The 500 - #389 - The End Of The Innocence - Don Henley

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's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 389

Album Title: The End Of The Innocence
Artist: Don Henley
Genre:  Rock, West Coast Rock (Yacht Rock) & more
Recorded: A&M Studios & The Complex, California
Released: June, 1989
My age at release: 23
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very
Song I am putting on my Spotify New York Minute

It is remarkable how music can transport an individual to a different time and place. Perhaps it is a haunting melody, an inspired lyric or even a record's distinctive sound. For me, The End Of The Innocence, the third solo album by Don Henley, is one of those records.  

Released in summer of 1989 this record captures a quintessentially late-eighties sound. In part, this is a result of the production and instrumentation used in the making of the record. My understanding of sound engineering is rudimentary. So, without becoming mired in too much technical-speak, I'll summarize the three major elements at play in the creation of this undeniably eighties audio landscape.

• First, there are the synthesizers, specifically the use of the Yamaha DX7 (below). This is the best selling synthesizer in history and the first commercially available digital instrument that could imitate other "brighter" acoustic sounds - mimicking the sound of brass instruments.  

• Next, there is the use of a sound-capturing technique called gated reverb. It is particularly noticeable when used to secure the sound from the snare drum. This recording method creates a clean, punchy sound, with little delay (or echo).
• Finally, there is some post-production trickery. In particular, the use of an arpeggiator, which helps augment the sound texture of familiar rock instruments -- guitar, bass and saxophone. 

A modern digital arpeggiator

The result is a record that, like a museum piece or an insect suspended in amber, remains as a lasting tribute to a specific era in music production. For listeners of this generation, hearing it again is a trip back in time.

Prior to this week, I had not listened to The End Of The Innocence in its entirely for at least twenty years. However, during the summer of 1989, I played the compact disc dozens of times. Returning to it after all that time felt like finding a forgotten jacket at the back of a closet -- even though it doesn't fit, every stitch and seam is soaked in memories (in my case, coffee stains and tobacco smoke).

For the two summers preceding 1989, I worked as a swimming instructor and lifeguard at both a local city pool and water-park named Wally World, built on a lonely, treeless plot of land on the fringes of London, Ontario. 

Additionally, I supplemented my income with a part-time gig as a server and bartender at a then-popular pizza parlor. 

Me hanging out post-work at Fluffy's Pizza Place (1987)

Foolishly, that summer I decided to forgo tips and sunshine for a night shift at a cardboard and box factory. In part, this was to allow me to take summer session courses at the university. 

I became miserable with my decision immediately. Not only did my earnings drop, but the job was dreadfully boring. It was so mind-numbingly dull that I actually yearned for another summer, broiling in the hot sun atop a water-slide tower, marshaling sugar-fueled, ebullient children for six hours a day. 

"Wait...Go...Wait...Go...Don't push...Wait...OK Go"  

Trust me, life-guarding only looks cool and sexy on Baywatch. 

Promotional shot from the 1990s television series Baywatch

Music was my salvation and The End of the Innocence soundtrack was part of my daily escape. The record, caffeine and nicotine helped. 

In the late weeks of August, with barely any savings for the upcoming school year, I climbed into my 1987 Mustang and drove to Calgary to meet my girlfriend's father (now father-in-law) for the first time. I made the drive in about 30 hours and shortly before reaching the city limits, the title track played on a mixed cassette I had made for the journey. That is my "cast in amber" moment...frozen in time.

The 500 - #394 - Good Old Boys - Randy Newman

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's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 394

Album Title: Good Old Boys
Artist: Randy Newman
Genre:  Roots Rock, Country Rock, Satire
Recorded: Warner Brothers' Studio, Hollywood, CA (72-74)
Released: September, 1974
My age at release: 9
How familiar was I with it before this week: Not at all
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Marie

Recently, the Canadian subscription channel Crave re-released Chappelle's Show, an early 2000s American sketch comedy program created by and starring comedian Dave Chappelle. The groundbreaking and critically acclaimed series challenged racial stereotypes through provocative and controversial satire. 

In one sketch, a spoof of the PBS news program Frontline, we meet Clayton Bigsby a blind, white supremacist who is unaware that he is black. In another, a parody of modern day professional sports drafts, various multiracial celebrities are "claimed" by a single race. Tiger Woods, who is African-American-Thai-Chinese, is drafted by The Blacks, while Jewish-African-American Lenny Kravitz is selected by a Hasidic Rabbi representing the Jewish Team.

Clayton Bigsby - Black White Supremacist (top)
and Racial Draft from Chappelle's Show

The show is not for everyone. It doesn't only push the envelope, it bursts right through it. This week's record, Good Old Boys, by Randy Newman does the same. Released in 1974, the record pulls no punches as it addresses issues including institutional racism, poverty and homelessness. It was originally intended to be a concept record, perhaps even a musical, about a character named Johnny Cutler, a regular guy from the deep south. However, only the "kernel of this concept" survived and the record featured a number of unrelated tracks.

Much like Chappelle's Show, no one is spared from Newman's satirical assault. On the opening track, Rednecks, his narrator, Cutler, lists the negative stereotypes regularly associated with men from the deep south. However, as the song continues, Cutler turns his attention to the hypocrisy of northern liberals who claimed to be racially enlightened -- a polite fallacy obscuring a reality of racial segregation, which occurred through practices such as redlining or the phenomenon of white flight. In either situation, caustic or polite, African-American communities are marginalized.

I have always loved satire. Blazing Saddles, Monty Python's Life of Brian, and Dr. Strangelove were among my favourite films before I was old enough to fully appreciate the full force of their satirical messages. They are that rare breed of film that could appeal to all ages, for entirely different reasons. They brilliantly blend simple, slapstick comedy with powerful social commentary. The uncomfortable but titillating thrill I got from those films was captured in a delightfully provocative 34 minutes of music from Newman on this, his first of three records on The 500.

  

The 500 - #399 - Rain Dogs - Tom Waits

 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's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 399

Album Title: Rain Dogs
Artist: Tom Waits 
Genre: Experimental Eclectic Everything
Recorded: RCA Studios
Released: September, 1985
My age at release: 20
How familiar was I with it before this week: One song
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Clap Hands

Rain Dogs Cover - Tom Waits (1985)

There was a small rush of dopamine that accompanied the keystrokes that placed "Album #399" into the header of this post. When this marathon journey began in January, 2019, there was certainly some trepidation on my part that this was a "fool's errand" that would fizzle-out. However, with 100 records in the rear view mirror, completion of this nine-year task seems far more likely.

Tom Waits (1985)

What a phenomenal record was waiting at #399. Tom Waits' Rain Dogs is the middle album in a trilogy of experimental music that began with Swordfishtrombone (1983) and would conclude with Franks Wild Years (1987). All three records are notable for Tom's embrace of a broad spectrum of musical styles and wide range of instrumentation, as well as the use of eclectic background sounds gathered through natural sources rather than studio trickery. Indeed, Waits prides himself on being a Luddite who eschews technological sleight of hand in the studio, wonderfully captured by this somewhat salty, but perfectly Waits-ian, quote:

"If I want a sound, I usually feel better if I've chased it and killed it, skinned it and cooked it. Most things you can get with a button nowadays. So, if I was trying for a certain drum sound, my engineer would say, 'Oh, for Christ's sake, why are we wasting our time? Let's just hit this little cup with a stick here and make it bigger in the mix.' I'd say, 'No, I would rather go in the bathroom and hit the door with a piece of two-by-four very hard.'"

Much of the record was composed in a squalid, basement apartment at the corner of Washington and Horatio Street in the West Village of Manhattan. 

Washington & Horatio Streets, NYC

It was, as one might expect of New York City in the mid-eighties, a rough area, frequented by a diverse group of wandering artists, addicts, sex workers, pimps, hoodlums and the homeless. It was from this landscape that Waits drew his inspiration for both the music and his extraordinary lyrics. These urban vagabonds also provided inspiration for the album's title. As Waits put it:

"I kept thinking about people who live outdoors. You know how after the rain you see all these dogs that seem lost, wandering around. The rain washes away all their scent, all their direction. So all the people on the album are knit together, by some corporeal way of sharing pain and discomfort."

However, I couldn't help but think how this applies to all of us. We are all wandering the face of the earth, knit together by invisible forces. Fortunately, for many of us, we have the solace and comfort of a home and the ties that bind us are often love and belonging. Perhaps Waits is just reminding us to eschew the hectic whirlwind of our world and embrace the eclectic background. Maybe that will grant us a little more sympathy for the rain dogs in our world.

The 500 - #415 - Debut - Van Halen

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's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 415

Album Title: Debut (Self-Titled)
Artist: Van Halen
Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Recorded: Sunset South Recorders, Hollywood, California
Released: February, 1978
My age at release: 12
How familiar was I with it before this week: Very
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Runnin' with the Devil

As I've said before, my favourite three bands for most of my early teen years were: (1) Rush, (2) Van Halen and (3) Cheap Trick. This debut album by Van Halen was certainly one that supercharged my love of rock music into high-gear. It was one of the first records I purchased with my own money and for about three years it was on my turntable daily. I knew every nuance on every track. In the late 70s and early 80s, the four members of this group were the epitome of cool -- musicians with confidence, swagger, flare and the talent to back it up. 

Shortly after moving to London, Ontario in the late Spring of 1980 I learned that Van Halen was coming to town on the Canadian leg of their Invasion Tour. Within days of the news, I figured-out local transit in order to purchase a general admission ticket at Sam the Record Man. I began counting the days. 

General admission meant there were no designated seating assignments. I wanted a place near the front of the stage and the best way to secure it was lining up early on the day of the show. My plans hit a speed-bump when my mother reminded me of an appointment with a knee specialist on the morning of the show. Then, she said, "we should stop downtown to see Terry Fox arrive at Victoria Park".

Terry Fox on his Marathon of Hope (1980)

Terry Fox, now one of Canada's most revered and famous heroes, had recently embarked on The Marathon of Hope. Fox, whose right leg had been amputated due to cancer, was running across Canada in order to raise awareness for the disease. He hoped to convince every Canadian to contribute a single dollar to his cause and reach a goal of 25 million dollars for The Canadian Cancer Society.

His marathon began quietly on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean near St. John, Newfoundland. By the time he reached Ontario, his fame was growing steadily. With the medical appointment out of the way, I got to hear him speak to the crowd -- hours before the concert -- but I was in an adolescent panic. With every tick of the clock I kept thinking...."People are lining-up ahead of me!!"

The London Gardens (c 1980)

Nevertheless, I made it to the show in plenty of time and begrudgingly joined the lengthy line that had gathered. Once inside, the floor of the arena was quite crowded and, reluctantly, I found an aisle seat in the stands. It provided an elevated view of the stage, well above the heads of the throng below. In all honesty, The London Gardens is a small venue for a rock show, holding fewer than 5000 people. There really wasn't a bad seat in the house. The show was everything I'd hoped -- loud rock music, a brilliant light production, incredible musicianship and lead singer David Lee Roth's acrobatics and comedic banter.

David Lee Roth leaping from the drum riser during
a performance on the 1980 Invasion Tour

In retrospect, the medical appointment was a  boon because I was able to attend the Terry Fox event. His Marathon of Hope celebrates a bittersweet 40th anniversary this year. On September 1, 1980, just outside Thunder Bay, Ontario, Terry tearfully suspended his run because the cancer had returned and spread to his lungs. He died on his 22nd birthday, June 28, 1981.

It is the recollection of that day in 1980 that make me thankful to be alive. I got a chance to see two significant events in the history of my city, and I am still clicking a keyboard 40 years later to share the tale.

The 500 - #422 The Ronettes - Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica

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's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 422

Album Title: Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica 
Artist: The Ronettes
Genre: Pop, Rhythm & Blues (R&B)
Recorded: 1963-1964 - Gold Star Studios, Hollywood
Released: November, 1964
My age at release: Not born yet
How familiar was I with it before this week: A little
Song I am putting on my Spotify Mix: Be My Baby

Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica is the only studio album by the 60s girl group, The Ronettes. The trio, from Washington Heights, Manhattan, consisted of Veronica Bennett, her older sister Estelle and their cousin Nedra Talley. Originally named The Darling Sisters, they had sung together since their early teens. In 1963, they signed with Phil Spector's label, Philly Records, and changed their name. Initially, Spector was only interested in signing Veronica. However, her mother insisted that they be signed as a group. Spector relented, but the words "featuring Veronica" were added to the album and she was front and centre on the record cover.  

The Ronettes exploded onto the music scene in the summer of 1963 with the single Be My Baby. It was a smash hit. In the 2004 edition of Rolling Stone magazine it was ranked at #22 on its list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The magazine described it as a "Rosetta Stone" for studio pioneers such as The Beatles and Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. In fact, Wilson declared it "the greatest pop song ever made." 

Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Song Edition

The next 18 months would be a whirlwind for the group, with three additional hit songs  (all of which appear on this record), plus television appearances and a massive tour of the U.K.  However, by February, 1965, their popularity was declining and even a 14-city North American tour opening for The Beatles could not energize sales for their final single, I Can Hear Music -- a song that barely made it on the Billboard Top 100, and only for a single week. The group officially disbanded in early 1967 after a brief tour of Germany.

The Ronettes (Promotional Picture, 1966)

However, throughout the group's meteoric rise to success and their eventual break-up, there was another darker story being written. It was the story  of Veronica "Ronnie" Bennett who started a relationship with Spector shortly after the group signed with his record label. 

Spector in studio with The Ronettes

There is entirely too much detail to cover in this post but, Phil was intensely possessive of Veronica and, as her manager, controlled every choice in her young world. In fact, he forced her to remain in his home in California during The Ronettes' tour with The Beatles, using her cousin Elaine as a replacement. In other words, in two short years Spector had migrated from only wanting to sign Veronica...to featuring her prominently as the lead member of the group...to preventing her from touring. There are rumours that this was due to a relationship she had with Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards during the earlier U.K. tour. Regardless, Spector was intent on keeping Veronica close to home and under his watchful eye. Later that year, shortly after the band broke-up, Spector and Bennett married.

According to many accounts, Veronica, now Ronnie Spector, was kept a virtual prisoner in their mansion. It is said that Phil removed her footwear from the premises to prevent her from leaving. In 1969, they adopted a child. According to her memoir, Be My Baby: How I Survived Mascara, Miniskirts and Madness, being a mother brought her joy and, for a time, a meaningful purpose in her life. Emboldened, I suppose, Phil surprised her with adopted twins as a Christmas gift. A few months later, she fled barefoot to her mother who was waiting for her at a pre-arranged location. In her memoirs, she stated: "I knew if I didn't leave, I was going to die there". 

She and Spector divorced in 1972 and in the final settlement she forfeited all future record earnings because she feared her ex-husband would hire a hit man to kill her. She received $25,000, a used car and a monthly alimony of $2,500 for five years. Rumour has it that Phil once had the alimony payment delivered in dimes.

Her fears were certainly credible. Phil was known for brandishing a pistol and even installed a gold coffin with a glass lid in the basement of their home, promising that he would "kill her and display her corpse if she ever left him". Given that Spector was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of actress Lana Clarkson in 2008, these threats seem frighteningly real.

Veronica and The Ronettes have been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and The Vocal Group Hall of Fame. She had a brief resurgence in 1986 when Eddie Money had the top five hit Take Me Home Tonight  which featured her on backing vocals. She occasionally performs today.

Eddie Money's 1986 single,
featuring Ronnie Spector on vocals

Ronnie currently lives in Connecticut with her second husband to whom she has been married since 1982. Spector is still, fittingly, serving a 19-year sentence in prison.

Next Up: The Best of The Girl Groups Volumes 1 & 2