The 500 - #251 - Low - David Bowie

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: #251
Album Title: Low
Artist: David Bowie
Genre: Art Rock, Experimental Rock, Avant Pop, Ambient 
Recorded: Château d'Hérouville, Hansa (West Berlin)
Released: January, 1977
My age at release: 11
How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #206, up 45 spots since 2012
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Always Crashing In The Same Car

It has been a tremendously busy week. While still enjoying some summer break activities, I have started my preparations for a new school year. I'm also rehearsing for a play that will run in late-September and I've realized that my memorization skills are not what they were twenty-years ago -- when I last had a chance to "tread the boards". I also traveled to Toronto to attend the four-day Annual Meeting for my Teachers Federation in Toronto.

That event, attended by more than 600 Ontario educators, provided plenty of opportunity for socializing. However, long, sedentary sessions participating in debate, conducted according to the rigid protocols of  Robert's Rules of Order, can be mentally exhausting. Consequently, I took advantage of breaks to amble around the facility and help the blood return to my legs.

Robert's Rules of Order for Parliamentary procedure.

The hotel and conference centre where the meetings were held are massive. Traversing the expanse throughout the day required crossing the vast lobby to venture from room, to suites, to caucus chambers, to cavernous convention halls. It was a good opportunity to don my headphones and a revisit a familiar record -- Low, the eleventh studio release from English musician, singer, songwriter, actor and cultural icon David Bowie.

Low was the first of three records dubbed The Berlin Trilogy. It, along with Heroes (1977) and Lodger (1979) were recorded in collaboration with English musician Brian Eno (a staple on The 500 list) and American producer Tony Visconti. The first two records were recorded in Berlin, while Lodger was completed in studios located in Switzerland and New York. It was during the promotion of the third record that Bowie began to refer to the trio of albums as The Berlin Trilogy.

Low, Heroes and Lodger comprise The Berlin Trilogy

Bowie's decision to move to Europe was impelled by an effort to free himself from the drug culture in Los Angeles, where he had lived the previous two years. Bowie's drug use, mainly cocaine, had escalated substantially. Fueled by the powerful stimulant, he rarely slept and subsisted on a diet of red peppers and milk. Already slim, his weight dropped to below 100 lbs. Years later, he admitted he had little recollection of the recording for his 1976 album, Station to Station (#324 on The 500). As he put it, "I know it was (recorded) in Los Angeles because I've read it was."

Album cover for Station To Station (1976)

A particular favourite of mine on Low is the fifth track, Always Crashing In The Same Car. The song references an event that occurred during the height of Bowie's cocaine addiction. While driving through Los Angeles, Bowie spotted a drug dealer who (he believed) had ripped him off. Furious, Bowie rammed his Mercedes repeatedly into the dealer's vehicle. After, "five crazed minutes" Bowie drove away from the incident and returned to the underground parking lot at the hotel where he was staying. He spent the next few hours driving the car in circles.

Bowie behind the wheel of his Mercedes prior to the 1976 incident.

That event was the catalyst for change for the English musician and he made the move to Berlin shortly after. Consequently, the title (and chorus) of the song serves as a metaphor about the human tendency to make the same mistakes in life, over and over again. It always reminds me of the quote attributed to Albert Einstein, that "Insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results".

It seems we humans are prone to repeatedly making the same mistakes. Psychologists have postulated that it is because our ego-driven choices can create "grooves in our neural pathways" that we are compelled to follow. Freud called this "repetition compulsion" and believed it was connected to the learned behaviours we locked into our psyche during childhood.

Bowie's decision to move to Berlin was, according to researchers, a smart one. A change in scenery or situation is valuable in re-routing neural pathways, so pursuing a different creative activity has additional cognitive benefits. It certainly worked for him. He got clean and created an absolute gem with the release of Low, and the rest of The Berlin Trilogy.

There is a lesson in that for us all.

Perhaps that is why I don't mind keeping myself busy with different pursuits during the summer months? 

The 500 - #256 - Trans-Europe Express - Kraftwerk

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: #256
Album Title: Trans-Europe Express
Artist: Kraftwerk
Genre: Electronic, Synth-Pop, Avant-Garde, Experimental
Recorded: Kling Klang Studios, Dusseldorf, West Germany
Released: March, 1977
My age at release: 11
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not At All

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #238, moving up 18 spots since 2012
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Europa Endlos

Perhaps, you're fortunate to have reached that stage in life where you've become accustomed to purchasing most things when you need them. You may, if you're lucky like I've been, be able to purchase many things simply because you want them. It is a nice, comfortable feeling. However, there is something magical about having to save your money for a much desired purchase -- particularly when you are young.

When I was 15, I landed my first regular job. Sure, I'd had gigs before - delivering newspapers, babysitting and running the snack-bar at  high school events. This time it was consistent work -- a job, custodian for10-12 hours a week at the local community centre.

Byron Optimist Centre in London, Ontario (recent photo).

At the time, the minimum wage in Ontario was $3.30/hour. However, my new employer, the City of London, paid the princely sum of $5.82/hr. Not surprisingly, my friends were flabbergasted...and jealous. I was over-the-moon, delighted with my good fortune and, shortly after, set my sights on my first big purchase -- the Technics SL-D4, Direct-Drive, Linear Tracking Turntable.

Technics Sl-D4 Linear Tracking Turntable.

The store where I spotted my first big purchase was Great West Audio, located in downtown London. It was (for a Canadian high-school student in the ‘80s) a high-end boutique stereo outlet, carrying products far superior to those found in typical department store catalogues, such as Eaton's, Simpson-Sears or Consumer Distributing. Those options had been fine when I was a kid -- but now I was “grown up and ready for some hi-fidelity.

The interior of a typical stereo store.

I put a $40 down-payment on the $270 turntable. It was my first experience with "lay-away purchasing" and it made me feel tremendously mature. I diligently visited Great West Audio by bus every second Saturday, just after payday. If all went well, the turntable would be mine in about 14 weeks.

Needless to say, I got to know the weekend store clerks well and, since I was an active consumer, we would have friendly chats.They were likely only six or seven years older than I, but from my high-school vantage they were among the coolest adults I knew. I was actually a little envious of their career -- dressed in hip, business attire, making "big money", while playing awesome tunes on amazing stereo equipment all day. Plus, it was their job to talk to pretty girls who walked in to look around. (Truth be told, the male:female ratio was about 9:1, and that included girlfriends dragged inside by their high-school beaus).

Each time I dutifully deposited an installment, I wandered around the  store to ogle dream purchases  -- amplifiers, receivers, cassette decks and, of course, speakers. I had my eye on a pair of Mission 707 which were displayed prominently in "The Speaker Lounge" -- a sound-proofed studio at the back of the store.

Mission 707 Speakers - similar to the pair I would eventually purchase.

"Want to hear something cool through them, Marc?", the twenty-something sales clerk asked one Saturday afternoon.

"Sure", I responded, anticipating him to produce something familiar from the world of ‘70s rock--hopefully, something rich and complex, like Pink Floyd.

"Have you heard the latest from Kraftwerk?" he asked, producing a predominantly yellow album. He removed the record and handed me the jacket.

I shook my head plaintively: "No".

"They are German, electronic, incredible through those speakers you like". Salesmanship guile. He cued up the record and cranked up a nearby amplifier while motioning me to a nearby chair -- ostensibly situated for quality audio reception. For the next 5- 10 minutes, I sat in comfort, reading over the album jacket and experiencing Kraftwerk for the first time.

Computer World album cover by Kraftwerk (1981)

Kraftwerk, (Power Station in German) is an avant-garde, experimental, electronic band, formed in Dusseldorf in 1970. Initially, they were part of West Germany's "krautrock" scene -- a catch-all term for a broad genre of experimental rock sounds, including "kosmische" (cosmic) music which contained hypnotic rhythms, improvisations and the earliest use of synthesizers. The emergent style was a reaction to the cliches of Schlager Music, the conventional German pop music of the time, full of formulaic themes of love and homeland. It was simple, happy-go-lucky and sickly sentimental "Volksmusic" (folk music).

Heinz Georg Kramm - "Heino" - a well-known Schlager Music singer

During their classic period (1974-1986), Kraftwerk comprised founding members Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter, as well as Wolfgang Flür and Karl Bartos. Since the quartet’s inception 50 years ago there have been 21 members.

Kraftwerk performing in  Zürich, 1978

The members played a variety of conventional musical instruments (guitar, violin, saxophone, drums) plus their electronic gadgetry. Today, it is easy to purchase an inexpensive synthesizer, I have a $300 electronic piano that can replicate dozens of instruments. However, in the 1970s, these ingenious musicians were literally purchasing motherboards, wires, processors and small memory chips that are primitive by today's standards. The components were wired together with a variety of interfaces and, through trial and error,  synthetic music never heard before was created.

Kraftwerk members behind an early synthesizer creation.

Schneider died in April, 2020, after a brief battle with cancer at the age of 73. Hütter continues to perform with three new members, two of whom have been with the band since the late 90s. In October, 2021, the group were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a recognition long overdue. The group primarily influenced many genres of modern music, including synth-pop, hip-hop, and post-punk, as well as the techno, house, ambient and club music that dominated the dance scene in the 90s. They have also been cited as a seminal influence by dozens of modern artists, including many with records on The 500 list and other more current album lists -- Depeche Mode, The Cure, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk. Kraftwerk were the bedrock for the success of Hip Hop. Darryl McDaniels of Run DMC (#242 on The 500) told the English trade magazine New Musical Express in December, 2020, that:

“Kraftwerk were a foundation of hip-hop not just because of their music, but they built their own machines and computers. They were doing the same thing as young boys and girls in the Bronx were doing at the beginning of hip-hop."

German experimental electronica and New York City hip-hop seemss an odd connection, but McDaniels' thesis holds water. Young, hip-hop pioneers, including Grandmaster Flash, would salvage amplifiers, turntables, wires, tubes and a plethora of other parts from behind electronics and stereo stores to assemble the earliest equipment used to DJ. Additionally, Hip-hop artist Africa Bambaataa (born Lance Taylor) released his genre defining electro-beat album Planet Rock in 1986, containing samples from Trans-Europe Express.

When I left Great West Audio that hot Saturday afternoon, in the summer of 1982. I sincerely considered buying a Kraftwerk record to add to my collection -- something I could eventually play on my Technics SL-D4, Direct-Drive, Linear Tracking Turntable through my Mission 707 speakers. The science fiction movie Tron had recently been released and Kraftwerk reminded me of the soundtrack. I thought perhaps I should try to get ahead of this new sound that seemed to be the future of music. Little did I know it was already old enough to be influencing the contemporary music I was hearing.

I didn't, but I did invest in other artists who were similarly experimental, including Jean Michelle Jarre, Nash the Slash, FM, Wendy Carlos, Gary Numan and Duran Duran. For this blog, I took a deep dive into Kraftwerk, listening to Trans-Europe Express and many of the other offerings from their catalogue. Beyond a rich appreciation for their groundbreaking creativity, I really like the music and it will get many more plays.

What was the first big purchase you saved up for?

When did you first hear Kraftwerk?

The only picture I have of my eventual set-up - Mission 707
speakers & linear tracking turntable in 1992

The 500 - #347 - The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn - Pink Floyd

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: # 347

Album Title: The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

Artist: Pink Floyd

Genre: Experimental, Psychedelic Rock, Acid Rock

Recorded: Spring, 1967

Released: August, 1967

My age at release: 2

How familiar was I with it before this week: Quite

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Interstellar Overdrive

Full disclosure, Pink Floyd is one of my favourite bands. They have been since I discovered their music in the fall of 1979. I have a humorous story about how I thought they were a "biker band", but I will save that for when we get to one of the other three records they have on this list.

Three of the Big Four Pink Floyd albums on The 500 List

It was not a surprise to me that three of the "big four albums" by British progressive rock group Pink Floyd were on The 500 list. However, I was surprised that the other "big" record (according the fans and critics) was not. That is the 1977 release, Animals.

Album Cover for Animals (1977)

Instead, Pink Floyd's debut record, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, appears at #347. The selection perplexed. Animals is, by every measure, the superior album. It was better received critically and commercially: it outsold Piper four times over; and it is still a "fan favourite". In fact, the iconic floating pig from the record cover continues to hover over the heads of fans attending performances by Roger Waters -- the last of the Floyd members still touring. 

Waters, who recently restarted his Covid-delayed world tour, will appear in Toronto next July. I will be there and it will be the seventh time I have seen a "Floyd" concert. The classic line-up dissolved in the early 80s, but tours led by Waters or guitarist David Gilmour have filled the void for me over the past 40 years. Sadly, I suspect this is the last time I will see any Floyd member perform live. The remaining members have passed on or retired, and Waters will be 80 years old by the conclusion of this tour.

Which brings me back to this week's record, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, an album that introduced the world to this unique, clever, creative and musically gifted band nearly 60 years ago. The original line-up featured Waters (bass), Nick Mason (drums), Richard Wright (keyboards) and Syd Barrett (guitars and lead vocals).

(l-r) Waters, Mason, Barrett & Wright

Waters, Mason and Wright met and began performing in 1963 in a variety of configurations under the names Sigma 6, The Meggadeaths, The Abdabs, The Screaming Abdabs, Leonard's Lodgers, Spectrum Five and The Tea Set. In 1965, Waters' childhood friend, Barrett, moved to London to attend arts college. He eventually joined the band, taking over on guitar and lead vocals and the foursome rebranded themselves as The Pink Floyd Sound. The name was taken from two blues records in Barrett's collection, one by Pink Anderson and the other by Floyd Council. 

Blues musicians who inspired Pink Floyd's name

Pink Floyd performed at several venues in the London area. Initially, they played Rhythm & Blues standards, but Barrett and Wright clicked as musicians and the group began to explore experimental sonic landscapes through improvisational jams. They incorporated a rudimentary, but hypnotic, light show and gained a loyal following, particularly among counter-culture youth experimenting with the psychedelic drug, LSD. The band were, in the parlance of the time, "a trip".

To fully appreciate Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, one has to imagine it the way it was intended to be heard -- live and loud. There is nothing quite like escaping with a band on a sonically dense and musically tight jam session. This is what Floyd fans in the early 60s expected and Barrett served as conductor and, having also taken LSD before most performances, the spiritual shaman. His stage presence was, according to biographer Nicholas Shaffner, "utterly riveting" with "enthusiastic displays of improvisational madness with his body, voice and guitar." 

The term "madness" is an unfortunate one that lingers from a different time when mental illness lacked the profile it has today. In the 1980s, when my friends and I were teenagers and fans of the band, we found Barrett's madcap antics fascinating. We were not yet of an age to recognize that this was a man, not much older than ourselves, who was suffering from profound mental illness, exacerbated by unregulated, heavy psychoactive drug use.

The cover for Barrett's first solo album The Madcap Laughs

Eventually, Barrett was unable to perform live with the band. He became unreliable as a musician, sometimes drifting off during a song, lost in his own LSD-clouded thoughts. The band recruited guitarist David Gilmore to replace him and Waters took over the lead vocals. The newly forged Pink Floyd would go on to become one of the biggest and best selling groups of all time. This was the band that would eventually release those "Big Four" records in the 1970s, a band without Syd Barrett.

(l-r) Wright, Gilmore, Mason & Waters - Pink Floyd 1973

As I revisited the music of early Pink Floyd and did more research into the tragedy of Barrett, I began to understand better the importance of Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. Syd Barrett is cited as an influence by some of the most important and significant pop musicians of all time. Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, David Bowie and Kurt Cobain all credit him as inspiration. Barrett was full of childish innocence, and that shines through on the tracks Bike, The Gnome and See Emily Play. He was also an incredibly talented guitarist. Interstellar Overdrive, from this week's record, is ranked #36 on another Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the Greatest Guitar Songs Of All Time.

Perhaps, most importantly, he is a cautionary tale of tragedy. Though a gifted and talented artist, he fell victim to the choices he made for the sake of his art. Somewhere in his performances, he got lost. Gone, but not forgotten. He continued to inspire Pink Floyd well into the 1970s, as we'll learn with their next record on this list: Wish You Were Here, dedicated to Barrett and his lasting influence on the group.

The 500 - #350 - Roger The Engineer - Yardbirds

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: # 350

Album Title: Roger The Engineer

Artist: Yardbirds

Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock, Experimental

Recorded: Advision, London, England

Released: July, 1966

My age at release: 1

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

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Over Under Sideways Down

Roger The Engineer is the second record by Yardbirds to appear on The 500 list, at #350. I wrote about the group's third album, Having A Rave Up, (#355) less than a month ago when I provided some background information on the influential, experimental blues group.

Having A Rave Up album cover - Yardbirds

Multiple records by the same artists, particularly when placed closely together on The 500 list, present a minor complication for me. My goal, as outlined in all of my posts, is to share a story about each record. Occasionally, my reflections are about the impact the record has had on my life. Sometimes, I simply share my discoveries after I research the album and listen to The 500 podcast.

Most of my Yardbird knowledge was shared on my previous post and, consequently, I'll stick to a few facts about this week's record selection.

Album #350 was released in England and the United States with different names, track listings and album covers. In the UK and Europe, it was dubbed Roger The Engineer. In the United States, it was released as Over Under Sideways Down, with two fewer tracks -- The Nazz Is Blue and Rack My Mind. Re-releases included these songs, making the original US version valuable to collectors.

US Cover for Yardbirds' Over Under Sideways Down

The album artwork for the European release of Roger The Engineer was done by Yardbirds' guitarist, pianist and singer Chris Dreja. The front cover is an ink sketch of Roger Cameron, who was the sound engineer. The back cover contains a few notes and track listings surrounded by an assortment of comically bizarre sketches by Dreja.

Back cover to Roger The Engineer

It is the first Yardbirds' record to contain only original material, and guitarist Jeff Beck performs as lead guitarist on every track. While on the US tour, Beck fell ill and was replaced by Jimmy Page, who had been touring with the band as the bass player. When Beck recovered, the band chose to continue without him -- a point he brought up humourously when Yardbirds were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. See the video here.

"I have done other music, after the Yardbirds. Anyway, someone told me I should be proud tonight, but I'm not...because they kicked me out. They did. F*** them."

When I first listened to Roger The Engineer, I was surprised to learn that I knew one of the songs. The track, Over Under Sideways Down, was featured in a Chevy Cobalt Commercial in 2005. Although only 16 years ago, the commercial and the automobile seemed quite dated.

The record is a fun listen. It has that experimental sixties' magic with weird sounds and even some chanting, strung together through Beck's exceptional guitar work. Give it a try.