Neal Carlson - birthdays, guitar lessons, and events in NYC
I have over 10 years experience teaching, writing music for television/film, and touring. In addition to playing and teaching, I am a part-time stay-at-home dad and studying to be a pediatric occupational therapist. Please visit my website for more information, scheduling and rates - www.nealcarlsonmusic.com
Let me be frank - if your kid doesn't know this song and he/she is 4 years old or older, there is a serious problem. This song was made for kids. It inspires them to jump, shout, howl like a coyote, and air guitar with a vicious rock sneer.
"I Love Rock n' Roll" is simple, catchy, timeless. As a kid I locked myself in the bathroom, gripped my microphone (hairbrush) and sang along with Joan. In college I raised both arms in joy as it played at a house party. And even today, I always turn it up when it comes on the car radio. That's the beauty of songs such as this one. It never gets old and it appeals to just about everyone.
Kids have about a 5 second window before they decide whether or not they like a song. Something needs to catch their attention and not let go. Because at the end of those 5 seconds, they ask themselves, "do I continue listening to this song or go back to setting up these blocks?"
To me Joan embodies the power and potential of what I see as a sorely lacking group of female rock singers. Pat Benatar is great, Stevie Nicks is amazing, Janis Joplin is an icon. But where are the others? You could make a case for Pink, an unbelievable singer who sometimes dabbles in rock. That's what makes Joan and this song so special. She stands out, and does it with an awesome pink sport jacket.
Please check out my new solo album "EXPLODE," which you can download on iTunes, Amazon, or CDBaby.
To say that my record collection was limited as a 7 year old is an understatement. I owned the three albums below and listened to them obsessively.
How can I forget the beautifully colorful kid's drawings on the inside of Elvis' record? The high pitched and perfectly harmonized renditions of the Urban Cowboy soundtrack as sung by three western chipmunks? And of course, Michael. MICHAEL. We'll save Michael for another week.
One of my great joys as a dad comes from introducing music I loved as a kid to my kids. I nearly shed a tear the first time I played "Welcome to the Jungle" for Quinn and Callie.
Steve Miller's "Abracadabra" was at the top of my list for a long time. Never before had I heard a song so centered around magic, and for that reason alone I loved the song. At 7, I was convinced I would be a magician. I spent days and nights honing my craft: borrowing card trick books from the library, mastering sleight of hand, and choosing only the finest threads for my cape. Naturally, Steve Miller's song fed into this passion with a song that blended mystique, danger, and seduction. "Abracadabra" would be the song I walked out on stage to....and the world would love my magic.
The video for this song, like most videos from the early 80's, is totally bizarre. Every video from this time is taken so literally. For example, the lyric goes, "I heat up, I can't cool down." You can almost hear the director say, "Ok guys, what heats up? Stoves. The sun. Fire. That's it! Let's show some fire while Steve sings the lyric 'I heat up.'"
But in my opinion, the strangeness of this video only adds to the intrigue of this song. Embrace "Abracadabra" for all it's weird imagery and unleash your kid's inner magician.
Download my new album, Explode! on iTunes by clicking HERE
Thanks and check back on Thursday for another rock recommendation.
Walk down the street in Brooklyn. Every toddler has a Stones shirt, an AC/DC shirt (or rather AB/CD), a Guns n' Roses shirt. But how many kids rock a Motorhead shirt? Very few and here's the reason why.
Motorhead is not, and will never be, mainstream rock. They formed during the year I was born, 1975, and have essentially written the same song over and over for more than a quarter of a century. Here's the formula:
1. Guitar riff starts out
2. Band kicks in
3. Lemmy begins shouting unintelligible lyrics
4. guitar solo
5. end
So why do Motorhead's fans love them if each song sounds like the next? Because it's a really good song. And the most famous of these is called "Ace of Spades," the opening track off their awesome album with the same name, released in 1980.
My son likes this song because of the few lyrics he is able to decipher. This is a boy who requests the Eagles song "Witchy Woman" repeatedly, simply because it has the word "witch" in the title. Somewhere during pre-k, he became fascinated with all forms of monsters: zombies, vampires, goblins, devils, demons, witches, you name it. "Ace of Spades" plays into this fascination, as Lemmy sings things like "dancing with the devil," "snake eyes watchin' you" and "don't forget the joker! (he relates this last lyric to Batman's Joker)."
So next time your strolling down a block in Brooklyn, make your way past the sea of Def Leppard onesies, grab your kid's hand and sing, "the only card I need is the ace of spades, the ace of spades."
The Beatles. The biggest band in the entire world. I often wonder why their songs are so memorable. Is it that each song is a two and a half minute masterpiece or that their entire catalog has been played so often on radio? It's probably a bit of both, but more so the masterpiece. As a songwriter I am amazed that The Beatles were able to put out so many songs that sounded so unique, yet so cohesive.
"Helter Skelter" is a far cry from "I Want To Hold Your Hand" but you can tell they come from the same band. That's what was so beautiful about their talent - each could contribute a song, sing lead, and put their own mark on another member's track.
I particularly love "Helter Skelter" because I can hear the effect it had on subsequent genres. It seemed right for the time -- political unrest, youth revolt, the birth of garage rock. You can sense all of that in the song. But when I listen to it I hear the early stages of metal in the heavy guitar riff and the scream vocals later found in grunge.
Does any of this matter to kids? Absolutely not. They'll probably want to hear it for two reasons alone:
1) it's a great song to go crazy to
2) they can mimic Ringo Starr at the end of the song, when he shouts "I got blisters on my fingers!"
Kids are awesome for a number of reasons, but one of the things they are great at doing is recognizing is popular music. I noticed a trend very early in my parenthood: the more popular the song, the more my kids liked it. Take Michael Jackson's Thriller, for example. The album is the work of a genius start to finish, but despite my attempts to get them to appreciate the whole album, Quinn and Callie really only want to hear "Beat It" and "Thriller." They have no knowledge that these were 2 of the album's biggest selling singles, but they know. It's like some innate gift.
Aerosmith's song "Walk This Way" is one of those songs. It's incredibly popular and it's no mystery that kids love it. Go down the line....Walk This Way has it all:
1. killer beat - check
2. killer guitar riff - check
3. easy to sing chorus - check
4. verse rap that makes you want to learn the lyrics - check
5. steven tyler - check
This is a special recommendation because it's really the gift that keeps on giving. After all, who can forget Aerosmith's monumental collaboration with Run DMC? The video featured Aerosmith in one rehearsal room and Run DMC in the adjacent one. The two groups are annoyed with each other's music until finally Steven puts his mic stand through the wall and they unite. Who knew Walk This Way had the potential to be a symbolic message about breaking down the walls of racial stereotyping?
I love both versions equally, but the Run DMC collab holds a special place in my heart. At the time it was released I was wearing my black windbreaker outfit religiously and breakdancing on a broken down refrigerator box for money. While listening to Walk This Way I would build elaborate plots similar to The Karate Kid in my mind. Me, overcoming the bully in the final round of the Breakdancing Championship, crushing him with a lightning quick armspin-into-backspin combo (never completed before!!!). Crowd cheers. I am raised on the shoulders of Grandmaster Flash. Run DMC and Aerosmith perform at the ticker tape parade. Victory!
It's tough to classify "Jessie's Girl" as a rock song, just as it's tough to call last week's entry, Journey's "Separate Ways," rock. Both of these songs walk the fine line of pop and rock, but I'm choosing "Jessie's Girl" for one reason - it's got the best lyrical rhyme I have ever heard:
"You know, I feel so dirty when they start talking cute
I wanna tell her that I love her, but the point is probably moot"
I think "Jessie's Girl" could be the only song in the history of recorded music to use the word "moot." I laugh whenever I hear it because I envision a frustrated Rick Springfield, desperate to find a word to rhyme with "cute." My imagined story goes something like this.
It's 1981. Rick Springfield's label is demanding a hit song, so he and his co-writer are working feverishly. Time is running out. This is make it or break it for Rick's career. No hit and he's back to doing soaps for a living.
But things are looking up. Rick and co-writer are developing "Jessie's Girl" and it feels good. Real good. Rick is frustrated because he's having a tough time writing lyrics, so co-writer says, "Easy does it, Rick. Just let it flow, man. BE JESSIE." They start playing and Rick delivers the line "you know, I feel so dirty when they start talking cute." Both of them love it and co-writer says, "Good job, Ricky. Gimme one more just like that one." But Rick's creative streak stops there. He simply can't come up with a follow-up lyric.
Hours turn into days. Days turn into weeks, and weeks into months. The label calls and says, "Rick, either you finish 'Jessie's Girl' today or we're pulling the plug. I want the finished song on my desk in 3 hours." Rick's blood is racing. He scrambles for a rhyming dictionary, looking for words that rhyme with "cute." Flute, loot, astute - nothing feels right. Time is running out. Rick is desperate. He writes the alphabet on a sheet of paper and begins going down the line looking for that magic rhyme. Finally he sees it: MOOT. The angels sing. Rick scrambles for the producer and says, "I got it. I wanna tell her that I love her, but the point is probably moot." Producer says, "uh, OK Rick." And the rest is history.
No one but Rick really knows if things played out this way, but that's the beauty of music. Each song tells a story in different ways. For me it was a single word - moot - which painted a beautiful picture of 1981.
Hypothetical scenario: a robot points a laser gun at me and says:
"I come from the future. You have 1 minute to predict what your son's profession will be. Answer correctly and you live. Answer incorrectly and....(uncomfortably long pause)......YOU DIE!"
In a typical timed life or death situation, one might feel any number of emotions: fear, anxiety, distress. But I am not nervous. In fact, I am perfectly calm. Not a single bead of sweat forms on my skin, not a single lump moves through my throat. I answer calmly and confidently: "My son will be a dramatic actor."
I live.
I am so confident of this response because I witness it every day. There are times when I think my sole purpose for living is to serve as supporting actor for Quinn's long and repetitive dramas. A few examples:
"Dad, I am Mufasa and you are Simba. I'm going to fall off Pride Rock and die. You have to hold me and start crying."
"Dad, you are a zombie who is sad because you don't have any friends. I will become your friend and you will love me."
"Dad, you have had a bad accident and you are bleeding severely. I am a paramedic and I will bandage you up and save you."
I am no actor but my skills more than suffice for his mini dramas. The traditional rules of subtlety in acting need not apply here. The more drawn out the sob, the more pained the howl, the better. And it's not enough to put forth one great performance. These demands come by the dozen, with little or no notice.
This sets us up perfectly for this week's pick: Journey's dramatic and intimidating "Separate Ways." No mystery here, it's one of Quinn's all-time favorites. I could play it for him 100 times in a row and he'd say, "Dad, one more time."
What could be more dramatic than 5 guys air-playing their instruments in an abandoned warehouse? To add to the suspense, an emotional/irritated/confused/passionate Steve Perry is shown singing the song from every possible angle.
Then there is the woman in white high heels. Where is she going and why is she walking so quickly? Is she real or does she only exist in Steve's mind? How can she walk so quickly in those high heels?
While "Separate Ways" has been played about 1,000 times too many in my apartment, I never seem to tire of the video. Each time I watch it, I find something new to love about it. The synchronized head turns, a bare armed and fist clenched Steve Perry giving it his all, the slow-motion sequence, the keyboardist clawing at an invisible keyboard like a panther (then later playing a keyboard which hangs on a wall????)
If your child has a flair for the dramatic, I can't recommend "Separate Ways" enough. Grab your air instrument and play along with this 80s classic:
