Soundgarden – Superunknown

In the spring of 1994, music fans were now 4-5 years into a new decade with new bands and new music.  The new bands of the 90’s seemed to be coming out of Seattle Washington.  There were definitely 4 bands that were riding a wave of success from the Pacific Northwest.  Nirvana and Pearl Jam slammed onto the scene in 1991 with Nevermind and Ten.  Two Seattle bands that had record deals ahead of the other two were Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.  Alice in Chains’ debut album Facelift was released in August 1990 and Soundgarden’s first album Ultramega UK in 1988 and Louder than Love in 1989.  I had remembered playing some tracks from Soundgarden’s Louder than Love on my radio shifts at the college radio station.  I was particularly fond of the song Loud Love.   I found Soundgarden pretty cool but I didn’t find myself drawn into the band.  In 1991, they released their album Badmotorfinger.   I had moved to Omaha at the time. My college friend (and fellow Dustys’ employee) Bob had also moved to Omaha with his (then) fiancée’.  I remember getting back in contact with Bob and went to see him at the rental he was living at.  Of course, the conversation led to talk of music and current music favorites.  Bob was thrilled by the sounds of Soundgarden and the side project Temple of the Dog which featured members of Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.  One of his co-workers came over and they both raved about Soundgarden.  One of them made the comment that Soundgarden was like Led Zeppelin meets Black Sabbath.  That sounded like a really cool analogy and the more I listened to these guys talk, I began to agree. Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell was a very intense singer and he had great stage presence and bravado too. I had read an interview Guitarist Kim Thayil had done with Guitar World with Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell and the two guitarists from Skid Row.  So, there was a bit of a Heavy Metal connection and that seemed cool to me too. I don’t think the band wanted to be thrown into that kind of category though. I also vaguely remember in the pages of Modern Drummer magazine that drummer Matt Cameron had been singled out by Rush’s Neil Peart as one of his new favorites. So, everything seemed to be in favor of this band.

I passed on purchasing a copy of Badmotorfinger.  There was just too much hype around the “grunge” scene at the time.  But, when the buzz came about for the release of their fourth album Superunknown,  I was ready. My ears were perked up for this one.  By 1994, I had gone from being an assistant store manager at Music Avenue to Store Manager at Tape World to unemployed and then as an assistant manager at the Blockbuster video store in Bellevue Nebraska. Looking back, I’m not sure how I kept up with what was going on in popular music after being let go from my music store jobs. Nowadays, we have the internet to keep track. I didn’t have basic cable at the time. I would drive to my friend Kelly’s apartment in Papillion to watch MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball on Saturday nights. A high school friend of mine had moved into the same apartment complex I was living in and he would invite me over to watch “Beavis and Butthead”.  I know that I used to go to a handful of record stores in the Omaha area on my days off.  So, I would keep track of new releases when I would visit the various stores. I’m sure I would go into the bookstores and peruse through a bunch of the music magazines too.  The ROCK radio station in Omaha that many people listened to was Z-92.  They were THE central Nebraska AOR station.  They started playing the first single from Superunknown called Spoonman.  I absolutely loved the tribal drums with the percussive sound of the street musician known as the “Spoonman”. How incredibly cool.

So, I waited in anticipation for the release day on this CD.  I think I went to the nearest Best Buy store to buy this CD. In those days, Best Buy had a great selection of CD’s and the new releases were usually priced at $9.99 for the first couple weeks after its initial release.  I bought the CD that clocked in at 73 minutes 34 seconds. The 90’s were definitely the era of the CD.  Bands and artists would make a ton of music to fit into the format of CD where you could fit about 75 minutes on a disc. Nowadays, music listeners have a tendency to pick and choose the songs they want. They download those songs and rarely buy a complete CD or the entire album. Some could argue that some of the songs are just filler songs. Some may claim that the album was the artist’s complete vision. They wrote these songs for this project known as “an album”.  I popped this CD in the player and just let it play.  I have never been the kind of person who tracks through a CD or album to find the songs I like. I usually try to listen to the whole thing as one big aural experience. This album was one of those.

As I prepared to write about this album, I was trying to figure out what songs I was drawn to on this album. I obviously knew Spoonman.  But, the songs were intense on the instrumentation. They flowed from one song into another. The band seemed a lot more mature now. As big as they had become with Badmotorfinger, They didn’t seem to be the pissed off angry young men that they were in 1991.  It sounded so good. This was a well-crafted and thought out album with great songs and great production.  My friend-Dave (that lived in the same apartment complex) would ask me (in his best Butthead voice) “Are they really pissed off on this album? They sound really pissed off!….I really like stuff that sounds PISSED OFF!”  I honestly don’t know (to this day) if he was serious or not.  We had a tendency to be really really goofy and sit and talk like Beavis and Butthead for hours. I know it’s kinda stupid and juvenile. But, WE were a little juvenile too. It was fun just to be silly about it. Anyway, I really liked this album. After the debut of Spoonman, the single for Black Hole Sun was released with an accompanying video.  I thought the song was a pretty cool mid-tempo song.  But, when the video was released to MTV, the everyday life happiness of middle america was turned into bizarre freakshow of creepy ultra-happy people and crazy images of ….well who knows.  I thought it was absolutely awesome. It was so weird and demented.  It was definitely a study in IF A BAND MAKES A REALLY ODD AND OVERTLY STRANGE VIDEO, WILL THE PUBLIC STILL BUY IT?

In June of 1994, I moved back to Kearney and went back to work for Dustys Records. This was a definite favorite album of that year.  That year, Dusty had started a newsletter for Dustys’ customers with different “favorites” lists and reviews from the employees and customers alike.  For some reason, I came up with a “Best of” list for very specific categories. I can’t remember the different categories. But, I do remember calling this album “The Best Album from a Seattle Band that didn’t have any gripes against Ticketmaster”.  Earlier that year, Pearl Jam had made waves in the press for appearing in court against the Ticketmaster company. Kurt Cobain had died in April and so that was to be the end of the band Nirvana and Alice in Chains had been rather inactive for 1994.

Time went by and Superunknown began to sit in my CD collection. I would pull it out occasionally and give it a listen. As I pointed out earlier, this album was over 73 minutes long.  Dustys Records closed in August of 1995. I was no longer working in an environment where I could listen to music and complete albums in one sitting. I would try to listen to the album on long drives. But, I let it sit and sit and sit on my CD rack. Soundgarden eventually broke up as a band. Chris Cornell continued on as a solo artist and started a band with the members of Rage Against the Machine in a project called AudioSlave. Drummer Matt Cameron became the official drummer for Pearl Jam. Life became busier. I lost my interest in Soundgarden.  I eventually decided to sacrifice that CD for some money…in other words, I sold my copy.  I went to see a couple of local cover bands in the late 90’s and one of the bands did a cover of Spoonman.  I told the guys in the band I thought it was a great choice for a song.  The topic of the album came up. One of the guys asked me if I had heard the Superunknown album.  I acknowledged that I had it and owned it but had sold it.  I was chastised and teased by my musical peers for doing so.  I shopped through the used CD bins and eventually found another copy of it. I thought to myself “Why did I sell this?”  Then, I entered into a marriage and my wife expressed how much she disliked Soundgarden or more specifically the song Black Hole Sun.  So, I felt like I really couldn’t put this album on for a listen while she was around. There had been times when I had put on some of my music from my diverse collection before and was usually greeted with a wrinkled nose and a condescending  “WHAT ARE WE LISTENING TO????”  So, in those times of financial need and we would need to sell stuff to pay some bills or groceries or whatever, I would sell back another copy of Superunknown.  I was okay with this decision again.

Then, I went through a divorce and started going back to many of the albums and music that I had always enjoyed. I would see a video or hear a track off this album here and there on some of the local radio stations or would hanging out with friends and someone would have the CD in their collections.  One night, I was watching the PBS series “Soundstage” and Peter Frampton was the featured musician.  All of a sudden, he and his band started into an instrumental.  The broadcast would show what songs they were playing as they would start the song.  The song came up as Black Hole Sun.  This was an instrumental version of the Soundgarden song. I was floored. What a great choice for an instrumental song.

Around the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010, my interest and revitalized love for Soundgarden came about when my brother gave me the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die as a gift for Christmas 2009.  This book was the inspiration for me to start this blog about my music and memories. Then, on January 1, 2010, Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell posted this message online…

"The 12-year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!"

Along with this message, was a link to a website with a picture of the band and a place to enter your email for details about the band’s reunion.  This was great news for people who had been fans of the band and were waiting for a big event reunion to happen in the rock arena.

I wrote many of my “blog memories” from the albums that were listed in the book. But, I always had Superunknown as one of the albums I wanted to write about. I toiled over what I wanted to say about the album. What kind of memories were there? Will what I write about this album resonate with those who are reading it? Will the people reading this criticize me still for selling my CD copy?…not once but twice?  I eventually downloaded the entire album. So, there’s no way I can sell it now.  I have listened to the album now with my (almost) 45 year old ears. I may be older than I was(and we all were) in 1994. But, this album just feels very familiar. This album was and is an incredible musical statement. It has an intensity that starts with Let Me Drown and flows into My Wave and Fell on Black Days.  When we get to track 4: Mailman,  the tempo slows down to what I would call a “plod”.  But, the intensity is still there and that makes the “plodding” that much more intense. I get that now. There are obvious moments of all-out rockers to punk slammers (Kickstand) and spaced out ethereal eastern flavored pieces of experimentation(Half).

In 1001 Albums, writer Claire Stuchberry writes

“Clocking in at 73 minutes, Superunknown could possibly have benefitted from some gentle editing. Yet it proved to be the pinnacle of Soundgarden’s career “

This could also be included as one of the last albums of the 90’s “Grunge” era. Tastes were beginning to change. What was once called the “Alternative” was now becoming the mainstream rock music. In April of 1994, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana died of a suicide and Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam became less visible on the music radar. But, it’s almost 20 years later and it’s great to go back and revisit the albums for both the music and the memories that I associate with them. 

As of this writing, Soundgarden has toured again with all the members intact. They’ve performed on some of the late night talk shows too. But, they’ve yet to release a new album of material. Just this week, there was a news release that they had a new song to be featured on the 2012 summer movie blockbuster Marvel’s the Avengers.  It will be really cool to hear what new material the band comes out with. Until then, I’ll stick to the greatness that was included on the Superunknown.

Davy Jones, The Monkees and Headquarters

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 is yet another day where fans of popular music have lost another figure that was a part of our musical past. Today, I’m talking about my memories of the Monkees and singer Davy Jones and the album Headquarters.

I found out late this morning about the passing of Davy Jones. I wrestled with the idea of writing out my thoughts on the Monkees and Davy. For some, the Monkees were a joke. They were known as the “pre-fab(fabricated) four”.  They were developed by the NBC- TV network for a TV show about a pop/rock band and the “crazy hijinks” that ensues.  After the success of the Beatles’ movies Hard Days Night and Help! the network wanted a Beatles type band to base the show around.  They only sang on the first few recordings for the show. They didn’t play the instruments and were then criticized for this fact.  So, do I write about a band that is still talked about with fond memories and a great catalog of hit songs? Well, I have some awesome memories about this band and I find myself listening to some of their stuff on occasion too.  So, here we go….

The band was made up of four actors or musicians which included Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz and David(Davy) Jones. Mickey, Mike and Peter were from the U.S. and Davey was British. He was short in stature and had been a jockey apprentice. He had also starred as the “Artful Dodger” in the musical Oliver. In fact, Davy appeared on the Ed Sullivan show with the Oliver cast on the same night as the Beatles on February 9, 1964. The news reports after his death say that the experience of being on the same night as the Beatles inspired him for what would be his next big career move.

Davy’s US TV Debut was the same night as the Beatles’ debut.

I have vague memories of watching the Monkees TV show on Saturday mornings in the early 70’s. The original series ran from 1966 to 1968. My sisters had been fans during the original run so we would inevitably watch the rerun episodes on those Saturday mornings. Since, I had the same name as this guy-Davy, I found a kind of kinship to other “Davids” We had copies of a few Monkees albums floating around the house growing up. I seem to remember the self-titled first album, More of the Monkees and Headquarters.  If you could gauge “fandom” by looking at how teenage girls “personalized” the album covers, my sisters were big fans of Davy Jones.  On the back cover, my sister had drawn circles around just Davy in all the group pictures.  At some point, these records drifted from my sisters record collections into a cupboard where they would put the stuff they wanted to put on Mom’s garage sales.  Eventually, those records found their way into my ever-growing record collection.

Fast forward through the 70’s and into the 80’s.  I was a freshman in college in the fall of 1985. In February 1986, MTV decided to run a 24 hour marathon of the Monkees TV show episodes.  In my own arrested development of my freshman year of college, I was elated about this trip into a more innocent time for me. My college friend Shaun(who could be very vocal and cynical about music) raved about some of the great Monkees songs. He loved Mickey’s vocals in Last Train to Clarksville. Thinking back, this may have been one of the first of my peers to acknowledge some kind of affinity for this band.  We talked about the controversary about whether the band played their instruments and all that stuff.  But, when it came time for the marathon to air, I was there on the Mantor Hall 3rd floor lounge watching as much as I could. I’m sure the other guys on my floor got tired of it. But, I ate it up. I found it funny and entertaining and just a good laugh. 

After the success of the MTV marathon, the show then began to air on a daily basis on MTV.  When things like this begin airing in wide rotation on the channel, people have a tendency to get tired of the saturation.  I remember my roommate’s girlfriend telling me that it had been announced that the Monkees would be embarking on a reunion tour (without Mike Nesmith) in the summer of 86 and one of the stops was in my childhood home of North Platte, Nebraska during the annual summer celebration known as Nebraskaland days. I didn’t live in North Platte anymore. But, I was determined to go see them. Then in August of that same year, they played at the Hall County fair in Grand Island.  I had such a great time at the North Platte show. I had to go again. This time I was taking my younger brother Mike(who was 10 at the time). Sometimes, I regret that one of my brother’s first concert experiences was the Monkees. But, I know that when the news came of Davy’s passing, it triggered a memory that we shared.

 

I even remember seeing local Kearney band –Sidekick play at a Fall Semester “Back to School” dance at the student union parking lot play some Monkees songs in their set. As I danced with a female friend, I was singing along to all the words of the Monkees’ songs. She asked me how I knew all the words to the songs. I told her about growing up with the songs and my common name with Davy Jones. She kind of shrugged it off. Looking back, mayber she really wasn’t that much of a friend…hehe!

As I stated earlier, I had felt a connection to Davy through our common name. I’m not sure when I found out. But, two of my three sisters at some point told me that I was named after Davy Jones.  Since I was born in the summer of 1967, I can see how that would have been possible. My oldest sister-Pam denies this. She claims (that since she was the oldest) Mom and Dad had asked her what she would name her baby brother.  She still claims she liked the name “David Scott” and so that is my name. But, my sister Connie says I was named after Davy.  My take on this is that since I was born at a time when the Monkees were the mania of the day and Pam suggested the name David, I’m sure Connie was more than happy to agree that I shared the name with her teen idol. I can’t speak factually. I was there but have no memory of it!

Those who’ve known me and my musical obsessions have witnessed when I start to get full blown into something.  With the newfound resurgence of fame for the Monkees came new recordings.  Arista records put together a “Best of” album out for the Monkees in that summer of 86 called Then & Now…the Best of the Monkees.  The band filmed a video of a new song called That was then…this is Now featuring footage of them on the new reunion tour. The odd thing that I don’t think I ever noticed is that the video is only Mickey and Peter. Davy is nowhere to be seen in the video. I bought this album and found it to be a good little souvenir for that summer.  I do remember that pulling out those old albums of my sisters and reading up on the back story on the Headquarters album.

One summer evening in 1986, I pulled the Headquarters album out and started to listen to it. There is a story behind this album.  When the Beatles came on the music scene, fans looked on this band as a group of four guys who wrote, sang AND PLAYED everything(instruments included) on their records.  So, when the Monkees were introduced through a TV show, the critics called them “the Pre-fab Four”.  The TV show and the songs were put together by music mogul Don Kirschner and the TV producers. They used established hit songwriters like Neil Diamond and Carole King. So, this album was the Monkees album done by the band. The band sang, produced and played on the album.

I dropped the needle on the album and tried to honestly listen to it and dissect it. Of course, it didn’t have the hit singles I was familiar with like I’m a Believer or Last Train to Clarksville or Daydream Believer. I was looking for those memorable hit songs. I was like a 13 year old teenybopper looking for only the songs from the radio or MTV or whatever. Looking back, I found You May Just Be the One, For Pete’s Sake(which became the song that ran during the end credits during the second TV season), Shades of Gray and Randy Scouse Git. Some may consider these songs to be filler songs on a greatest hits album. In fact, I ended up finding these songs as “filler” songs for the “best of” album. I am the kind of music fan that gets tired of the overplayed hits. I like to know there are other songs on the album and I honestly believe that this album had good songs put together by 4 guys who wanted to show the world, the fans and the critics just what they could do.

In the summer of 87, Davy Jones wrote a book called They Made a Monkee out of Me and with that book he made another trip back to Central Nebraska promoting it. He came to Kearney for a book signing appearance at the Hilltop Mall. I was back in Hastings for summer break between school years. I didn’t make it over for the book signing. I still wish I had made the drive over for that one. I still believed he was who I was named after. My sister Pam set me straight on the “name thing” a few years later.

I still have fond memories of this music. I still have conversations with my music geek friends about the recordings, the songs and the band’s place in Rock n’ Roll History. Were they just a teenybopper obsession for 13 year old girls that turned into a huge phenomenon?  Were they one-hit wonders to be forgotten as a footnote in pop culture? I would say NO they’re not. They had multiple hit songs. They were one of the forerunners of what became music videos. I’m sure there were some younger siblings of Beatles fans who were too young to see them on Ed Sullivan. But, the impact of the Monkees and their popularity may have inspired to play and write music.  I AM that younger sibling. They were definitely an early influence in my tastes in pop music.

So, when Davy Jones passed away on Wednesday, I felt a sadness of many who were teenagers in the 60’s or witnessed their comeback in the 80’s. Writer and commentator Bob Lefsetz wrote in his “Lefsetz Letter” this week about the importance of Davy Jones and the Monkees to the Baby Boomer generation and the generation after that. http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2012/03/01/davy-jones/

They were a “manufactured” band. But, the music lives on. They were huge and ubiquitous in an age where there were 3 major networks on TV.  The album Headquarters was released in May of 1967. I was born in July. This album was on top of the Billboard album charts until the Beatles knocked them to number two with Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in June of that year.  As many of my memories blogs are about albums from the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, writer Mark Morris writes about Headquarters

“Headquarters sold well, seeming to have proved the band right. But at this point, the ‘did they/didn’t they’ argument mattered a whole lot less than the fact that as automatons and autonomous beings alike, the Monkees were a great band with great tunes”

So, to the Monkees….and especially my British “brother” Davy Jones, Thank you for the fond memories and the fun tunes and music.