Blow by Blow with Paul and Tim

A while back Long Island Paul and I had some banter about the Guns ‘n Roses Video “November Rain”. We had some much fun doing this Blow by Blow we’re doing it again, this time with another Strong Islander, Twisted Tim. And we decided in honor of baseball’s opening day we’d choose this ‘classic’ by Damn Yankees, “High Enough”. This ‘supergroup’ features members of Styx, and Night Ranger and of course Ted Nugent. Our running commentary can be found below:



Long Island Paul in green, Twisted Tim in red, Hops in Blue

0:02 - What is this, a porno scene?
0:12 – Why was the sheriff just sitting there when the guy comes sprinting by no more than 10 yards away? How did the cops all know he was going to be there? Why didn’t they shoot him BEFORE he ran into the house if they were there already? Apparently because Molly Ringwald was hitting on him.
0:43 INCREDIBLE sunglasses.
0:47 - This is such a supergroup that Eddie Van Halen could only be a part of it if he agreed to play drums.
0:47 - Wayne on drums...
0:49 - ... and Garth on lead vocals!
1:01 – Always cool to see the bass player singing. You would think since they are a “super-group” they could find a better place to jam then a burned-out gas station.
1:07 – “I didn’t know what to say when you called me Baby”. He couldn't think of anything to say?
1:09 – Ted, you’re a huge rock star, millions of dollars. You can upgrade the Casio watch.
1:11 – I’m pretty sure he’s drumming in his pajamas.
1:17 - Welcome to the new Calvin Klein ad... Seriously. You can tell that girl wanted nothing to do with him either. She turns her head instantly and licks her chin. She was counting money, so obviously she wasn’t really in to him. Just his wad.
1:37 -I also like how they differentiate the storyline from the band by going from black and white to color. Oh no, wait, they throw that out the window at 1:37.
1:40 – I like how they throw footage of them practicing in there.
2:14 – Best entrance in a video EVER
2:18 - What's going on with Ted's lower body? And why can't we see his right hand? Looks like the end of a "hand party."
2:51 – they should get an award for having video of them running right when the band sings “running”. I guess these aren’t the types of guys to ever go for subtlety
3:02 - Sorry honey, but I'm not getting caught. I'm going over first... Like I said, she is just in it for the wad.
3:15 – Sorry, we have a new winner for best video entrance EVER. On top of that, he's in black and white, so it means Ted is now part of the storyline! He's protecting the bad people! I lost it when the flowing cape matching his guitar made an appearance. He rocked so hard in the solo that bullets actually deflected off of him. And he definitely put the entire bag of Big League Chew in his mouth before shooting the video.
3:15-3:36 - Worst. Shooting. Ever.
3:30 – Do you think the actors playing the cops actually wished they were shooting at guys from Night Ranger and Styx? They probably would have done us a favor taking a few of them out.
3:47 – do they were sleeveless shirts and skirts in jail?
3:52 – Wait, now it's in color. I'm confused. Who directed this, Ed Wood?
3:52 - Now that we've riddled the house with a couple hundred bullets, maybe it's safe to go in.
4:01 - What's with the priest, is she really getting the chair? In Ted Nugent’s world everyone gets the chair. God Bless America. I’m still confused about what they did. They clearly robbed al liquor store. But don’t you think that the police force is a bit excessive for some old fashioned robbery? That's what I was getting at. We never see him with a gun or acting like he killed someone...where does the chair come into play here, even with The Nuge involved? And if she is just in it for the money, how does she not work out a deal with the cops to trap the other guy and avoid the chair? I guess blondes really are that dumb...
4:32 – She was in jail so long her blonde hair dye ran out.
4:37 – Now we know where that annoying Pearl Jam poster with Eddie Vedder leaning against Jeff Ament that everyone had in college came from.
4:49 – Well, now we know who directed it, M. Night Shamyalan. Twist ending, Ted (still packing the gum) is the priest! He's in their world now! So is he going help kill her? I realize he snuck in as a Priest but is he there to help spring her from jail? That wouldn’t make sense since he never met her, he just wailed on guitar outside her house. Maybe he’s just there to help execute her. Nugent loves a good execution. I think he dresses as the priest to read her last rites, but then he rips off the robe and collar to reveal his hunting gear and executes her himself with his bow and arrow. Now THAT would be a great ending to the video.

Blow by Blow with Paul

Guest blogger Paul (aka Adam Curry and other pseudonyms) whom you may remember from his Sid Barrett article, put this in the comments section of the last post. I think his statements deserve some front page billing … along with my comments on his comments. His text is in white, mine is in blue. Enjoy:

Being that I was/am a huge GnR fan, I feel obligated to comment on the video. Several amazing things to point out. Most telling being this was what eventually led to the implosion of the group as Axl wanted to continue writing these 'epic' type songs where the rest of the band wanted to go for a more rocking approach. I think Steven Adler (the drummer) ended up rocking a bit too much (if rocking = taking rocks of crack cocaine). I think by the end, you'll precisely see what GnR didn't survive much longer after this video. It's pretty telling. On to the video.

0:02 - You always knew you were getting a good, long video when the title was written in cursive, before the little MTV popped up telling you the Song, Artist, Album and Director. See, Thiller, Jackson, Michael.

0:20 - Who books GnR in this nice a place? Had they not heard of the 16 other riots that occurred at their shows? I believe that is Carnegie Hall… despite the fact they probably never practiced

1:33 - Classy dress. For the record 1:33 in the video shows a picture of Jesus on the cross. So either Paul is going to Hell for making fun of Jesus’ loincloth, or he was a second or two off – oh and I’m guessing the bride is from Jersey so it IS a classy dress

1:51 - Is that Michael Kamen? Looks like him: http://www.michaelkamen.com/

2:05 - Now, he has a huge wedding, in a beautiful church, lavishly decorated, and she only has ONE bridesmade? Couldn't we get a cameo from some other Victoria Secrets models? Also, Slash is the only male member. Do you think the band had a meeting and drew straws as to who could be Axl's best man? The irony of this should not be lost

2:37 - I'm sorry, that guy is even a little too dirtballish for GnR.

3:24 - Can't be a wedding without inviting the backup singers.

3:36 - Are Duff and Slash the only two to show? Did the rest of the band blow off the wedding? I know Matt Sorum was new to the band, but you can't blow off the lead singers wedding, can you? When the lead singer has a habit of blowing off concert gigs, why not? They probably just figured Axl would bail anyway. Why bother renting the tux.

3:57 - Guitar solo ONE. And he HAS to be uncomfortable with the leather jacket and no shirt on. Good thing it's windy from the helicopter, at least there is a breeze. Slash is only uncomfortable with a shirt ON – if you raided the closets of Slash, Scott Weiland and Stephen Tyler I think you’d find a grand total of 7 sheer button downs, 3 vests, 2 undershirts, four scarves - all Weiland’s- and maybe a sweater… maybe

4:39 - There are gravestones out there. Who asks to get buried in the middle of a desert, with no roads in or out of any kind? I mean, come on, that's just inconsiderate of those that have to live on past you. Those are the graves of the Spinal Tap drummers

5:03 - Where did everyone go? They had a church full of people, now there's maybe 30 people hanging around to throw rice. I know Axl probably throws a bitchin reception and you're probably excited to get there, but you have to at least stick around to throw rice. And what's with the women without jackets? I've been to weddings in July where the women were complaining about being cold. And Slash, he's got his shirt open to his belly button. It's freakin November! Yeah but they live in LA. I think Slash should have worn a bowtie and coat, but no tuxedo shirt underneath. I would leave early if I was going to Axl’s wedding and then realized G ‘n R weren’t playing the reception. Did he hire a DJ?

5:12 - First facial sign things aren't going right. Axl probably kicked her on the way into the Rolls Royce.

6:00 - Did he steal P. Diddy's jacket? … or Liberace’s

6:10 - Cameo alert! Yes! Ricki Rachman from Headbangers Ball!

6:13 - Again, just Slash and Duff at the wedding. Clearly, the signs were there for the GnR breakup.

6:57 - Dude, it's raining. You can't just run inside? The doors are right there. Did you have to crash through the cake?!? You just don’t realize how intensely cold this rain was

7:15 - Now we know why there were only 2 people in the wedding party. They had no real friends! Come on, they had a packed church for the wedding, and now they can't fill 1/10 of the place. Everyone was mooching off them for the reception. Oh, and do you see any members of the band? NO. Some friends they are.

7:20 - What's with the left half of her face? Is she a Terminator? How did he kill her without either crushing her or dropping her into boiling metal? It’s a mirror reflecting half of her face. According to Wikipedia the idea was that she killed herself and because half of her was blown off they had to use the mirror to make her look whole. Wikipedia is never wrong.

7:41 - It's just Slash and Duff again. Matt, you're officially out of the band. And what about you, Gilby? What's your excuse? I’ve heard that Duff went back to school to get his MBA after he got sober and before Velvet Revolver started. Can you imagine Duff in your MBA class?

8:22 - I guess after getting drenched in the rain for the wedding, they decided to check the weather and grabbed an umbrella before coming to the funeral. Smart.

8:56 - Axl has a jacket on, clearly showing he's the brains in the group. Probably because by the end of the video he’s the only one IN the group.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

It was announced yesterday that Syd Barrett, original front man for Pink Floyd, passed away. I love Pink Floyd, but there is a real chasm between the music from the Barrett era and the Dark Side of The Moon / Wall era. Barrett had mental illness, which was exaserbated by his heavy LSD use. LSD and schizophrenia don’t mix. It does make you wonder what would have happened to the band if he hadn’t left. There probably would be none of the great Floyd music you know and love. Since I’m more a fan of their later work and not the Syd Barrett stuff I have asked a guest writer, Long Island Paul, to comment on Barrett. Here is what he had to say:

Syd Barrett only released 2 full albums (both in 1970), The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Many bootleg tracks can be found around the web as well, including several different versions of songs. He certainly was no Grateful Dead, as his touring consisted of ONE show that ended after 5 songs. Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” was written about Syd Barrett. Ditto “Shine on you Crazy Diamond.” Roger Waters often said he frequently checked up on Syd to make sure that he was always taken care of in life. I’ve also read that Syd survived financially on the royalties of Pink Floyd and his solo work. Being that he did 1½ Floyd albums and 2 solo records with NO touring, I can’t imagine how much cash the other full-time members of Floyd have.

Rather than drone on about his life, I’d rather point out some of his best material (in my opinion) as he’s one of my favorite artists. I highly suggest checking these out.

“Baby Lemonade” – Great little intro (including several noticeable flubs on guitar) which goes into a pretty solid groove. One of his more ‘approachable’ songs.

“Dark Globe” – Quite the opposite of Baby Lemonade, it consists of his off-kilter vocals backed by a strummed acoustic. Sounds almost like a demo take, his vocals are all over the place. It was later cleaned up and covered by Placebo. I hate the cover.

“Effervescing Elephant” – Ranks up there with Jumpin Jack Flash for most bizarre lyrics. I think Syd did some drugs at some point in his life. Still, great melody and it was the first song that hooked me on his music.

“Bob Dylan Blues” – A buddy of mine always covered this song when he played live. Pretty scathing cut on Dylan. Not sure if it’s in jest or if he truly disliked Dylan.

Roam from town to town 

Guess I get people down 

But I don’t care too much about that 

Cause my gut and my wallet are fat 

Make a whole lotta dough 

But I deserve it though 

I’ve got soul and a good heart of gold 

So I’ll sing about war in the cold 

Well I sing about dreams 

And I rhymes it with seams 

Cause it seems that my dream always means 

That I can prophesy all kinds of things 

Cause I’m a poet 

Don’t ya know it 

And the wind, you can blow it 

Cause I’m Mr. Dylan, the king 

And I’m free as a bird on the wing 

“Octopus” – Again, great groove to this song. I’ll be the first to admit some of his songs are difficult to listen to, but this one is about as ‘rock n roll’ as he gets. He always manages to get the chord changes to sound just a bit off. He used this technique in several songs and really gives what is a normal chord progression a bit of a hook.

And what kind of blog would it be without some youtube links to Syd?

Trippy 30 minute clip feature Syd with Pink Floyd in 1967.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmJVy7WqkaA&search=syd%20barrett

Another live clip of Syd and Floyd. Barely any footage exists of the original members performing. Enjoy. REALLY 60’s-ish performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG4d3dZN_to&search=syd%20barrett

Some photos and somewhat creepy footage of him while Dark Globe plays in the background. Looks weird when he’s fat, bald, old and tooling around in a tank top. Kind of sad. VERY few photos exist of him past the 70s as he went into complete seclusion. Bums me out that the one clip of him current is him walking down the street probably to get a bite to eat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC6btHeVJT0&search=syd%20barrett

Many Thanks to Long Island Paul