Record Geek Heaven’s Top 10 Cheap Trick Songs

Last week, a certain publication that focuses solely on classic rock published a list of the “Top 10 Greatest Cheap Trick Songs”. The list – which named several mediocre Trick songs, excluded tons of classics, and frustratingly named their most overplayed song (“I Want You to Want Me”) as their greatest – was an outrage to my band, The Dead Girls. Personally, I was outraged enough to actually make my own list. Though I realize this will probably shake things up even more, I could not let that list be, as far as I know, the only top ten of Cheap Trick songs in existence. It excluded so many songs that for me define Cheap Trick and make them stand so far out from the pack of everyday “classic rock” bands. I felt it had to be done.

Record Geek Heaven’s Top 20 Albums of 2012

Thanks to the fact that 2012 was my busiest year ever as a musician, my routine for listening to music changed pretty drastically. As you may or may not have noticed, there were not a lot of posts this year. However, I was still listening to as much stuff as ever, though it was all in little chunks of time, rather than straight on through the year. As a result, RGH’s 2012 list is a little different from previous ones…but I think you all will appreciate it. I have divided the list into four parts to represent what I was listening to the most during the spring, summer, fall and winter. Let’s begin!

New Music: The Beach Boys “That’s Why God Made the Radio”

2012 Capitol Records

Most of the interactions I have had with people concerning That’s Why God Made the Radio (the 30th studio album from The Beach Boys and the first in 20 years to contain original material) have been carbon copies of the one I had with the guy working the record store where I purchased the album. He seemed to be surprised that a new Beach Boys record would be worth buying at all. “I just assumed it would be really bad,” he said. “I mean, that’s usually the case in situations like this, right?” Of course, he meant situations in which a band already older than your parents reunites after a 20 year absence to make new music. He’s right – very rarely does this kind of experiment produce quality material. Usually, it only serves to solidify the geezer status of the people involved, and considering people have thought of The Beach Boys as geezers for quite some time, the end result could potentially be even worse for them.

New Music: Joyce Manor “Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired”

2012 Asian Man Records

Recently, I posted this article in which I was not shy about my opinions toward modern music and its current state of affairs. I wrote it very quickly and posted it right away so I wouldn’t have time to think too much about it. I guess it is good news, then, that even as I read it now, there isn’t a whole lot I would change. Much of it consists of thoughts and feelings I have been having about the industry for years. For a while, I was worried that posting this stuff may give some people the wrong idea about me. Maybe it has – I do sound pretty bitter.

Soon after I posted this article, I saw a random Facebook post from Wake Mitchell, a musician and DJ well known to the Lawrence, KS scene. He periodically posts songs that he finds great and inspiring, along with these motivational messages of sorts. I see one almost every day, but this quote hit me just the right way right after I posted my article/rant. It seemed too perfect.

“Those who choose to work hard and strive for internal excellence inevitably experience stints of overwhelming pain and uncertainty. If you’ve ever felt such before, you’re on a beautiful path, for you are alive and conscious of all around (and within) you!”

After I read this, I felt better. I left work and began my commute back to Lawrence. It was Friday and it just felt awesome that the weekend was finally here, and whenever I feel like that, there’s nothing like some good, loud music for the drive home. I threw on a record that I’ve been listening to somewhat obsessively lately, a 9-song, 13-minute punk album called Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired by Torrance, CA’s Joyce Manor.

“But if no one cares, then why are you doing it?”

I realize that I have been pretty M.I.A. on R.G.H. since about March or so, so here I am, returning once again. Unlike the previous posts that so far resemble this one (this isn’t the first time this has happened), I will not apologize to my few very awesome readers for my absence. First of all, I know they don’t want or expect an apology. Most of them are big kids and can fend for themselves out there in the music world, and usually only frequent R.G.H. to compare their recent listening to mine. The other portion of them, it seems, only come around to slag on what I have written (which, believe me, only makes the job all the more worthwhile).

Mission Immersion 16.2 – Stage Fright and Cahoots by The Band

Capitol 1970

“Strawberry Wine” (from Stage Fright) reminds me of the theme song for the hit 90’s TV sitcom Blossom. There is something inherently wrong with this, but it’s not my fault – no one has control over when they are brought into this world. I happened to hear the Blossom theme before “Strawberry Wine”, and I will never be able to reverse it. It’s a tragedy of epic proportions.

Mission Immersion 16.1 – The Band by The Band

Capitol 1969

Just pretend for one moment that you have never heard of The Band. Erase all the history you have come to learn about them as a music fan, and entertain the idea that they never existed, just for one moment. Or, think back to the time when you first heard the name. What was your reaction to hearing about a band called The Band? For me, I think it was a mixed bag of “Wow, these guys are really lazy” and “Wow, these guys are really cocky.” The latter may have been true, but the former could not be further from it. If there was ever a band that deserved such a simple yet high-status moniker reflective of the indescribable hard work and marrying of minds required to bring the individual ideas of a bunch of people together into a tangible whole, it was these guys.

Mission Immersion 15.2 – Wish You Were Here by Badfinger

Warner Bros 1974

Joey Molland is to Badfinger what Mike Love is to the Beach Boys – he’s the band member who, in retrospect, stifled creativity in his misguided attempts to take the reigns as leader. I should probably note that if I come off as anti-Molland sometimes, it probably has to do with my one experience meeting the man. When Joey Molland’s Badfinger (yes, it’s a thing) came to play City Park in my hometown of Manhattan, KS, I brought my vinyl copy of Wish You Were Here along for him to sign. Even though I had just read Without You: The Tragic Story of Badfinger and was aware of all his misdeeds within the band, he was one of only two surviving members at the time (he’s the only one now), so I had to take advantage. However, when I gave him my record and told him to make it out to Cameron, I was livid when I later realized he had made it out to “Kenny”. Though it irked me for a while, over time I have come to appreciate it as living proof of Molland’s legendary arrogance. It was the perfect Joey Molland experience, one I am reminded of every time I bust out my copy of this record.

Mission Immersion 15.1 – Ass by Badfinger

Apple 1973

The whole point of rock and roll may be to have fun, but this pretense often overshadows the very real dangers of the music business. The majority of people who “make it” in the rock world are very young and that’s always been the norm, but there are several reasons for this. The obvious one, and the one most people think about, is the fact that the young and fresh-faced are generally the people others will pay the most money to see. Youth is an attractive force – when we are in our youth, we want to be around more of it; when we are old, we struggle to reclaim it. But there is a darker side to the allure of youth in rock. Without a good amount of dumb, young souls to mislead and misuse, many in the music business would have very limited resources. Badfinger (one of the best, most fucked-over bands in history) were exploited and flat out robbed from day one, and the main thing that kept them from doing anything about it was the same sort of blind trust that has always led young people into dangerous situations.

Mission Immersion 14.0 – Desolation Angels by Bad Company

Swan Song 1979

I have never been a huge fan of Bad Company, and I wasn’t really looking forward to listening to this record. As a result, I didn’t enjoy it very much. Funny how that works, isn’t it? I’m beginning to wonder why I even bothered to take it for free in the first place.

Apparently, Bad Company was a “supergroup”. (I want to make that joke – I really, really do – but we all know it.) They were made up of members of the bands Free (they had the hit “All Right Now” that’s always confused with “Free Ride”) and Mott the Hoople. This totally makes sense, since much of Bad Company’s output sounds like some second-rate, watered-down amalgam of those two bands.