Tony Blackburn was spinning MOR by the time The Donkeys began braying. No advocate of puNk, he famously trashed "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" on Radio 1's new releases show one Friday evening. Blackburn believed the song encouraged violence. Weller was listening and was so incensed he rang the station to correct Blackburn. Hence, any young forward thinking band's reluctance to be associated with such a musically conservative DJ .
Another great meditation— and without the plodding feel of a Robert Christgau— on rock and pop.
I’ve got to finish reading the section on the Game of LIfe record sleeve, but here I’ll just say that the Donkey’s music and mod and power pop generally were doomed to be a niche taste once the 70s and ROCK took over. And, yes, AC-DC epitomizes that. Despite sex roles being in place, the Mod and power scenes audiences seemed less male dominated. The bands, the songs had a yearning quality. There was a lot of young male energy looking to smash its bottles but not the swagger most mainstream rock had.
Anyway, Joe, your music writing is a pleasure to read. And I still love the essay collection I bought direct from you a couple of years ago.
Are there any other pieces about small “s” spirituality coming(à la the prayer essay?).
Stuart, thanks for reading and for the kind words, again! I'm certain that I'll be writing about small s spirituality again, it's all around.
(BTW do you know that I published a book of music essays last year? If that's the book to which you're referring, thanks! I'm a bit foggy over here sometimes.)
Tony Blackburn was spinning MOR by the time The Donkeys began braying. No advocate of puNk, he famously trashed "Down In The Tube Station At Midnight" on Radio 1's new releases show one Friday evening. Blackburn believed the song encouraged violence. Weller was listening and was so incensed he rang the station to correct Blackburn. Hence, any young forward thinking band's reluctance to be associated with such a musically conservative DJ .
Thanks for the on-the-ground report, Steve!
Another great meditation— and without the plodding feel of a Robert Christgau— on rock and pop.
I’ve got to finish reading the section on the Game of LIfe record sleeve, but here I’ll just say that the Donkey’s music and mod and power pop generally were doomed to be a niche taste once the 70s and ROCK took over. And, yes, AC-DC epitomizes that. Despite sex roles being in place, the Mod and power scenes audiences seemed less male dominated. The bands, the songs had a yearning quality. There was a lot of young male energy looking to smash its bottles but not the swagger most mainstream rock had.
Anyway, Joe, your music writing is a pleasure to read. And I still love the essay collection I bought direct from you a couple of years ago.
Are there any other pieces about small “s” spirituality coming(à la the prayer essay?).
Stuart, thanks for reading and for the kind words, again! I'm certain that I'll be writing about small s spirituality again, it's all around.
(BTW do you know that I published a book of music essays last year? If that's the book to which you're referring, thanks! I'm a bit foggy over here sometimes.)