Rock and roll

I'll tell you the story of my first guitar lesson and then I'll give you a little insight.

My mom came bursting in in the middle of my guitar lesson and she said, you're not going to teach him rock and roll, are you?

That darn rock and roll.

Exactly.

And my guitar teacher in a master stroke of coolness said, oh no, of course not.

Nice.

And so he said, it's a classical guitar.

You can't really play rock and roll on a classical guitar.

I know they opened for Kiss and stuff, but I never dug into what they were.

And the fact that they're basically just a rock and roll fantasy camp for one guy has kind of made me realize I don't really consider them an important band.

How about that? There's some really cool songs.

And yeah, if I'm picking, Karabi's the singer.

Is it love or money that makes you do these things? I say nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah.

I'm all I won't be your fool Can't you see how hard I try To keep you satisfied Na na na na na

category of underwhelmed we're really kind of tying all us together here today uh did you see the or heard i should say there's a video for it too a pitbull song that he based it says pitbull records song with kiss but it is sampling i want to rock and roll all night uh i'm not sure and definitely a newer version um but and then pitbull has a classic pitbull song around it so

Well, first, talk about being deceitful.

I'm just going to read the first paragraph.

Rock and Roll has walked hand in hand with Halloween since its inception.

From the ghost tales embedded into the folk blues roots... to the Monster Mash and the whole sub-genres like Psychobilly and Goth.

The music has always had a macabre side.

But today I don't need to do that because the subject with today's guest is very much in the same vein as political punk rock music.

Rock and roll and revolution, baby.

I'm super excited for this one.

We're going to be talking about The Clash, one of my favorite bands.

Get on it.

Okay, and with that said, let's get down to business and bring on today's guest because we are joined today by Gregor Gall, a professor of industrial relations and a hugely prolific writer with a focus on trade unionism, labour movements, left-wing politics and music.

For he comes today with his latest book, Marxism in Music, creating a communist contraculture, the Redskins, rock and roll and revolution.

Gregor, thanks so much for being here, brother.

If you remember something there that glided past you Followed close by, heavy breathing Don't be concerned, it will not harm you It's only me pursuing something I'm not sure of Across my dreams, with nets of wonder I chase the bright elusive butterfly of love Nets of wonder I chase the bright elusive Butterfly of love

I was just a little boy You know my one and only joy Was listening to that good old rock and roll Now I just turned 23 And if you want to get a message to me All you gotta do is play me that good old rock and roll They're really rocking in Boston Deep in the heart of Texas And round the fiscal bay Now all over La Jolla And down to New Orleans All the kids wanna dance with The sweet little 16 I'm gonna tell Aunt Mary about Uncle John He said we got the misery but I know it's not Oh, baby, that's not what I like Well, you can knock me down.

You can step on my face, slam my name all over the place.

Do anything that you want to do.

And I'll make love to you, to you.

I'll make love to you.

When I was just a little boy, you know my one and only joy was listening to that good old rockin' And if you want to get a message to me All you gotta do is play that good old rock and roll

And here's something that may catch you a little off guard.

It's alrighty To kiss my face Thank you.

My dudes say I like your style It's the way it should Maybe you'll see Someone is pushed out of me Rock and roll Rockin' on a midnight Steal your soul Rock and roll Rockin' on a midnight Take control For a sweet surprise It's a trick or treat See my face truth in disguise If ever we should meet Maybe you'll see Someone has put a spell on me Rock and roll Rock it on me and I'll steal your soul So let's rock.

Take control.

Take control.

Move my feet and touch my soul.

Play sound, drum, beat, rock and roll.

Just play that music.

I don't care what key it's in, where it's come from, where it's been.

I'll have to go deep.

Oh, let me try this one.

A little rock and roll.

Yeah, let's do it.

Exactly.

And to really understand that new element, you know, rock and roll, we have to look at those raw ingredients he started with.

Right.

Because he looked around and saw Sister Rosetta Tharpe's distorted gospel showmanship, and then he mixed it with Muddy Waters' heavy Chicago blues.

He basically proved a black artist could master the capitalist machinery of that era.

It really makes you think about that John Lennon quote.

He once said, if you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.

Yeah, and that influences exactly why Johnny B. Goode is on that Voyager 1 probe right now, representing humanity's greatest cultural achievements to the rest of the universe.