So, what have you been listening to lately?

westen44 · February 16, 2022, 08:46:47 AM

This sentence is significant-

"By 1984, gay or effeminate front men weren't that outlandish. You had Freddie Mercury and Elton John, you had Rob Halford..."

When I saw that video in 1984, I was living in New Orleans. Although I'm not gay, I was certainly around other people who were. That continues to this day. I think even my boss was gay at that point in time. When I saw the video on TV, the gay issue didn't even cross my mind. What did cross my mind, though, is that that seemed to be pretty bad dancing in the video, if it can even be called dancing at all. Billy Squier is a good singer, but not a particularly good dancer. BTW, the director of that video should have been taken out and shot.

uwe · February 16, 2022, 12:24:37 PM

At any given time you would always have a healthy share of gays in showbiz and art - throughout all cultural ages. It's not a new thing at all.

I can see how the lead singer of, say, Molly Hatchet or Bob Seger outing themselves as gay would have affected the Hatchet/Seger fan base, but with "Dame Halford" - who pretended to be surprised if he had more than a fleeting knowledge of Priest's stage show and lyrics? And to me, Billy Squier wasn't an archtypical macho rock male, he was somewhere between power pop and hard rock, his music had crossover appeal right from the start (hence all those hits), he wasn't Ted Nugent or Manowar you know. Squier's type of genre really didn't pin him down that much (you would think), he could have been a ham-fisted male, gay as a goose or just androgynous - anything goes. And, apparently, he wasn't even gay, not that it should have mattered either way.

Ok, so you weren't supposed to dance in a rock video until Pat Benatar came along with Love is a Battlefield,

but that actually predated Squier's vid! I wonder whether the director was aiming for something like that, breaking down barriers between rock pop and dance pop (plus presenting him more as a handsome solo artist rather than a "one of the boys"-band member) which made sense with Squier's female constituency and the rising importance of MTV where you didn't want to be relegated to presenting rock bands always in a phony live setting. But of course, Pat was a woman and her choreography was put in the context of a story the video told while Billy skipping about was kind of unmotivated. (I tend to pee and then take a coffee first thing in the morning, dance routines come later.)

westen44 · February 16, 2022, 01:15:03 PM

Michael Stipe also has an awkwardness in his movements. But what worked for him didn't work for Billy Squier.

uwe · February 16, 2022, 03:50:17 PM

Yeah, R.E.M. always retained their counterculture, college campus image, a gay front man incessantly ruminating about where the world is going, did them no harm, it was part of their woke image. In contrast, Billy Squier was just another long-haired arena rocker "play yer guitar and entertain us[/i]".

I would have never believed I'd say or write this, but I do miss R.E.M. (and I hated that band initially). I really do. Time for a reunion please.

westen44 · February 16, 2022, 06:41:23 PM

I was never a fan, but they did have some good songs. Also, R.E.M. was definitely a unique band. Originality and authenticity matter, even if the music involved may not be one's preferred kind. But I doubt Michael Stipe will be doing much music again. He seems to have moved on to other things.

gearHed289 · February 18, 2022, 11:21:25 AM

I didn't have MTV in my home until I moved out of my mom's house in 1988, so I only ever saw it at friend's houses. I didn't see the Squire vid until YouTube came along years later. It was shocking and hilarious to me. I assumed they all had done too much blow, which is funny as he mentions people thinking they were on drugs. He had peaked at this point anyway, but it is unfortunate that he didn't really get to evolve into a more mature artist, as I believe he had the talent to do.

TBird1958 · February 20, 2022, 07:11:47 PM

I'm liking this a lot, one of my fave LZ songs covered by JPJ and a lot of other people.

uwe · February 20, 2022, 08:57:18 PM

Sehr schön. Love the performance of the Tedeschi-Trucks spouses.

Dave W · February 20, 2022, 09:41:47 PM

uwe · February 21, 2022, 05:35:35 PM

What a guitarist he was. Totally underrated.

TBird1958 · February 22, 2022, 08:21:22 AM

Quote from: uwe on February 21, 2022, 05:35:35 PM
What a guitarist he was. Totally underrated.

WoW! Damn cool!

Basvarken · February 22, 2022, 09:01:31 AM

Prince underrated? By who?
Most people that I know consider him a demigod.

uwe · February 22, 2022, 02:29:51 PM

He's underrated as a guitarist much as Zappa was underrated as a guitarist. The complete artist overshadowing the instrumentalist.

Basvarken · February 22, 2022, 03:11:58 PM

When Purple Rain reigned the charts Prince was hallowed as the new Jimi Hendrix by the music press. Even though he didn't like the comparison, it was obviously a huge compliment. The solo in Purple Rain solidified his name as a brilliant guitarist.

There is also this performance.

Now if you'd say he was an underrated Bass player, I would agree.

uwe · February 22, 2022, 07:22:33 PM

Was there an instrument he was not good at? Bagpipes perhaps?

My first Prince moment in time was listening to this in the early 80ies on the car radio in Florida, it was on rotation.

The breathy whispered and affected vocals, the overall catchiness of the tune, his citing of rock'n'roll licks, the image - I thought he was Marc Bolan resurrected - and in black, something the later Bolan always wanted to be as more and more black influences crept into his music.

Even Bolan's slapdash frenzied lead guitar playing bears similarities to Prince although Prince has way more technical expertise.