dead Chuck Berry

[maryportfuncity 10,639]

Correction: He's booked to come to Maryport. Whether or not he shows up on stage depends on his being paid, upfront, in cash.

 

A (late) friend did a tour with Mr. Berry, and at all times had to wear a large badge emblazoned with "Chucks' Slave" He had a few tales about shows being blown out due to lack of hard dollars upfront.

He's coming to Maryport.

 

 

 

Either way, in famously reactionary West Cumbria it is true to say that the main attractions at the annual Blues Festival are a convicted black pervert and the famously gay and effete Marc Almond.

 

f**k sake, why can't they listen to local opinion and book Motorhead?

[TAFKAG 70]

the main attractions at the annual Blues Festival are a convicted black pervert and Marc Almond.

Would that be Alabama blues harp legend Swallowin' Marc Almond?

[Lard Bazaar 3,799]

the main attractions at the annual Blues Festival are a convicted black pervert and Marc Almond.

Would that be Alabama blues harp legend Swallowin' Marc Almond?

 

Jesus - if I'd had my tea yet it would be all over my keyboard.

[CaptainChorizo 1,977]

According to his website he has no concerts scheduled past May 2012. I wonder if he is winding down his tour career like this cause of health reasons.

[wildstorm 297]

Turns 86 today and is still performing concerts (including one last night). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has a week-long celebration of Chuck Berry's career, capping off this weekend with another live performance by Chuck himself.

 

Suffice to say, he's quite active, may not be a good qualifier for DL 2013.

[Guest Guest]

Chuck Berry says he's nearing the end.. http://thecelebrityc...g-days-are-over

[Youwanticewiththat 611]

Chuck Berry says he's nearing the end.. http://thecelebrityc...g-days-are-over

hardly sounds as if he's about to roll over, beethoven.

[JR976evil 905]

Chuck Berry says he's nearing the end.. http://thecelebrityc...g-days-are-over

 

Just once, why don't you try actually reading an article before you post it?

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

More to the point, do we think rock is dead? The charts today are full of dance/rap/hip-hop and boy bands. The only rock bands still capable of filling gigantic stadiums are older acts like U2. There isn't much coming up with any lasting influence.

 

This Australian music journo argues that Smells Like Teen Spirit was the last song by an underground/alternative band to become a mainstream hit.

 

I am certainly no expert on music but it seems the most interesting things happening in the rock/pop world these days are by folk and "anti-folk" acts like Regina Spector and the Mountain Goats but these guys aren't really crossing over into the mainstream.

 

So has Chuck Berry outlived the movement he helped to spawn?

[The Dead Cow 620]

More to the point, do we think rock is dead? The charts today are full of dance/rap/hip-hop and boy bands. The only rock bands still capable of filling gigantic stadiums are older acts like U2. There isn't much coming up with any lasting influence.

 

Rock music is not dead, it is dying slowly, and by slowly i mean it could take up to a good 30 years to 'die'. The thing is i just don't see the charts moving from dance music and boy bands and all sorts of crap like that, which is a shame because i love rock music whilst i loathe dance music, It will be a shame when Chuck Berry dies because he is a great Rock 'N' Roll icon.

[Magere Hein 1,400]

More to the point, do we think rock is dead? The charts today are full of dance/rap/hip-hop and boy bands. The only rock bands still capable of filling gigantic stadiums are older acts like U2. There isn't much coming up with any lasting influence.

 

Rock music is not dead, it is dying slowly, and by slowly i mean it could take up to a good 30 years to 'die'. The thing is i just don't see the charts moving from dance music and boy bands and all sorts of crap like that, which is a shame because i love rock music whilst i loathe dance music, It will be a shame when Chuck Berry dies because he is a great Rock 'N' Roll icon.

 

In this respect I like to misquote Frank Zappa: "Rock is not dead, it just smells funny."

 

It's difficult to predict musical fashion, in the '80s I thought that rap and hiphop would die in a few years. It's still here, much to my regret. I know enough young'uns who like rock, either to listen to or to play, or both. I guess rock'll be around for a while, at least as long as old farts as me are alive and well.

 

regards,

Hein

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

More to the point, do we think rock is dead? The charts today are full of dance/rap/hip-hop and boy bands. The only rock bands still capable of filling gigantic stadiums are older acts like U2. There isn't much coming up with any lasting influence.

 

Rock music is not dead, it is dying slowly, and by slowly i mean it could take up to a good 30 years to 'die'. The thing is i just don't see the charts moving from dance music and boy bands and all sorts of crap like that, which is a shame because i love rock music whilst i loathe dance music, It will be a shame when Chuck Berry dies because he is a great Rock 'N' Roll icon.

 

In this respect I like to misquote Frank Zappa: "Rock is not dead, it just smells funny."

 

It's difficult to predict musical fashion, in the '80s I thought that rap and hiphop would die in a few years. It's still here, much to my regret. I know enough young'uns who like rock, either to listen to or to play, or both. I guess rock'll be around for a while, at least as long as old farts as me are alive and well.

 

regards,

Hein

 

Yes, i guess what I am saying though is that there doesn't seem to be much innovation in the area and what innovation there is doesn't seem to be crossing over to the mainstream. Obviously one factor in this is the monopoly on the charts by the big US record companies who obviously find dance, boy bands, Britney Spears, etc, easier to market.

 

The internet has to be factored in too, though but I am not sure if many acts distributing their music through alternative channels will ever gain more than a cult following or be one-hit wonders.

 

 

I mentioned folk types like Regina Spektor and the Mountain Goats above simply because I was thinking along the lines of each generation's music being a reaction against the last. Since we have had many years of Afro-American rappers now, if rock does make a comeback, I predict the next generation will latch onto white folk singers or something like that again. It has been a long time since the folk singer-songwriters were at their height.

 

Anyway, it is interesting to reflect upon this as we reach the 50th anniversary of the early Beatles releases.

[time 8,586]

More to the point, do we think rock is dead? The charts today are full of dance/rap/hip-hop and boy bands. The only rock bands still capable of filling gigantic stadiums are older acts like U2. There isn't much coming up with any lasting influence.

 

This Australian music journo argues that Smells Like Teen Spirit was the last song by an underground/alternative band to become a mainstream hit.

 

I am certainly no expert on music but it seems the most interesting things happening in the rock/pop world these days are by folk and "anti-folk" acts like Regina Spector and the Mountain Goats but these guys aren't really crossing over into the mainstream.

 

So has Chuck Berry outlived the movement he helped to spawn?

If you're thinking rock is dead because of what's in the charts, you're using the wrong criterion by which to judge. The charts have never been rock-oriented; indeed its a novelty when a rock act hits the charts.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Well, the last time I really listened to the top 40 seriously was when I was a youngster back in 1992. Here are the Aussie charts for that year. Guns 'n' Roses, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Cochrane and Pearl Jam all feature, along with James Blundell and James Reyne (country rock) and Roxette (at the softer, more commercial end of the spectrum). As you can see, some of these are the grunge bands going mainstream.

 

The previous year (1991) had U2, Jimmy Barnes, Metallica and more Roxette and Guns 'n' Roses. Hence, the charts were fairly rock-oriented back in those days. (In the years immediately after that, came the likes of Oasis.)

 

Here is the 2011 top 100. I am definitely not familiar with all the acts there but none stand out to me as rock-oriented performers. As you say, though, I am sure there are still lots of kids playing rock music in their proverbial garages and on the pub circuit but are any breaking through to wider audiences? Of those not breaking through, is there anything interesting going on that the big record companies are ignoring for being "too uncommercial" or is the genre completely exhausted of ideas?

[Guest American Sports Fan]

Maybe it's an Australian thing, Davey. I just took a look at the American top 100 singles list for 1992, and it's loaded with rap,R&B, and adult contemporary stuff. Furthermore, all of the songs by rockers that are up in the top 30 (by the Chili Peppers, Mr. Big, GNR, etc.), while they're good songs, they're all ballads. The hardest rocking song in the top 50 is "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and that only managed to reach #32. 1991's US chart is even worse - there are plenty of groups with impeccable rock credentials (Scorpions, Queensryche, Extreme, Lenny Kravitz, Warrant...), but again ALL of their songs on the chart are soft ballads. The closest thing I can find to a hard rocking song anywhere on the '91 chart is Tesla's cover version of "Signs," and even that one's not that hard.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Thanks American Sports Fan. Very interesting. It seems that mainstream Australia embraced American hard rock and grunge more than the American public itself did. Looking at the US top 100 list for 1991, it seems you guys liked the Divinyls and INXS more than we did though, so I suppose that is a fair swap.

 

Overall, it seems the highest ranking songs that even remotely rocked for the US was Roxette's Joyride for 1991 and Cochrane's Life is a Highway for 1992. Both of these are obviously at the extremely commercial end of the spectrum (I have to confess I do have a bit of a soft spot for good ol' Roxette, though - put it down as a guilty pleasure).

 

EDIT: Just looking at the 1992 US chart again, my biggest surprise is that U2 are ranked so lowly for a mainstream rock band.

[angryGreatness 96]

Thanks American Sports Fan. Very interesting. It seems that mainstream Australia embraced American hard rock and grunge more than the American public itself did. Looking at the US top 100 list for 1991, it seems you guys liked the Divinyls and INXS more than we did though, so I suppose that is a fair swap.

 

Overall, it seems the highest ranking songs that even remotely rocked for the US was Roxette's Joyride for 1991 and Cochrane's Life is a Highway for 1992. Both of these are obviously at the extremely commercial end of the spectrum (I have to confess I do have a bit of a soft spot for good ol' Roxette, though - put it down as a guilty pleasure).

 

EDIT: Just looking at the 1992 US chart again, my biggest surprise is that U2 are ranked so lowly for a mainstream rock band.

 

Another important point is that even when a rock song hits the mainstream, it's rarely a good one. Every member of Nirvana hated Smells Like Teen Spirit, Cobain called it a bad attempt at trying to sound like Pixies.

[Bibliogryphon 9,569]

Chuck Berry to be awarded the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm in August.

[Dr. Zorders 1,271]

Or as it's also known, the "Quick let's give him something before he snuffs it" award.

 

Previous recipients include this guy:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-Yo_Ma

 

What an idiot. Doesn't he realise it's Yo Ma-Ma not Yo-Yo Ma? He has no grasp of American humour at all.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

Chuck Berry hasn't played a gig for three months. He says he's "taking a break for winter".

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

Chuck Berry hasn't played a gig for three months. He says he's "taking a break for winter".

 

 

He's obviously got no particular place to go and perform a gig.

[Guest Guest]

 

Chuck Berry hasn't played a gig for three months. He says he's "taking a break for winter".

 

 

He's obviously got no particular place to go and perform a gig.

It's funny you should say that because on e of Chuck Berrys soings was titled No Particular place to Go !

[Toast 16,129]

 

 

Chuck Berry hasn't played a gig for three months. He says he's "taking a break for winter".

 

 

He's obviously got no particular place to go and perform a gig.

 

 

It's funny you should say that because on e of Chuck Berrys soings was titled No Particular place to Go !

 

Nothing gets past you, does it.

[Cat O'Falk 3,290]

 

 

 

Chuck Berry hasn't played a gig for three months. He says he's "taking a break for winter".

 

 

He's obviously got no particular place to go and perform a gig.

 

 

It's funny you should say that because on e of Chuck Berrys soings was titled No Particular place to Go !

 

Nothing gets past you, does it.

 

 

Johnny, be good and bugger off, there's a good chap.

[Rotten Ali 600]

 

 

 

 

Chuck Berry hasn't played a gig for three months. He says he's "taking a break for winter".

 

 

He's obviously got no particular place to go and perform a gig.

It's funny you should say that because on e of Chuck Berrys soings was titled No Particular place to Go !

Nothing gets past you, does it.

Johnny, be good and bugger off, there's a good chap.

Well, winter is over and they are eating outside in St Louis, and there is still no sign of any upcoming Chuch Berry gig at Berrbury Hill venue in their Duck Room. With the passing of BB King the other day, my guess is it's all over bar the burying...