Tag: reviews

Who – Who Are You

This song is for Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week, the theme is to find a song that is based on reality. A prompt inspired by Badfinger (Max) of PowerPop. Whoever that crazy guy is. 

Great song by The Who and one of the first Who songs I knew. Keith Moon was not in the best shape by this time, but his drumming on this is still fantastic. The song helped define classic radio along with its siblings Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again. Unlike some 80s synth sounds, these synths of those three songs still sound fresh today.

Pete Townshend wrote it in the aftermath of a meeting with some industry suits, wandered into a Soho pub, ran into some of the Sex Pistols, and came out very drunk with a bruised ego and the chorus to one of The Who’s most iconic late-period tracks. Rock bottom, meet the charts. This song, released in August 1978, was the title track to what would turn out to be Keith Moon’s final album. He died three weeks after its release, and that ghost haunts the band to this day. 

This isn’t the mod, youthful energy of My Generation anymore, it’s the sound of grown men staring into the abyss of their own legend. The Who had spent a decade writing operas, smashing instruments, and becoming arena rock icons. And suddenly they were competing with punk bands they helped inspire.

Townshend once said, Who Are You was a cry of frustration, about the music industry, about the punk movement, about himself. Many of Townsend’s songs are about real-life events.  The song peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100 and #18 in the UK in 1978. The album Who Are You peaked at #2 on the Billboard Album Charts, #2 in Canada, and #6 in the UK. 

Pete Townshend: “I’d like to think that where the song came from wasn’t the feet that I was drunk when I did the demo, but the fact that I was f–king angry with  Allen Klein, and that the song was an outlet for that anger.”

Roger Daltrey: “We were getting incredible accolades from some of the new Punk bands. They were saying how much they loved The Who, that we were the only band they’d leave alive after they’d taken out the rest of the establishment! But I felt very threatened by the Punk thing at first. To me it was like, ‘Well, they think they’re f—ing tough, but we’re f—ing tougher.’ It unsettled me in my vocals. When I listen back to ‘Who Are You?’ I can hear that it made me incredibly aggressive. But that’s what that song was about. Being pissed and aggressive and a c—!”

Who Are You

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?

I woke up in a Soho doorway
A policeman knew my name
He said “You can go sleep at home tonight
If you can get up and walk away”

I staggered back to the underground
And the breeze blew back my hair
I remember throwin’ punches around
And preachin’ from my chair

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
‘Cause I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

I took the tube back out of town
Back to the Rollin’ Pin
I felt a little like a dying clown
With a streak of Rin Tin Tin

I stretched back and I hiccupped
And looked back on my busy day
Eleven hours in the Tin Pan
God, there’s got to be another way

Who are you?
Ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa ooh wa

Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?
Who are you?
Who, who, who, who?

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
‘Cause I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

I know there’s a place you walked
Where love falls from the trees
My heart is like a broken cup
I only feel right on my knees

I spit out like a sewer hole
Yet still receive your kiss
How can I measure up to anyone now
After such a love as this?

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
‘Cause I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)

Band – I Shall Be Released

This song is for Song Lyric Sunday for Jim Adams’s blog. This week’s prompt is a song off a debut album. I picked The Band and their debut album, Music From Big Pink, released in 1968. 

Every once in a while, a song doesn’t just sound like it was written in stone; it feels like it was. I Shall Be Released is one of those songs. That’s the magic of The Band. They could turn a Dylan lyric into a backwoods hymn, all soul and no showbiz.

There is a very solemn song with a religious hymnal feel to it. The song is not commercial, not meant to be a hit, sell a million copies, but just pure music at its best.  There are no pretensions or gimmicks…this is the Band at one of its many peaks.

Richard Manuel, whose voice always sounded like it was teetering on the edge of breaking, whether from emotion, exhaustion, or both, delivers a vocal here that’s just haunting. He makes Dylan’s already powerful lyrics sound like the final words of a man who’s seen too much and still manages to believe that salvation might come… someday.

Bob Dylan wrote this in 1967, but his version was not officially released until 1971 on his Greatest Hits Vol. II album. The Band, which backed up Dylan on his first electric tour, recorded it for Music From Big Pink, their first album. Their version is the most well-known. Bob wrote it after his motorcycle accident in 1966. Some have said the song represents Dylan’s search for personal salvation. 

Everyone under the sun has covered this song, but the Band’s own rendition was released first and is probably the best-known version.

The song was the B side to The Weight released in 1968. Music From The Big Ping peaked at #30 in the Billboard 100 and #18 in Canada. That wasn’t the biggest thing, though…the album helped change the landscape of popular music from the psychedelic harder rock to more earthy roots music.

I Shall Be Released

They say everything can be replaced
They say every distance is not near
So I remember every face
Of every man who put me here

I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released

They say every man needs protection
They say that every man must fall
Yet I swear I see my reflection
Somewhere so high above this wall

I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released

Now, yonder stands a man in this lonely crowd
A man who swears he’s not to blame
All day long I hear him shouting so loud
Just crying out that he was framed

I see my light come shining
From the west down to the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released

…

Cowsills – Cocaine Drain

This is a band I never really thought about posting, although they had some huge hits in the ’60s. This is NOT what I was expecting from the Cowsills.  This song has a Linda Rondstadt/Clapton 1970s feel to it. The album Cocaine Drain Plus 6 was recorded in 1978 but not released until 2008. Paul, John, Barry, Bob, and Susan Cowsill are on this one and worked with Chuck Plotkin. Billy or his mom wasn’t on this album. Susan does most of the singing, and when you hear her grown up…you understand why. 

Susan Cowsill was just a little girl when she joined her brothers in the ’60s. Here she is, just 19 years old, and she belts out this song and others. Like I said, it does have a Ronstadt feel, and she is a very good singer. The band sounds really good. John Hall wrote this song. Critics at the time caught them live playing this song and really liked it. 

Since the band was pigeonholed, they would perform under different names like The Secrets and The Critics in the 1970s. They got together in 1978 after playing in Los Angeles at the time. The album was never completed, and at some point, the master tapes were lost. For almost 30 years, the album existed only as a scratchy acetate. An acetate played like an old 45. They were created for demo or publishing purposes NOT for selling.

In March 2008 a version of the album was finally released, remastered from that acetate under Bob Cowsill’s direction. Several other previously unreleased tracks were included in the 2008 release. After the Cocaine Drain sessions, the Cowsills did some reunion shows in 1979–1980 but returned to their separate careers after that.

Audiophiles here will not be happy, as these are obviously recorded from acetate, and the hisses and pops of any 30-year-old LP are apparent. If they couldn’t get it released when it was recorded, they obviously couldn’t afford high remastering to clean it up, and the value in this release is that we finally get to hear these songs AT ALL. But there are only so many things you can do now, though it probably COULD be cleaned up. I like that the proceeds went straight to the band, as it was released to Apple via their self-owned Robin Records label. It was released as MP3s only. 

They have some good songs on there, and the album is not bad at all. Spotify doesn’t have it, but HERE is a link to the album on YouTube. I added a bonus song called That Particular Way from the same album. 

Cocaine Drain

I remember you,
When you were the talk of town.
You always said,
Hello and goodbye.

You looked me right in the eye.
I could be sure of you,
You’d never lie.
You’re so different now.
Are you going down that Cocaine Drain.

Now you’re up all night (up all night),
Feelin’ like a shining star.
But with the Lord in mind,
Let you forget who you really are (really are).

You’re a fragile thing after all.
Remember that even a heavenly body can fall.
And I’m afraid you’re fallin’, (fallin’)
Falling down that Cocaine Drain.
(I’m afraid, afraid you’re fallin’)
Falling down that Cocaine Drain.
(Cocaine Drain)

Now you’re keeping up,
With some pretty fancy company. (fancy company)
But if things get rough,
You know you can always come to me.
(Come to me)

But please don’t wait too long.
I’ve known a few before you who are already gone.
And I don’t want to see you (I don’t want to see you)
Slipping down that Cocaine Drain.
(Cocaine Drain)

I can’t stand by to see you
Slipping down that Cocaine Drain.
I don’t want to see you
(I don’t want to see you)
Slipping down that –
(I don’t want to see you) Cocaine Drain.
Slipping down that Cocaine Drain.
(I don’t want to see you)
Slipping down that Cocaine Drain.
(I don’t want to see you)
Slipping down that Cocaine Drain.
(I don’t want to see you).

Max’s Drive – In Movie – The Seven-Ups…

I’ve had problems posting this so I’ll try one more time. 

My cousin Ricky let me borrow this movie because he thought I would like it. He was right. It’s described as a crime, action, mystery, and neo-noir ’70s police movie. I would easily put it in the same category as The French Connection and movies like that. Some of the same techniques and backdrops. It was released in 1973, and you can’t get any more early seventies than this movie. 

My uncle was an undercover cop (Fulton was his name) in the ’70s and ’80s, and the movie rings true to some of the stories he told me. In one incident, he was undercover in a restaurant in a drug deal, and someone he knew in real life came up and yelled, “Hey, Fulton!” he had to lay the guy out right there with a punch and pass it off as something else.  I never asked if he was still friends with the guy afterward. It was a dangerous job, and black roses were delivered to his doorstep more than once. 

Philip D’Antoni directed this film. He had produced The French Connection and Bullit. This was his only director credit to his name. Some think it is a follow-up on Scheider’s character of Buddy from The French Connection. It doesn’t matter because it’s strong either way. The movie is not perfect; it has a few disjointed plot points, but it works well. 

It has that grittiness that I love in movies from this period. The realistic feel makes the story so much better because you buy into it. The actors look like everyday people against the backdrop of early 70s New York. When I see some period modern movies try to replicate this look… they usually fail. You won’t find one thing in this movie that is new and shiny. Even the car wash looks grim. 

The Seven Ups has all the earmarks of a 70s Cop film. Corruption, rogue cops, and the mafia all rolled up into one. It has that stark, cold landscape feel from the ’70s. You almost want to slip on a jacket while watching. You also have a hell of a car chase that was in many movies at this time, and this one does not disappoint. If you want a real white knuckle car chase, you just have to see the one in this film. You feel like you’re right in the middle of it.

 Roy Scheider is Buddy and one of a small group of NYC cops with unusual methods, and they are called The Seven-Ups. One of his partners is murdered, and he sets out to find and kill the thugs who were responsible while at the same time discovering that they’re involved in a plan to kidnap mobsters to extort ransom money. 

The movie encompasses all the pitfalls and dangers of police undercover work and the alliances between partners, as well as the relationships and betrayals of informers. The cast is superb, and one of the things that made it even better is none of the actors at the time were big stars. I do like that in some movies because you don’t really associate the actors with other roles. Roy Scheider would soon star in Jaws a couple of years after this movie. 

Plot

The movie follows Buddy Manucci (played by Roy Scheider), a tough New York City detective leading an elite undercover police unit called The Seven-Ups—named after their specialty of catching criminals who receive sentences of seven years or more. The unit operates in the shadows, using unorthodox methods to bring down high-level criminals.

However, their investigation into a series of kidnappings involving Mafia figures takes a dark turn when one of their own is killed, leading Manucci on a personal quest for justice.

The full movie

Max’s Drive-In Movies – Late Night With The Devil

Usually, I only review older movies but this one is right up powerpop.blog’s alley! It’s a 2023 film set in the year 1977. They have the 1970s down…one of the best time-period movies I’ve seen as far as getting the era right. The audience in the movie could have been off a film clip of the Johnny Carson era Tonight Show. This movie marries nostalgia with horror quite nicely. It’s almost like The Exorcist meets Johnny Carson. It will make you uneasy and you have to pay attention because there are a few subplots you can miss if not. Some of it is based on the reception of the 1980 book Michelle Remembers by Canadian Lawrence Pazder. That book helped cause the “Satanic Panic” around that time on talk shows and the public.

It’s about a talk show host Jack Delroy who was a popular DJ in Chicago who got a chance to host a late-night talk show that was going against Johnny Carson. He signed a 5 year deal in 1972 and now in 1977 it’s running out.  A year after the tragic death of Jack’s wife, ratings have plummeted. It’s a “found footage” movie and the footage being a master tape that was never shown again.  Desperate to turn it around, Jack plans a Halloween special like no other, unaware he is about to unleash evil on late-night television.

On Halloween night 1977, Jack is set to host a special live episode featuring an array of guests, including a renowned paranormal expert with a single name, Christou. However, what starts as exploring the supernatural quickly devolves into chaos when a series of unexplained events unfold.

You get to know Jack’s past and about his wife that just passed away from lung cancer. Jack was part of a secret club called The Grove (a reference to the Bohemian Club) that many celebrities and elites joined. That info plays a big part of this movie. Did Jack essentially sacrifice his wife to be popular? It asks the question…what are you prepared to give up for success?

It all starts with Christou picks an audience member and accurately tells her about her son who killed himself. After that, a skeptical but nasty guest named Carmichael the Conjurer starts to say how all supernatural and unusual events are not real.  He offered Christou $100,000 to prove he was not a con man. He books an interview with a parapsychologist and the subject of her recent book, a young teenager who was the sole survivor of a Satanic church’s mass suicide. Naturally, all hell breaks loose when paranormal activity begins wreaking havoc during the show.

The plot blurs the lines between reality and the supernatural, with the audience left questioning what’s real as Jack faces his worst fears live on air. The tension mounts as the show’s studio audience becomes unsettled, mirroring Jack’s descent into madness. The film’s use of practical effects and atmospheric cinematography sells what is happening. 

Horror movies… the one thing that bothers me about most of them are the endings.  This one has an ending with a twist. My only complaint…being the 1970s lover I am…I wish they would have used the same kind of film look the Tonight Show had but the set was great. At the end of the movie you will also hear a song by Flo and Eddie called Keep It Warm.

David Dastmalchian did a great job as Jack Delroy.