Stuart, you superficial bastard.

So, while I agree that the new wave / punk stuff may not align well with uni-concept views of the seventies as the disco era (gotta love the way time via memory plus art turns everything into mush), or the eighties as techno crap, I think it is far more emblazoned on my skull and heart than any of those Hollywood meets Dick Clark versions of those times. It just floats above it, and stands time far better. Remain at least somewhat mush-free if you will.

My choices of shouldabeens would be in a similar vein to Derek's, with perhaps a little more pop in my punk / new-wave mix:

I would start without about half of Derek's bands (esp. Gang of Four, Undertones, T/Heads yadda....) then add

The Records - Starry Eyes
Joe Jackson - Sunday Papers
Dave Edmunds - Girls Talk
Graham Parker and the Runour - Local Girls
Devo - Mongoloid (oh right, Derek had this one)
Brahm Tchaikovsky - Girl of My Dreams
Fabulous Poodles - Mirror Stars
Boomtown Rats - Someone's Looking at You
Television - See No Evil
The Damned - Neat Neat Neat

there are others.

Put me down for a lesson and a disc as well, please. Though I'm familiar with some of those tracks and bands, I was kind of into Pat Benatar and Supertramp at that time; to be fair, I was 8 at the time and most of my musical discoveries came courtesy of K-tel compilations. Would love to accquaint myself with some of these artists. Plus, I don't have a copy of 'Adolescent Sex' and kind of need to hear it again.

clearly we have next years dinner party theme.....the roots of punk, punk and early new wave the 1977 to 1982 theme party......this stuff is a little like the lost generation in that when people think of the 70's they are (arguably) more likely to think of studio 54 disco or singer songwritter stuff then the clash and when people think of eights stuff they are (arguably) more likely to think of madonna and they cure and depeche mode then say ....the jam ...
I am sure to be pilloried here but I think you take my point (that being derek is a loser)
admittedly my knowledge of this stuff is not deep and I could do with a lesson or 2 in it...

This one's easy as the discs are at this point pretty much a done deal. If it was up solely to me I would probably ignore almost everything pre-1979 and bombard your asses with nothing but punk, new wave and early electronica. Sadly it's not up to me despite my assigned role as DJ. So to paraphrase senor Bowie I am the DJ but I ain't what I play.

The list that would make at least one full CD's worth of music for me. If any of you would like a copy of this to play as a cure for Sunday's hangover put in your request now.

Gary Numan - Down in the Park
Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough
B52s - Dance this Mess Around
Undertones - Teenage Kicks (and many more besides)
Genesis - Ripples
Devo - Jocko Homo
Squeeze - Up the Junction
Buzzcocks - Orgasm Addict
Talking Heads - I Zimbra
David Bowie - Jean Genie
Headboys - The Shape of Things to Come
The Jam - To Be Someone
Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster
Joan Armatrading - Love and Affection
Ultravox - Hiroshima Mon Amour
Japan - Adolescent Sex
The Slits - I Heard it Through the Grapevine
The Stranglers - Duchess
Roxy Music - Virginia Plain
Simple Minds - Changeling
Gang of Four - I Found that Essence Rare
Human League - Empire State Human
Mi-Sex - Computer Games

Hello darkness my old friends....

Okay, how about this, then: come up with the '70s songs you'd most like to hear on Saturday night at Stuart and Yvette's dinner party but suspect Derek will, either deliberately (maliciously?) or accidentally (ignorantly?) leave off the 5+ discs he's compiling for the purpose.

Derek, you can come up with a list that contains both and we'll have to guess which ones will or won't make the cut. Sound like fun? More fun than the value-concert proposition?

even more incredible than the fact that they are asking $200 a ticket is the fact that people are willing to shell out that kind of money for these tired retreads. considering that for $15, one can see richard buckner, a musician who actually creates new music with a unique voice and style, and it quickly clear that a who concert does not offer much in the way of value. and just howmany farewell tours is this now for the who? 5 and counting? why not just set up shop in las vegas with a group of french canadian contortionists?

i'd suggest that we come up with lists of the top 5 over-the-hill musicians/bands that overcharge for the quality of show they continue to deliver but this seems too much like shooting fish in a barrel. i mean, without even taking my hands away from the keyboard i come up with the rolling stones, the eagles, barbara streisand, celine dion, and elton john and surely there are many others that will immediately come to mind.

instead, i propose you come up with your list of your top 5 'best value' concerts. those which cost you very little but delivered much in the way of entertainment and musical pleasure. it doesn't have to be the cheapest concert you ever attended, just the one where you felt you really got your money's worth. game?

Likely skint from having blown a pile of cash on that Kurt Browning extravaganza you may want to try and scrape together a few more pennies to see one of the best bands on the planet (if it was 1976 at any rate).

That's right the band who just never knows when to quit and keep reminding us to "not get fooled again" are back to try and pull the wool over your eyes one more time. The Who at the ACC in December (a mere 5 months away, can you say cash grab boys and girls) and floor seats going for a mere $202 plus $14.50 in service charges. With Daltrey at 62 and Townshend at 61 which "generation" would they be talking about exactly?

How many tickets do each of you want for this?

Plus, a kinder relfection on Syd Barett.

thats for the heads up on barrett kyle, I had missed that info somehow...Being a huge Floyd fan for many years, Ive never quite got the drift of the fascination of this guy....Being a geezer now I shall have to revist him...dead guys generate all the interest of course

Hey, too bad about Syd B. Though, wasn't he dead already? Who knew? Perhaps we can have a listen to Arnold Layne and See Emily Play in memorium on Thursday.

Re Sufjan, as a big fan of his, and specifically, of the Illinoise record, I can still see many of the points that AllMusicGuy is making, and I don't entirely disagree. One does fight annoyance about the completeness and coyness of it all, and the "songs" (the eight or ten complete verse/chorus numbers on the record) do all share similar arrangements and styles, but hey, to deny the ambition, and comparative success, of the overall project, not to mention the individual genius of many of the songs and extra-songic musical moments, is simply to be cantankerous and difficult. And that's part of a music critic's job description, so I get that too. Now he just needs to convince me of the brilliance of some other endeavor...like who, Arctic Monkeys?

I've looked him up, and he has opened the door to personal attacks by publishing on the AllMusic site a bio and desert island list. Which is pretty great actually.

Re Thursday - My address is 66 Arundel Avenue, one block east of Chester (subway station)

Perhaps we can also invite AllMusic.com's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, whose timely (in light of today's Sufjan Stevens' release yesterday's group email fluttterings) piece is just wrong.

Also, sad news (is there every any happy news about him?) about original Floyd vocalist Syd Barrett, who recently passed away.

Hilarious. Nice little ditty too, very un-YLT like. I'll clear some furniture for the big scrap Thursday.

See y'all at 8 bells or therafter, I will be providing some snacks for the wrestlers (and the rest of you too I guess). We will be experimenting with volume to see what the kids can withstand.

as a response, let me refer you to the title of the upcoming yo la tengo album.

best album title of all-time nominee.

Nice to see I have some backing even if it is sort of half assed. Unlike the French however I would at least know where to place my noggin and it wouldn't be in the middle of Kyle's sternum despite the obvious height differential that is comparable to that of Zidane and Materazzi. Perhaps I can get to Brian's early and at the very least persuade Oliver to kneel down behind Kyle to get me off to that Scottish advantage that I would so desparately need.

all kidding aside I would surely love to see derek and kyle duking it out....it will certanly lively thigs up, Ill start the bidding....Ill put 5 bucks down on Derek , but only because the scots fight dirty....in a clean match Kyle all the way...

Okay okay! Since I'm such an affable guy who wouldn't want to permanently jeopardize future nights of shit-faced revelry, here's what I'll do: I'll listen to the disc at least once a day for the next 7 days. I'll listen under a variety of conditions--running, walking to work, taking the streetcar, sitting in the backyard, and driving. And I'll let you know my verdict at the cd club. And if I still don't like it, well, I'll try to take my comeuppance with dignity (minimal tears).

Aside from that, any of the nominees for the Polaris that stand out for any of you?

Kyle I just spent a really good 5 or 6 hours drinking my face to off with you and then I come home and am confronted with this blog. How anyone can possibly say that the BSS disc gets worse from about track 3 onwards is absolutely out of their mind. Track 2 is Ibi Dreams of Pavement, track 3 is 7/4 (Shoreline), track 4 is a brief 1 minute interlude and track 5 is Major Label Debut which over a 12 minute span might be some of the best fucking music ever put to vinyl/cd. Believe it or not of all the 28 days or so of music I have on my iPod this is the music I chose to listen to on my way home tonight and as always it was magic. If you cannot dig this record then perhaps we should duke it out at Brian's on the 13th. I think Brian feels likewise so as a tag team I need a backup. Marc or Stuart are you ready to rumble?

Okay, here are my next ten jazz postings...oh wait, I'm not doing that. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I don't think I've listened to enough jazz or enough varieties of jazz to attempt a definitive, albeit highly idiosyncratic, top 50 list. But that's just me. What the hell happened to the rest of you?

Speaking of list-making and the inherent problems of coming to an agreed upon 'best' list, I'm not sure if you're aware of something called the Polaris Prize. Several months back I complained about the unbelievably piss-poor quality of the Juno nominees. Seems that this Polaris award is an answer to my plea that awards be given out to artists with actual, um, talent:

Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
Cadence Weapon - Breaking Kayfabe
The Deadly Snakes - Porcella
Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
Sarah Harmer - I'm a Mountain
K'Naan - The Dusty Foot Philosopher
Malajube - Trompe L'oeil
Metric - Live it Out
The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary

Haven't heard Cadence, Malajube, or K'Naan, and the BSS disc somehow gets worse for me on each listen (starting at about track 3) but overall it's a solid list. I'll bring the Deadly Snakes disc to Brian's next week to see what y'all think of it. And anyone living or working in the downtown core will certainly get a kick out of the title of this track by Final Fantasy.

Thoughts?

Not sure if you've put the finishing touches on Gavin's disc(s) but Brian's post references some bands whose songs should definitely be on that list. Specifically, I refer to:

'Velvet Roof' by Buffalo Tom, 'I Can Dream All Day' by the Posies, 'Sunshine State' by Superchunk, 'Gold Soundz' or 'Range Life' from Pavement, and if he anticipates getting into a fight with his wife (Maureen...am I right...have the drugs not yet entirely fried my brain and my memory is awesome??) perhaps the slowly building angry 'Not Too Amused' by Sebadoh.

Btw...if you could export and post the playlist when you're done that would be peachy.

Re driving music, I often find myself drawn to some of the grand ol' alt-rock of the nineties, with its big beats, guitars, drums, and angst and irony...ah, those were fine fine years. I'm thinking Pavement (probably Crooked Rain), Sebadoh's Bakesale, GBV (Isolation Drills, which admittedly is from '01), Eleventh Dream Day's "El Moodio", The Posies (Frosting on the Beater), Sloan, Superchunk, Yo La Tengo, I'll allow Radiohead (though they appear to be fading for me), and hell why not Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana?! OK, you may draw the line there.

As an aside, isn't it interesting how, ten or twelve years after the fact, I have distilled the early-mid nineties, which were a fantastic period of musical discovery for me, into about ten records - no mention of Drugstore, Polvo, Cracker, Hayden, Grant Lee Buffalo, or Buffalo Tom for that matter, and myriad other bands that I truly dug at the time. Does make you wonder about the true power and resonance of pop music.

So, admittedly, Derek, if you're looking to impress Gavin with your musical wherewithal, slapping on Nevermind may not get the job done....but there is some fine driving music to be mined from the period.

Another great source of driving music is hard bop - 50's and 60's jazz, you know, Sonny Clark's quintet stuff, almost anything by Lee Morgan, Jackie MacLean, Booker Ervin, yadda yadda. Particularly good at night.

And hey, while we're all talking about jazz.....