Guitar Heroes of the Non-Video Game Kind Pt .1

photo by stev.ie

Pop Dose recently threw up their list of the top 50 guitar players of all time. I was surprised by some of the omissions and decided to create a post or two to respond, then I noticed that Pop Dose's list was actually created in response to the LA Times magazine's top 50. Okay, so a number of the players missing on one list can be found somewhere on the other. One list skips the Edge, Robert Fripp, Angus Young and Randy Rhoads, but then we see Eddie Hazel, John Mayer, Charlie Hunter, Neal Schon and John Frusciante. Huh? Of course, there are always complaints about lists like these, who got snubbed, who is wrongly placed at the top or bottom, and so on. Sometimes I think the choices are coloured by how much a guitarist sticks out, especially to other musicians or guitar god wannabes (Yngwie Malmsteen, anyone?)So, since I'm a non-guitarist (no musical ability whatsoever, actually) I've compiled a short list of stringbenders I like without any thought to how technically proficient they are, how difficult their music may be to play, or how wizardly they wield their axes. They might not be flashy, might just be rhythm players, but they've made some noises I like and they're not always included on favourite guitar player lists.

Wherever possible, I've tried to include live videos so you can see guitar grandeur without studio trickery.

Jamie West-Oram has made his career with The Fixx, a band some might mistakenly characterize as a synth band because they were lumped in with new wave bands of the 80's. But I always loved his quirky contributions, and he never overplayed or tried to be a rock god, just propelled or served the song.

Saved by Zero



Tom Verlaine has never reached mainstream acceptance and never really attempted to do so. He's been acclaimed by indie rock guitar geeks and critics, mostly for his work with Television. But the TV-love, to me, is part and parcel of his guitar tandem work with Richard Lloyd, with guitar lines intertwining, separating, snaking together again, clashing, and endlessly building ascending and spiralling soundscapes. Verlaine's solo work is not always so dense, but it does contain a similar unique glory.

A Town Called Walker



Elliot Easton's work with The Cars always included tasty licks and and sturdy rhythm to complement Ric Ocasek's more straightforward lines.

Candy-O



Robyn Hitchcock could make my list on his own, and if you've seen him play a solo show, you know what I mean. However, when Hitchcock plays with a foil, such as he does nowadays with Peter Buck in the Venus 3, he seems to be spurred on to different levels. Kimberly Rew in The Soft Boys is another fellow who lifts Hitchcock up to such great heights.

Queen of Eyes



Bob Mould, especially with Husker Du and Sugar, created blisteringly beautiful walls of sound, waves of melodic distortion, and curtains of metallic noisy pop.

Makes No Sense At all/ Love is All Around (Mary Tyler Moore Theme)

Free Television & Tom Verlaine

Photo used under Creative Commons by rockographer.com

One of my favourite artists of all time is Tom Verlaine, including his work with Television. For quite a while, Verlaine was off my radar, doing production and generally not releasing any Verlaine-like works of solo genius since 1990 (The Wonder). Television regrouped to put out a third record in 1992 and played sporadically between then and now, but have never put out any more recorded material. Verlaine has said that there will be a Television album out someday, but I'm still waiting.



Luckily, there are others out there in blog-land who love Verlaine and Television as much as me.

Captains Dead has made available some fine demos for Television's second album, Adventure. Although the first, Marquee Moon, is considered the classic, Adventure seems to be finally getting its due. Aquarium Drunkard recently released a charity album of L.A. bands covering songs from Adventure.

This is the video that sparked my interest in solo Verlaine; I was a little late in realizing how amazing he is. The sinuous guitar, the unique way he spits out his sing-speak vocals, the decidedly un-rock star-like look (pale-face beatnik in the big-hair 80's? Cool.) all intrigued me, and still do.



Verlaine finally released a couple of new albums in 2006, you can download a tune from Songs and Other Things at the ultra-fine Largehearted Boy blog.