Patti Smith

Certain Songs #1437: Patti Smith – “April Fool”

January 25, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Banga
Year: 2012

After the back-to-back triumphs of Gone Again and Peace and Noise, Patti Smith settled into a cadence that you’d expect from a getting-up-there-in-years legacy artist who isn’t named “Neil Young” and started releasing new studio albums at an ever-decreasing clip, interspersed with best-ofs, blown-out reissues and cover albums.

And while I didn’t fully enjoy either 2000’s Trampin’ or 2004’s Gung Ho, I’m willing to put that on me, especially since I loved 2012’s Banga as much as any record she’s ever released outside of the almighty Horses.

Certain Songs #1436: Patti Smith – “Memento Mori”

January 24, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Peace and Noise
Year: 1997

On a roll after the artistic successes of her comeback tour and Gone Again, Patti Smith went back into the studio and produced a fine follow-up, Peace and Noise.

With the latest incarnation of her band — original members Lenny Kaye & Jay Dee Daughtrey augmented by bassist Tony Shanahan and guitarist Oliver Ray — fully solidified, Peace and Noise was both more assured and more experimental than its predecessor, and even garnered Smith her first Grammy nomination for “1959.”

Certain Songs #1435: Patti Smith – “Beneath The Southern Cross”

January 23, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Gone Again
Year: 1996

And just like that, it was the mid-1990s. But, of course, it wasn’t “just like that.” After the success of “Because The Night,” and the relatively strong sales of Easter and Wave, it seemed like Patti would ride into the eighties on top of the momentum she had created. So she did the exact opposite.

Instead, she married former MC5 guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, broke up her band, and essentially retired from the rock ‘n’ roll game, releasing only a single album — 1988’s Dream of Life — in the 80s and first half of the 1990s. She kept such a low profile that another Patti Smyth was able to emerge and forever cause confusion.

Certain Songs #1434: Patti Smith Group – “Dancing Barefoot”

January 22, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Wave
Year: 1979

Then the weirdest thing happened: in 1978 Patti Smith became a one-hit wonder with her remake / remodel of Bruce Springsteen’s “Because The Night.” That, of course, was the first time I ever heard her in any context, and, I gotta admit, I only thought it was OK. When it came on the radio, I didn’t turn it off, but I didn’t turn it up, either.

That said, “Because The Night” did generate enough buzz that its mothership Easter, and the follow-up, Wave both cracked the top 20, and I even remember her pretty decent cover of The Byrds “So You Wanna Be a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star” got pretty decent airplay on KKDJ.

Certain Songs #1433: Patti Smith Group – “Pumping (My Heart)”

January 21, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Radio Ethiopia
Year: 1976

Horses, of course, was produced by Velvet Underground co-founder John Cale, who found the exact balance between highlighting what Patti Smith was singing and the backing band coalescing around her. Radio Ethiopia was produced by Jack Douglas, who had just produced Aerosmith’s Rocks and was just about to produce Cheap Trick’s debut.

Now, of course, I love both Cheap Trick and Aerosmith — Rocks is one of my all-time favorite albums — Douglas wasn’t the right producer for the Patti Smith Group (as they were now called), and critics at the time slagged Radio Ethiopia for trying to hard to be commercial (which I don’t give a shit about), and how he overwhelmed Patti’s vocals in the mix (which I do).

Certain Songs #1432: Patti Smith – “Land”

January 20, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Horses
Year: 1975

He saw horses, horses, horses, horses
Horses, horses, horses, horses

Before efore we get to the end of Horses, we have to navigate some disparate terrain. After the pure rock and roll blast of “Gloria,” Patti takes left turns into reggae, free jazz, more rock and gives fellow traveller Tom Verlaine room to blast notes skywards two years before he put out Marquee Moon.

Certain Songs #1431: Patti Smith – “Gloria”

January 19, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Horses
Year: 1975

A story.

It’s the early 1980s, and you’ve been spending the past few years simultaneously buying as many contemporary punk, post-punk, and punk precursor albums as you can possibly afford. Or even that you can’t.

But you still haven’t landed on Patti Smith, maybe because your first experience has been her Bruce Springsteen cover/collab “Because The Night” which you liked well enough a few years prior, but just never blew you away.

Medialoper Bebop Episode 27: Brain Decline

January 11, 2012 by Jim Connelly

In their first podcast of 2012, Jim & Tim wonder if you’ve heard that new Van Halen song. Kirk could care less. But it does lead to a discussion about various band reunions as well as the various incarnations of Van Halen. (4:37 – 11:04)

Then, there is general worry at a British study that says brain decline starts in the mid-40s, not the early 60s. (11:05 – 19:55)

Also, speaking of decline, has any retailer had a swifter decline than Best Buy? Probably, but who can remember? Kirk traces it back to when they got into a public spat with the DuroSport Electronics Corporation. (19:56 – 29:18)

Finally, the latest inductee into the Medialoper Bebop Great Albums Hall of Fame, Horses by Patti Smith. Even though it’s Kirk’s choice, Jim is going to use this opportunity to link to his article about seeing Patti live in 1996, as well as Kassia’s article about her love for Patti Smith. (29:19 – 47:10)

All that, and the new Van Halen song! On Medialoper Bebop Episode 27: Brain Decline.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:21 — 74.7MB)

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Medialoper Bebop Episode 24: Steal This Podcast

November 30, 2011 by Jim Connelly

This week, Tim, Kirk, & Jim discuss the the following Rolling Stones-permeated topics.

First off, you’d think that a newly-released Rolling Stones live album from the early 70s would be a cause for celebration, but as it is confined to Google’s Android platform, it’s as cause for consternation and the spur for a long, serious discussion about how music exclusivity — whether via artificially high prices or artifically enforced platforms — encourages piracy.

Not only do artists like U2, Nirvana & Bob Dylan end up burying musical treasures in “Super Deluxe” box sets with exorbitant prices, it’s gotten so bad the Elvis Costello wrote a blog post encouraging his fans not to purchase his recent live album until next year. (2:20 – 23:20)

Then, on the heels of a report that she might be pro-life, we do an interview with the iPhone’s built-in personal assistant, Siri, to try and determine what her politics are once and for all. (23:30 – 30:15)

Finally, even though Kirk’s mix is a bit of a mess, he still has time to talk about the new album from Tom Waits, reissues from the Rolling Stones and the entire Linton Kwesi Johnson catalog. (30:16 – 40:30)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:35 — 66.8MB)

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