Glad I Caught the Line of Hardness Today PLUS BREAKING BREAKING: FAHY SEPARATION FROM TICKET NOT A BIT

I've been away from the waves for awhile, but I was in the Conestoga today during PM drive and caught two fantastic segments.

The first -- I have no idea what it started out to be, something about George Clooney being the father of a one-year-old in his fifties, but it finished up with speculation on the Mikes (Rhyner and Sirois) becoming fathers at their respective stages in life.  Haven't laughed so hard at The Ticket in months.  Bent over the steering wheel laughing at Corby's -- yes, Corby's -- remarks and baby-mother riffs.

The second was a segment on artists (like Harry Styles) who shift genres after success in one genre.  Not hilarious, but very solid.  One of those segs that had more information in the bag -- more, ahem, "preparation," if you will, but they ran out of time.  Hope they reprise this when I'm listening again.

The Hard Ones take it up the keest on this site once in awhile, but today reminded me of why I don't spend a lot of time investigating the competition.

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BREAKING BREAKING ON 2018 06 09:   A usually reliable Deep-Cumulo-Source confirms that one of my personal favorites, John Fahy, has indeed been let go by The Ticket.  I do not have details but it was not, shall we say, for financial reasons.  Very sorry to see him go, he was a cool voice on The Little One.  Hope he lands somewhere cool.

Listen to the Old Grey Wolf

Today during E-News, Corby told of the death of noted makeup artist Dick Smith.  He was indeed accomplished (Godfather, Exorcist, Marathon Man, Taxi Driver, Little Big Man, dozens of others).  Suddenly, Mike jumped in -- "and Dick Wagner died today."

My jaw dropped.  Literally?  Yes.  I didn't drive off the road or scream at the radio, but it gave me a start and made me sad.

Neither Corby nor, apparently, Danny had ever heard of him.  Surprise.  Actually, it is a bit surprising.  Dick Wagner was a man.  It took Mike, finally, to clue them in:  "Dick Wagner played guitar for Lou Reed."

Did he ever.  And Alice Cooper, a lot.  And KISS, and Peter Gabriel, and Hall & Oates, and others.

But yeah.  Lou Reed.  When you think of guitar intros to great songs, you think of  Slash on "Welcome to the Jungle," Eddie on "Eruption," Elliott Randall on "Reelin' in the Years"  -- you can think of many others.  But the theme song of my late 70's and early 80's was a tuneful guitar tour de force that is, to my mind, the greatest instrumental lead-in to a rock-and-roll song ever (take that, exaggerating Corby!), an anthemic dual-axe attack by Wagner and Steve Hunter, arranged by Wagner, that builds and builds to Reed's entry on stage and launch into "Sweet Jane" on the 1974 live album "Rock 'n' Roll Animal."  Wagner and Hunter traded memorable leads and fills throughout the album -- just great, great guitar stuff.  It ain't Buckethead or Satriani or Malmsteen, but it's fundamental, musical, phlegm-clearing, played-on-the-beat, fuzzed, biting rock and roll gitar.

Of the sort -- concededly -- that collegiate and post-grad males air-guitared to in the Seventies and Eighties.

Wagner and Hunter went on to play with Alice Cooper, and Wagner was associated with Alice for quite some time, co-writing and performing on many of his notable tunes.

As usual, Corby and Danny ridiculed Mike into silence, so you didn't get to hear any more about Dick Wagner.  Mike actually played along, noting that it was one of those rare "Double Dick" death days.

Turn this up.  No, that's not enough, I said turn it UP:  

Your ears don't hurt?  Well, then you weren't listening when I told you to turn it the f--- UP :

"One fine morning she puts on a New York station and she couldn't beLEEVE what she heard at all."

Dick Wagner, RIP.

Two Cheers for Hardline Music Talk

    

 

Whenever I do an article on Hardline music talk, I get a lot of comments highly critical of The Hard Ones, especially noting (1) music snobbishness, usually by Danny but sometimes by Corby, and (2) the frequency that a small number of artists are featured:   Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty, a handful of others.

 

I'll declare my bias.  Long before I was aware of The Hardline, if you had asked me to name my three favorite modern acts, they would have been Steely Dan,  Jeff  Beck, and Neil Young -- three of Mike R's favorites as well, plus Petty.  So off the bat, I don't mind most of the music talk at all.  Other than Danny's (fairly rare) mentions of newer local and obscure national acts, the guys' fave raves coincide with those I got a taste for from my years of primo music appreciation.

 

But I'm not defending their taste in music.  I want to make a larger point about The Hardline, and probably The whole Ticket.  I'll concede the Confessors' point, that there is a fairish degree of repetition in a lot of it.  Even Nude Music Tuesday, on whatever weekeday it happens to fall, tends to feature new releases by old acts.  (So that's where the one cheer gets subtracted.)

 

The thought I want to share is this:  Isn't one of the things that makes The Hardline and all of the showgrams great that they don't pander to the P1?  That these shows are almost more overheard than  heard?  A bunch of white guys + Donovan sitting around talking?  Sure enough, repetition can be boring.  But I'd much rather that Mike, Corby, and Danny were unselfconscious in their music talk rather than trying to gin up chatter for stuff they don't care much about.  I've never heard a single Widespread Panic song, but Corby's enthusiasm for the band has attained the status of a bit, and it's OK.   Mike defends his attraction to certain older, sometimes schmaltzy, pop hits that earn Corby's and Danny's scorn, and it's always a refreshing interude.

 

So I'm good with the quantity and quality of music talk on The 'Line.  Sure, I disagree with it sometimes, as I did with Andy Williams.  And I've defended The Beach Boys in these pages against Danny's and Corby's sneering.  (Oh Danny, Danny, Danny -- or, Little Douche Coupe)

 

And, to get you all good and lathered up, let me say that Neil Young has made some of the most beautiful music, and written some of the most striking songs, of the past fifty years. 

 

 

Wherein I Am Constrained to Defend The Hardline Again

From time to time this site gets comments criticizing The Hardline for doing music segments.  The last one was in the string of the last set of comments, from a listener who calls himself "rhyner never died, he just tries to act too cool for school. what a "rebel" he is. said..."   I paste it here, somewhat sanitized:

"Ah, The Tardline at its worst: golden oldie bands that nobody [cares] about but this is what WE'RE interested in so [the hell with] you talk. I swear Rhyner is unable to express a coherent thought. Like Cuban said to Skip Bayless "you speak in generalities." That's what Rhyner does, and it's maddening to listen to. Buffalo Springfield? Are you kidding me? They have one, count it, one song they're known for; one tune that of the 40% of their listening audience who actually knows of Buffalo Springfield only 5% know anything other than that song: "For What It's Worth." Ah, but now it comes to light, it's all a cover to talk about, once again, the extremely overrated Neil Young. Young, Dylan, Springsteen, The Tardline never quite can get enough of them; listener be damned. Well, guess what Rhyner, [intercourse] you right back. I'm done with ya. From here on out, the moment WTDS ends, I'm out till the Morning Musers.

"The Tardline: Talk for Us, Not You."


OK.  A little intemperate, but a point of view that a number of Confessors seem to hold.

I am not one of them.  I like the music talk.  It's not nostalgia -- Buffalo Springfield was not in my wheelhouse -- I just find it interesting.  Rock and roll is important to The Ticket demo.  Irrespective of whether you're at the younger or older end of that spectrum, the bands Mike features on "Old Music Wednesday" or whatever he calls it were for the most part influential or unjustly overlooked.  He thinks his listeners sh old know about them.  He appreciates them, and it's an emblem of his respect for the listeners that he wants to pass his reasons for that onto them. 

Unlike "rhyner never died," I thought Mike was terrific today.  First, it was good to hear him do an entire segment, with Corby listening more-or-less respectfully, tossing in a question or a comment at appropriate intervals.  The leisurely pace almost sounded like storytelling to me and I thought at the time -- I'm enjoying this a lot.

I will concede that the Springsteen/Neil Young/Petty worship can be tedious (although ol' Neil is one of my personal favorites).  Surely these guys have broader tastes than that.  But The Hardline is kinda in a no-win situation:  If they talk about popular groups, or groups they're obsessive about, they're boring.  If they talk about obscure bands Danny and Davey are listening to, they're musical snobs.   I do wish they would invite Jake to do a segment on some hip-hop he would like to call to our attention, and I could even go for a Ty Walker metal segment (Ty, if you're not a metal fan, I apologize -- I don't think Rich P is around in the afternoon). 

But this begs the question:  Should The Hardline and the other shows even be spending segments on music?  I understand the point of view that there is already not enough hard sports on The Ticket.  Frankly, I don't mind the pop culture stuff.  (Exception:  BaD's movie and teevee talk, the difference being that movies and teevee shows have plots that anyone who might want to watch the show or movie based on their discussion will not want to hear.) 

So, is it correct to say, as "rhyner never died" does, that they should "talk for us, not you"?  On reflection, I don't think so.  The genius of The Ticket is that they have great hosts who make their shows sound like overheard conversations.  I don't want them guessing what "us" wants.  Listeners have come to trust and like their weekday heroes, and, for better or sometimes worse, they want to know what's on their minds, not what they think might be on ours.