Down went Rose, down went Morgan, down went Driessen... The Baseball Project - Dock Went Hunting Heads
The Baseball Project are a "Super Group" featuring the members listed below. It is a project of love, the love of baseball. The songs are all about baseball, which sounds ridiculous, but they pull it off so well. The songs are brilliantly written and performed.
I grew up a Cincinnati Reds fan during the Big Red Machine era. So, this song about Dock Ellis pitching against and throwing at the top of the Reds line-up makes me smile. The song ties up the Dock Ellis saga with a bow at the end.
I am hoping to see these guys (and gal) this summer. It's Baseball Project Season.
The Baseball Project
Peter Buck (R.E.M., The Minus 5, Tuatara, The No Ones)
Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows, The Minus 5, Tuatara, The No Ones)
I felt the gravity pull me back to earth... Drivin' N Cryin' - R.E.M.
I recently heard this song for the first time playing on the radio and I thought that it sounded so much like R.E.M. Then I realized they were singing R.E.M. (not "how I am" as I first thought). This is a really good tribute song...
It happened today. Hooray! Hooray! It happened. Hip, hip, hooray!... (R.E.M. - It Happened Today)
It did happen. I bought a new R.E.M. cd in over a decade. After being a big R.E.M. fan in the 80's; slightly less of a fan in the 90's; not really at all in the 00's; I read a good review on R.E.M.'s Collapse Into Now and thought I would give it a try.
I first heard R.E.M. in about 1983 when a friend played me the Murmer album. It was like something totally new. Peter Buck's jangly guitars sounded to me like at least 2 if not 3 guitars. Michael Stipe's singing was mumbly with the lyrics being indecipherable. Mike Mill's bass and BillBerry's drums were solid. The harmony vocals were soaring to the point of making the hairs on your arms stand up. ******************************************************************
Each album in the 80's after 1984's Reckoning saw a slight change in the sound; 1985's Fables of the Reconstruction was bit more murky; 1986's Life's Rich Pageant was more straight ahead rock; 1987's Document was a little harder; and then their major label debut 1988's Green was more popier. Each of these stand on their own. Around the end of the decade Rolling Stone magazine declared the band America's Best Rock and Roll Band. ****************************************************************** ****************************************************************** ******************************************************************
The 1990's saw R.E.M.' s popularity grow which peaked around 1992's more acoustic Automatic For the People. In 1994 the band did a 360 with the guitar heavy Monster, a very solid album. The subsequent tour was plagued with some health issues; Bill Berry collapsed on stage with a brain aneurysm and Mike Mills and Michael Stipe also had health issues. Bill Berry recovered after surgery, but decided to leave the band. R.E.M. has never been the same. ****************************************************************** The post Berry R.E.M. further removed the band from the sound that I fell in love with in the 80's. The 00's albums have been more atmospheric, less jangly; the drums burried.
Just released Collapse Into Now is a return of sorts to R.E.M.'s 90's sound. I like the cd quite a bit. Mine Smell Like Honey (I hate the title, but love the song) is classic R.E.M.; when the song kicks into the chorus the harmonies lift you off the ground. Same with the harmonies on It Happened Today which include guest vocals from Eddie Vedder. Uberlin recalls Drivefrom Automatic For the People; Blue could have come off of 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi. I'm still taking in this disc, but it's nice to hear from an old friend.
I know it might sound strange, but I believe you'll be coming back before too long…(Don’t Go Back To Rockville – R.E.M.)
I was in college in the 1983; a college friend had just returned home from Europe (Germany I think) and the first song he said he heard when he arrived back was Radio Free Europe by R.E.M. Soon after he loaned me his copy of Murmur and I played it over and over. I tried to understand the lyrics and to figure out exactly how many guitar players that I was hearing. The album sounded like something new.
At this time rock radio seemed a little stale. Very few new rock bands were being played on classic rock stations; pop music was dominated by MTV bands and then College radio began to emerge. For me this was a music revolution and the influence of R.E.M. and U2 could be heard throughout.
I began hearing band from the Paisley Underground; a term associated with young Californian bands that were influenced by the 60’s psychedelic and pop music; bands like The Three O’Clock, The Long Ryders, Rain Parade, The Bangles, The Dream Syndicate, 28th Day, The Chesterfield Kings and others. I began hearing Jangle Pop bands from out of the south; a 60's pop sound with chiming rock guitars with folk overtones; led by R.E.M. and bands like The dB's, Let's Active, Guadalcanal Diary, The Windbreakers, Love Tractor, Game Theory, The Reivers, and others. I began hearing country influenced bands like Lone Justice, Rank & File, Los Lobos, The Beat Farmers, Beat Rodeo, etc...
This was a great period in music. Too bad a lot of people didn't hear these bands.
10 Great Songs That You’ve Never Heard From 10 Great Bands That You’ve Never Heard Of
1. The dB’s – Amplifier 2. The Long Ryders – I Had a Dream 3. Rain Parade – This Can’t Be Today 4. The Three O’Clock – Simon in the Park 5. The Reivers – Things Don’t Change 6. Windbreakers – That Stupid Idea 7. Let’s Active – In Little Ways 8. Rave-Ups – Positively Lost Me 9. Lone Justice – Sweet, Sweet Baby (I’m Falling) 10. The Beat Farmers – Bigger Stones
