#ROCK&ROLL

[candidlywhimsical]

Kate Moss

One of the greatest muses of my adolescence ❤️‍🔥

[azul-maria-elias]

Hablemos de Bon Scott y The Valentines

A pesar de que hice tan solo una publicación sobre AC/DC en este blog, debo admitir que los últimos meses fueron testigo de mi creciente obseción con la banda. Cuando algo me fanatiza tanto, me esmero por conocer y entender su historia, el detrás y el por qué de su música, sus influencias, sus anécdotas. Por supuesto que el miembro más reconocible y llamativo del grupo es Angus Young, de quien es imposible no encariñarse. Pero en particular, quedé encantada, enloquecida, embobada con el primer cantante de la banda, Bon Scott. Quedé atrapada por su tremendo carisma, tanto fuera como en el escenario, y por su increíble voz.

Con fervor me di a la tarea de saber más sobre Bon, sobretodo porque me impacto su trágico final. De esta manera, me fui enternado de que había tenido una importante carrera musical en la década de 1960 antes de siquiera conocer a los miembros de AC/DC. Uno de esos proyectos anteriores —y quizás el más importante— fue con la banda The Valentines.

The Valentines se formó en el año 1966 tras la fusión dede los grupos de The Spektors y The Winstons. Bon era le vocalista principal de The Spektors, mientras que The Winstons contaba con la voz de Vince Lovegrove. Realizaron música rock y "bubblegum" inspirada en bandas como The Beatles, The Rolling Stones y los locales Easybeats. Supieron cosechar cierto éxito en su natal Australia, aunque perdieron popularidad a finales de la década terminando por disolverse el conjunto en 1970.

Scott tendría otros dos proyectos musicales antes de unirse a AC/DC: Fraternity y The Mount Lofty Ranger. Pero quizás eso sea una historia para otra publicación.

Si estas familiarizado con la música de AC/DC, resulta sorprendentemente interesante enterarse de la existencia de The Valentines. Es curioso oir la voz ronca y aspera de Scott cantando canciones pop sobre amor. No me malinterpreten, amé el sonido de The Valentines, y tanto Scott como Lovegrove son espectaculares vocalistas. Solo me resulta llamativo —y tierno— que nuestro rock&roll singer haya tenido un pasado "beatleano". Aunque también los mismos Beatles supieron reiventarse.

Algo curioso de su etapa en The Valentines, es que Bon tenía que usar ropa con manga larga para ocultar sus tatuajes, ya que contradecían el aspecto "inocente" del conjunto. O al menos eso leí...

Escuchar el trabajo de The Valentines es una experiencia que recomiendo no pasar por alto, sobretodo si te gusta los primeros discos de AC/DC antes de la muerte de Bon. A continuación les dejaré mis canciones preferidas del conjunto:

1. Everyday I Have to Cry

No puedo describir lo LOCAMENTE ENAMORADA que estoy de esta canción. Aunque la canción es originalmente de Arthur Alexander —el mismo que compuso Anna (Go to Him)— no puedo oirla cantar por otra persona que no sea Bon. La intepreta de una manera hermosa, dulce y encantadora.

2. To Know You Is To Love You

Otro éxito ajeno, bastante conocido, interpretado por las voces de Scott y Lovegrove en un majestuoso dúo. Me encanta, me encanta, me encanta de sobremanera esta etapa de Bon, poder escucharlo cantar con su preciosa voz canciones tan diferentes a las de su posterior carrera con AC/DC. Adoro esa versatilidad que supo construir y que lo cataloga aún más alto como artista.

3. Peculiar Hole In The Sky

Continuamos con una canción de los también grandiosos Easybeats. Seguramente pronto escribiré sobre ellos en este blog, ya que también me obsecionan. Por ahora, a los ajenos solo les basta con saber que es una banda muy exitosa de Australia, con características muy similares a los Beatles, pero no por eso menos auténticos. Es evidente la admiración de The Valentines por The Easybeats, quienes tuvieron una importante influencia en ellos y se puede ver en su repertorio. Esta versión de Peculiar Hole In The Sky en la voz de Bon es maravillosa, inclusive —y me atrevo a decir— mejor que la original.

Todavía quedan muchas canciones de The Valentines que me encantan, muchas en la voz de Bon y otras en la de Lovegrove. Pero para lo que interesa a esta publicación, creo suficiente el haber compartido las tres pistas que más escucho.

P.D. Las fotografías las saqué, en su mayoría, del perfil oficial de Spotify de The Valentines. No tenía la información de en que año ni donde fueron tomadas y tampoco me di a la tarea de averiguarlo —sí, lo sé, que vaga—. Así que brindo mis disculpas por si a alguien le interesaba dicha información.

[kneipe]

weimar 2024

[scribbled-entity]

Meet Rock & Roll! My bolas object character.

They're my funky lil guys, here's some drawings I've made of em!

[mannytoodope]

 Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004), known professionally as Ray Charles, was a singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. Charles contributed to integrating Country R&B, Blues, and Pop music, which he sometimes overlooked. If they wanted a heartfelt country song, Ray could do it. Ray could do it if you want something with a  beat to dance to it. He even wrote catchy pop songs. His music skills weren’t limited to the piano; he was also an excellent saxophone player. You can never put in him one genre of music because he had a fresh and original take on whatever he played. Charles worked with various artists throughout his career; he has significantly impacted modern music despite being blind from age seven.   He is still influencing artists today.

[clacclo]

Buddy Holly

Everyday

Everyday, it's a-gettin' closer

Ogni giorno, diventa più vicino

Goin' faster than a roller coaster

Andando più veloce delle montagne russe

Love like yours will surely come my way

Un amore come il tuo sicuramente verrà da me

(A-hey, a-hey, hey)

(a-hey, a-hey hey)

Everyday, it's a-gettin' faster

Ogni giorno, diventa più veloce

Everyone said, "Go ahead and ask her"

Tutti hanno detto "vai avanti e chiedile"

Love like yours will surely come my way

Un amore come il tuo sicuramente verrà da me

(A-hey, a-hey, hey)

(a-hey, a-hey hey)

Everyday seems a little longer

Ogni giorno sembra un po' più lungo

Every way, love's a little stronger

Ad ogni modo, l'amore è un po' più forte

Come what may, do you ever long for

Qualunque cosa accada, non sei ansiosa di ricevere

True love from me?

L'amore vero da me?

Everyday, it's a-gettin' closer

Ogni giorno, diventa più vicino

Goin' faster than a roller coaster

Andando più veloce delle montagne russe

Love like yours will surely come my way

Un amore come il tuo sicuramente verrà da me

(A-hey, a-hey, hey)

(a-hey, a-hey hey)

Everyday seems a little longer

Ogni giorno sembra un po' più lungo

Every way, love's a little stronger

Ad ogni modo, l'amore è un po' più forte

Come what may, do you ever long for

Qualunque cosa accada, non sei ansiosa di ricevere

True love from me?

L'amore vero da me?

Everyday, it's a-gettin' closer

Ogni giorno, diventa più vicino

Goin' faster than a roller coaster

Andando più veloce delle montagne russe

Love like yours will surely come my way

Un amore come il tuo sicuramente verrà da me

(A-hey, a-hey, hey)

(a-hey, a-hey hey)

Love like yours will surely come my way

Un amore come il tuo sicuramente verrà da me

Credits: Norman Petty, Buddy Holly

[lenswoman]

A FABULOUS Interview from Christy Hallberg on her Rock is Lit podcast, complete with a slideshow overview of my career!

[zeppelin-rules]

Vintage Lamp from Spencer's Gifts

[eroticlamb]

kate bush featured on top pop (tv), march 1978 ꩜

[soaked-doors]

pirates and their unconventional weddings (marines crashed it seven times)

[adrianrios]

Rock&Roll!!

[kulturegroupie]

[bootleg-nessie]

Rating band names based on their accuracy:

(I keep updating this list so check back later)

The Beatles: 3/10. None of these people are beetles, they’re just a bunch of fruity guys from Liverpool with matching haircuts

(Edit: changed from 0/10 to 3/10 because John Lennon beat his wife)

Pink Floyd: 4/10. There is not a single person named Floyd in the band, but some of the members do arguably look kinda pink

Nirvana: 10/10. Getting high and listening to Nirvana is roughly what I imagine actual nirvana to be like

Foo Fighters: either 0/10 or 10/10. I have never seen foo in real life so either they’re pretending to fight a problem that doesn’t exist or they’re doing an absolutely fantastic job of fighting it

The Eagles: 0/10. Same as the Beatles, there is not a single eagle in this band. The name is misleading and we have all been lied to

Queen: 6/10. Partial points for Freddie Mercury

Led Zeppelin: 0/10. I don’t think any of these guys have ever even seen a zeppelin, let alone one made of lead. A lead balloon would crash faster than my hopes and dreams

The Rolling Stones: 3/10. There is not a single stone in this band. Some points added because I’m pretty sure they rolled quite a few

U2: 0/10. Despite what the name says, I am not a member of this band

Metallica: 9/10. Naming a metal band “Metallica” is like naming your dog “doggy”

Red Hot Chili Peppers: 2/10. These guys are not chili peppers. They’re not even that hot, let alone red hot

Guns N’ Roses: 0/10. How the fuck could a gun or a flower play music

Backstreet Boys: ?/10. Depends entirely on their current given location

Simon and Garfunkel: 10/10. No notes

The Doors: 1/10. Jim Morrison is kinda shaped like a door tho

Chicago: 4/10. The number of people in this band does not come even remotely close to the population of Chicago. Points added because it originated in Chicago

Earth, wind, and fire: 2/10. This is even more innacurate than Chicago. Points added because wind instruments were often used

Def Leppard: 3/10. There is not a single leopard in this band. Some of the members are probably kinda deaf by now tho

The Beach Boys: ?/10. Accuracy depends entirely on location

The Black Eyed Peas: 6/10. Not sure what the hell an ‘eyed pea’ is but the black part is pretty accurate

Imagine Dragons: ?/10. Depends entirely on whether or not they’re thinking about dragons.

Cage the Elephant: 1/10. Why would you do that. Let the elephant go

Green Day: 0/10. They’re not even green

The Police: 0/10. There is not a single cop in this band

KISS: 5/10. I’m sure they probably kissed sometimes

The Monkees: 0/10. Are you fucking kidding me

We Butter the Bread with Butter: 8/10. I can’t verify this but I have no reason to suspect that they’d lie. Butter seems like the most logical thing to butter bread with

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: 0/10. I got really excited about the concept of a lizard wizard only to be let down. My disappointment is immeasurable

They Might Be Giants: 5/10. I googled everyone in this band’s height, the tallest guy’s only 6’1 so I wouldn’t exactly consider him a giant. Then again, I can’t really argue because the claim was only that they MIGHT be giants

The Presidents of the United States of America: 2/10. None of these people are Joe Biden nor are any of them former presidents. This is incredibly misleading. I’m pretty sure “Lump” was written about my first girlfriend tho so I’ll give them a point or two

Gorillaz: 2/10 Not quite but we’re kinda close genetically so I’ll give them partial credit

The Killers: ?/10. I have no way of verifying if they’ve actually killed before but the fact that they’re not in prison tells me probably not

The Offspring: 10/10. These guys are definitely somebody’s offspring

Arctic Monkeys: 1/10. They are neither monkeys nor are they from the arctic

Thirty Seconds to Mars: 1/10. It takes WAY longer to get to mars than that

Beastie Boys: 8/10. They’re pretty beast on the guitar

Jimmy Eat World: 1/10. Slow the fuck down Jimmy, you’re biting off way more than you can chew

Hole: 9/10. One point deducted because I’m pretty sure they had more than one hole

Rage Against the Machine: 10/10. They did exactly that

Alice In Chains: 0/10. This is illegal. Let Alice go

The Band: 10/10. This could not possibly be more accurate

Nine Inch Nails: 1/10. I can’t find any good pictures of their feet but from what I can tell their fingernails definitely aren’t nine inches long

Bush: ?/10. Not quite sure about this one, felt uncomfortable asking

The Who: 2/10. I’m not dealing with this “Who’s On First” bullshit

Radiohead: 0/10. Not a single person in this band has a radio for a head

Queens of the Stone Age: 0/10. This band should be called “five random dudes from the modern era” but FRDFTMA is a bit of a mouthful

Soundgarden: 2/10. Sound does not grow in the garden

Sonic Youth: 5/10. They’re not exactly youth anymore but the sonic part checks out

Talking heads: 8/10. There’s more to the band than just a bunch of disembodied heads but the heads do tend to talk

The Cranberries: 0/10. Decent music but I only added them so that the Beatles and Freddie Mercury weren’t the only fruits on this list

The Wiggles: 8/10. They do tend to wiggle a lot

Blue Man Group: 10/10. Yep!

Weezer: 5/10. They all look like they definitely have asthma

Limp Bizkit: 3/10. While the visual image of baked goods playing the guitar is hilarious, Fred durst is not a biscuit. Points added because he probably has erectile dysfunction

Stone Temple Pilots: 0/10. None of these people are accredited as being licensed to pilot anything, much less an entire stone temple. Stone temples don’t need pilots anyways

Wasted Youth: 8/10. I guess it really kinda depends on how you frame it but yeah, they probably wasted a lot of it

Them Crooked Vultures: 3/10. These are people and not birds but Dave Grohl’s posture is kinda bad and John Paul Jones is so old that his neck kinda looks like a vulture’s so I added some points

Audioslave: 0/10. Slavery is illegal

Traveling Wilburys: 4/10. Sure, they traveled a lot but not a single one of those lying bastards was named Wilbury

D12: 6/12. There were only 6 people in this band

NWA: 10/10. I’m a little too white to safely comment on this one but I’d say they nailed it

Jet: 1/10. A real jet would be way too loud

Goldfinger: 0/10. Not a single person in this band has a finger made out of gold

No Doubt: ?/10. I can’t really be too sure how Gwen Stefani felt but I think it’s probably a safe assumption that she had some doubts

The White Stripes: 3/10. I bet if you stripped them down naked and made them stand shoulder to shoulder and squinted really hard they’d probably look more like white stripes

Screaming trees: 3/10. They scream occasionally

Garbage: 2/10. I think they’re being a little harsh on themselves, their music isn’t THAT bad

Butthole Surfers: 5/10. Not even gonna touch this one

Megadeth: 3/10. To be fair, some of the former members are dead but only a little amount of death, not mega death

Dead Kennedys: 2/10. Last I checked Kennedy was still dead but neither he nor his clones are members of this band

Cake: 0/10. The cake is a lie

Cracker: 8/10. Most of them are

Tool: 7/10. I don’t know much about their music but they sure look like tools

Counting Crows: ?/10. Is this what emo kids do instead of counting sheep? Accuracy depends on whatever bird they happen to be counting at the moment

Dave Matthews Band: 10/10. It certainly is

Oasis: 1/10. Their music is the opposite of an oasis

Blur: 2/10. They are not that fast

Barenaked Ladies: 0/10. If I wanted to be this disappointed I’d reestablish a connection with my biological father instead

Meat Puppets: 10/10. Technically, aren’t we all?

Live: 8/10. Apparently they still do live shows but I deducted some points because I’ve only ever heard their music on Spotify

ABBA: 9/10. I’m still not giving any points to Guns N’ Roses but that’s mostly out of spite

5 Finger Death Punch: 8/10 I guess it probably depends on how hard you hit them but this seems to be the usual amount of fingers to punch somebody with

All American Rejects: 9/10. They’re all rejects from America so I don’t really see any issue with this

T. Rex: 0/10. Even if any of these people WAS a T. Rex I don’t think their arms would be long enough to play their instruments

Free: 0/10. Unless you steal their music, in which case it becomes a 10/10

The Strokes: 3/10. To my knowledge, none of them have had a stroke but I still added a few points because the name was probably accurate for other reasons

The Smashing Pumpkins ?/10. Another thing I have no way of verifying but this seems like a waste of perfectly good pumpkins

Therapy?: ?/10. The hell are they asking me for? I don’t know their medical history

Twenty One Pilots. 0/10. There’s only two of them and neither is a licensed pilot

Finger Eleven: 0/10. Leave the poor Stranger Things girl out of this

Fall Out Boy: 9/10. I conferred with an expert on this one who confirmed that they are in fact boys who had a falling out

Cream: 8/10. Considering this was the OG supergroup I’m sure a lot of people did in fact cream when their music came out

Edit: humans aren’t fucking monkeys. Stop saying we are