NEW FEATURE: Careening Around My Cranium with Daryll Collins!!!

Hey guys, Louis here. I am extremely happy to welcome Daryll to the stable of NOT LAME bloggers and boy, does he have a lot to say about power-pop, and that's the way we like it!

I am a self professed music nut. In fact I can't remember a time when it wasn't an integral part of my life. My folks tell me that as a toddler I would sit in front of the TV and rock back and forth to the music on American Bandstand. This was when it was on for an hour, Monday through Friday afternoons on ABC. Yeah, I know, I'm old!

Of course The Beatles on Ed Sullivan made a huge impression. And in what seemed to be the case for one out of every three "youngsters" at that time, I took guitar lessons. After guitar lessons came the prerequisite crappy grade school, junior high and high school rock bands. When I finally realized I wasn't going to be the next Robin Trower I settled into a career in my other life's passion...cartooning!

But the love for music has always been there and I have the vinyl, 8 Tracks, cassettes and CD's to prove it! Not Lame has been highly instrumental in turning me on to music and artists I might never have come across. I recently was carrying on an e-mail conversation with Bruce about various music related subjects when I had this thought...

Remember those columns Larry King used to do for USA Today? He would just give random opinions on whatever was on his mind at the time and spill them out rapid-fire. Maybe I could do that for the Not Lame blog with whatever musical gems of thought that were currently careening around my cranium.

Bruce said great, do it. So here we are!

And now without further ado, my latest collection of musical gems of thought...

"I've never been that impressed with how fast a guitarist can play. It's what they play. Most shredders leave me unmoved"

"That brings us to Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe. What a criminally underrated talent! Beautiful melodic leads that can flow as quickly as any speed metal guitar god, yet with a feel and resonance sorely lacking in so many highly rated fretsmiths."

"Are you familiar with Be Bop Deluxe's debut "Axe Victim"? How could any teen aged dude from the 70's resist purchasing that album once they've taken a look at the cover art. That creepy skeleton headed guitar leering back at you in front of a stark black background! YOW!"

"Always found Nelson's guitar prowess with his David Bowie-like vocal style such a unique combination."

"Really enjoying Todd Rundgren's latest, Arena. Just wish he would have recorded it with an actual band, especially the drums. Also, the vocals, in my opinion, are a little lost in the mix."

"Those upstarts, Black Stone Cherry really bring home the goods on their latest, Folklore and Superstition. Very few young bands are truly able to lock into that 70's classic rock aesthetic."

"So Robert Plant isn't interested in a Led Zepplin reunion tour. Here's a replacement who I think would be dynamite...Glenn Hughes! The former vocalist for Trapeze and Deep Purple would absolutely do Zeps catalogue justice. Plus he's a bitch of a bass player that would allow John Paul Jones to play keyboards exclusively on certain tunes."

"On the other hand, I am not buying the Paul Rodgers fronted Queen. Not one bit. Can't be the Queen I know and love without Freddie Mercury. As a vocalist Rodgers is great and May and Taylor are outstanding musicians. But the song writing chops and unique vocal performance are not there to create the magical mix that was Queen. Mercury's input is essential."

"I've never let music define my "coolness" even in those peer pressure filled high school days. I dug Led Zep, Sabbath, Alice Cooper and Grand Funk Railroad but I also dug The Carpenters, America and Three Dog Night. I like what I like and make no apologies. Guess I wouldn't be an ideal candidate for nominating board of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

"Speaking of high school and music, two guys in my class once got into a fist fight over what was the better band, The Stones or Chicago! Oddly enough the Chicago dude won the fray. Good times..."

"As we're in the Halloween season I'll pose this question... Have you ever had a song actually scare you? The first track off of Black Sabbath's debut appropriately titled, "Black Sabbath" scared the hell out of me. As I sat in my room listening with headphones my eyes had to have been buggin' out of my head!"

My Top 20 for 2008, so far and in no particular order...

The Silver Seas - High Society (this may be a '07 release but I didn't hear it until now)
Todd Rundgren - Arena
Brent Cash - How Will I Know If I'm Awake
Black Stone Cherry - Folklore and Superstition
Willie Wisely - Wisely
Glen Campbell - Meet Glen Campbell
The Pop Project - Stars Of Stage And Screen
Ike - Where To Begin
The Spongetones - Too Clever By Half
The Goldbergs - Under The Radar
Rick Springfield - Venus In Overdrive
Starling Electric - Clouded Staircase
Jim Boggia - Adventures In Stereo
Kelly Jones - SheBANG!
Roger Joseph Manning - Catnip Dynamite
Pugwash - Eleven Modern Antiques
The Audition - Champion
Glenn Hughes - First Underground Nuclear Kitchen
Harem Scarem - Hope
Owen Sartori - Another Beautiful Day In The Cube

As always I have a stack of CDs I haven't gotten to yet including new releases by Class Three Overbite, Cliff Hillis, The Morning Light, Brown Line Fiasco, All Day Sucker and Greg Pope. So this list is sure to change.

***
Daryll Collins is a free-lance cartoonist/illustrator who has worked for a wide variety of clients including magazines and newspapers, advertising, greeting cards, character design & development, children's books, comic strips and gag cartoons. You can check out his work at www.daryllcollins.com