In Which Doctor Casino Listens to Classic Rock Classics for the First Time

here's a longtime ILM fave from a british invasion band, improbably recorded a few years after what should have been their expiration date. it was the who's last charting single in the u.s., and it wasn't much of a charter at that (#68). it doesn't sound much like any other who single. but it's been a staple of their live sets ever since, and classic rock radio has latched onto it, with good reason, as the go-to 1980s who track.

SONG #12: THE WHO "EMINENCE FRONT"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yuOw5k5_OMY

hmm. can't see the video. trying again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yuOw5k5_OM

why the hell did I cut that from my ballot? was probably in my top 130 or so.

I dig it, but I am kinda mildly uncomfortable with it, prob just because I like the sound of the orig band with Ox & Moonie and this just sounds so far from them somehow? idk. I do like the groove though!

Sounds more like 80's eric clapton than the Who though, to my ears.

eric clapton has songs like this??

Always avoided 80s Who but when I discovered this song I became a huge fan of it. I discovered it while doing the Flight School missions on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Entwistle doesn't play on this?

He does. It's the only time he really dug into the slap-funk approach.

serious? i was always under the impression it was oxless

here's a longtime ILM fave from a british invasion band, improbably recorded a few years after what should have been their expiration date. it was the who's last charting single in the u.s., and it wasn't much of a charter at that (#68). it doesn't sound much like any other who single. but it's been a staple of their live sets ever since, and classic rock radio has latched onto it, with good reason, as the go-to 1980s who track.

meanwhile "Athena" has been forgotten, hasn't it?

It's not really thumb-forefinger slap and pop -- it's pretty much his typewriter technique (a sort of slapping with the fingers) playing the sort of notes slap n' poppers would. Entwistle played weird.

It's too bad they didn't do more in this vein- this song rules.

It's a put-on!

It's not really thumb-forefinger slap and pop -- it's pretty much his typewriter technique (a sort of slapping with the fingers) playing the sort of notes slap n' poppers would. Entwistle played weird.

― Three Word Username, Sunday, July 6, 2014 3:09 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

True, and I remember an interview with Entwistle where he said something like "Larry Graham and I have agreed to disagree on who came up with it first" (even though the techniques aren't the same).

serious? i was always under the impression it was oxless

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, July 6, 2014 2:58 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Nope, this was recorded in 1982, and Entwistle died in 2002. His debts never allowed him the luxury of leaving the Who voluntarily. In fact, all of their 90s tours were pretty much only done to get John out of debt.

meanwhile "Athena" has been forgotten, hasn't it?

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, July 6, 2014 3:07 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I haven't heard it on any radio, cr or otherwise, since 1983. And it did much better in the charts (#28).

I have heard Athena on the radio but just once.

lol at DMX just rapping over "Jane"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvfhFpbHDyU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2N_muIh_NU

those horns on "Athena" are dreadful

Eminence Front: Great Moderne-ish sleeve. Way better than the unintentionally pathos of the parent album. Dig the "No One Is To Blame" opening drum machine and now this grooooooovy space soundtrack! Kinda Commodore 64, Marble Madness-y. Love the slow slow build this has. I was expecting something much louder and stormier, "Eminence Front" kinda suggesting a weather pattern, big dark doughy clouds of guitar closing in, but actually this is closer to the other thing I expected just based on the title's rhythm: "Lunatic Fringe."

Yeah, the Who layin' down a groove! Kind of a natural step from "Baba O'Riley" in terms of the synth arpeggio really being the foundation of the whole track - is there anything in their catalog in between the two that develops this evolutionary line? I'm again reminded of Robert Palmer on Clues, but I suppose Bowie or Eno might be a midwife here in demonstrating how this kind of thing might work within the core competencies of an old-school rock band.

The chorus funks it up a little more - the way they holler out "It's an eminence front!" makes me feel like I'm in a slightly stiff P-Funk outtake: Livin' and jivin' - an eminent skin, he's in! It fits the dressed-to-kill show-off, strutting scene described here. So this is all post-Moon, I guess? I wonder what he would have done with this as a drummer, or if they'd have even gone this route with him still on board (thinking of REM's sometimes-bright, sometimes-desperate forays into sequenced backing tracks after Bill Berry's departure). But whatever: I like the contrast between the taut rhythm section, and Townshend on guitar and vocals, slightly rough around the edges and thus slightly out of place. Feels like it supports the vibe of the song - the ill-fitting guests at these increasingly ice-cold, brightly-lit parties in fine townhouses, the twirly synth changing the world around a band. Or: a prescient "Big Shot" for the 80s; it could have slotted into the Wall Street soundtrack right after the hilariously on-point use of "This Must Be The Place."

I also love the suggestive, scene-setting approach to the present-tense lyrics. Something sinister about it all. Maybe these people are all "hiding" behind the eminence front... or maybe they're actually hiding: people struggle to forget the apocalypse, convince themselves that they're up in the hills skiiing for pleasure and not because the speedboat bandits hold the coastal lowlands. Dressed to kill. Anyway, though... this is really cool. Way better than most of the post-Who's Next Who that I've heard, most of which seems a little too comfortable and desperately in search of viable topics for a song, and none of which is as plausibly danceable as this. Wish this had been on my high school era Who greatest hits CD instead of "Squeeze Box" or "Join Together." Thumbs up.

Disclaimer, I listened to "Eminence Front" three times straight in a row, so sorry if that review got a little long-winded and/or garbled.

I dig the Terry Riley style keys on this.

Also love the way they just hang a guitar on Roger in the video. Gotta keep him busy.

Lol never heard of ox claiming he invented slapping and popping, doesnt sound v plausible to me

Kind of a natural step from "Baba O'Riley" in terms of the synth arpeggio really being the foundation of the whole track - is there anything in their catalog in between the two that develops this evolutionary line?

i was wondering the same thing when i posted "eminence front" yesterday, and now it occurs to me that townshend was working through some of that evolution on the who are you album. the title track, most notably, is based on a loopy synth track. he plays with sequencers in various other ways on "sister disco," "guitar and pen" and other songs on that album. "eminence front" is kind of a natural progression from there, but it's a particularly big leap along that progression. "who are you" sounds something like a "who" song, more or less. "eminence front," not so much. and i think "eminence front" is leagues better.

and those two songs, "who are you" and "eminence front," are the only two post-quadrophenia who songs i hear on classic rock radio these days. "athena" does indeed seem to have disappeared. can't recall hearing "you better you bet" anytime in recent memory either.

I'm again reminded of Robert Palmer on Clues

now that you mention it, i'm imagining palmer singing "eminence front." and now i really really want to hear that.

i love your take on the lyric, dr. c. i've been listening to this song for years, and i confess i've never known what an "eminence front" was supposed to be, and i've never tried that hard to puzzle it out. i just figured townshend was scatting along with a groove, and i loved the groove so much that i didn't really care what exactly he was scatting about. you've just made me like the song even more.

you need not apologize for any of your reviews in this thread.

Wondering if I should check out Who Are You - seen a million copies, always thought it was supposed to be kind of a dud (maybe Allmusic influence here). I gave "Athena" a spin - pleasant and not unmemorable, but naggingly unnecessary - much closer to what I'd expect a dinosaur band to be trying really hard at tossing off in 1981. Agreed - I like them sounding less and less like "The Who." I actually heard "You Better You Bet" in a four-song rock block the other night, as noted on the main thread.

re: Palmer in his electronic phase - I went through a huge Clues thing a year or so ago, it's not a great album but the highs are high and I just kinda like this sound/period. Love "Woke Up Laughing," "Looking For Clues," "What Do You Care" (which plays in hindsight like one of his big hits played too fast) and of course "Johnny and Mary." Another possible reference point would be McCartney II. I don't think "Temporary Secretary" has its shit quite as together as "Eminence Front," and Paul is really incapable of tossing something off without telegraphing the off-tossing in a wince-worthy dad way, but I love that record and it arguably travels just as far from musical 'home.' Would love a comp that only collects flop sequencer-integrating singles by 60s acts.

Yeah, the Who layin' down a groove! Kind of a natural step from "Baba O'Riley" in terms of the synth arpeggio really being the foundation of the whole track - is there anything in their catalog in between the two that develops this evolutionary line?

...

So this is all post-Moon, I guess? I wonder what he would have done with this as a drummer, or if they'd have even gone this route with him still on board

Great take on this, Dr. C!

There's a few things on Who Are You, as fcc noted, that use the similar keyboard/looped/sequenced approach. But for me, the real precedent in their catalog, in tone and arrangement, is "The Relay," which also answers the "What would Moon do?" question:
http://youtu.be/yn8pKorgQ6Q

never liked who are you very much. it sounds like an album of very well recorded retreads, rejects and last gasps, by a band that knows these are retreads, rejects and last gasps.

clues and mccartney II are both albums i half love and wholly admire. the palmer single i've been obsessing on lately is "best of both worlds," which has nothing at all do to with this discussion, except that even in his rockiest days, he was thinking about beats differently than most other radio rockers. dfa records should put together that 60s-acts-doing-flop-sequencer-singles comp. i would buy.

Was Face Dances supposed to be a pun on lap dances?

According to the liner notes

The album's original title was simply The Who. Face Dances was a last minute substitution. Pete Townshend: "There was a girl that I knew and she was sitting looking in the mirror and she had a match between her teeth (which she was moving to a beat) while she was doing her eyes. I said to her 'face dances' and she just laughed. It was only later that someone pointed out to me that in the Dune trilogy there are a group of characters called 'face dancers,' sort of like chameleons; they can change completely for special purposes. That must have stuck in my head because I really loved the first one."

I'm not a Dune head, but I'm pretty sure they do not appear in the first book. I like the idea of Townshend trying to play down his fandom though. It's an Arrakis Front!

dr. c, you better get yourself a partner and go down to the concert or the local bar for our next entry, the bob seger salute to old time rock and roll that isn't, in fact, "old time rock and roll" and which has never, to my knowledge, caused tom cruise to dance in his underwear.

SONG #13: BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND "ROCK AND ROLL NEVER FORGETS"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ_kYEDZVno

is there anything in their catalog in between the two that develops this evolutionary line?

I think it's more in Townshend's solo stuff, especially on Empty Glass. If I recall, there's more along these lines in the Scoop collections of demos, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVfCDrb9NQw

Rock and Roll Never Forgets: Strong start. This kinda raspy voice and talking about the past, sorta plays the "Ooh La La" card, lay it on me, grizzled wise man! The band is bopping along happily; this kind of unambitious bar-band rock I can kinda get behind, as at least plausibly being fun to play. And if the promise is that rock and roll never forgets, it seems crucial that the band make rock worthwhile, but not stretch the envelope too much. This has a really good hook in the "Come back baby" - without that, none of this would be worth the ride, but with it, the whole thing is muuuuch more refreshing than "Old Time Rock and Roll," which just seems like a harangue by comparison.

Not quite as convinced by the break here, with the miscellaneous grunting, throat-clearing, and, I guess, ad-libbing by Bob. The celebratory horns are welcome though, and as always I dig the sheen on the multitracked vocals. I have to give this credit for not boring me, at four minutes long. Actually, that's probably the right length on principle: rock and roll should be two to three minutes, but this is an invocation to return to the fold - the eternal promise, re-extended to a straying lamb - and it needs a little more time to make its case. A Chick tract.

I also give it points for the strength of the concept... not just a generic rock and roll anthem as I sorta figured from the title, but actually going with the plot the title implies. You thought you were too old for rockin', but..you're not, and rock will still give you the things it always did. As a 32-year-old usually too ready with excuses not to get into my kicks, y'know, I dig that. Minus points for the story not getting much more fleshing out - I miss the "yeah, I'm getting away with this" lyricist of "Katmandu," though "all Chuck's children" is cute. Thumbs up! Really wasn't expecting to like this, but it's charmed me.

And that Townshend song is cool, bendy, thanks for the heads up. Not as badass as "Eminence Front" by any means but nice, and again, nice to hear him doing something different.

Man, this is on the same album as "Night Moves"? Is it all that good? Should I own a Bob Seger record?

YES

GODDAMMIT

YES

yes, that's a great album

and these are some great reviews. I'm really enjoying them (even when I don't agree)

Very rare is the artist who a. never topped his Christmas novelty song and b. is still pretty goddamn good on everything else.

Yes, very rare. Non-existent even.

Gene Autry is existent!

So's Bob Seger, ya dum dum! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3tJXb3mGT4&feature=kp

One of the great ILM revelations (for me) has been the discovery (or "columbusing," I guess) of early Seger. Doctor Casino, you really should check out Myonga Von Bontee's comp of his pre-Silver Bullet Band stuff that was inspired by, and then overwhelmed, this thread:

Bob Seger Reissue News

The boot got a writeup in The Guardian and placed 111th in that year's Pazz & Jop

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2010/dec/29/bob-seger-detroit-rock

And it's currently available on Tyler's fantastic boot blog:

http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/86612418452/never-mind-the-bullets-bob-seger-1966-1974

Seger's hit records are also very good. He's got a two-disc best-of that's definitely worth checking out.

xpost I knew you meant Seger, just happen to disagree

Do you disagree about the awesomeness of "Sock It To Me Santa" (in which you case you are objectively wrong) or about the quality of the rest of his career?

This has a really good hook in the "Come back baby" - without that, none of this would be worth the ride

this is key.

Man, this is on the same album as "Night Moves"? Is it all that good? Should I own a Bob Seger record?

yes! i love both night moves and the commercially even bigger followup, stranger in town. but since we're talking about night moves right now, let's pick up the needle and move it over about half an inch, and let you decide for yourself!

SONG #14: BOB SEGER & THE SILVER BULLET BAND "THE FIRE DOWN BELOW"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VX3_iT2z3Y

i love about half of myonga's early-seger comp, and find the other half a little cheesy. absolutely worth hearing.