Alternative Rock Nostalgia Buzz

Forgotten Songs of the ‘80s: The Reddings This is going to be the most interesting post I’ve ever done because the song in question is an instrumental; but it’s also one of the funkiest instrumentals any one will ever hear. The Reddings were led by Otis Redding’s sons and one of their cousins. When “The Awakening” came out in 1980, they were still in their teens but they knew exactly how to separate themselves from their famous father. Dexter and Otis III on drums and bass respectively set the tone right from the beginning. At first, you’re not sure if what you’re hearing is a knock-off of the theme from “Shaft” but Otis immediately lays down the funkiest bass riff ever heard and his brother falls in behind him with the simplest of intros. But then they kick in to the main idea and it’s impossible to believe that playing this perfect and expertly done is coming from a bunch of teenagers. To show how funky the bass is here, Les Claypool of Primus has taken it on himself to reintroduce t...

Forgotten Songs of the ‘70s: Cheap Trick You can do an entire blog about Cheap Trick but this band was just cursed with so much misfortune, one can’t help but keep going back to them to talk about different songs or records. One of my top five favorite tracks is “Heaven Tonight,” which can be found on their classic 1978 album of the same name. Beginning with one of the best intros in the history of rock, the band creates one hell of an environment with strings and a haunting riff courtesy of Rick Nielsen before Robin Zander comes in with a tour de force performance with creepy, mood building vocals that greatly enhance the entire song. By making the lyrics a bit of a double entendre, the band makes the clearest case as ever’s been heard as to why they’re one of the best pop bands ever. By continuing to build the intensity of the strings throughout the track until the very end when they come crashing down into a fadeout, the band made this one of the spookiest songs of the seventies but...

Forgotten Album of the Month: Fear of a Black Hat soundtrack This is an interesting post because I’ve never written about a soundtrack before, let alone as Forgotten Album of the Month, but “Fear of a Black Hat” is just one of the funniest damn films I’ve ever seen and the songs are so catchy and stupid that they need to be remembered. The story of “Fear of a Black Hat” centers on a controversial rap group, N.W.H., or N****** with Hats. The film is a parody of hip hop from the eighties until the time it was made in 1993; another film, Chris Rock’s “CB4” had already come and taken away this film’s momentum but over time the film has enjoyed a rapid cult audience that continues to grow. The songs parody everything from Snoop Dogg (“Ice Froggy Frog”), to Public Enemy ("Wear Yo Hat (Buried and Bald))" to Run-D.M.C. (“My Peanuts.”) The film’s funniest tracks are without a doubt, “Fuck the Security Guards,” which pokes fun at rent a cops in a way that Das EFX or Da Lench Mob could ...