The 500 - #315 - Damn The Torpedoes - Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 315

Album Title: Damn The Torpedoes

Artist: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

Genre: Rock

Recorded: Sound City & Cherokee Studios, California

Released: October, 1979

My age at release: 14

How familiar was I with it before this week: Very

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, #231 - moving up 84 spots

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Here Comes My Girl

On a chilly December afternoon in 1979, my family and I made our annual trip to Devonshire Mall in Windsor, Ontario, to do Christmas shopping. For the first time, I had my own money tucked into my jeans pockets -- about twenty dollars I had cobbled together from babysitting jobs and working the snack-bar at my high-school.

 

Before the family station wagon had come to a complete stop in the mall parking lot, I was already clambering out of my seat in a frantic effort to dash to the mall's record store. Sure, I was going to buy a token gift to put under the tree for my parents and siblings, but I had vinyl records on my mind.

Devonshire Mall (1970s)

Although I didn't have a turntable of my own, I was already building a record collection. My window on popular music was defined by two sources – the music guests on Saturday Night Live and Detroit FM radio stations. I had narrowed my Christmas choices to four fairly recent releases – The Pleasure Principle by Gary Numan; Candy-O by The Cars; Eat To The Beat by Blondie; and Damn The Torpedoes from Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers. After much deliberation, and a trip to the record department at the Sears store to compare prices, I settled on Candy-O. I can't remember the reason but I was 14, so I suspect the Alberto Vargas cover art had something to do with it.

I  eventually bought Damn The Torpedoes , and I remain a fan of Tom Petty (and those four other bands) to this day. The title is taken from a famous quote made by U.S. Civil War Admiral David Farragut at The Battle of Mobile Bay, "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!"

Admiral Farragut

Formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1976, the band originally comprised lead vocalist and guitarist Petty; lead guitarist Mike Campbell; bassist Rob Blair; drummer Stan Lynch; and keyboardist Benmont Tench. It was the third of thirteen records made by The Heartbreakers. Petty also released an additional three solos, but members of The Heartbreakers also contributed to those. In addition, Petty was part of the supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys, which included Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison.

(l-r) Campbell, Blair, Petty, Lynch and Tench 

Over time, I've learned a lot about Petty and his bandmates. A few years ago I was writing a script for a stage production about his life and music in collaboration with my friend, musician Cam Grant. Cam and I have known each other for decades and he is a mainstay in the arts and entertainment scene in London, Ontario. He portrays the front-man (Tom) in an award-winning Tom Petty Tribute band called Full Petty Fever.

Cam, center, with his band Full Petty Fever (May, 2022)

The storyline of our musical theatre show would open with a spotlight on the left side of the stage in the studio of a Los Angeles rock radio station. The narrator, William Berry, a paunchy, balding man in his mid-sixties approaches the broadcast microphone to announce the news of Petty's death on the evening October 2, 2017. We learn that Berry is the CEO of a network of radio stations over which the death announcement is being broadcast. He gave the bad news thusly:

"It's been many years since I've been a broadcaster, but today, on this sad day, I feel compelled to share this news with you, our listeners. Musician, composer, philanthropist, artistic force and (his voice shakes) my friend, Tom Petty, has died."

As Berry moves away from the microphone, pausing to gather his thoughts, the lights come up on centre stage to reveal Cam and his band who open the musical portion of the show with a performance of Breakdown, the first single from Petty's debut record.

As the song fades, the lights return to stage left. We have shifted to a time when Berry was much younger, slimmer and working as a college DJ. He has long hair and sideburns, decked out in bell-bottom jeans and a fringe jacket.

"That's Breakdown, the first single from Gainsville's own Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and I'm William Berry. You're listening to WUFQ-FM directly from the campus of The University of Florida. We are Central Florida's home for rock."

As the musical progresses, we follow the career of Petty and his band through the eyes of Berry who shares each story through anecdotes and radio banter, cutting away to centre stage frequently for performances by Cam's tribute band. If you are a Petty fan, you'll admit, the set-list of songs is impressive.

The goal of our script-writing project. was to approach small, summer theatres in Southwestern Ontario and try to book a single night's performance in each as we workshopped this concept. Eventually, we hoped to secure a two-week engagement at a larger venue. We even applied, unsuccessfully, for two art grants.

Cam and his group continue to perform Petty material in bars, but the success of our theatrical production was hindered by the copyright difficulties.

However, all is not lost. When I contacted Cam the other day for his approval to share this story, he responded with the following optimistic message.

Stay tuned, there may be more to say about our efforts to tell the story of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

The 500 - #316 - Self Titled - The Velvet Underground

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 316

Album Title: Self Titled

Artist: The Velvet Underground

Genre: Alternative Rock, Art Punk, Post-Punk

Recorded: TTG Studios, Los Angeles, California

Released: March, 1969

My age at release: 3

How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, #143 - moving up 173 spots

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Candy Says

"Candy says,
I've come to hate my body
And all that it requires in this world"

These lyrics begin the opening track, Candy Says, on the 1967, self-titled third record by New York-based, experimental rock band The Velvet Underground. The song was written by vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Lou Reed. It is told from the perspective of a transgender woman and is based on Candy Darling. Darling was, like The Velvet Underground, part of  a clique of performers and artists promoted by Andy Warhol in the mid-60s.

The feeling being described by the speaker is called gender dysphoria, the sensation of discomfort experienced by people whose gender identity differs from the sex assigned to them at birth or their sex-related, physical characteristics.

I am far from an expert on topics related to gender identity and expression but, as an elementary school educator, I am becoming better informed and increasingly more compassionate. A common mantra in my profession is "Maslow before Bloom", which promotes the notion that educators must ensure  most of the conditions presented in Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs are met before a child can begin to achieve the learning objectives set out by Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy. (See graphic below).

Simply put, a child can not be expected to remember, understand, apply or analyse information if their basic physiological, safety and belonging requirements have not been met. Consequently, my colleagues and I prioritize each student's needs in order to maximize their success. As one might expect, this differs from building to building and from student to student. At one school, a breakfast program may be required to ensure every child has access to a nutritious meal.. At another, the establishment of a Gay/Straight Alliance within the student body might provide a sense of belonging to a student who is silently coming to terms with their own sexuality.

As I listened to The Velvet Underground this week, I tried to imagine the New York City art scene in the late-60s. Andy Warhol's Superstars and the infamous Factory buildings (an art studio that moved to four locations in Manhattan between 1963 - 87) have been featured in many films, both fictional and documentaries. Consequently, it wasn't a big leap of imagination for me to visualize this strange, psychedelic artistic space filled with a wild collection of eclectic, free-spirited and drug-fueled characters. David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Liza Minelli, Debra Harry, Jean-Michel Baquiat and, of course, Candy Darling and The Velvet Underground made The Factory their home and base of artistic, social and sexual discovery.

Warhol in one of the studio spaces at The Factory, NYC

In a way, Warhol was also recognizing the importance of Maslow before Bloom. The Factory was a "safe space" for many people who often did not feel they “belonged, including those whom Warhol called "sexual radicals". Thus, artistic expression flourished. Not all of it was good, but some of it - such as this week's record - was exceptional.

A "Happening" at The Factory

The story of Candy Darling, who died of lymphoma at the age of 29, also made me think about the French idiom, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" ("the more things change, the more they stay the same". We  have come a long way since gays and trans-people existed in a hostile world -- save a few, progressive, non-judgmental collectives in major cities. Yet hostility toward them persists amid growing societal tolerance.

Nearly 240 anti-LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) bills have been filed in the United States this year -- most of them targeting trans-people. Educators still often hear hateful, vitriolic criticism of even our efforts to provide a sense of safety and belonging for these students. Candy Darling was, according to her biographer Cynthia Carr, relentlessly bullied in high school and, at age 16, a group of high-school boys tried to lynch her.

Darling and Warhol (1971)

I am proud of many things in my 25-year teaching career. My math and literacy instruction skills have advanced significantly and I even have a pretty good handle on the science and dance curriculum -- two subjects with which I had the least experience.

However, topping all is my expanding capacity for compassion and understanding. I will always put Maslow before Bloom, and I work tirelessly to make every student feel safety and belonging.

"Candy says,

I've come to hate my body

And all that it requires in this world"

Hopefully, the education community will become a refuge for future Candys to feel safer in a harbour of belonging where they can develop and be fulfilled as the human beings they are.

The 500 - #317 - Surfer Rosa - Pixies

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 317

Album Title: Surfer Rosa

Artist: Pixies

Genre: Alternative Rock, Art Punk, Post-Punk

Recorded: 2 Studios, Boston, Massachusettes, U.S.A.

Released: March, 1988

My age at release: 22

How familiar was I with it before this week: 1 Song

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, #390 - dropping 63 spots

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Where Is My Mind?

Surfer Rosa, the debut studio album from Boston-based, alternative rock band, Pixies, was released in the spring of 1988. I was in university and working at a local pizza joint as a bartender and server. The crew with which I worked and socialized were into more conventional rock fare. Consequently, this is not a record that made its way to my radar.

Matches - one of the few relics from my pizza gig (1988)

Surfer Rosa is not an easy listen. It can be jarring and abrasive at times. However, if I had discovered it sooner, I probably would have enjoyed it for its mix of musical styles. Some of it is raw and unbridled, while other tracks are hauntingly melodic. The lyrical content is dark and often disturbing, leaning heavily on themes of Catholic repression. They mirrored my fascination with the macabre in my late teens and early twenties.

Pixies (1988) Francis, Deal, Lovering & Santiago

Formed in the mid-80s, the Pixies comprised songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Black Francis (born: Charles Thompson IV); bassist and vocalist Kim Deal; drummer David Lovering; and lead guitarist Joey Santiago.

They emerged as part of the blossoming alternative rock scene in the northeast United States, drawing on elements of punk and surf rock. Their dynamic structure of music writing has been dubbed "loud-quiet-loud". It was an evolutionary step in soundscapes as the band took the thrashing anger found in hardcore punk and delivered it in controlled, strategic bursts, offset by more melodic sections of quiet restraint.

The album was well received by critics but sales were initially underwhelming. Now it is  widely regarded as a powerful influence, leading to the grunge music scene of the 1990s. In retrospect, it is easy to trace. Nirvana front-man Kurt Cobain admitted to "ripping it off" while writing Nevermind (which appears at position #17 on The 500). PJ Harvey, with two records on this list (#431 and #406), said Surfer Rosa "blew her mind", and David Bowie, with five records on the list, said it was "among the most compelling music of the eighties". Bowie even covered the song Cactus from this record on his 2002 release, Heathen.

Although I had heard the name of the group in conversation, I wouldn't discover the band until long after their 1993 break-up. The song, Where Is My Mind? from Surfer Rosa, brilliantly serves as the audio backdrop to the explosive final scene in the 1999 film Fight Club.

Movie Poster for Fight Club

In 2004, the band reunited for an extensive and wildly successful world tour -- with ticket sales exceeding $14 million. In 2013, Deal left the group and was replaced by bassist Paz Lenchantin. This past February, Francis revealed he had more than forty songs already written for an upcoming record.

Pixies performing live (2019)

We will return to Pixies in about two years with album #227, Doolittle. Until then, Surfer Rosa will certainly make up for lost time with many spins as gyms reopen. I suspect it will serve as motivational work-out music. Loud-quiet-loud – sounds that are perfect for interval training on the elliptical.

The 500 - #318 - Back Stabbers - The O'Jays

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 318

Album Title: Back Stabbers

Artist: The O'Jays

Genre: Funk, Philadelphia Soul, R&B

Recorded: Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, USA

Released: August, 1972

My age at release: 7

How familiar was I with it before this week: 1 Song

Is it on the 2020 list? No

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Love Train

I was born in 1965, which makes me a member of Generation X (1965 - 1979) and a "kid of the seventies". However, neither label really captures my identity. Technically, I am on two cusps -- born halfway through the 60s and just a year shy of "technically" being a Baby Boomer. I am old enough to remember the Vietnam War, Nixon's impeachment and the OPEC oil embargo. I am also young enough to have experienced video arcades, New Wave music and the Sony Walkman before I was a teenager.

As a "kid of the seventies" (ages 4 - 13) I was too young to have any agency during the tumultuous decade. Consequently, I was more a witness than a participant in the events of "The Me Generation" and I happily enjoyed my front-row seat. I embraced it all, from Jaws to Star Wars, The Bay City Rollers to Sex Pistols, Charlie's Angels to Mork & Mindy. I was a sponge for everything pop-culture. I even read the novelization of Saturday Night Fever because I was too young to get into the biggest film of 1977 and I needed to understand the main character, Tony Manero, better.

This week's record, Back Stabbers, by The O'Jays captures the curiously alien energy that surrounded me in the mid-seventies. It feels like the soundtrack to a world that I thought I was growing into. At 11, I sincerely expected to be wearing a white disco suit by the time I was an adult...and by adult, I meant 19.

The O'Jays (1972 line-up)
(l-r)  Walter Williams, William Powell, Eddie Levert

Back Stabbers is the fifth studio release by the soul, R&B, funk collective known as The O'Jays, formed in Canton, Ohio, in 1958 when they were still attending McKinley High School. Initially, they were a five-piece, doo-wop group dubbed The Mascots and, later, The Triumphs.

The Mascots (1959)

Another name change came in 1963 as a tribute to popular Cleveland disc-jockey, Eddie O'Jay, who had tirelessly promoted the band's earliest recordings. By the time of this recording, the group  comprised three members, Walter Williams, William Powell and Eddie Levert. They had relocated to Philadelphia under the guidance of legendary songwriters and producers, Gamble & Huff (Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff).

(l-r) Gamble and Huff

The trio became part of the PhillySound or Philadelphia Soul, a genre of the late 60s and early 70s characterized by funk influences and rich instrumental arrangements which included sweeping strings and piercing horns.

The Sound of Philadelphia

There are two tracks on this record that stand in magnificent juxtaposition, while perfectly capturing the "swinging vibes" of the pre-AIDS seventies. The title track, Back Stabbers, is a cautionary tale. The speaker warns the listener to be wary of friends, and even neighbours, who are out to steal their "lady".

Somebody's out to get your lady
A few of your buddies, they sure look shady
The blades are long, clenched tight in their fists
Aimin' straight at your back
And I don't think they'll miss

A few tracks later is the song Listen To The Clock On The Wall. This time the speaker is an unfaithful husband who is wooing the wife of another with this soulful entreaty:

We don't have much time
To blow each other's minds
Girl, you better hurry
Your husband might get worried
And my wife, she doesn't see
The change in me

I was simply delighted by the prospect that both songs were from the perspective of the same speaker. Simultaneously worried about losing his wife while also sneaking around behind her back with another man's lady. The whole record is a delightful listen and, if you are of my vintage, a trip down nostalgia boulevard, white polyester disco suit and all.