Wednesday, February 13, 2008

My Rock 'N' Roll Favorites - the 'G's and 'H's

Gabriel, Peter: "Big Time" - Back in the 80s, when MTV was really about music and less about cultural propaganda, I enjoyed Peter Gabriel's inventive videos, particularly the one for "Big Time." Moreover, I can actually listen to the song today, which I can't say about all the music I used to like in the 80s.
Garbage: "Stupid Girl" - I like Shirley Manson's voice, even if I'm not a big Garbage fan in general; however, "Stupid Girl" is a great song with a fantastic bass-and-drums groove, perfect for running on the treadmill.
Genesis: "Land of Confusion" - My wife is a big Genesis fan, but "Land of Confusion" is about the only one of their songs that I can bear to listen to.
Go-Go's, The: "Our Lips Are Sealed" - I have much less regard for the Go-Go's than for the Bangles, my favorite girl group, but "Our Lips Are Sealed" is still a great pop song.
Grand Funk Railroad: "Rock 'N' Roll Soul" - I could write a lot about Grand Funk, but I won't. I can remember hearing the "red" album and the Survival album a lot when one of my brothers owned them, and later on my friend Ken Foley owned the We're An American Band album. I liked the early stuff like "Paranoid," "Inside Looking Out," and "Winter and My Soul," and later I liked "Walk Like a Man"; however, when I bought a GFR greatest hits CD a few years ago, I found that the song I liked the most on it was "Rock 'N' Roll Soul," a tune I wasn't previously familiar with.
Green Day: "Longview" - I'm not a Green Day fan, but at least I wouldn't change the station if "Longview" came on the radio.
Guess Who, The: "No Time" - Burton Cummings was one of the best two or three singers in the history of rock 'n' roll, and the level of musicianship was generally high in the group, but I find now that "No Time" is the only Guess Who song I can listen to with some frequency. I love that distorted tone Randy Bachman got in the song's guitar hook -- I was actually able to reproduce it one time using a Squier Stratocaster and a small Peavey practice amp, but then I forgot how.
Hall and Oates: "She's Gone" - No doubts about this one. I've always loved this song and the nostalgia it makes me feel for days gone by. It exemplifies a style of music that I used to refer to as "space music," probably due to its ambience and the fact that the sound depends at least as much on what isn't being played as what is.
Heart: "Love Alive" - I used to like Heart a lot more than I do these days, probably because I now associate their music mentally with several unfortunate aspects of going through high school and college. However, I still like the Wilson sisters' playing and singing on "Love Alive." (Heart is one of the few groups I saw in concert in their heyday, when they played the old Albuquerque Civic Auditorium in the summer of 1978.)
Hendrix, Jimi: "Love or Confusion" - I wasn't even aware of this tune before I purchased a DVD of Eric Johnson's 1988 Austin City Limits concert, in which he did a great cover version. However, Johnson made me want to go revisit some of Hendrix's lesser-known recordings, and now I think "Love or Confusion" is Hendrix's best -- it's almost certainly the best vocal performance he left on tape.
Herman's Hermits: "Can't You Hear My Heart Beat?" - I have to go way back for this one, but my brother Kelly once owned HH's On Tour album, and this was the best song on it.
Hollies, The: "On a Carousel" - I remember having this song on vinyl around our house, and the fact that it brings back good childhood memories makes it my favorite. (I also like "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress," which now reminds me of a mobile arcade that once set up shop in my area when I was a missionary in San Fernando, Chile. The arcade owner blasted music over tinny PA speakers -- I'm sure the neighbors just loved it -- and "Long Cool Woman" was apparently one of only about four or five records that he had.)
Holly, Buddy: "Not Fade Away" - I can't make myself listen to much of Buddy Holly's work, although I can see how it helped pioneer the rock 'n' roll that came later. "Not Fade Away," however, has that odd sort of syncopation, which makes it rhythmically interesting, at least.
Human League, The: "Mirror Man" - The Human League now sounds like a typically execrable 80s New Wave band, but "Mirror Man" still stands out as one of the better tunes of the era.