RT 20 Podcast 30: Mitch Bisschop

This podcast with my fellow Ithaca College alumnus features a bit of a different music format than the podcasts you're used to hearing. I kind of dig it.

To stream or download the podcast, click here. Or click here to subscribe with your iTunes.

Song of the Week 2/19/10

The Four Tops - "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got)"



I must confess--I had no idea that this was a Four Tops song until last week. I happened to hear someone request it on the CBS-FM nighttime show. And when the guy said the song title and added "by The Four Tops," I did a double take. Then I went to the Internet to confirm what I heard. I always thought this 1973 hit, from the album Keeper of the Castle, was by the Spinners or some other R&B vocal group. It sounds nothing like The Four Tops of "I Can't Help Myself," that's for certain. It's drenched in that 70s funk I loved hearing on WGY growing up.

RT 20 Podcast 29: Ira Robbins, Part 2

The second part of my conversation with Trouser Press co-founder (and first time novelist) Ira Robbins is now available to download.

To listen or download to the podcast, click here to visit the podcast page. Or click here to have your iTunes subscribe you automatically.

Song of the Week 2/12/10

Buffalo Springfield - "Broken Arrow"

I never thought any band could pull off this suite that Neil Young created for Buffalo Springfield Again.

Then came Wilco, who did it for the Neil Young Musicares tribute show last month in Los Angeles. And now they're doing it on tour.

Words fail me. Watch the video.

RT 20 Podcast 28: Ira Robbins, Part 1

The guest format returns to the podcast this week with the first part of my conversation with Trouser Press co-founder (and my co-worker of 13 years) Ira Robbins.

Click here to go the podcast page to stream or download the MP3. Click here to subscribe to the podcast and have iTunes download each new episode.

Song of the Week 2/5/10

The Who - "The Real Me"

The band got to play at halftime of the Super Bowl at the Bell House, and "The Real Me" was the song I got to deliver after 2 hours plus of doing play by play for the game. Jeebus it hurt my throat. I'm amazed I could to speak today.

I'm even more amazed that The Who could perform that song this well in early part of the oughts:



BONUS: The Who's Super Bowl performance was easily the most widely seen in their 45 year career. But their last truly great performance -- in these eyes, at least -- came when they played the Concert for New York City at Madison Square Garden on October 20th, 2001. Anyone who was living in New York can tell you that the city was attempting to return to some sort of normalcy by that time. (For many, it involved staying out as late as possible as many nights as possible.) And I must admit to being ticked that I had to stay home and record and watch this concert when I could have been out trying to forget the previous six weeks. The show opened on a high note with David Bowie's radical re-arrangement of Simon & Garfunkel's "America" and his own anthem of the moment "Heroes." But after that the rest of the show could have been any all-star gig, except for the mentions of those lost and the numerous close-ups of drunk fireman and policeman.

Then The Who came on and turned the night into something special. Their four song set ranks as one of the most compelling music performances to come out of my TV. There were a few factors contributing to this:

The Who's relationship with New York. The band has been well known for delivering some of their most highly regarded performances here in the city in the late 60s and early 70s. And that reputation has lasted with fans from the 'burbs for decades. And it was apparent that this night Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle were determined to give it their all to show their respect and love for New York.

The emotion of the entire night. I said the city was returning to "normalcy" by then. That was in the sense of people going about their normal everyday lives. That doesn't apply to emotional wounds that were still lurking under the surface and could rise up at any time. Imagine an entire evening of one draining tale after another and you'll have an idea of how raw this crowd was.

The booze. From the first shots of fireman in the crowd, you could see that this folks were well lubricated. And it only got sloppier as the night went on. And on. And on.

The lineup. This was a star-studded evening. (Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, Jay-Z, Destiny's Child, James Taylor, Billy Joel and John Mellencamp, just to name a few.) And while all the artists who performed were there on their own dime and for a good cause, it wouldn't be a rock concert without a bit of one-upsmanship. And Townshend and Daltrey performed as if they needed to show people who was boss.

And my goodness they most certainly did. After an overlong intro by John Cusack, the performance starts out with the CSI staple "Who Are You." And from the get go Townshend doesn't waste any time injecting this performance with a blast of energy. At the 1:35 mark he practically rips his arm out of socket breaking into one of his trademark windmills. And then he does it again at 1:48. The man is clearly possessed with an energy of a man 30 years younger. Throughout all four songs Townshend attacks his guitar, throwing off power chords and stinging leads as if one of them could heal everyone in attendance. And it doesn't take too long -- right around 3:47 in "Who Are You" -- where the crowd gets it. And I mean GETS it. They know right then, at that moment, that this band isn't here to play a massive Irish wake. The Who have arrived to make each and every person forget everything and feel good for the next 18 minutes. At 3:48 when Townshend does a series of windmills, the crowd responds as one with a roar that drowns the band out. And when Zak Starkey, the only man on the planet capable of playing in Keith Moon's league, does a series of crazy fills, the place goes totally fucking batshit.

Daltrey's vocal falters at the beginning of "Baba O'Riley," but at this point it doesn't matter. Townshend is conducting a windmill symphony. And when he steps to the mic to sing the "teenage wasteland" part, the crowd drowns him out, so he backs away from the mic lets them have the line. The smile on Daltrey's face at that is about as genuine as you'll ever see on the mug of a rock legend. "Behind Blue Eyes" features some top notch mic twirling by Daltrey and a truly goofy moment at 2:56 where Townshend bumps into Daltrey. And right after the song Townshend acknowledges the crowd (and how loud they are) by cupping his hands and yelling into the mic, "We are honored to be here."

And when "Won't get Fooled Again" starts, the crowd roars as one again. And it's just a bombastic, gloriously loud, rip-roaring take on an old warhorse. The whole band is just clicking on all cylinders. It's a totally cathartic experience. After the band takes their bows, Roger Daltrey sums it all up: "We could never follow what you did."

Enough of me writing. Watch the last great Who performance below.

"Who are You"


"Baba O'Riley"


"Behind Blue Eyes"


"Won't Get Fooled Again"

Song of the Week 1/26/10

Avett Brothers - "January Wedding"



I have been listening to a heckava lot of the Avetts as of late. These guys know how to turn a phrase that makes me stop and rewind the iPod just to catch it again. The line that always gets me in "January Wedding" from I And Love And You is "And I was sick with heartache and she was sick like Audrey Hepburn when I met her." I just laughed again transcribing that line.

And it seems like this track had to be a SOTW during the first month of the year at some point, yes?

RT 20 Podcast 27: 2010 Baker's Dozen (with a new server!)

So the podcasts are back after a month off--and they're on a new server. Click here to go to the new page, or click here to subscribe through iTunes. All the old podcasts are on this new server in case you missed a couple. (For those of you using the old iTunes link, delete that link and just use the new one.)

Co-Songs of the Week 1/22/10

Boston - "Amanda"

Friday night I went with Vanessa the bartender to see our friend Adam's new art exhibit at Last Exit on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. During our time there some woman got right in between us and asked the bartender for her tab. Because it was rather loud she had to yell her name, Amanda, twice. After she extricated herself from in between us, I started singing "Amanda" for no reason, except I couldn't remember the actual words. I started make up lines about this woman getting her tab, but that wasn't enough. After a few minutes of struggling to recall the original words, I finally convinced Vanessa to let me look up the lyrics. As I attempted to sing along, I realized that I couldn't do that without hearing the song. So I took out the iPod, gave an earbud to Vanessa, and we did a horribly out of tune duet for about 90 seconds. It made sense at the time to do, but not so much now, you know?



Will Ferrell, Conan O'Brien, Beck, Ben Harper, Billy Gibbons, Max Weinberg & The Tonight Show Band - "Freebird (Live)"

When I got home late Friday night I decided to watch the last episode of The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien. I've been a big O'Brien supporter since his early days at Late Night (and have always hated Jay Leno) so I have been in the I'm With Coco party since day 1. And the way O'Brien ended his brief run, with Neil Young's performance of "Long may You Run," O'Brien's own classy farewell speech and the all-star jam on "Freebird" is worth watching again.

Song of the Week 1/18/10

Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Tuesday's Gone"

I heard this song four times in four different locations over the past two weeks. It's SO much better than "Freebird." And check out this footage from 197-freaking-6!

Song of the Week 1/8/2010

Ray, Goodman & Brown - "Special Lady"

I truly do enjoy digging up some obscure tunes when I make mixes for people. I probably haven't heard this 1979 hit in 20 years, but I'm pretty sure I knew every lyric when I downloaded it. Watch for yourself:

Song of the Week 1/1/10

Pete & the Pirates - "Jennifer"

HT to my friend Bill Pearis and his SoundBites blog. I never would have heard this great track without his list "2009 ÷ 64 = My Favorite Singles/Tracks of the Year." This is some catchy jangle:

RT 20 Podcast 26: The Almost 2009 RT 20

In this bonus podcast, I get a chance to highlight some albums, singles, and other musical stuff that just missed the cut on this year's list.

To download through iTunes click here. To download (or stream) the MP3, click here and then click on the MP3 button.

The 2009 Edition of RT 20 is Up

Click here to check it out. Or use the archives down on the right side of the home page.

RT 20 Guest Lists: Eric Holland

My friend Eric Holland has his finger on the pulse of quality music year round due to his on air work at WFUV. He's posted up his year end thoughts at Hollandude.com. Check out his vlogs below:

Eric's Top 10 Albums of '09:



Eric's Top 10 Concerts of '09:

Song of the Week 12/25/09

Lionel Richie - "You Are"



I heard this song in three drugstores and a PetSmart in the past five days.

WTF?

Song of the Week 12/18/09

My Morning Jacket - "Off The Record"

One thing I've enjoyed about the RT 20 podcasts is being reminded about songs that have slipped through the cracks. "Off the Record" is one such song, and I got to relive it twice--once when I assembled the Moria Miller podcast and a second time when I listened to the podcast this week. What a great off-kilter rhythm throughout this track--until the really long drawn out, freaky ending.

And what a creepy video, which I never saw before writing this post:

The 20th Annual Reynolds Top 20 List

So What Have We Learned in 20 years? (Besides How to Look Good on Stage.)

2009: Long Live The King of Pop (Or His Back Catalog, At Least)

2009's Top 20 Albums

2009's Top 20 Singles

Top 10 Headlines I Hope I Don't Write in 2010

Other Musical Stuff From 2009:
--Compilations, Reissues, EPS, Soundtracks, Etc.
--Concerts
--Co-Discoveries of the Year
--Rediscovery of the Year

2009's Top 10 Visual Aids

20 for 20: Albums That Changed My Life Over The Past Two Decades

So What Have We Learned in 20 Years? (Besides How to Look Good on Stage.)

Short answer: My doctor would say not much. (But he would say it with a slight Indian accent while taking my blood pressure.)

Long answer? Well, that’s a good question. I spent some time glancing over the past 19 lists, looking for patterns in my writing (and in many years, my complaining) as well as the podcasts I did this year to mark the 20th edition of the RT 20. Here’s a small sampling of what I discovered:

Don't write about weight loss. It never lasts.

20% of what appears on these pages is out of date by the time it reaches the post office.

The above sentence is already off by 23.7%

I am by far my worst critic. It’s as if my late grandmother decided to reside in the part of my brain that says “you suck” all the time.

Apparently I also have some issues with my grandmother.

People have a strange fixation with what I consume during my numerous writing sessions.

The first eight years of this list are cringe-worthy at many points.

The following eight years weren’t so hot either.

Apparently this Figgs band must be halfway decent or something.

There was a point where I actually liked Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was called 1991.

Apparently in 1991 I had some sort of brain damage, because there was a Sting album on the list too. (I did spent part of that year in college; I must have been somewhat smart for at least a couple of moments that year.)

People like podcasts, even if it's people they don't know talking about some obscure albums and playing 17 minute tracks.

People like getting free CDs in the mail.

I do pretty well writing in bullet point form. Must be all those times I wished had bullets paying off.

My friends really like Matthew Sweet’s “I’ve Been Waiting.”

Seriously though, one thing I did learn writing this list and doing all these podcasts fall is that talking about music in an empty vacuum (as in, filling up page after page by myself during late nights and early Saturday mornings) isn’t as much fun as it is talking about music with other people. During the 20 plus podcasts I recorded this fall I learned a great deal about my friends from the music they loved. I learned a lot about the artists they picked. I learned of some bands I had never heard and truly enjoyed. I learned that it is okay to disagree with those same friends on some of their choices. Overall, I learned that the best part of this whole process is when there is give and take with others. So that’s why in this issue there are voices besides my own adding a different perspective to the music I enjoyed and discovered in 2009. I hope to continue this with the next issue and beyond.

I also plan on continuing the RT 20 Podcasts. To quote Van Morrison, “It’s too late to stop now.” So the series will continue in 2010 here on the blog. Who knows, maybe this will relaunch my on air career?

(Looks at screen, shoot himself between the eyes.)

Again, thanks for hanging in there for 20 years. Here’s to 20 more.

2009: Long Live The King of Pop (Or His Back Catalog, At Least)

The phrase that pays this year? Death sells.

Or at least it seems to cause massive amnesia.

At 4:00 p.m. E/T on June 25th Michael Jackson was just a creepy guy who looked neither black nor white and a person a good majority of Americans believed liked to sleep with little boys. A few hours later tons of celebrities who never mentioned the man before were offering up tributes (spoken or sung) in his memory. I felt fortunate that I missed much of that initial caterwauling because I spent that first post-Jacko weekend at a punk rock festival in Baltimore, where most bands were doggedly determine to pay tribute to the Ramones—over and over again. When I returned to Brooklyn I heard Jackson’s music pouring out of speakers everywhere I drove. It was as if all the truly weird shit we knew (or thought we knew) about the guy had disappeared.

Now I don’t mind being paying tribute to those who have left before their time. It’s just that the hypocrisy of this summer drove me crazy. Why was it okay only after Jackson was dead to listen to his music again? The music industry has been littered with scumbags, freaks, child molesters and assholes (and that’s just people at record companies—boo-yah!) for 50 years. That’s hasn’t stopped the public from playing their music before. (Gary Glitter repeatedly had sex with underage boys and his one hit is still played at sporting events everywhere. Chris Brown’s airplay only went down slightly after he beat the crap out of Rihanna.) If you liked Jackson’s music, why not be brave enough to play it in public before this summer? I’m not expecting an answer, but it’s just something that irked me about this year.

Speaking of things that irked me, I’d like to pose a few questions about 2009:

Is anyone 100% convinced that Lady Gaga is fully a woman? The first time I ever saw one of her, (um, its?) videos I did a triple take, as I was convinced it was a man’s face. And that’s before I ever heard that transsexual rumor floating around. I applaud her ability to almost pull off crazy costumes, and to be able to hide her penis in them.

Which generation is dumber—the one of 10 years ago that thought Britney Spears could sing and was the greatest talent ever, or the one of today that believes Taylor Swift can sing and…(hey, hey, get away from my keyboard) dfkhasdjklreh OMG Taylor is my BFF on MySpace and everything she sings, like, speaks to my soul! OMG!llkjkljklkjkljkljkljkljklh...sdf. (gimme that keyboard back! Let go! LET GO!)

(Ahem, pardon me, my computer got Kanye’d for a second by some 16 year-old tourist who wandered into the building. All is back to normal.)

Will Creed singer Scott Stapp sound like a douchebag even on his deathbed? (The odds in Vegas on this are even.) I mean, here’s what he said to me at 8 in the morning (which is the most unfair hour to do an interview) when I asked him about working again with guitarist Mark Tremonti: “I don't want to get all emotional or anything, but it just kind of brought a tear to my eye. Cause that was the purity of our relationship, going all the way back to being 14 to today. And no one and nothing can ever steal that away from he and I." (Trust me, hearing the audio makes it even more appalling. I think the only logical reason I didn’t jump over the console and stab him to death with my pen is it was 8:00 a.m. and I hadn’t had any chai yet.)

In the wake of Susan Boyle having the biggest debut of any album this year, will Simon Cowell start a Grand-American Idol? Will it feature Wilfred Brimley as judge? Or better yet, a contestant? (I’ve heard he does a mean version of “Rock Me Amadeus.”)

How did the Black Eyed Peas video for “Meet Me Halfway” end up in a commercial for DirecTV when it was still a current song? Aren’t those ads supposed to use old movies and digitally insert the actors pitching the product, not have that footage shot the same day as the video? Shouldn’t having back-to-back number-one singles (“Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling”) make the Peas enough royalties to keep paying the special effects team that works on Fergie’s face 24-7? The fact that she still appears human is a testament to their talent.

Do I still have enough of a mental connection with the New York State Thruway (which I drove on plenty in the early ‘90s, scoring the only speeding tickets of my life) that my disdain for the last three Weezer albums inspired a piece of road to cause Rivers Cuomo’s bus accident in an attempt to knock some songwriting sense into him? (Wait, that was probably too soon. Let’s plunder on.)

People were shocked when Adam Lambert (the guy that didn’t win American Idol this year) made out with a guy on the American Music Awards. I was shocked people still watch the American Music Awards. If you’re not getting paid to do so, why would you watch them? They’re the NBC of music awards shows. (Well, except that they’re on an actual network, ABC.)

One final question: if you were able to ban one song from the 2009 airwaves forever, wouldn’t it be 3Oh!3’s “Don’t Trust Me?” As a matter of fact, if you could kill one duo from 2009 and not have to go to jail, wouldn’t it be 3Oh!3?

So what exactly was good about 2009 (at least on a musical level)? Well, I think I’ll proclaim it The Year of Scott McCaughey. Mr. McCaughey is the coolest musician I’ve ever had the honor to get to know. And this year he breaks the record set in 2000 by The Figgs’ Mike Gent for most entries in one year. Gent had six entries on all the lists (four albums, two concerts), while McCaughey has a direct hand in four of this year’s Top 20 albums, two reissues, two concerts and one entry on the 20 for 20 list. It’s a testament to the man’s passion for music, which burns just as strongly 25 years after the release of the very first Young Fresh Fellows album. He’ll never make the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but he’s earned a spot in the Reynolds Rock Hall.

Hmmm. (rubs moustache)

Hmmm. (stares in space for a minute)

Maybe that’s an idea for the 25th annual list. Guess I better call Frank Gehry now to get cracking on a design. After the Nets owner ditched his plans for an arena in Brooklyn, I bet he could use some work. In any case, hope you enjoy the 20th time I’ve looked back in anger.