Goddesses of Rock . . . Week 10 - A Baker’s Dozen (maybe more) of Hard Rock Songs You Might Have Missed But Must Hear Before You Die.

Heart – How Can I Refuse. Heart, the Seattle rock band that came after Seattle’s Jimi Hendrix but before 1990’s Seattle grunge and was fronted by the Wilson sisters, two of the best musicians in rock history. Is Ann Wilson the greatest rock vocalist of all time? She might be. 

With a string of hits in the 1970s including Magic Man, Crazy on You, and Barracuda (wow what an opening guitar lick), Heart had to transition to the 1980s. It took half the decade for popular music to catch up, but unlike Kansas, for Heart it worked. Heart had a series of hits from 1985 until the early 1990s, including What About Love, Never, and Who Will You Run To?, and two number ones: These Dreams (sung by Nancy Wilson) and Alone. But in 1983 before the transition fully took place, they released How Can I Refuse, a preview of things soon to come. It had all the hallmarks of Heart’s then upcoming mid-late 1980s hits: a solid rhythm section, catchy guitar lick (maybe copying Judas Priest’s You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’), romantic drama, and of course Ann just killing it on the vocals. How Can I Refuse made it to number one on the rock charts but didn’t even crack the top 40 on the pop charts, being just a little ahead of the times. Watching people listening for the first time to Ann Wilson sing is actually pretty entertaining. If you don’t know her and her band Heart already, become one of those people and give How Can I Refuse a try.  

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Previously . . .

Week nine:

White Lion – Love Don’t Come Easy. Eddie Van Halen (RIP) wasn’t the only two hand tapping guitar god in the 80s and 90s. Lesser known but a veritable force in his own right was Vito Bratta, the amazing guitarist from White Lion. Working with a great vocalist, Mike Tramp, and a solid rhythm section, they had their limited day in the 80’s sun. Most people my age know the overly-dramatic When the Children Cry, and the song Wait is an 80’s classics. However, then tragedy hit Mr. Bratta’s family. He impressively dropped fame and fortune to care for a dying parent, showing that Love Don’t Come Easy even with respect to one’s relationship with one’s folks. And then Nirvana showed up and swept the hair bands out of the charts, cutting White Lion’s stardom short. Some of the most amazing guitar work that not enough people heard, especially the solo, is on Love Don’t Come Easy. Change that, and give it a listen. 

Week eight:

The Sweet – Hellraiser. Everyone knows The Sweet’s classic 70’s song Ballroom Blitz. However, The Sweet have a warehouse full of great songs. Plus, there would be no 80s hard rock without them. Just ask any 80s rockstar. “Without The Sweet there would not have been a KISS” - Gene Simmons. “We wanted to be The Sweet” - Nikki Sixx - M?tley Crüe. “This is the band I wish I had been in.” - Joe Elliot - Def Leppard. 

Hellraiser wasn’t as popular as Ballroom Blitz or even Fox on the Run (another great song if you don’t know it). But it’s so good that, sixteen years after it’s release, M?tley Crüe pretty much copied its introduction for the Crüe’s huge hit Kickstart My Heart. If you don’t like The Sweet and you don’t like Hellraiser, chances are you just don’t like rock-n-roll. A must have song for any rocker. 

Week seven:

?Superchunk – Seed Toss. Sure, Superchunk was the 80s-90s and beyond indie band that spoke for all generation-Xers who didn’t want to work for a jerk in a terrible job, while using a very dirty word repeatedly in the chorus. But even more obscure is the song Seed Toss (found on their singles compilation Tossing Seeds and album No Pocky for Kitty) that has an equally powerful guitar riff. Years before Neo decided to stop taking it from Agent Smith in the Matrix, Superchunk rocked out and stood up for anyone who’s not putting up with a bully anymore; hence, the opening line, “I put a stake in your spokes,” and later on, “You better memorize this face. You better stay right in your place. I draw the lines here from now on, and your picture’s already drawn.” A little-known classic, Seed Toss is worthy of repeated listens as is much of Superchunk.

Week six:

Hey Mercedes – Let’s Go Blue. Would someone please explain to me why this band never made it real big? Catchy tunes, great guitar work, a softer sound than its predecessor Braid, and one of the best drummers you’ve never heard of: Damon Atkinson (to see how awesome Mr. Atkinson’s writing/drumming is, watch this other guy drum a Hey Mercedes’ song). Let’s Go Blue starts with a great cascading guitar riff that keeps going through most the song. And for anyone moving on from a relationship that’s over and the other person isn’t, this is your song! “Where you are is where you’ll stay.” Worse yet, she’s mean and embarrassing. “[C]ue up the cute villains. . . . Why you always wanna go blue when everybody can hear you?” Dump that person and spend your valuable time listening to Let’s Go Blue and as much Hey Mercedes as you can.  

Week five:

Kansas – Everybody’s My Friend. Transition in a band isn’t easy. Just ask the members of Kansas, the 70’s rock band who sang the classic song Carry on Wayward Son, a song so popular its karoke version was in a beer advertisement almost 40 years after its initial release. With the 70’s over and the 80’s staring them hard in the face, Kansas tried to transition to a more Def Leppard/Asia hard rock sound. It really didn’t work, except for one song where it did. That exception is 1983’s Everybody’s My Friend. The song is super-tight, catchy, for some reason has wrestlers in the video, and complains about rockstars’ dilemma of everyone being phony around them while still wanting to be famous. But don’t worry Kansas, with the exception of one more awful, minor hit (All I Wanted), the negative aspects of rockstardom weren’t going to haunt you any longer. Cheezy-good fun.  

Week four:

Fugazi – Dear Justice Letter. Fugazi, the dyi (do it yourself) punk band from the nation’s capital, who sold by word-of-mouth alone a platinum record (1 million in sales). Who does that? The answer is no one but Fugazi. From just their CD 13 Songs (two EPs for those of us who bought them on vinyl) alone, there is so much to choose from. There’s punk rock classics like Waiting Room and Margin Walker, and several songs on social justice that were way ahead of their time in 1980s: inequality during a global pandemic: Give Me The Cure; climate change: Burning Too; pre-me too movement: Suggestion; drug addiction: Glue Man etc. 

However, I chose their song about justice in general. Combining my two loves that aren’t people (music and the law), Dear Justice Letter is sung from the viewpoint of someone before the Supreme Court who’s not getting justice. But there is a champion on his side: Justice Brennan, the Justice who may have understood better than any other that the judiciary should treat the little guy equal to the big; thus, the lyric, “Justice Brennan, I know it's not your fault, no baby.” Who has a song about a Supreme Court Justice and calls him “baby?” The answer is Fugazi. Dear Justice Letter – check it out!

Week three:

Concrete Blonde – God Is a Bullet. Do you like movies with strong female characters who are tough survivors like Kill Bill, Alien, and Silence of the Lambs? Then, you’ll love L.A.’s Concrete Blonde. Nothing screams survivor more than Johnette (yes that’s her first name) Napolitano, and the band backing her up. Concrete Blonde scored a major hit from the album Bloodletting with Joey. Their best stuff IMHO though came from the prior album, Free. Taking a stance on gun control and gay rights in the 1980’s in the opening track was God Is a Bullet – very bold indeed! “John Lennon (Shoot). Dr. King, yeah. Harvey Milk, and all for goddamn nothing.” No matter your views on these topics, give God Is a Bullet a listen. You won’t be disappointed.  

Week two:

 Living Colour – Memories Can’t Wait. Living Colour was a can’t lose formula ? Vernon Reid on guitar, surrounded by other ridiculously-skilled musicians. It’s like Babe Ruth and the 1927 Yankees but for music. Everyone knows Living Colour’s Cult of Personality and many know Open Letter (to a landlord). But for my money, Memories Can’t Wait from their debut album Vivid is equally as good, loud with amazing dynamics, and a The Jimi Hendrix Experience-like, psychedelic ending. Great lines too, including “Other people can go home. Everyone else will split. I'll be here all the time. I can never quit.” For Memories Can’t Wait, as with much of Living Colour, many listens a must.  

Week one: 

Soundgarden – Mind Riot. From the late 1980s’ to the 1990s, Soundgarden went from indie-art-rock-grunge band to rock powerhouse. Chris Cornell (RIP) and the rest of the gang cranked out the complicated tunes that really rocked. But before Black Hole Sun and a bunch of other megahits in the mid-90s, there was the album Badmotorfinger. Sitting at track 9 was the pure brilliance of Mind Riot. When you are overwhelmed by the world, as many of us are now, know you aren’t alone, and give it a listen. “I was slipping through the cracks of a stolen jewel. I was tightrope walking in two ton shoes. Now somebody is talking about a third world war. I’ve been caught in a mind riot.” It’s practically a religious experience. Don’t be a heretic. Your attendance at the Church of Soundgarden is required to rock out to Mind Riot. And, by the way, be a good Soundgarden parishioner, and respect your mother!