While Uncle Joe is best known as one of America's top Classic Rock historians, throughout his 34-year career he's always been acutely aware of current trends in the music industry. Indeed, Classic Rock itself was the finest new music of its day, composed and performed by artists at their creative peak. For a scholarly insight into today's trends, J.B. presents Rave's Raves.
Rave's Raves are composed by Bruce Ravid, a veteran of Capitol Record's A&R Department and in no way reflect the official viewpoint of Uncle Joe, his staff or management. They are written from Rave's industry viewpoint, originally for friends within the music business, but now shared with the world. New editions appear in April/May, August/September, and December with occasional updates in between. Enjoy!
July 2003
***RAVE'S RAVES #17.1***
RAVE'S FAVES (on the air since May 1)
Rooney, Yeah Yeah Yeahs ("Date"), Velvet Revolver, Good Charlotte ("Girls"), Fischerspooner ("15th"), Goldfrapp (various), Death In Vegas (various).
Rooney's "Blueside" song sounds a bit like something from the Beach Boys, and it's so infectious that it might become an alternative hit despite how sweet it sounds. MTV and MTV2 are all over it, and KROQ is playing it as well. Velvet Revolver are the G 'n R guys, fronted by Scott Weiland. Word from their L.A. show was that Axel was hardly missed. England's Goldfrap has a great CD. She's got a sound similar to Garbage, only more electronic. Death In Vegas, not to be confused with Dirty Vegas but also from the U.K., has a fine electonica album as well. New honorable mention rock songs come from NOFX, The Used, and the Dropkick Murphys.
By "Rave" standards, the last four months have been light in exciting new rock. I'm thrilled to see the recent domination of rock albums on the national charts. Unfortunately, many of the current leaders aren't in the vein of melodic, futuristic music that I like to rave about. As much as I respect Radiohead's integrity and their success, I just can't get into them as much as I'd like... You can add me to the list of people who really like the new White Stripes CD... Awhile back, I said that with continued hits, Coldplay should become "huge" with their next album. Guess what? With continued airplay and touring, they're huge NOW, having surpassed 2,000,000 in sales and having drawn 34,000 fans to their sold out Hollywood Bowl concerts... What I've heard of the new Dandy Warhols is a major letdown. With Duran Duran's Nick Rhodes producing, they've developed a softer, synthesized sound that just doesn't hit the mark. While I give them points for artistic independence, it's such a shame, as radio is now much closer to the sound of their last album. With less of a departure, this band could have exploded.
WE WILL ROCK YOU
I had the opportunity to catch the Queen musical "We Will Rock You" while I was in London. It was great fun, with somewhat of a plot and a truly super cast. The lead characters are known as Galileo Figuro and Scaramoosh. This show is very popular, and I hear that it will come to the U.S. next year and hit Broadway in 2005. While it won't go down as one of the great plays of all time, if you're a Queen fan with any appreciation of musicals, I recommend it.
80'S COLLEAGUES
Iron Maiden's new album will be released in early September. Following their year off, I can tell you that the record is as energetic as ever. Maiden are currently playing to over 700,000 people on their European tour, and they'll hit North America later this summer. Singer Bruce Dickenson says he "worked" during the band's vacation. He flew 737's and 757's for a commercial charter company! You may have heard that Eminem vetoed Weird Al's proposal for a parody video. I would have loved to have seen that clip. Will Slim Shady ever lighten up? Kraftwerk are back with a single that is a theme from this year's Tour de France.
Well, that does it until later this summer, when Raves #18 will be posted. Your e-mailed comments are always welcome. If you do write, please refer to this column in the subject line to ensure that your message isn't prematurely deleted as spam. Have a great summer, and as always...
RAVE ON!!!
April 2003
***RAVE'S RAVES #17***
RAVE'S FAVES (on the air)
White Stripes ("7," "Button"), RAVEonettes, Hot Hot Heat, Pete Yorn, Blur, Queens of the Stone Age ("Flow"), The Coral, No Doubt ("Running")
The White Stripes CD is over 314,000 units in the first four weeks following release, and this bodes well for those who are hoping that the "garage" genre has staying power. Hot Hot Heat's infectious "Bandages" continues to garner top 5 requests at KROQ. It's great to have Blur back after four years. "Crazy Beat," produced by Fatboy Slim, has a new punk feel but is apparently atypical of what the new album sounds like. As vocalist Damon Albarn says, melody is a constant for them and I'm excited about hearing the new CD. The Coral are a young, bouncy pop band out of Liverpool. They're great for college and underground programming, but seem too pop for mainstream alternative. No Doubt now have their 5th "fave" from their most recent album, and that's a record.
It has been over a year since I've designated CD's that have caught my attention. Discs by The Strokes, The Hives, and Spoon were leaders for me last year. Also, Basement Jaxx have a good CD with a song called "Do Your Thing," which is about as much of a party song as a tune can be. Of the 2003 releases by newer bands, I'm liking Hot Hot Heat, The Libertines, Fischerspooner, and The Datsuns. My favorite release of the last few years was by the Dandy Warhols, and their new one will drop by June. I'll also mention that I quite liked the Yeah Yeah Yeahs debut last year, and their new full-length disc has created quite a buzz.
LIVE
It's interesting how early in the year tickets went on sale for the major summer rock tours. Promoters must be very nervous about the economy. Meanwhile, I've attended some interesting shows. The Foos are very strong and will please fans of the band. The Vines had very poor sound on stage, which led to a show, which(hopefully) was one of their worst. The RAVEonettes have great energy, play well, and show potential. The Music, who have been a major buzz band out of the U.K., are very progressive if not song-oriented, and they are also strong players.
80'S COLLEAGUES
Iron Maiden are back, following a year off, and will be headlining the huge Donnington Festival in the U.K. on May 31. Look for an extensive tour and a new CD. Weird Al is also emerging from a year's hiatus, and his new album is called "Poodle Hat." Knack singer Doug Fieger is working at his home studio with Cars guitarist Elliot Easton and Blondie drummer Clem Burke. What an interesting combo. As of this writing, they've come up with three cool songs.
...AND...
I was fortunate enough to be on hand to personally present the second annual Bruce Ravid Music Industry Award to Anna Filipek, who is Music Director for WSUM at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (my alma mater). This award is given to the station staffer who puts the most energy into the station's musical direction as well as into relations with the record community. Congrats once again to Anna, who is doing a tremendous job for the station... Tom Teuber, PD of WMMM in Madison, tells a story that illustrates how rough the current record industry slump can be on people. The Epic promotion guy out of Chicago was on his way to cover the Tori Amos show in Mad-town. The poor dude was called en route on his cell phone and was instructed to turn around and go home. He was one of the 1,000 people being laid off by Sony Music... The night before the war began, I was flying from Dallas to LA, next to a 14 year old guy from suburban Dallas. His favorite bands are Blink 182 and Nirvana. I asked him what kids in his class had to say about Iraq. His reply: "Most kids in my class like rap."
On that note, I hope the world is treating you better right now. I'll be back in June. Meanwhile, I hope you have enjoy your spring and continue to...