Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Let me file that under fuck it.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

Consistently wrong since 2002

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Can we lighten up on the doomsday scenarios?

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

I desperately hope that, yet again, I am wrong.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

This fight is for everything.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

I conferred with the team and they all agree – still not tired of winning!

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires Republicans to act in good faith.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open thread

Reader Interactions

122Comments

  1. 1.

    jon

    Dread Zeppelin had an Elvis impersonator sing before a reggae band doing Led Zep songs. It worked.

  2. 2.

    Irish Steel

    I was going to call my 2nd album Houses Of The Holy Moly but someone had already beat me to it.

  3. 3.

    beltane

    In Vermont, there used to be an all-lesbian Led Zeppelin cover band called Lez Zeppelin.

  6. 6.

    James Gary

    And of course this thread would be incomplete without a mention of the B*tthole Surfers’ album “Hairway To Steven.”

  7. 7.

    Shana

    @kindness: Not a questions of hipness I suspect as much as just someone who wasn’t tethered to AM radio in the early to mid 70’s. There, I just outed myself as an old.

  10. 10.

    jamick6000

    there was a post earlier about Senator Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) retiring. This could be decent news in one way because it gives my glorious Senator, Sherrod Brown, the chance to become the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. (Johnson is the current chairman.)

    Depending on how that plays out, it’s possible that noted bank-basher Brown could take over the chairman’s gavel. One industry source said it was “very likely” Brown would take control of the committee in 2014 if Democrats retain control of the chamber.

  11. 11.

    Thoughtcrime

    Not a play on the band name, but Little Roger and the Goosebumps recorded “Gilligan’s Island (Stairway)”, a song combining the lyrics to the theme song of the television show Gilligan’s Island with the music of “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg-MuLvAQe4

  14. 14.

    hilts

    A friend of mine once said

    I had a friend with a similar idea, but I thought the band’s name was too long. He wanted to call it Talking Interstellar Overdrive Blues. They would alternate between Bob Dylan style covers of Pink Floyd songs and Pink Floyd style covers of Bob Dylan songs.

  15. 15.

    attica

    I dunno; I think it would be funnier to do LZ versions of Bread songs. Robert Plant-esque wailing through “Make it With You”? Come on: gold.

  16. 16.

    Amir Khalid

    This is the hardest rocking number I can remember from the Bread canon. So I guess doing Led Zeppelin would not have been beyond them. I can actually imagine Led Zep in a folkish, third-album mood having a go at something like this.

  18. 18.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    I would like to hear LZ rockin’ out a version of Precious and Few.

  19. 19.

    jon

    @raven: El Vez was an amazing performer as well. ‘En El Barrio’ remains among my favorite live performances of all time. I’ve seen Leonard Cohen, REM, Lux Interior, Tom Waits even. But El Vez knew how to make a classic seem new again with the magic of something or other.

  20. 20.

    gbear

    My favorite potential band name was ‘Baby Cheeses’. The pedal steel player I was working with thought that was the best band name ever.

  21. 21.

    J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford

    @jon:

    I remember Dread Zeppelin from when I used to listen to Kevin Matthews and Jonathon Brandmeier on the Loop in Chicago.

  22. 22.

    Mark

    I heard back in the old days Mark Knopfler and Chris Rea got together and had a great run as Dire Rea.

  26. 26.

    gbear

    The Current’s (MPR) morning show has a segment about rock history every morning. Stairway to Heaven has some sort of anniversary today but I can’t remember what it was. They said that if every radio play of Stairway to Heaven was lined up end to end, it would be playing for over 44 years.

  27. 27.

    SFAW

    @Amir Khalid:

    Seeing “hardest rocking number” and “Bread” in the same sentence, without some kind of cosmic separator/disclaimer between them, makes my head a-splode.

    Kinda like “rational” and “wingnut” or “juggernaut” and “Mets.”

  29. 29.

    MattF

    Something I learned today… I’d known that ‘asperin’ was Bayer’s brand-name for acetylsalicylic acid. What I’d never known is that Bayer’s loss of the brand-name was a provision of the Treaty of Versailles– confiscation of German property by the Entente Powers as reparations for WWI. Just amazin’.

  32. 32.

    FlipYrWhig

    @FlipYrWhig: Sing along! “Water, water everywhere / And all the boards did shrink / Water, water everywhere / And not a drop to drink.”

  33. 33.

    Michael Bloom

    At one point I dreamed up a band called the Dead Kennys: mostly a Dead Kennedys tribute band (I was really looking forward to jamming out on “Police Truck” and “Halloween”) but interspersed with South Park references, especially those horrible songs Cartman used to sing.

  34. 34.

    eemom

    My daughter saw Bread on my Itunes and remarked, “Don’t ever again dare to make fun of the name of any band I listen to.”

  35. 35.

    The Other Chuck

    @Xantar:

    Also, gays didn’t exist when the framers wrote the Constitution. They came into being in the 1960s.

    Holy shit, I thought you were being facetious. He actually said that. Poe’s Law in action, folks.

  38. 38.

    LanceThruster

    I buy that for a dollar!

    Can’t be any worse than their pretentious liner notes for Led Zeppelin I (though the music itself was pretty good before every high school headbanger overplayed them and worshipped them like the godhead).

  42. 42.

    Haydnseek

    @gbear: “If all the girls I knew who loved ‘Stairway to Heaven’ in college were laid end to end, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.” (With apologies to the great Dorothy Parker.)

  44. 44.

    ? Martin

    Fucking teatards have broken fucking satire. They should be droned out of existence for that crime.

    Listening to Radiohead Live from the Basement The King of Limbs. Fantastic stuff.

  45. 45.

    burnspbesq

    @eemom:

    Good thing she didn’t see the Flying Burrito Brothers.

    It is indisputable that the music our generation played to piss our parents off is much better than the music our kids play to piss us off. The Who vs. Nicki Minaj? Puh-leeze.

  47. 47.

    ? Martin

    @burnspbesq: True that. My kids music is, at worst, just bad music. However, my music pisses my kids off. I’m okay with that – they’ll come around.

  49. 49.

    mikej(droid)

    @FlipYrWhig: You can sing all Emily Dickinson to the tune of The Yellow Rose of Texas. Go on, try it.
    Because I could not stop for Death- He kindly stopped for me- The Carriage held but just Ourselves- And Immortality.

    It also works with the G’s island theme.

  50. 50.

    gbear

    Stairway to Heaven was a song one of my bands pretty much had to cover. Our guitarist would always sing ‘..and she’s buying a sofa from Levitz’. We got really sick of the song.

  55. 55.

    Hill Dweller

    @? Martin:

    Listening to Radiohead Live from the Basement The King of Limbs. Fantastic stuff.

    The album, while still good, is a bit “cold”, which was probably intentional. Conversely, the live versions of the songs, which have a bit more immediacy, are even better.

    Love me some Radiohead.

  57. 57.

    LanceThruster

    @gbear:

    I remember reading some long-winded piece explaining how the name captures the light and airy esoteric nature of the band and their heavy rock stylings or some such blather. If I didn’t get it from the back cover or the sleeve, I wonder if it was from a Creem or Rolling Stone blurb? I was sure it was when I picked up the album (maybe a later disc?).

  58. 58.

    MoeLarryAndJesus

    A friend of mine once said he’d like to start a band called Bread Zeppelin. It would do David Gates-style covers of Led Zeppelin songs.

    So he’s not your friend anymore, right?

  59. 59.

    FlipYrWhig

    @mikej(droid): right, because they’re all structured like ballads and/or hymns. So you can do Dickinson to “Oh my darling Clementine” and “Scarborough Fair” and “Amazing Grace” too.

  62. 62.

    LanceThruster

    All kidding aside, I really enjoy most the “Unplugged” sessions I’ve heard artists do. Truly unique arrangements quite often.

  64. 64.

    Amir Khalid

    @LanceThruster:
    The story I heard about the origin of “Led Zeppelin” is that John Entwhistle and Keith Moon were thinking about forming their own band. Depending on which version one hears of the story, either Moon came up with this name for the band, or he figured the Moon-Entwhistle outfit would go down like a lead zeppelin. When they decided to stay in The Who, they let Page use the band name.

  65. 65.

    ? Martin

    @Hill Dweller: Agreed. I’ve not listened to the studio album since I got this. It’s vastly better in every way – much more depth. The two drummers is certainly noticed. Morning Mr. Magpie is just amazing here – the studio version is much flatter.

    But then all of my favorite Radiohead versions are live, starting with the two that got me hooked on them – when they were on SNL in 2000. Foo Fighters are the same way for me – their studio versions have no energy to them. So, I have a lot of boots…

  66. 66.

    Suffern ACE

    @burnspbesq: Bah. Lady Gaga is the new David Bowie and Nicki Manaj is the new Moby Grape. And Bruno is going through the early “I wanna hold your hand” phase of what will turn out to be a beatlesque songwriting explosion in a year or two.

  73. 73.

    LanceThruster

    @Amir Khalid:

    Thanks for a cool bit of trivia. Musical taste is like taste in food. I would no more trash someone else’s preferences than I would arguing against someone disliking what I like.

    I just like making noise. When I did a search to try to back-up me claim, I saw a comment by one of the bandmembers that made sense.

    “If the Stones were going to be the new Chuck Berry we would be the new Howlin’ Wolf” (quote from memory).

  74. 74.

    MikeJ

    There was a band when I was in HS or college, I think it was the Voodoo Village People, who used to do Sweet Home ala Freebird, the words to Freebird to the tune of Sweet Home Alabama.

  75. 75.

    raven

    @LanceThruster: I got a bootleg copy of American Hot Wax yesterday and was happy how well the film held up. Even the not so hot performances of Chuck and Jerry Lee were good to see.

    Chuck played this gig in Decatur,Ill in the early 70’s. He came out and said there wasn’t enough dough for him to play. We Champaign hippies had our Cat Diesel hats on so we collected up. Fucker never saw a dime of that!

  77. 77.

    Cassidy

    LOL…all the olds are saying they’re music is better.

    “Back in my day, we stole music from black performers and repackaged it as rock n roll. Now where’s my onion and my belt.”

  78. 78.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    I got to start my day by disposing of a dead mouse, which made me late for my dentist’s appointment, which made me late for work. So grumpy day all around.

  80. 80.

    Amir Khalid

    Whose is the better cover of Stairway To Heaven, Dolly Parton’s or Pat Boone’s?

  83. 83.

    Sly

    Oral arguments for Hollingsworth v. Perry (Prop 8 Case) are out. Audio here, transcript here.

    Shorter version: Sotomayor pummeled petitioner’s counsel on classification (IOW, the pro-Prop 8 lawyer had to say, flat out, that homosexuality wasn’t an immutable characteristic). Kennedy wrung his hands about it (again). Kagan absolutely demolished the procreative interest argument, with an assist from Ginsburg and Breyer.

    Scalia, being a troll, had a small tantrum on gay adoption, in order to help refine the argument of petitioner’s counsel, and a lengthy tantrum on the irrelevant question of “when” banning same-sex marriage became an equal protection violation. Alito seemed primarily focused on the questions of standing and scope (i.e., he wasn’t hospitable to the notion that the issues here were specific to California, but none of the justices were, to be honest). Roberts tried to play the umpire, and was somewhat successful. Thomas said nothing.

  86. 86.

    Hill Dweller

    @? Martin: Have you seen their live version of Amnesiac for French TV in 2001?

    It’s very hard to pick just one, but that might be my favorite live Radiohead performance. The live version of In Limbo is especially great.

  87. 87.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @J.A.F. Rusty Shackleford:

    Ah, Chicago radio deejays — the only ones who ever managed to force the cancellation of a Major League Baseball game.

    Though I think it was Steve Dahl and Garry Meiers who did that, not Brandmeier.

  89. 89.

    drkrick

    Not Zep, but the “Green Acres” theme words fit nicely over the music of “Purple Haze.” First people I heard do it were the New Grass Revival, but I have no idea if it was their idea.

  92. 92.

    ? Martin

    @ranchandsyrup: That’s the one. Took me ages to find it online. Found it on a Chinese web site some years ago.

    @Hill Dweller: No, but I’ll definitely track that one down. I doubt I’ll need to go to China for that one, though.

  96. 96.

    LanceThruster

    @raven:

    Wasn’t that the joke from a movie line?

    Chuck Berry saying, “Rock and roll has done a lot for me, I guess I can do this for rock and roll.” when he was adamant about delivering only that which he was paid for considering how often he was short changed by promoters.

    I still remember the arguments between Chuck and Keith Richards (was it “Hail, Hail, Rock & Roll”?) about the proper sound mix for the movie audio. Chuck felt he knew best but the Stones made “Satisfaction” a rock standard by making sure it kicked ass by testing it through shitty AM radio speakers.

  99. 99.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @LanceThruster:

    Chuck felt he knew best but the Stones made “Satisfaction” a rock standard by making sure it kicked ass by testing it through shitty AM radio speakers.

    And testing it through shitty AM radio speakers in the ’60s was okay, because, well, nearly everyone who heard the song for the first time in the ’60s heard it through shitty AM speakers. That didn’t, down the road, make Keith Richards another Alan Parsons.

  104. 104.

    LanceThruster

    Gram Parsons knew the Stones had a good feel for country for a bunch of Brits. I actually like Country Honk much better than Honky Tonk Women for some reason. There’s a few Stones mega hits that leave me cold.

  106. 106.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @LanceThruster:

    Whether it was a bit off or not, when you’re talking bout a guy who is arguably the single most important contributor to the fundamental sound of the genre, a guy who was ripped off not just by promoters but also by record companies and other artists, you let him have the final say on the audio mixing of a film devoted to him.

    IMO, anyway. And with that, heigh ho, heigh ho…

  107. 107.

    LanceThruster

    @cleek:

    The doc “Crossfire Hurricane” reinvigorated my love of it from seeing those sweet faced choir kids singing so earnestly about heroin addiction. Plus, I’ve been fortunate to see the evolution of live versions (slow, fast, slow again) through their various tours. I feel that way though towards “Love in Vain.” I’d highly recoomend the disc “Paint It Blue” of Stones tribute covers by House of Blues musicians. The version there of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is truly inspired.

    I will say that I was quite relieved when the Stones quit opening every goddamn live set with “Start Me Up.”

  109. 109.

    Mnemosyne

    @Elizabelle:

    Sellers has a small part in it — the real star is Sterling Hayden. Sellers plays a demagogue in Christmas Future.

    If you like Rod Serling (or his equally talky modern-day equivalent, Aaron Sorkin), you will love the movie. If you like more subtlety in your UN-sponsored TV movies, you may not like it.

    I like both Serling and unsubtle TV movies, so I really liked it.

  110. 110.

    fuckwit

    OK this marriage thing. It’s starting to piss me off. It’s so irritating to see wingnuts fighting so hard to prevent gay people from getting married.

    I’m straight, and I can’t fucking stand marriage. There’s nothing to “defend” there. I think the whole idea is stupid.

    Marriage has for most of history been a way to own women as PROPERTY. Women were like cattle. Women were sold off (“given away”) by their fathers to their husbands. “Husbanding” being of course a cattle-owner does, like animal husbandry. The whole “institution” has got rather a disgusting history.

    So, if it’s not that anymore, and people have reclaimed it and made it something supposely much less oppressive, then what is marriage now? Anything you fucking want it to be. And who cares who does it or not.

    I’ll have to paraphrase Bill Hicks: “I dunno how y’all feel about this, but gay people want to get married. Here’s how I feel about it: anyone… DUMB ENOUGH… to want to get married…. should be allowed.”

  111. 111.

    muddy

    Ralph Reed was just on Tweety, he says Roe v. Wade has made things worse for choice because it caused a backlash.

    Nothing like the backlash my head took when I heard that one.

  112. 112.

    MomSense

    @LanceThruster:
    “…considering how often he was short changed by promoters.”

    Ironic that Berry never gave credit nor royalties to Johnnie Johnson–who co-wrote many of their great songs.

  114. 114.

    smintheus

    The strangest element in this strange story is that the entire stadium is expected to take an interest whenever someone takes a whiz.

    When a user approaches the urinal, the video console flips into gaming mode, using technology that detects both his presence and stream. Algorithms then allow the user to engage with the screen by aiming in different directions to test their agility and knowledge. […] High scores will be displayed in real-time across various videoboard displays within Coca-Cola Park.

  115. 115.

    Bobby Thomson

    And she’s buying bread at Seven Eleven. And the bread is Wonder . . . .

    David Gates wrote the most depressing lyrics known to man. Seriously, even his ostensibly optimistic songs make you want to take the gas pipe.

  116. 116.

    MomSense

    @LanceThruster:

    Johnson was a bus driver when Keith Richard found him and it was Keith who told him that he was a song writer. He hadn’t realized that writing the music and arranging the songs qualified. By the time he sued Berry, too much time had passed.

  117. 117.

    LanceThruster

    @MomSense:

    Wow. That’s sad. Reminds me of the story of the Stones supposedly paying the graphic artist for the “Hot Licks” logo $5000 for it free and clear. Now that licensing has made some serious change.

    However, sounds like Mr. Johnson barely got even that. Well as they say, there’s a reason they call it the music business.

  118. 118.

    John Revolta

    My daughter saw Bread on my Itunes and remarked, “Don’t ever again dare to make fun of the name of any band I listen to.”

    It helps to remember that at that time, “bread” was a very common slang term for “money”. Kinda puts a different spin on their crappy commercial claptrap.

  119. 119.

    rupert pupkin

    In the late ’80s, in San Francisco, there was the Ethel Merman Memorial Choir. I remember seeing flyers for them posted at bus stops and on utility poles. The one that really stands out, was ‘The Ethel Merman Memorial Choir presents an evening of the music of Led Zeppelin’.

    As for Dread Zeppelin, they released at least 6 CDs over their career. They were great fun and we used to catch them in the ’90s whenever possible.

    And now we have Nicki Minaj…

  120. 120.

    James Gary

    @LanceThruster: Stones supposedly paying the graphic artist for the “Hot Licks” logo $5000 for it free and clear.

    In fairness, it must be said that no one knew that logo was going to turn into a cultural icon. A full buyout is pretty much standard practice for that kind of usage, and $5000 was a LOT of money in pre-inflated 1972 (or whenever).

  121. 121.

    Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)

    @MomSense:

    Funny story about songwriting credits: On the original recording of Good Vibrations, the credits were split between Brian Wilson and Mike Love. Brian re-recorded it for his SMiLE album, and Love’s name has disappeared from the credits. There’s a small difference in the lyrics. In the original Beach Boys recording, the second line is:

    “And the way the sunlight plays upon her hair”.

    On Wilson’s later version, that line is changed to:

    “And she’s already working on my brain”.

    That small difference made Love (who’s just about the biggest asshole in the world) a lot of money he really didn’t deserve.

Comments are closed.