"ROCK AND ROLL" THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (1970)

The decade in which I was born has given me a strange perspective on its music. I discovered pretty much all of the 70’s sounds – from prog rock to punk to disco – well after they came into the world. It wasn’t until the late 80’s that I discovered what I was missing. I would characterize the decade as one where budding genres leaped off their inspiration pads and came to fruition. For the month of February, Mental Jukebox will feature some of these gems with a different 70’s song each day. #28DaysOf70sSongs

Producer Brian Eno famously said this: “The Velvet Underground didn’t sell many records, but everyone who bought one went out and started a band.” The quote speaks to the pure love of the music that the band had. Lou Reed himself once said this about music: “If I hadn't heard rock and roll on the radio, I would have had no idea there was life on this planet. Which would have been devastating - to think that everything, everywhere was like it was where I come from. That would have been profoundly discouraging. Movies didn't do it for me. TV didn't do it for me. It was the radio that did it." It’s the sentiment behind “Rock and Roll”. That song was about him.

“Rock and Roll” is Lou Reed wearing his rabid love for music on his sleeve. A passion I’ve always identified with – that undying obsession to music. No other creative expression or pursuit compares. This was the b-side to “Sweet Jane”, which is a spectacular song in itself. But I think those two songs could’ve easily swapped sides with each other without anyone blinking an eye. “Rock and Roll” was on that level. It had this unexpected chord progression to it which was driving the song from the start, while Reed’s howling falsetto turned in one of the band’s finest vocal moments. It’s one of my all-time favorite Velvet Underground songs.

“There was nothin' goin' down at all, not at all. Then one fine morning, she puts on a New York station. You know, she don't believe what she heard at all. She started shaking to that fine, fine music. You know, her life was saved by rock and roll.”

"NO FUN" THE STOOGES (1969)

For the month of January, I’m selecting some of the most memorable and influential songs of the 60’s. While they all hail from the same decade, these are some of my favorite songs of any era. They remind me that the 60’s were so much more than just Woodstock and psychedelic rock. It was a flourishing period for blues, folk, progressive and straight-ahead rock. #31DaysOf60sSongs

Of the band, music critic Mark Deming of AllMusic once brilliantly stated this, "Part of the fun of The Stooges is, then as now, the band managed the difficult feat of sounding ahead of their time and entirely out of their time, all at once.” What an accurate statement. These guys were total outsiders during their time. They sounded strange, almost childish at times. But, who knew, they would help shape the sound of punk rock. Songs like “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and “1969” are proto-punk anthems, and “No Fun”, in my mind, should be given the same stature.

At times throughout the song, Iggy Pop’s vocals sound more like whining and screaming than actual singing. Ron Asheton’s distortion-soaked guitar riffs seemingly reflect back this same juvenile approach. The hooks sound like moans and groans. It’s raw, lo-fi music fun that chooses an unlikely source as its key rhythm base: Scott Asheton’s handclaps. The clapping is more pronounced than his drum kit. With “No Fun”, it seems like there isn’t much to dissect. It’s just a fun, don’t-give-a-S#it song that just so happens to sound eerily similar to a whole rock movement that would arrive on the scene about five years later.

“Well maybe go out, maybe stay home. Maybe call Mom on the telephone.”

"I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN" THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO

For the month of January, I’m selecting some of the most memorable and influential songs of the 60’s. While they all hail from the same decade, these are some of my favorite songs of any era. They remind me that the 60’s were so much more than just Woodstock and psychedelic rock. It was a flourishing period for blues, folk, progressive and straight-ahead rock. #31DaysOf60sSongs

I can’t pay homage to the 60’s without paying homage to one of the most influential and daring bands to come out of that period. Hearing albums like The Velvet Underground & Nico collaboration and White Light/White Heat, I’m struck by what these guys were doing and when they did it. They were about ten years ahead of everyone else. There are entire genres that may not have come to fruition had The Velvet Underground not laid the groundwork, including garage rock, punk rock and new wave. I can hear elements of these styles in their anthem “I’m Waiting For the Man”.

“I’m Waiting For the Man” is a raw, gutsy rock song with that characteristic Lou Reed approach of half-singing, half-intoning. The song is like a foreshadowing of what was to come. In those five minutes, we hear the raw distortion that would typify garage rock, the simple chord structures of punk rock and the infectious hooks of new wave. It’s a way early glimpse of the sounds we would later hear from bands like The Stooges, The Sex Pistols, The Cars among others. It’s not often that we look back at a song that helps us to look forward.

“Until tomorrow, but that's just some other time. I'm waiting for my man.”

"LUST FOR LIFE" IGGY POP (1977)

Inspired by Albumism, I’m doing my own version of Flying Solo with individual tracks. Band breakups and hiatuses are never fun, but these solo jams were defining moments in my life’s soundtrack.

Listening to “Lust for Life” several decades after it was initially released is quite a trip. It’s like getting sucked into a five minute microcosm of music where production and performance are vying for the spotlight. More noteworthy, the song seems like the single torch bearer of musical influence for The Strokes.

What made “Lust for Life” so exceptional was that it leaned just as hard into its unique garage sound distortions as it did into its composition and performance. “Lust for Life” simply sounded like no other song out there. But there’s no mistaking that The Strokes borrowed several cues from it to create their own brand of post-punk that later became part of the rich soundscape of the early 2000’s.

“Climb up the H of the Hollywood sign, yeah. In these stolen moments the world is mine.”

"THE PASSENGER" IGGY POP (1977)

Inspired by Albumism, I’m doing my own version of Flying Solo with individual tracks. Band breakups and hiatuses are never fun, but these solo jams were defining moments in my life’s soundtrack.

Depending on your musical inclinations, the day The Stooges broke up could be viewed as one of utter defeat or one of resounding victory. For me, they’re one of those bands that I can respect, but not necessarily appreciate. But Iggy Pop’s solo work — and the Lust for Life album in particular — is a different story.

“The Passenger” is one of my all-time favorite songs, one that resides in its own musical venn diagram of punk, classic rock and show tunes. It started off as a b-side, off the radar, unheralded. And then over the years it became a sort of late bloomer classic. In my mind, it’s one of the best solo outputs to come out of the punk scene.

“I am a passenger. And I ride, and I ride. I ride through the city's backsides. I see the stars come out of the sky. Yeah, they're bright in a hollow sky. You know it looks so good tonight.”