Heard It On The XM
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Posts posted by Heard It On The XM
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The Beatles' "A Day In The Life" (a chaotic build to a crescendo, a sudden stop and then a final chord struck on three grand pianos simultaneously and stretched out to 42 seconds) gets my vote. No other outro I can think of even comes close.
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My nominees (that haven't already been spoken for) :
- Dayglo Abortions
- Lothar and the Hand People
- Mannheim Steamroller (with a name like that you'd expect them to be a hard-rock band, not some new-age group)
- Pearls Before Swine
- Young Black Teenagers [actually an early-1990s pseudo-hip-hop group of white guys in their 20s; "Tap The Bottle" was their biggest (only?) hit]
- Last but not least, there are at least three bands whose names contain an F-bomb: Holy F**k, The Exploding F**k Dolls, and plain, simple F**k .
- Dayglo Abortions
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"Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne. Every time that Dr Pepper ad with this song comes on I reach for the mute button on my remote.
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Escape - Rupert Holmes ( I'm not sure if this is the correct song title)
Rupert Holmes also had at least two more hits - "Him" and "Answering Machine" - from the same album (Partners In Crime) as "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)".
However, earlier in his career Holmes did write a song that became someone else's one-hit wonder, namely the infamous cannibalism ballad "Timothy" by the Buoys.
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Being a big fan of Jon Hein's Jump The Shark book, but disappointed by its accompanying Web site (which only deals with TV shows) and Yahoo group (which lumps all discussions on all topics into one giant ungainly "forum"), I'll instead revive the discussion here. Here are some of my favorite (and not-so-favorite) recording artists and when they "jumped the shark":
- AC/DC: "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" (both the album and its title track); it's been almost all downhill for them ever since.
- Aerosmith: They collaborate with Run-DMC to remake "Walk This Way," signaling their sellout to the MTV set.
- The Beatles: Enter Yoko Ono.
- Boston: The Third Stage album. After "Amanda" it was a big disappointment, and they've not come anywhere near their former glory since.
- The Doors: Jim Morrison dies.
- Electric Light Orchestra: Their Time album, where they drop their string section in favor of (you guessed it) synthesizers.
- Genesis: Lead guitarist Steve Hackett leaves the group, beginning in earnest their metamorphosis from progressive rock to power pop.
- Janet Jackson: The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show, where Justin Timberlake made good on his promise to have her naked by the end of the song.
- KISS: They lose the makeup, costumes and associated theatrics, and with them most of what made the band interesting.
- Led Zeppelin: In Through The Out Door, where they started using synths.
- John Lennon: One word: "Imagine".
- Metallica: Their self-titled album. One listen and you could tell they weren't the same band their fans knew and loved.
- Milli Vanilli: "Girl you know it's-Girl you know it's-Girl you know it's-Girl you know it's-"
- Pink Floyd: Roger Waters departs on a depressing note with The Final Cut.
- REO Speedwagon: Lead guitarist Gary Richrath departs.
- The Rolling Stones: They adopt the tongue-and-lip logo that symbolizes their now-nearly-complete corporatization.
- Rush: Grace Under Pressure, which cemented their transformation to synth-oriented power pop.
- Ashlee Simpson: See Milli Vanilli.
- Cat Stevens: He becomes Yusuf Islam.
- Styx: Kilroy Was Here - not just the lame album, but also the traveling musical that passed for the ensuing tour!
- Van Halen: David Lee Roth departs.
- The Who: Keith Moon dies and his bandmates get old.
- Yes: "Don't Kill The Whale".
- ZZ Top: Afterburner. A blues-oriented rock band with a synth-dominated sound - what's wrong with this picture?
- AC/DC: "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)" (both the album and its title track); it's been almost all downhill for them ever since.
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Other bands and artists from that era I would check out (if you haven't already done so):
- Aerosmith (their '70s stuff blows the doors off of anything they've done since Permanent Vacation)
- Dire Straits (all their albums)
- Electric Light Orchestra
- Joe Walsh (both solo and with the James Gang)
- Genesis (1971-77, when Steve Hackett was their lead guitarist; this period overlaps both the Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins eras of the band)
- Jethro Tull
- Rush
- Aerosmith (their '70s stuff blows the doors off of anything they've done since Permanent Vacation)
Tear Jerker Songs , HEAVY DUTY SAD
in Music Discussion
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I nominate two more Eric Clapton songs: "Circus" (the other song he wrote for his dead son; appears on the Pilgrim CD) and "Son & Sylvia" (an instrumental he wrote for his aunt and uncle after the uncle, nicknamed "Son", died; this is the last song on the Reptile CD)