It took several listens but Honky Tonk is a masterpiece

[Mark Spencer]

No one who knows me would be surprised by how much disco and funk from the 70s and 80s I listen to, actually.

[Mark Spencer]

I hope everyone enjoys Honky Tonk. I'm particularly fond of it, and am really looking forward to playing the songs on tour. I'm 100% not on board with anything said previously about country, but, like I said, takes all kinds. Also, regardless of how I became interested in a wide variety of kinds of music (it has nothing to do with now being a musician, but likely led to it) I would say that listening to just one or two kinds of music, all of your life, sounds kinda awful, like a self-imposed authoritarian thought prison, and I would suggest getting seriously involved in classical, jazz, country, folk, blues, bluegrass... anything, really...really loving a wide variety of music is what life is all about, no matter who you are or what kind of consumer you are, and the opposite is like having to eat chicken wings and pizza for the rest of your life, which sounds fun for about...3 days. I could see living on that for three days. If it was the right kind of pizza!

[gdavis5446]

Gregg, I understand the idea of keeping an open mind about different styles of music, but, going out on another limb, I would guess that very few members of this board, including you, regularly drag out their collection of Captain and Tennille albums, or their complete collection of the Carpenters, or spend a whole weekend listening to the soundtracks of Flashdance or Staying Alive or the other dance movies of the 80's. Again, there's a reason for that.

I really like the Staying Alive soundtrack. And Paul Williams wrote some good tunes for the Carpenters. Rainy Days and Mondays and We've Only Just Begun are both really great songs in my opinion. My parents had all this music you have mentioned including Capatain and Tennile, but they also had Neil Young and Stevie Wonder. I disliked all of it when I was younger. I just wanted to listen to Kiss back then. I really look back on their records fondly now.

I have been listening to the Xanadu soundtrack a lot lately in part because my 4 year old is in love with the movie. We hear it at home, in the care, everywhere. Not ELO's best work, but better than Captain and Tenille.

There is a brief part in the film where the beautiful Olivia Newton John goes country. It's not nearly as good as Honky Tonk.

Xanadu is not Jeff Lynn's best work but it's still pretty goddman great.

[Hank Snow]

I have been listening to the Xanadu soundtrack a lot lately in part because my 4 year old is in love with the movie. We hear it at home, in the care, everywhere. Not ELO's best work, but better than Captain and Tenille.

There is a brief part in the film where the beautiful Olivia Newton John goes country. It's not nearly as good as Honky Tonk.

[Monkmusic]

I think the issue here is the fact that "country music" has sucked for decades. A whole generation even. A lot of folks can't get past this paradigm of horrible music.
That's kind of the whole point of this album IMO. And what UT was doing. They introduced a little of the old country/folk twang to a lot of kids that thought that genre was uncool. Rock n roll didn't fall from the sky, it came from the old country folk and blues.

Another thought that came to mind is Neil Young's concept of Rust Never Sleeps. A lot of people criticized him for making 3 "uncommercial" albums after Harvest. He was aware enough to realize how not to get pigeon holed and labeled. I think he's done alright for himself. He's made a bunch of records that I don't like but he's still The Man.

I wouldn't expect Jay to stay stagnant and rust away making the same album every time out.

[Tokyo Fan]

Damn..now I have "What a Feeling running non-stop through my head. I don't know which is worse--that or "Muskrat Love".

[farrarfan1]

Mark, I think it's safe to say you're not the average music fan since your livelihood is centered around music. Most people pick out a certain genre or two of music that they like and that's pretty much what they stick to. You have an extremely diverse interest in music, which I think you would agree isn't typical among the average "consumer" who purchases or downloads a few albums a year.

Gregg, I understand the idea of keeping an open mind about different styles of music, but, going out on another limb, I would guess that very few members of this board, including you, regularly drag out their collection of Captain and Tennille albums, or their complete collection of the Carpenters, or spend a whole weekend listening to the soundtracks of Flashdance or Staying Alive or the other dance movies of the 80's. Again, there's a reason for that.

[Mark Spencer]

And if Jay did release an album of Madonna covers, I bet it would be pretty interesting, sign me up for that one!

[Mark Spencer]

But I am a big fan of Humble Pie "Live at the Fillmore", particularly side one, and not solely, but in part because Peter Frampton really kicks ass on that record.

[Mark Spencer]

I just pulled up all my vinyl that wasn't ruined in the flood that fucked up my studio. Maybe about 1200 pieces. The first records i wanted to hear were Little Walter, The Bee Gees, Elton john (Tumbleweed Connection), debussy, Arthur Blythe and a collection of mid 80s Electro (pre hip hop/rap, basically). and a bunch of Kitty Wells vinyl I'd bought at a flea in southern Missouri. Who knows, the next day it might be physical Graffitti, Prefab Sprout and Malcom Mc Claren's Buffalo gals followed up with bread, gordon lightfoot and james taylor...the next day, all ornette and mingus. I seriously have no "style" of music that I dislike, only certain examples within a style that I like to stay away from. For instance I love early reggae, ska, late 50s into 70s, particularly guys like Dillinger, but, post Yellownan, eh, not so much, and any Hot New Country since, the 80s really, that's often like looking for life on another planet...but if I had to listen to rock music (or worse, alternative rock) all day...50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, surely 90s or now's, I would turn extremely angry, and more disgruntled by wild degrees than someone who purported to dislike all but rock.

[gdavis5446]

I would agree with what you say about most of the music of the 80's and 90's, but hell, I'm 57 years old and was listening to Zeppelin, Yes, Allman Brothers, Humble Pie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mountain, Grand Funk, Jethro Tull and all of the rest of the legendary bands of the late 60's and 70's when they were just young kids. That's who formed my musical interests and tastes, not the country musicians of that era.

Everyone has a style of music they don't like. Everyone. Mark, I seriously doubt that you have a collection of disco hits from the 80's that you listen to on a regular basis, and I would also go out on a limb and guess that SV doesn't have any plans to release an album of Madonna covers anytime soon. There's a reason for that.

Didn't Spencer once say he is pretty fond of the Bee Gees? People have often labled them as disco but they had some pretty tight harmonies and catchy tunes. And have you ever heard Teenage Fanclub's version of Like A Virgin? It is freaking fantastic. Personally, I avoid saying I dislike a certain genre of music. I don't want to close my mind to the opportunity to hear good music regardless of a label someone has thrown on it.

[Trellis]

....on a limb and guess that SV doesn't have any plans to release an album of Madonna covers anytime soon. There's a reason for that.

Oh my god...I seem to remember an interview where jay said he was going to be doing something different next album.

Hmmm, I remember he was going to title it something like "Wide Swing Riverdance," a concept album on the formative influence of the jig and reel on civil war America.

[Tokyo Fan]

....on a limb and guess that SV doesn't have any plans to release an album of Madonna covers anytime soon. There's a reason for that.

Oh my god...I seem to remember an interview where jay said he was going to be doing something different next album.

[farrarfan1]

I would agree with what you say about most of the music of the 80's and 90's, but hell, I'm 57 years old and was listening to Zeppelin, Yes, Allman Brothers, Humble Pie, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mountain, Grand Funk, Jethro Tull and all of the rest of the legendary bands of the late 60's and 70's when they were just young kids. That's who formed my musical interests and tastes, not the country musicians of that era.

Everyone has a style of music they don't like. Everyone. Mark, I seriously doubt that you have a collection of disco hits from the 80's that you listen to on a regular basis, and I would also go out on a limb and guess that SV doesn't have any plans to release an album of Madonna covers anytime soon. There's a reason for that.

[Mark Spencer]

It is true that I tend to forget that probably a lot of Jay/SV/UT fans consider the 90s to be an influential decade in music. i was very active in the 90s, myself, in a number of genres, but consider it one of the most forgettable decades musically in the 20th century, and rarely listen to much music made then, unless having to re-learn songs i played on or helped write. But, I know this was a coming of age era for a lot of people who were teens/college age at that time, and music one becomes attached to at that age tends to have an over-arching effect on the rest of your life, even more strongly if soon after that time you join the workforce/family lifestyle and your curiosity/experimentation gets arrested or slowed considerably at that point. No different than the decades preceding it. I worked in trendy (ha) nightclubs as a doorman/bartender in NYC in the 80s, and met people who only listened to New Order, The Cure, Madonna, etc..80s new wave and dance rock, and they hated country too, but, the few of them I knew well enough were also super critical of the impending grunge/flannel reality, and ended up fenced in by the music they grew their short hairs to. Also, I guess my wide ranging taste in, or enjoyment of many musical styles disallows me from any commentary on anyone who "hates" a certain "kind" of music, or "only likes" one certain kind of music. That someone could thrive in a mindset even close to that seems...alien to me, and ultimately sort of conservative. Don't know if it would but if Honky Tonk led someone previously pre-disposed towards a dislike or disdain for whatever they consider "country" towards an appreciation or hunger for more of it, that would be pretty cool.