Album Review: U-Roy

 There is so much music that it’s impossible to explore it all. Even with literally entire artist Catalogs online. I mean I have been listening to punk for 30 years and I have barely scratched the surface.

The same goes for other preferred genres of mine- blues, funk, R&B, Prog, Folk even mainstream-style rock.

So it is with reggae (and musical cousins like ska and dancehall). I have really enjoyed listening to classic tracks over the last 20 years but it feels like I have just started down the path.

That track usually looks like hearing the names that get bandied around and then getting to the music. So I was just barely scratching into U-Roy when he passed this year.

2021 also saw the release of Solid Gold U Roy, a Covid delayed disc that was supposed to be a spotlight on the storied toasting pioneer.

Solid Gold is what I call a Supernatural record. There have always been Supernatural records and there always will be, but none has been as successful as Santana’s disc which featured the legend alongside current hitmakers. Prince’s Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic, Run DMC’s Crown Royal and Al Green’s Lay It Down are a few examples of variations of the “Supernatural” album in the last 25 years.

Solid Gold U-Roy despite its title and despite containing some of his most well known songs are all new recordings. Besides a guest list of musicians, sonically, it has some of the biggest names in the industry behind it- Zac Starkey, D Sardy, Youth (the Killing Joke bassist and prolific and eclectic producer, not to be confused with Reggae Legend Big Youth, who more about later) Sly and Robbie, and Dub legend Scientist.

How do you even measure this man’s influence? He’s a reggae legend but there is a direct course from him to “Rapper’s Delight”. There’s the punk angle for anyone who ever listened to the Clash, Operation Ivy or a Two Tone record.

Yet, the biggest and least obvious impact may be on the pop charts. Look through the playlists of past few years and look at all the hits with a toaster like Sean Paul, Shaggy or Shabba Ranks, and you literally are listing some of the biggest songs of this generation.

But of course, Solid Gold is a celebration of U Roy himself and his music and in that, even with impossible goals to attain, it largely is a modern masterwork.

Given the way U Roy makes his art, he needs a solid cast around him, and here he does.

It is interesting to see different reviews and different opinions on what works and what doesn’t.

One song where there is no argument is “Man Next Door”. As in most any case, where Santigold shows up to guest, the results are top notch.

Everything about it is perfect- a cross of generations. The song features in U Roy and Ken Boothe’s 1982 single “Peace and Love in the Ghetto” and most casual listeners might know of it from the Massive Attack/Horace Andy cover on Mezzanine. But here, it is a smooth vibe- something other than pop but no less an earworm, the combination of voices, at once separate but combined, with an incredible beat provided by Sly and Robbie.

After that, no review of this album is complete without mentioning the 15 minute plus Every Knee Shall Bow. Here, U Roy goes back and forth with fellow reggae legend Big Youth in a seemingly continuous ascent over hypnotic guitar from The Clash’s Mick Jones. This is followed by Scientist’s dub.

While these clearly are the highlights, the rest of the album is an enjoyable listen. Opener “Trenchtown Rock” is one of the songs that most critics are calling a misstep.

It is a song I did not like on first listen. It is one of my favorite Bob Marley songs and though I feel I have no ground to criticize Ziggy Marley for singing the song, I can’t help but thinking it needs more edge.

But after those initial listenings and thinking of it more as a tribute than a cover, I have at least partially come around to it.

I don’t think there are any other songs here I don’t like. A lot of critics point out “Tom Drunk” (recorded originally by U Roy in 1970) which matches him with contemporary reggae star Tarrus Riley, but I like it.

Marley gets revisited with Stop That Train which features present day toaster Rygin King. Crossover pop star Shaggy appears on Rule the Nation. Steel Pulse’s David Hinds elevates Soul Rebel. These are all a few of the collaborations- all worthwhile as a piece of the bigger picture.

It is of course, sad we lost this legend, but he has left behind quite a record for anyone who may not be familiar with his work.

Prince documentary

 I watched a documentary on Prince called When Doves Cry. It’s got a lot of one star reviews online but you know I am a sucker for such things.

So let’s get all the negative stuff out of the way. First, the main narrative is driven by an actor playing Prince as opposed to footage of the real artist. Sure there’s plenty of interview footage but the whole thing feels ‘cheap’. I did think the actor was good but it is always going to hurt in comparison.

Though there are some fantastic “gets” of interviews of people who were involved early in Prince’s career- his first manager, his first producer, a mentor and so on-it doesn’t seem like any of them were much around post- Lovesexy.

That’s fine of course, but you have to keep it in mind. Also, his 1985 Rolling Stone interview is a large basis of the material covered here.

The focus here is also on the personality instead of the music, and right or wrong, the filmmakers are buying deep into the Purple Rain mythology.

Now, that might not be that far off. Prince’s upbringing is far from ideal.

The doc picks up on the PMRC controversy and the Warner Bros fight. Important but it’s always tilted towards melodrama.

For example, Paisley Park is drawn up as a compound with Prince as dictator. Another outlook might be it was dream house. Another outlook might be that celebrities as big as Prince have their lives taken from them.

Moving to Chanhanssen to live seems to be the most reasonable celebrity behavior I’ve heard. Also, I suspect Prince was a strict taskmaster like Zappa, but I suspect the musicians knew what they were signing up for.

The drug overdose is hard. Do you play it for sympathy ( the man did acrobatics whilst in high heels and he did that for decades) or do you tackle the subject in a more sensational manner? This doc seems to split the difference.

The tone makes a doc and this doc isn’t always very positive. Prince had a terrible childhood, he lost his firstborn at six days, and died by all accounts alone. Still, you could probably tell similar stories about literally so many people , especially huge celebrities. I had the thought at times that this was more dirge than celebration.

That said, would I recommend avoiding this? Not necessarily. I have been a huge Prince fan for awhile, and I appreciated this look at his life. That said, I took it all with a big grain of salt.

One revelation for me was the Record Company fight over “Kiss”. The label didn’t think it sounded like a single. Obviously, history has marked it as iconic.

One can see why - it doesn’t resemble many radio songs in 1986, but Prince was right. Once you hear that guitar intro, you have to stick around to see what is going to happen.

Listening this Week: Johnny Cash's Bitter Tears

 I found a book that looked quite interesting- A Heartbeat and a Guitar by Antonino D’Ambrosio - a book focused on Johnny Cash’s Bitter Tears album.

I suspected it might be either a nice hidden gem (or maybe not) and comes after really extensively digging into The Cash Discography.

The book wasn’t the light read I expected and it’s focus is equally on the Native American Rights movement, the early 60s NYC folk scene, Ira Hayes, Peter LaFarge and of course, Cash; but it isn’t a particularly easy read- a bit too academic and scattered for my liking- though certainly full of facts.

To be fair, I had just watched a Cash doc that covered the same time frame. Johnny Cash and Me was a reflection of the filmmaker who made a film in the 60s of spending 8 months with Cash called Johnny Cash: The Man His World His Music

It was hardly big budget or essential viewing but I’m glad I watched it. It is interesting to see Cash’s humility and how he constantly tried to help everyone who came to him.

I tend to think of Cash as one of the last truly great artists that every American relates to. I suspect there are a few still living- Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton- but the list is small.

The Guardian puts Bitter Tears on its list of 101 strangest records on Spotify. I tend to agree with Allmusic’s assessment. When I listened to it 50 years later devoid of any controversy, I just hear another Cash ‘theme’ album and a pretty solid one at that.

Cash made a lot of theme albums but what stands out to me is that Bitter Tears came out in 1964. Not 1974, not even 1969. It famously caused Cash to take an ad out in Billboard challenging radio stations to play it.


When I started to collect Cash records in the late 00s/early 10s, this was certainly a favorite. Removed from historical context, it seems another album from some body who had themes- patriotic songs or Western songs or comedy songs or train songs or whatever.


This is six years before Dee Brown’s seminal “Bury Me at Wounded Knee” and almost a decade before Marlon Brando’s Oscar refusal, and a year before Donovan took a Buffy Saint Marie song onto the charts.

Neither D’Ambrosio’s book or Elfstrom’s documentary are essential purchases, but both are great glimpses into one of music's more interesting albums.

Fleetwood Mac - PBS Special

 My PBS station recently aired a Classic albums doc on Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. The BBC series regularly airs on cable tv and I have caught a few on there.

There’s probably nothing I can write that hasn’t already been said about this album. It is the rock critics ideal dream of art imitating life. There is a certain romance in doom creating art and all the main characters in Rumours are having a bad time. As years go on, I try to steer from this idea, but regardless, it is no doubt that it was an album made from highly inspired creative people.

Rumours is a real dichotomy for me. At once, it is very familiar. Let’s start with Dreams- as popular of a song to ever be played on radio. I heard it so much growing up that I suspect there are very few songs that exist that I have heard more in my life. Besides Dreams, half of the album consists of songs that were radio hits growing up or have since hit consistent radio playlists, that they have no surprises left for me.

At the same time, I must have lived in one of the few houses that didn’t own Rumours, so the album tracks here are truly ‘deep cuts’ for me. It puts me in this weird space where I consider myself a rather big Buckingham/Nicks era Mac fan, but I also don’t ever find myself listening to Rumours.

Anyway, I’m such a rock doc fan that I probably didn’t learn anything new, but if the five members of classic Mac sit down and talk for an hour, count me in.

Watching the doc, I’m not surprised The Chain ended up being the big hit from the 1997 reunion live disc. The Chain is a killer track. It is one of the few tracks in the band’s catalog to be credited to all five members. It is a mix of song fragments which came together for something greater.

The start of the song would have worked well enough alone. It’s got that bitter lover spurned vibe of Lindsay’s Go Your Own Way but it is actually penned by Nicks and McVie. Then when it would otherwise end (after already being a belter in the first half), Fleetwood and McVie step in to ramp up the rock at the end. For all the mellow California Rock label, that bass and drum build up is killer and Lindsey and Stevie (again Stevie’s lyrics reworked by Lindsay) come back in as things veer out of control to the finish.

 

That Kiss A&E Documentary

 Because I am a sucker for such things, there was no way I wasn’t going to not watch A&E’s two night four-hour Biography on Kiss.

I’m just a bit too young for the prime Kiss years. In a way, they were the remanent of older brother’s music- like the Village People and the Bay City Rollers. I was at the age where MTV was now important and it truly flipped a switch from bands like Triumph, Rush and April Wine to the MTV pop of Culture Club, Duran Duran and Madonna. Yes, there was metal -and it was no doubt influenced by Kiss- with bands like Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister.

But Kiss has always been there and to their credit, their longevity is amazing. They never had a long run of singles - certainly not the chart success of say, Aerosmith or Bon Jovi- but they have always had their name in the headlines.

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons think they are the best band in the world, and listening to the lifelong friends, it’s hard not to get sucked in to their train of thought. It’s clear they wanted to be the American Beatles, and they mostly succeeded.

There is something purely rock about the early ambitions. It is interesting that though they took cues from the New York Dolls and Slate, they kind of took their own concurrent path as the Punk and Metal scenes.

I largely missed on the early hits as a teen, and decades later, am familiar with the biggest “hits” but never really sat down and listened to the albums.

There are some great songs. The populist approach of Kiss meant they didn’t get the critical acclaim of the Ramones. They are of course, two very different bands, but we can’t underplay the influence of Kiss, which is emphasized here by large time given to super fans Tom Morello and Dave Grohl. I do actually love some of the raw rock of those early pre-Ezrin days.

The armchair critic in me sees some similarities between Kiss and the Dictators, and trying to work the numbers, you can see both bands are fairly independent of each other. Famously, Peter Chriss and Jerry Nolan were childhood friends. But of course, the critical approach to both is different and it’s commented on here, but Kiss never strives to be critics darling. Yet, I cannot also discount their own style of being young, loud and snotty.

Kiss always had their eye on filling stadiums with an awesome concert experience. Those early years are fascinating and were surely frustrating. Being a great live band didn’t (and likely still doesn’t) drive radio play, and we know without radio play, there’s going to be a ceiling for record sales and for homes reached.

The setup of this documentary is that Stanley and Simmons are able to craft their own narrative in this doc- and so are also able to scoff at “Meets the Phantom of the Park” and “Music from the Elder” but how could it be otherwise?

“I was made for Loving You” is a double edged sword, even more so than “Beth”. Kiss did need radio hits. I actually think “Made” is a fantastic song. Perhaps you don’t want to get too excited about a song that works equally well as rock and disco, but dang if it doesn’t.

The band downplays the 80s hair metal days. Although the band skips over nearly everything post- Lick it Up- I would have rather seen them celebrate it. It’s clearly that they are taking a ‘victory lap’ so why not embrace the full career.

Sure, they did go a bit off the rails (Gene’s acting career, for example) but I think diehards would disagree and a fuller story would have been nice (Revenge gets a bit of in depth detail, but most everything else gets skimmed over).

I mean it’s a better story to spend time on the Unplugged success and the reunion tour, which leads to a denouement of riding into the sunset.

That said, It is almost a disservice to Kiss, because they always kept themselves in the spotlight, even if their intentions sometimes missed their mark (comic books, symphonic orchestras, arena football). There isn’t a very long length of time that Kiss wasn’t in the headlines for something.

The doc had to rely on interviews from Ace and Peter to get their side of the story, as they did not want to take part. Surely, we only get one side of the story, which is likely not fair. I suspect we might forgive rock stars for wanting to be rock stars, whereas Paul and Gene act like CEO and CFO of Kiss, Inc.

Overall, though, you can’t beat the infectious enthusiasm of Simmons and Stanley and they sincerely believe they are The Best and spending time with them, you might even end up concurring.

Raised On Radio: ZZ Top

 It seems appropriate to write about the death of Dusty Hill of ZZ Top. A bit unexpected as I classify them with Van Halen as some of my most favorite of the truly mainstream bands.

Eliminator of course was huge and as I have said before, it fits with VHs 1984, Synchronicity, Born in the USA and Heartbeat City as albums I alternately love and am completely sick of.

I can’t help but think of ZZ Top in that same category of artists and how Warner Bros, Columbia Records and others would (when they had a big hit) sell their older albums at a reduced cost. It’s funny of course, because as a young fan, these records felt like off brand cereal. 40 years later, I realize the diamonds in the proverbial rough. (As an aside I absolutely love that the new John Mayer album has the “Nice Price” sticker. )

Now, Eliminator was the perfect 80s album. Throw it in a Rock or Pop or even dance mix and it holds. The band would be chasing that sound for another ten years, but even those ensuing singles were pretty good.

From there, of course, through FM Radio or wherever, one hears Tush, La Grange Waitin for the Bus, Cheap Sunglasses and a good helping of other older hits.

They are infectious and quite timeless. Although these songs were from the 1970s- ostensibly music from parents and older siblings- yet these songs seem to exist in a period of their own. Indeed, Sharp Dressed Man which has had multiple lives, less a product of a time where it shared the charts with Men At Work, Culture Club and the Jane Fonda Workout, and more of some timeless record that exists outside such things.

Like many bands, that initial euphoria levels off when you realize that unless you go back to the first caveman, nothing is original, and at some point, you realize that ZZ Top owes a debt to John Lee Hooker, Slim Harpo and Elmore James among other blues men.

That said, over time, it is easy to forgive bands who appreciated the music and brought it to the mainstream. ZZ Top certainly forged a path all their own and they are plenty of fun to listen to.

Album Review: The Go! Team

 I’m nostalgic for the early 2000s, some years that I rank with some of the all time creative spurts, and you couldn’t find a much better album than 2004’s Thunder Lightning Strike by the Go Team!

Dropping a needle somewhere in those years, I can give you a whole bunch of artists from that time frame (Grandaddy, The Hives, Modest Mouse, Beck, The Rakes, Kimya Dawson, Neutral Milk Hotel, Daft Punk, Beck) and yet TGT! seems to mostly exist outside of them all.

The Go Team like so many bands with impressive debuts, continued (and continue) to make new albums. None of these particularly received bad reviews, like any band approaching Album number six, it’s more of a case of buzz fizzling out.

Get Up Sequences Part One seemingly more than any recent GT! Album recalls the style of Thunder Lighting Strike. Now LGT is a deep record. There’s probably 5 songs on that 13 track album that would really punch up any mix tape. GUSP1 won’t pull that average but it’s got it moments. “Pow” ranks up there as does “A Bee Without its Sting”- two songs that could hang with TLS.

But as a whole record, there’s really no complaints to be had. For example, closer “World Remember Now” doesn’t flow as effortlessly as the previous songs I mentioned, though I suspect it might be a favorite for other listeners.

Cleaner vocals replace the noisier experimental style of 2017’s Proof of Youth. Naively, one thinks that they could sneak one of these songs along Top 40 songs- a mixture of urban and rock sounds punctuated by the bands seemingly raison d’être- an anthemic cheerleader style sound.

If you somehow missed The Go Team in the past 17 years, here’s your jumping on point.

Naked Raygun- Over the Overlords

All bands eventually reform right? And this year is another banner year.

I honestly don’t have a great feel for the true popularity of Naked Raygun. They eluded my radar which was activated in high school, and at that time I picked up the obvious bands- Husker Du, Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys, but extended to band like Flipper, Suicidal Tendencies and The Minutemen. But once I was a bit older and around Chicago-centric circles, clearly I was taken by the band.

NR was at the end of their career when I discovered them. Pegboy spun off (via guitarist John Haggarty) and similarly produced great music limited to an indie label audience.

Time seemed to be cruel- Chicago was a ‘scene’ town now and the Alt press fawned over Liz Phair, the Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt and Urge Overkill among others. One can only imagine that the wave just missed NR.

But the post punk sound of NR - working class, informed by Heavy Metal doesn’t lend itself to hero worship. They would have to settle for influencing David Grohl and thus changing music forever. It is certainly difficult to picture the existence of Emo without a band like Naked Raygun.

The new album could be thrown into a band mix and fit right in. Different songs recall the various moments from more melodic Buzzcocks pop to the pretty standard Dag Nasty/Government Issue/Youth Brigade 80s hardcore bands you would line them up with.

While that’s unlikely to excite all but the most devoted fans, in the wake of a lot of other recent albums of a similar nature, it’s a pretty solid compliment.

I’m not sure if Paul Barker produced the whole thing or just the single remix that is featured here, but the album does capture the crunch which is the best sound for the band.

There’s probably nothing here that tops “Treason” or “Home of the Brave” but a couple of songs are in the area, and (perhaps naively) one could believe that someone who had never heard the band, only it’s successors would be blown away. That this could even make inroads to unheard ears, well, let’s say Pitchfork reviewed the new Peppa Pig album, but didn’t pick up this one.

But this one is pretty good, check it out.

Album Review- Christone “Kingfish” Ingram

I will follow up last weeks post with another pick from the youth movement- 22 year old Christone “Kingfish” Ingram who released his sophomore album “662” this year. I don’t think my view on the Blues is much different than many Rock fans, but I must say I actually catch the local Blues Radio show quite a bit, and was lucky to see more than a few Blues live shows at the beginning of the century. A lot of modern blues songs have a certain sound that is a bit too slickly produced for my ears. Not that there aren’t a few Blues artists who quite simply are too good to be ignored (Bettye LaVette and Shemekia Copeland to name a couple) and get picked up by Indie Rock media. My ears are drawn to the Pre-Stones/Yardbirds blues artists like Howlin Wolf, John Lee Hooker, BB King and so many more. My idea of the Blues is likely based on my particular time and place, which was the strain of guitar rock (most famously carried through Albert King/Freddie King/Buddy Guy and so on) that made a run on the pop charts in my early teenage years most prominently by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Healey and Robert Cray. Now that genre never really went away (Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Samantha Fish, Gary Clark Jr and many others) but there’s something about listening to Kingfish that is particularly exciting. His music grabs me as something for FM Rock ears like little else on Blues Radio with few exceptions like The Cash Box Kings and the late Michael Burks. Drawing from all these blues influences I mentioned (both recent, old and inbetween) but young enough to draw in all these normally unrelated influences like Hendrix, Prince, Funkadelic, Living Colour Thin Lizzy, and some punk, funk, country and rap to really doing something interesting and fresh.

album Review- Justin Sullivan

You have likely already heard me ex till the virtues of New Model Army. In the US, there main claim to fame came during the Reagan years when they were denied visas to come here because they had ‘no artistic merit’. I was lucky enough to be introduced to them in the early 90s. Decades later, I am still a fan, primarily for two reasons. They have a pretty solid “greatest hits” record. While a couple songs dominate their history, they have a set of songs as good as anyone. The second reason is that the band continues to make interesting music. Though they aren’t charting undiscovered territory anymore, they still bring passion to their records. In my undoubtedly naivety, it’s hard to imagine they couldn’t have broken bigger in the States (then again, Sony also took the gamble on them in those exciting anything can happen post-Nirvana years). They certainly shared roots in anthemic punk (Clash, Jam, Undertones) with bands like U2 and the Alarm, but their roaring guitars could have gotten them across with the more FM rock friendly alternative sounds of the day like The Cult, Killing Joke and Sisters of Mercy. 2021 brings lead singer Justin Sullivan’s second solo album (roughly 20 years later from his solo debut). The band follows a similar template as (and features members of) NMA, but instead, has an “unplugged” feel. Like many of his gothic brethren, age only helps make him sound more like a wisened sage. The benefit of this is that focuses on Sullivan’s voice and lyrics, which have always been good, and in this case, he seems to be telling personal stories. The drawback is that the songs work better independently (say on a playlist) but have a repetitive effect on an album. This one won’t be for everyone but it is the kind of album that some people may really love. Also likely contains the best (and possibly only) song about Roald Amundsen written this year, but you will have to look that one up yourself.

Southern Culture On the Skids- Album Review

One might classify Southern Culture on the Skids as a gimmicky 90s band as one would say, Squirrel Nut Zippers. And the truth is everyone had a unique ‘gimmicky’ sound. You could probably list nearly a dozen bands that fit the bill (Supersuckers, Deadbolt, Bad Livers, Rev Horton Heat, Los Straitjackets, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Legendary Shake Shackers, Nashville Pussy and so on). For SCOTS, their sound in the most simplified terms are a Cramps inspired band but as if the Cramps were Southern fried (and not just Nashville but a bit of Athens, Georgia).

They popped up with some colorful EPs and then when major labels were signing anything to throw it against the wall and see what stuck, they released 1995’s Dirt Track Date for Geffen Records. Dirt Track Date stands out even now as a classic of the genre- whatever kind of surf meets rockabilly meets roots rock genre that might be.

I haven’t followed the band that closely but they never rested. Largely releasing records on their own label, they don’t quite grab headlines. “At Home with..” was released this March with little fanfare.

Maybe that isn’t surprising. SCOTS are no longer the new guys, and the album is essentially a Covid record- forced to record in the studio because touring wasn’t an option.

But in this case, we really have a hidden gem of the record. Perhaps, it’s a bit subdued if you haven’t listened to the band in some time, but it works to the bands advantage. When you consider the Cramps final records failed because that band wouldn’t try to recreate themselves, a mature SCOTS brings humor to a more traditional sensibility.

At Home sounds like the an Up and Comer and less the work of a band that has crisscrossed the country on endless tours and a dozen-plus records in. It actually holds together over the breadth of the album with the only real misstep (in my opinion) being an unusually SCOTS-ed but faithful cover of Traffic’s Dear Mister Fantasy.

New Music Initiative: Ryan Glenn

2021 has not been a banner year for music for me. Certainly not to the extent 2019 and 2020 were. Now that may be because of Covid or just my own experiences. But don’t let the memes fool you. There’s always good music being made, and if anything i am just forced out of my comfort zone.

Anyway on the search for new music, I discovered Ryan Glenn. Unlike most of the artists I listen to, he’s on the early side of this career- 19 years old out of Denton, Texas and just releasing his first album. He is joined by members of the Old 97s, Bowling for Soup and Two Tons of Steel.

That guest list is a bit revelatory as Glenn is definitely stuck in the 1950s but he’s definitely got modern sensibilities.

The influence is classic early 50s country, a fair amount of rockabilly, and pre-Elvis in the army rock n roll. Critics pick up on his vocal hiccup and write Buddy Holly, though I would suggest (not that they are wrong, but) the first thought for many will be Hank Williams 3.

In fact, Far-away Rose is about as close as you can get to combining the influences of Hank and Hank 3. (Or combining the sounds of Buddy Holly and Weezer’s “Buddy Holly”). The subject matter probably puts him closer to 2022 to 1952- but then that probably shouldn’t be a surprise.

I’m really impressed. I hope we hear more from Ryan Glenn.

Iowa State Fair Free Stage Review 2021

 Each year, I do a little write up on the bands playing the Iowa State Fair. Everyone knows all the jokes, but there is generally a reason behind them- the bands can usually be put into two categories- hot rising country band or past-their-prime rock band. 

But I don’t write about the Grandstand bands but the Free Stage bands who take those descriptions to the next level. Not that I couldn’t write about the headliners. 

The Mike Love Band (dba The Beach Boys) is making their near annual trip here (with openers Hanson) and will have John Stamos in tow. 

Five Finger Death Punch is the rock band du jour to get the main stage treatment. 

Chris Stapleton with opener Nikki Lane (and Colter Wall on the free stage earlier in the day, I believe ) makes a solid night for Outlaw Country. 

Also of note, the current Doobie Brothers line up closing the fair features Michael McDonald.  

Besides Wall, Niko Moon, Jake Hoot and Blanco Brown look to further launch their careers on the free stage

Enough niceties. Let’s dish. 

The Lettermen

I remember: The Lettermen have been performing at state fairs since I was too small to ride the rides. You think they would have graduated by now, amirite?  Hey oh!

I learned: Like so many of these early rock bands, there is only one of the members of  this trio still living. Their credentials- 20 top 100 singles (1962-1971) and 11 gold records. It’s the kind of longevity that makes the Stones look like young pups. 

The band has essentially been Tony Butala’s since 1976 and in 2019, Butala semi retired so at some point, this may just be a franchise deal, though I’m sure you can’t beat them for harmonies. Meanwhile, Mick Jones is attempting the same thing as Butala with the Foreigner name. 

Skid Row

I Remember: You. Ha!  Skid Row were one of the more talented of their hair band brethren. A little bit more crunch than their peers. They took three albums to the charts. You will likely remember the first album and Slave to the Grind. 1995’s Subhuman Business got to 35, but even with positive reviews, things had changed, Sebastian Bach left and the chart run was done. To be fair, despite their talent and music sea changes, I think Bach’s mouth would have sunk them sooner rather than later anyway.

I learned: Skid Row is just the same band without Bach (and who can blame them). They released albums in 2003 and 2006 and a bunch of new songs in 2013-14. They opened for Kiss’s Farewell Tour in 2000. The band has had three vocalists Johnny Solinger, Tony Harnell (TNT) and current screamer ZP Theart (Dragonforce). 

Tony!Toni!Tone!

I remember: Too poppy in the time of gangsta rap. They were quite fun. Four charting albums (88-96). Ten Hot 100 songs. Three Top 10 songs. Everyone should remember “Feels Good” and “If I had no Loot”. Loot took the unlikely Ice Cube sample “You can New Jack swing on my nuts” and threw it into an all out party song. 

Also that pop country Walker Hayes song “You Broke Up With Me” is the same melody as T!T!T!s hit. 

I learned: You may not recall Raphael Saadiq as part of the band, but he would have his own success. The current band- founder DWayne Wiggins, his brother and his cousin- tours and had one last chart trip- backing Alicia Keyes for her #8 “Diary” in 2010. 

LIT

I remember: The Popoff brothers had ridiculous hair but were able to chart two albums in the Top 40 (1999, 2001) in those post grunge years. “My Own Worst Enemy” was their one big hit, though they took seven songs to the Alternative chart- the last in 2004. For some reason, I more remember the record company promoting the hell out of it than anyone actually liking their music. 

I learned: Perhaps I was a bit harsh on Lit. They always struck me as  ripping off the late 80s Orange County bands. Guess what?  They were a late 80s Orange County band whose success took twelve years. The band is still intact (minus the late drummer) and last released These Are The Days in 2017 which is a detour into country rock. 

Color Me Badd

I remember:  Oh you know. So let’s get it out of the way. I wanna sex you up. Har har! George Michael, Kenny G, Vanilla Ice and Rick James supergroup. Hey oh!

But seriously- three Top 3s, nine Top 40 songs ( a chart run from 1991 to 1996) and an appearance at the Peach Pit 

Of course, the indelible image in my mind is from 2018 when during a concert, when Bryan Abrams appeared on stage, yelled “I’m MFing Color Me Badd” and shoved Mark Calderon to the ground. 

I learned: The route after chart success was a weird one - solo careers, Reality shows (Mission: Man Band) and collaborations with the Insane Clown Posse. As far as I can tell, it’s just Calderon and hired hands at this point. Wiki helpfully adds the Abrams incident may have been caused by alcohol. 

Tag Team

I remember:  I love everything about Tag Team. DC the Brain Supreme was 27 when him and his high school friend Steve Rollin’ hit the charts in 1993, but they looked like middle aged men at the time. 

Whomp went to #2 (kept from #1 by Janet Jackson’s “That’s the Way Love Goes”). Such a big hit, it took the accompanying long player into the Top 40 and the song held the record for longest run in the Top 10 until Toni Braxton came along four years later. It would have been the biggest song of the year, if Whitney hadn’t covered an old Dolly Parton tune. 

You probably don’t know that the band has had three songs chart on the Top 100, but you can probably guess they are Addams Family and Mickey Mouse related take offs of their hit and both charted in 1994. 

Of course, last year, Tag Team had one of the most talked about commercials of the time appearing in a Geico ad,but for me nothing tops the circa -2010 rumor that Barack Obama was in the Whoomp video. It’s of course preposterous, but it just cements how great of party that song evokes.

I learned: Tag Team just might not have enough hits, which is why they are paired with Color Me Badd. I was surprised to find that the band had resisted reuniting for the subsequent decades and their record label went belly up because of the usage of early 80s Italian disco band Kano’s “I’m Ready”. But things look to be back on the upswing for the duo once again. Not the reunion we wanted, but the one we needed. 

Riley’s LA Guns

I remember: LA Guns were probably most famous for their alumni (Axl Rose and the Hollywood Rose predecessor) but Ballad of Jayne went Top 40 and three Top 50 albums were enough to get them out of that shadow. 

I learned: As you can guess, the name means there is contested rights over the name. On one hand, Tracii Guns isn’t part of this band and that is surely enough for most to not consider these the real Guns, but from a lineage point of view, Riley’s La Guns is the closest to the real thing. 

Riley who played with WASP in their latter heyday was the drummer for the Guns in their best selling, best charting years, and  Riley has kept the band going past Tracii’s departure and continuously recording new albums. Also adding legitimacy is bassist Kelly Nickels who played on the three charting Guns albums and wrote “Ballad of Jayne”. 

Country Gold featuring Leroy Van Dyke

I remember: Leroy’s classic country show is an Iowa State Fair perennial.  When I was a kid, I heard “The Auctioneer” and was blown away. If you don’t like that song, I question just how American you really are. The other song closely related to Van Dyke is equally enjoyable if less frenetic “Walk on by” (not to be confused with the Bacharach/David/Warwick/Isaac Hayes/Stranglers song). 

I learned: Van Dyke is now 91. Walk On By was number one on the country chart for 19 weeks and held the record for 52 years until Florida Georgia Line came along. 

Vocal Trash

I remember: I will mention this band since my wife loves them and they are another perennial Iowa State Fair act. The idea of taking trash and making music out of banging on trash cans isn’t a new one but they have certainly owned the concept. Steve Linder started the band in 2000, so while it doesn’t quite predate say, Stomp or Blue Man Group or other experimental bands, they have certainly made their own way to numerous state fairs and blazed their own path. 

I learned: Certainly, this band has more in common with entertainment options like Riverdance, Broadway shows and the like. When I finally saw them, they were a bit disappointing as they have definitely evolved to include guitars and electronics made out of recycled materials. While they are still high energy, it is a different vibe from if you see their early performances on YouTube 

All those cover bands 

I remember: State Fairs have their staples- corn dogs and mullets. In Iowa, that means Hairball- 20 years blending Kiss, Alice Cooper, Motley Crue, Queen and various larger than life arena rock legends with all of the songs of those days from Ozzy to Journey, AC/DC to Guns N Roses. 

I learned: Since you can’t beat the combination of arena rock and state fairs (and you can't), why not book Hairball and the Rock of Ages band. 

While both bands would probably tell you they are very different (Hairball’s experience tends towards the era’s on stage excess) it’s hard not to group them together somewhat. 

I was curious to see who is in the Rock of Ages band and was surprised by a recent lineup. Constantine Maroulis leads the band, best known as Drew from the musical which he won a Tony and yes, you might remember him from the fourth season of American Idol. The band includes Tommy Kessler (member of Blondie since 2010) and Winston Roye (member of Soul Asylum since 2012). 

Besides those two bands, there is also “I am.. I said” a Neil Diamond tribute. While this makes me think of Will Ferrell, I can’t really think of many more beloved singers in the current day than Diamond, and I’m basing that on public sing-a-longs. In this case, the band isn’t technically "a tribute" in that they don’t try to recreate a Diamond show, but playing his biggest hits. Of interest, the band consists of the sons of that State Fair perennial Bobby Vee who had a half dozen Top 10 hits himself