Iman Lababedi recently discussed this subject on the Rock NYC site, listing albums by Donnie and Marie Osmond, Slipknot, Matz Bladhs, and Furious Pig as some of his life changers. Of course, anyone that listens to Det var så länge se’n is eternally altered. What does one do with all of that Scandinavian street cred?
Sadly lacking in the ways of Sverigetopplistan, my list lacks both that international flavor and personalized clown masks. Without further ado, here are my Top 5.
1. Cheap Trick, At Budokan. Pretty sure a thirteen-year-old Stevie Boy picked this one up at the K-Mart in Kennett, Missouri (a southeast Missouri bootheel burg that is also the hometown of toilet paper queen Sheryl Crow). Cheap Trick developed their niche by blending the melodicism of the Beatles with the tight fisted kinetic energy of punk rock. Robin Zander and Tom Petersson were central casting rock gods, while Bun E. Carlos (Brad Carlson) and Huntz Hall imitator Rick Nielsen gave hope to a generation of rock loving nerds, like me. Witty, aggressive, catchy hard rock/punk rock would continue to tickle by brain and biorhythms for decades.
2. Hüsker Dü, New Day Rising. With Bob Mould’s roaring Flying V guitar, this Minneapolis trio sounded like they were conquering the world on this punk rock torpedo. Even more importantly, the raging music cut through my post-teen depression to provide me with hope and inspiration during a particularly difficult time in my life. Mould would later sully this achievement by getting involved in the thoroughly despicable world of professional wrestling.
3. Loudon Wainwright III, History. The statistics weren’t too favorable for the 46-year-old LWIII – one novelty hit, two failed marriages, six record labels. Wainwright unblinking addressed the death of his father, estrangement from his family, and his penchant for emotional detachment. Two of the most gripping songs are about his oldest children – Rufus, who he competes against (“A Father and A Son”) and Martha, who he slaps (“Hitting You”). I’m glad Loudon purges his emotional baggage in the recording studio and I’m equally happy that he’s not my father.
4. The Bottle Rockets, The Brooklyn Side. This hard rocking band from Festus, Missouri specialized in a tough minded literalism that allowed them to chronicle issues like poverty, racism, and dead end jobs with lyrical surgical precision and without sounding like entries from the Liberal White Boy Almanac. Often howling like Neil Young’s Crazy Horse, The Bottle Rockets were the great lost American rock ‘n’ roll band, performing Creedence Clearwater Revival level material in a grungy world that was taking Eddie Vedder way too seriously.
5. The Drive-By Truckers, Southern Rock Opera. It’s not easy growing up in the southern United States, an area where far too many people still view the world through the lens of the Civil War. Originally conceived as a novel, SRO is the work of unapologetically proud Southerners, who willingly describe the sins of the past while refusing to be defined by those sins. Such is the duality of the Southern thing. Beyond the history lessons and the Skynyrd career overview, Mike Cooley provides two unforgettable numbers – one about alcoholism (“Women Without Whiskey,” which begins with the gut punching line, “If I make it through this year, I think I’m gonna put this bottle down”) and one about his teenage girlfriend’s chastity belt (“Zip City”). And there simply aren’t enough superlatives for “Let There Be Rock.”