Music For Dads Part 2: You Can't Tuna Fish
Our continued foray into the 🥭 Dad Rock 🥭 genre 🥭 with fresh selections, air conditioners, 70s lettuce, and a renewed request for Mom Rock
Hey there!
We’re back at it with Part 2 of our foray into the ‘Dad Rock’ genre featuring ‘Dad Rock’ selections from/for good buds, Dads, uncles, and Mums from across the map, as well as a few selections for hypothetical dads completing tasks.
Upon receiving REO Speedwagon’s You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish from my uncle, I decided to find out if there was a deeper meaning behind the Dad joke of an album title. Perhaps a funny tour incident or some hidden facet of the band’s personality adding depth and intrigue. Alas, it is simply a Dad joke:
"When I heard that punchline I thought, 'That sounds like a good album title. It's outside the box, it's wacky. We were definitely thinking outside the box." - hair second from right
Unsurprisingly these lads (and their lettuce) produced some quintessential Dad Rock.
As was evident after Music For Dads Part 1, a Mom Rock edition is needed / desired / beckoning, so if you’ve got a ‘Mom Rock’ track and / or story at the ready send it on over or drop it in the Substack comments down there. As my good bud Sam put it - Mums are the original Dads.
Here’s the playlist, windows down, volume up 🥭🥭🥭
Tune: REO Speedwagon - Roll with the Changes (1970)
Andy (My Uncle): Nothing existential here. Just Dad Rock 101 and this tune’s got it all. This one should have started with “turn it up” a la another Dad Rock classic ‘Sweet Home Alabama’. The louder the better. And it wasn’t cool to listen to REO, EVEN back then. But this band had Garry Richrath, guitarist extraordinaire. He should have left when REO got hijacked around album five by Kevin Cronin, a kind of Darryl Hall without the soul.
This song is fantastic from the minute his guitar takes over. The dude always kept this band in Dad Rock territory instead of easy listening purgatory - where they finally ended up. Probably why he hit the bottle and died early; couldn’t take any more double bills with Styx. He should have moved to LA in the early 90s and been the guitarist next to Slash.
Tune: Fleetwood Mac - The Green Manalishi (1969)
Sam: When I was 15 I got into vinyl in a big way. At the record store in my hometown, you could pick up 3 records for the price of a CD - I was hooked. Whilst I was raiding the attic one day in search of my parent’s record collections, we discovered my Mum’s copy of (Peter Green’s) Fleetwood Mac on vinyl. For those not aware of the pre-Rumours era - this is a very different beast.
The first track is ‘Green Manalishi’. I could not believe my ears. A dark, moody psychedelic-blues-rock-ripper about just how weird taking heroin is. In a word. Rad. Mums are the original Dads.
Tune: Don Henley - Dirty Laundry (2024)
Katie: You can’t not bop your head while this plays. It echoes from your Dad’s garage while he’s taking apart the air conditioning unit for the 4th time.
Tune: Van Morrison - Into The Mystic (1970)
Jack: Noteworthy Dad Rock that stands out in my memories is nearly anything from Van Morrison's 1970 Moondance album, specifically the track ‘Into the Mystic’. I can vividly picture this song's ridiculous bass and brass playing in my childhood home and the vocals still never fail to impress.
Album: David Gray - White Ladder (1998)
Rachel: My Dad is an absolute creature of habit and will listen to one album incessantly until he finds a new fav. For the formative years of our childhood, it was most certainly David Gray - White Ladder. The whole album is a banger, but ‘Please Forgive Me’ is a low-key, low-tempo sleeper hit. ‘Babylon’ slaps pretty hard as well!
‘You Get What You Give’ by The New Radicals is another personal fav Dad Rock song that gets me hyped AF. If you’re getting ready to go out on a Friday night, I promise this one will get you jazzed and ready to rock. Also a great late-night sing-along for when you’re nice and toasty.
Tune: Japan - Ghosts (2003)
Oscar: Because we are going to become ghosts and music will be there for us to feel the Earth again. Another band from David Sylvian, frequent collaborator with the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Robert Fripp, and Holger Czukay. Just rediscovered it this past week at Rough Trade here in Berlin.
Tune: U2 - I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (1987)
Don (My Dad): Since U2 burst on the scene with the video Under the Blood Red Sky from Red Rocks, I had to see them live and have seen every tour since 1983. You never knew what risky move or vocal acrobatics you would get from Bono and you were amazed at the sound that Power trio would put out behind him. The Edge always amazed. Their worldwide breakout was Joshua Tree in 1987 but they became Superstars with Achtung Baby in 1991, which they are now taking to full effect at the Sphere 30 years later. It is Dad Rock because I got married and became a father during this window.
So the two classic songs that come from these albums are great because they mix the concept of romantic love with the searching and uncertainty of young adulthood. The songs are ‘I Still Haven't Found What I’m Looking For’ and ‘One’. This is Dad Rock that can trace its roots to the ‘70s of The Who and Led Zepellin and the early ‘80s of Bruce Springsteen.
Tune: Crowded House - Four Seasons In One Day (1991)
Alessandro: Crowded House always takes me back to road trips up and down the East Coast of Australia as a kid, through rainforests to sunsets over rolling hills. My Dad had a particular affinity to this track so it resonates deeply with me and these experiences.
Tune: Exile - Kiss You All Over (1978)
Matt: Ironically, my own Dad hates this song – preferring the more technically impressive and showy talents of prog-rockers like RUSH, Led Zeppelin and Yes. This track however will always remind me of awkwardly watching this particularly iconic scene from Happy Gilmore with my dad. A constant earworm track in recent years after hearing this extended remix in the NTS Radio Jiro - Soft Roft Special.
Tune: Joe Walsh - Life’s Been Good (1978)
Katie: Both a classic and a staple in any Dad Rock collection. Joe Walsh is a Dad Rock icon, he’s on any Dad Rock playlist multiple times with multiple bands and you wouldn’t even realize it.
Tune: Pink Floyd - One Of These Days (1971)
Nick: My Dad and I are both incredibly injury-prone, particularly when handling sharp objects, as my Dad has sliced off the tips of various fingers at parties to the point that he should wear gloves when cooking (which he doesn’t). Throughout my life, whenever we’ve been with each other in a semi-dangerous environment or wielding a semi-dangerous utensil, such as a knife or, as you can likely guess by now, an axe (camping), there is a common refrain - Careful With That Axe, Eugene - usually followed by ‘I got it’. Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t.
When we had successfully maneuvered these moments, or when we were generally just enjoying ourselves, the refrain would be this.
This album, as well as Live at Pompeii, always ignite those moments in memory.
🥭 Here’s a Spotify playlist that has a taste of everything mentioned 🥭
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See ya in a couple weeks for NL13 with another good bud!
Nick
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