All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (Pete Townshend) – Album Review (Part 1)

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"All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes" Is My Favorite Solo Record By Pete Townshend. The Album Was Released In 1982, After The Acclaimed "Empty Glass" Had Ignited Townshend's Career.

"All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes" Is My Favorite Solo Record By Pete Townshend. The Album Was Released In 1982, After The Acclaimed "Empty Glass" Had Ignited Townshend's Career.

“All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes” was issued in the aftermath of Pete’s near-fatal depression of 1980-81. Keith Moon was dead, Kit Lambert was gone, and Pete was not reaching out to the public the way he once did. The faith on his band was broken, he had already launched a promising solo career. His marriage was in shambles (he was living away from his wife and children), and he was a million pounds in debt.

You must understand that Pete was never a strong person. He always had enormous difficulty coming to grips with who he was, and the way others saw him was instrumental to Townshend. When others perceived there was a problem, when they could see behind his blue eyes, that was the time he also noticed that he had a problem. And like most people who face alcoholic issues, he used to go to extremes all the time. He once remarked he even used to get suicidal about people he didn’t know at all if rebuffed.

During this time, virtually everybody scolded him. Roger Daltrey almost had it with Pete one night on stage, and even his best friend Richard Barnes (he who had suggested the name of the band all those years ago) cornered Townshend and called him “pathetic”. Pete’s response? “It’s alright. Why should Keith have all the glory?”

Finally, during a night out at the Club For Heroes he took heroin, overdosed and had to be rushed to ER. It transpired his heart had stopped beating for a while. A mere second later would have been fatal.

The turning point came shortly afterwards when wife Karen asked him “Why don’t you come over again and we try to work it out?”. That gave him the resolve to start pushing once more.

His 1982 record captures all of the above, and it shows that sometimes there is not a difference between being shattered, being broken and being fragmented. The only valid difference lies in being there or not being there at all.

“All The Best Cowboys…” is experimental in every sense. The first track has Pete reciting instead of singing. “Stop Hurting People” is actually an open letter for reconciliation he had written to Karen. The song, dealing with a love that died and had to be born again was the one way to start the record. “People, stop hurting people”, he pleads. And we all can picture him looking into the eyes of his wife as he does so, his gaunt reflection in her eyes, the words “without your love there is no flame” hammering and hammering until they are unleashed into song. Continue reading →

Oasis: Revealed (Lee Henshaw) – Book Review

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Oasis Revealed Lee Henshaw

"Oasis: Revealed" Came Out In 1996. Written By Lee Henshaw And Published By Parragon, It Covered Their Crowning Achievements As A Band.

This was the first book in English that I ever bought. That was fitting enough, as the first album I ever purchased was “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?”. And the second one? “Be Here Now”. I had quite a story with the Gallagher boys and their gang when I was a teenager. I eventually disowned them, but good albums are good albums and deserve their share of praise. And as always, if you get to know the story behind the words and the music then the ties can become more endurable.

This book certainly made me feel an increased love for the band, even when it was (and will always be) a modest effort. It is not that revealing, to be brutally frank. It covers the story up until the band rocked Maine Road. That means it reaches up to 1996. Only “Definitely Maybe” and “Morning Glory” are covered as a result. You get a good glimpse on the band’s formative days, and all the obvious events and incidents (the fight on the ferry during their first European tour that resulted in the “Wibbling Rivalry” CD, the run-in with Blur, Knebworth…) are covered.

The obvious comparison is Paolo Hewitt’s “Getting High – The Adventures Of Oasis”. It covers the same period, but it is the “official” account. It is a far lengthier book, and you even learn about mother Peggy Gallagher and how she met Thomas, not to mention having a minute overview of the boys’ teenage years. In terms of content, it wins hand down. Continue reading →

(What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (Oasis) – Album Review (Part 2)

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Read the introduction to this review by clicking here.

“Don’t Look Back In Anger” was the first single in which Noel handled lead vocals. In actuality, he was to sign both “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and “Wonderwall”, but Liam demanded singing one of the two projected singles. He picked “Wonderwall” maybe as a way of irking Noel. It would have made better sense if the elder Gallagher had sung that one. After all, it was written about Meg. And the song is seldom sung by Liam live – he only is behind the mic when the song is not done acoustically, as on the “Familiar To Millions” live album.

The introduction to “Imagine” heralds a true carpe diem anthem, and Noel “borrowed” more than that piano part from John Lennon. The phrase “So I’ll start a revolution from my bed/Cos’ you said the brains I had went to my head” comes from an interview with the late Beatle. The song is overwhelmingly beautiful, and Noel employs a device he otherwise abuses in the best way here: changing the grammatical person during bridges and choruses in order to make the song go from individual to plural, from “my” song to “our” song. Continue reading →

(What’s The Story) Morning Glory? (Oasis) – Album Review (Part 1)

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"(What's The Story) Morning Glory?"(Oasis' Second Album) Included Their Defining Hits "Don't Look Back In Anger" & "Wonderwall".

"(What's The Story) Morning Glory?"(Oasis' Second Album) Included Their Defining Hits "Don't Look Back In Anger" & "Wonderwall".

To review this (the very first CD I ever bought) fills me with a strange mixture of emotions. Most of all, I feel as if washed over and stripped of all experience by a wave of nostalgia as I realize how innocent I was back then. How I absorbed every instrument, how I thought each lyric over and over and how certain songs like “Hey Now” and “Don’t Look Back In Anger” marked the end of my teenage days. “There’s no time for running away now”.

But leaving aside its retrospective value, it is impossible to refute the appeal of this CD. “Definitely Maybe” was certainly more “Definitely” than “Maybe” in terms of quality, but its sound scheme was too lineal. With this album, Oasis discovered that their sound could be occasionally vulnerable without them being portrayed as weak because of that.

The first single was “Some Might Say”, a song Noel wrote while the rest of the band was being ejected from R & R misbehavior from a hotel the previous year. It was their first number one, after having chased the top of the charts like crazy. The song reprised T-Rex’s “Get It On” and had Liam singing “sunshine” in the vein of John Lennon, much as he had done on “Rock & Roll Star” from the previous disc.
Continue reading →

Photos From The Launch Event For “Once”

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(Hagan click aquí para leer este artículo en español)

A promise is a promise, there you have the pictures from the launch event for “Once”.

To begin with, publisher Carmen Galusso introduces the ones sitting at the table. Then she talks about the way we worked together up to that date.

Foto Once 1

Secondly, literature teacher Fabián Severo offers up an excellent critical speech. It is the first time that I listen to a qualified person commenting on my book, and I am enthralled as I see which verses and lines he highlights. You can read his full speech here.

Foto Once 2

Continue reading →

Fotos del Lanzamiento de “Once”

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(Click here for the English version of this post)

Lo prometido es deuda, finalmente les traigo las fotos del lanzamiento de “Once”.

En primer lugar, la editora Carmen Galusso presenta a los integrantes de la mesa y cuenta el proceso de trabajo que culmina en la edición del libro.
Foto Once 1

Luego, el profesor de literatura Fabián Severo nos ofrece una excelente disertación. Es la primera vez que escucho una opinión crítica sobre mi libro, y me resulta muy interesante ver que estrofas y versos resalta. Pueden leer su disertación aquí.

Foto Once 2 Continue reading →

Definitely Maybe (Oasis) – Album Review

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Bonehead's Front Room Was Captured In The Cover Of Oasis' Debut, "Definitely Maybe" (1994).

Bonehead's Front Room Was Immortalized In The Cover Of Oasis' Debut, "Definitely Maybe" (1994).

Oasis’ record-setting debut album came in 1994, at a time in which the reputation of the band had already turned them into cultural icons in England. Their early singles “Supersonic”, “Shakermaker” and “Live Forever” are included along with “Cigarettes & Alcohol”, a cut that captures their infamous swagger better than a hundred clippings. “Supersonic” was their first single, it made the Top 40 and Noel has termed it their own take on “I Am The Walrus” – IE, a lot of nonsense strung together. The first lines, though, do make a lot of sense and go hand in hand with “Cigarettes & Alcohol” towards defining their image of hellraisers: “I’m feeling supersonic, give me gin & tonic / You can have it all, but how much do you want it?”.

“Shakermaker” was their second single, and it resembled “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing” more than fleetingly. It is widely considered as a misstep now, but the succeeding single was their first truly indispensable song: “Live Forever”. It established Noel’s predominant themes of individuality and unity (the classic “Us” Vs. “Them” dilemma that characterizes his output), and it was the first true ace the band laid on the table. It gave them their first Top 10 success.

The swaggering “Rock & Roll Star” did also receive considerable exposure, and it was one of the earliest songs Noel wrote for the band. So was the trippy “Columbia”, with some lyrics ostensible penned by Liam. Continue reading →

Oasis – General Introduction

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The "Classic" Line-up: Paul Arthurs ("Bonehead"), Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Alan White and Paul McGuigan ("Guigsy")

The "Classic" Line-up: Paul Arthurs ("Bonehead"), Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Alan White and Paul McGuigan ("Guigsy")

When I began the blog, I was certain the one and only band that I was very well-acquainted with that I was not going to cover was Oasis. They were the first band I really listened to – heck, I even bought my first CD player in order to listen to their albums.

My decision not to cover them was based on the fact that I sincerely believed I had nothing to say about them that could be kind. Although their early successes are indisputable, their whole image became nauseating to me to the point that I ended giving away many of their CDs. The “bad boy” attitude is very fine when you are a teenager, but there comes a point when you don’t look a rebel any longer but an outright cretin. Continue reading →

Días Lúcidos (Lapso) – Uruguayan Music

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"Días Lúcidos" Was Lapso's Sophomore Effort

"Días Lúcidos" Was Lapso's Sophomore Effort. It Was Better-produced Than Its Predecessor, And The Album On The Whole Feels Like A More Mature Work.

Lapso [Lapse] is an alternative rock band that hails from my hometown, Montevideo. Its sound has been nurtured mainly by bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Incubus. The first CD by a Uruguayan rock band that I ever bought was this one, actually, mainly on the strength of the single “Volver Atrás” [Turn Back]. It remains my favorite rock song by a Uruguayan band even after all this time.

“Días Lúcidos” [Lucid Days] was to be their second (and so far latest) album. It was first issued in 2006 by Bizarro Records. The band comprises Andrés Bianco on guitar, Guido Boselli on drums and Andrés Miranda on bass. The singer is Gonzalo Bouzout.

The album has 12 songs that are characterized by a focused view on human beings and the way they relate to each other as a ramification of the way they can (and can not) cope with themselves to begin with. This theme is announced by “Humano” [Human], the first track, and songs like “Mediocre” deal with aspirations and the lack of them in terms that some might deem a bit prosaic but which are effective nonetheless.

The single “Más Que Ayer” [More Than Yesterday] is certainly a high point, with a great arrangement and compelling dynamics that turn it into the most likeable moment on the whole CD. Continue reading →

Month In Review – January 2010

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I started the new year in the best possible way by adding R.E.M. and Pete Townshend to the main list of artists featured in MusicKO. “Out Of Time”, “Automatic For The People” and “Monster” have already been reviewed, whereas fans of The Who’s unique composer should check what I had to say about “Who Came First”, “Rough Mix” and “Empty Glass”. And the best is yet to come…

I also started reviewing music movies, with the brilliant “Once” being the first addition to what I sincerely believe will become a different section of the blog.

Startups reviewed this month included Digiclef, The Sixty One, Twt.fm, Jamendo and Spotiseek. An additional note of gratitude to Ian Cox from Digiclef and Kristofer from Spotiseek for accepting being interviewed. Continue reading →