The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Posted: 11 May 2013 08:06 PM PDT Everyone has had an "a-ha" moment in their experience with music. Some just had more. EVERYONE in pop music has an "a-ha" moment. Every guitarist or singer or drummer had the moment when they witnessed musical greatness and said to themselves, "That's what I wanna do." It could be the night they sat cross-legged in front of the family TV, watching The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. It could be the first time they saw Michael Jackson do the moonwalk. It could be when they heard Nirvana, or Johnny Cash, or Jay-Z, or Metallica. It could be when they saw Elvis. The rest of the story leads back to the beginning: They begged their parents for a guitar. They could barely play at first, but eventually got better. They joined a band that could barely play at first, but eventually got better. They got lucky. They got famous. Then, one day, some kid watches them on TV and says, "That's what I wanna do." As Joe Ely once sang, "the road goes on forever and the party never ends." I don't have an "a-ha" moment. And maybe it's because I'm not a musician; I'm a fan. I never wanted to be the guy on stage in front of a packed arena. No, I was happy just to be in the building. So, while I never felt the drive to become part of rock and roll, I often did everything I could to get close to the music. That meant doing a school project on The Beatles. It meant starting up a school newspaper in junior high, just to be able to write about R.E.M.'s new album. It meant joining the staff of the university newspaper in order to – gasp! – actually talk to musicians, then review their CDs and concerts. It meant becoming an honest-to-goodness journalist who was given the opportunity to interview Alice Cooper, the Beastie Boys, the Flaming Lips, Elvis Costello and many more of my favourite musicians. And I got paid to do it! But listening to music and interviewing musicians only told me part of the story. It was one thing to hear about where these stars had come from, where they first played a show, where they recorded their first songs. It was another experience entirely to go see these places – or, at least, what was left of them. So, then began a series of road trips (and some plane trips) all around the United States, to bear witness to the hometowns of some of the great pop music figures of the 20th century, the venues they played and the studios in which they created music that endures – some more than others. I went to cities as big as New York City (to check out seminal punk rock club CBGB before it was turned into an art gallery) and to towns as small as Tutwiler, Mississippi (to stand in the spot where the blues was created, or so legend has it). I visited grave sites and museums, theatres and studios, shacks and mansions, all with the purpose of checking it out for myself and to see if maybe, just maybe, I could find any musical magic still hanging around. Without exception, every trip I took not only increased my knowledge of the musicians in question, it enhanced the experience of hearing their music, too. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, each of these visits was worth a thousand pictures – the kind that set your imagination on fire when you listen to a great song. Trips to New Orleans, Nashville, Detroit, Memphis, St. Louis and elsewhere only made the music more interesting, and increased my desire to hear even more of it. So, I guess I haven't had one "a-ha" moment – I've had thousands. That's my roundabout way of introducing this new column, Music Lessons. Every other weekend in these pages, I will discuss popular music in its various incarnations. Some of the instalments will recount a particular music-related journey I took in the United States, while others will highlight a specific genre, music label or band and its importance to the history of pop music. Some subjects might be decades old, while others might still be recording and touring – hey, maybe they're even due for a performance in Malaysia. The goal of Music Lessons is to bring something extra to your rock and roll experience, in the way that mine has been shaped by being a lifelong music fan. As such, each column will come with a suggested playlist for you to use as a guide to downloading or YouTube-surfing. (Because this first instalment was all-encompassing, I've selected some of the best rock and roll songs that are about, what else, rock and roll.) Happy listening, and I'll meet you further on up the road. Music Lessons Playlist: "Johnny B. Goode," Chuck Berry "The Punk and the Godfather," The Who "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?," The Ramones "Unless it's Kicks," Okkervil River "So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star," The Byrds "Rock & Roll," The Velvet Underground "Stage Fright," The Band "Carl Perkins' Cadillac," Drive-By Truckers "Where the Bands Are," Bruce Springsteen "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)," AC/DC Bryan Wawzenek learned more from a three-minute record than he ever learned in school. Send questions, comments or suggestions to star2@thestar.com.my. |
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