J. Roddy Walston And The Business’ residency at the North Star Bar

Baltimore rockers J. Roddy Walston And The Business begin the last two weeks of their month-long Philly residency at the North Star Bar tomorrow night (Thursday, May 5th). We asked J. Roddy to tell us about some of his favorite bands and songs by sending us some videos and some commentary.

1) Little Richard, “Lucille”: Where it all began: Rock, punk, and white people trying to dance to rhythm-based music. Little Richard is the epicenter of everything. Watch the video here.

2) Sam & Dave, “Soothe Me”: It’s said that after this tour, Otis Redding refused to play after “Double Dynamite” ever again, because the crowds were simply exhausted by the time they were through with them. Who can blame him? They’re incendiary on stage, playing off each other like no one that came before them, and egging each other closer to the edge through the show. There’s a DVD that collects a bunch of footage of them in their prime.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55yCPWdIz84

3) The Replacements, “Goddamn Job And Junior’s Got A Gun”: The ‘Mats were resolutely themselves, which is why they still sound so fresh almost 30 years later. This would be bracing if it came out tomorrow. They’ve become legendary for their drunken hijinks, but hopefully that won’t permanently obscure how incredible of a band they were. Even in a drunken haze, they were better than just about anyone else.

4) Leon Russell, “A Song for You”: What in the hell’s going on here? Just a intimate glimpse of Leon’s gloriously ragged beauty coursing over one of the All-Time Great Torch Songs…while he models his “Hipster Robin” get-up and some folks make pancakes. Naturally. Leon is a old soul in an old soul’s body.

5) Van Halen, “Unchained”: As “dumb” as they might seem, all their best singles feel like four-minute raging house parties that are still going on to this day. It’s a much harder feat then it seems. (See: Van Hagar)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P1d8BVvY-I

J. Roddy Walston And The Business performs with Toy Soldiers and The Features at the North Star Bar Thursday, May 5th, and with These United States and T.J. Kong And The Atomic Bomb Thursday, May 12th; tickets to the 21+ shows are $10.