R&B aspirations and invented a new sound that reinvented the Motown, Phil Spector, Brill Building girl group sound. When an interviewer once told Amy that the Ronnettes had beehives like hers, she defiantly pointed out "No, I have hair like them." But where groups like The Shangri-Las were prefabricated and had songs written for them, Amy wrote her own songs, drawn from a well of directly true to life experiences.

The record was Back To Black, and born out of songs Amy wrote about her tumultuous break up/make up/break up again/make up again young love with the man who would become her husband. Unfortunately, it was the same man who introduced her to hard drugs, which ultimately led to Amy's creative absence from the scene that soon developed from the success of her album.

But the gap wouldn't stay open for long. Notably, there was Duffy:


Then there was Adele:


James Hunter got his foot in the door:


The band on most of the tracks on Back To Black was an outfit called The Dap Kings. They recruited a singer named Sharon Jones and hit the ground running:


The clever producer/potent, troubled soul singer connection, creating tunes with lush horns and driving beats was later reflected in Danger Mouse and Cee Lo Green in Danger Mouse:



As for Mark Ronson? "I am really proud of the sound of Amy's record, and, it's hard to remember, but before that came out, there was nothing else really on the radio that sounded like it," Ronson recently said. "And then it kind of influenced things and became quite regular to hear something that would sound like that. I don't think there's anything that was as good as it, or as raw as Amy's vocals and her songs...If Amy's record had sold 300,000 copies...as opposed to significantly more than that, we'd probably both be quite happy coasting along doing the same sound."

Instead, Ronson next put his efforts into a fantastic multi-artist album called Version, which featured a bunch of artists somewhat out of their native habitat. One of the best tracks was a hopped up version of a song Amy took on in a more somber fashion on Back To Black, a song called Valerie. The video for which is now sadly prescient, as girls get picked from the audience to have their chance to try to fill Amy's heels. None could or ever can, but at least now that the door is open, they can try.

Errol Flynn and The Adventures Of Robin Hood

Adventure movies as old as this one are often dismissed offhand. No explosions? No blood and guts? Not "realistic?" None of these things matter in The Adventure Of Robin Hood. It puts a smile on your face that doesn't leave for the entirety of a very briskly paced thrill ride. Positively timeless. It's completely unrealistic, but you find yourself loving it even more because it does allow you to escape. At least for a little while. And ultimately it's a movie about friendship. Who can frown on that?

There's a great DVD available that features the film along with old trailers, a newsreel, short feature, and cartoons, so that you can recreate the experience of going to the movies back in the day.

Robert Altman, Elliott Gould, and The Long Goodbye

For anyone who ever felt like they were born at the wrong time, Altman's very 70's adaptation of Raymond Chandler's very 40's The Long Goodbye will speak volumes. Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe, lost in a world without any values that make sense to him. But hey, "It's OK with me."

New York Times had a fantastic article on the subject. You can buy the DVD here.

In Defense Of Pop

If you can find a reason to dislike this, I have no idea where your head is at.

People have a problem with what they call "Pop music" because they feel they're supposed to and/or they don't want to be in with something that other people like also.

Pop is also perhaps the purest musical genre because it's only basis is that it's popular. Work in the selling of music to the public, you grow to hate genre classifications. They're the tools of an industry trying to sell you shit, and people fall for it entirely readily. Like Metal? Then buy Metallica and bands that also sound like Metallica. But then you can also buy Cannibal Corpse if you like Death Metal. Like Rap? Buy Jay-Z and people that sound like Jay-Z. Buy all those, then buy Gangsta Rap from the 90's. First buy a compilation and hear everyone who sounds like someone decided that sounds like, then buy all the individual groups. Do you like Punk? Well, you better not like Pop, then. Unless it's Pop Punk. Hate Pop Punk? That's good, because you can still buy Hardcore Punk. It's all a scheme.

Pop is amorphous. The only rule is that it strike a chord with many, if not most, people. The Beatles still are a Pop Group. They are The Pop Group, in fact. Michael Jackson is the King of Pop. They'd only be anything else in revisionist history. "Rock'n'Roll" is a phrase used by white people to sell black records 55 years ago. Chuck Berry wrote perfect Pop songs. Nirvana was Pop. In fact, it might sound very conspiracy theory, but it seems that what killed Nirvana and the popular music of that time was that it had to be called "Grunge" and "Alternative" when in fact it was thoroughly mainstream. Those titles gave it a shelf life. Is it possible that there were record label execs who made that name stick so they could put in a box and marginalize musicians they couldn't control and make it a fad?

It's clearly a big part of the kneejerk tribalism that is unfortunately a constant trait of the human condition from birth to death. But Pop transcends, because it's the one kind of music that people listen to and don't think too much about what they're going to call it. It just is, it's there, it's oxygen. Which way is the world headed? You can hear it in the Pop Music. Always, all through time.

You could say it's the lowest common denominator. But all that term really means if you subtract the snark is that many people have to feel it. You could also infer that it's basic, pointless, stupid. You should try to write a Pop Song. It's difficult. It's nearly impossible. It needs to be pretty close to perfect. I can't do it.

Can you? If you can, send it to me at RockoJerome@gmail.com and we'll talk.

The Unseen Amy Winehouse

Have you ever had a broken heart?
-Frances Farmer








If you can't sort something out for yourself, no one can help you.
-Amy Winehouse






Dearest, I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time.
-Virginia Woolf

In Defense Of Amy Winehouse

When I said the other day that I would do a make up article over the weekend (in a post about The Shangri-Las, appropriately enough) I certainly wouldn't have wanted it like this.

Amy was one of the greatest talents in music today, she was absolutely brilliant, and that was constantly overshadowed by the attention paid to her tumultuous life. Notice I say "the attention paid." Had she been allowed to have a private life, it's doubtful to me that she would've found herself in the predicament which killed her. If you had a crazy time in your 20s, imagine how difficult it would've been to outgrow them if every bad judgement you made ended up in the paper, where it led to you being ridiculed constantly by thousands of people you never met. Imagine a time in your life where you had to dissociate yourself from people and things that were destructive to you, the way you had to pull yourself apart from toxic relationships. Now imagine you're also a millionaire, the people around you never go anywhere but by your side, and every time you try to make a new friend, it's almost certainly because they want to be near a famous person.

People were angry and hateful against Amy. I always wondered why. It says something disturbing about the human condition. In every review, every interview, every time I saw her, she was kind, funny, and endearing. In concert, I watched and just wanted her to get it together the way I knew she could and knock it out of the park. Sometimes she did. Sometimes she didn't. Now she never will again.

Tears dry on their own...

Dyna Moe and Homemade Mad Men Media

Due to contractual disputes, we lost a summer's season of Mad Men, which grew to be a staple the last few years. The show will be back next year, but for now, the fix is missing.

Luckily, there's plenty of stuff to keep us occupied and not let Joan Holloway drift too far from our hearts.

For instance, check out this fan made "alternate opening" to the show.

Mad Men Opening Titles Re-Design from Paul Rogers on Vimeo.

Of course, the one anybody on the net has likely seen is the madmenyourself.com website, where you can make a picture of yourself in a sleek and kitschy style, and even use the headshot to make an avatar for whatever social networking tool is your choice.


What you might not know is that art was created by a lady called Dyna Moe, and she's made a whole cottage industry out of it.

She's received the blessing of the creator of the show (Matt Weiner) as well as AMC, and has released a book of her art inspired by Mad Men. It's super fun.

You can huy it here.

You can see more of her art, not all of it Mad Men related, at Nobody's Sweetheart.

Buddy Rich Battles A Muppet, Johnny Carson, And His Own Band

Now get off Buddy's bus!


6:55- Get that beard off or Buddy's got a right fist for your brain!

Bryan Ferry and Olympia

Conventional wisdom tells us that once an artist reaches the length in their career that Bryan Ferry has, their work suffers. They're not hungry anymore, they're surrounded by sycophants who won't tell them which ideas they should edit out, their talent fades, they're too far out of touch, drugs have taken their toll, who knows.

Not so with Olympia, which is as great as anything Ferry has ever done. A laid back, chilled out, sophisticated, groovy, elegant jam.

Get it here.

Brad Neely and Baby Cakes

The first time you see these, you don't know what the hell you just saw. The eighth time, you're a little bit disappointed that more people haven't seen them, if only so that they would get it when you reference it at parties. By the tenth time, they're some of the funniest things you've ever seen. Watch these. It's the first step towards a better world!

The Shangri-Las

Missed a day. Damn it! I'll make it up this weekend.

Probably.

Anyway, here's everything anyone could ever say about The Shangri-Las:

Mary Weiss. Incomparable, unconquerable, and amazing.

Francesco Francavilla's Nick Fury

Meet Francesco Francavilla. He's good. Click the images to enlarge.

R Kelly's Heartfelt Tribute To Sam Cooke

R Kelly is a source of endless entertainment. From his bad decisions to his comical lack of self awareness that prevents him from realizing that he's kind of a joke.

But we can all put that aside, because he did something truly awesome- transformed the living room of his home into a club and put on a concert modeled after Sam Cooke's Live at the Copa album. Fun and truly heartfelt. But maybe not better than the time he took a night off from his tour and worked a shift at McDonald's for a night.

whosampled.com

Just discovered a fascinating website-
whosampled.com
Go there and play around, see what you find out.

Stoneground

The Greatest Rock & Roll Band you never heard of.

Happened into the above footage in it's native habitat, it's the cold open kick off to Dracula AD 1972. That's one of the later and lesser entries in Hammer's Horror Series, at least where Christopher Lee is concerned. The first flick they produced with Lee as Drac is absolutely amazing, but each time they revisited that well, it got more and more dry. AD 1973 drags in the middle and never recovers, and once again, Dracula dies at the end. Kills the momentum when the lead character dies in every single movie, doesn't it?

Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, as a 6 minute and 10 second short feature, this clip is a rip roaring good time, and that's thanks in no small part to Stoneground, the band that shoulda coulda woulda been huge, had they just been in the right place at the right time. Sadly, turns out being in a Hammer Dracula movie in '72 was neither. Bummer.

Want Google+? I'll invite you.

Update: Now that it's live, find me here.

I'm interrupting the usual posts to bring you this EXCITING OFFER!!!

Google not only sponsors this website, they also allow you to find every speck of information on anything you could possibly ever find interesting, provide excellent e-mail service, keep you from getting too lost when you're driving someplace you've never been, and now with Google+, they're granting us an opportunity to keep up with our friends without lining the pockets of the gecko who runs facebook.

I realize that movie The Social Network was not exactly a documentary, but there's a lot about that website that has never sat well with me. It started the first time I tried to use it years ago, it spit me back out after I clicked in my registration because I wasn't a college student. the words YOU HAVE COMMITTED AN ILLEGAL ACTION WHICH SHOULD NOT BE REPEATED flashed across my screen. Alas, I did repeat the action after all my friends kicked myspace to the curb, and by then the dollar signs for Zuckerburg were enough to allow the likes of me in the door, so that he can exploit whatever personal information I might float out there and alter my privacy settings after I have to go back and set everything back to zero every couple weeks. Being there has always been a necessary evil that I tolerate because I love keeping up with my friends.

"Don't Be Evil" is google's credo, and if I ever doubted it, they won me over by featuring Will Eisner on their homepage on his birthday. Google is fun. They strike me as a group of free thinking, artistically inclined, clever, ingenious individuals. Zuckerberg strikes me as being a borderline sociopath. There's sour grapes there, sure, but google+ just feels better. You feel less dirty using it, more safe, and if there was ever a golden selling feature, it's this:


No more sharing everything with everyone all the time. I was sold as soon as I heard this alone, before I got into the other features.

The only thing I don't love about it is that right now, it's still exclusive. Until some unknown time in the future, you have to be invited in to join. This creates a sense of elitism around the product and I hate that, so I'm inviting anyone who wants in. Just e-mail me at-

RockoJerome@gmail.com

-and you're in. Simple as that.

And that's it, no more plugging. Tomorrow we're back to the geeky trash.

Greg Dulli and The Blackbird and the Fox

Greg Dulli: “I wrote the song during the Station fires in California in Fall of 2009. There was a strangely beautiful haze of smoke covering the city and the sunsets were spectacular which belied the devastation that the fires were wreaking. I saw the song as an inner dialogue between instinct and conscience and it haunted me for months.”

Blackbird and the Fox will soon be released as a single, it's already available on the most recent Twilight album, Dynamite Steps.

Steranko Screensavers

The Drawings Of Steranko is a fantastic website, and they've just put up a real treat- Steranko Screensavers. Get'em!

The Pipettes

It's been a couple of summers sine We Are The Pipettes hit and they're now not what they were, but they were The Second Coming Of The Girl Group we had been pining for. Old and new, borrowed and blue, these tunes are bulletproof.

GQ on Goodfellas

GQ has an excellent article about the making of Goodfellas. I'm nuts about this movie and didn't know half of this.

In Defense Of Captain America Part 2: A Man Out Of Time

I've always related to a good Rip Van Winkle story, and Captain America's is probably the single greatest one from the fiction of our time. In order to explain his disappearance from the newsstand, the storyline was invented that Cap had been frozen in suspended animation just as the tide turned our way in the war. He reemerged from ice in the modern day. Actually 1964, but it's the perpetual "Modern Day" in Marvel continuity; from that point to today's stories only about 10 years have passed. The less time you spend dwelling on that the better.

Cap was brought back both for nostalgic reasons and also to bring some stability to a book that was still trying to find it's way. The Avengers had been created by Stan Lee to appease Marvel publisher Martin Goodman, who had taken note of DC's Justice League of America comic and ordered Stan to do something similar. DC was where Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and most other characters with the underwear outside the pants resided. Characters who were inclined to be united by the common cause of heroism. Unlike Marvel guys like Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor, who were all more likely to dislike each other, and didn't seem likely to be friends and want to work together.

Stan and Jack Kirby said a few times that their characters tended to write themselves, and as this Avengers series progressed, it became less and less easy to contrive reasons Marvel's solo heavy hitters would still be hanging out. Hulk was a loose cannon and was written out early on, likely to go berserk at any time. Iron Man was just in it for kicks. Thor was an actual God. It took Cap's return to give the book focus, and from there, Avengers was a winner with a sure direction.


Like most Marvel characters, Cap found himself a bit haunted. The last thing he saw before his life broke apart was his pal Bucky losing his, he came to in a world where his friend had been dead longer than he had been alive. His family had all gone, as well. He found himself adrift. There was always the question of whether strength of character really meant anything anymore. Patriotism was definitely something different. he struggled with the possibility of being irrelevant, meta-textually. Vietnam wasn't mentioned much, if at all, but the implications were there. His anguish over his fallen friend became an analogy for his mourning of lost time and confusion. If he just had an old friend from before to talk to...


As the 70's arrived, Captain America became a vehicle for loaded symbolism and something not unlike satire. An allegory for Watergate came across where Cap unraveled an insidious plot that took him to find that the President had been calling the shots. He was so shaken by this that he gave up being Cap and became Nomad. He eventually came to understand that America is not it's government, it's the people of the Nation, and it's up to him to represent and fight for them.

In the 80's, the military called him to the carpet and ordered him to work directly for them, and get paid to do so. His reaction was to resign, switch to red, white, and black, and merely go by "The Captain." A gung-ho xenophobic lunatic with a buzzcut took his place, and served as a representation of what the uninitiated might have thought Cap was until he finally went too far, got his walking papers, and Steve Rogers returned to the role. The idea of going on the army payroll was dismissed. He established a telephone hotline, citizens in trouble could call him to investigate superhuman crime. Cap has always been depicted as nothing less or more than the champion for the people.

In Defense Of Captain America Part 1: A Man Of The Time

It's 4th of July weekend, when those of us who love America and/or fireworks celebrate and hopefully show up back at work with all of our fingers and eyeballs.


To celebrate, this week the Snake takes a look at one of the most misunderstood comic book characters ever- Captain America. To the uninitiated, Cap is often thought of as a jingoistic, dense, corny character. Symbolic of American imperialism (real or imagined) at worst, a silly bit of propaganda at best. And those interpretations aren't completely incorrect, but the truth is more complicated. There's much more to the character than that.

The Captain first saw publication almost a year before Pearl Harbor. That's the cover to the left, where he's socking Hitler in the mouth. We weren't at war yet, but for Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, we couldn't be soon enough. Two Jewish men living in the relative safety of New York, reading the news of what was happening across the world, hearing brutally frightening rumors from friends and relatives still in touch with the homeland. For them, creating Captain America wasn't aggressive warmongering. It was born from the desire to do something. It's been whitewashed now, but there were many Nazi sympathizers in America back then, and even besides them it wasn't an uncommon view that bloodshed elsewhere wasn't our problem. That didn't sit well in the hearts of Jack and Joe, and since they couldn't pick up their guns and go to war, they picked up their pens.

The key to understanding Cap is in his origin. Steve Rogers, a sickly young man driven to do his part, rejected by the army as 4-F every time he tries to enlist. The kind of guy the Nazis would have no problem gassing to death and sticking in a mass grave. But for Americans, it's the textbook guy who can come from nothing and nowhere and reinvent himself into whatever he wants to be, in this case a super soldier. Thanks to hard work and some sci-fi serums and beta rays, Steve becomes a little faster, sharper, stronger, and tougher than anyone who had ever lived before, and all he wanted was to make a few wrong things right.

And so he did, on paper at least. All through the war, Cap was always there at the newsstand knocking the shit out of some awful bastard. It's not pretty, but for a nation at war, and particularly kids, it's important to have some kind of outlet for that pressure through art.

Once the war was over, most costumed do-gooders in general vanished. For whatever reason, super heroes weren't a commodity anymore post war, and except for a very small handful were brushed aside for Western, Sci-Fi, Horror, Crime, and Romance comics (EC will be a post for another day). This was the case until the early 60's, when the Captain returned to a world that had changed dramatically.

More on that next time...