the Rock Report

While he’s finally back at work on the Solid Gold ROCK!&#8482 new Spaper (and, due to a few unexpected delays, it’s gonna debut this Fall … and, from the articles, pics and 411 we’re getting, it’s gonna be AWESOME!), The Relic’s starting ROCK 101 in Room 67849320194856893605983935766102938 (down the hall, to your left. Take a seat. Hurry … the last bell’s already gone off). Actually, it’s an in-depth look at where our music came from … and it’s gonna be in session ’til we get up to where we are now!
So, without further adieux, let me invite everyone from all shores … thin, “in”, slim, trim, fat, phat, dunno-where-it’s-at, old, gold, bold, young and unsung to come along on this Magical Musical History Tour.
That being said … see ya on the site! Just Click HERE to Enter

In just a few days, I’ll be revising the frontpage of the RELIC’S website (what … AGAIN?!?!) for a very special reason …
We’re gonna go on a Magical, Musical History Tour … all the way back to rock’s earliest beginnings (lonnnng before Elvis; wayyyy before Ellington; in fact, Keith Richards was just an infant …).
And, in time (he was so young, in fact, he bounced when he fell out of trees!), you’ll be in the delivery room for the Birth of the Beat! We’ll cover it all (which Jagger rarely does) in an xxx-part series.
So stay tuned.
The Relic’s finally warming up the engines …
Been away too long …
Ya with me??

To answer a few questions: The Monkees will NOT reunite! Pete’s on the wagon, and Davy’s said to be a little S&T of Dolenz’ attitude. More about that as I get it …
Mike Smith (of DC5 fame) is still recovering, and, thanks to Peter Noone and Paul Shaffer (among others), he may yet perform again … in one way or another.
Lenny, Rick and Denis are in contact with him. Dave? If he had a heart …
Speaking of (remembering the song If You’ve Got A Heart, it’s good to see Bobby Goldsboro still performing at times. Wonder if he’s still doing his cricket?
The closest groups I’ve found to the true beat sound (I’m talkin’ new groups here) on the national level are The Strokes and The Sam Roberts Band. Weezer was in contention, but, word is, they’re (sigh!) breaking up again!

Well, that’s it for this time. Short but sweet. Check out the Rock Relic’s site in a few days, and we’ll kick it into gear together!
Now that I’ve got the stylus workin’, the needle changed, and the turntable adjusted … see ya on the flip side!

POWER UP and ROCK ON!!

Ladies and gentlemen … rockers of alllll ages … let me now turn your attention to the newest incarnation of the Rock Relic’s site, which you’ll find here.
Now, there’s a reason behind everything, so I wanna take a minute to explain:

Y’see, the Relic’s got a heavy schedule right now, and I know you’ve got a lotta stuff on the burner. Sooooo …
I put everything in sort of a “folder file”, where all ya gotta do is click on the tabs to get to the goodies.
It kinda frees us both up a little …
Now … on to other things:

Word’s out that the WHO are gonna be touring for the first time in twenty years. Notwithstanding the fact that Daltrey and Townsend (the two surviving originals) have lost most of their hearing, they’re gonna be joined onstage by drummer Zak Starkey (Ringo’s son), Pete’s son on guitar, and one other dude on bass. Roger says they’re gonna go back into the vault and do some rarities for this tour.
Hey … if they can pull the crowds, why not? Man, rock’s in the soul, not in age-brackets!

Sad to see the Searchers pulling small gates. Seems the guy in charge of stateside booking didn’t do any promo for them … and, what little he did do, he got wrong! It’s a shame, because these guys are not only legends, they’re fantastic onstage!

Sad to hear about Syd Barrett’s passing, but the excessive drug/drink mix he did over the years caught up with him … Pink Floyd, by the way, got its name from the first names of a couple of jazz greats in England that the group admired.

Got a lot more coming up in the next hour, so stay tuned …

It’s been about that long since I updated this, hasn’t it?? Ah, well … that’s not what the title refers to.
Actually, it’s been fifty years since a young upstart named Elvis started bridging the gap between the old rocking, gospel-tinged soul and country, transforming it into the first breaths of a phenomenon called “Rock-and-Roll.”
Obviously, he wasn’t the first to do so, but he was, by far, the most controversial … and the most popular of his time.
Years later — when the British Invasion first made its way to stateside shores, even the great John Lennon admitted that there was nothing before Elvis.
The Brits actually accented what Elvis popularized here in the States — a mix of rockabilly (if you listen to the basic structure of I Wanna Hold Your Hand, you’ll see what I mean) and soul (check the earliest Stones and Animals), injected with their own rhythm patterns, chops and beat.
Since we were all hungry for the upbeat, for movement — for distance from the drab, watered-down rock that jumped on the radio bandwidths like famished dogs when Presley went into the Army, their music was like giving a pacifier to a crying baby.
Afterward, we went through psychedelia, soul, bubblegum, disco, hard rock and headbangers, and technopop.

But … what goes around, comes around.

Today, with modern groups like The Strokes, American Minor and The Streets, the sounds that made Our Music so popular are back in stride again! Add to that the re-emergence of the Masters: The Searchers, The Hollies, Peter and Gordon, The Zombies … even the surviving Beatles getting together for the Cirque de Soleil tribute … and you’ll see that, a half-century after it all started, it’s back in full force …

OUR music.

OUR rock …

THE SOUNDS THAT’LL NEVER DIE!!

Okay … now, here’s a question: What was the longest song title of the Sixties/early Seventies era? Question #2: What was the SHORTEST song title of the Sixties/Seventies era? Question #3: What’s the capital of Nebraska? BONUS QUESTION: Why?

Give me a shout-out when ya know the answers. I’ll publish ‘em all here in future posts.