Slade- Look Wot You Dun

Without Slade would there be any Quiet Riot? Or Prince's phonetically spelled song titles? Kiss's whole schtick? OK, maybe those are bad examples but certainly Rock N Roll would be worse off not having had the band around.

Actually Slade is one of my favorites and also highly regarded by Paul McCartney, Ritchie Blackmore, Alice Cooper, Angus Young, Paul Weller and pretty much every one who grew up in England in the 1970s. Its hard to believe that Slade sold more singles in the UK then any other group of the 70s and yet remained virtually unknown here in America. It wasn't until Quiet Riot covered "Cum on Feel the Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" in the mid 80s did Slade have anything approach the top of the US music charts.

With this version of "Look Wot You Dun" you see the genius of Slade at work. Loud catchy anthems, crazy costumes, the raucaus stage antics all made a perfect antidote to the staid performances and musicianship that were the status quo of the UK music scene at the time [ie, prog rock]. Slade doesn't hold anything back here, just listen to how distorted the audio gets when the bass and then the vocals kick in. The kids just wanted to party and Slade definitely knew how to deliver the goods.

The MC5- Tonight

Here are the MC5 on their first tour of England in early 1972. Having already established themselves in the United States, the Motor City Five were poised to take over the very music scene originated by their UK rivals. Although beloved in their native Detroit, the band’s hard-rocking, radical image and call for “dope, guns and fucking in the streets” for some reason didn’t resonate with main stream American radio djs and record shop chain owners. With an audience already primed to their sound, however, the 1972 tour had huge potential for success and must have been an exciting time for the band.

Technically the tour was a hit, garnering acclaim from fans and critics alike—including English disc jockey Ronan O'Rahilly and Rolling Stone Mick Jagger—but even in the midst of success the seeds were being sown for the band’s decline and total collapse wasn’t far off. Heroin addiction and the rigors of touring took its toll on the members and they dropped out one by one, until only the two original guitarists remained.

But forget all that for the moment and enjoy this clip of a seminal band in its prime. Evidence of the group's evolution from their start as a high school cover band, this version of "Tonite" has all the energy of early MC5 live performances but with a sophistication and nuanced musicality that comes from years of constant touring. Guitarist Wayne Kramer's solo is a perfect example, frenetic but well tempered- it’s practically a complete and separate song on its own.

After the solo, the transition is so smooth that without the vocals you'd almost miss the band's slip into a cover version of John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillen." Fred Smith, Patti Smith's future husband, stands stage left in his silver space costume inspired by Sun Ra, another Detroit musician, whose experimental jazz found its way into the MC5's music—particularly their last studio album "High Time." Unfortunately, the clip fades out before the band has a chance to transition back into the original song for a great ending that can be heard on several bootleg recordings of the time.





I almost hate to show you this but here is the band on its last legs just 9 months later; back in Europe but with a new bassist, lead vocalist and drummer doing a painful version of "Louie Louie". After you're done watching you might want to go back and watch the first clip again just to cleanse the palette.

Suzi Quatro- Breakdown

Remember when Suzi was a character on Happy Days? It was towards the end of the show's run and I think she was supposed to be the Fonz's little sister or something. Its too bad thats how most Americans got to know her, her records are cool but never did very well here in the US. I think she might be out there still doing music, a few years ago I heard she had a new album or radio show, but even if thats not the case at least she still gets to go around saying she's Suzi Quatro.

This is her doing a live cover of Tom Petty's "Breakdown" and she kills it! She takes the original version and kicks it up a few notches just based on her attitude alone. Wonder what Petty would think of this?

Humble Pie- Black Coffee

This is just the beginning of what is bound to be lots and lots of Humble Pie on this website. I decided to put up this version of "Black Coffee" first because I think it shows something of the personality behind Steve Marriott. Such a tiny man with such a giant voice and huge persona. In every interview or story I've read about him, Marriot comes off as the wildest, most gregarious, and hyperactive character ever. I think you can see some of all that coming through here.

Eric Clapton With Delaney & Bonnie- Dont Know Why

After quitting Cream and going through several false starts looking for a new musical direction, Clapton found Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett, a married couple playing authentic southern influenced R&B. Clapton toured with them briefly and played on a couple of their albums along with other musical heavy-hitters of the time like George Harrison, Duane Allman and Leon Russell.

Both Delaney and Bonnie encouraged Clapton to find his own voice as a singer/songwriter and helped him write several of the tunes that appeared on his first solo record. "Don't Know Why" was one of them. This live version is much, much better then the one that ultimately ended up on the album. The band sounds amazing and well rehearsed; Clapton himself delivers a great vocal performance and displays a perfect example of understated but effective guitar playing, kind of the opposite of what he had been doing in Cream and in Blind Faith.

"Don't Know Why" is about Clapton's new wife Patti Boyd, who previously was married to George Harrison during his time in the Beatles. In the video there's Harrison standing right behind Clapton playing guitar, which must have been at least a little weird when they did this song. In fact right after Clapton sings the line "Go on back to him, he'll take you in" [1:30], he looks over his shoulder towards Harrison and smiles.

JOE WALSH- Turn To Stone

I met Joe Walsh in a guitar store a few years ago, he was ridiculously cool. He gave me a big hug and slapped me on the back when I told him I loved the James Gang. He was there buying a Fender Telecaster- he handed it to me and asked my opinion. I told him it was cool then he took it back and started playing Funk 49 for me while looking straight into my eyes.  It was a little awkward but I was totally shitting myself.

Here he is post James Gang and pre Eagles, looking kinda like Luke Skywalker in his giant boots and weird haircut. He definitely wins the award for best rock faces, its like he's in total pain playing those leads. The drummer, Joe Vitale, is pretty awesome as well. He does this double bass thing starting at 4:10 and his gong and kettle drum finale is totally hip in a 2001-Space Odyssey kind of way.

Check out the audience at this show.  At 2:47 you can see a weird hippy trying to talk to a girl in the audience- she gives him a nasty look and turns away. Sorry, guy!