Tune Tag #109 with Matt Thompson of Critical Hit Parader, Pt. 2: Dust, Jethro Tull, Gunhill Road, Rush, The Kinks, Johnny Thunders, Quacky Duck

Today's Tune Tag is wearing corduroy bell bottoms with platform shoes! You got it: We're inhabiting the '70s! Oops, we do have one song from 1968! Hop in...we got ourselves a convoy!🚚

Welcome back, Matt! You’ll find lunch over on the craft service table in the corner…help yourself. Today’s special? Hot dog on a roll.

Welcome back to

Matt Thompson

of Critical Hit Parader!

We last tagged tuneage with Matt two years ago:

Tune Tag #10 with Matt Thompson of "Critical Hit Parader": Rush, ABBA, Zappa, Bowie, Genesis, NIN, Pain of Salvation

Matt Thompson

is the publisher of the Critical Hit Parader newsletter, which covers the intersection of rock music and tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs). He is also a regular panelist on The Contrarians YouTube music channel, and was a contributor to the following books by Martin Popoff:

• Dominance and Submission: The Blue Öyster Cult Canon

• Run with the Wolves: Rainbow on Record

• Judas Priest: Album by Album

Matt records music under the name The MT Promise, and you can get early access to his latest TTRPG project from his Battle of the Bands Patreon page.

Last week, we enjoyed the company of

Kadrian Alvarenga

of

First Pressing

:

Tune Tag #108 with Kadrian Alvarenga of First Pressing, Pt. 2: Fania All-Stars, Mahavishnu, Leonard Nimoy, Jan Hammer, Don Johnson, Paul Weller, Olé!

Next week, we’ll be happy to open the door for

Steve Goldberg

of

Earworms and Song Loops

!

Matt’s song #1 sent to Brad: Dust, “Suicide,” 1972

From such humble beginnings….from dust to Dust, eventual major rock players (l-r) bassist Kenny Aaronson, Marc Bell aka Marky Ramone, and Richie Wise, who with Kenny Kerner, gave KISS their early defining sound on vinyl.

With the song title, YouTube has the video restricted, which makes it unable to be shown here. Click here to view “Suicide” by Dust on YouTube.

Matt’s rationale: To start this Tune Tag, I chose the song “Suicide” by Dust from the album Hard Attack. Released in 1972, it’s an excellent example of early American hard rock. But, the primary reason I chose this track is I wanted to showcase the album cover art.

Frank Frazetta (1928-2010, shown above) is an important figure for many Critical Hit Parader readers because we love masterful fantasy artwork whether it’s on an album cover, paperback novel, tabletop roleplaying game, or the side of a van. The painting on Hard Attack is called Snow Giants, and it was first used as the cover of the paperback Conan of Cimmeria in 1969:

I also thought that this tune would give Brad many possible jumping-off points. Dust included future Ramones drummer, Marc Bell (Marky Ramone), future Kiss producer, Richie Wise on guitar, and future bassist-for-everyone, Kenny Aaronson. I can’t wait to see what direction Brad will go in to drop his extensive music knowledge on us!

Brad’s song #1 sent to Matt: Gunhill Road, “Back When My Hair Was Short,” 1973

Matt’s response: I didn’t recognize the band name and title, but when I clicked the YouTube link, I immediately saw that the song was produced by Kenny Kerner & Richie Wise. Richie was the guitarist for Dust, and Kenny was their producer. I also know that the duo went on to produce the first two Kiss albums.

So, the obvious choice would be to go with a Kiss song from either the debut or Hotter Than Hell. But the song title made me think of “I Think I’m Going Bald” by Rush from their 1975 Caress of Steel album. We can make this a double connection as Rush was opening up for Kiss frequently during this time, and the song was partially inspired by the Kiss song, “Goin’ Blind” from Hotter Than Hell.

Brad’s rationale: One Marc Bell was the drummer for Dust; in fact, this same Marc Bell was in a near-handful of major-label recorded bands even before he changed his name to Marky, and replaced Tommy as The Ramones’ drummer in 1978: Dust in 1972 on Kama Sutra/Buddah Records, Estus in 1973 on Columbia Records, Richard Hell & The Voidoids in 1977 on Sire Records. The following year, he recorded his first album with The Ramones, Road to Ruin, also on Sire.

But, I decided to go in the direction of another iconic New York City-born band, KISS. Also in Dust (and on Matt’s chosen song, “Suicide”) are producers and arrangers for the album, Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise, the latter being Dust’s guitarist and lead singer.