Center Of The Universe #26: Freedom Rock

Giant Sand, “Center Of The Universe”
Boston, “Peace Of Mind”
Blue Oyster Cult, “The Red & The Black”
Alice Cooper, “Seven And Seven Is”

Hey baby, it’s the Fourth Of July! After our theme song (or rather, including? The song is over 30 years old and straight outta Tuscon!) we’ve got nothing but American classic rock for you on the Center Of The Universe, courtesy of acts I've yet to play on here. I define classic rock as rock radio music from over twenty years ago. When it's that old, anyone who remembers when it came out is grown. ass. Boston’s “Peace Of Mind” might be the form at its most majestic - Apollonian in its focus, yet exceptionally sensitive about it. Blue Oyster Cult’s “The Red & The Black” provides the Dionysian counterpoint, Bonnie & Clyde on the lam, offing Mounties by sled as the band tears off far more solos than necessary. Alice Cooper’s technofied cover of Love reminds us that the mainstream rock radio format can be goddamn ridiculous, when not downright ghoulish.

Pearl Jam, “Animal”
Live, “All Over You”
Bob Seger System, “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man”
Lenny Kravitz, “Where Are We Runnin’”

Pearl Jam & Live at their most freedom rock, though I’ll understand if you still don’t think they’re freedom rock enough. “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man” by the Bob Seger System song is the only ‘60s song on the playlist, capturing the moment where American garage rockers were being professionalized into road dogs - Seger one of the most iconic, early examples. “Where Are We Runnin’” is only 19 this year, but you’d be forgiven for thinking Lenny Kravitz came out of the womb classic rock (not possible, as he was born in 1964). I also think the song is a great example of his gift for lean, economic arrangements, and the video is fucking hysterical, suggesting rock culture at its most cartoonish lives wherever Lenny’s passed out.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, “The Zephyr Song”
Collective Soul, “Why Pt 2”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “The Waiting”
Billy Squier, “The Big Beat”

That’s right, Mom & Dad - millennial music has entered the realm of classic rock. If you remember when the Peppers released By The Way, you're classic rock. It's my favorite full-length of theirs, and a funky little R.E.M. surrogate if you missed the Mills/Berry bottom and harmonies on Reveal. It was actually too R.E.M. for Flea, who demanded Anthony Kiedis & John Frusciante not be allowed to melodicize & multi-track this much ever again. If you remember any Collective Soul songs blowing up on a mainstream rock station (“Why, Pt 2” - so sugar-hooked it's like a raspier, harder-hitting Semisonic - being their last Top 5 on the format), you’re classic rock. I’m pretty sure everyone’s accepted Tom Petty & Billy Squier are classic rock, though. This might be my favorite hit by each - Petty showing romantic gratitude and sympathy rather than frustration for a change, Squier admitting he’s living off that post-Zep pocket.

MC5, “Over & Over”
Huey Lewis & The News, “A Couple Days Off”
The Black Crowes, “Lickin’”
The Offspring, “Come Out And Play”

I thought about putting the Motor City Five’s “American Ruse” on here as a counterpoint to any patriotic celebration, but I had go with “Over & Over,” the best argument these guys were classic rock rather than “proto-punk," the band decrying the madness on both political sides of a factory worker over dramatically deployed riffs, more Bob Seger than John Sinclair. Though Rob Tyner still shrieks “Vietnam, what a sexy war/ Uncle Sam’s a pimp/ wants us to be whores” on it. Then we’ve got fellow working class hero Huey Lewis at his heaviest, guitars (relatively) wailing for a week’s vacation on 1991’s Hard At Play, back when they were losing air time to the Black Crowes. Ten years later, it was the Crowes trying to reaffirm their radio rock muscle. “Lickin’” didn’t stick, but I’ve always loved that squeal hook. Was it a loop or did Rich Robinson actually make that sound each time? Forgive brother Chris for praising the “doorknob queen of the underage," they never were ones to realize the times had changed. I’d never claim “Come Out And Play” was the first punk song to become radio rock, but where Nirvana and Green Day were making crossover moves when they scored, “Come Out And Play” may have been the first time a song that was straight-up Repo Man soundtrack brought in the platinum.

Don Henley, “All She Wants To Do Is Dance”
Metallica, “Whiskey In The Jar”
Jefferson Starship, “Light The Sky On Fire”
Atlanta Rhythm Section, “Champagne Jam”

Haters gonna hate, but Don Henley had a handful of jams despite himself in the ‘80s, and I’ll argue this one is the best Randy Newman song of the decade - a cutting evocation of party music's appeal in the best and worst of times. Phil Lynott had more soul when he rocked up the Irish traditional "Whiskey In The Jar" with Thin Lizzy in 1972, but James Hetfield made it his own in 1998 with Metallica, finally having an excuse for his keehaulin' vocal affectations. If you’re as cool as me, you’ll recognize this Jefferson Starship song from the Star Wars Holiday Special. If you’re less cool than me, you’ll know it from their 1978 Gold compilation. I may be in my forties, but I’m still too young to understand why Marty Balin keeps hitting that high note. Also cool? Knowing “Champagne Jam” because of Mr. Show. I still remember flipping through the cheap bin, spotting that dope drunken fish album cover and saying to myself, “wait, is that where Ronnie Dobbs got the phrase?”

Alice In Chains, “Again”
Smashing Pumpkins, “Zero”
Ace Frehley, “New York Groove”
Patti Smith Group, “Pumping (My Heart)”

Back to the ‘90s, when classic rock got nasty and dark! Sure, the ‘70s had Bloodrock’s “D.O.A.,” but twenty years later almost every song on rock radio was that overwrought! No longer in a context of commercial grunge abundance, I have a lot more appreciation for Alice In Chains. “No Excuses” remains their emotional highpoint, but I love how break on “Again” transforms their nasal signifiers into a danceable musique concrete. The era's tolerance for Billy Corgan’s voice is hard to explain today, but “Zero” remains an ironic favorite because of how he leans into the sneering and sighing. And that multitrack guitar solo! It's even more shrill than he is! Then we’re off to New York City in the '70s, a metropolis experiencing both economic chaos and a musical groundswell you should read Will Hermes’ Love Goes To Buildings On Fire to appreciate. Ace Frehley didn’t write “New York Groove,” but the man was Bronx born and raised. The Patti Smith Group did write “Pumping (My Heart),” but she’s really from Jersey.

Journey, “Any Way You Want It”
38 Special, “Caught Up In You”
The Cars, “Shake It Up”
Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Tuesday’s Gone”

I was technically alive for the bombastic sexual rapture of “Any Way You Want It,” the McCartney-gone-southern rock reverie of “Caught Up In You” and the detached yet danceable cool of “Shake It Up." But I was young enough that they still signify some wide-eyed era of commercial rock optimism I missed out on (yes, I know we’ll likely be paying for the crimes of the first term of the Reagan administration until the planet turns to ash). Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album came out a decade earlier, but it’s still the right song to go out on, a mournful epic of moving on after being left behind. Plus the Fourth falls on a Tuesday this year. And so fade the last fireworks on this very special Center Of The Universe. Thanks for your time!