Should the coronavirus pandemic mark the end of the American handshake? Lamont and Tonelli’s resident physician, Dr. Smeltzer is here to answer that question.
LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 13, 2020…47 YEARS AGO DAVID BOWIE RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘ALADDIN SANE’. BOWIE HIMSELF DESCRIBED THE RECORD AS “ZIGGY IN AMERICA”, PARTLY INSPIRED BY THE FACT THAT MANY OF THE SONGS WERE WRITTEN WHILE HE WAS TOURING THE U.S. THE ACTUAL TITLE IS A PUN ON “A LAD INSANE.” BOWIE’S PREVIOUS ALBUM INTRODUCED THE ZIGGY STARDUST CHARACTER, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT HE WAS A LITTLE CRAZY. AN EARLY VARIATION WAS “LOVE ALADDIN VEIN”, WHICH BOWIE DROPPED BECAUSE OF DRUG CONNOTATIONS. BOWIE HIMSELF TOLD PEOPLE THAT THE “LAD INSANE” OF THE ALBUM’S TITLE TRACK WAS ACTUALLY HIS BROTHER TERRY, WHO HAD BEEN DIAGNOSED AS A SCHIZOPHRENIC. ‘ALADDIN SANE’ ALBUM COVER ALSO BOASTED ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC IMAGES OF DAVID BOWIE. BOWIE CAME UP WITH THE LIGHTENING BOLT IDEA, SAYING IT REPRESENTED THE WAY HE FELT HE WAS BEING PULLED IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS, AND A PERFECT VISUAL COMPLEMENT TO THE ALBUM’S TITLE PUN. THE ALBUM ITSELF HAS SOLD AN ESTIMATED 5 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE, MAKING IT ONE OF BOWIE’S HIGHEST SELLING ALBUMS. HERE’S A RECENTLY FOUND OF BOWIE FROM 1973 PERFORMING A SUPERB TRACK FROM THE ALBUM ‘THE JEAN GENIE’
LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 14, 2020…ON THIS DATE 46 YEARS AGO THE CONCERT FILM ‘LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: THE ROLLING STONES’ PREMIERED FOR INVITED GUESTS AT THE ZIEGFELD THEATRE IN NEW YORK CITY. THE MOVIE OPENED UP THE NEXT DAY AT THE ZIEGFELD TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
THE FILM IS REALLY AN AMAZING PIECE OF WORK. IT’S A CONCERT FILM TAKEN FROM 2 STONES SHOWS DURING THEIR 1972 NORTH AMERICAN TOUR IN SUPPORT OF THE ALBUM ‘EXILE ON MAINSTREET.’
THE CONCERTS WERE RECORDED IN 32 TRACKS AND LATER MIXED IN THE STUDIO IN ENGLAND. IN THE INITIAL RUN OF THE MOVIE IN AMERICA, THE MOVIE FEATURED “QUADRASOUND”. NOW GET THIS, QUADRASOUND FED RIGHT AND LEFT SCREEN SPEAKERS AND RIGHT AND LEFT SPLIT SURROUND SPEAKERS. THE OBJECTIVE WAS TO TRANSFORM EVERY THEATRE SHOWING THE MOVIE FROM A 650 SEAT ROOM INTO A 10,000 SEAT ARENA. BEFORE THE MOVIE EVEN STARTED, THE THEATRE PUMPED QUADRAPHONIC CROWD AMBIENT NOISE INTO THE ROOM TO FOOL THEATRE GOERS INTO THINKING THE SOUND WAS COMING FROM THEIR OWN VENUE, INTENSIFYING THE EXPERIENCE WHEN THE STONES PLAYED. GET THESE REQUIREMENTS:
“The Quadraphonic presentation of Ladies and Gentlemen… required a 44 JBL driver sound system (four systems were built and used by Dragonaire in its road show performances of the film). Each sound system was capable of generating 3300 Watts RMS, and was transported to each venue in a 14 ft. bed truck. Played at 100 dbA in evening and midnight performances, the sound track had to be mixed by a sound engineer based on the number of people in the audience in order to achieve optimal clarity. Sound engineers accompanied the road show presentations.
The film was played in limited roadshow engagements during which advertising was stopped (want ads were used after the first two markets) because the word of mouth for the film increased attendance every day throughout the run. Limited engagements were conducted in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles before the picture was sold to Plitt Theatres which released the film in a “flat” screen monaural version.”
HERE’S THE BEGINNING OF THE CONCERT FROM THE MOVIE
LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 13, 2020… HEY IT WAS 20 YEARS AGO TODAY THAT METALLICA FILED A LAWSUIT AGAINST NAPSTER, YALE, USC, AND INDIANA UNIVERSITY FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT. I USED TO LOVE NAPSTER, BUT I GET IT, BECAUSE MUSICIANS GOTTA GET PAID !! METALLICA WAS THE FIRST OF MANY HIGH PROFILE ARTISTS AND RECORD COMPANIES THAT ENDED UP SUING NAPSTER. TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA HOW POPULAR NAPSTER AND PREVALENT WAS, AT ITS PEAK NAPSTER FACILITATED NEARLY 2 BILLION FILE TRANSFERS PER MONTH, AND HAD AN ESTIMATED NET-WORTH BETWEEN 60-80 MILLION DOLLARS. NAPSTER EVENTUALLY WAS FORCED TO FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY.
HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR ‘NOTHING ELSE MATTERS’
LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 13, 2020…HAPPY FORTY EIGHTH IRTHDAY TO AARON LEWIS, LEAD VOCALIST, RHYTHM GUITARIST AND FOUNDING MEMBER OF STAIND. DAMN THIS GUY CAN SING. IN 2001 STAIND BROKE WITH THE ALBUM ‘BREAK THE CYCLE’ ONE OF THE BIGGEST SELLING ALBUMS OF THE YEAR. ‘BREAK THE CYCLE’ ENDED UP SELLING OVER 7 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE, AND SPAWNING 4 HIT SINGLES. HERE’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS ‘IT’S BEEN AWHILE’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AARON LEWIS
LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 12, 2020…THIRTY SIX YEARS AGO RUSH GAVE US THEIR 10TH STUDIO ALBUM ‘GRACE UNDER PRESSURE.’ THE ONE THING I’VE NOTICED WITH ANY RUSH ALBUM, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A BAD RUSH ALBUM ! A FRIEND OF MIND SAID “RUSH ALBUMS ARE SIMPLY DIFFERENT DEGREES OF INSPIRED GENIUS.” THIS IS FROM THE RUSH WEBSITE ON THE STORY BEHIND ‘GRACE UNDER PRESSURE’: It was recorded at Le Studio, like so many other Rush albums. Rush originally approached producer Steve Lillywhite to record Grace Under Pressure, but he went on to work on other projects. The band produced the album themselves, with assistance from Peter Henderson, who had previously worked with Supertramp, Split Enz, Frank Zappa, and King Crimson.
Largely considered one of the band’s darkest albums, Grace Under Pressure was influenced by the growing tensions in the Cold War in the 1980s. The album’s running theme is “pressure” and how humans act under the influence of it. Despite the dark themes of the record, the band balances out influences from a lot of directions, including reggae and a harder feel of the classic hard rock sound. The writing and rehearsing of the album went quickly, but the recording took a long time. Alex recalled: “…once we got into the studio, things just took a long time. You can’t really help it sometimes, no matter how hard you work or how fast you work; there are certain things about recording that just take a long time.”
HERE’S AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT RUSH. THE BAND IS THIRD BEHIND THE ROLLING STONES AND THE BEATLES FOR THE MOST CONSECUTIVE GOLD OR PLATINUM ALBUMS BY A ROCK BAND. HERE’S RUSH PERFORMING ‘EARLY DISTANT WARNING’
LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 12, 2020…IT WAS ON THIS DATE IN 1982 JOHN MELLENCAMP RELEASED AN ALBUM THAT WAS A CAREER CHANGER, ‘AMERICAN FOOL’. IT WAS HIS FIFTH STUDIO ALBUM, AND IT WAS RELEASED UNDER HIS STAGE NAME “JOHN COUGAR”. IT HELD THE NUMBER ONE SPOT ON BILLBOARD’S TOP ALBUM CHART FOR 9 WEEKS AND WAS THE BEST SELLING ALBUM OF 1982. ACCORDING TO THE RECORD’S PRODUCER DON GEHMAN, THE BAND WAS METICULOUS IN THE STUDIO WHEN THEY WERE MAKING ‘AMERICAN FOOL’ BUT THE RECORD COMPANY WASN’T HAPPY. THEY HAD DIFFERENT IDEAS ON WHAT JOHN COUGAR SHOULD SOUND LIKE: “We had a record company that was hoping we were making a Neil Diamond‑type album, and after we spent two or three months in the studio recording these songs and mixing them to the best of our ability, I can remember an A&R guy in a pink shirt coming in to listen to them and basically thinking we had nothing. At that point, they put a stop to the project. We had ‘Jack & Diane,’ we had ‘Hand to Hold on To,’ we had ‘Weakest Moments’ – we had some good songs – and while I don’t know the precise nature of the discussions that took place, Riva went from wanting to get a new producer to not even wanting John on the label anymore. Finally, they came around to letting us finish it but wanting to hear the new songs we were going to cut.”
ACCORDING TO MELLENCAMP: “The record company thought it would bomb,but I think the reason it took off was – not that the songs were better than my others – but people liked the sound of it, the ‘bam‑bam‑bam’ drums. It was a different sound.”
‘AMERICAN FOOL’ REMAINS MELLENCAMP’S ONLY NUMBER ONE ALBUM, AND HIS BEST SELLING ALBUM. IT WENT ON TO SELL OVER 6 MILLION COPIES.
HERE’S ‘JACK AND DIANE’
LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 12, 2020…ON APRIL 12,1976 BOB SEGER RELEASED THE EPIC ALBUM ‘LIVE’ BULLET. IT WAS AN ALBUM THAT CAPTURED THE MAGIC OF SEGER AND THE SILVER BULLET BAND IN CONCERT PLAYING IN FRONT OF HOME FANS IN DETROIT. ACCORDING TO BOB SEGER: “Our first headline shows ever in a large (twelve thousand seat) hall were the two shows at Detroit’s Cobo Arena, September 4th and 5th, 1975. I remember while I was singing this how nice it was to have such good on-stage monitors. I had never heard my voice so well while performing.”
‘LIVE’ BULLET WAS FAR AND AWAY SEGER’S BIGGEST SELLING ALBUM UP TO THAT POINT OF HIS CAREER, AND HELPED INTRODUCE HIM TO A NATIONAL AUDIENCE THAT WOULD EAGERLY EMBRACE HIM WITH THE RELEASE OF ‘NIGHT MOVES’ JUST 6 MONTHS LATER. AS LIVE ALBUMS GO, IT’S PRETTY MUCH DAMN UNTOUCHABLE. HERE’S ONE OF THE GREATEST ROAD SONGS EVER…SEGER AND A LIVE VERSION OF ‘TURN THE PAGE’.
LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 11, 2020…FORTY THREE YEARS AGO SUPERTRAMP RELEASED THEIR FIFTH ALBUM ‘EVEN IN THE QUIETEST MOMENTS.’ THE ALBUM ENJOYED TREMENDOUS COMMERCIAL SUCCESS, BREAKING THE TOP 20 BILLBOARD ALBUM CHARTS AT #16. THE RECORD WAS POWERED BY A HUGE SINGLE ‘GIVE A LITTLE BIT’ WHICH HIT #15 ON BILLBOARD’S TOP SINGLES CHART. THE ALBUM WAS RECORDED IN COLORADO AT CARIBOU RANCH STUDIOS. THE ALBUM COVER WAS ACTUALLY SHOT ON A MOUNTAINTOP AT A SKI AREA NEAR BY THE STUDIO. A GRAND PIANO WAS ACTUALLY SHIPPED TO A NEARBY SKI AREA, COVERED IN SNOW, AND THEN PHOTOGRAPHED. IT’S NOT PHOTOSHOPPED. THE SHEET MUSIC ON THE PIANO, ALTHOUGH TITLED ‘FOOL’S OVERTURE’, IS ACTUALLY ‘THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER’. HERE’S A VIDEO FROM 1983. IT’S SUPERTRAMP WITH ROGER HODGSON, PERFORMING IN GERMANY.
LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-APRIL 11, 2020…FORTY THREE YEARS AGO STEVE MILLER RELEASED THE SINGLE ‘JET AIRLINER’ FROM THE ALBUM ‘BOOK OF DREAMS.’ THE SONG WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN BY PAUL PENA, A BLIND FOLK SINGER WHO RECORDED THE SONG FOR HIS OWN ALBUM, BUT HIS RECORD COMPANY HELD UP THE RECORD FOR 27 YEARS!(IT WAS FINALLY RELEASED IN 2000). FOR MUCH OF PENA’S LIFE, THE ROYALTIES FROM MILLER’S VERSION WERE HIS ONLY INCOME. THE RADIO VERSION OF MILLER’S ‘JET AIRLINER’ WAS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE ALBUM VERSION. THE SINGLE VERSION WAS “FUNKY KICKS GOING DOWN IN THE CITY” AS OPPOSED TO “FUNKY SHIT GOING DOWN IN THE CITY.” JET AIRLINER WAS ONE OF A STRING OF HITS FOR MILLER THAT SAW STEVE RACK UP SALES OF MORE THAN 22 MILLION RECORDS FROM 1973-1978. HERE’S THE UNEDITED VERSION OF JET AIRLINER