There used to be a Swedish radio station really worth listening to. I grew up listening to tracks like these until the golden days of this radio station were put to an end sometime in 1996. The station is apparently still around namewise but i bet by now it’ll sound like every other commercial radio station out there. I really miss the DJ:s on Bandit 105.5.

The torch appears to have been passed though, to another nice little radio station called Rocket 95.3fM, but i’d still like to take this opportunity to revive the magic of the years leading up to 1996, before the end of Bandit 105.5

I’ve compiled this playlist of as many songs i can remember being played on that station, let me know if I’ve missed a song that really should be in here.

#20091211 – time capsule: 1993-1996 (Bandit 105.5) (82 tracks in total)

(get your player at www.spotify.com)

Mother Love Bone

I en tid da musikken var viktigere enn musikkvideoen. Et pittelite utvalg klassikere!

Temple of The dog

Alice In Chains

Segundo álbum de Wolfmother, me entero por Spotify (es lo que tengo, siempre desinformada). La cuestión es que ya he llegado.

Cosmic egg

Como todos los álbumes que me gustan, cuanto más lo escucho, más me gusta. Esto es así siempre. Así que tengo una norma: Si un álbum no te acaba de gustar a la primera, dale una segunda (oportunidad). E incluso una tercera. Cosmic egg me gustó a la primera. Ya no sé por cuál voy… pero ahora me tiene loca. Tanto que, ya que pasaba por ahí, me he comprado el CD en el Fnac esta tarde.

Pegadizo, pegadizo el single. Tanto como aquel… Womaaaaaaan! Pues eso. She don’t mind, she got the time… New moon rising! Que te hace pegar saltitos, así, de uno en uno. Plim plim plim.

Sundial: Intro con guitarra a lo Tom Morello, wow wow wow, y un ritmillo clavado al de Astronomy de Blue Ôyster Cult. Y la voz del cantante, Andrew Stockdale, que te arranca de la tierra, que te saca del agujero más profundo.

Imposible escuchar este álbum sin saltar de la silla. Imposible escucharlo de pie y sin moverse de un lado para otro. Puro roooooooock. Me tiene embriagada. Ya verás.

La primera vez que escuché a Wolfmother

La primera vez que escuché a Wolfmother fue en un concierto de Pearl Jam. En un conciertazo de Pearl Jam después de haber visto a la banda ya una vez y haber salido de allí… bueno, normalita. Segundo concierto de los únicos héroes del grunge que aún siguen en activo… no defraudaron. Los recuperamos, menos mal (olvidemos el Rio Act). Y tan viva que sigue, no me voy de tema, pero también han sacado nuevo álbum: Backspacer.

Wolfmother teloneando a Pearl Jam. Qué ritmillo, qué voz setentera, qué pelos, que canciones, qué todo. Y durante el concierto de Pearl Jam, va y sale el cantante de los recién conocidos (para mi) y se canta una de Temple of the Dog (Hungerstrike) con Eddie Vedder. Toma ya.

Nota: Wolfmother son esos de la canción aquella tan chula del anuncio de algo que no me acuerdo. Esta canción.

Y aquí dejo un par de vídeos:

New moon rising – Wolfmother

Hungerstrike – Temple of the dog

Seems the latest fashion is to combine your individual strengths to form one massive monolith of destruction.  Case in point: Them Crooked Vultures.  I, along with many rock fans, am salivating at the prospect of Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters) on drums, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) on bass, and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) on vocals/guitar. Their debut album comes out November 17th, and from the snippets posted online, should be a monster.

Their idea is not of course a new one in the world of rock.  The list of supergroups is long. Some examples: Cream, Temple of the Dog (witness the latest “reunion” of them live), Damn Yankees, Velvet Revolver, The Traveling Wilburys, Nelson (both Nelson brothers in the same band? I can’t live without your love and affection indeed. Plus, any group that includes a mystical Native American in their video is in my book super).

In the Random Ramblings universe, we believe this should move to all areas of life. Why should it be limited to just music? The Transformers were way ahead of their time with this.  The Constructicons should be in the Supergroup Hall of Fame. Who is better-Nelson or Devastator? Tough call.  But either way, we the fans win.

So here are the 5 supergroups we would most like to see.  Start your petitions now.

Coming of Age characters supergroup: Kevin Arnold (The Wonder Years),  Alex P. Keaton (Family Ties), Angela Chase (My So Called Life), Troy (Reality Bites), Charlie (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

These characters represent all that is blissful, confusing, and overwhelming about growing up.  Alex P. Keaton gets the nod for his heartwrenching episode with Ellen (Billy Vera and the Beaters, anyone?), Angela for her blindness to Brian Krakow’s affection, Troy for his ability to feel he is owed a Snickers, and Charlie for his love of music. And Kevin Arnold-for every single thought he ever let us hear.

Saturday Night Live supergroup: Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, Dana Carvey, Jack Handey, Chris Farley, Kevin Nealon, Mike Myers.

Two many awesome characters to list them all.  But here are some: Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer, Harry Carey, the “Chopping Broccoli” singer, Gap girl (I’M STARVING), Mr. Subliminal, and Phillip the Hyper Hypo.  And Jack Handey-for every single thought he ever let us hear.

80’s action movie bad guys supergroup: Predator, Ivan Drago (Rocky IV), Master Control Program (Tron), Colonel Bella (Red Dawn), Killian (The Running Man)

Alone they are all able to be defeated. But with their forces combined, you would be shot with a laser while taking a devastating punch to the face, while being taunted by a massive electronic face, while being taken to Cuba, all televised on a futuristic game show. Or some variation on that.

Imaginary Rock Band Supergroup: Jimmy Chamberlain, drums; Chris Cornell, vocals; Paul McCartney, bass; Jeff Buckley; Jimmy Page

Two clarifications: yes Jeff Buckley is dead, but we’re dreaming here, so it’s ok.  Also, McCartney does kind of stick out like a sore thumb here, but imagine his inventive bass lines mix with the aggressive drumming of Chamberlain, the shrieking of Cornell, and the inventive guitar attack of Buckley and Page.  My head would explode.

Fast Food Supergroup: The Colonel, Wendy, Hamburglar, Captain D

Recipe for Awesome Pie: the biscuits from KFC, fries from Wendy’s, and the breading from Captain D’s fish (not sure what the Hamburglar’s role is in all this, but he could just stand around and giggle while you make it). Ok, that sounds disgusting.  But much like how I felt about Krystals back in the day when I could still stomach it: don’t look at it. Just eat it.

Fregando un scoop al blog di mio fratello (senza alcuna presunzione di competizione, non ne sarei mai in grado!) oggi segnalo un evento musicale che, per chi ha amato il grunge e l’alternative rock di Seattle, sicuramente è emozione allo stato puro.
Un pezzo del mio cuore si è staccato ed è volato a Los Angeles. Un pezzo dei miei anni da teenager e non solo. Nel loro show californiano dello scorso 6 ottobre, i Pearl Jam hanno invitato sul palco delle persone che non si rivedevano insieme da un po’.

Ad esempio un certo Chris Cornell, completando così una insolita reunion dei Temple Of The Dog, celebrata poi da una “Hungerstrike” cantata a squarciagola da tutto il Gibson Amphitheatre.
Ma è solo l’inizio: poco dopo sul palco arrivano altri due personaggi, Kim Thayil e Ben Shepherd. E così, con Matt Cameron e lo stesso Cornell, si ritrovano insieme su un palco anche dei personaggi che una volta si chiamavano Soundgarden. E il cuore ai più non regge.
Ma il bello è che non finisce qui. Mike McCready si fa da parte, ed entra un certo Jerry Cantrell a prendere il suo posto alla chitarra. La band attacca “Alive”, e in effetti ciò che vediamo davanti è quello che è rimasto ancora vivo del meglio del grunge.
Grandi musicisti, grandi canzoni, grandi reduci di una stagione del rock U.S.A. che non verrà facilmente dimenticata.
In pieno stile “The Sound of No One Listening“, ecco qui la versione di Hungerstrike che celebra la reunion dei Temple of The Dog.
Per chi invece volesse godersi tutto lo show dei Pearl Jam, a questo link c’è l’intera playlist del concerto.
Buon ascolto!

HUNGER STRIKE w/Chris Cornell

ALIVE w/solo by Jerry Cantrell

Do people even rock this hard anymore?

Last week at a concert in Los Angeles, Chris Cornell joined Pearl Jam on stage for a brief reunion of the old Seattle grunge band Temple of the Dog. �Temple of the Dog was originally formed as a tribute band for the death of Andrew Wood and featured all of the members of Pearl Jam plus Chris Cornell. �Andrew Wood was the singer for Mother Love Bone and died of a heroin overdose. �Chris Cornell, Wood’s former roommate, already singing in Soundgarden, approached the former members of Mother Love Bone to put together a tribute album. �The band put out one self-titled album featuring many rocking songs, of which Hunger Strike is the biggest hit. Before Temple of the Dog could ever tour behind the album the band split. � Chris Cornell went his own way continuing to rock with Soundgarden. �Vedder, Ament, Gossard and McCready later formed Pearl Jam. �The Temple of the Dog album did not receive recognition until later when Pearl Jam had their commercial success.��This marks the first time the band has preformed together since 2003.

The Temple of the Dog reunion rocks real hard but according to Rolling Stone; the remaining members of Soundgarden, Kim Thayil and Ben Shepherd�were spotted at the same show. �This marks the firs time the band has been seen together publicly in more than ten years. �Hopefully this show will pull Chris Cornell’s head out of his ass so he won�t come out with anymore solo R&B records produced by Timbaland and reunite with Soundgarden. �It has been known for many years that Soundgarden has a ton of unreleased material that probably rocks.� The rest of the band has made it known that a reunion is not out of the question, the only hold out being Chris Cornell who is too much of a diva bitch.� In my opinion he needs to stop asking questions and start rocking!

Back in the spring of 1991 after some success directing the ALICE IN CHAINS “Man in the Box” video I got a chance to direct a music video that was a collaboration between some members of SOUNDGARDEN and some of the former members of MOTHER LOVE BONE who had started a new band temporarily called MOOKIE BLAYLOCK.  The chosen single for the music video was a song called “Hunger Strike”, the name of the album and project was called TEMPLE OF THE DOG.  The song was penned by Chris Cornell and sung by him and newcomer Eddie Vedder.  Coming up for a concept for the video was a bit of a challenge at first as the members of Soungarden were not that interested in personally appearing in the video but rather wanted a more conceptual video.  The members of Mookie Blaylock – Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Michael McCready and Eddie Vedder – were more eager to personally be in the video at the time as they were launching a new band and wanted the exposure.  I went up to Seattle for about 10 days before the video shoot, still without a concept, to hash out some ideas with the bands.  I had a great time doing this.  I met with the two bands together and separately and came up with the idea of doing something very organic, very local and very simple.  Mainly outdoors and in a Northwest environment.  The guys brought me around on scouts and I settled on Discovery Park which seemed to offer a wide variety of environments and terrains in a small area easy to get around in.  The morning of the shoot I woke up to 4 inches of snow on the ground ans still snowing.  By the time we got out to the location it had cleared with a gorgeous light and clouds.  The rest of the day brought sun, rain, wind and then hail ( I kid you not HAIL),  right before we shot the finale at night in the woods.  I remember filming Eddie Vedder’s close up in the reeds.  He was very quiet, polite and humble.  He was very uncomfortable Lip Synching and didn’t like it because it felt so fake.  I remember seeing a certain intensity in some of the close up shots and they were truthful I think to a certain fristration with the moment. As the takes went on he relaxed more.  Much later on, a year or so later, I realized that these were maybe his first filmed performances as a singer.  His close ups are beautiful, intense, vibrant and truthful all at once, a complete visceral singer, from the beginning.  At our wrap dinner the next night, which was customary after music video shoots courtesy of the record label, I remember the Mookie Blaylock guys telling everyone that they had chosen an official name for their new band.  PEARL JAM.

Have any of you seen this fucking thing? Chris Cornell, hopping onstage with his old buddies, subsequently resurrecting Temple Of The Dog for a for a few minutes. 
Brings back so many memories, of MTV, of fields of wavy grain, of Spokane, Wash., of grunge and all its permutations (have you heard Hater? They rule … ), of those boots in fashion ads that no one actually wore, of Eddie Vedder and his ball-gagging throat, of Chris Cornell singing something besides Michael Jackson covers …

This combined with the new Alice In Chains album (which I promise I’ll review asap; stay tuned) is kicking in a semi-resurgence of ggggggrunge that I couldn’t have predicted would happen so soon. What’s next, a Limp Bizkit reunion?

Cornell and Vedder sound pretty-damn good singing together, too. ‘Nell hasn’t lost his god-forsaking shriek and Vedder, well, is still Vedder. But seriously, how good does that opening guitar line sound after all these years? So … clean.

Pearl Jam can still bring it, and I ask you this with a completely straight face: Now that pretty much EVERY OTHER WAYWARD BAND has reunited, can Soundgarden be far behind? Superunknown and Down on the Upside were both bellcows of the grunge movement, along with Dirt and Nevermind/In Utero ushering in the style in the first place.


Please, Please, Please (as Roy Orbison would say it) Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron, at least consider getting back with that Cornell douche, at least for a tour. AT LEAST FOR A TOUR. Cornell can even blow his voice out, steal Thayil’s girlfriend and drink way too much, just like in the old days! I won’t tell a soul …


Fuck me jogging though, Temple Of The Dog just made my day …

Following the release of Alice in Chains’ Black Gives Way to Blue, this week is proving to be a very big one for grunge music. In fact, whilst I can openly confess to never being down with the whole Pearl Jam craze, their concert yesterday in Los Angeles was representative of something far more greater…

Symbolising some type of grunge reunion- the whole of Soundgarden plus Jerry Cantrell were in attendance – Chris Cornell took to the stage to perform alongside his former bandmates and current hosts, Temple of the Dog’s classic song “Hunger Strike”. With the crowd clearly loving this coming together of the Seattle all-stars, the collaborations continued, as Alice in Chains’ guitarist Cantrell joined the band in performing “Alive”.

Rolling back the years of what has been a rather nostalgic week for grunge music, last nights sign of unity certainly has added to speculation of a growing grunge sentiment. With the alienated teens now fully evolved into 9-5 workers of the square ages, I think it’s safe to say that talk of any Soundgarden comeback is little more than speculation. With that said however, last nights performance equally indicates a possibility of future collaborations, as the tested waters have emphatically proved that they still have it in them.

O grunge, definitivamente, ressuscitou do limbo. Nos últimos meses a cena trouxe um novo disco do Alice in Chains, botou o Pearl Jam de novo nas paradas e o Kurt Cobain na capa das revistas. Na última quarta feira (07/10), o Gibson Amphiteather (LA) foi palco de uma suruba musical dos filhos da Sub-Pop. O pessoal do Peral Jam recebeu Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) e Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) para uma jam. Rolou uma reunião do Temple of the Dog (lembra?) que tocou o hit Hunger Strike. Rolou também um cover de Kick out the Jams, clássico da fodástica MC5.

(POR BOB) –  Página Inicial

Ontem, 06/10, o Pearl Jam recebeu convidados especiais em seu show em Los Angeles. Os convidados foram Chris Cornell, reunindo o Temple Of The Dog, e o guitarrista do Alice in Chains, Jerry Cantrell.

O Temple Of The Dog tocou a música Hunger Strike, provavelmente uma das músicas mais tocadas dos anos oitenta…(veja o vídeo)

Say Hello To Heaven
Reach Down
Hunger Strike
Pushin’ Forward Back
Call Me A Dog
Time of Trouble
Wooden Jesus
Your Savior
Four Walled Wood
All Night Thing

Download

Hunger Strike
Your Savior
All Night Thing

Download

Το Temple Of The Dog μαζί με το Ten των Pearl Jam, είναι τα albums που ακούω τακτικά κάθε φθινόπωρο. Είναι τέτοια η συναισθηματική τους δύναμη και η διάχυτή τους “μελαγχολία” που αποτελουν το ιδανικό soundtrack αυτής της εποχής…

“Εμπνευσμένος” από την τραγωδία του θανάτου του προσωπικού του φίλου και τραγουδιστή των Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood, ο οποίος πέθανε από OD ηρωίνης, o Chriss Cornell των Soundgarden αποφάσισε να γράψει μερικά τραγούδια για να τιμήσει την μνήμη του φίλου του. Στην “ομάδα” προστέθηκαν οι Stone Gossard στην κιθάρα, ο Jeff Ament στο μπάσο (πρώην μέλη των Mother Love Bone), ο Mike McCready στην άλλη κιθάρα ,ο Matt Cameron (από τους Soundgarden) στα drums και ο Eddie Vedder στα lead και  backing vocals. Το album, που κυκλοφόρησε το 1991,αρχικά έτυχε μέτριας υποδοχής αλλά έναν χρόνο μετά και αφού οι Vedder, Gossard, Ament και McReady σάρωναν στα charts με το Ten ως μέλη των Pearl Jam, έτυχε νέας αποδοχής πουλώντας τελικά ένα εκατομμύριο κόπιες.

Απαλαγμένη από κάθε είδους πίεση για εμπορική επιτυχία και γεμάτη ενθουσιασμό και δημιουργικότητα η ομάδα (παρέα πια) συνέγραψε τα 10 τραγούδια του δίσκου και ξεκίνησε να ηχογραφεί “δίνοντας” ταυτόχρονα και μερικά live. Η διαδικασία αυτή τους ένωσε τόσο πολύ και το αποτέλεσμα αποτυπώθηκε καθαρά στα αυλάκια αυτού του δίσκου ώς το καλλιτεχνικό δημιούργημα μιας παρέας που έγραψε μερικά τραγούδια που ακούγονται όχι ως μίζερα μοιρολόγια αλλά ως ύμνοι, φόρος τιμής σε έναν αγαπημένο φίλο που θα ήθελαν να μπορούσε να Jammαρει μαζί τους…  Όπως γράφουν και στα credits του δίσκου …

IN A GOOD WAY. 10 SONGS, SPONTANNEOUS. CREATION. EMOTION. VERY PLEASING. REAL MUSIC. NO ANALYZING. NO PRESSURE. NO HYPE. JUST MUSIC TO MAKE MUSIC. FRIENDS AND A REASON. CHEMISTRY. BEAUTY. LIFE RULES!

Είναι αδύνατο να γνωρίζουμε αν ο Cornell κατάφερε να βρεί μέσα από αυτόν τον δίσκο, την κάθαρση από την λύπη για τον χαμό του φίλου του αλλά τουλάχιστον η ιστορία της μουσικής κέρδισε ένα τεράστιο group (τους Pearl Jam που δημιουργήθηκαν μέσα από την διαδικασία της δημιουργίας αυτού του δίσκου) αλλά και έναν δίσκο διαμάντι με κλασικά τραγούδια ύμνους όπως τα Say Hello 2 Heaven, Reach Out, Hunger Strike, Call Me A Dog, Times Of Trouble.

LIFE RULES!

Chris Cornell formed Temple of the Dog as a tribute to Andrew Wood. He slowed down the late-80s hair-metal sound that Soundgarden was flirting with and brought in several members of what would become Pearl Jam. Temple of the Dog acts as kind of a meeting ground between the old and the emerging styles of hard rock. The shift is apparent in the contrast between Eddie Vedder and Mr. Cornell as they share vocal duties. Mr. Vedder’s growl points toward the coming grunge tidal wave while Mr. Cornell’s yowl reflects what rock and roll had been for the past decade.

Rating: * * * *

Artist: Temple of the Dog
Album: Temple of the Dog
Release Date: April 16, 1991

I spontaneously decided that this week would be dedicated to albums with the running thread of “Before They Were Famous”. In the case of Temple of the Dog, even though it came out after Chris Cornell had released an well-received album with Soundgarden, and mere months before Pearl Jam (whose founding members also comprised Temple of the Dog) would release Ten, it still put Eddie Vedder and Cornell on the map for the first time. Temple of the Dog is also one of the great “What If?”lynchpins in modern rock music. Any number of things could have happened differently regarding this album that would have reshaped the 90s. Among them:

1) Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood doesn’t die of a heroin overdose. Mother Love Bone continues and records a second album. Pearl Jam still releases Ten, but doesn’t have a hit in Temple’s “Hunger Strike” to back it up. Soundgarden also continue as they were. In all, this might be the least interesting of the scenarios.

2) Temple of the Dog is released and becomes a massive hit, moreso than “Hunger Strike” and “Say Hello 2 Heaven” actually became. Suddenly, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden are a huge deal. Pearl Jam release “Alive” to overwhelming success, and Soundgarden get belated radio play from Badmotorfinger. Nirvana releases Nevermind a few months later, but in all likelihood “Smells Like Teen Spirit” shows up a little late to the party. Sit back and think about what THAT does to modern rock. Nirvana are the poseurs, while Pearl Jam and Soundgarden rule the roost.

3) Temple of the Dog succeeds to the point where the band is offered a respectable recording contract, which the band takes. Pearl Jam finish up Ten, but it’s basically a one-off. Soundgarden goes on hiatus so Cornell can work with Temple of the Dog. With major label help, “Hunger Strike” and at least one other track are pretty good hits (about as much as they were in our own timeline), and the band eventually gets to work on a follow-up album. From here it’s anyone’s guess how a second TotD record would be. In all likelihood the band would split back into Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, but both band’s feel like shells of a larger being. In this timeline in all likelihood Audioslave never happens, and Cornell’s solo career is in question. Depending on Pearl Jam’s level of success, Temple of the Dog reunites in 2009. This is probably the least likely scenario, but it’s sure as hell fun to dream, right?

I’m sure there are other mirror universes that involve what might have been in the early part of the 1990s, but these struck me as the most interesting. I know I probably stretch facts and dates here a little bit, but work with me. Always fun to dream about how things might’ve played out and what it could have meant for today.

Temple of the Dog – Wooden Jesus [iTunes] (YSI)

==TJ==