Come on feel the moment of respectful silence

Posted by OtherJoel (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 9:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Well, while he only had 52 years on this planet, at least during that time he had excellent Metal Health.

I know; I can hear you groaning over the web.

Posted by awas1980 (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 9:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)

awww sad, Quiet Riot was one of my favorite oxymorons, right up there with Living Dead...

Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 11:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

On the one hand, Quiet Riot is a core reason that the best thing for the decade called the 80's is to never have happened, on the other hand, Kevin DuBrow told rocknroll to lighten the f*** (add to dictionary) up, for which I will always begrudgingly thank him.

RIP

Posted by Joel (Joel Mathis) on November 29, 2007 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Dotdot -- You may be right, but I didn't have any choice about coming of age during the 1980s, unfortunately. And I'm required by law to have fond memories of pop culture during those years.

That said, I'm pretty sure my high school years spanned the nadir of pop music since World War II.

Here's the Top 10 for the week in September 1987 that I started high school:

10 Only In My Dreams Debbie Gibson
9 Doing It All For My Baby Huey Lewis & The News
8 Love Power Dionne Warwick & Jeffrey Osborne
7 Here I Go Again Whitesnake
6 Don't Mean Nothing Richard Marx
5 Can't We Try Dan Hill with Vonda Shepard
4 Didn't We Almost Have It All Whitney Houston
3 Who's That Girl Madonna
2 I Just Can't Stop Loving You Michael Jackson with Seidah Garrett
1 La Bamba Los Lobos

And here's the Top 10 for the week in May 1991 that I graduated high school:

10 Love Is A Wonderful Thing Michael Bolton
9 I Touch Myself Divinyls
8 Losing My Religion R.E.M.
7 I Wanna Sex You Up Color Me Badd
6 Silent Lucidity Queensryche
5 I Like The Way (The Kissing Game) Hi-Five
4 Rhythm Of My Heart Rod Stewart
3 More Than Words Extreme
2 Touch Me (All Night) Cathy Dennis
1 I Don't Wanna Cry (1st week at #1) Mariah Carey

Out of that group, what holds up in a non-ironic way? REM, I think ... and that's about it. (Though Divinyls seemed ironic at the time, so you have an argument there.) Though I did spend spring of my senior year turning up the radio when Silent Lucidity came on.

So.

Of course, I graduated and went off to college. And in September 1991, Nirvana released "Nevermind," and pop music got a little better for awhile. But it was too late for me, DOTDOT. Too late.

Posted by Joel (Joel Mathis) on November 29, 2007 at 11:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Also: The problem with that list -- fall of my freshman year in college, every guy who was picking up a guitar for the first time was playing that damned "More than Words" riff.

Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 1 p.m. (Suggest removal)

My answers might surprise you.

Richard Marx is what he is. Pop music. Good songs. I've never had a problem.

Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston are great talents, and their work holds up despite VH1.

Los Lobos? Their cover of La Bamba was a gift from the musical gods.

The rest is 80fied vapor. I have toyed with giving REM a pass, and I'm working on that.

Not that I'm not guilty. I'll still sing along with Whitesnake, Queensryche, and Extreme when nobody else is in the car. But I would deny it under interrogation.

Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 1:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Re: REM

I don't care for record company pigeonholes, so I refuse conced the genre called "alternative."

But there is often a band whose sales numbers create an opportunity for others to get airplay, and things get better for a while. In the same spirit that I say Led Zeppelin walked through the door that the Beatles opened, I say that Nirvana walked through the door that REM opened.
You know and I know that Nirvana never would have recorded "Stand."

There is that.

Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

concede

Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

to

Godjilla is going to kick my ass.

Posted by OtherJoel (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 1:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I think if Nirvana could have written "Stand," they would have, but REM were (are?) much better songwriters. Nirvana had a definite undercurrent of traditional pop in their music; they just hid it under tons of fuzz. Though the Nirvana version would probably be called "Lie" or "Slouch."

Posted by OtherJoel (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 1:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"I don't care for record company pigeonholes, so I refuse conced the genre called "alternative.""

Now it's indie. Who will be the next Beatles/Zeppelin or REM/Nirvana? Either I'm getting old or today's music is getting kind of stale. Most new music I like is by bands who have been around for ten years or more (e.g. Radiohead).

Posted by DOTDOT (anonymous) on November 29, 2007 at 2:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"Who will be the next Beatles/Zeppelin or REM/Nirvana?"

Oh, I'm sure they are out there. They always have been. I believe it is a new game with the internets and all. Things are shaking up, and something good will come out of it. I think we may not get the focused celebration that a hit song generates. But I spend some time on the youtube, and there is all kinds of good stuff going on.

So the noise may not be the same as when Quiet Riot created the hair band, but we have better access.