Classic Rock Bottom

It's time to turn a new leaf... again. Mix it up a bit.

     For the next 20 weeks, I'll be presenting the albums, I would take with me on a deserted Island. Pretty simple concept, right? To make it more complex, rules were set forth to complicate things.
- 1997 is the cut off date... To keep it within the realm of "Classic". (1996 ended up being the newest release, so I did "one better")
- Guitarists and singers alike had to be members of a band, at one point or another.
- One Pop CD is a must. (Can't have any connection to Rock music thou, neither by style or guest musician(s). No Quasi-Prog-Pop either. Has to be something no rocker can justify.)
- 5 Instrumental CD's. (Reduced the number to 4, to accommodate the Pop CD)
- 5 International Artists. (Meaning, artists who perform their songs mostly with non English lyrics. e.g. Barón Rojo releases would be accepted, but David Lee Roth's Spanish version of Eat 'Em And Smile won't.)
- No Best Of's... Or any other compilation albums, including Soundtracks... Even if they contain exclusive songs, not found anywhere else.
- One entry per artist (e.g. I could have Tom Petty and a Travelling Wilburys, but not two Wilburys or two Tom Petty albums.)

     Before any rules could have been implemented, I had to settle on a number. 50 sounded like a nice round figure. Once I started tweaking the rules, I realized that digit wont do it. So, I extended the cardinal number to 60, adding diversity to the selection. Pretty much it worked out like this: 50 "regular" CD's + 10 "diversity" CD's, divided into 7 groups (ROCK / HARD ROCK / AOR / MELODIC ROCK / METAL / SINGERS GONE SOLO / GUITARISTS GONE SOLO) of 8 entries each + a BONUS group. (To accommodate 60.)

     Each week, I'll be unveiling 3 CD's. At the end of each posting, I'll be giving you clues for the triplets coming next week. You can earn points by guessing them correctly. One guess per person / per selection, please. (Meaning, you can guess all three clues, but only once) I hope you not gonna let me hanging. The points reflect the difficulty to guess the artist AND the title of the release. Here is a tip that might help you. (Especially down the road) The CD's in each groups were listed by release dates. For example, in AOR, the 500 points was released on or, later than 1987 and the 800 points album was release on or before 1987. Yes, there is the catch. Sometimes, albums listed beside each other might have been released in the same year. Whenever I could find the day and month of the release, I took that into consideration. However, occasionally only the year was available and that might cause some confusion.

     The player who ends up with most points is the winner. So early birds... and all that. In case your guess is half correct (artist-yes, title-no or vice versa) you only get half the points of the total, opening the door for someone else to steal the other half. And now the reward. A whole lot of absolutely nothing. Worth playing for? Yes, because you get the bragging rights of winning the trivia game. May the expert win.

     Oh yeah, couple more lifelines. The "diversity" additions will be marked as such in the clues (a.g. Instrumental clue - etc. etc. etc, International clue - blah blah blah and Pop clue - yada yada yada) Plus, I just dropped two International artists this week (let me know what you think of them... Well, let me know what you think of all the CD's, if you will) for the sole purpose of making the game easier. Also, sometimes a google translate of the International clue will give you all the info you need. ;-)

click on the cover to hear samples
1. BIJELO DUGME - Kad Bi' Bio Bijelo Dugme (If I Were A White Button)
2. BIJELO DUGME - Patim Evo Deset Dana (I've Been Suffering For Ten Days)
3. BIJELO DUGME - Selma
from "Kad Bi' Bio Bijelo Dugme" CD ℗ 1974/1997

     Voted the 14th greatest Yugoslavian Rock Album of all times. It was also Bijelo Dugme's (White Button's) debut album. They played Progressive Folk Hard Rock and became the most popular band in Yugoslavia, thanks to highly skilled musicians who knew their way around the studio, as well. The album sold over 20.000 copies in it's first week, breaking the previous record held by Yu-Grupa. Few emerging controversies also helped the band step into a spotlight, eventually pushing the sales over 140.000 units. The secret identity of the model from the cover was the center of two tall tales that sparked a frenzy. The cover designer gave an interview once, where he said he met a guy in public who asked him if he knew the girl from across the street. It was the model from the cover and the designer waved to her. The guy went over to the girl, slapped her, called her a whore, then he went on with his life like nothing ever happened. The other reason to keep her identity secret was to fuel a rumor about the song titled "Selma". Some said that was the models real name, but many decades later it was revealed that the girl from the cover was, Ljiljana Božanić. The song "Selma" however had it's own share of mystery. Many believed the song was based on a true event, about a girl who fell out from the window of a moving train. This stipulation came from the cryptic line of the lyric, which warns a girl not to lean out the window. The truth was again revealed many decades later, and it turned out to be less tragic than many believed to be, yet still a sad story, nonetheless. The lyric was written by a shy, Yugoslavian poet and humorist, who was very much in love with a girl called Selma, but never confessed his true feelings to her. After the poets death, a TV persona tracked down the real Selma and in a tear jerking televised interview she was treated to a live acoustic version of the song, performed by Bebek, the original singer of the band. The album itself caused a huge shift in the music industry. Rock was finally rearing it's ugly head. (The ruling regime would tell you that.)

ANDY TAYLOR - Thunder
CD ℗ 1987

     Another album that has a story attached to it. This time, it's personal. When this CD hit the sale bins I was in Sweden. I had no money, but I had all the time in the world and a great desire to expand my CD collection. For this reason I had to be resourceful. There was a huge mall at the outskirts of the city I lived nearby and they had a Priced Down section at the entrance hall, where CD's were sold in a very unique setup. They had a huge round table, with a hole in the middle, where the vendor would sit and all the CD's were spread out in front of her. The shoppers would browse the displayed selections, while moving around in a circle. I thought that was cool. The prices of these CD's were about 1/3 of the new ones. Not bad, but when you have no money, it was still a small fortune. Luckily, the mall provided an opportunity for me to score some quick cash. You see, the shopping carts were coin operated and the Swedes, as loaded as they are, would rather leave their shopping carts scattered around the parking lot, than return them to the place where they could retrieve their money. I wasn't complaining. Couple hours of rolling the carts back to the corral got me about two CD's worth of shopping, from the aforementioned discount bins... EVERY DAY. The CD cases sometimes had a punch-hole or sawed spines, but that didn't bother me. However, the vendors would not allow us to open the CD's, because the Price Down stickers were placed right in the middle of the jewel case, like a seal. That, did bother me... a lot actually. Therefore, I had to make some hard, uneducated decisions, while committing to my purchases. When I saw Andy Taylor's CD and read the song titles, instantly I assumed it's a guitar oriented album. The song "French Guitar" even sounded like it might be an Instrumental. So, I bought it. I have to admit, the Instrumental song is the weakest one of the bunch (still not a bad song), but I was very much impressed with everything else I heard. In fact, this CD plays from start to finish in my stereo and it's a big favorite of mine. The funny part is, if I had known this Andy Taylor was the same Andy Taylor from the band Duran Duran, I wouldn't even look at the CD, much less bought it and what a shame that would have been.

4. RÉVÉSZ SÁNDOR - Sose Repülj Az Angyalokkal (Never Fly With The Angels)
5. RÉVÉSZ SÁNDOR - Nem Tudtam, Hogy Így Fáj (I Didn't Know It Can Hurt So Much)
from "Révész Sándor" CD ℗ 1985/1993

     Revesz Sandor, has one of those instantly recognizable voices, like Geddy Lee or Steve Perry. He used to sing with the Hungarian legends, General and Piramis. This was his first solo album after he left the band. He teamed up with Presser Gábor of LGT and Omega fame, for an album that is nothing like his old bands music nor LGT or Omega, for that matter. Instead, it's quite experimental, with lots of melodic parts basked in a stigmata of the 80's sound, RJhog likes to rave about. What makes this CD exceptional for me is the fact that, with every new listen I can hear something I missed in my previous sessions.

INDEX (To keep track of things. Also, the clues for the next weeks selection are here. Do you know; What's Coming To You?)

ROCK
500 pt
300 pt (If you take this route, it will lead you to the place from where there is no coming back, but here you can still turn around)
800 pt
200 pt
600 pt
1000pt
100 pt
400 pt

HARD ROCK
300 pt
100 pt - 1975 - BIJELO DUGME - Sta Bi Dao Da Si Na Mom Mjestu
500 pt
800 pt
600 pt
200 pt
1000pt
400 pt

AOR
200 pt
600 pt
300 pt
800 pt
100 pt - 1987 - ANDY TAYLOR - Thunder
500 pt
1000pt
400 pt

MELODIC ROCK
400 pt
100 pt
800 pt
200 pt
300 pt
1000pt
500 pt (It's the Black Album in Southern style)
600 pt

METAL
300 pt
400 pt
800 pt
200 pt
500 pt
600 pt
100 pt
1000pt

SINGERS GONE SOLO
300 pt
1000pt
800 pt (If the speaker is wholly submerged in water, you can't hear the audio)
100 pt - 1985 - REVESZ SANDOR - Revesz Sandor 
600 pt
500 pt
400 pt
200 pt

GUITARISTS GONE SOLO
100 pt
300 pt
400 pt
800 pt
200 pt
600 pt
1000pt
500 pt

+BONUS
1000pt
500 pt
600 pt
800 pt

Views: 170

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Image result for why math GIF

I'm going to try one...  I'll take "Singers Gone Solo" for 800 Yngvie...

Who is Joe Walsh - But Seriously Folks ... ?

Bijelo Dugme sounds like a product of the 70's. It just has that 70's sound, especially the early 70's sound. Reminds me of early Deep Purple with the keyboards. The vocals have a tendency to drown out the rest of the band and it's a bit crackly like it was moved TOO close to the front.

Yeah, the Andy Taylor album is awesome, but you should have known he was a rocker at heart especially with Power Station. If you don't have the second Power Station album, I recommend you get it. It's heavy as hell.

As for Sandor? A bit over-the-top, but 80's over-the-top. He shouldn't have to shriek, though. It shouldn't make me laugh, but it does.

That's the only Power Station I have (the second album) so I didn't know in late 80's Andy was a rocker. Thunder was a real eye opener. Not only he transformed from a mascara Pop to Rock, but also there was quite a bit of involvement from Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) on the CD.

I knew Steve was doing some fine Rock albums at the time, I just didn't know he was part of the Thunder album as well. To me Thunder (the CD, not the band who was also produced by Andy) is probably the biggest surprise in so many ways.

WTF, man? No stab at the clues? I was afraid they are going to be too easy to guess. Are you saying Scott is better at this?

Yep, guess he is.

14th greatest Yugoslovian band of all time?  Who's the top 3?  I can't think of one... At least they have good taste in album covers...

 Was there supposed to be a song from Taylor in the playlist?  I didnt see one...

The ALBUM was voted the 14th. greatest of Yu-Rock & Pop, but Bijelo Dugme takes the top spot on the list with 8 entries and they are/were the most influential band in that region. The second band, with also 8 entries is Riblja Corba (Fish Stew) and the third would be Azra, with 5. To my knowledge, this is pretty accurate, if influence is the only consideration. However, as far as my taste goes, I would challenge the second and third place with different artists. Of course, what they call 14th. would be #1 for me.

No song from Taylor. The reason for that is, I can only put 5 tunes on my playlist, so the album(s) that were mentioned here previously, or they've been heavily featured here before get to sit this one out. If I'm not mistaken, RJhog had Thunder posted somewhere.

Each week there will be one or two albums that won't have songs on the playlist, but they would be the ones everyone knows or should know, anyway. 

RSS

Question Of The Week

CRB Features (Click photo to visit)

Birthdays

There are no birthdays today

CRB Staff Members

 

In Memory Of

Norma Jean Fox
(11/30/1945-9/7/2010)

Photos

  • Add Photos
  • View All

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

Badge

Loading…

© 2024   Created by RJhog (Admin).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service