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| Author |
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| 25 new of 106 responses total. |
dbratman
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response 25 of 106:
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Sep 25 16:34 UTC 2002 |
I'm sorry that this Warren Zevon guy is terminally ill, but I wonder
why I've never heard of him before, if he's as ubiquitous a cultural
icon for the post-60s generation as people are now saying.
I've certainly seen his song titles used as catchphrases, but up until
last week I never knew those were song titles at all, let alone whose;
and somehow his name never came up.
As someone whose friends introduced him to Talking Heads back when they
were still an obscure NYC art band (and this was apparently right
around when Zevon was making his big impact), I didn't think I was that
culturally obtuse.
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mcnally
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response 26 of 106:
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Sep 25 17:54 UTC 2002 |
"ubiquitous cultural icon for the post-60s generation" is definitely
stretching it a bit, but he did have a successful career and a dedicated
following, despite the fact that his starkly cynical songs often weren't
very radio-friendly.
It's hard to believe you didn't at least hear *some* of his work
("Werewolves of London", anyone?) without knowing whose it was, and likely,
too, that you often heard his songs covered by other performers without
knowing they were his (e.g. Linda Ronstadt's cover of "Poor, Poor,
Pitiful Me")
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anderyn
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response 27 of 106:
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Sep 25 18:01 UTC 2002 |
The only reason I ever heard Warren Zevon was because of my gaming group.
(They also introduced me to Blue Oyster Cult...) Of course, once I did hear
him, I became a fan, but I don't think he was ubiquitous unless you happened
to be in circles that had a reason to have heard of him.
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other
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response 28 of 106:
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Sep 25 20:50 UTC 2002 |
"Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"
"Lawyers, Guns and Money"
"The Envoy"
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dbratman
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response 29 of 106:
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Sep 26 22:07 UTC 2002 |
resp:27 - Twila, it turns out I -am- in circles that had a reason to
have heard of Zevon. It's friends of mine who are mourning his
illness, and they're citing listening to him in the days when I knew
them best, and was, willy-nilly, listening to what they listened to.
Yet I don't think I heard his songs, because in those contexts I knew
who I was listening to.
And I know further that he was a cultural icon for these folks, because
I was hearing and reading frequently in those days phrases - like "I'll
sleep when I'm dead" and "Send lawyers, guns, and money" - that I now
discover are Zevon song titles. Yet up until last week I never knew
they were song titles at all, let alone whose.
resp:26 - Mike, I believe I may have heard "Werewolves of London". Was
that a song whose chorus consisted of, or contained, a howl followed by
the title phrase, the whole then repeated? I may well have heard some
of the music, but I never heard nor read the name.
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mcnally
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response 30 of 106:
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Sep 26 23:13 UTC 2002 |
Yes, pretty much..
" I met a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain.
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Phuk's [sp?]
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein.
Aaaahhooooohh! Werewolves of London.. Aaaahhhooooohh! "
I think my favorite Zevon song is "Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me."
It's typical of his cynicism and humorous word-play and a
fun up-tempo number..
" I met a girl in West Hollywood,
ah, but I ain't namin' names.
She really worked me over good,
she was just like Jesse James.
She really worked me over good,
she was a credit to her gender.
She put me through some changes, Lord,
sort of like a Waring blender. "
Perhaps Zevon was overshadowed in his fame by other songwriters
even more cynical and dark. I know I enjoy his music but I don't
hold him in the same esteem as Elvis Costello or Richard Thompson.
I think in some ways I sort of see him as Elvis-Costello Lite,
but that's definitely not being fair to Zevon.
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orinoco
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response 31 of 106:
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Sep 27 14:54 UTC 2002 |
Hell, I say "I'll sleep when I'm dead" all the time, and I haven't heard any
Zevon past "Werewolves of London" in my life.
Well, okay, I used to say it all the time. My appreciation for sleep has gone
up in the past few years.
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dbratman
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response 32 of 106:
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Sep 27 22:39 UTC 2002 |
Judging by the tenor of the comments I've seen about Zevon in the
weblogs of his fans, if you wrote "I enjoy his music but I don't hold
him in the same esteem as Elvis Costello or Richard Thompson" there,
they might stampede you.
OTOH, if it were Richard Thompson who was terminally ill, they'd
probably be grieving even more. Those people talked in those days (and
still do today) about Richard Thompson the way they now claim they
talked about Warren Zevon. (Elvis Costello, no, but I certainly heard
of him. I have never been able to take seriously anyone who would
voluntarily adopt the name Elvis, so I can't be too objective here.)
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cyklone
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response 33 of 106:
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Sep 27 22:41 UTC 2002 |
I'm not sure it was entirely voluntary. I think his manager came up with it.
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krj
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response 34 of 106:
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Oct 30 05:41 UTC 2002 |
Warren Zevon is still not dead; in fact, he must be feeling pretty
good, he's been announced as David Letterman's guest for Wednesday
night. 11:30 pm Eastern time on CBS, channel 62/cable 14 in
Ann Arbor.
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dbratman
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response 35 of 106:
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Oct 30 17:20 UTC 2002 |
Warren Zevon's ghost is haunting / Cable Channel 14 ...
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scott
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response 36 of 106:
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Nov 5 23:08 UTC 2002 |
Lonnie Donnegan died Sunday at the age of 71.
He'd just be a very minor footnote in music, except that the "skiffle" music
craze he started in 1960's England inspired a lot of kids (including those
who later formed The Beatles and The Who) to start playing.
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krj
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response 37 of 106:
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Nov 11 16:07 UTC 2002 |
Skiffle also played a large role in the 1960s British folk revival.
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bruin
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response 38 of 106:
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Dec 16 22:09 UTC 2002 |
IWLTA with great sadness the passing of Zal Yanovsky, who was an
original member of the 1960's group The Lovin'Spoonful. He left the
Spoonful under less than friendly terms with the group, especially
frontman John Sebastian. More recently, he owned a restaurant in
Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
"Zally" died of an apparent heart attack on December 13. He would have
turned 58 later this week.
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remmers
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response 39 of 106:
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Dec 17 15:15 UTC 2002 |
Sad news indeed. The Lovin' Spoonful is one of my favorite rock groups
from the 60s; I still have some of their LPs that I acquired back then.
I always thought Zal was a great contributor to the group and was sorry
when he split.
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jaklumen
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response 40 of 106:
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Jan 13 05:35 UTC 2003 |
I *can't* believe someone didn't get this first!
Maurice Gibb, bassist and keyboardist of the Bee Gees, died at 53 last
Sunday of cardiac arrest before undergoing surgery for a blocked
intestine.
One article on the story can be found at:
http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=111793
Sad. I really liked the Bee Gees, and thought they very talented and
not just a disco band, although a lot of their hits were during the
disco era.
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dbratman
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response 41 of 106:
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Jan 18 00:05 UTC 2003 |
Are they the guys who sang that once ubiquitous song that went "ah, ah,
ah, ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive"?
If so, I will refrain from commenting on their talent only out of
respect for the dead.
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krj
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response 42 of 106:
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Jan 26 22:43 UTC 2003 |
He's Still Not Dead Department: Jon Pareles has a lengthy article
on Warren Zevon and his final months of creativity in Sunday's
New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/26/magazine/26ZEVON.html?8hpib
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jaklumen
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response 43 of 106:
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Feb 2 11:08 UTC 2003 |
resp:41 Yes, but really, I couldn't disagree with you more vehemently,
if only because you're probably thinking of their disco hits alone.
I think Barry Gibb, who is still alive, is quite a talented
songwriter. The BeeGees may not be to your taste, but I think he
knows how to write a catchy hook that's easy to sing along to.
"Grease," written for the movie version of the musical of the same
name and performed by Frankie Van..ack, I forget the last name.. is
one of my favorite Barry Gibb tunes.
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mcnally
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response 44 of 106:
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Feb 2 12:49 UTC 2003 |
I've always appreciated the Bee Gees less for their music and more for
their acting career, which included the phenomenally misguided film
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Despite the fact that it's
an awful film with the Bee Gees acting the parts of the band and playing
their own unique interpretations on a number of Beatles classics,
I have a mysterious soft spot for it and can't resist watching it on the
increasingly infrequent occasions when I come across it on late-night TV.
All hail FVB!
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scott
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response 45 of 106:
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Feb 2 13:44 UTC 2003 |
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - wow, terrible movie. Still, it's
got Alice Cooper AND Aerosmith, and Earth Wind & Fire's tune is awesome.
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dbratman
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response 46 of 106:
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Feb 2 21:10 UTC 2003 |
resp:43 About popular music, I only know what I hear on the radio
stations that are being played in stores.
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jaklumen
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response 47 of 106:
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Feb 3 09:14 UTC 2003 |
resp:44 The storyline was a colossal flop-- was George Harrison doing
drugs when he wrote it? (He's done better. Time Bandits was weird,
but cute.) I think my folks still have a taped copy, so resp:45 I'll
have to go back to look at the EWF segment. Really, the covers by the
various bands and other celebrities are what make movie interesting.
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dbratman
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response 48 of 106:
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Feb 4 17:48 UTC 2003 |
Obituary: Lou Harrison, aged 85, a late survivor of the Henry Cowell-
John Cage circle of 1940s avant-garde American composers, on Sunday in
Lafayette IN on his way to a festival of his music at Ohio State. (He
lived in Aptos CA.) His most typical music blended western instruments
with eastern aesthetics, with more rigor and astringency than Alan
Hovhaness; he also wrote for what he called the American gamelan, a
collection of tin crockery and other miscellanea he and his partner, an
instrument-maker, put together.
It's not been a good couple years for great musicians named Harrison.
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bruin
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response 49 of 106:
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Feb 4 21:28 UTC 2003 |
We also lost legendary Latin jazz musicial Mongo Santamaria, who is best
remembered for his 1960's hit "Watermelon Man".
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