The 2007 Brit awards is one of my all time favorite Oasis V2 gigs- the whole band is on fire, the guitars sound huge and Zak Starkey is so explosive. Here is “meaning of soul”, an underrated Liam track from DBTT, but they also played C&A, morning glory, RNR star, and DLBIA.

The image of Oasis melting faces while playing to a bunch of corporate suits at an awards show is so fun to think about- I hope they do it again at the RNR HOF induction 😎

I’ve recently been very interested in archiving rock history and culture and thought of a potential project idea- I’d really appreciate any advice you may have on how to tackle it.

One of my favorite things to do is to read old magazine articles and interviews with the band. We’ve all read stories about how shocking and electric the band was back in the day.

So that got me thinking- surely there must have been early newspaper articles, live show reviews, etc of the band in their earliest iterations? For example by local papers, when the band was playing clubs and small venues. I think it’d be fascinating to dig these up share them with the community.

So my question for this group, and particularly fellow fans in the UK, is- would such local papers/magazines be archived anywhere online? If so, which cities would it make sense to look for articles / reviews / opinions on The Who in their very earliest days?

Here in the US we have the freely available library of congress news archives, though even that is not suited for this project because it only goes up to 1963 due to copyright issues. And I’m really most interested in reading early opinions from around the UK, wherever the band was playing their early gigs.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions! And if this project is totally ridiculous or impossible, feel free to let me know :)

If you’re interested in helping curate thoughtful content on rock history and culture, we’d like to hear from you. This includes essays, interviews, articles, pictures, and of course music. We want to grow our new community and help members start their own discussions!

If this sounds like you, please send me- RandyNewman_GOAT- a DM and we can discuss. Thanks!

I recently stumbled across this excellent site by a guy named David Huggins- https://www.oasis-recordinginfo.co.uk/more-from-anjali-dutt-on-the-making-of-definitely-maybe-2014.html

Seems it is an ongoing work in progress, but David has done a wonderful job collecting details on how Oasis records, music videos, etc were recorded, produced, and mastered.

The above link is a fascinating interview with Anjali Dutt, who was one of the key engineers on the early sessions for Definitely Maybe.

Here’s another one with Owen Morris on how Morning Glory was mastered- https://www.oasis-recordinginfo.co.uk/owen-morris-how-i-mastered-morning-glory.html

And another intriguing one with Nigel Dick on directing the music videos- https://www.oasis-recordinginfo.co.uk/nigel-dick-on-directing-the-music-videos.html

Kudos to David and the site owners for maintaining this excellent resource!

I was reading an interesting recent article in CREEM about the origins of punk and the Ramones. I’ll need to find the article so I can paste it, but it essentially made two arguments:

- the Ramones were the true originators of punk rock

- whether or not the Ramones were conservative in the traditional political sense, the article argued that the Ramones were absolutely conservative in a different way- a return to “values”, so to speak, with respect to the structure and motivation behind rock and roll songs. In other words, the Ramones were not so much “conservative” as they were “old school”- they believed RNR songs should be short, fast, fun, vocally melodic, and to the point.

I think the topic of conservatism in punk rock is fascinating. Perhaps the NY hardcore bands had a strain of conservatism (think Agnostic Front, maybe Cro Mags?) but then I always thought punk in the UK was much more of a rebellion against Thatcher etc.

So, what are your thoughts on the origin of conservatism (either political or “song wise” like the Ramones) in punk rock? In the US vs the UK? Which bands exemplified this stance- either staunchly conservative or staunchly against?

Sorry if this has already been discussed but I wanted to throw out a thought I had about DLR. I recently posted some pics here from an old CREEM article from 1983. As a lifelong VH fan I was struck by how cool the guys looked and how epic Dave looked in particular.

https://www.reddit.com/r/vanhalen/s/IOSbA0Y8bA

Then I see him now and it’s obviously not a great sight. He can’t really sing anymore and the music hasn’t aged particularly well. The venues don’t seem full and the crowds don’t seem amazing either.

Maybe I am being pretentious but I think there is art in what we’re witnessing now with Dave that should be valued. To me there’s something artistic and maybe even romantic, in a tragic sort of way, about seeing our idols trying to relive past glories and basically failing. I think it’s an interesting contrast and character arc that someone who used to be so larger than life now struggles to fill venues and hit the notes.

I’m not sure that makes any sense, but basically for me it’s not about admiring Dave for trying or ridiculing him for refusing to hang it up. It’s that this phase of Dave’s career, which tbh is kinda sad, is part of the epic story of Van Halen. Reminds me of the final part of Elvis’ career when he became a whale- that was part of the whole tragic story of Elvis’ life, which in retrospect made his life even more interesting given how epic he was at the beginning of his career.

FWIW, I do hope Dave gets back out there again. Personally I think we should encourage our heroes to keep going as long as they’re willing and able!

Title basically says it all. Noel has often spoken highly of the Hacienda (thought I haven’t heard Liam mention it as much, which is curious). As I understand, many other bands hung out there- Peter Hook, the guys from the roses, among others.

So, can anyone who was around at the time comment on what the Hacienda was like? Was it amazing as these guys make it out to be?

Also, is there a great compilation you’d recommend of the music that was played there?

Finally, if it was so popular, why did it close? I guess it was just down to most music clubs / venues shutting down over time? What ended up happening to the house music scene which I gather was very popular in Manchester?

Title says it all- at r/Rockism we've greatly enjoyed reading the writings of Robert Christgau, pretentious as they often are. His seminal book of reviews on rock albums of the seventies is long out of print but turns out it's fully available on his website- https://www.robertchristgau.com/bk-cg70s.php

An example of one of his more cutting reviews :)

Ginger Baker's Air Force: Ginger Baker's Air Force (Atco, 1970) Contrary to rumor, Baker is not the best drummer in the world. Elvin Jones is. (Not to mention Keith Moon. Or Tony Williams. Or whoever's at the Village Vanguard this week.) And I wouldn't want to hear Elvin Jones's ten-piece horn band, either--good horn players lead their own bands, and bands led by drummers tend to leave a lot of space for drum solos. Plus this is a live double album and the sound is terrible. Plus I'm starting a rumor that Stevie Winwood is no longer the best Stevie Winwood in the world. D+

Welcome to r/Rockism

The purpose of r/Rockism is to provide a space for thoughtful, provocative, long-form discussion and commentary on rock and roll music, rock history, rock culture, and rock criticism.

To new members, welcome!  This is a small corner of reddit where rock music reigns supreme- back to the days when rock culture was at the center of the zeitgeist.  We want you to share your opinions, commentary, and historical artifacts- and of course, music! 

Pretty much anything related to rock culture is fair game- have thoughts on the evolution of David Bowie's fashion sense?  Want to opine on why Bon Scott was the greatest rock vocalist of all time?  Want to share an excerpt from a great, irreverent Lester Bangs interview, or an essay by Robert Christgau?  Want to discuss how women have been systematically excluded from rock culture?  It's all good here at r/Rockism.