Gateway Bands

Curtis Withers plays music too??

Why the fuck not? Makes sense. He did everything else Saturday night (39 pts, 14 rebs)

Is there really such a guy? When I first read that I thought you meant Curtis Mayfield (gots to love my man Curtis!). For that matter, Stevie Wonder’s first few records kickass too.

I’m trying to remember the first band that broadened my musical horizons. My parents made me listen to neil diamond (mom) the beatles, & the moody blues (dad). I was a Duran Duran listening dork in the early 80’s (obviously nothing’s changed), until I heard this weird band from Athens, Georgia called REM. You couldn’t understand what the fuck the singer was saying, but the songs were great. I guess they opened the door to everything else: from the dead kennedy’s and the dead milkmen, to bauhaus and love & rockets, to the smiths and echo & the bunnymen, to the cure, new order and depeche mode, and finally to jane’s addiction (circa jane says) and sonic youth. I thought I had listened to dark side of the moon and the wall a lot. That didn’t even approach the number of listens these other tapes got. I went through 3 walkmen and completely wore out or otherwise destroyed albums by all of those bands. especially depeche's 101 & new order's substance. quaint now, but man did i love them.

My senior year high school I heard nothings shocking and daydream nation thanks to this cool as shit girl named janet. She had bottled red hair and an attitude. She took me to see GWAR at the 4808 club (I believe that’s the show that got it closed down) and a half dozen other bands that I no longer remember. I spent the following summer in Chicago and saw, among other things, some loud new band called the smashing pumpkins (I thought the singer sucked, but they rocked) at the metro. It took me two years to get anyone else to listen to them, then siamese dream came out. I also saw the sundays (harriet wheeler was the first in a long line of obsessions), material issue (another chi-town band – valerie loves me!), and the final replacements show ever (@grant park – only later when I got into them did I realize how fucking cool that was).

That summer pretty much did it for me. No more mainstream. I was in college, so I had all of my friends’ record collections to browse through (first records I borrowed were the jesus & mary chain and the connells), “alternative” was on the way into the mainstream, and there were shows everywhere. Plus mtv didn’t completely suck yet. You could stay up all night to watch post modern mtv or 120 minutes and see kim gordon, or teenage fanclub or matthew sweet or something you’d never heard before. These bands made me an active listener. I’d hear a song or about them and I’d go to the newsstand and flip through every zine I could find to find them. That’s carried right through til now. I have about a dozen global websites bookmarked and I get another half dozen ‘zines every month, many of which come with cds or even dvds of new stuff. It’s a passion. I love being an active participant in the process and not just swallowing what the machine shovels me.

 

the smiths are fucking awesome. you might hate morrissey('s whiney voice), but johnny marr is one of the best guitarists ever. that guy should be worshipped.

in retrospect, the bends is the best radiohead album, and i wish they'd get back to basics.

i love sigur ros. the first time i heard staraflur, my reaction was ".......... oh shit that's good... ...."

i cannot wait for some cities lj. i refuse to download it early, and i hope i'm not getting my expectations up too high.

if you like interpol, check out joy division circa love will tear us apart. that's the sound they're aping.

i had a friend-girl (i wanted her to be girlfriend) who was big into them - she got me into lush & later into curve. two great chick fronted bands. maybe she was a lezbo?

 

You should go. Not guaranteeing they're the band for you, but i think you will like them and have a good time.

 

I'll drink a couple of Steel Reserve tallboys before I go in and I'll have a good time regardless of the music. :xyzthumbs

And, The Bends is probably my favorite album of all time. Radiohead isn't my favorite band, but that album whips serious ass from start to finish. From Coldplay, I've found some Echo and the Bunnymen that I enjoy, but other than that, I don't have too many gateways. The Drive-by Truckers led me to Neil Young, so I guess they are all working backwards for me.

 

I multitask like hell, but I wasn't looking at anything 49er. Bill Withers, the gateway drug toward real R&B. You start with a little Bill Withers, and before you know it you're listening to Desmond Dekker. Stuff like that, and Stevie, Curtis, Otis Redding, James Fucking Brown, it's not inherent when you weren't there to see it the first time. So you gotta get it somewhere.

 

That solo towards the end of the title track on The Bends... that's my 'lectric-geetar-gawd fantasy. can you imagine ripping that thing off in front of 100k screaming fans in america or the uk? fuck that's a great visual.

i'd also love to play "thirteen" in a small club with hot chics crowding the first row. that's my indie-acoustic fantasy. awesome.

and neil young... fuckin'a man. yes.

 

the queen is dead rocks- the smiths do whip serious ass, you are correct about that. about radiohead, i actually think ok computer is leaps and bounds of the bends- i personally think its the greatest album i've ever heard, from top to bottom.

pics?

 

so what deftones album should I check out first? What about the Smiths?

 

Get "the Best of... vol 1 & 2"... who knows what you'll like on it. The style isnt completely consistent. It also isnt a first spin love affair for most.

For instance, I love an obscure track called "William it was really nothing". To hell with Morrisey's vocals on the track, Johnny Marr makes me wanna keep it on repeat for 4 or 5 listens, yet he isnt ever overbearing in the song.

I've also always loved "Paint a Vulgar Picture" for its indictment of the industry... but its another obscure track.

"The boy with the thorn in his side" is wonderful. So are "that joke isnt funny anymore", "how soon is now" and a half dozen others. It's too hard to pick one.

 

the smiths are an acquired taste. i thought they were a weak jimmy buffett knockoff when i heard their opening track on their self titled debut album- reel around the fountain- i was like- wha? thats it? but the more i listened to the album, the more i appreciated the lyrics and morrisseys willingness to sing about uncommon themes. suffer little children is very heartfelt, its about child abuse. the album kind of builds in crescendo fashion from the almost simplistic "reel.." to "suffer..". I am really getting into the queen is dead.

re: the deftones- definitely start off with white pony. this is their best work. "when you're riiiiiipe you'll bleed out of control"- this album is like the ok computer for metal from what i've read. i'm not even a metal fan, but damn this album rocks. they are kinda nu-metalish i guess, which i'm not a fan of in general. but, i think they are worth a listen.