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Posted by Nailtatt on 11-02-2007 at14:05:

 

Of course, without them we wouldn't have rock music as we..........................................blah blah blah blah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Posted by Doctor Love on 11-03-2007 at00:31:

  speaking of The Beatles...

Lots of times I forget about this, but in many ways The 77's are the same 'type' of band as The Beatles, i.e., mixing up all your favorite music however and whenever you like in order to enjoy what you write and play and hopefully come up with something cool and if you're lucky, even different or unique once in awhile.

The Beatles were mostly mimics, just like us, but they were a great band and had brilliant minds, with tons of skill and imagination loose on the premises, especially as they continued to grow. The Rolling Stones, by comparison, were drawing mostly upon American urban Chicago blues and Chuck Berry, and that led them down a very different path. I feel like our band was much closer to The Beatles in spirit because we mixed up way more styles than the Stones or Zeppelin did. What came out of all this, of course, was drastically different because we were boiling down 50's/60's/70's influences during the wacky 80's and grungy 90's. If The Beatles had started in late 1979 like we did, chances are they may have sounded a lot more like us than the 'Tamla-Motown meets The Everly Brothers' thing they had going.

And if you wanna go back further, we're a lot closer to Elvis Presley for the exact same reasons. Elvis was mixing up black rhythm & blues, southern white gospel quartet music, country music, hillbilly, Bill Monroe, and just about anything that was recorded by his idol Dean Martin! One listen to Dino's "Memories Are Made Of This" from around 1955 and you'll hear 90% of where Elvis derived his vocal style. Crazy..... but to further my point, we as a band did the same thing Elvis did -- mixed up all our favorite music and came up with several new hybrids. Sadly, none of this would ever reach the general public, but we're very glad it reached each and every one of YOU.

There are many other modern-day examples of bands like ours. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers come to mind, as does John Mellencamp and several others. Though we don't sound like those groups, we are all trying to do the same thing, which is to sound and write like our heroes. Jazz guitar legend Howard Roberts once said that if you steal from one guy, it's plagiarism, but if you steal from two or more, it's research. Remember the great sixties group called The Searchers? We should have called ourselves The Researchers

And always remember -- Talent borrows, genius steals.

Thank You & Good Night
:x

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Posted by Tinkerty-tonk on 11-03-2007 at09:32:

  RE: speaking of The Beatles...

quote:

Originally posted by Doctor Love Talent borrows, genius steals.

Doctor Love,
I'm curious if you're familiar with Kate Bush and her music, and if you are...how would you categorize her? She's my favorite singer/songwriter and to me she's always sounded like herself, and is a true genius.

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Posted by Doctor Love on 11-03-2007 at17:21:

  Kate Bush

Kate is a genius and seems to be missing in action. The greatest shame was her refusal to tour due to the enormous expenses her style of tour would incur, and the lack of record company support just floors me.... one more thing Bono needs to do with some of his money is finance a Kate Bush tour before she becomes an old woman and withers away.....my guess is it would probably put HIM broke given how the music business is currently functioning.

Anyway, I would categorize her as 'progressive pop', I suppose, but why bother? Talent on Kate's level seems beyond categorization. Perhaps she should apply for a government grant over here and label her tour as a 'royal ballet' of some kind. That one live performance she filmed nearly 30 years ago comes off more like some sort of opera/ballet than it does mere 'pop' music and should be taken more seriously as 'high art', maybe...

Interesting to see Sufjan Stevens pointing himself in this direction -- p'raps he should hire Kate as one his hula-hoop twirling background singers and sneak her in through America's back door

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Posted by Tinkerty-tonk on 11-04-2007 at09:36:

  RE: Kate Bush

quote:

Originally posted by Doctor Love Kate is a genius and seems to be missing in action.

FYI, you may not be aware that she had an album released in 2005 called Aerial. It's wonderful...check it out if you haven't already.

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Posted by Nailtatt on 11-05-2007 at06:19:

RE: speaking of The Beatles...

quote:

Originally posted by Doctor Love Lots of times I forget about this, but in many ways The 77's are the same 'type' of band as The Beatles, i.e., mixing up all your favorite music however and whenever you like in order to enjoy what you write and play and hopefully come up with something cool and if you're lucky, even different or unique once in awhile. The Beatles were mostly mimics, just like us, but they were a great band and had brilliant minds, with tons of skill and imagination loose on the premises, especially as they continued to grow. The Rolling Stones, by comparison, were drawing mostly upon American urban Chicago blues and Chuck Berry, and that led them down a very different path. I feel like our band was much closer to The Beatles in spirit because we mixed up way more styles than the Stones or Zeppelin did. What came out of all this, of course, was drastically different because we were boiling down 50's/60's/70's influences during the wacky 80's and grungy 90's. If The Beatles had started in late 1979 like we did, chances are they may have sounded a lot more like us than the 'Tamla-Motown meets The Everly Brothers' thing they had going. And if you wanna go back further, we're a lot closer to Elvis Presley for the exact same reasons. Elvis was mixing up black rhythm & blues, southern white gospel quartet music, country music, hillbilly, Bill Monroe, and just about anything that was recorded by his idol Dean Martin! One listen to Dino's "Memories Are Made Of This" from around 1955 and you'll hear 90% of where Elvis derived his vocal style. Crazy..... but to further my point, we as a band did the same thing Elvis did -- mixed up all our favorite music and came up with several new hybrids. Sadly, none of this would ever reach the general public, but we're very glad it reached each and every one of YOU. There are many other modern-day examples of bands like ours. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers come to mind, as does John Mellencamp and several others. Though we don't sound like those groups, we are all trying to do the same thing, which is to sound and write like our heroes. Jazz guitar legend Howard Roberts once said that if you steal from one guy, it's plagiarism, but if you steal from two or more, it's research. Remember the great sixties group called The Searchers? We should have called ourselves The Researchers And always remember -- Talent borrows, genius steals. Thank You & Good Night :x

Great stuff Doc.

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Posted by Kit on 11-05-2007 at08:09:

 

I can't think of a single 77s song that is similar to, or sounds influenced by, The Beatles. I realize the Doc wasn't suggesting that The 77s bear a sonic resemblance to The Beatles. But still, just thought I'd make that observation. Can anyone think of a song?

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Posted by Nailtatt on 11-05-2007 at08:26:

 

quote:

Originally posted by Kit I can't think of a single 77s song that is similar to, or sounds influenced by, The Beatles. I realize the Doc wasn't suggesting that The 77s bear a sonic resemblance to The Beatles. But still, just thought I'd make that observation. Can anyone think of a song?

No, Thankfully.