Way back when, when Maribou and I had just gotten married, we would sometimes go to the local dance studio’s concerts.
They did a lot of different stuff at their concerts. Everything from classical ballet to stuff that was up-to-the-minute modern. When they explored the latter stuff, a lot of the pieces were… let’s say “experimental”. A cross between Martha Graham and Margie Gillis and stuff that someone without as much class and insight as I happen to have would say was merely weird convulsing. If it were music, then the term they’d use for this sort of dance would be “atonal”.
They did have one song/dance to a heavy guitar song where, I thought, the voice whispered “gimme space” over and over again where the women began dancing in unison and then each one split off to dance their own interpretation of what each little part the song was doing until they all came back together for the Big Finish where they all danced in unison again. If it were music, they started tonal, wandered through atonal, then got back for a pretty good tonal finish.
For *YEARS* I looked for this song. All I had was “guitar heavy” and “gimme space”.
Then, the other day, it hit me: just google “guitar” and “space”. And, of course, I got nothing but videos of Chris Hadfield.
So I thought I’d shoot for the moon and start googling Joe Satriani and Space. Stevie Ray Vaughn and Space. Then Jeff Beck and Space.
And I found it.
Space for the Papa. I’ve been looking for this song for 19 years.
I hope you like it too.
So… what are you listening to?
OK that’s just beautiful guitar playing.
I listened to Beck era Yardbirds in high school, but despite my brother’s insistence just didn’t follow up with subsequent stuff, so thanks for this.
I’m still mining my vinyl collection. Having gotten through almost all the jazz I’ve been listening to the rock , which has been surprisingly disappointing overall, (there is still a box of rock missing – it’s gotta be around somewhere, just haven’t found it) but I am agog with The Who.
https://youtu.be/EB6pO4E_0ZMReport
Nice. Quadrophenia IS The Who’s masterpiece. It doesn’t seem to get the publicity of Tommy but it’s far better.
If I’m not listening to the local college station (fewer commercials, more music, plenty of good songs-80’s, 90’s, 00’s, I’m listening to Ghost on my old school ipod. Good stuff.Report
Tommy I can listen to over and over. Quadrophenia much less frequently, because it’s too emotionally gut-wrenching.
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Yes–it’s one I can always go back to, but don’t listen to over and over.Report
Ah, Quadrophenia.
That album got me through college.Report
We leaned hard on the movie soundtrack of Tommy in college, but I still think Who’s Next is the better album. It’s got to be in the top five rock albums of all time, maybe #1.Report
Who’s Next is great, but I don’t think it’s better than Quadrophenia (but at this point we’d really be arguing about degrees of greatness, which is kind of pointless). And as a standalone album Who’s Next is impressive (I know it’s what’s left of the life house project, but it seems more like a traditional rock album).Report
Pete Townshend may be the greatest lyricist in rock and roll history.Report
And maybe the greatest composer. The Overture to Tommy and the instrumental tracks on Quadrophenia are just brilliant.Report
Prompted me to pull Quadrophenia out and listen. I had forgotten just how good it was.Report