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OBUI--Operating Blimp Under the Influence

B

Biff Barfington

I heard kind of an obscure Genesis song on 'BLM the other day; "A Trick of the Tail" from the album of the same name. Thought it a bit odd until I heard another even more obscure track from the same album. Well, naturally I figured Phil Collins has died, or it was Mike Rutherford's 80th birthday, but business as usual?

I do have to commend them for their annual spring ratings A-Z hype. After all these years it still seems to pull the wool over the listeners' ears (?) And while this Top 500 Albums of All Time seems like a workable promotion at first blush, how much traction is it going to get when you're playing multiple tracks from albums that MIGHT have sold 8 copies in Maine since their release 30 years ago?

Seems like the Blimp continues to operate on Auto Pilot. Are the listeners too disinterested or are Nassau and Saga just too inept to pull the plug and drain all the gas from the dirigible once and for all?
 
According to Wikipedia 1976's "Trick of the Tail" went to #3 in the UK and #31 in the US on Billboards album chart. Not a blockbuster but not quite as obscure as you suggest.
It was the first album with Phil Collins as lead vocalist after Peter Gabriel left the band.
Cuts from that album were common on WNHI's "Left of Center" deep cuts show, especially "Squonk". I played it and other Genesis albums in college in the early 80's.
I have the remastered DVD audio version and it sounds great.
 
The ratings prove that the Maine classic rock listener isn't stupid. 200 song playlists wear out quick.

I'll take Trick of the Tail anyday over "That's All" again and again and again.

WBLM is a part of Maine like lobster, whioopie pies and four wheel drive. It's not going anywhere.
 
Again, #31 nationally doesn't equate to great popularity in the Pine Tree State. The notion that it ranks within the top 500 albums of all time is dubious at best. ATOTT did enjoy moderate airplay back in the day, but nowadays it seems to fly in the face of everything else they're trying to accomplish at One City Center.

Hey, I'm a Genesis fan from way back, too. Also like Gentle Giant, Wishbone Ash, Barclay James Harvest, Gryphon, Jack the Lad, et al. LOVE to hear some Porcupine Tree on the local airwaves but that ain't gonna happen.

Album Oriented Rock, or AOR, was often derogatorily referred to as All Over the Road. Methinks 'BLM is recoining the phrase.
 
No one said it did. The #31 rank was the albums peak in 1976, not the all-time list.

Biff Barfington said:
Again, #31 nationally doesn't equate to great popularity in the Pine Tree State. The notion that it ranks within the top 500 albums of all time is dubious at best.
Click to expand...
 
I smell what you're cooking. What I meant was 'BLM placing it in their Top 500 albums of all time is a bit dubious. Who's next, (actually, that one should rank high on the list) Lothar & The Hand People?
 
Does it need more garlic? :D :D
Maybe their MD just liked the album, or (and I wouldn't doubt this) staff sat around a table tossing out names of their favorite albums. Stranger things have happened.
Biff Barfington said:
I smell what you're cooking.
Click to expand...
 
Garlic would be a nice touch. Good for the blood pressure and warding off vampires. Try a little cilantro. Not too much or it'll taste like soap.

With all due repect to the people at One City Center, I don't think they've been allowed to have any original thoughts since Citadel took over and began running things by remote control from Vegas.
 
Great name Biff. I once wrote an article for Musician Magazine under the pseudonym "Biff Spinsalot", but they changes it to John Doe.

Anyway, one of the attractions of doing the top 500 type things is to get people talking about whether the list is on target or not.

So in that sense it's mission accomplished for The Blimp.

Plus, Classic Rock can be very tight. Nice to have the odd curve ball here and there.

Had to laugh at the mention of Lother and the Hand People. How about Ultimate Spinach?
 
Zeb Norris said:
How about Ultimate Spinach?
Click to expand...

Ah, another culinary reference! The Spinach were part of 'The Boston Sound', a small group of bands with questionable ties to Beantown. As I recall, it was in response to, or an attempt to capitalize on the San Fran movement that produced the Dead, the Airplane, Country Joe, et al. In spite of some other pretty good bands like the Beacon Street Union, Orpheus & Eden's Children, the Boston Sound fizzled. Maybe lumping the Barbarians into the mix was what doomed it. You could even say that Moulty single handedly killed the movement, but that would be cruel.

My favorite Mondo Obsuro band of all times remains the Bonzo Dog Band. I actually say them live one time and even without the benefit of certain artificial stimulants, they blew my mind. They were the opening act for the Grateful Dead who had just released 'Uncle John's Band' Talk about a yawner. It may have been the first time I fell asleep at one of their shows, but it wasn't the last.
 
Biff Barfington said:
Ah, another culinary reference! The Spinach were part of 'The Boston Sound', a small group of bands with questionable ties to Beantown. As I recall, it was in response to, or an attempt to capitalize on the San Fran movement that produced the Dead, the Airplane, Country Joe, et al. In spite of some other pretty good bands like the Beacon Street Union, Orpheus & Eden's Children, the Boston Sound fizzled. Maybe lumping the Barbarians into the mix was what doomed it. You could even say that Moulty single handedly killed the movement, but that would be cruel.
Click to expand...

Actually, the Barbarians preceeded the "Bosstown Sound" by a couple of years, and were more of a garage band. The whole Bosstown Sound was a promotional gimmick by MGM records to, as you said, mimic the San Francisco movement. I don't think the Barbarians were ever signed to MGM.
 
I'll go along with Oldbones on this one, checked my copy of "Nuggets" (vinyl, first edition, oh God, I'm old) and the Barbarians were out in 1965 with "Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl", which was kind of a late response to the British Invasion. Also puts them solidly in Garage Band territory. Good inside reference, Biff. Singlehandedly? Cruel. You have to admit their songs always had a great hook, though.

Ultimate Spinach, haven't (fortunately!) heard of them in a long time. They featured such deep and meaningful lyrics as:

Plastic raincoat means you got a plastic mind
Miniskirt doesn't know where to draw the line

I submit that had a lot to do with dooming the "Bosstown Sound", too.
 
Hey, don't pick on "Moulty"! That song was waayyyyy ahead of it's time. Look at Def Leppard now!
 
I think it's good that they are mixing it up, playing unusual songs. The audience doesn't need to hear Radar Love and Free Bird repeated every 4 hours. And Biff, I doubt the puppetmasters in Vegas are telling them to play old obscure Genesis records.
 
I'd have to agree with threefer...rock fans are not stupid...that is why when tuning into the blimp and hearing "when doves cry" we rock fans switch the dial. It is cool when doing an A-Z or a greatest albums promotion to mix things up a bit but at least stick within your format. If I was driving up 128 and caught AAF playing "let's go crazy" as part of a "rock" station promotion I'd resume listening to that station when I knew the promotion was over or perhaps not at all. If I had the ear of the programming director of this station I would tell him to stick with what works and stop attempting to compete by playing something "soft" or "pop like" just to appease the limp listener that definetly doesn't want to hear michael jackson's thriller coming up soon on "maine's rock station"...lol...sorry but doves crying...sounds like someone is in the middle of a career crisis and is trying to test the waters before changing the format all together. Instead of digging out a copy of nuggets...someone should find their own and quit trying to play the part of a JACK, MIKE or other "we play it all" station.
 
wait...wait wait wait....and WAIT. Who's playing "when doves cry"? Was this an example or....did it really happen?

Personally, I love the song...but don't see it fitting anywhere except a hot AC at this point. What rock station would pull this?

Let the record show that when doves cry was a #31 rock hit in august 1984 though. So technically......

Of course, John Waite's "missing you" was #1 on the ROCK chart around that time. Wait, what's all this I hear about rock radio being so much better 20-25 years ago? Dare I check a Coey Hart chart position guys? Like Billy Joel said that year in keeping the faith, "you know the good old days weren't always good....."
 
Remaster said:
Of course, John Waite's "missing you" was #1 on the ROCK chart around that time. Wait, what's all this I hear about rock radio being so much better 20-25 years ago? Dare I check a Coey Hart chart position guys? Like Billy Joel said that year in keeping the faith, "you know the good old days weren't always good....."
Click to expand...

I remember playing teen idol Rick Springfield on a rocker around '83/84. Not to mention that Billy Joel was once considered a "rock" act, too.

Keep in mind that Top 40 ruled the airwaves in the mid 80s...I'm sure some of this was AOR responding by playing some guitar-leaning pop songs.
 
I am more sorry than I could possibly express to you Mr. Remaster...but it was the one and only blimp that played "when doves cry" as well as "lets go crazy" and "purple rain" from the same album. Is this what it has come to? The station we crammed to in college back in the day can't even distinguish between rock and pop to save a few ratings points...in return for the loss of how many listeners? I tune into a radio station to hear the music I love, if the person on the air has something to say it needs to be entertaining or stay of the air...keep the music flowing...but please don't stunt with things like going off format to prove a highly insignificant point.

Thank You for Your Time...
 
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