Abhi posted a link on the news tab which I just had to click…Guns N’ Roses? Sweet Child o’ Mine?
Indian-ishtyle??
I thought my brain would implode at the thought but I was hooked immediately. That song (and that group) dominate my memories of my freshman year in high school– mostly because I hated myself for secretly kind of liking it. Fortunately, no one uncovered my shameful positivity towards this anthem of the popular set. I say “fortunately” because my friends wore flight jackets, smoked cloves and paired Fluevogs with our somber tweed uniforms; we listened to The Smiths, not this group we would later derisively hiss at for being ignorant and intolerant since it obviously had issues with homosexuality and people of color. Never mind that GnR’s lead guitarist Slash is half-black himself, to 14-year old me any group which was going to diss gay people was evil (I had just gotten over my crush on George Michael, my favorite member of Depeche Mode was Martin and I hearted Erasure…I really wanted to be Grace Adler when I grew up).
Part of the reason why this video– which is actually a wonderful commercial for Indian MTV-rival Channel V— jolted me like a quadruple-shot-latte was because none of the things I associate with Sweet Child o’ Mine are brown. High school, my friends from it, the TG parties I grimly attended with all my pledge sisters at UC Hippie…not brown. This video? Brown, and fabulously so.
This song has serious staying power. It went from being my bete noire twenty years ago to what I was giddily shouting the lyrics to a few months ago, at the National Geographic Halloween party. Upon observing how unanimously thrilled everyone aged 21-61 was the second those unmistakable, evocative first notes blared, I think I drunkenly decided that SCoM would be on my wedding reception play list, should I ever resolve my fear of adulthood and move beyond the existential crisis of “nomenclature for feminists”, i.e. “Do I take his name?”.
Wait, where was I? Oh, yes SCoM. Rather, “Ooooooh, woah-oooooh Sweeeet Chile of Miiiiiiiine”. A song so infectious, I’m sure every one of you has your own memory or five associated with it. I must say, the version we’re highlighting above is fantastic. Well, the first almost-half is. I loved it until 00:24. I just wanted more of those bliss-inducing strings. The vocals ripped me out of the euphoric haze I had been lifted in to and I was bewildered and slightly annoyed until Auntie’s hilarious, monosyllabic reaction at the end, which punctuated the minute nicely.
It’s a Monday and I thought you deserved something Happy; see how many times you watch it before you can tear yourself away. Me? Four. Just when you think something familiar can’t surprise you…
Oh yes, the Newtonian theory of pingpong: if the male spanks his ball with a paddle and the female spanks it harder, the male will find his ball coming quickly. It’s called transfer of momentum.
But I will always remember the advice given to us by a sixth grade PE instructor: “Hit the top-right corner of the ball”. Great. Now just show me which corner of this spherical ball you’re talking about.
What, no collisions in which both the male and the female expend energy?
You played pingpong in P.E. class?? Or are we talking about different kinds of balls now.
Only when it rained. (The school used to send some teams for interschool events and stuff, including in pingpong, except it was called table tennis). Otherwise it was outdoors in the unwelcome heat. With standard PE teacher instructions like “Form a circle. Eii! [wheet!] The circle is not straight. Both of you three! Stand in a straight circle”. Much fun was had.
I just got back from India yesterday afternoon. This video is awesome and moreso because one of my cousin’s absolute favorite song is “Sweet Child O’ Mine” – it’s his ringtone. I’d hear the song ten times a day. I borrowed a cellphone from him for my trip – guess what the ringtone on that one was? The same. Now I come back to the U.S. and I hear this rendition. Too funny. But it’s really well done. 馃檪
IN THE JUNGLE, BABY!
This song (the original, not this version) had a great guitar solo, and it makes you wonder…what ever happened to guitar solos in songs? I haven’t heard a guitar solo in a new song (popular song that is) in ages.
Hello, Santana it’s around 2:12. I always prefer the drum solos myself (Rush, anyone?)
As for this:
Praniv, I loved that bit. If only the hairband rockstar tenors could be so melismatic. The band took that visceral GnR sound and made it transcendent.
55 脗路 DJ Drrrty Poonjabi said
IN THE JUNGLE, BABY! Close the office door and attach the head phones/ear buds and crank the volume to 10!
BTW, I agree tablas at the percussion break would be awesome. They could even bhangra-ize it a bit. Play it at Basement Bhangra – the crowd would go nuts. Now I have to find a Karaoke bar this week.
56 脗路 Amitabh said
I’d agree with you on this. While Bess points out Santana, I can also think of some from Velvet Revolver and Green Day, I think musicianship as a whole has decreased in music. With the newer technologies, there’s much more of a synthesized product – not that I mind, some of my favorite american pop songs come from JT and Timbaland.
You may also may not remember hearing an evocative guitar solo recently, as there are so many musical voices. GNR in its time was the definition of a “rock” band. Most people living in America would have some familiarity with GNR, while nowadays, there’s no quintessential defining act that everyone can identify or have some familiarity with. To a lesser extent, I see the same phenomenon in Bhangra. Other than Shinda and Gurdas Mann, the modern acts don’t seem to have the same kind of resonance with the majority of the population. That’s not to say there isn’t great music out there, it’s just harder for everyone to identify it with a multitude of choices to listen to.
That video rox! Thanks A N N A.
One thing, though. Whycome you weren’t offended by Axl’s immigrant bashing in “One in a Million?” I was, slightly, back in the day, but I rationalized that these were the thoughts of a character/narrator and not necessarily the artist.
Was GNR popular in India in the late 80s and 90s? It seems like a lot of the music that got popular over there were the old 70s rock bands or the pop stars of the 80s. I wonder if a poppish band like Bon Jovi was more popular over there.
Harbeer,
I did have issues with that song. 馃檪 I mentioned them in this line:
In the post, “obviously had issues” is linked to the wiki page for “One in a Million”. 馃檪 Aside from my dirty, clandestine fling with SCoM, I really disliked GnR. 馃檪 My freshman year was a bit less radio-friendly: Book of Love, Bauhaus, Cocteau Twins, Cure, Softcell, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb…
I know, I know. You did say all that. I’m not faulting you or anything. But even the Wikipedia entry talks about Axl’s use of the words “nigger” and “faggot” but don’t really discuss the immigrant-bashing.
Never would’ve pegged you for a 4AD-er. How about Big Black? (I was a head-banger and [strictly East Coast] bboy. I know those two genres aren’t the most compatible, which is why I was psyched when the Judgement Night soundtrack came out.)
The music market is divided into many niches nowadays. If you want to hear killer guitar solos and great musicianship in general , you’re far more likely to find them in a Disco Biscuits/Umphrey’s McGee/Perpetual Groove set or a Opeth/Mastodon album than anything you can hear on the radio. Of course the genres/niche markets that support jam bands and prog/death metal bands don’t involve a great deal of radio-play or MTV exposure.
62 脗路 A N N A said
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Had I known that I would have just told you that GNR was more bark than it was bite (in terms of stirring up the pot) and after all, people are people, so no one needs to be a master to the servant of pop, everyone is entitled to their choice of genre of music, it’s a strangelove.
That’s it, Karaoke tonight.
64 脗路 muralimannered said
They’ve been considered passe (masturbatory, egotistical) for some time. I saw Grupo Fantasma a few weeks ago and after a kick ass conga solo, the singer announced, “And now…guitars!” to introduce the cheesy-assed guitar solo.
Doh! I used a quote that was quoted by murlaimannered and accidentally attributed the quote to murali.
Harbeer,
Out of curiosity, were you a fan of Public Enemy? I ask, because to me, I find that GNR and P.E. were very similar. Both put out good music, both were one of a kinds, both were controversial, both had elements of their music where they were accused of race baiting. As an East Coast B-boy, myself, who loves all kinds of music including New Wave and Hard Rock, I find that every genre includes some type of offensive comment. I still enjoy the music, I just don’t support the comment or the group making it.
BTW, Judgment Night was a very good spin and was seminal in helping to create the modern rock/rap fusion we hear today.
I would qualify that statement as gospel among music critics. I generally dislike music critics, whether rockist or otherwise (yes, to hell with pitchfork, frere-jones,NME and even simon reynolds)–the guitar solo may be egotistical in studio productions but it’s also the warp and the weft of classical guitar compositions which I’ll never deride as masturbatory. The guitar work i was referring to is generally not done alone, but in congress with several other instruments–it is occassionally stale in the studio but generally never when the music is live.
As an East Coast B-boy,
Are you really a breakdancer?
I don’t know about Harbeer, but I was a fan of both PE and GNR. At the time, PE was the rap band for me while GNR was my rock n roll band.
I don’t think it is a problem to like the music even if the singer is a jerk. Elvis Costello used the N word in real life when he got pissed once. Some of the 70s rockers had very unsavory private lives which included taking in underage groupies.
13 脗路 A N N A said
I know a Beth Narasimhan…
heee
70 脗路 HMF said
ROTFL, I got a little amped and started reliving my younger years, hence the slip in tense. Good catch.
Re: Git-tar. Ted Leo is a bona fide guitar hero. See him live if you get a chance. Great guitar, no wanky solos. Full marks on politics too.
Murali, Good call on Opeth. Still Life, Black Water Park or both?
Anna, You’ll be glad to know about Johnny Marr’s gainful employment.
And yes, G’n’R were huge on Indian campuses.
68 脗路 Jangali Janwar said
Hell yeah! I was into all that positive, militant black power stuff. PE, Brand Nubian, X-Clan, YZ, Paris. People are shocked when I admit that I never much went for Boogie Down Productions (well, I liked D-Nice but KRS-1 never much did it for me.)
And then there were the really weird acts like Arrested Development, Me Phi Me, Intelligent Hoodlum and The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.
That De La meets Teenage Fan Club track is a classic, but if that soundtrack is responsible for Kid Rock and Limp Biscuit, then I’m not sure it was worth it.
70 脗路 HMF said
I used to rap. (Don’t laugh.)
Oh, now this is going to be stuck in my head during the most important meeting of my week:
i believe in the me phi me
I didn’t know anyone else who had that single. AND Intelligent Hoodlum. Harbeer, I’m stealing your iPod.
71 脗路 Pravin said
This goes for all art in my world. Hell, I even like some David Allen Coe songs. (“My Long Hair Just Can’t Cover Up My Red Neck” is a killer karaoke song for a Sikh boy from Texas, y’all.) (And then there’s that right-wing bigot Charlie Daniels’ “Long Haired Country Boy“–another karaoke standard of mine.)
hardy har har!
And ANNA, I loved the Cocteau Twins/Bauhaus/Dead Can Dance- 3 AD label stuff Lonely is an Eyesore…oh the memories.
Harbeer,
Great bideos, yaar. Huge fan of D-Nice, simply for this one line: “I’m taking out you suckas and you don’t know how I did it.” I understand about KRS-One. The lyrics on “love’s gonna getcha” are fantastic and the “bridge” is a classic but he always seemed genuinely arrogant and that turned me off of his music. The 80’s and early 90’s were a great time for Hip-Hop, some of the acts you mentioned really elevated the lyrical side of the music. Then it went dry and you had Crap-Hop, I personally blame P-Diddy. Now, it seems to come full circle with Common, Jay-Z, Kanye, Lupe Fiasco bringing about a resurgence in the lyrical side of the music.
To keep it brown, another great melding of worlds was Jay-Z and Punjabi MC, I’ve never seen a crowd that doesn’t start moving to this tune. Kid Rock isn’t so bad, keep an open mind with him (despite the whole Pam and Tommy episode), he really spans a lot of musical influences. I certainly wouldn’t put him in the same class as Limp Bizkit. That was simply trash, though Faith and Nookie were useful tunes to get your workout on to.
69 脗路 muralimannered said
Fair enough. I just emailed a Stanley Jordan video earlier today, and I was rockin Miles Davis’s Live/Evil last week and really digging the John McLaughlin solos. (Most things involving pre-1980s John McLaughlin rock my world–Bitches Brew, Shakti, Mahavishnu Orchestra, The Guitar Trio.)
Anybody hear the Shakti album that Santana played on–Love Devotion Surrender? (Apparently Zakir Hussein is playing in that clip but you can’t really see or hear him.) Sick album. I’ll have to replace it one day. (Been ten years since my apt in Brooklyn got burglarized and I still haven’t rebuilt my collection.)
Sweet Child of Mine is the rare “hair ballad” of the 80s i could stand. Don’t get me wrong. I put that in quotes because I dont really consider GNR to be a hair band or that song to be a real hair ballad. But when that video first came out, i remember how GNR was being lumped in with the silly 80s hair band scene even though they were more of a straight up rock n roll band in my view. I hated those freaking 80s hair ballads.
The only good thing about Nelson is I think they really killed off the 80s hair band scene with their craptacular videos. Another song I despised was that MR Big song where some curly haired wuss would sing about “Only to be with you” or something.
Is this video a TV commercial in India? What exactly are they advertising? What is the point?
And the disdainful look the auntiji gives at the end, so realistically typical. How many of those have I been on the receiving end throughout my life….
Harbeer,
For some country try out Hank Williams, “A country boy can survive“. For some reason, my dad, a punjabi through and through simply loves this song. That David Coe track is killer! BTW, I never liked Arrested Development, one of the few, I thought they were so contrived. Intelligent Hoodlum, that’s a real blast from the past.
Umm, about that I-Pod, I call dibs.
80 脗路 Jangali Janwar said
Word, I’m glad you’ve gleaned something from my procrastination. Here’s one last one from Poor Righteous Teachers before I get back to work.
What about your parents. What kind of pop/rock music they do seem to like? My mom is close to being a senior citizen and she likes a lot of rock and pop.
69 脗路 muralimannered said
Amen! Preach!
Pravin, let’s never utter the word “Nelson” again, so that no one will ever try and bring back that craptacularness. They singlehandedly nearly destroyed the power ballad.
Now this is one of the many times I wish it were Sepia Mutiny, the podcast. Would love to hear these playlists that Shodan, ANNA, Harbeer and JJ would put together.
80 脗路 Jangali Janwar said
Yeah, “Love’s Gonna Getcha” was exception, especially on account of that bass line, and “The Bridge” is indeed a classic, too. I kind of fell out of hip hop when De La went all PM Dawn and realeased Buhloone Mindstate and Quest dropped Beats, Rhymes and Life, so I missed the whole mid-90s Tupac vs. Biggie thang, in addition to great stuff like Pharcyde, Wu Tang, Fugees, and the rise of Jay-Z. I didn’t get back into hip hop until I started hearing conscious stuff again like Black Star, Mos Def, Dead Prez, Blackalicious and The Coup.
For a killer late 80s – early 90s hip hop mix, go here and prepare to at least nod your head if not fully bust out into a full-fledged kickstep/cabbage patch dance medley.
I remember listening to NWA in high school, in the car, with my mom, who was completely oblivious not only to what they were saying, but also to all the swear words…I actually don’t think she could make out the individual words in their ‘songs’.
As for the guitar discussion, you guys seem to know a lot more about that than me, but I will say this…there is a place for (relatively) brief, well-phrased guitar solos in most rock music. One of my favorite solos is Hendrix in ‘Hey Joe’…short, sweet, and beautiful. As long as the solo says something or makes a succint musical statement without meandering aimlessly around, it’s good. The solo in Sweet Child O’Mine is a good example.
88 脗路 bess said
I did something like this on the day after Christmas (forgive the technical difficulties). I wish I’d remembered to make the comparison between up-and-coming desi rappers and the Spanglish phenomena of the early 90s–Cypress Hill, Mellow Man Ace, Kid Frost, etc.
I also wish I’d known more about Immortal Productions and Tigerstyle a mere two weeks ago.
Thanks bess. Also, you gots no love DJ Drrrty? 馃檪
Speaking of GnR and India…one of the first times I ever realised the gap between middle-class urbanites vs rural folks, was when I was visiting India many years ago…I was in a car, stopped in traffic. I glanced over to this bus stop where a lot of people were waiting for the bus. There was a teenager wearing a black GnR t-shirt, jeans, sneakers, listening to a walkman. Next to him was someone straight outta the village…dhoti, turban, big moustache, heavy ear rings, lathi, the works. Both standing side by side, waiting for the bus. Wish I could have taken a picture.
Thanks bess. Also, you gots no love DJ Drrrty? 馃檪 I gots love a’right! For all yous, dats DJ Drrrty and mm too!
Thanks for this. I’ll be on it soon and I’m all about forgivin’ ; )
88 脗路 bess said
Bess, it’s not much, but here’s one of my old skool playlists. 馃檪
Amitabh,
Your one brave man to have NWA playing while your mom was in the car. If my mom would have had an inkling of what was in that music, the chappals would have started flying!
Bess, thanks. If your interested in some mixtapes of 80’s and 90’s music, check out DJ Neil Armstrong. Look for his CD’s on that site. He’s got an eclectic mix on his CDs skewing towards Hip-Hop, R&B and New Wave. I’d recommend Sweet, Oscillate Wildly and BitterSweet, to keep it really light. Unfortunately, no South Asian music. In the interests of full disclosure, he’s also a close friend. He has no idea that I’m on SM or that I’m recommending him nor am I getting any proceeds. SM intern, sorry about the plug, just wanted to share good music.
I’ve had my door closed all day. Thank goodness it’s the beginning of the year and been very slow, but I know I’m going to pay tomm. Sepia Mutiny, destroying the myth that brown people focus on work.
Harbeer I just realized that link is to kpft (I’ve heard loads of great stuff about that station, all pub radio stations want to have that kind of community representation.) impressive, mang. Did you host?
JJ, I’ll be checking out DJ Neil thanks and when you said this:
Had me remembering the mixtapes I’d been given over the years – sincere love on analog.
ANNA, as for your old skewl playlist – I’m working my youtubiness way through that one ; )
And in the spirit of selfconsciousness I realize I wrote 3 AD, meant 4 -doh!
97 脗路 bess said
Yeah, all the Pacifica stations are pretty rad. (Are you sure you’re not thinking of the more famous KPFA in Bezerkeley, though?) I did host that night, but the show (Border Crossings) was started by my friends Nusrat and Jaspal more than five years ago. I’ve been working with them for about three of those years, but only when I’m visiting my friends and family back in Houston. Did you miss the discussion with Abhi and Amardeep on 12/19/07?
I recommend Generasian Radio if you want to hear the latest desi sounds (though I am not personally connected to that show, except as a fan).
HAHA! Thanks so much for posting this.
I know this wasn’t directed towards me, but I looooooove PE. How can you guys not like Boogie Down Productions or Arrested Development? A travesty! 馃槈
Amitabh — You’re lucky; if I play NWA with my mom in the car I get a thappar upside the head.
Pravin, on moms and music: my mama has great (rock) taste. My deep appreciation for Led Zeppelin, the Yardbirds, old school Santana, etc., comes from her. She also loved Billy Ocean’s “Get Outta My Dreams and Into My Car,” but I think I can forgive her for that.
Re: guitar solos, hello! Tom Morello! There are excellent guitarists today, and some (like, maybe 2?) are even pop stars. I don’t need some lame-ass hair metal solo to have an ear-gasm.