I bring all of this up because “Rock’n Me” was played to me the other day, and it has been stuck in my head ever since. The earworm portion of the song is the whole song, but if I have to get more specific, the opening guitar riff wedges in my brain, along with the way Miller sings “Northern California.”
Now to get back to the Greatest Hits album. So, in my world, between 1994 and 1997, just about everyone I knew owned this album. Like, I would go over to someone’s place, and flip through their cd collection, and guaranteed, Steve Miller’s Greatest Hits would show up. I remember going to college parties my freshman and sophomore year in college, and someone would always put this on. The funny thing is that I don’t remember any Steve Miller resurgence happening in the mid 90’s. (Unless somebody out there remembers something I don’t…) More like, it was a classic rock album that everyone was cool with.
I have got drumming on the brain again. I posted about Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” and I can’t get Clem Burke’s drums out of my head. I don’t like hyper-precision drumming, or supper fast and accurate drumming, which is what everyone sounds like now. It sounds lifeless and artificial to me. But Clem; Clem on that song is vital – adding another character to the song – driving, passionate, and accentuating theme of the song. And what I am most thankful for is to be a failed drummer. See, as one who sat behind a drum kit, and tried his hand at playing for a rock band, I learned two things; first is that drumming is a shit ton of fun, and second is that great drumming is exceptionally difficult. It has made me appreciate what great drumming on a song can do, how it can transform a song into something that isn’t just fun to listen to, but can ingrain itself into the core of what a song can make you feel. And just listening to Clem, man, I would kill to be able to play like that.
Oh it’s bad. I mean, I didn’t think it could get much worse, but it did. Spurs melted like snow on warm ground against Crystal Palace yesterday – it was just awful to watch. Embarrassing is another word that I would use. I know the seasons isn’t over yet, and the odds are still on their side that they WON’T get relegated, but Sonny over at Sonny Talks Spurs has a rather different take than me, but not by much. I have been following the club for ten years now, and I had no idea that that 2016/17 was their high water mark. Ever since then, it has been a slow slide, or car wreck, or train wreck, or growing dumpster fire, what have you… I’m used to supporting a team that lives at the bottom of the barrel (I am a Cubs fan after all) so, seeing a team you love fail isn’t exactly new to me. But this is the first time that I have supported a sports team that gets kicked out of its league because its so bad. Chalk one up for a new experience, I guess.
Now, I will go to the mat and fight on any hill available to me when I say that Ringo is one of the truly great rock drummers of all time. C’mon, let’s go!
But this song does drill into my skull and won’t leave which is rather annoying.
And I guess it was time to pick on another Beatles and cut Paul some slack…
Very sad and sorry to hear that Ozzy Osbourne has just passed away; Legend and Rock god.
I know that much better obituaries and tributes will be coming in the following hours and days. In my little corner of the world, I am dumbfoundingly amazed that four blokes from Birmingham, England could create such a complete and original sound of rock that still sounds fresh and raw as the day it came out. They changed music forever.
