The 500 - #152 - Self-Titled (Debut) - The B52's

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-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: #152
Album Title: Self-Titled (Debut)

Artist: The B52s

Genre: New Wave, Post Punk, College Rock, Dance Rock, Pop Punk

Recorded: Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas

Released: July, 1979

My age at release: 13
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very

Is it on the 2020 list? No
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Planet Claire

My love of the absurd has been well chronicled in this blog series. The late ‘70s was a golden age for surreal, avant-garde and boundary-pushing art, music and comedy, and it coincided with my transition from childhood into my teenage years. I suppose my fascination with offbeat, subversive farce began with syndicated episodes of the British sketch comedy program Monty Python's Flying Circus, which aired on the Detroit PBS affiliate WTVS on Channel 56. In a time before cable television was the norm, watching U.S. stations on the UHF dial was not easy and often required patient (sometimes surgically meticulous) manipulation of our television's antennae. It was always worth it for the Python lads.

Shortly after discovering the Monty Python series, The Dr. Demento Show became a Sunday night listening ritual on WABX 95.3 FM, also out of Detroit. Dr. Demento was the alter ego of musicologist and radio personality Barret Hansen who broadcast from Pasadena, California. His radio show began as a free-form rock program, but evolved into a showcase for novelty songs, comedy and absurd audio oddities. After Hansen played the song Transfusion by Nervous Norvus he was told he must be “demented” to have played it. Transfusion is a ridiculous and satirical take on reckless driving, told from the perspective of a driver who keeps getting into car accidents and requires blood transfusions.

At first, I felt alone in my love of the odd. My elementary school chums and the teammates on my hockey club were of a more conventional ilk. Sure, we talked sports, superheroes, stuntman Evel Knievel and network television programs -- especially The Six Million Dollar Man, Charlie's Angels and Happy Days.

The Tuesday Night Line-Up on ABC.

We shared plenty of laughs over mainstream sources like the kid-friendly satire of MAD and Cracked magazines. But we also found ourselves inexplicably amused by Wacky Packages -- those collectible stickers that spoofed popular consumer products with absurd names like “Crust” instead of Crest toothpaste, or “Dampers” in place of Pampers diapers. Looking back, it was a bizarre trend, and probably not as funny as we thought at the time. (See Below)

When I turned 12, my tastes continued to lean toward the mature, irreverent, and subversive -- even when I didn’t fully grasp the material. I started saving my babysitting and newspaper delivery money to buy National Lampoon, a bold, countercultural magazine spun off from the Harvard Lampoon and aimed at college-aged readers. Speaking of babysitting, that early job also introduced me to my greatest, contemporary source of absurd, experimental comedy and groundbreaking music: Saturday Night Live (SNL).

Each week, armed with a bowl of potato chips and a backed by a fridge full of pop, I’d commandeer a neighbor’s couch (once their kids were safely tucked in) and brace myself for a full-on comedic assault from the brilliant, unpredictable minds of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" -- Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Laraine Newman, and Canadian standout Dan Aykroyd. Between Coneheads and Samurai Delicatessen sketches, or Weekend Update segments featuring Radner’s sweet but fiery Emily Litella hilariously mangling the latest news headline, SNL would drop in performances from the coolest, hippest bands of the moment. It was chaos, it was genius -- and it felt like it had been made for me.

SNL cast (1976-1980) (l-r) Morris, Curtain, Belushi, Newman, Ackroyd, 
Radner and Murray.

Over those first few years, 1975 - 1980, I witnessed rock history, through live broadcasts and reruns.

• The enigmatic Frank Zappa delivered a searing satire of television and mass media with his performance of  I Am the Slime, (literally and figuratively) oozing irony and biting commentary from Studio 8H in New York City. 
• Then came the ethereal brilliance of Kate Bush, introduced by that week’s host, Monty Python’s Eric Idle, as she performed her haunting ballad The Man with the Child in His Eyes and the whimsical, spiritually charged Them Heavy People. I had her lyric "rolling the ball" clogging my noggin' for weeks after.
• As I documented in my March 2020 blog for album #442, I vividly remember watching Devo unleash their frenetic, deconstructed cover of the Rolling Stones’ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Complete with neon yellow hazmat suits, the jerky choreography, and robotic vocals felt like a transmission from another world.
• I distinctly remember February 16, 1980. I was at home watching Gary Numan perform his breakout synth-pop hit Cars and the shadowy, atmospheric Praying to the Aliens. My dad sat behind me on the couch, reading a book, clearly perplexed by this enigmatic, android-like figure who seemed more machine than man. I am sure the words, "bloody rubbish", went through his head, but he was kind enough to remain quiet and allow me my moment of pop-culture euphoria.

  

  Gary Numan performing in 1980 on SNL. 

Just three weeks earlier (January 26, 1980), host Teri Garr, riding the cinematic successes of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Oh, God! and The Black Stallion, introduced a quirky band from Athens, Georgia: The B-52’s. Comprising Fred Schneider (vocals), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards), Cindy Wilson (vocals), sibling Ricky Wilson (guitar), and Keith Strickland (drums), the group exploded onto the contemporary music scene with a sound that was as hard to define as it was to ignore. Their unique blend of surf rock, punk, new wave, and dance music, playfully layered with call-and-response vocals, kitschy lyrics, and vintage sci-fi and pop culture references, was unlike anything else I had seen.

The B52's in 1980, (l-r) Schneider, Pierson, Strickland, 
R. Wilson and C. Wilson.

Formed in 1976, the band had built a loyal following through the underground and college radio scenes. Athens, home to the University of Georgia, was a fertile ground for alternative culture, and the B-52s thrived in its creative soil. With their beehive hairdos, thrift-store fashion, and campy, colorful aesthetic, they were often seen by mainstream audiences as too weird or gimmicky -- which, of course, made them a perfect beacon for my avant-garde comedic and musical gaze.

The B52's performing - 1980s

Their debut record, which appears at #152 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, helped define the emerging new wave scene and positioned the B-52’s as pioneers of alternative pop. The single Rock Lobster quickly created a cult following, and then mainstream, and a chart hit. The album eventually went platinum.

I owned a copy of the debut on cassette and, along with a few other oddball new wave releases, including The Monks’ Bad Habits and Devo’s 1980 offering, Freedom of Choice, I wore them out on my home cassette player. (Note: It wasn't until years later that I would learn that Bad Habits was only a hit record in Canada -- and specifically in Ontario. The record is actually a spoof of the punk rock / new wave scene and was performed by members of the progressive/folk rock band The Strawbs")

When I think back on that young teen, who seems a stranger to me now, drawn to the offbeat, the absurd, and the wonderfully weird, these bands gave me something I hadn’t found in my middle school friendships: a sense of belonging. Those original group of friends and I had been thrown together by geography and circumstance, we were, like those Wacky Packages, randomly stuck with each other -- minus the hard strip of chewing gum. But through music, I eventually found people who got me. The weirdness of the B-52s, Frank Zappa and Devo, wasn’t just entertaining, it was affirming. It told me that being different wasn’t just okay; it was something to celebrate.

The 500 - #200 - Highway To Hell - AC/DC

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: #200
Album Title: Highway To Hell
Artist: AC/DC

Genre: Hard Rock, Blues Rock
Recorded: Roadhouse Studios, Chalk Farm, London, U.K.

Released: July, 1979
My age at release: 14
How familiar was I with it before this week: Quite

Is it on the 2020 list? No
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: If You Want Blood

Album cover for Highway To Hell, AC/DC (1979)

AC/DC, the hard rock band from Australia, have two records on The 500 list. Highway To Hell, their sixth studio record, was released on July 27, 1979, and became their breakthrough album in the U.K. and America. It featured singer Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott, who had been with the group since their debut release, High Voltage, in 1975. It was also the first record to be produced by Robert "Mutt" Lange who was well on his way to becoming one of the greatest recording architects of all time...and future husband of Canadian singing legend Shania Twain.

AC/DC singer Bon Scott 

The second release by AC/DC on The 500 is Back In Black (#77) which was released almost one year later (364 days to be exact) on July 25, 1980. It became their biggest selling record of all time, with more than 50 million units sold. It was also produced by Mutt Lange. However, it featured vocals from English singer Brian Johnson who joined the band in February, 1980, following the death of Scott.

Brian Johnson, 1980, shortly after taking over singing duties for AC/DC.

Scott, who had been drinking into the late evening at a club in London, England, called The Music Machine, had decided to sleep in a car owned by his friend, Alistair Kinnear. The following morning, Tuesday, February 19, Kinnear found him unresponsive. Authorities were alerted and Scott was rushed to the nearby King's College Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The coroner’s report concluded it was "a death by misadventure". It seems likely that a combination of alcohol, heroin and the cold weather led to pulmonary aspiration. Scott likely experienced an overdose, lapsed into unconsciousness and aspirated (choked) on his own vomit.

Statue of Bon Scott in Freemantle region of Perth, Australia. It is one of
two statues of the singer, the other in his birthplace, Northmuir, Scotland

Scott's death brought the AC/DC into my pop cultural orbit. As a 14-year-old high school freshman, I was keenly tuned to the conversations of senior students, particularly about music. Hard rock was king in my rural high-school and my classes were filled with long-haired, denim- and black leather-clad fans of KISS, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Queen and Black Sabbath. My first introduction to some of these bands came from seeing their logos scrawled on student binders and notebooks.

Band logos of several bands popular in the late 70s.

In the spring of 1980, the words "Long Live Bon Scott" or "R.I.P. Bon Scott" were frequently sketched on those same school books. I also started to see patches and pins memorializing the singer on classmates’ jackets. The tragedy also elevated the popularity of their most recent record, Highway To Hell, and AC/DC songs were featured more heavily on Detroit rock radio.

Bon Scott gravestone in Fremantle City, Australia.

During the summer of 1980, I moved to London, Ontario, and was delighted to be living in a larger metropolitan area that featured a transit system, multiple libraries, public swimming pools, arenas and community centres. However, more importantly, rock bands included London (The Forest City) on their tour schedules. Within a few weeks of my arrival, I learned that California rockers Van Halen would be playing the London Gardens. I wrote about this in a July, 2020 post, in context of their debut record (#415 on The 500).

A Van Halen "Invasion" shirt from the tour, identical to
one I owned and wore proudly for years after the London show.

Eight days following the Van Halen show, the sound of amplified guitars still ringing in my ears, AC/DC brought their high-octane rock show to the London Gardens venue. The event came on the same day their seventh album, Back In Black, was released and was the 14th show with new lead singer, Johnson. The tickets were only $8 and I considered going. However, I skipped it because, as ridiculous as it seems in retrospect, I felt my "tastes" had matured beyond the simplistic rock and roll of AC/DC.  

At 15, I was becoming enamoured with progressive rock bands, including Rush, Genesis and Yes. Foolishly, I felt that a band needed virtuoso players who tackled epic, lengthy songs with complex key and changing time signatures in order to be considered "worthy". Van Halen had "cut the mustard" at that time because the lead guitarist, Edward Van Halen, was considered a guitar prodigy. His brother, Alex, was no slouch on the drum kit either. I liked AC/DC, but had mentally relegated them to basement party stereo status.

A Back In Black concert shirt from the 1980 tour.

Years later, I became a much bigger fan of AC/DC and began to understand how well the group composed the memorable, catchy anthemic rock songs that dominate their 18 studio records (1975-2020). Sure, their songs are usually written in standard 4/4 time and built around a handful of common chords, but, there is something masterful about how they execute their playing. They’re wizards when it comes to incredible, catchy rock riffs around which their songs were structured. However, not unlike jazz, it's not just the riffs they play, it's the patience with which they are delivered and how the rhythm section (guitar, drums and bass) support the rest of the song.

AC/DC in 1979 - (l-r) Malcom Young (rhythm guitar), Bon Scott (vocals),
Cliff Williams (bass), Angus Young (lead guitar) and Phil Rudd (drums).

A friend of mine, former guest blogger Glen "Archie" Gamble, spent months touring with an AC/DC tribute act dubbed Who Made Who as their drummer.  He was tasked with replicating Phil Rudd's sound and style, and told me he was rehearsing diligently for a series of shows across Canada. I was struck when he said: "I have to go back and re-examine the songs, relearning them to get the proper feel."

Promotional poster for the AC/DC tribute band Who Made Who.

I'm glad that I have a better appreciation of the deceptive complexity of this fantastic rock band. However, I deeply regret my decision not to attend that July, 1980, concert....for $8, no less.

Long Live Bon Scott!

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 - #334 - Squeezing Out Sparks - Graham Parker

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: # 334

Album Title: Squeezing Out The Sparks

Artist: Graham Parker

Genre: New Wave

Recorded: Landsdowne Studios, London, UK

Released: March, 1979

My age at release: 13

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

Is it on the 2020 list? No

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Nobody Hurts You selected by my good friend Billy Gudgeon -- who managed a band that played that song.

Sometimes I'll share high-school advice with my Grade 7 or 8 students. I don't hector them with, "You'll never pass in high school if..." statements.

Sadly, I used to.

In my defence, it was all I knew. It was, after all, the method my Grade 8 teacher had employed to introduce post-elementary education to me. According to Mr. Durocher, high school was going to be a cold, hard and unforgiving place where "nobody could help you, but yourself."

I suppose I should have been terrified, but I had the focus and attention span of a 12-year-old, resigning myself to thinking I would struggle and then figure things out. After all, it was a strategy that had worked so far.

Now that I am a middle-school educator, I no longer choose this foreboding supposition with my young charges. Instead, I try to inspire excitement, wonder and joy. I tell them they will "find their tribe" and that they will "meet expert teachers who will help prepare them for the next chapter in their lives" -- be it post-secondary education, an apprenticeship, the broad-spectrum work force, or even travelling.

I also encourage them to get involved as much as they can in endeavours that capture their interests. It is not like there is a shortage of volunteer opportunities in a typical high school.

"Push past the hesitation and fear."

"Try out for school teams, even if you don't make them."

I tried out for every school team in Grade 9, making the cross-country and wrestling teams because...well...they didn't cut anyone who kept showing up. Made the Grade 9 basketball team as the coach's 14th option. Only during the fourth quarter when the game was clearly out of reach for one of the teams -- usually us -- would I be allowed to step on the court.

If asked what position I played in high school basketball -- I'd say bench.

I also tell my young charges  to investigate the many different clubs and social groups available at their new academic home.

"Joining a club is a great way to meet new people and, often, engage with teachers outside the academic environment. "Often, club involvement will become an important bullet point on your resume."

In the first weeks of my Grade 9 year there was an open invitation for wannabe writers and artists to join the school newspaper. A few days later, I had my first assignment -- write a music review. 

The launch pad for a wandering mind

At the time, 1979, the New Wave genre was finding its way into the collective teen conscience...even in the sleepy, farming/fishing town I called home. So, I decided to write about that.

New Wave is a "catch-all" term to describe the music that came out of the punk movement of the late 70s. It was, like punk, created with a "Do It Yourself" (DIY) philosophy. But, unlike punk, it was more accessible to mainstream audiences, borrowing a little from the pop sensibilities of the 60s.

I was out of my element writing the piece I submitted. There was no access to Google, let alone research at the local or school library -- which were void of my subject matter. Wanting to appear knowledgeable and hip, I cobbled together a few ideas from things I had heard on local radio and about the artists I had seen perform on television -- mainly Saturday Night Live.

The original Saturday Night Live players

I knew a few songs from four bands which fell under the big umbrella of "New Wave" -- The Police, The Cars, Devo and Blondie. So, I talked about them and used inspirational words such as, "groundbreaking", "revolutionary", and "the future of music". It turns out, I wasn't far off. All four bands have records on The 500 - The Police have four. However, listening to Graham Parker's record in preparation for this post, I was transported to the New Wave sounds I would hear as the seventies became the eighties. They were reminiscent of Elvis Costello (four records on The 500) and Joe Jackson -- whose second album, I'm The Man, should be on The 500. If only life were fair.

Four 1978 records that influenced my taste for New Wave

Graham Parker, often paired with his supporting band, The Rumour, was an artist I had heard of, but did not know very well. Although, I was familiar with Heat Treatment from his second record of the same name, it was better described as rock or blue-eyed soul. Parker wouldn't make the move to the New Wave sound until Squeezing Out Sparks.

Parker was born in Hackney, East London, in 1950. Like many of his generation, he grew up a fan of The Beatles, soul music, Motown and the emerging genre of British ska, a reggae influenced sound imported to the U.K. from Caribbean immigrants. While learning the guitar in his late-teens, he worked at a rubber glove factory and later, raised animals for research into foot and mouth disease, a devastating affliction for cloven foot beasts.

He spent a year living in Gibraltar, unloading ships by day and practising guitar at night. When he returned to live with his parents in 1972, he was determined to pursue music full-time. He placed an ad in Melody Maker magazine, looking for like-minded musicians.

Melody Maker Magazine (1872)

Voila! Parker attracted the attention of guitarist Brinsley Shwarz,  a veteran U.K. pub performer. Shwarz brought with him his bandmates Bob Andrews (keyboards), Martin Belmont (guitar), Andrew Bodnar (bass) and Stephen Goulding (drums). They called themselves The Rumour and performed as Parker's supporting band while also touring and recording on their own.

Parker (foreground) with The Rumour (l-r) Bodnar, Shwarz,
Andrews, Goulding & Belmont 

Squeezing Out Sparks, the band's fourth record, was a departure from their work on the first three albums. Parker spurned the horns, he had used on previous releases, and drew upon the punk rock sound that was exploding in both London and New York. The record was planned to follow an over-arching concept about growing up in suburbia, but that idea was discarded. Regardless, many of those themes are evident in songs such as Local Girls, You Can't Be Too Strong, and Saturday Night Is Dead.

Squeezing Out Sparks - album back cover

Squeezing Out Sparks was voted Album Of The Year for 1979 in the year-end poll by Village Voice Magazine, as well as being lauded by Rolling Stone Magazine and the New Music Express. It was launched back into the spotlight in 2012 when Parker and his music were featured as an important plot point in the Judd Apatow comedy film, This Is 40. Parker played a slightly-fictionalized version of himself and performed several songs in the film and for the soundtrack.

A 40th anniversary edition of the record was released in 2019 as a solo-acoustic recording by a (Rumour-less) Parker. He followed it with a (Covid-delayed) U.S, tour in 2021 and also performed solo in small venues. He remains on good terms with The Rumour, who have also recorded and performed without him. There is a possibility of a reunion tour.

When I return to my Grade 7 class in two weeks following foot surgery, I may share the story of Parker with them: A non-musician who took a chance and picked up a guitar at 18 to pursue a dream that became a nearly 50-year career. Of course, I'll remind them of the expert teachers in high school who will help them on their journey.