Idolator: Chuck Berry

For Some Reason I Can Think Of No Kinks-Related Pun

Lucas Jensen — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST

Here is some more good news: The Kinks are getting this reunion thing into full swing, starting with a new album. Dave Davies is doing better after his stroke, and the band's taking it nice and slow. Quoth Ray Davies: "It depends if there's good music. We want good new music. I'd like to do it as a more collaborative thing than we used to do." Hmm. Cool, I guess. I admire the pragmatism, but let's stick to your 60s/early 70s definition of "good music" because the rest of the Kinks' oeuvre? Problematic. And, no, I will not seriously entertain any arguments about the 80s output being overlooked or misunderstood. This is the band that wrote "Big Sky" and "Waterloo Sunset" and "I Need You". They could have done so much better.

Regardless, a new Kinks album and a tour? I'll bite.

At the bottom of this BBC article (I'm all kissy-face with them today!), Ray Davies talks about a collaborative album wherein he will pair up, Duets-style, with such luminaries as Snow Patrol (the whole band?), and the guy from Razorlight, which is exciting news to just about nobody who isn't located in the UK. He does say he wants to recruit Chuck Berry:

I've never met the man but he was one of my heroes as a lyricist," he said. We'll see how it works out - a mixture of Snow Patrol and Chuck Berry. It should be an interesting record."

More of that, please! Let's keep the guys from the Razorlights of the world out of it.

The Kinks start work on comeback [BBC]

Let's Find John McCain A Theme Song

Anthony Miccio — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT

He's tried John Cougar Mellencamp. He's tried Chuck Berry. He's even tried ABBA (sez McCain: ""Nobody likes them, but they sold more records than anybody in the history of the world, including The Beatles. But everybody hates them. You're a no-class guy if you like ABBA. Why does everybody go see 'Mamma Mia?' Hypocrisy! Rank hypocrisy! I'm not embarassed to say I like ABBA, 'Dancing Queen.'") But nobody seems to want John McCain using their music as his campaign theme. What, doesn't one of those Hillary Clinton fans who swear they'd rather vote Republican than for Obama own a worthwhile copyright?

The McCain camp is having trouble settling on a suitable campaign anthem. After searching for months, it finally picked "Johnny B Goode" - Chuck Berry's rock 'n' roll classic from 1958. The high-power guitar licks and "Go, Johnny, go" chorus put a spring in Mr McCain's step. When asked why he chose it, he quipped: "It might be because it is the only one [the artist] hasn't complained about us using."

Berry, 81, may not have complained about his song being appropriated by Mr McCain, but he has made it clear he would prefer Barack Obama in the White House. "America has finally come to this point where you can pick a man of colour and that not be a drawback," Berry said. "It's no question, myself being a man of colour. I mean, you have to feel good about it."

...There was a groan at McCain headquarters as it suffered yet another musical derailment. An attempt to use Abba's "Take A Chance On Me" also bombed. "We played it a couple times and it's my understanding [Abba] went berserk," Mr McCain said.

Maybe John doesn't realize that angry Farm Aid supporters, old black men and Swedes aren't really the kind of artists he should be attempting to gain musical support from right now. Why not use that legendary anthem of ass-kickin' foreign policy, Toby Keith's "Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue?"

If he's tired of Obama calling him out as a carbon copy of our current president, why not mock the concept with AC/DC's "Beating Around The Bush?"

And if he wants to embrace the comparison, why not take advantage of John Ashcroft's "Let The Eagle Soar?"

But if you really want to show your core voter base that you mean business, thinki about commissioning some original material from the Nuge.

I'd sugest he name the track "FREEEDDDOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM" but you don't want to worry about any lawsuits from George Michael or Rage Against The Machine.

Take A Chance On Him [YouTube]
John McCain: ABBA Fan?? [ABC News]
No, Johnny, No: Chuck Berry joins chorus of musicians snubbing McCain's campaign [Independent]
Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue (The Angry American) [YouTube]
John Ashcroft [YouTube]
Beating Around The Bush - AC/DC [YouTube]
Ted Nugent Goes Off On Obama And Hillary! [YouTube]

Three Genuinely Terrible Songs From Three Genuinely Great Albums

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EDT

MSNBC has a piece about "terrible songs from great albums." Immediately, we decided it was bullshit. "Long And Winding Road" sucks, sure, but is Let It Be a classic album? Isn't it frequently considered the Beatles' worst? Even though Maura wasn't like "'My World' isn't terrible" in my IM window , who thinks Use Your Illusion II is the GNR album to grab? (I wouldn't know, I don't buy albums with "Estranged" on them.) "Endless, Nameless" wasn't even on my cassette copy of Nevermind, and plenty of people love it. Calling just one song on Synchronicity embarrassing seems like a cheat, and I think "EXP" is cute as hell. So here are a few truly disgusting tracks from otherwise excellent albums.

• "Ken Kaniff (skit)" from Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP
If I'm in a sympathetic mood, I can look past ridiculous statements like "But it's cool for Tom Green to hump a dead moose!" and "radio won't even play my jams!" and see Eminem's second album as an engaging piece of crude meta, even if I find his debut funnier and less emo. But one track that sure wasn't going to be mentioned in that VH1 Classic Albums episode was the skit that went "Oh Violent J, don't bite it! Don't be violent with it, just suck it...nice and slow. Uhhhh! Oh, fuck yeah, now give it back to Shaggy, he was suckin' it better..." "Ken Kaniff (skit)" didn't even succeed in reducing the amount of Juggalos in America, proving its worthlessness.

• "My Ding-A-Ling" from Any Chuck Berry Compilation With "My Ding-A-Ling" On It
1972 was the worst year in the history of rock and roll, as it's the only year in which Chuck Berry had a No. 1 hit with "My Ding-A-Ling." I have yet to hear an explanation of how this happened that doesn't make me want to take a humongous shit on America's head. If it wasn't his only No. 1 hit, it wouldn't be stuck on his otherwise sterling retrospectives. Is there anyone who only wants a Chuck Berry comp if it has "My Ding-A-Ling" on it? There are so many things that Americans aren't told about our history. Why isn't this one of them?

• "No Quarter" from Led Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy
I have reason to believe that this song was only included because Led Zeppelin was worried that music fans would start to expect too much from them if they made both the first and second best albums of all time. Also, the portion of their audience made up of drugged-out idiots with no taste who like their sludge interminable and unfettered by hooks might feel alienated by the otherwise beautiful LP.

Terrible songs from great albums [MSNBC]