Planet of the Monoliths

["Mark R. Leaman" <mleaman@sccoast.net>]

>- -- big sigh --

Kevin:

I've learned to look at it this way: we're in 2001, and if it's a space
odessey then who better to lead the country than a space cadet?
Well, "lead" might be a bit optimistic...

>Joe,  Good one.  My guess is that Limbaugh is asexual.

Jeff:

Is that what you call it these days when you can't get a date? Can you
imagine the sort of woman...never mind! It's like suddenly your mind is in
Jerry Springerville.

>True, but its a different kind of rawness.  The MG album is raw in an
>energetic, sloppy, punk, focused way.

Tis true that the studio work is more focused, but I wouldn't say "sloppy."
If Shel Talmy read it, he'd slap the taste out of your mouth.

>the Stooges and the MC5.  What's always mystified me about the MG album
>is what inspired them to make those sounds.

Women and drugs, what else? Maybe not in Iggy's case...

> Now that I've listened to
>the earlier stuff, I have a better idea.  If you take the '64 sound, add
>some amphetamines, ambition, rehearsal and some original material - you
>get 'The Who Sings My Generation'.

That's the "nice, tame, Pop" version of what they were doing live.

>The '64 performances are raw in a drunken, garage, disjointed, meandering
>way.  The "Smokestack Lightning" jam is particularly lousy.  It sounds
>like they ran out of songs they had rehearsed and had to stretch the set.

Well, I don't know about that...most bands back then did long, unfocused
jams...in fact, Cream was famous for it (more focused by then) just a few
years later. It's called "a lack of material." And the jam was there still
with the Leeds show: My Generation.
But I do like it, and maybe that's because I've heard other bands do the
same sort of thing. Or maybe because I know it's the roots of what became
Tommy ("I can't exagerate perfection") live four short years later.

A happy New Year to you all!


         "Open the pod bay doors please, Dick."
          "I'm sorry George Duh-Bya, I'm afraid I can't do that."
                  from the soon-to-be-made movie: America; A Space Odyssey