Can a Millennial Enjoy a Rolling Stones Concert?

Earlier this morning I spoke to my mom on the phone and she asked me to see if I would be able to get two Rolling Stones tickets when they come to Saint Louis. I told her that would be no problem, and I would be in contact as to the details after, hopefully, purchasing them. I naturally assumed she wanted the two tickets for her and my dad. They grew up with their music, and even though my dad prefers The Beatles, as do I, I figured he’d want this chance to see them live. This is a once in a lifetime shot for both of them, so why not go together?

Well, I was able to secure some general admission tickets for what I deemed a fair price. I called my mom immediately afterward to inform her. While talking to her on the phone, breaking down the whole process, the price, what they owed me, I told her I was happy that she and my dad were going to see The Rolling Stones. This was when I was hit with some wonderful, yet at the time, confusing news. After saying how happy I was for them, my mom informed me the tickets were for her and I. She also told me she thought I knew they were for us.

I had no idea.

I asked why my dad didn’t want to go, and my mom told me he had zero interest in seeing them live. She said she talked to my dad last night about taking me with her to the show, and he thought it was a great idea. I am still a little stunned, and very, very, very excited that I get a chance to see the god damn Rolling Stones live. I never thought I’d get to see them. Like my dad, I prefer The Beatles, but I also love The Rolling Stones as well. I’m young enough where I don’t feel like I have to pick one. I mean, I don’t think anyone should pick just one of those 2 bands anyway. They’re both excellent bands, and they’re different bands. They each provide a little something for almost everyone. Back to my surprise when my mom told me she was taking me. I kept asking if she were serious. My mom doesn’t joke like that, so I figured she was telling the truth, but still, the shock overtook me. After speaking to her for awhile, and thanking her seemingly too much, I started to let it sink in that I am going to see them live.

This is, without a doubt, the biggest, most successful and most famous band I will have ever seen live. In fact, I don’t think there will ever be another band in my lifetime that I will see that is as humongous as The Rolling Stones. This is a big, big deal. The dome they’re playing at here is going to be filled as well. I’ve been in bigger stadiums, The Big House for one, with more people, but that was for sporting events. Sporting events always pull big numbers. The fact that 10,000 plus people will be in one place to see one band, and I’ll be one of those people, is mind boggling to me. This is how famous this band is. My brother is the only other person I know who’s seen them live, and he said the show was amazing. Also, the fact that they’re still touring, and are still a prolifically good band, that’s just another feather in their cap. Also, the songs I’m going to hear, I have to imagine they usually play the big time hits now, is going to blow my mind. I’m stoked to hear “Beast of Burden”, “Brown Sugar”, “Gimme Shelter” and the like. It’s going to be absolutely amazing. To be honest, as I sit here writing this, I still don’t know if it’s fully hit me yet. This is one of the most famous bands ever. They have billions of fans. They don’t tour as often anymore. Yet, I get to see them in a short four months. I think that is when it will truly hit me. When I see Keith Richards and Mick Jagger walk on they stage, I think then, and only then will the enormity of this will truly hit me. I cannot thank my mom enough for inviting me to this show. I can’t thank my dad enough for saying she should take me. I also can’t thank my mom for willing to pay for this. She wants to see them as much as I do. There are shows I’ve seen that I have never forgotten. I saw Eddie Vedder perform solo. I’ve seen Run the Jewels multiple times. I’ve seen big time modern pop stars like Sam Smith and Lorde live. I went to too many Widespread Panic and Ben Harper shows. I’ve seen A Tribe Called Quest when Phife was still alive. None of those bands compare to The Rolling Stones. Maybe I enjoy them more, but they’re not The Rolling Stones.

I cannot wait, and I cannot wait to share the experience with my mom. I also cannot wait to write about the show afterwards. Again, this is a tremendously big deal, and I need to say one more humongous thank you to my mom. This wouldn’t be happening without her. She’s the coolest mom in the world. This is going to be great. I’m very excited.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Ty likes the Rolling Stones for the music, but he loves them more for their dedication to the preservation of historic buildings.

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The Greatest American Band Debate: Robert Johnson

For the greatest American band debate, I'm going to go off the board and nominate a solo artist. I know this is "against the rules" and it doesn't fit the title, but without this musician, modern rock and roll and modern blues wouldn't exist. Those are, arguably, the two most important genres of music. This person is also a personal musical idol of mine and it pains me that I've waited this long to put this person in the conversation. I know, people will tell me that this opens up a while new can or worms and makes solo artists viable for this discussion, but the person I'm going to talk about today is so groundbreaking, he deserves to be talked about more than any other American musician, in my personal opinion. I did a whole article on influential bands, but this guy deserves his own, separate piece. He is a blues god and, without him, I never would have even thought about picking up a guitar. The artist I'm talking about is Robert Johnson.

It does not get any better than Robert Johnson for me. He is a legendary figure in music. He is, at least to me, the greatest musician of all time. He even has a very cool, very crazy backstory. Anyone that knows blues music, and knows of Robert Johnson, has heard the story about him meeting the devil at the crossroads and selling his soul to be an excellent singer and guitar player. If he did truly do this, he got what he wanted for the large price of his soul. He is the greatest guitar player ever. Go back and listen to him play.

Some will say that it sounds simple and blues music is just three chords and 12 bars. Not true. The stuff he was doing, in the 20's mind you, was so far ahead of the game, it's astounding. He was so ahead of his time as a guitar player. Take a song like "Come on in My Kitchen". It is one of the first times anyone had heard this incredible 12 bar blues and that sliding sound he was playing on the guitar. It was so foreign to people back then and he was just getting started. Some of his songs, which he wrote, are some of the most famous songs in music history and have been covered thousands of times by hundreds of musicians and bands. "Sweet Home Chicago" is one of the most famous blues songs. Robert Johnson wrote that. "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom", the first song I learned on slide guitar and has been covered by some famous musician every decade since the 50's, Robert Johnson wrote that. "30-20" blues, the first blues song to break away from the traditional 12 bar blues, Robert Johnson wrote that. "They're Red Hot", the first blues/rag time type song, Robert Johnson wrote that. "Stop Breakin Down Blues", the first rock/blues song, Robert Johnson wrote that. "Phonograph Blues", one of the first songs about getting a phone call, Robert Johnson wrote that. "Rambling On My mind", one of the first country/blues songs, Robert Johnson wrote that. I mean, I could go on and on, but I feel like that is a great sample size of all the brilliant stuff that Robert Johnson created.

Robert Johnson is THE most influential artist of all time. Yeah, he was taught and brought into the music world by Son House, another one of my favorites and a legend, but Robert Johnson took what Son House taught him and rose it to a historic level. He made blues music that much better and that much more influential. And when Son House turned to religion, Robert Johnson stayed dark and continued to make excellent, groundbreaking music.

Let's take a look at some of the artists that have covered his stuff. and yes, not all of these bands are American, but the point is the influence Robert Johnson had on all music. Led Zepellin and the Rolling Stones have covered pretty much every song written by Robert Johnson and a lot of those songs are some of their biggest hits. "Traveling Riverside Blues", on the album "Led Zepellin: Live at the BBC" is one of their biggest and best songs. Jimmy Page does his best Robert Johnson impression and he crushes it. The Rolling Stones "Love in Vain" is a humongous hit for them and that wouldn't have been possible if not for Robert Johnson. Eric Clapton has covered a ton of Robert Johnson songs, hell, he made an entire album that is all Robert Johnson songs, but his best is "Sweet Home Chicago". Clapton shreds this song and he owes it all to Robert Johnson. A band I wrote about last week, The White Stripes, do an excellent cover of "Stop Breakin Down Blues". They make it a rock song, but they also pay homage to Johnson by keeping the lyrics the same. "I Believe I'll Dust My Broom" has been covered by everyone from Elmore James to The Red Shirt Freshman(my brothers loving name given to my "band").

Robert Johnson was taken far too young, at the tender age of 28. Some people say it was the devil coming to collect payment, others say he died from syphilis. While the syphilis is the more likely scenario, I like to believe the other version. He could have done so much more, but what he did was so earth shattering and so influential, he 100 percent belongs in this conversation. Without Robert Johnson, we would never have gotten some of the greatest songs and greatest bands of all time. Robert Johnson is the best musician to ever walk the face of the earth.

No doubt about it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. The head editor is going to send Ty a dictionary with and open to the page with the defination for the word band. Have you followed Ty on twitter? Get to it @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: The Ramones

For the greatest American band debate on Seed Sing, I'm going to nominate another band that I'm not really a fan of, but to be reputable, we have to acknowledge these bands that most of the music listening population recognizes as an all time great. The band I'm going to talk about today, I actually dislike almost as much as I dislike the Beach Boys. That band is The Ramones.

The Ramones are widely considered the founders of punk rock music, a genre of music I'm not that into, but I recognize how important and influential it is and has been. For my punk rock, I go to Iggy and the Stooges, who I will write about at another date, or more prog type punk rock like King Crimson or Mars Volta, I'll also be writing about Mars Volta at a later date. King Crimson is from England, so they don't make the cut in our debate. Those three bands, in my opinion, are way, way better than The Ramones, but they aren't recognized like The Ramones. The Ramones are credited with starting punk rock because every single one of their songs is a tight 2 minutes and they only play three chords and the lyrics are sung muffled. That, for all intents and purposes, is the definition of punk rock. When it comes to my personal definition, punk rock is anarchy and disestablishment and great, complicated guitar work, especially solos.

When it comes to front men, Iggy Pop is a much better punk rock singer than Joey Ramone. You can understand most of what Iggy Pop is saying and as far as on stage theatrics, there is no one that comes close to Iggy Pop, especially not Joey Ramone. But, Joey Ramone is widely looked at as the essential punk rock front man, much to my shock. He just kind of stood on stage and garbled his way through each song. People will call that punk rock, I say, he was hiding the fact that he was not that good of a singer and he had some form of stage fright.

Then, when you look at the musicians in King Crimson or Mars Volta, they are so much better and so much more proficient than Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone. Robert Fripp, of King Crimson, is ten thousand times the guitar player that Johnny Ramone ever wished he could be. And oh my god, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez is one of the greatest, most innovative and weirdest guitar players I've ever listened to in my entire life. I think he's an alien that was put on Earth to show us humans what a real guitar god looks and plays like. He is the Millenial's Jimmy Page. He's a guitar wizard that people will call legendary in about 20 years. I guarantee I will be telling my son about him when he's in his twenties and asks me about music from my generation. He's the man. Do people really say the same thing about Johnny Ramone? Is he a legendary, all time great guitar player? I don't think so. He doesn't have any memorable solos and he basically plays three chords on every song. Anyone that takes one guitar lesson can pretty much learn the entire Ramones song book. It is literally that easy. Just learn a G chord, a C chord and an F chord and you are good to go.

Let's get back to why some believe they are so influential. I will bend and say that without The Ramones, we would have never gotten The Sex Pistols, another band I'm not so fond of, but people love, Jello Biafra, who is a genius musician, there'd be no Black Flag, who is a much better band and Bad Brains, who are a great, great punk rock/reggae band. They did influence these bands and musicians and countless others, but the people I just mentioned took that influence, ran with it and made much, much better music than The Ramones. I know that people love the "simplicity" of their songs. Critics love the fact that they got their message out in 2 minutes or less. In my opinion, they could only handle that small amount of music because they were not that skilled. They needed to get everything done in a short amount of time because, if their songs lasted longer, they would be seen as subpar musicians and songwriters. They wouldn't be as highly regarded as they are now. Big time magazines and publications like "Billboard" or "Rolling Stone" even went as far to name them the second greatest rock group of all time, behind only The Beatles. That's down right insane. No way are they better than The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Kinks, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Janis Joplin and the Holding Company, the Flying Burrito Brothers, I could literally go on and on with bands that are far superior to The Ramones.

I also acknowledge that the Ramones had a big stake and were very influential in making the cult classic movie "Rock and Roll High School" that many people adore. Have any of these people that claim to love that movie seen it lately? It does not hold up well. The movie is a lot like The Ramones music. It's kind of a muffled, garbled look at a Detroit high school in the 70's. It's boring and pointless too. I don't get the love for that movie. It's very overrated.

Look, I understand that a lot of people think The Ramones are one of the greatest American bands, I'm not one of those people. But, I also realize that we at SeedSing have to recognize and write about things we don't like or disagree with if we want to be taken seriously. So, I made the best case that a non fan of The Ramones can make. I believe that there are thousands of bands and musicians that are much, much better than The Ramones, but not everyone sees it that way. Much to my chagrin, these are the "reasons" that The Ramones belong in our greatest American band debate. Please tell me why I'm wrong in the comment section, but also check out some of the people I mentioned above and go listen to the people that The Ramones influenced instead of listening to The Ramones.

That's the best advice I can give you.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He once adored the Ramones, then learned their entire catalog in one afternoon and moved on. Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

The Greatest American Band Debate: Fountains of Wayne

So what exactly is the Great American Band?  Is it just the best rock band that happens to be American?  If the Beatles or the Rolling Stones were American, would this conversation essentially be over?  I’m not convinced.  There’s a lot of talk in literary circles about the mythical Great American Novel, with the understanding that said novel is supposed to Say Something about The American Experience (a la The Great Gatsby or Huckleberry Finn).  If that’s the case, then the great American band should be not just a great band who happens to be American.  It should be a band that says something quintessentially American.

With that in mind, I’m going out on a limb to nominate Fountains of Wayne.  As in “Stacy’s Mom?”  Yes.  Hear me out.  Not to be one of those “but I knew them when” types, but I remember hearing their infectious first single “Radiation Vibe” on college radio, and instantly loving it.  A few years later, I heard the song “Troubled Times,” bought their first two albums, and was hooked.  All this is just to say that when I heard “Stacy’s Mom” on the radio, I had more context for it than most people.

Music first:  Most of their music is a mix of pop/rock styles.  It’s slightly off-kilter guitar driven power pop, sometimes with a little low-fi sheen.  There are rock, country, punk, and folk influences here, along with great harmonies and a little indie whine-rock thrown in for good measure.  More importantly, these guys write a hook like nobody’s business.  You’ve likely heard Adam Schlesinger’s songcraft in the movies.  He wrote the Wonders’ big hit, so you can blame him if you can’t get “That Thing You Do” out of your head.   If you’ve seen the film “Music and Lyrics” (which I don’t really recommend), you know that Schlesinger also has the chops to write a credible Wham! knockoff such as “Meaningless Kiss.”  (Look it up on YouTube right now.  I’ll wait.)  

But dig a little deeper, beyond the killer pop hooks, and you’ll hear Fountains of Wayne creating masterful songs about the suburban experience for Generation X America.  All the little details underscore the theme:  the power pop/punk melodies, the finely observed lyrical humor, and finally Chris Collingwood’s vocal performance, with its straightforward “everyman” delivery.  Part of the hip hop tradition is to talk about Gulfstream, the Palms, and Prada to seem glamorous and out of reach.  On the flip side, Fountains of Wayne name checks more prosaic and accessible brands like Subaru, La Quinta, and the Gap.  Even the seemingly fluffy “Stacy’s Mom” captures a sense of ennui, where the most exciting woman you know is your friend’s hot mom.  That whole album, the aptly titled Welcome Interstate Managers, is largely about the banal underpinnings of suburban life.  There’s a cheery song about a traveling salesman with an alcohol problem; another about waiting for a red notification light; and another about a Sunday morning with a significant other, drinking coffee while watching “Face the Nation.”

This theme runs through Fountains of Wayne’s entire catalog.  They’ve even done one of my favorite Christmas songs, “The Man in the Santa Suit,” which peers into the life of the poor schmuck who dons that red suit for the extra cash.  The image of a mall Santa who is “sweaty and smells like beer” is funny, but he’s been led there by his blue-collar cash strapped existence.  

Like most of us, as the band aged, the theme went from the youthful detachment of the mid-90’s to a little more fatalism in the post-9/11, post-Great Recession era.  Their latest album contains the elegiac song “Cemetery Guns,” about a military funeral on the Illinois plains.  The song focuses its attention on the grieving young widow, but it suggests that her life has been upended by a centuries-long cycle of military-industrial conquest.  While they aren’t raging, exactly, there is no mistaking the resignation of the lyric “Godspeed their reckless sons, who evermore play their forefathers’ hands on the foreign sands.”  Plus ça change, et cetera...

“Okay Tina, fine,” you say.  “They’re more than Stacy’s Mom.  But great American band?”  Fountains of Wayne’s music is a sardonic and melancholy reflection of middle class life disguised as upbeat power pop.  It’s the Reagan era’s sunny facade imperfectly plastered over that famous Gen X apathy.  What’s more American than that?

Tina S

Tina is an infrequent contributor, somewhat scientist, and tennis fan. She could not sit on the sidelines while we ignored great bands. Follow her lead and nominate your Greatest American Band.

The Greatest American Band Debate: The Introduction

Time to get the records out.

SeedSing is filled with music lovers. We can not agree on who is the best band from the States. The Greatest American Band Debate will be a regular feature where we discuss and compare bands who started in the good old USA. If you have any suggestions of bands we should debate Contact us seedsing.rdk@gmail.com

I'm a lover of all music.

All music except for jazz and new age country that is. People often pose the question to me, "Who's the best band"? There is any number of answers to give. Some may say The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, etcetera. The one thing you may have noticed in those answers is, those are all bands from overseas. Mainly the United Kingdom. Why no American bands? Is it because most great American musicians are solo artists? We have Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Robert Johnson, BB King, Miles Davis and Woody Guthrie just to name a few. And before I get yelled at online, I don't count Janis Joplin's backing band, The Holding Company, or Bob Dylan playing with The Band(who are all Canadian except for Levon Helm) as great American bands. They're very good, but not great.

So, let's break it down. Who is the greatest American band? Do they come from the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's or 2000's? Is there even an American band that can hold a card to the great bands from overseas? I don't know that for sure, but I'm going to throw out a lot of great American bands today and we can all decide together.

Let's take the 50's. One band that comes to mind for me is The Crickets. You may know them as Buddy Holly and the Crickets. The Crickets played on some of the greatest songs in the history of music and were just as important to Buddy Holly's music as Buddy Holly was. Some people may put The Crickets into The Holding Company category, but go back and listen to some of their stuff and you will see how influential they were on modern day rock and roll.

In the 60's, we got some more psychedelic rock bands from America, but I'm not too crazy about some of these bands. First, we have The Doors. I am not a fan of the Doors, but they were hugely popular and definitely put their stamp on rock music. Jim Morrison was fine as a poet and songwriter, albeit super overrated in my opinion, but his band was really pretty good. They just had an unfortunate choice in picking their lead singer and were stuck with Jim Morrison. Then there's the Beach Boys. I CANNOT stand the Beach Boys. They made crappy pop music and are an abomination to rock and roll. That being said, they are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a lot of people not only like the Beach Boys, they love them. Their fans will also defend Brian Wilson to the heavens, no matter how difficult of a person he is to work and deal with. My favorite American bad from the sixties, by far, is Creedance Clearwater Revival. Their brand of rock music, mixed with blues and soul is undeniably great. They've had a ton of hits and a ton of fans, are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and John Fogerty is still making pretty good music as a solo artist.

The 70's brought along a lot of great talent to American rock and roll. We got the Eagles, Aerosmith, ZZ Top and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Each one is great in their own right, and in the case of Aerosmith and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers they are still making music. In Tom Petty's case, he is still making great music. Many people might even say that The Eagles are the greatest American rock band of all time. I disagree. The 70's did put out some great music from all corners. We also got KISS, the Ramones and Sly and the Family Stone. Another band from the 70's that people love is Grateful Dead. Not me though. In my opinion, they are a jam band that has no structure to their jams. I don't want to hear one song that's usually three and a half minutes long turn into a 30 minute song. no thanks. My older brothers will be pretty upset at me for trashing the Grateful Dead, but I just don't like them. When it comes to 70's American bands, it gets no better than the Allman Brothers Band. They played great songs with a beautiful mixture of rock and blues. Robert Johnson introduced me to the blues and Son House introduced me to slide guitar, but the Allman Brothers made slide guitar and rock/blues music cool. They are not just one of the best American bands, they're one of the greatest bands of all time period.

The 80's changed what rock music could be in America. Bands like Heart and The Runaways showed that girls can rock just as hard as guys. Blondie blended all different types of music, and did it very well. And yes, Blondie is the band name, Debbie Harry is their lead singer's name. But, when it comes to 80's rock bands in America, the Talking Heads are the greatest. David Byrne is a genius and still making fantastic music. The Talking Heads were innovators and way ahead of their time. They tried so many different things with their music and, more times than not, hit it out of the park.

The 90's brought on the grunge era in American rock music. We got great bands like Green Day, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. Each band is great in it's own way. Green Day brought back punk/pop music. Soundgarden brought back the psychedelic rock from the 60's and 70's and Pearl Jam was dark a brooding. A very cool version of emo. Then came Nirvana. Kurt Cobain was a musical genius. Especially as a lyricist. His lyrics are profound and prolific. He died way too young and became way too famous too fast. His two band mates, Kris Novaselic and Dave Grohl were excellent. Most people know Dave Grohl and all the work he's doing right now and Kris Novaselic has played bass for many different bands. When it comes to 90's American rock for me, it gets no better than Weezer. I love Weezer. Rivers Cuomo is a great writer and very excellent, very underrated guitar player. Their first album, "The Blue Album" is a work of art. Then, they released "Pinkerton" which is just as good and maybe even a bit better than "The Blue Album" Weezer is awesome.

Which brings me to the 2000's. Time will have to tell with this era. It's only been 15 years and these bands still need a bit more seasoning. That being said, there are some bands on their way to greatness for sure. The White Stripes could've been on their way if they were still making music. Jack White has also become an unfavorable character and a shell of his former self as a musician. He's also a well known asshole too. Bands like the Black Keys and TV on the Radio still need time, but in the Black Keys case, they are well on their way. There are other bands such as, Alabama Shakes and The Shins, but like I said earlier. Time will tell.

See, in this long piece I couldn't single out just one American band. There's a lot to choose from and if I was told that I had to name one right now, I'd pick the Black Keys, strictly because they're my favorite band. I didn't even touch on rap groups and yes, rap groups can be considered great American bands. I'll leave that for a future piece. So people out there reading this, let me know which American bands are great in your eyes. Who did I leave out or who did I bash that you like. Or, do you agree with me. Leave a comment and until later, keep listening to good rock and roll music.

Be it American rock or otherwise.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X-Millennial Man Podcast. He is eager to write another 1000 words on music. Follow him on twitter @tykulik