In the coming weeks, Scratch, Pop & Hiss will be migrating to another site. Why?
A new venture (actually a return of sorts) will be taking place in a few weeks and thus after much thought, it seems that the music links and occasional musings that take place here would be better served as a addendum to this soon to announced “project”. This new “project” will be the main source of material and thus allow for a steady update of material. So…..look for updated news soon.
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THE DAILY MAIL: In 1971, the likes of Eric Clapton, Frank Zappa, Elton John and the Jackson Five were some of the most famous celebrities in their world.
But for their parents, these ultra-famous rock stars were still only grown-up children, whom they doted on and fussed over.
LIFE Magazine photographer John Olson followed some of these big name stars home to see their parents to tell the inside story of the private lives of famous musicians and show their person histories. MORE >
From The NRBQ Headquarter’s FaceBook Page
We regret to inform you that Tom Ardolino passed away today. Tom will be missed but his spirit lives on through those who were touched by him.
Jan. 12th 1955 – Jan 6th 2012
Tom Ardolino (January 12, 1955 — January 6, 2012) was a rock drummer best known as a member of NRBQ. Ardolino was initially a fan of the band, and began corresponding and trading tapes with keyboardist and co-founder Terry Adams. On one occasion, original NRBQ drummer Tom Staley did not feel up to returning for an encore, so Adams invited Ardolino to fill in. He performed well enough that when Staley decided to leave the band in 1974, his bandmates agreed that Ardolino was the natural choice as his successor. Ardolino remained in the lineup until the band went on hiatus in 2004, returning for occasional reunion performances, and lending his support when Adams decided to reclaim the NRBQ name for his new band in 2011. While lead vocals were generally performed by other members of NRBQ, live shows often included a moment where Ardolino would come forward, take the spotlight, and sing, either with a karaoke backing track or with one of the other band members drumming.
Ardolino was a resident of Springfield, Massachusetts, and appeared in a promotional video to campaign for the world premiere of The Simpsons Movie to be held there.
Tom Ardolino’s solo album “Unknown Brain” was released by Bumble Bee Records, Japan, on CD in 2004 and in the USA on Mystra Records on vinyl LP, it consists mostly of basement recordings made in 1971-72. The cover states “WARNING: If out-of-tuneness bothers you, do not listen.”
Ardolino was also an avid collector of song poems, having contributed to the “MSR Madness” series of compilations.
WIKIPEDIA: NRBQ is an American rock band founded in 1967. It is known for its live performances, containing a high degree of spontaneity and levity, and blending rock, pop, jazz, blues and Tin Pan Alley styles. Its best known line-up is the 1974–1994 quartet of pianist Terry Adams, bassist Joey Spampinato, guitarist Al Anderson, and drummer Tom Ardolino….
The abbreviation “NRBQ” stands for New Rhythm and Blues Quartet (originally Quintet). The band’s music, a rollicking blend of everything from stomping rockabilly to Beatles-influenced pop to Thelonious Monk-inspired jazz, has attracted fans as diverse as Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, Keith Richards and Penn and Teller. NRBQ songs have inspired cover versions by Bonnie Raitt, Los Lobos, and Dave Edmunds, among many others. In addition, the group served as the unofficial “house band” for The Simpsons for the season 10-12 period in which NRBQ fan Mike Scully was head writer and executive producer. NRBQ allowed several of their songs to be used on The Simpsons, including “Mayonnaise and Marmalade”, written specifically for the show. The band also appeared in animated form as well as on camera during the end credits to perform the show’s theme song during the episode “Take My Wife, Sleaze”. The band also recorded a song entitled “Birdman” for an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast entitled “Pilot”. The group appeared in feature films, including Day of the Dead, Shakes the Clown, and 28 Days. MORE >
Our resolutions here at Scratch, Pop & Hiss for 2012 are to do the best we can to live by this awesome list that Woody Guthrie wrote back in 1942.
Woody Guthrie’s 1943 “New Years Rulin’s.” Found in one of his journals dated January 1st, 1943. Woody Guthrie Archives Notebook Series 1, Item 13, Pages 36-37.
Paul McCartney has now made it possible for anyone to experience classic McCartney songs in completely new ways. Now you can solo drum and bass tracks, mute guitar tracks, add slap-back delay, dial in subtle or intense flanger, and adjust the cutoff frequency… all to your heart’s desire. Then, once you have made your new mix …you have the option of saving it to your desktop. Here’s some more info about Rude Studio from the website…
In 1971, Paul and Linda escaped London to their farm in Scotland. At that farm, Paul had a little studio put in so he could demo, experiment and make music. That was Rude Studio.
Now you can experiment with Paul’s music online at New Rude Studio.
If you feel especially proud of your new take on a McCartney song you can submit it to the Paul McCartney SoundCloud page where they may put it on their player for everyone to hear.
We are setting the wayback machine to New Year’s Eve 1968 where we find a rockin’ French television special called Surprise Partie. This 3 1/2 hour New Years Eve party featured fashionably dressed pretty Parisains dancing and casually sitting on every inch of space of a stylishly decorated set. However, the best thing about this party is the long guestlist of musical performers that show up. The Troggs, Jacques Dutronc, Joe Cocker, Françoise Hardy, Aphrodite’s Child, Antoine, Fleetwood Mac, The Who, The Small Faces, P.P. Arnold, Booker T & The MGs, The Irresistibles, Pink Floyd, The Equals, and more.
Today we pay tribute to Beatle John Lennon, who was thirty-one years ago shot to death outside his New York City apartment building. There is no need to heap upon Lennon’s tragically early demise with even more tributes. From what I’ve read about John Lennon, he would scoff at these tributes and demand that we concern ourselves with the trials and tribulations of today and more importantly tomorrow.
John learned that when the mass media take an idea they will amplify and simplify it. If the new tools of mass communication can be abused in selling us war and consumer junk; if they work so well – as they undeniably have – then they could be used to promote peace. Even though the message is simple, it is not simplistic.
All You Need Is Love
War Is Over (If You Want It)
Give Peace A Chance
Call it the thoughts of a dreamer, but you know what? People are still rallying and affirming their stance around such idealistic views. It has been heard on the streets around the world ever since.
It’s only love from me to you
And you know it won’t be long
This bird has flown
Norwegian Wood
We listen to your songs
Thanks John — rock on
THE GUARDIAN It’s a Jim’ll Fix It fantasy for any musical obsessive: to have your all-time favourite song, by your all-time favourite singer, covered by your second all-time favourite singer. Except in Ivo Watts-Russell’s case, he was able to fix it himself.
By 1983, the founder of the 4AD label had carved a reputation for releasing darkly gripping post-punk by the likes of Bauhaus, the Birthday Party, Modern English and Cocteau Twins. Feeling creative himself, Watts-Russell decided to cherrypick various 4AD band members to record a one-off single, Sixteen Days/Gathering Dust, written by Modern English, sung by the Cocteaus’ Elizabeth Fraser and released under the name This Mortal Coil. But Watts-Russell needed a B-side and so he asked Fraser to cover his ultimate desert-island disc, Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren.
It was a lethal combination. The song is an uncannily haunting ballad, its images of the sea, doomed romance and drowning alluding to what Watts-Russell calls “the inevitable damage that love causes”. Buckley’s eerie original is backed by stark waves of guitar and occasional high-pitched “siren” wails (is it his voice? An extremely flanged guitar?), and his five-octave-spanning tenor – “the closest thing to flying without taking acid or getting on a plane,” Watts-Russell reckons. But Fraser’s version suggested she was the siren of Homer’s Odyssey personified, luring lovers to a premature grave.
Well, someone was lured in, because Song to the Siren became an A-side in its own right and spent two years on the independent charts, selling half a million copies. This Mortal Coil – spearheaded by Watts-Russell with assorted personnel – subsequently released three albums of similarly intense covers and originals, but as a new boxset of their complete recordings shows, nothing ever matched Song to the Siren’s knee-buckling beauty. That it only reached No 6 in the Observer 2006 poll of all-time great covers and not the top spot borders on a crime.
Since This Mortal Coil took it on, Song to the Siren has been covered 24 times. Step forward, Robert Plant, George Michael, Sinéad O’Connor, Bryan Ferry, David Gray, John Grant and Sheila Chandra, not forgetting the dance versions (Lost Witness’s trance cover reached the top 30), Half Man Half Biscuit’s shambolic Peel session version or Elvis impersonator Jimmy the King’s attempt. “It’s a great showcase for any singer, because you can open it up and personalise it,” reckons Brendan Perry of Dead Can Dance, a former This Mortal Coil contributor, who has been performing the song live. MORE >
The early Fleetwood Mac is always worthy of checking out. Here we find the Peter Green era singing a blues song about masturbation with a bunch of Playboy bunnies around on the TV program Playboy After Dark in 1970.
Oh and if Peter Green’s playing wasn’t enough, they had this other guitar player called Danny Kirwan who leads the band into a jam for the credit bed.
It is a sad day in music , Laura Kennedy, the original bassist and co-founder of seminal no wave band Bush Tetras, who has spent the past 12 years living in Minneapolis, passed away on Monday afternoon.
Kennedy was diagnosed nearly two decades ago with Hepatitis C. Born in Cleveland, she moved to NYC in the late ’70s and eventually made her way to the Twin Cities 12 years ago to live with her girlfriend. Complications from the disease eventually led to liver failure, and after a long wait and struggle she received a liver transplant in November of 2008 at the University of Minnesota.
Kennedy’s legacy will always be tied to her time in New York in the late ’70s and ’80s with her band, The Bush Tetras, where she gave these basslines to the world.
