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

i am starting a band called your basic blues rock kim deal.

the guitars in this one always make me think of george harrison.

SONG #36: ALICE COOPER "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GASv1PJRgZI

http://i.imgur.com/9BggOFq.gif

No More Mr. Nice Guy: Going into this one knowing really only "School's Out" and "I'm Eighteen"; I like both but prefer the fuzzy trudgey aspects of the later to the easy audience-bait of the former (also just heard it too many times). Let's see.

Huh, nice crisp riff, very Stonesy so far. Oh and now this bigger caravan of guitars rolls into town, nice. Vocals sound great - s'funny, this guy has such a freak-show image but on record he just sounds like a British rock guy, a good one mind you, but there's thankfully not a lot of hamming up his creepiness, no Marilyn Manson croaky drawling of syllabus or I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE stuff (though that rules obv). He's like... singing. Chorus - Oh WAIT, man, I totally have heard this! I mean that's pretty indelible. I don't think I've heard it many times. Maybe in a movie or something? Definitely not a radio staple in my experience. Anyway it's rockin' real good.

The bridge brings me back to that thing about British rock guy - a little bit prettier, Donovan-y, or even Beatlesy really. The shouted chorus is obviously what gets you in the door but a lot of the other hooks are really melodic ones. And those backing vocals elsewhere... "Hoot hoot! Ahh-AhHHHH!" "No mo-ooore, ooh oooh ooh!" and then finishing the track on the "...hooo!" I mean that basically sounds like something Wings would do. It's just that Alice's band is so much looser, sloppier, and willing to let the guitars sounds noisy on record. I say all this as a Wings fan but really, they should have toured together; would have done Paul and company some good and they have a bunch of songs that could have worked great sounding more like this.

Anyway, though, "Mr. Nice Guy" - allowing that I've heard it at least once or twice before, it's totally a thumbs up, glad to have it brought back to my attention.

Maybe in a movie or something?

It's the song playing when Mitch is finally caught and paddled after the baseball game in Dazed & Confused

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7aEi6c8cWI

I love how Linklater synced up the opening lines with Affleck grabbing Wiggins.

I'm pretty sure the song also appeared in a mid-period Simpsons ep as well.

Also, RE: The British-ness of the track--Cooper has gone on record that this song was inspired by "Substitute" by The Who, and things were brought full circle when Roger Daltrey covered it for a tribute album.

Dazed & Confused - aha! That makes total sense; I only recently saw that for the first time on the bar TV, so that would be why the song sounded kinda fresh and recent to my ears.

"Substitute," and Daltrey's vocals in general, totally make sense for what I was trying to get at there.

TOTAL SENSE

yes indeed to the wings possibilities with this song. would've worked for lennon too. or big star.

you just saw "dazed and confused" for the first time! i'm curious how much of the music in the film seemed familiar vs. unfamiliar to you as it's such an essential '70s classic rock document.

I confess I only saw the first half! But generally have been on a "movie catching up" quest, thanks in large part to my girlfriend's amazing VHS collection. (OTher recent hits: The Professional, Conan the Barbarian, uh... The Stuff...).

Soundtrack-wise: I think the rest are all old staples, "Low Rider" et al (maybe got that from friends in the 90s who loved the soundtrack though - vague memory of that). Should look at the full list though, maybe some more material for this thread! I'm also very curious about this "Crack the Sky," brought up on the primary CR thread....

me too! don't think i know "crack the sky"!

The Stuff is totally fun

It was all right! The stuff effects were the main attraction, most of the characters kinda sucked and the plot gets completely lost along the way but w/e.

Dazed & Confused - don't think I know these, at least by title:

Black Oak Arkansas - Jim Dandy
Black Oak Arkansas - Lord Have Mercy On My Soul
Foghat - I Just Want To Make Love To You
Head East - There's Never Been Any Reason
Nazareth - Love Hurts
Steve Miller Band - Livin' in the USA (though I assume it's just a cover of Chuck's)
ZZ Top - Balinese

Chuck's is "Back In The USA"; Steve's is a totally different song.

Also, Steve is a non-playing motherfucker.

I'm guessing you've heard SOME version of "Love Hurts" and "I Just Want To...", they're both cover tunes that have been done by a ton of people.

Very possible! I've really been burned more times than I thought on songs I actually had heard...sometimes it's just the rhythm or the way they sing it which doesn't leap out from the title. I guess I could look up the lyrics but that feels like a spoiler....

And I can't believe I got Chuck's title wrong; I'm a big fan! Shame on me. I definitely would assume I don't know the Steve Miller one then.

That was Steve Miller's first (small) hit, and the only one with Boz Scaggs in the lineup. It's also the main outlier on the soundtrack, dating from 1968.

"never been any reason" is u+k and you should listen to it asap

this one was on the original list for this thread, so let's get to it. written by boudleaux bryant, originally recorded by the everly brothers, known by many as a gram parsons/emmylou harris song, but known by many more as a 1975 smash for these guys, the only scottish act scheduled to appear in this thread:

SONG #37: NAZARETH "LOVE HURTS"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soDZBW-1P04

WAIT DON'T LISTEN TO THAT!!!

that version cuts the intro. listen to this:

THE REAL SONG #37: NAZARETH "LOVE HURTS"

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

This was one of the songs that most surprised me when Dr. Casino said he didn't know it.

It's gotta be one of those, know the song, don't know the title type deals

I don't think I've ever actively tried to listen to this song (the Nazareth version at least) but I've heard it dozens of times probably

I like Nazareth and this is one of my least favorite Nazareth songs. I think it was left off of the UK version of Hair of the Dog and that makes perfect sense to me.

Love Hurts: Cool intro, nice...ooh! Nice big bang. I like this kinda post-"Lucy" watery guitar banging into this big meaty one. The singing... y'know, maybe I HAVE heard this one, once again. It's kinda falling in and out of familiarity. It's the main WAHH WAHHH of the title during the verses (kinda proto-Journey there) that's familiar, but everything else about the mix isn't really clicking.

As this goes along, I'm liking it less. The most interesting thing about it is that watery guitar, but since the pace is so steady, that starts to make it feel like an uninspired grunge deep cut, like Silverchair trying to get at "Black Hole Sun." The rest - the ooh-oohs and the wails - is adequate but just kinda generic. I like the big drum fill (In The Air Tonight on worrisome downers) going into the solo but it'd be nice if the drummer didn't immediately then fall back into a listless slump. I guess for a self-pitying song about love hurting it'd be inappropriate to rock super hard, and I admit I'm glad that the crashing chorus chords don't take this full on into the Journey power ballad territory they're sketching out. This is a reasonable song for a band to have in their repertory...people can catch their breath, switch to swaying from dancing, go get a beer, chin up and contemplate how true it is that love does, indeed, hurt. Just not much else to it.

It's an oldie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFE2SnliiV0

This may out me as a cornball but i love this song sooooooo much

Everlys, Nazareth, Gram & Emmylou...it slays me all the time

But the Nazareth version kills me because they just fucking GO for it, balls out power ballad & you wanna drink alone in a shitty wood panelled hotel room <3

Everlys' one is lovely (as always). Possibly have heard that one as I love them and have been through various compilations and things. Don't think that's my way into the song though.

i'm pretty sure gram and emmylou was the first version i heard, or at least the first version that registered with me. i was confused by friends who knew it as a nazareth song, though i've come to appreciate their take on it over the years -- though, yeah, as dr. c suggests, it's a bit plodding for what it is.

there's something about a male and female commiserating on this sentiment that makes the gram/emmylou version feel so much warmer AND sadder for me.

Gram & Emmylou version definitely my favorite. The Nazareth version pisses me off because of how they changed the lyrics. "Love is like a flame, burns you when it's hot" -- unlike a stove, a flame is never not hot.

These other classic rock stalwarts did a pretty decent version, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMzPHPzmc74

Parsons Harris version just a warmup (or slow burning we'll-sweep-out-the-ashes fire up) for "Hearts on Fire" (naturally)

Checking out the Gram/Emmylou version now. Kinda just this side of treacley, but in a way that my AM gold "weenie music" self can't really deny. It's pleasant. Can see why Gram would be drawn to the song, not even knowing very much about him - it's got "Hickory Wind" all over it. Something really interesting happens with the guitar just after 3:00, suddenly sounds much more like period R&B (reaching for "Drift Away" here). Might be a good fit for the song generally, find a way to bring up the tempo without losing the hurting.

wiki trivia: this song was used to open each newscast aired on los angeles radio station KFI until late 2013.

bonus non-wiki trivia: this video was directed by don letts.

SONG #38: RATT "ROUND AND ROUND"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u8teXR8VE4

showcasing the lyrical genius of stephen pearcy

Round and Round: Off to a surprisingly solid start. Clean, punch rock, of its period but not so "processed" sounding. Shit, I think I know where this is heading, the Round and Round bit just popped into my head. Hrm. "We'll put you on your shelf" is such a great, lame put-down... wonder how many songs have struggled to make good use of "shelf" since "Misty Mountain Hop." I like the guitar sound just after "arrow through my heart."

Hmmmm....now this isn't quite the round and round I thought it would be! How odd. The one in my head was faster, more in-your-face. This is ... why am I basically liking a Ratt song? Maybe it's the video. Stick it to those snobs, Ratt! Dude's high kicks are definitely not David Lee Roth's. Dude soloing on the dining table is also definitely not Eddie Van Halen but it's kind of a cool solo for this kind of thing. Goes some different places, has a few ideas in not too long of a running time. Ha ha, the butler is in cahoots with Ratt!

Yeah, not bad! There's something a little bit more nimble and energetic about this performance than what I associate with this whole genre. Like it's just more rhythmically interesting - not at the level I was struck by with AC/DC a few songs back, but this could be so leaden and forced-fun, and it just manages to feel like actual fun. OK, the butler actually getting all "hard rocked" out is kinda lame. I'm pretty into the, er, love interest, though.

Second listen: still pretty enjoyable. I wish the rich people were more evidently 80s yuppie rich assholes, rather than these old money aristocrats who amuse themselves renting the garret out to Ratt before discovering it wasn't worth it.

An unexpected thumbs up.

This is also a song I really love while hating nearly every other song in the world like it. It's 3 things, I think: 1. at least on this recording, the entire band are playing together and really, really well and you can hear them. 2. The only dumb producer tricks are the pre-echoing back-up vocals, which are really cool; and 3. The major/minor tonality of the main riff is really surprising and exciting in a good way, and I like when weird chords are used to sound awesome instead of "hey, I went to music school, dig my chords".

but not so "processed" sounding.

this and TWU otmfm. I don't like this song a ton, but at the time, hearing it on MTV, you noticed something different about them immediately; the production set them apart. It sounds like I wished all hair-metal sounded (and non-hair metal, for that matter), dry and punchy, rather than drowning in gated digital reverb.

Just realized what that pre-chorus guitar bit reminds me of: duh, "Panama"! Their whole thing really feels like Van Halen with less chops and an obviously less compelling frontman. That's not such a horrible thing to be, though.

I mean, even the way they say "Round and Round!" is kinda like "Pan-a-ma!" I'm sure I'm not the first to observe this, and it doesn't ruin the song or anything, but...man.

in 1984 p much every "hard rock" act felt like Van Halen with less chops and an obviously less compelling frontman. imo "round and round" gets away with it a lot better than most.

that said, a direct panama crib is unlikely -- Out of the Cellar was released only a couple of months after 1984

As probably the only person in this thread who read Stephen Pearcy's book, let me clear some stuff up. Ratt was an evolution of Pearcy's late '70s hard rock party band Mickey Ratt, who were direct rivals to Van Halen on the Sunset Strip/Southern California party/bar scene at the time. VH got the major label deal, MR didn't, so by the time Ratt got signed in the early '80s, Pearcy was already a grizzled and somewhat embittered veteran.

i really like this song but now I find the words so distractingly terrible that I have a hard time listening to it

I mean, lyrically honestly it's no worse than Kiss but some reason it really, really bugs me

Just read them, yeah, basically word salad but somehow less bothersome to me than Judas Priest's gibberish a while back, although a lot of lines could slot into that song without raising an eyebrow ("I've got a way, we're gonna prove it tonight," "Like Romeo to Juliet, time and time," and of course "Tightened our belts abuse ourselves / Get in our way, we'll put you on your shelf"). Who knew it was so tough to write hard rock lyrics?

post just give it time

goddamn autocorrect XPOST

i'll take priest's gibberish any day of the week

while we're on the subject of not very good lyrics by grizzled veterans:

SONG #38: SCORPIONS "NO ONE LIKE YOU"

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

Alterna-kids loved Ratt when they came out, glam pop metal but they had 60's style choruses. I still listen to Out of the Cellar.

My favourite Scorpions is the 70s stuff but I love this song.

scorps rule