I chose to include it because of these other great classic rock songs I hear in it:
Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo by Rick Derringer
Hush by Deep Purple
His mother, Philomena, was Irish, and his father was Guyanese. His parents didn't stay together, and his single mother couldn't raise him by herself. He grew up in Dublin with his grandparents and his uncles, Peter and Timmy. Despite the social stigma in Ireland at the time regarding his mixed-race background, his grandparents provided a stable, loving home, often affectionately calling him their "little black baby". Although he grew up apart from his mother, they shared a deep and loving bond.
Life with his grandparents provided a deep connection to Ireland that he retained throughout his life and career, even as he achieved international fame. He spoke fondly of his childhood in Dublin, which served as a source of inspiration for his songwriting and storytelling. His friend and Thin Lizzy bandmate Scott Gorham said in 2013, "Phil was so proud of being Irish. No matter where he went in the world if we were talking to a journalist and they got something wrong about Ireland, he'd give the guy a history lesson. It meant a lot to him."
Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) A Rock Legend is a tribute to Ireland. It interweaves traditional tunes like ‘Shenandoah’ and ‘Danny Boy’ into the distinctive Thin Lizzy twin guitar sound. It also pays tribute to Irish mythological hero Cú Chulainn and indulges in a playful string of puns and wordplay, acknowledging iconic figures of the Emerald Isle. From W.B. Yeats and Oscar Wilde to Van Morrison and Brendan Behan, the lyrics showcase a clever homage to a host of Ireland’s cultural luminaries.
Iannis Xenakis was an amazing guy. Remembered as a prolific avant-garde composer, there was so much more to him. There needs to be a movie.
This is just a section of the entire piece called Hibiki Hana Ma, which is around eighteen minutes. It was one of his electroacoustic pieces which was repeatedly played every day in the Tekkhokan (steel pavilion) during Expo ‘70 in Osaka. It's all kinds of bleeps and skids, rumbles and twitches, wood tocks and crackling papers. It's a big bowl of electronic soup, perhaps the Bladderhorn's favorite dish?
Fear Loves This Place was the obvious "hit" from this album of challenging electronic krautrock epics and lo-fi guitar strumming. It looks at the subject of domestic violence and its existence in a supposedly peaceful and loving Christian society. Today it's the right-wing evangelical Christian US government that has brought the Crusades back after 1500 years to proselytize through their beautiful loving fear and death all over the place. We're living one hell of a heaven.
Gole Yakh (Ice Flower) was his first solo single, and it sold five million copies in Iran alone. It brought him fame and was translated and adapted for other languages. The song tells a story of solitude, where "the ice flower has sprouted in my heart" (گل یخ توی دلم جوونه کرده) while enduring cold, lonely nights. It revolves around themes of heartbreak, loneliness, and the sorrowful remembrance of a past relationship.
Kourosh was heavily censored following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. His work was banned from the country's airways, markets and homes, and his name from the press. He decided to stay in Iran rather than migrate to another country. During this time he worked for children and published books and cassettes.
In 2016, he was quoted in Vice magazine: I believed that if I had changed my career it would be an unrespectful behaviour to my music and myself and also it would mean betrayal to my cultural roots. Now that I look back, I am glad I did not bribe anyone or bow to pressures, but lived all these 37 years with honour. I believe even in an unequal battle, resistance is preferred to giving up.
This is a major shredding showcase for the guitarist, Chris Impellitteri (the photo on his wikipedia page is from a 2016 Korean rock festival...he's still big there!). In 2003, Guitar One magazine voted him the second-fastest guitar shredder of all time. Who was voted number one? This guy. I know very little about either one of these guitar speedsters...but they definitely have fans in South Korea.
Raï is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. The tradition arose in the city of Oran, primarily among the poor. Traditionally sung by men, by the end of the 20th century, female singers became common. The lyrics have concerned social issues such as disease and the policing of European colonies that affected native populations.
During the 1970s, raï artists brought in influences from other countries such as Egypt, Europe, and the Americas. Trumpets, the electric guitar, synthesizers, and drum machines were specific instruments that were put into music. This marked the beginning of pop raï, which was performed by a later generation which adopted the title of Cheb (male) or Chaba (female), meaning "young," to distinguish themselves from the older musicians who continued to perform in the original style.
International success of the genre had begun as early as 1976 with the rise to prominence of producer Rachid Baba Ahmed. He helped many young and upcoming artists, and he had a modern 24-track studio.
He and his brother Fethi had been playing music since the 1960s. I stumbled upon the video for Utopia a few years ago. I was blown away by the otherworldly sounds Rachid created on the keyboard, a Yamaha YC-25D. Combined with the delicate 12-string guitars, it is like a psychedelic dream, vaguely reminiscent of Witthuser & Westrupp's Illusion I. In the video, Fethi is on the left. I'm not sure who the other guitarist is. Someone made a snowman that resembles Rachid. At 1:43, some guys emerge from the background, throwing snowballs around. They run towards the musicians and one guy leaps over the snowman. Fun fun fun.
Get ready, because here we have yet another example of a country that became embroiled in civil war, resulting in artists of all sorts being targeted for daring to be different. The Algerian war began slowly, as it initially appeared the government had successfully crushed the Islamist movement, but armed groups emerged to declare violent jihad, and by 1994, violence had reached such a level that it appeared the government might not be able to withstand it.
In 1995, Rachid Baba Ahmed was assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists outside his record store in Oran. He was targeted because of his involvement in the production of pop raï, which was seen as a transgressive genre that challenged the status quo. Following the assassination of his brother and musical partner, Fethi Baba Ahmed was completely devastated and stopped producing and performing music. Thanks a lot, extremist bastards.
