WNEW | Where Rock Lives

Video Classics: 'Losing My Religion' - R.E.M.

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

If R.E.M. had wanted to be more literal with their lyrics, their highest-charting hit in the U.S., Losing My Religion should have been titled 'Learning to Play Mandolin'. More on that after the video ...

Sometimes a happy accident creates a hit song, and for R.E.M. that's the case for their biggest hit, which comes in at #208 on the 1991 Firecracker 500 and #141 on the 1996 list.

One day, in 1990, R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck decided it was time to broaden his skills as an instrumentalist, and just have a little fun, so he bought a mandolin. Rather than immediately trying to learn to play the them from The Godfather, he instead just fiddled around with it a bit and developed a riff, which he recorded, and the rest just grew from there, accoding to him:

"When I listened back to it the next day, there was a bunch of stuff that was really just me learning how to play mandolin, and then there's what became 'Losing My Religion', and then a whole bunch more of me learning to play the mandolin."

Throw in some trademark R.E.M. minor-key chord progression and lyrics by Michael Stipe, and you've got yourself a hit.

Interestingly enough, the song really isn't about religion at all. According to Stipe, it is based on the old southern U.S. expression which refers to someone losing their temper or civility by saying they've 'lost their religion'.  Stipe swears the song is about unrequited love, but really, given the rather abstract nature of the lyrics (and the video), people can pretty much make what they want of it. Or, they can just enjoy the music.

Have memories of this song or the Firecracker 500? Add your thoughts to the comments below or take a look at Video Classics past...

Monsters of Folk obliterate Beacon Theatre

Words like incredible, brilliant, stunning, jaw-dropping, amazing, outstanding, astonishing, and extraordinary get thrown around in concert reviews quite often. As a result, it makes capturing the scene that took place at the New York's Beacon Theatre on Sunday night (Nov. 8th) particularly difficult. After all, these words only scratch the surface when describing the three-hour, 38-song performance the supergroup collective known as Monsters of Folk would deliver that evening. We're talking about a nominee for concert of 2009, people!

Off course, the expectations coming into the evening were already astronomical. This was a outfit featuring five of music's brightest stars -- Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis, My Morning Jacket's Jim James (who currently goes by Yim Yames), M. Ward, and Molina & Johnson's Will Johnson -- and whose self-titled debut didn't disappoint. It is perhaps for this reason that the resulting performance was only that much more special. Within seconds of taking the stage, the quintet had already proved that the evening's astronomical expectations would not only be fulfilled but greatly exceeded.

At a little after 8:00 pm, the sounds of the album's first track, Say Please, accompanied the rising of the theatre's curtain, giving way to the appearance of the five aforementioned gentlemen, dressed in suits and ties of course, all of who were already deeply invested in what would be the theme of the evening -- masterful performances and vehement enthusiasm.

What followed would be a mix of songs off their studio debut as well as favorites from each musician's respective discography. Turns would be taken, with each of the big three (Oberst, Ward, & James) equally sharing the spotlight, trading instruments and vocals throughout the performance. At times this meant something as complicated as Ward strumming a guitar on Sandman, the Brakeman and Me only to be found minutes later playing the piano on Goodway, or as simplistically brilliant as Oberst, backed by only his acoustic guitar and longtime collaborator Mogis, reliving the ol' Bright Eyes days.

This turn-taking, and the fact that again, we're talking about five of music's brightest stars, essentially appeared to make the band immune from the fatigue. At the 2:30/35-song mark, Ward proclaimed the following: "Thanks a lot, New York! We're only halfway done!"

Of course, he wasn't serious, but the Monsters of Folk did cap things off with a bang, ending their performance with another 30 minutes featuring mind-numbing renditions of Bright Eyes' Hit The Switch, My Morning Jacket's At Dawn, and the quintet's original number,  .

In the end, however, there was no one highlight, no one moment of utter perfection. Instead, there were multiple, three hours worth to be exact. The performance delivered by these Monsters of Folk was something beyond description, beyond comprehension, and ultimately, beyond perfection.

Classic Recording Studios: Del-Fi Records Studio

Launched in the 1950s by Bob Keene, the version of Del-Fi that existed in Keene's home was where Ritchie Valens cut La Bamba and Donna. Later, in a space above a bank on Selma Avenue in LA, Keene recorded Bobby Fuller Four's classic, I Fought The Law.

When Keene closed the label and studio in 1969, Del-Fi became Mystic Sound, where Led Zeppelin recorded.

WNEW Rock News: Ray Davies Says "If ABBA Can Do It..."

Determined to make still more money on a band that's been insignificant since the late '60's, Kinks frontman Ray Davies is considering staging a musical about himself. Er, we mean, the band.

According to Yahoo Music News, Davies said, "I'm developing a Kinks musical now which is really exciting (because it's about me). It's about the band (and me). People think of the Kinks as these guys in red hunting jackets who sang You Really Got Me (that was me, there) and made these weird records, like Lola, but it's about us (and me), how we evolved and a certain time in my life when I confronted many of my demons (one of whom is my brother, Dave).

No word on the possibility that the Gallagher brothers will play the leads...

Here's a tune from when the Kinks actually mattered...

Video Classics: 'Lady Madonna' - The Beatles

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

Video Classics hasn't lead-off with a trivia question lately, as we are sometimes wont to do, so here's one for today (and it's a hard one):

What special distinction does Lady Madonna enjoy in the Beatles' song catalog? Here's the song to listen to while you ponder ...

Lady Madonna was the very last song released by the band for longtime U.S. publisher Capitol Records (and for Parlophone in the U.K.). For every subsequent release (beginning with Hey Jude) under their own label, Apple Records (though older songs would still be re-released on Capitol in the future). The song went to #3 in the U.S., and to #1 in the U.K.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and in this case, it goes both ways. Paul McCartney confessed in writing the song that he was attempting to achieve a sound like Fats Domino, both vocally and instrumentally. Just a few months after Lady Madonna was released, Domino himself would return the favor by imitating McCartney's imitation of him in his own cover of the song.

Have memories of this song or the Firecracker 500? Add your thoughts to the comments below or take a look at Video Classics past...

This Week in Rock History: Got You, Babe

Rock music has a robust history, so every Wednesday, J.A. Bartlett of the Hits Just Keep On Comin' talks about the biggest and most intriguing moments from years past...

This week in 2000, the Beatles launched their first official website, beatles.com. The website launch coincided with the release of the compilation album 1.

... in 1987, Sonny and Cher appeared on Late Night With David Letterman and allowed Dave to coax them into singing I Got You Babe. Despite their reluctance, the moment was at least somewhat magical.

... in 1971, Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album arrived in American stores. Although precise sales figures ... in 1969, Jim Morrison was tossed in jail for disrupting a flight from Los Angeles to Phoenix while intoxicated. The flight attendant Morrison had been annoying later dropped the charges against him. During the same week one year later, Morrison played his final live show with the Doors in New Orleans. One year after that, Morrison would be dead from 27 years of being Jim Morrison.

Did we miss something this week? Add it to the comments below...

WNEW Rock News: Paris Hilton: "I'm Not Vacant And my Lawyers Will Prove It"

A bit of fun had by a billboard company in New Zealand has put Paris Hilton on the cranky side. It seems that the company posted a larger than life picture of her on one of their signs, hoping to attract a buyer for the space. Seems they decided to write "V-A-C-A-N-T" in big white letters on sign, as well. We're not entirely sure it's music news (actually, we're pretty sure it isn't), but we think it's pretty funny.

Video Classics: 'Magic Carpet Ride' - Steppenwolf

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

Magic Carpet Ride was Steppenwolf's lead single from their very-appropriately (if somewhat unimaginatively) titled second album, Steppenwolf the Second. And, perhaps appropriately, Magic Carpet Ride is also a famous second, being the band's second-biggest hit of all time (right behind Born to be Wild) ...

Magic Carpet Ride peaked at #3 in the U.S., and comes in at spot #235 on the 1991 Firecracker 500, dropping to spot #425 for the 1996 list.

It is, of course, a truism in the recording industry that if the first album doesn't do well enough, there may not be a second. But that is more literally true in a material sense for Magic Carpet Ride, as the song was inspired by lead singer John Kay's stereo system (the 'sound machine' he likes to dream between in the lyrics). The key being, the stereo system was purchased with royalties he received from the first album. No album, no money.  No money, no dream machine. No dream machine, no Magic Carpet Ride.

Have memories of this song or the Firecracker 500? Add your thoughts to the comments below or take a look at Video Classics past...

Classic Recording Studios: Decca Records Studio

Launched on West 57th Street in NYC as both the headquarters and studio for Decca's US arm, the studio later moved to Park Avenue and operated well into the 70s.

When Decca installed the first 16 track recorder in their LA facility, it caused such a stir in the industry that there was a welcoming party for the equipment, complete with guests Buck Owens and Dinah Shore.

Back in New York, Vincent Bell cut his spacey Airport Love Theme at Decca.

WNEW Rock News: Steven Tyler to Quit Aerosmith?

Though it seems highly unlikely, there's plenty of grist for rumor coming out of Camp Aerosmith.

Though it's commonly known to anyone who's taken a 7th grade health class that 'pulling out' is not better than 'going solo,' it appears that Tyler is going to do just that. According to Classic Rock magazine, Tyler has said he will pull out of the band's South American tour to work on building 'Brand Tyler," as he put it.

Meanwhile, Joe Perry tells the Las Vegas Sun that Tyler's not returning calls. Could Aerosmith go the way of Styx and Journey?

Maybe this guy from EUROSMITH is available...though he probably won't make as much as working the Hard Rock...

Video Classics: 'Woman From Tokyo' - Deep Purple

To honor WNEW's legendary Firecracker 500, every day we are highlighting the music that populated the 1991 and 1996 lists, with classic videos, live performances and little-known facts about the songs and how they came to be...

Long, long before the thought of something female from Tokyo conjured chilling thoughts of Hello Kitty, Deep Purple cranked out the guitarists dream of a song, Woman From Tokyo. Here's a performance from 1985 with a little bit of comment from the band and Black Night thrown in for good measure ...

Recorded in 1972 but released the year following, Woman From Tokyo comes in at spot #340 on the 1996 Firecracker 500. It was the biggest hit off of the band's seventh album, Who Do We Think We Are. The song describes the band's feeling on touring Japan for the first time.

Despite its success as a single, the album itself didn't do as well as previous Deep Purple efforts, though it did manage to help the band attain the spot of best-selling artists in the USA for 1973. Internal tensions and fatigue are often cited as the reasons for the album's spotty quality, and indeed, vocalist Ian Gillan left the band shortly after it was released (though he would rejoin in 1984).

Have memories of this song or the Firecracker 500? Add your thoughts to the comments below or take a look at Video Classics past...

New Release Tuesday Preview

Every Monday, Alex Young of Consequence of Sound delivers a sneak preview of the top albums being released for the week...

As we approach the holiday season, the number of worthwhile new releases increasingly become few and far between. While the week of Tuesday, November 10th begin to show the first signs of this sad reality, there are a few quality releases worth having, ones which I will now tell you about ...

So, I know this is a "rock" oriented blog, but because this is my column and because I'm currently really digging this album, I'm going to kick things off with DC-based rapper Wale's highly-anticipated debut full-length. Attention Deficit is its name and the 14-track effort both arrives with quite a bit of hype -- the record follows Wale's acclaimed 2008 mixtape, The Mixtape About Nothing -- and a slew of high-profile guest appearances -- K'Naan, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Pharrell Williams are among the vocal contributors, while Mark Ronson, the Neptunes, and Dave Sitek all handled production. And based on a few early listens, let's just say that Attention Deficit appears well worth the wait. Just listen to the album's second single, World Tour, if you do not believe me.

On the rock front, the week's biggest release comes from New Jersey's second pride and joy (Bruce being the first, duh!), Bon Jovi. On Tuesday, the outfit will unveil its 11th studio album, a 12-track effort titled The Circle. According to guitarist Richie Sambora (via Rolling Stone), the album hears Bon Jovi's return to "rock and roll," complete with "some big choruses" and "really good guitar sounds" -- all of which can be heard on the album's first single, We Weren't Born to Follow. As Sambora goes on to note, "I think people are going to dig it, man. And it rocks hard."