blogovich

Thanks, Blogovich readers; getting back at it soon

Thanks for the support on dealing with recent diatribes from a certain Elvis fan. Yeah, I allowed myself to get sucked in a bit but couldn't resist.

Anyway, always neat to see the amount of responses about music, Elvis, Van Halen, etc. Interesting comment about the backing tracks likely being used to sub for the absence of Michael Anthony's backing vox. Wouldn't be surprised.

All comments are now posted. Been nutty busy this week so haven't had a chance to blog much if at all but intending (hoping??) to get back at it soon.

Meanwhile, Black Sabbath (Dio years) fans should definitely check out the just-released DVD and live CD of Heaven and Hell's recent Radio City Music Hall show. Picked it up last night, watched and listened. Good and loud. I love this era of Sabbath. (Ozzy years too, of course). I rate them even, actually; Sabs did some killer stuff with Dio; as did Rainbow, with Dio.

In fact, I'd say the best six albums Dio ever did were the three each he did with Sabbath and Rainbow. Better than his own Dio stuff, I figure.

Back at it soon? Heck, get me talking about music and I'm back at it right now.

More later, on assorted topics....

Rob the Elvis fan just can't take the high road

I thought he could, at first, before going into his usual personal diatribe. Rob, here's some free advice: one weakens one's argument by getting personal. And I'm glad I surprised you by publishing your previous rude comment, as I am publishing this one. It's called class, a term with which you seem not to be familiar.

To wit, from Rob somewhere in aol.com land:

Well, I applaud you for allowing my comments to be posted. I actually did not think it would see the light of day.
However, if you continue checking websites, you can probably find "at least one website" that says Michael Jackson (or even Garth Brooks) is the biggest selling recording artist of all time. However, take the time and do the research...while there is no exact/accurate count on total global sales of Presley or the Beatles...it IS estimated that Presley has sold well over one billion (and this was back in 1980) recordings making him the biggest selling musical artist of all time. Most music experts/historians tend to agree and even go as far as to quote this. By the way, debate or no debate, you're still bald and ugly...and you can add stupid and portly to that as well.

You didn't address my point: sales do not necessarily equate with merit. To each his own.

As to your continued personal attacks:

Yes, I'm still bald. I call it a "no maintenance" hair style. Saves time in the morning.

Ugly? A matter of opinion.

Stupid? A matter of opinion.

Portly? I beg to differ, and you're welcome to join me daily at my fitness centre. It would be interesting to see whether you could keep up with my fitness regimen.

But enough about me. And you. Take care, Rob. If you can't discuss things with class, you're not worth the trouble. See ya.

Rebuttal to Rob, the Elvis fan

Hoo, boy, a bit heated there, Rob? Folks, he did not like — not at all — my recent blog suggesting that, to me (hey, it's just an opinion), Chuck Berry, not Elvis Presley, is the king of rock and roll.

Any rebuttals, Rob asked at the end of this comment:

Karlo Berkovich is an idiot. Judging by the way he looks (bald, ugly, etc), we can write him off as another envious anti Elvis basher who has nothing better to do than to try to diminish Elvis' impact on music and the world in general. I guess it makes Karlo's own shortcomings seem more substantial. Bottom line...I'm sure there are some (other idiots) who would even say David Cassidy is the 'King of Rock & Roll'. What is fact is that Presley has sold more recordings and had more hits in Rock & Pop than any other artist or group. How does Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee, Little Richard, compare to that? (Hint: THEY DON'T!) Chuck Berry only had one # 1 hit in his entire career and that was not even until 1972. Here's another fact...if it wasn't for Elvis.....Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee, etc, would not have enjoyed the career they have had. He opened the door for all of them and took all the criticism that came along with it. Any rebuttals?

Well, let's just move on past the personal diatribes, shall we, and get to the so-called facts as I can't resist taking the bait. Seems to me that I mentioned in the original posting how Elvis, along with others, helped black artists get more recognition.

Meanwhile, according to at least one web site, Elvis ISN'T the top-selling artist of all time. The Beatles are. But sales aren't necessarily proof of an artist's worth, though obviously it is part of it. But if sales were all that counted, then that means that Madonna is better than Bob Dylan. Don't think so.

Nor do No. 1 hits necessarily prove anything. In fact, the fact (Rob, you got this one right) Chuck Berry's My Ding-A-Ling was No. 1 in 1972 proves my point that crap can go to No. 1. It's the worst, most ridiculous song in Chuck Berry's catalogue.

That's not to say Elvis' catalogue is full of crap. A lot of it, particularly the early stuff, is great. I thought I mentioned in the original posting that all of these artists are/were good. They are.

It's all a matter of opinion.

So, Rob, relax. And toast Elvis — while I toast who I like.

Outta here until Aug. 27

Gone fishin'.

Well, actually, more likely sleeping. Much-deserved time off. :-)

See you...for now. Back Aug. 27.

Sports word play

Don't you just love it when athletes' new contracts are signed and it's reported that so and so will "earn" $12.8 million next season.

Earn? Who knows?

Better to say so and so will get paid whatever. Not everyone earns what they are paid, particularly in sports.

And vice versa, of course.

Cell phone nature calls !?

Now I've seen everything. I'm in a public washroom today and the guy at the next urinal takes a phone call on his cell, while doing his business.

Two calls, in fact. He ended one conversation, went to call waiting, took the other one.

Talk about multi-tasking madness.

Chuck Berry, not Elvis, is the King of Rock and Roll

Let’s be honest. If Chuck Berry were white, he’d likely be universally recognized as the undisputed King of Rock and Roll.

Instead, Elvis Presley, whose 30th anniversary deathday was today, is possessed of the moniker.

Now, it’s all a matter of opinion of course and there are those who think Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis, or others, are the kings of rock and roll. Actually, Lewis admitted (once, anyway) that Berry was the real king. I've got the evidence in the liner notes of Chuck Berry's 1979 album, Rockit. It was his last studio album. (By the way, try the Berry track Pass Away off that album on for size. Very different, not traditional Berry, and very cool.)

"My mama said, 'You and Elvis are pretty good, but you're no Chuck Berry'," The Killer says in the liner notes.

Fact is, all of these artists, and beyond, regardless of race, are great. And legendary.

But to say Chuck Berry is the king of rock and roll (my view) is no slight on Elvis, necessarily. Elvis did, by appealing to white audiences, make it OK or safe for them to delve into the black R & B and blues artists whom he and/or his writers used, in some measure at least, for source material. And black R & B audiences liked him, too, as whites did Chuck Berry.

The black artists appreciated Presley, much as blues legends Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and others appreciated and paid homage to The Rolling Stones for paying homage to them and bringing the black blues to white audiences. There are many such examples in pop music if one cares to delve deeper.

One thing is beyond argument. Elvis didn’t write much. Chuck Berry did. Berry wrote almost every one of his many hits. Elvis fans counter with the argument that in his day, performers didn’t write many of their own tunes. That’s true. But Berry and Elvis were of the same era, rising to prominence in the mid-1950s, meaning Berry took it a step further and broke that mould. He wrote his own stuff, performed it and brought a certain guitar-playing style and sound to the equation, without which one could legitimately argue there would have been no Beatles or Rolling Stones to advise the white youth of North America that they had all this music in their own backyards in the person of the black R & B and blues source artists — but had chosen to ignore it.

So if you judge by the whole package, Chuck Berry is the king. That won’t change the mainstream view of Elvis being "officially" recognized as The King. It’s become an automatic appellation: Elvis Presley, The King of Rock and Roll.

Even if it isn’t true. For my money, anyway.

The return of Van Halen, with David Lee Roth

OK. Eddie Van Halen is apparently hale and hearty after aborting the previous reunion tour with David Lee Roth due to rehab issues.

So they’re going out on tour. But here’s the thing. OK, two things.

One. What’s with Roth’s hair? He just doesn’t look the cool frontman without the long locks.

Second, and most importantly (but likely woefully under-reported): The absence of former bassist Michael Anthony in favour of Eddie’s 16-year-old son Wolfgang. Playing bass is one thing. But who’s going to cover for Roth’s poor singing — as Anthony did all those years on backup and harmony vocals — when the band hits the boards?

Roth, a great performer (at least in his youth) never has been a good singer and this isn’t a Roth vs. Sammy Hagar comparison — I like both versions of VH.

But Anthony was an important if unheralded part of the act. He’ll be missed. Particularly, one suspects, by Diamond Dave.

Beckham laughing all the way from the bench to the bank

Best lead to a story I’ve seen in some time, by Jimmy Golen of the Associated Press.

We quote:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — English megastar David Beckham resumed his tour of American soccer benches on Sunday, sitting out the Los Angeles Galaxy’s game against the New England Revolution to rest his tender left ankle.

Perfect. And accurate. If this guy doesn’t start playing games regularly soon, he’ll be seen as the biggest sports carpetbagger in history.

Worse, for soccer, is that the sport has already likely lost its very tenuous grip on the North American sporting populace. The window of opportunity has pretty much closed. Baseball pennant races are heating up, soon to be followed by the playoffs. Football season, on both sides of the border but most tellingly in this case in the U.S., is on. The U.S. Open tennis tournament is upcoming.

Meanwhile, Beckham, healthy or not, will soon to have to fulfill national team commitments that will force him from further participation on behalf of a Los Angeles Galaxy team that surely must be feeling ripped off; at least in this first season.

No matter what spin is put on the situation, the reality is, it’s been a disaster for soccer in North America. But Becks is laughing all the way to the bank.

If it isn't a major, who cares?

Bottom line is this: for all the solutions proposed to attract big names to tennis and golf tournaments — like the Canadian event — that aren’t majors, the fact is this.

They aren’t majors.

So nobody will ever truly care.

End of story.