Led Zeppelin, "Darlene"

My new roommate is named Darlene. Like any other red-blooded American music fan, my first thought was of Darlene Love, although a look through Margaret Eby's excellent Rock and Roll Baby Names uncovers "Darlene" songs by Slint (which I should've known) and Farewell (whom I'm never heard of). But if you're a metalhead, you most likely associate Darlene with the mighty Led Zeppelin.



Led Zeppelin never wrote a bad song, though this is one of the more obscure ones, recorded for In Through the Out Door but unreleased until 1982's Coda, which is more or less Zeppelin's Let It Be. But if one judges a band by their outtakes, than Zeppelin is one of the best, as "Darlene" shakes, swings and stops with more verve than most bands' hits. It also shows Zeppelin branching out into rockabilly and barrelhouse (that's John Paul Jones on piano) ten years into their career. One of the only complaints I've ever heard about Zeppelin is that they're too structured, which anyone who's heard "D'yer Mak'er" or "Moby Dick" can tell you is ridiculous, but this makes those two sound almost stodgy by comparison. Darlene must've been a hell of a lass.

Nirvana for Virginia Tech

Margaret Eby had a funny piece earlier this summer about a Virginia Tech student who wrote to Sub Pop this year, asking if Nirvana (yes, that Nirvana) would record a message for her school's homecoming week. Check out the article here, and see if anyone looks familiar in the video below.

Metal Baby Names

I'm a big fan of writer Margaret Eby and her new book, Rock and Roll Baby Names: Over 2,000 Music-Inspired Names, from Alison to Ziggy. Any nerd for names, music and/or good writing will be engrossed, and I'm sure that I will be picking up many more copies when my friends start having kids. In honor of Margaret's book, particularly the chapter that starts on page 137, here are 20 of my favorites.

 

1. Trey Azagthoth (Morbid Angel) 
2. Balsac the Jaws of Death (GWAR)  
3. Beefcake the Mighty (GWAR)
4. Igor Cavalera (Sepultura)
5. Glenn Danzig
6. Techno Destructo (GWAR)
7. King Diamond
8. Johan Hegg (Amon Amarth)
9. Jizmak Da Gusha (GWAR)
10. Nils Frykdahl (Sleepytime Gorilla Museum)
11. Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead) 
12. Pepper Keenan (Corrosion of Conformity, Down) 
13. Sleazy P. Martini (GWAR)     
14. Flattus Maximus (GWAR) 
15. Duff McKagan (Guns N' Roses)
16. Ozzy Osbourne
17. Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses)
18. Oderus Urungus (GWAR)
19. Wolfgang Van Halen (Van Halen) 
20. Kaizer Von Loopy (Hanzel und Gretyl)