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ROCK AND ROLL! => All Them Other Guys => Topic started by: Zzzptm on January 15, 2025, 09:56:11 AM
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What's bigger than a rock, but smaller than a city? The subjects of the songs in this thread!
I'll open with '69 by Deep Purple. It's a song about being cramped up in a tiny tour van and hitting little clubs back in the day. I like this live version because Jon Lord does a throwback to the old Mandrake Root ending that DP used for so many years in their live show, keeping it as an appendage to Space Truckin' even into the MkIV era. There are some other snippets in the medley, quite delightful stuff.
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This was one of the songs I immediately thought of when the topic came up...
Pick #1
New Model Army - Leeds Road 3AM
From their last consistently good album (2000s 'Eight'). A snap shot of a gritty northern town in the UK. Driven by the bass line and drums I really like this one.
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I'm gonna be struggling with this one for sure!
But I'll kick things off with this one from Iron Maiden before someone else picks it up and I'm even more screwed! :D
This is about a very specific road and a very specific place on that road and it's about a hooker.
Not among my favourite tunes by any means but not a bad one either and this live version is pretty good.
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Great songs to kick this thread off with!
Here's a song about houses: Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy. This song was always weird to me...an entire album named Houses of the Holy, and then a new album with a song called Houses of the Holy. It was many years, and the internet, before I learned why.
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For my second pick I'm gonna go with a song about a metaphorical street
Here's DIO and EVIL ON QUEEN STREET
Lock Up The Wolves is my least favourite DIO album mainly because it feels bit cobbled together and it lacks the power and feel of the previous albums and the heaviness and fury of the ones after.
But there are few good tunes on it and luckily for this thread this happens to be one of the good ones. It's got a bluesy tone to it and Ronnie delivers great vocal preformance here albeit bit different from the norm.
Frankly I am not entirely sure this fits the topic as it is NOT about a specific street...although there are several Queen Streets out there and I am sure few of them have some evil on them...
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Good call regarding 22 Acacia Avenue... I was thinking about that one!!
I'll be honest I wasn't really thinking about specific roads and streets, just a general reference to them! So that choice is fine.
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Pick #2
The Clash - White Man in Hammersmith Palais
Silly lyrics but one of my favourite Clash songs off their debut S/T album.
This is about the Palais de Danse in Hammersmith and not the Hammersmith Apollo which is another larger venue.
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Highway to Hell - AC/DC
A love song about a real place, but not the one where the horned dude with the pointed stick conducts business.
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Who knew a song about Freo would be such a great rocker? :smug:
Loved the New Model Army track, had not heard it before. That's why I like these lists!
My second offering is from Canada's answer to Brownsville Station, a little power trio called Rush, maybe you've heard of them? (If only Geddy Lee and Cub Koda could have shared the stage together...)
When I was in Toronto for a conference, the Uber went past Lakeside Park on the way in and I took in the scenes with childish joy and wonderment.
As a bonus, I also walked up Yonge Street. Yes, I was looking for bold Maritimers there, because of SCTV...
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Lakeside Park was also under consideration by moi!!
Pick #3
Thunder - Back Street Symphony
From the 1990 album of the same name. A solid straight forward hard rock group who I thought had some Thin Lizzy connection but I can't find it now! The debut album was rather good, but they went down hill after that, and after buying the fourth album I really thought to myself "why did I bother?" and haven't since!
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Carefree Highway - Gordon Lightfoot
This used to get a lot of airplay 49 years ago, not so much the past 48 of them :)
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For my 3rd pick I'm gonna go to a far away land that has a very special place where people desire to go...
Rainbow - THE TEMPLE OF THE KING
I thought I'd snatch this one quickly before ZZZ takes it away from me!
One of my favourite tunes from the first Rainbow album...the feel of this song is amazing.
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Dagnabbit... crosses TotK off my list! :D
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:sorry:
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Ironically, I wasn't going to go for that one, so you only ninja'd Kilo! :smug:
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This is a place Iron Maiden sang about... a particular pool...
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The Boys Are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy
Maybe a stretch? But it always seemed to me that Dino's Bar & Grill is a central part of the song, and there was some altercation that went down over at Johnny's place. So, I'll throw it out here:
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^^^
That one has reminded me of another song I might add to my list... not a Lizzy one though!
Pick #4
Rush - YYZ
I'm sure I don't need to tell you that YYZ is the airport code for Toronto Pearson International Airport. This is the live version from Exit... Stage Left which includes the drum solo.
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I played the bejeebus out of Exit...Stage Left when it came out.
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"Video unavailable" on ZZz's pick so I don't know which Maiden song it is...
For my fourth pick I'm gonna go with a very specific road that surely holds a very special place in the heart of the man who wrote the song...
This one comes from the second Geezer Butler solo album and it's called TRINITY ROAD!
This isn't among my favourites off the album but it's still a pretty good rocker.
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I'd forgotten about that one, a great choice.
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@Charger - it was Iron Maiden's "Still Life". Ticks me off when "official" channels on YouTube don't show in certain markets when others have no issue with Finnish people seeing them...
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Deep Purple's "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming"
I like to be on the road every now and again, keeps things lively and fresh. But every now and again, there's a stretch that goes on too long, and yet again, I'm missing my wife in a room with a king size bed in a hotel somewhere. That's when I play this song and take the edge off that sadness, because I can share it with the lads in Deep Purple and commiserate.
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Roadhouse Blues - The Doors
A song about a bar, by a road.
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Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming didn't even cross my mind! Damn! Eventhough the song is about being in a hotel room missing your loved ones...good pick there sir!
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Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming didn't even cross my mind! Damn! Eventhough the song is about being in a hotel room missing your loved ones...good pick there sir!
Why thank you!
Roadhouse Blues - The Doors
A song about a bar, by a road.
Question: When you woke up this morning, did you get yourself a beer?
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I was uncertain what the future held for me during the day, so I refrained.
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For #5 I'm gonna go with yet another abstract road...but it's still a road!
DYNAMITE ROAD by ALICE COOPER!
A great little rocker with Alice delivering some killer lyrics with a bit of an Ian Gillan-style vocals.
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Moving right along with my 5th choice...
The Damned - Street of Dreams
1985s Phantasmagoria kicks off with this really good song. I thought there might be more songs by them which fit the category, fortunately this is a pretty good song.
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Heading Out to the Highway - Judas Priest
Off of their 1981 release Point of Entry. Much like the album, I like this tune and feel it is underrated. However, Point of Entry has one of the worst covers. I remember seeing it at the record store and wondering if it was some kind of mistake or joke!
And yeah, this video...first time I saw it was just now when I was looking for a clip to post. Hoo-boy lol
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Those are some bangers from Alice Cooper and The Damned and Judas Priest, let me see what I can find to play here...
The J. Geils Band had a hit with this track, here's the original artists doing their moves with it:
The Showstoppers "Ain't Nothin' But a Houseparty"
It's a song about a party. In a house. :smug:
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My 6th pick is going to be a bit of a horror story about a place that you don't really want to be in after dark.
CATHEDRAL introduces us to the NIGHTMARE CASTLE!
From the absolutely suberb Supernatural Birth Machine album comes this very doomy track about a castle full of ghosts, ghouls and other nightmarish things.
The place we'd all love to spend a night in and see if we'd be able to survive!
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This one's about a place you *want* to be after dark:
Saxon "They Played Rock and Roll"
It's about the insides of those concert halls they played opening for Motorhead in the 79/80 tour of England. Hammersmith Odeon, if you want to pick just one.
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My 6th pick is...
10CC - Rubber Bullets
A little ditty about a "dance" at the local gaol... which becomes a riot but only after the law intervene! I quite like 10CC, but apart from a Greatest Hits album I have nuthin'! This is close to my favourites on the album.
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I like a lot of 10cc's work. Talk about a group chock full of songwriting talent!
Even when half the team split, they still had two heavy hitters and didn't miss a beat.
It was obvious they changed, staying more grounded I think. If Godley & Creme would have
stayed the band would have floated off into outer space.
As for my number 7 pick:
Every neighborhood has one.
Blood in the Playground - Anvil
A turn of the century bit of heavy metal from a band I have a love-hate relationship with.
I first heard about this band in the early 80's and according to the all-knowing wikipedia these guys are still cranking out the tunes.
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For my 7th pick I'll go with an intro song to a fantastic concept album of the same name.
So let SAVATAGE welcome you to these STREETS!
Most often the intro songs to Concept albums are short instrumentals with maybe a short spoken passage but Savatage went to a totally different direction kicking the album off with a near 7 minute epic that doesn't really even begin to tell the story but more like introduces the Streets where the story actually takes place.
Great tune with a suberb vocal preformance from Jon.
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First heard this back in the 1970s and it has been stuck in my head, off and on, ever since. Didn't hurt that Motley Crue did a version of it that was also a hit.
Brownsville Station - "Smokin' in the Boys' Room"
Every time I head to the can, odds are good I'm at least thinking of this song. :smug:
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The third cut on the first side of their 1981 album Killers, my number 8 is: Murders in the Rue Morgue by everyone's fave torture device, Iron Maiden!
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If Vyn is on pick 8 I must have missed a day...
Pick #7
Jimi Hendrix - All Along the Watchtower
My favourite Hendrix track, and once again proves that Bob Dylan can write a good song... just give it to someone else to perform! Not sure this is actually about a "watchtower" as such, but there you go!
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My pick number 8 was actually the very first song I thought about when this thread came about.
A place where you can get some liquids to fuel yourself up and some entertaining characters to boot.
Let DEEP PURPLE escort you into ROSA'S CANTINA
This ofcourse is about a pub called Witch's Leg where the band spent some time way back when.
This song is among my absolute favourites from Purpendicular...hell I think it's a top 10 Deep Purple tune or close by atleast! The groove this one has puts you immediately in a good place...this is a song that always puts a smile on your face!
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Three surprises, songs that I wasn't even thinking about, but they are perfect for the list!
I gotta step up my game for my seventh choice. (Yes, I scroll back and count to make sure I'm on the right number...)
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My thoughts turned to Fela Kuti today and his 30+ minute track, "Unknown Soldier", which is about the way the army stormed his compound and killed his mother in 1977.
Like his other compositions, it is a hypnotic rhythm that draws one in and holds the mind as Fela tells his story.
And I have Vyn to thank for turning me on to Fela Kuti, I'm thankful for that revelation he provided, years ago.
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^^^
Blocked again
Pick #8
Rush - The Garden
The last track from their fabulous final album 2012s Clockwork Angels. I found a live and Geddy's vocals are ok on this one -- he really can't do the old tracks just but this later one is still in his wheelhouse.
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Z's last video is blocked for me as well, but it does have a link in it stating to click to view. For me, it is an age-restricted block, rather than geography. I guess they feel the content is only suitable for folks 21 or older.
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Room of Mirrors - Metallica
Released in 2023, was just listening to this, still not sure what I think. But I know it is about a structure of sorts :)
And it is my number 9:
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^^^^
Still haven't found a song on that album that I like. :lol:
My 9th pick comes from a Megadeth album I don't like...but this is probably the one of only 3 songs I enjoy listening to.
THE KILLING ROAD
This probably might have worked better in the bigger scale thread, but it does talk about hitting the stage as well and that is a smaller place than a city.
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Fela's video is blocked because it contains shocking footage... basically, images of the Army raid on his Kalakuta Republic compound.
My number 8 offering is from the Blue Oyster Cult "The Red and The Black"
All about hornswooping bungo ponies at Frontenac Chateau...
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For my final song of the thread I'll go with a place you really really really REALLY don't want to go.
Rob Zombie's HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES
Based on a movie of the same name...this is a story of the Firefly family and a house that makes the Bates hotel look like a family hangout.
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ooooooooooooooooh nasty! :D
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Number 10:
Rare Earth singing about Tobacco Road. Came out in 1969, this song was ten years old by then. It has been covered by many artists over the years, and I can only imagine that JD Loudermilk (who wrote it) scooped up royalties all over the place. But this is the version I first heard.
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Tobacco Road is a definite standard. My preference is for the Lou Rawls version, but, yeah, it's a solid song.
I have to go back to 1945 for this one - Ella Mae Morse doing "The House of Blue Lights". It's definitely an early early early rock and roll song and contains what might be the first recorded use of the term, "homie". It's a real boogie-woogie rhythm & blues treat. It's also been done by hosts of other artists, but my heart belongs to this version from '45.
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Forgot to post yesterday!!
Pick #9
Big Country - Chester's Farm
Anti-vivisection song from the album Buffalo Skinners. I almost forgot about this one, one of the best Big Country songs.
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I thought I'd have a little fun with my last pick... I have the album but I doubt I've played it this century!!
Deicide - Carnage in the Temple of the Damned
I probably should give the album a spin again. Their S/T debut from 1990
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I'm gonna toss couple honorable mentions as well....
I thought I was really gonna struggle with this one but in the end I managed to get more than the 10 needed...
Candlemass - Temple Of The Dead
I thought one mystical Temple song would be enough.
Megadeth - Burning Bridges
I was thinking about this but since it's about figurative Bridges and not actual bridges I left it out...this is probably my favourite Megadeth ballad!
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I was about to post another but I did a count, hey, I got 10 in there! :D
Honorable mentions:
The Coasters - Smokey Joe's Cafe
Marty Robbins - El Paso (which is where Deep Purple got their Rosa's Cantina reference)
The Orlons - South Street
The Robins (Coasters by another name...) - Riot in Cell Block #9
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I had considered Burning Bridges and decided against it for the same reasons as Charger. I also considered South Street but decided against it because I figured Z would post it.
I did not consider Deicide's Carnage in the Temple of the Damned because I had never heard of it before Kilo posted it :)