Has anyone noticed Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap on CBC?
It can be pretty interesting, IMHO -- the aging classic rocker famous from Bachman-Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who reminiscing about days of yore and playing classic rock.
Over the weekend he started a segment talking about how The Guess Who scored its first hit in England and went over the pond for a few days, with the four of them pushing two small hotel beds together and sleeping in shifts to save money and leaving when the money ran out... And then he shifted gears by talking about a trip to Soho, where music publishers were advertising for singers and songwriters.
He devoted most of this week's show to a celebration of Elton John's music, playing both John's own recordings and other artists' as well.
Judging from the tepid review that the All Music Guide gave the "Two Rooms" Elton John tribute album (see http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:asy67ue0h0jd), Bachman might've overdone that angle, but I felt at least the first hour was really enjoyable. (The second had its moments, too.) I personally thought The Who's version of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" (which turns out to have been from "Two Rooms") really smoked (save for a more ordinary, IMHO, break for "Take Me To The Pilot" towards the end of the track).
Bachman also had an interesting anecdote about, on Sept. 10, 2001, being invited over to Les Paul's place in New Jersey the next day, and then around 9 AM the next morning one of his associates called and told Bachman to look out his hotel window. At first he said he wanted to go back to sleep, that a phone interview could be done later, but then he did and saw the second plane slam into the World Trade Center... There was no getting from New York to New Jersey that day. Also, for months thereafter, Bachman spent a lot of time on his tour bus, where he gained weight.
(Of course, BTO once inspired bad jokes along the lines of Bachman-Turner Overweight.)
Under the influence of one or two members of Wilson Phillips (remember them?) -- I'm trying to remember just who -- Bachman went in for a gastric bypass.
He said he lost 150 pounds, which I thought was something, although on second thought, he also revealed that at one point he weighed 390! (Do the math -- 390 minus 150 is 240, which is still pretty hefty IMHO.)
Anyway, despite these anecdotes, I'm not sure I'm doing this show justice here.
Has anyone else noticed it?
(One other stray thought, something I noticed in both the most recent show and from previous shows, is that Bachman seems to like The Beach Boys, amongst other bands. I seem to recall BTO toured with them, if I'm not mistaken...)
(BTW, it's off topic, but right before Vinyl Tap started on Sunday night (a rerun of Saturday's show, judging from the CBC's website), I briefly had on "Dark Wave" on 22 First Wave. Freddie (spelling?) Snakeskin played Clan of Xymox, amongst other things... Kudos to Sirius for playing less-familiar stuff sometimes!)
Here's a link, plus the CBC's description of Bachman's show.
http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/program/index.jsp?program=Randy+Bachman's+Vinyl+Tap
Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap
Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap regularly airs on*:
CBC Radio One
Saturdays, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
* - Ottawa Schedule
[view cross-country schedule for this program]
Two hours of music and stories from one of Canada’s musical legends. Playing with The Guess Who, Bachman Turner Overdrive and as a solo act, Randy Bachman has provided a veritable soundtrack to the last thirty years of popular music. Now he's come to CBC Radio to play his favourite songs and tell stories from his life on the road and in the studio.
Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap, with host Randy Bachman. Saturdays at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. AT, 8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC Radio One.
You might also be interested in:
Roots and Wings
Vinyl Cafe
OR any of our other CBC Music Shows.
Saturday, March 18, 2006, 7:00 p.m.
It can be pretty interesting, IMHO -- the aging classic rocker famous from Bachman-Turner Overdrive and The Guess Who reminiscing about days of yore and playing classic rock.
Over the weekend he started a segment talking about how The Guess Who scored its first hit in England and went over the pond for a few days, with the four of them pushing two small hotel beds together and sleeping in shifts to save money and leaving when the money ran out... And then he shifted gears by talking about a trip to Soho, where music publishers were advertising for singers and songwriters.
He devoted most of this week's show to a celebration of Elton John's music, playing both John's own recordings and other artists' as well.
Judging from the tepid review that the All Music Guide gave the "Two Rooms" Elton John tribute album (see http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:asy67ue0h0jd), Bachman might've overdone that angle, but I felt at least the first hour was really enjoyable. (The second had its moments, too.) I personally thought The Who's version of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" (which turns out to have been from "Two Rooms") really smoked (save for a more ordinary, IMHO, break for "Take Me To The Pilot" towards the end of the track).
Bachman also had an interesting anecdote about, on Sept. 10, 2001, being invited over to Les Paul's place in New Jersey the next day, and then around 9 AM the next morning one of his associates called and told Bachman to look out his hotel window. At first he said he wanted to go back to sleep, that a phone interview could be done later, but then he did and saw the second plane slam into the World Trade Center... There was no getting from New York to New Jersey that day. Also, for months thereafter, Bachman spent a lot of time on his tour bus, where he gained weight.
(Of course, BTO once inspired bad jokes along the lines of Bachman-Turner Overweight.)
Under the influence of one or two members of Wilson Phillips (remember them?) -- I'm trying to remember just who -- Bachman went in for a gastric bypass.
He said he lost 150 pounds, which I thought was something, although on second thought, he also revealed that at one point he weighed 390! (Do the math -- 390 minus 150 is 240, which is still pretty hefty IMHO.)
Anyway, despite these anecdotes, I'm not sure I'm doing this show justice here.
Has anyone else noticed it?
(One other stray thought, something I noticed in both the most recent show and from previous shows, is that Bachman seems to like The Beach Boys, amongst other bands. I seem to recall BTO toured with them, if I'm not mistaken...)
(BTW, it's off topic, but right before Vinyl Tap started on Sunday night (a rerun of Saturday's show, judging from the CBC's website), I briefly had on "Dark Wave" on 22 First Wave. Freddie (spelling?) Snakeskin played Clan of Xymox, amongst other things... Kudos to Sirius for playing less-familiar stuff sometimes!)
Here's a link, plus the CBC's description of Bachman's show.
http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/program/index.jsp?program=Randy+Bachman's+Vinyl+Tap
Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap
Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap regularly airs on*:
CBC Radio One
Saturdays, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
* - Ottawa Schedule
[view cross-country schedule for this program]
Two hours of music and stories from one of Canada’s musical legends. Playing with The Guess Who, Bachman Turner Overdrive and as a solo act, Randy Bachman has provided a veritable soundtrack to the last thirty years of popular music. Now he's come to CBC Radio to play his favourite songs and tell stories from his life on the road and in the studio.
Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap, with host Randy Bachman. Saturdays at 7 p.m. (8 p.m. AT, 8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC Radio One.
You might also be interested in:
Roots and Wings
Vinyl Cafe
OR any of our other CBC Music Shows.
Saturday, March 18, 2006, 7:00 p.m.