Twisted, Sister

How do people even come up with this stuff?  Rolling Stone did a reader’s poll on 10 Artists Who Should Return As Holograms.

The poll was taken after Snoop Dogg had a hologram of Tupac Shakur during a concert, or something.  So, the morbid question is “Hey kids!  What dead people do you want to see on stage?  Cool!  Fun!  Woot!” 

And the list is: Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Jim Morrison, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, Bob Marley, Notorious B.I.G..

Hey kids!  Anybody not guess who would be on the list?  OK, I guessed Keith Moon instead of Notorious.  Drummers never did get enough respect.

More than a little sick, and absolutely pointless.

Oh, and apparently there is some ongoing tour out there featuring an Elvis hologram.  Talk about the heebie-jeebies!

I liked it better when they just sold those Elvis-on-black-velvet paintings at corner gas stations.  When it comes to cheese, I’ll take low tech.

Talking About My Generation

I have always been a Who fan.  I respect Pete Townshend as a guitarist and as a composer.  They are terrific performers.

I was pleased, therefore, to see (Half) The Who at the Closing Ceremonies for the Olympics.  The show was meant to showcase the best of British music, and The Who definitely belonged there.

And it was cool - until they went into My Generation.  Daltrey is 68.  Townshend is 67.  I hope I die before I get old?  Moon and Entwhistle did die!

They had so many great songs.  It didn't have to be My Generation.

The things they do look awful cold.

Bonzo Reprise

Gibson just published The Top 10 Rock Drummers. Lots of similarities to the Rolling Stone list published a while back. Here's the list:

 1. John Bonham - also #1 in Rolling Stone

 2. Neil Peart - #3 in Rolling Stone
 3. Keith Moon - #2 in Rolling Stone. Not a lot of variety here, is there?
 4. Dave Grohl - also #4 in Rolling Stone. See what I mean?
 5. Lars Ulrich - not in Rolling Stone. Ah, some change!
 6. Mike Portnoy - also not in Rolling Stone. OK maybe it's worth having a new list.
 7. Ginger Baker - sigh. Better than Rolling Stone's #9, but still not good enough.
 8. Josh Freese - not in Rolling Stone. A pattern of slightly more current drummers perhaps?
 9. Stewart Copeland - #7 in Rolling Stone
10. Ringo. Still nice to see him included, but I liked Rolling Stone's #5 better.

I agree with Gibson's statements that a good drummer is the backbone to the band, and that he/she also keeps the listener engaged. The best drummers find ways to do that without interfering with the song - not an easy thing to do.

The Bonzo List

Well, I've found another list, the Rolling Stone Best Drummers Of All Time list.

Pretty good, and I guess predictable. Here it is:

1. John Bonham. Not a surprise. Page's riff's defined the songs, but Bonham held them together.
2. Keith Moon. Not a surprise, though I've always thought Moon was more famous for being nuts than for his drumming.
3. Neil Peart. Well, he wins on the size of his kit anyway.
4. Dave Grohl. Had to look him up to learn that he drummed for Nirvana and Foo Fighters.  Showing my age, I guess, but two great bands.
5. Ringo. Nice surprise. Just by association, he deserves be there. And for being Ringo.  And for figuring out drum parts for, say, Maxwell's Silver Hammer.  See? There is justice.
6. Buddy Rich. I suppose.
7. Stewart Copeland. Well, he helped changed the beat, and The Police were huge, so sure.
8. ?uestlove. ???
9. Ginger Baker. No. Much, much higher. Anyone who can solo over top of Clapton and Bruce (x2, since he sang and played bass solos at the same time) and still keep the song together is #1 or 2.
10. Michael Shrieve. OK, so he played one of the most famous drum solos of all time. So did Gene Krupa. Where's he?

Speaking of ... where is Ian Paice? Mitch Mitchell? Clive Bunker?

Anyway, it's all good. Most music, especially rock, is all about the beat. All decent drummers are worth their weight in gold.

10 Greatest Dead Rock Stars

I gotta stop reading Rolling Stone.  This Top 10 Greatest Dead Rock Stars list is kinda morbid.

It's also utterly predictable.  Like, you would have come up with the same list - and the same sequence.  It would have been, dare I say it, dead easy.

Sorry.

Here's the list:
 1. John Lennon
 2. Jimi Hendrix
 3. Kurt Cobain
 4. Jim Morrison
 5. Elvis
 6. Freddie Mercury
 7. Janis Joplin
 8. George Harrsion
 9. John Bonham
10. Keith Moon

It would be interesting to see who numbers 11, 12 and 13 were.  25 years ago Buddy Holly would have made the list, as would Duanne Allman (not sure who else).  It's not surprising that Kurt Cobain, Freddie and George pushed them off the list.  But it does beg the question:  who on this list could be pushed off?  At this point, some of them are almost more famous for being dead than for being rock stars.

Better stop.  This is definitely morbid.