In class 5, we will do our in class writing, and talk about “most important recordings.” What makes a particular recording rise to the top? Is it the best interpretation of the song? Does it just stand alone as a good song/album? Was it influential in some way?
Homework:
Read the two NY Times essential essays and answer these questions for each essay:
1. What background information did the essay provide?
2. Did it clearly make a case for why it is an essential recording? Why or why not?
Write your own “most important recording” essay. Post your essay to the blog by Tuesday (Feb. 12) at 9am; the answers to your questions can be emailed/handed in to me by the beginning of class.
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3 comments:
#53 & 62 The background is very laid out and it explains a lot for both pieces. I like that they sort of have a connection. They have a unique style of music. I loved reading it. It was written with courage and honesty. And the stories are very long and interesting.
ALSO: Thanks Liana for this cool project.
Never mind the Recordings, Here’s the Reasoning
Never mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols by The Sex Pistols
It’s not really about the recordings they made, but the presence they brought to music that makes the Sex Pistols essential. The recording is the only way to hear them now, and that’s why it’s essential, because it captures the message of the band and immortalizes it, for better or worse. The Sex Pistols were and still are in many ways, the perfect icons of failure that so many associate with punk. I mean, look at the band members; Steve Jones wasn’t a very good guitarist, Johnny Rotten couldn’t really sing, Sid Vicious was a useless junkie and Paul Cook…wait, who? You see my point. They were used and abused by their manager until they fell apart. But during their career and after its end, they were and continued to be a powerful and widespread influence and many artists since.
The man who brought the band together was Malcolm McLaren. McLaren ran a clothing store called “Sex,” he was a fan of punk fashion, not the ideology, not the music, the fashion. McLaren had previously been the manager for the New York Dolls, a prominent glam punk band from… well, figure it out. McLarne eventually decided that it would be a good idea to have another band to manage and to advertise the store. To that end he co-opted Steve Jones (guitar) and Paul Cook (drums), who were members of a punk group called The Strand. Also brought on board was bass player Glenn Matlock. But to round out the band, they needed a singer. John Lydon happened to be spotted by Steve Jones while in “Sex”, Jones decided that he liked Lydon’s look and personality and, despite the fact that he couldn’t sing, brought him into the band as lead vocalist. His nickname of “Johnny Rotten” came from his well-known teeth. The band had no Idea of McLaren’s plans for them, and would over the years to come, find themselves in difficult situations mainly because of McLaren’s manipulations.
The band quickly became infamous for its violent live shows and Molotov cocktail public persona. They were meaner than the Fall, poorer than the Clash and more adherent to the Three-Chord makes good philosophy than even the Ramones. Their live shows often led them to confrontations with audience members and authorities. Eventually the band was signed to EMI, who quickly expelled them after a debacle with Bill Grundy of Today and an incident at Heathrow airport were Jones apparently vomited on passengers in the preflight lounge.
Soon afterward, Glenn Matlock was ejected from the band (apparently, because he liked the Beatles,) and was replaced by Sid Vicious, the ultimate punk, but an inept musician. The band released the song God Save the Queen on A&M records. It was perceived by many to be a personal attack on the monarchy. This made the pistols even more infamous, which they pushed to the limit by chartering a private boat to sail down the River Thames while performing the song behind the queen’s flotilla during her Silver Jubilee. This got them arrested and ejected from A&M. Virgin records picked them up and the Pistols released their full length album “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols” to mixed reviews. A tour of America would soon follow and the band would split at the end of it, largely due to Rotten’s hatred of McLaren. Rotten went on to attack him with his next band PiL (Public Image Limited,) Sid Vicious died of a heroin overdose and Steve Jones and Paul Cook (Again, who?) faded into obscurity.
So what's the point? Here’s the point; for only having been around for two years, the pistols were highly influential, not just because of their recorded works but also because of the energy, rage and personality they brought to those works and their live shows. It’s pretty widespread: The Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Siouxsie & the Banshees, X-Ray Spex, The Smiths, Adam Ant, The Germs, The Boredoms, the list goes on and on. And then in turn, each of those bands influenced others. If there had been no Joy Division there’d be no New Order, no Nine Inch Nails and no Swans, and that’s only three. No Swans, no Godspeed You! Black Emperor, no Angels of Light and no Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Each band influenced by the Pistols has had a subsequent following. So to sum it up, it’s not just about the recordings, it is just as much about the personality, the shows and the reputation and ultimately the places that it’s gone. Think about it, no Sex Pistols = no Nirvana. No Nirvana, no alternative rock movement, and where would you be without it?
Essential Recording
Patti Smith, Horses
Many of the albums we all consider to have had a huge impact on and set a standard for music haven’t ever been number one on the charts. Rather, they often come from an underground scene going against the mainstream and stand the test of time before their influence is apparent. Patti Smith’s Horses is one of these albums. Released in 1975 and produced by John Cale, formerly of The Velvet Underground, it got modest commercial success, peaking at #47 on charts which at the time were dominated by the likes of Elton John and (shudder) Barry Manilow; however, many later musicians have cited the album and Smith in general as an influence. These people include: Michael Stipe of REM; Mike Scott of The Waterboys; Morrissey and Johnny Marr of The Smiths; Shirley Manson of Garbage; and U2.
Individual artists are not the only the only thing Horses had any kind of impact on, though. It had a huge impact on the world of rock music and how females could operate within it. With Horses, Patti Smith busted open the doors for women in rock, and more specifically, punk. She was among the first and few women of the time to succeed in music without simply making herself into sex symbol, and to be in complete control of her career. In fact, she made gender pretty much irrelevant. Peoples’ minds were blown by the fact that she sang “Gloria,” her take on the classic song by Them, while maintaining the male perspective it originally had. Even the cover of the album suggested a disregard for traditional gender roles. It’s a black and white photo taken by Smith’s friend Robert Mapplethorpe of just her, in all her androgynous glory, standing and gazing somberly at the camera wearing a white shirt and suspenders, jacket thrown over her shoulders. The cover went against the era and to this day is a classic and beloved image in rock.
Not only did Horses put Patti Smith on the map as her debut album, it helped put punk and the punk scene of New York on the map. It was one of the first albums to be released out CBGB New York, and as she toured the United States and Europe, the popularity of punk grew. By the time it was released, she already had somewhat of a cult following, however, having been a performer in New York for quite some time. Most of what she did prior to 1974 was art and poetry, though. Only then did she start really combining her love of poetry with her love of rock music. This combination set a standard for literate rock for years to come. “Land” is usually the song people point to exemplify this, beginning with Smith quietly talking, and then building and building as she describes a scene of locker room violence, eventually ripping into the chorus. Much of the middle is taken up by three vocal tracks of Smith’s poetry which weave in and out of each other in such a way not pulled off since.
Essentially, Patti Smith’s Horses inspired men and women alike in and went against the era it was in. From the legendary opening line “Jesus died for somebody’s sin/But not mine” which pretty much sums up punk attitude, she helped kickstart the punk era, rightfully earning herself the title Godmother of Punk.
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