Underrated Musician #8: Steven Adler

    Somebody who has seen my earlier posts may know I have a certain soft spot for Steven Adler, Guns N' Roses drummer. Now this gives me a chance to talk a little more about why he is one of my absolute favorite musicians ever.

     First and foremost, Steven Adler was a really fantastic musician. I don't think many people ever got how good a drummer he was. His style wasn't loud, boomy and heavy like most metal drummers; instead, he was light, happy, danceable. He brought the swing, the rhythm, the glam and the fun into GNR's signature brand of rock music, which was somewhere between glam, metal, and punk. His personal taste in music centered on KISS, Van Halen, Motley Crue, Mott The Hoople, 60s vocal groups like Frankie Valley and the Four Seasons, even funk and soul along the lines of Sly and the Family Stone. He incorporated all these aspects into his own style of music.

    People tend not to realize what kind of an impact a drummer has on a band, but a good drummer is everything. They lay down the foundation of the music, they decide what the best and the rhythm will be, they create the groove and the feel of the music. GNR bassist Duff McKagan considers Adler's sense of grove to be his strong point, and describes the band as having great chemistry during those days, where everybody needed each other and relied on the unity of their musicianship to make the band what it was. When Adler was fired from the band a couple years later, (for reasons I could go on about for quite a while, so I'll save it for a future post) the band lost its last shreds of comradeship, and ultimately sparked the band's downfall.

     Steven was also responsible for the band's songs. He wasn't just involved in the sound, he collaborated immensely to the writing process of their music. Slash now speaks of what Steven's contributions meant to the band, stating that he always had brilliant, creative ideas, and deserved more credit than he got.

     And now, well, this doesn't really impact how good a musician one is, but in Steven's case, is definety worth mentioning, and that piece of information is that Steven was a really, really wonderful guy. He came from a disastrous home life and saw a good share of shit in his time, but he always remained a great guy, talkative and friendly, and to quote Duff again, he was the best friend a guy could every ask for. To me, being such a great guy only makes you enjoy and respect a brilliant musician even more, and Steven Adler epitomizes that in my eyes. Steven is still active in the music business, with his own band like Adler's Appetite, and is still turning out good rock music. (For the record, they're really the only new band whose music is on my iPod.)

The Most Important Bands In Rock History (An Alternate Version)

     Who are the most important bands in rock history is a commonly asked question which usually generates the same few answers: The Beatles, the Stones, etc. And while it cannot be denied that band like those are rock's founding fathers, there are others out there too who made a big impact.

     For example, Slade-not T. Rex- founded the glam movement. While Marc was still strumming his acoustic guitar and singing folk nonsense, Slade were defining the look and the sound of what would become the next generation of Anglo-rock.

     David Bowie and others picked up where those guys left off, but glam didn't last forever, and by 1975, most glam bands were a thing of the past. When glam saw its renaissance in the early 80s, in the LA club scene, it was the doings of a Mr Randy Rhoads, who emulated his hero, Mick Ronson, in hairstyle and dress. The look caught on and we have him to thank for Poison, RATT, and the rest.

     How about that good old British power  metal? I believe we have Rainbow to thank for that. I'm not talking about Stone Cold Rainbow, Can't Let You Go Rainbow, I mean the original Rainbow with Ronnie James Dio. They must have been the first British power metal band: Dio is considered to be the king of the genre, and his early recordings with the band were an obvious influence on the rock bands to come. 

     The roots of punk rock are very commonly debated, but I'm gonna have to give the nod to the Stooges, the MC5, that Detroit stuff, and to Led Zeppelin. Calling me a desperate Zep fan? Maybe I am, but listen closely to Communication Breakdown again and tell me if I'm that wrong.

     There you have it, folks: A slightly different take on an often heard question. I hope my opinion was somewhat justified and that you can take something new out of my unorthodox theories.

Underrated Musician #7: Mick Mars

     Motley Crue are a band best known for a look: larger than life party boys, who were addicted to everything but who lived through it all. They were dangerous, crazy, vile, self-abusive, and dirty. MTV wouldn't play their videos and sometimes, for good reason. They had a wild image, which attracted plenty of bad attention, but it worked, and very well. They became superstars.

     But like I said, the Crue were mostly known for the look. People tend to overlook the fact that they weren't just some Los Angeles partiers, they were actually musicians, and rather good ones too, who wrote a lot of good songs and put out excellent albums.

     I could put any of the musicians of this band in this feature, but I decided to write foremost about Mick Mars because he seems to be the least well known of the band members. It's unusual for a guitarist to be in such a position; a band's unsung hero is usually a bassist or drummer. This is not the case in the Crue because Mars was the most private member of the band- the other three were more known than he, but mostly for their antics, arrests, and romances. 

     While he did not write the songs or direct the videos, Mick was there at the root of all of them. His signature guitar riffs and licks are what begin nearly all Motley Crue songs, they give them their backbone and make them easily identifiable as the work of LA's most infamous group. Maybe music wasn't all the band was about, but it was the band's foundation, and like many similar bands, it takes an unfair backseat to other factors. The band was always about the music to Mick, their shyest member, and it was truly him which made it great all along.

My Complaint About People Who Hate Mainstream Music In Favor Of Crap People Have Never Heard Of

     This message is aimed first and foremost at those pretentious farts who think that commercial music is bullshit, and that it's only worth listening to if 99% of all people have never heard of it before. Music is music is music is music. What makes you happy is your own business, but don't go around telling the world that your taste in music is better than theirs because you choose to listen to less well-known music. Because there are a lot of people out there who do, and to these people...just knock it off. 

     When I'm hanging out, the music I chose to play for myself tends to be the stuff you don't hear on the radio, because if I wanted to hear that stuff, I could just listen to the radio, and I've gotten toured of a good deal of that stuff. I do not consider my taste in music to be superior to the person whose favorite Beatles song is Hey Jude, while mine is The Night Before. It just is, and it doesn't mean anything. (However, I do consider my taste in music to be better than that of the person who listens to Jay-Z and Katy Perry. Understandable...)

     When I'm on my own, I might listen to Tommy Bolin, or Suzanne Vega, or Alcatrazz, or Yngwie Malmsteen. All this stuff I like, and find interesting. But when I throw a party, or when I'm playing music for others to enjoy, I play music that's commercial, fun, and recognizable, because that's the kind of stuff that most people like best, and it's the stuff that reaches the most people. In these cases, I'm inclined to choose Whitesnake, or Cheap Trick, Quiet Riot, KISS, Billy Squier, Bon Jovi. Poison gets a great reaction, people go nuts for Fallen Angel or Cry Tough especially sometimes. People like that stuff and because it's good. Sure, having a taste in music which compromises solely of bands like that is not particularly original, but that is good music, and there's no shame in favoring them.

      So for the handful of people pusher there who are convinced that the best Rolling Stones song is Have You Ever Seen Your Mother Baby Standing In The Shadows, well, it's your opinion. But don't cram out down our throats in the name of taste. Music isn't a competition or a religion, it's a matter of taste.

Some more senseless ramblings about Joe Lynn Turner

     Today I realized that by far and away, my post titled "Joe Lynn Turner Wore A Wig And So What?" had the most hits. Now, I appreciate it when people go on my blog and read my articles, but honestly. These things take me a lot of time to compose and some of them took a lot of thought and research. That little thing I wrote about how Joe's wig is none of our business was just some little thing I wrote in about five minutes and posted to express my disapproval over things searched concerning Joe Lynn Turner. The fact that that one article has so many hits only continues to prove my point- We shouldn't care about his hair- but everybody does! And all you people are even taking the time to read my article stating that you shouldn't care. Wow. Talk about ironic. I won't be removing the article from my site, of course, considering how much attention it brings to me and my OTHER posts, but it is irritating. Now I know how Supertramp feel when people tell them that Breakfast In America is their best song.

Underrated Musician #6: Mickey Finn

Some people might laugh at my calling Mickey Finn underrated, or even calling Mickey Finn a musician. And then again, a lot of people, especially on this side of the Atlantic, probably don't even know who he is. And for these reasons I chose to commemorate Mickey in what seems to be my most popular feature here on Rock And Roll Ramblings.

     In 1970, Mickey Finn replaced Steve Peregrine Took in T. Rex, on congas. He also contributed backing vocals, which were key to giving T. Rex their memorable, fun sound. Now, he was never the best-treated guy in the industry, then again, T. Rex were never the best received band out there. Marc Bolan went as far as to say that he was useless, his backing vocals sucked, and that he only kept him around because he looked great on stage. Now, I love Marc, but he went too far there. While a conga-ist is a more or less, disposable, member of a band, they can help to rhythmically keep the sound together, and, as Marc said, to be there and to look good on stage, to help give the band more of an image. The image was probably the center of T. Rex's success, and while Marc was the obvious main focal point, Mickey played a major role in defining the band's sound and look, which is what made them such an important part of the music of its day, and greatly influenced the music that was still to come. Where would T. Rex have been without Mickey Finn? God knows where. For all we know, they may still have been making folk records which nobody bought. 

      Stomach cancer took Mickey a few years ago, and, as with all the greats, we can appropriately say that he went before his time, and like too many greats, he died without ever receiving the recognition he deserved. But me here on this blog, I remember him, and I say, Keep on rocking, Mickey.

Reflections on Musical Tastes Across America

My travels in the United States being mostly done by car, I find it amusing to listen to the local radio stations all across the country, visit record stores and just talk to people locally about what kind of music they listen to.

     My personal favorite is when I find a radio station that provides a "Best Of" countdown. I remember listening to one in Philedelphia once which I considered to be just about the funniest thing I've ever heard for several reasons, one of which being the placement of "You Know What I Mean" by Lee Michaels ahead of Ziggy Stardust and Let It Be on a top 500 classic rock songs list. The songs were all in the 194-196 positions. Please tell me you think the good people of Philedelphia made a mistake here. I mean, I wouldn't even consider You Know What I Mean to be a rock song, I'd say it's pop. To each his own I guess?

     Prog rock also tends to fare well on the East Coast in general. They sure love Genesis and Yes out in New Jersey, I was hearing their big hits and obscurities all over the radio in the time I spent there. I got a little worked up when they played Changes by Yes as that is one of my favorite songs and one I'd never heard on the radio until then.

     The West Coast stations tend to suit my personal tastes in music better, probably a reflection of my coming from the West Coast. You're more likely to find a rock station that leans more in the late 80s hair metal on the West Coast, and you tend to hear more variety on the radio, a lot of stations that specialize in trying to play a variety of different kinds of rock music. Being a fanatic of the obscure and underrated myself, I just love that.

     There are no places in the States that really embrace Canadian rock music but your best chances of hearing some Canadian classics are in the northern states that share a border with Canada. While not all this country's music is palatable, some of it sure is, and I can definetly think of a few artists that should have made it bigger outside their own country. I've been really addicted to Honeymoon Suite lately, and of course Triumph and Red Rider and Streetheart are great.

      And in the south, to no surprise, you have your best chances of hearing country, blues, jazz, bluegrass, folk, and the like. None of those genres are to my personal taste but I appreciate the greater versatility there and there are some very fine rock stations too, of course.