Kate ([info]digital_eraser) wrote,
@ 2008-07-03 20:10:00
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Entry tags:bob seger, music, rock

Bob Seger Kick
I've been on a bit of a Bob Seger kick at the moment. Found some really interesting videos on YouTube.

Bob Seger didn't get national attention until 1975, when Live Bullet and Beautiful Loser broke him through to the mainstream, and as a result, most people (unless you live in Detroit or Ann Arbor) don't realize Seger had been rocking out since the late 60's.

Here's possibly the earliest television clip in existence of him and his band (at this point called The Bob Seger System). You'll no doubt recognize the song (which -- again -- didn't get a ton of radio play nationally until Live Bullet broke him through), though you might barely recognize the man, without his trademark beard:



I also discovered a very, very rare, never officially released concert film. The quality isn't the greatest, but it's so rare to see any footage of Seger performing during his 70's glory days. This was filmed ini 1979 for (I believe) an HBO special, but never actually aired. And thus remains in Seger's Prince-like vault with all sorts of other unreleased goodies.

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[info]shadoestar
2008-07-04 02:08 am UTC (link)
I recently discovered Bob Seger's "Her Strut," which was featured in GTA4.

At work today, somebody cranked up "Turn the Page." To think that there's a whole generation out there now that thinks its a Metallica song.

For the longest time, my only exposure to Seger was "Old Time Rock and Roll," "Like A Rock" (Which was used in car commercials for about a thousand years) and this unfortunate chapter in Seger's career:

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[info]digital_eraser
2008-07-04 02:21 am UTC (link)
Haha, yeah..I was actually surprised to discover that Beverly Hills Cop song was Seger, when I first started seriously digging into his back catalogue a few years back. I'd remembered hearing the song plenty when I was a kid, but had no idea it was him.

I'm kind of surprised so many people are having their first exposure to "Her Strut" via GTA4. Maybe Seger is just more popular here in southern Minnesota, but I end up hearing that song played here on the classic rock station here *at least* once a year (maybe more). I'd never even thought there were parts of the US where people didn't hear that regularly.

But then, I was in disbelief when Dave Grohl said he'd never heard Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" until he saw Almost Famous, another song I've heard frequently enough on the classic rock station here. Guess I just never realized how awesome our KQRS really is, heh.

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[info]shadoestar
2008-07-04 02:33 am UTC (link)
I have to admit, Almost Famous was where I first heard "Tiny Dancer" as well. I guess my local radio stations just didn't play that one. And now, I'll be forever associating that song with that movie. Not a bad thing, since it's a great scene.

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[info]digital_eraser
2008-07-04 02:37 am UTC (link)
And a fabulous movie, one of my top ten all-time favs. ^_^

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[info]shadoestar
2008-07-04 02:47 am UTC (link)
One of my favorites too. Especially the extended Untitled edition. I remember seeing it in theaters and I was practically floating during the walk back to my apartment.

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[info]digital_eraser
2008-07-04 02:49 am UTC (link)
Totally...I thought the movie couldn't be any more perfect, and then the Untitled DVD was even better. If only all Cameron Crowe's movies were on this level of greatness.

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[info]shadoestar
2008-07-04 02:50 am UTC (link)
I've actually discovered a lot of cool music via the GTA games. Whenever I'm playing GTA4 and Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen" comes on, I can never change the station.

I wished they picked another Thin Lizzy song, though. I can understand the significance of "Jailbreak" in association with GTA, but I'm really sick of it. It's not even on my list of 20 favorite Thin Lizzy songs.

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[info]digital_eraser
2008-07-04 02:57 am UTC (link)
You'd never heard "Edge Of Seventeen" either...?? Man, I guess I never realized how lucky I was here.

The one thing I haven't yet heard a lot of, though, is Thin Lizzy. My youngest brother has gotten really into them, and I plan to journey through their catalogue at some point, but just haven't gotten to it yet. The only song Thin Lizzy I've ever heard played on KQ regularly here is "The Boys Are Back In Town." I'd never heard "Whiskey In The Jar" until Metallica's version.

I haven't played a ton of GTA at all myself, but I remember being amused listening to the 80's music selection for...Vice City I think it was? I loved whenever "Kiss The Dirt (Falling Down The Mountain)" would come on, because that whole album is ingrained on my brain from childhood (this being more my mom's fault than radio)...while laughing that most people playing the game had probably never even heard of INXS (this being before that Rockstar show).

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[info]shadoestar
2008-07-04 03:08 am UTC (link)
Yeah, "Kiss the Dirt" is in Vice City. INXS's "The One Thing" was also featured in Vice City Stories.

Thin Lizzy is a highly underrated band. Highly influential too. Everyone from Henry Rollins to Pearl Jam to Anthrax was influenced by them. One of their biggest contributions was how they pioneered the dual lead guitar band concept. Any band with two lead guitar players, especially if the play in harmony, owes a debt to Thin Lizzy. They've had some great guitar players too: Scott Gorham, Brian Robertson, Gary Moore and John Sykes.

And despite all this American classic rock radio has reduced their entire legacy to "The Boys Are Back In Town" and "Jailbreak" repeated ad nauseum. A shame.

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[info]digital_eraser
2008-07-04 03:14 am UTC (link)
Yeah, disappointing...

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[info]digital_eraser
2008-07-04 02:23 am UTC (link)
Also funny, because that was the song I was searching on YouTube when I found that entire concert.

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[info]digital_eraser
2008-07-04 02:35 am UTC (link)
But yeah, now you've got me thinking about what all Seger songs I grew up hearing and still hear on the radio. I'm sure I heard "Takedown" on the radio the year it came out, but haven't heard it on the radio at all since the 80's.

Songs that became ingrained in my mind (whether I like it or not) via radio play:

- "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man"
- "Turn The Page"
- "Katmandu"
- "Travelin' Man / Beautiful Loser"
- "Rock & Roll Never Forgets"
- "Night Moves"
- "The Fire Down Below"
- "Sunspot Baby"
- "Hollywood Nights"
- "Still The Same"
- "Old Time Rock & Roll"
- "Feel Like A Number"
- "We've Got Tonight"
- "Her Strut"
- "Against The Wind"
- "Betty Lou's Gettin' Out Tonight"

And every single one of those released before I was born. We must just really love our Seger in southern MN.

I think the only place I ever heard "Like A Rock" was the snippet played at the end of those truck commercials forever.

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[info]digital_eraser
2008-07-04 02:39 am UTC (link)
(Or "Shakedown" or whatever the damn thing's called. It was originally intended for Glenn Frey to single, who sang the big hit from the first movie, but when he was having vocal issues and the deadline was coming up he asked his friend Seger to record the vocal instead.)

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