Stephen Tow's Blog, page 9

Second Class: Seattle Grunge Rock, 9/4/12

Today we rewound (rewinded?) back to the ’70s, as we focused on the inception of punk rock.  We actually began with pre-punk stuff like Iggy and glammy rock and then ventured into the Ramones.  And here’s what they listened to:

The Stooges, “Down On the Street;” David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust;” Mott the Hoople, “All the Young Dudes;” the Ramones, “I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement.”

Nathan was in charge of leading this part of the discussion, and he asked people to compare these songs to last week’s “grunge” selections of Nirvana, Soundgarden, et. al.  I got the sense that the students preferred this pre-punk/glam/punk stuff to the grunge material, in essence because they could understand some of the lyrics, and–in the case of the Bowie tune–that they can in fact tell a story. They liked the danceable pop sound of the Ramones. One student compared Iggy to the grunge aesthetic, which was spot on.

Following a discussion of early punk rock, and watching a clip from the Ramones documentary, End of the Century,* we talked about early punk rock and the Ramones’ influence thereupon…leading into Seattle in the mid-’70s.  Shanae handled the discussion of the reading, focusing on the first chapter of my book, “End of the Road.”  Students seemed to identify with the rebellious nature of Seattle’s glam turned punk scene, and mentioned a couple of confrontational incidents in the book: the early postering war between different punk factions, members of the Fartz tossing rotten vegetables at the Fags during the latter band’s show, and the notorious Blackouts “pigs blood” gig.

Finally, it was time for the highlight, an exchange with Rob Morgan of the Pudz and Squirrels, live from Seattle via Facebook video chat (I don’t think I’m using that medium again if I can help it…the picture was way out of sync with the audio and it locked up several times…we’ll try straight Skype the next time.)

In preparation for our chat, I had the students listen to two Rob Morgan tunes: the Pudz’ “Take Me To Your (Leader)” and the Squirrels’ “Hawaii Take 5-0,” the latter song combining Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” with the Hawaii Five-0 theme song.  “Leader” had its intended effect…the students found themselves singing “Take me to your leader-leader-leader. Take me to your scene-scene-scene” the rest of the day after first hearing it. (Score one for ya, Rob.)  They also liked the brass instruments in the Squirrels selection, and Nathan mentioned the sudden unexpected changes that occur as it transitions between the two songs.

Hannah got the privlege of interviewing Rob.  She asked him about his influences, particularly the Tubes.  Upon hearing that band, Rob lit up about how influential they are to him, even more in some ways than the Bowies and Alice Coopers of the world. Rob talked about how the Tubes would put on an incredible visual production, while maintaining a high level of musicianship…certainly an aesthetic that can apply to the Squirrels.

Hannah also spent some time asking Rob about the Squirrels, a band that featured mashups of a number of songs, like Black Sabbath’s “Black Sabbath” and the traditional “Silent Night,” for example.  ”Seems ridiculous, doesn’t it?” long-time Squirrels fan Ned Raggett told me in a 2010 interview.  “You wouldn’t think of it until you saw it.  Then you’re like, ‘Of course!’”

Rob–and this comment had a marked effect upon the class–mentioned how the Squirrels often just made up their song mashups on the spot during rehearsals, and didn’t use setlists.

Then Hannah asked Mr. Morgan about the world famous Baby Cheevers, the Cabbage Patch Kid turned Squirrels prop.  Rob held up Cheevers in front of the camera and recounted the story where the doll made his first appearance at a 1991 show in Vancouver, BC.  He discussed how some fans would get really drunk and try to tear Cheevers away from him. Then, he tossed the doll over his shoulder, and said, “Next question.”

Thanks again, Rob, for doing this for us.  We all had a great time.

Next week, we’ll chat about the early ’80s hardcore punk movement.

(Rob Morgan talks to my Delaware Valley College students from Seattle. David Bowie sits to his left, Donald Duck to his right.)

* – if you have any interest in the Ramones or early punk rock, make sure to check out this excellent film.

Student Presentations: Seattle Grunge Rock Class

Here’s the assignment:

Presentation (30% of grade)

You will individually prepare and present on a music scene not covered in either my book or Michael Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life.  You may pick a scene from any point in time, but you must email me as soon as possible for my approval.  If a scene is chosen more than once, the first emailer will get it.  I will notify the other student to make another selection.

Your presentation will be 5 – 10 minutes in length.  You will describe the scene, in terms of its bands, musical styles, and culture, and will cover significant bands and influences to other bands that came out of that city.  You may use whatever presentation media/approaches you’d like including actively engaging discussion, power point, Youtube, whatever…bring in your guitar and play if you want to—just make it compelling.

Here are the chosen scenes so far:

London

Blues/rock 1960s; Punk 1970s

Liverpool

1950s/early 1960s…some popular band came from there…I’ve heard

San Francisco

Psych 1960s

Providence, RI

Alt rock

Chicago

Blues 1940s/1950s

Los Angeles

Female bands, 1970s; Hair metal, 1970s/1980s

Orange County, CA

Ska 1990s

Nashville

Country 1950s/1980s

Japan

Visual Kei

Chicago/Milwaukee

Emo/hardcore 1990s

New York City

Jazz 1920s

Detroit

Motown, 1960s/1970s

Seattle Grunge Rock Class Agenda, 9/4/12

Tuesday, September 4

Topic: Creating a punk rock scene out of thin air.

Special guest: The Squirrels’ Rob Morgan, via Facebook video chat.

Text Readings: Tow chapter 1, Addendum to chapter 2: “Pop Lust for Life: Rob Morgan and the Squirrels.”

Music: The Stooges: “Down on the Street;” David Bowie: “Ziggy Stardust;” Mott the Hoople: “All the Young Dudes;” The Ramones: “I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Basement;” The Pudz: “Take Me to Your (Leader); The Squirrels: “Hawaii Take 5-0.”  Feel free to listen to anything from the following records: The Stooges’ Funhouse and Raw Power; David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane; the Ramones’ Ramones and Rocket to Russia.

Blog Readings: “Interviewing the Squirrels’ Rob Morgan” (http://thestrangesttribebook.wordpress.com/2011/09/17/interviewing-the-squirrels-rob-morgan/)

Guest Speaker Rob Morgan

Rob is a Seattle institution, having helped create the city’s punk scene back in the ’70s.  For a quarter century, he fronted the Squirrels, a comedy rock mash-up act.  Grunge producer Jack Endino referred to Rob’s group as Seattle’s best band.  Rob may also be the funniest human being on the planet.

(Rob [in red] fronts the Squirrels for a packed house at the Sunset in Seattle, April 28, 2012)

First Class: Seattle Grunge Rock, 8/28/12

Wonderful first class. We ended up with 18 students, and they contributed heartily to today’s “grunge phenomenon” topic.  First, I asked them to take the “Which Seattle Band Are You?” quiz at http://www.gotoquiz.com/which_seattle_band_are_you and the results are…brrrrrrr (that’s a drum roll):

Pearl Jam: 11

Skin Yard: 2 (and that includes me)

Nirvana, Young Fresh Fellows, Fastbacks, Squirrels, U-Men, Soundgarden: all had one vote apiece

I spent the first part of the class discussing my journey into Seattle-dom, from my boredom with late ’70s mainstream rock in high school, to my hatred of the ’80s MTV era (when I discovered the ’60s), to when Seattle went mainstream in the early ’90s. We talked about motivations, communication, and class structures relating to music scenes in general.  Finally, I gauged the students’ reactions to this week’s assigned music:

Nirvana: “Blew,” “Lithium,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”

The students recognized the evolution of this band from the noise-rock of Bleach to the more melodic and pop-oriented Nevermind.  They mentioned how they could actually understand the lyrics to “Lithium” versus the unintelligible rants of “Blew.”  They all enjoyed the Weird Al “Smells Like Nirvana” parody, which I asked them to watch after viewing the “Teen Spirit” video.

Pearl Jam: “Alive,” “Black.”

The general reaction to Pearl Jam was that they sounded more mainstream and polished than Nirvana…the latter band referred to as “raw” and “garage.”

Soundgarden: “Hunted Down,” “Outshined,” “Black Hole Sun.”

Someone mentioned how “Hunted Down” sounded similar to “Blew,” and I had to make a crack about both songs having the same producer.  The students recognized how this band became more polished over time.

Alice in Chains: “Them Bones,” “Brother.”

Reaction was similar to Pearl Jam.  I had to point out Ann Wilson’s guest vocal on “Brother.”

I also asked them to listen to Mudhoney’s “Fuzzgun ’91,” Screaming Trees’ “Nearly Lost You,” and Love Battery’s “Foot.”  They seemed to enjoy these lesser-known bands, commenting on the brevity of the Mudhoney selection.

Next week, we’ll turn the clock back to the mid-’70s, at the dawn of punk rock….and we will have a guest speaker, live from Seattle via Skype: Mr. Rob Morgan! More on him and the rest of next week’s class soon! (Rob is shown seated below during a Squirrels practice last April.)

Seattle Grunge Rock Class agenda, Tuesday, 8/28

Tuesday, August 28

Topic: Tracing backward from the “grunge phenomenon.”

Reading: Tow, Introduction; pages 223-229 (I’ll go over in class since you won’t have the book yet.)

Quiz: “Which Seattle Band Are You?” at http://www.gotoquiz.com/which_seattle_band_are_you

Musical Selections: Nirvana: “Blew,” “Lithium,” “Smells Like Teen Spirit; [Note: you should watch the Teen Spirit video, then immediately afterward check out Weird Al’s parody, “Smells Like Nirvana.”] Pearl Jam: “Alive,” “Black;” Soundgarden: “Hunted Down,” “Outshined,” “Black Hole Sun;” Alice in Chains: “Them Bones,” “Brother;” Mudhoney: “Fuzzgun ’91;” Screaming Trees: “Nearly Lost You;” Love Battery: “Foot.” Feel free to listen to anything else from Nirvana’s Bleach or Nevermind; Soundgarden’s Screaming Life, Badmotorfinger,or Superunknown; Alice in Chains’ Dirt, Sap, or Jar of Flies.

Seattle Grunge Rock course, excerpt from syllabus

Course Syllabus: Seattle Grunge Rock

Delaware Valley College

(HR 2111, Section 201)

Fall 2012

Classroom: Mandell 216

Meeting Times: T, 1:40 – 2:55 pm

Instructor:  Stephen Tow
Phone:   123-456-78910 (cell)


E-mail:   stephen@stephentow.com
Office Hours: T/R, 12:15 – 1:30 pm (@ the Pub); and by appointment

Texts: Stephen Tow (no relation): The Strangest Tribe: How a Group of Seattle Rock Bands Invented Grunge; Michael Azerrad: Our Band Could Be Your Life.

Blog: thestrangesttribebook.wordpress.com.

On Blackboard: Seattle band charts (grunge and non-grunge) for your viewing pleasure.

Additional web readings: As directed by week.

Movies: (optional, for further background/exploration): hype! (about the Seattle music scene); TAD: Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears (about the seminal grunge band TAD); Pearl Jam Twenty (about PJ, of course, but it does delve a little into the scene that preceded them); Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story (about Andy Wood, Seattle’s lost rock star); I’m Now: The Story of Mudhoney (about Seattle’s quintessential grunge band, set for release online/DVD in early fall…I have yet to see this one); Singles (early ’90s romantic dramedy that uses grunge Seattle as a backdrop and features performances by Soundgarden and Alice in Chains; also stars three members of Pearl Jam); American Hardcore: The History of Punk Rock 1980 – 1986.

Course Description: This course focuses on rock music experimentation by examining the origins of the Seattle music scene. Students will also compare and contrast Seattle’s music community with other vital contemporary scenes including Boston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, New York, and Olympia, Washington.  The course will explore the complex dynamics that arise when music scenes become commercially viable.

Course Objective: After completing the course, students will have explored the nature of music scenes including motivations, communication, class structures, and the inevitable conflict between art and commerce.  (If nothing else, you’ll be able to tell your grandkids who played bass for Vexed in 1986.)

New Review

Along with Mark Yarm’s Everybody Loves Our Town.  As Mark has said, “Buy both books,” although I secretly call him a Bozo and he secretly calls me a hack. (Seriously, though, he’s a good dude who wrote a great book.)

http://www.raintaxi.com/online/2012summer/grunge.php

Seattle Bands I’ve Seen Live

(Yep, just stalling for time here until I find something more substantive to write about…)

-Mudhoney

-Green River

-The Baseball Project

-Valis

-Wellwater Conspiracy

-Built to Spill (Yeah, I know Doug’s from Idaho, but I’m counting them)

-The Squirrels

-The Fags

-The Spooges

-The Young Fresh Fellows

-Empire Vista

-Unnamed Leighton Beezer collective

-Love Battery

-BRAD

-The Fastbacks

-Thee Sgt. Major III

-Robert Roth

-Coffin Break

-Lamar

-Capping Day

-Down With People

-Walkabouts/Beezer jam session

-The Cops

Sub Pop 20 Casual Nostalgia Fest CD

A little while back,  I picked up the official CD of the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary show at, where else, Doylestown PA’s Siren Records.  The festival was held on July 12 and 13, 2008 at Marymoor Park in Redmond, Washington.  I showed up the second afternoon to see the Green River reunion, as I’ve mentioned earlier in this blog.  So, it was pretty cool to finally listen to a representation of the bands as I drove to work yesterday (but why no No Age?).

So, with that, here are my fave cuts:

1) Green River, “Leech.” Just hearing Mark Arm’s “Willie Dixon of grunge” comment makes this a worthwhile listen.  I was in the crowd when Mark made that statement, and I’m thinking about 10% of the audience got the joke, and I was one of them.  This song is absolutely 100% pure grunge.  How do I know? Give it a listen and see.

2) Beachwood Sparks, “You Take the Gold.” Country? No way, couldn’t be.  Sounds great, though.

3) Blitzen Trapper, “Furr.” Wait, country again? Folk?  Are you nuts? Yeah, and it again sounds great.

4) Flight of the Conchords, “Carol Brown.” These guys are fucking funny.  I saw them on some TV show before I even knew about their association with Sub Pop.

5) Iron and Wine, “Woman King.”  I like this dude.  Has a nice acoustic guitar riff going here.

6) Seaweed, “Baggage.” Grunge lite, I know, but what a great fucking song.

7) Kinski, “The Wives of Artie Shaw.”  Wonderful instrumental that rocks.

8) Grand Archives, “Dig That Crazy Grave.”  This song’s story-telling, folky feel reminds me a little of the Walkabouts.

(Green River…I figured I’d pick a shot where Bruce isn’t cut off…from left: Bruce Fairweather (Love Battery); Jeff Ament (Pearl Jam); Mark Arm (Mudhoney); Alex Shumway (Spluii Numa); Not pictured: Stone Gossard (PJ); Steve Turner (Mudhoney.)

Appreciating the Underappreciated

This fall, as part of my honors seminar based around my book (called Seattle Grunge Rock) at Delaware Valley College, we will be spending some time on the following non-obvious Northwest artists:

The Young Fresh Fellows
The U-Men
Amy Denio
Jack Endino
Red Dress
The Walkabouts
The Fastbacks
The Squirrels
Crypt Kicker 5

We will of course cover the usual suspects, but I thought these folks deserved some special consideration.  That’s all for now, and I don’t mean that in a Phil Collins kind of way.