I’m A Believer!
 But one thing you can be sure of
You know that I’m a believer, in you and me
So I crack the Keith Urban CD and I find out that it’s co-produced by DAN HUFF!
Faces in the hit parade come and go, but talent, it lasts FOREVER!
Giant was the wrong band at the wrong time. An AOR outfit poised to break just as AOR was collapsing and Nirvana was in the wings. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t GOOD!
All I remembered was the brouhaha. During the Pollack Convention of 1990, Giant was supposed to open for Bryan Adams, at a private show on the A&M lot. There was the kind of spread that labels haven’t laid out for years. It was a schmooze-fest galore. And Bryan Adams killed, that’s where he closed me.
And then just about everybody left.
But this was not the way it was supposed to be. Bryan was supposed to close. A&M’s new rock hope, Giant, was supposed to open. But after Bryan exercised his star privilege and insisted on going on first, when Giant closed the show, the tastemakers had moved on to a night of drinking, an evening of debauchery.
And I can’t say that the guys in Giant had charisma, had stage presence. The lead singer, he was working it with all his might. But it just wasn’t translating. Another failed band of studio musicians, looking for their one moment of glory.
But then I heard "I’m A Believer" on the RADIO!
There’s a spot where the Santa Monica Freeway blends into the 405. The 10 into the San Diego. You’re flying high above the ground, it’s like being on a ride in Disneyland, and this guitar started EXPLODING out of the speakers. That song, it was "I’m A Believer".
I’m not sure rock can come back. Not the straight ahead, guitar-based arena sound of yore. People pooh-pooh it, it’s not edgy enough, not innovative enough. But it makes you feel so GOOD!
And now I’ve got a special treat for you boys and girls. Through the magic of the Internet, as a result of high technology, I’m going to let you experience "I’m A Believer", right there at your desk.
Oh, don’t go to the band’s MySpace page. For some reason they don’t have the act’s one killer cut, and the almost as good "Innocent Days". But, THEY DO HAVE A LIVE TAKE OF I’M A BELIEVER!
Oh, give it time. Especially if you’re a girl and not into guitar workouts.
You see for the first minute and a half, Dan Huff gives an axe primer. But this is no improvisation, this is how the RECORD started. This is how the ALBUM started. And after this ninety seconds, the fucking track EXPLODES! If you’ve got those cheap computer speakers, the ones that come free with your Dell, turn the power down, they’re gonna BLOW UP!
Girl, it’s been a while, you’ve lost THAT pretty smile, what happened?
They removed the guitars from the music! They replaced them with TURNTABLES! And those who did play, it was about raw sound, about inexperience more than years of practicing, of TALENT!
Guys like Dan Huff, they saw the Beatles, they experienced Clapton and Hendrix, and then they stayed up all night in their bedrooms perfecting their technique.
And stunningly, their children, your children, they’re playing TOO! Seemingly every kid’s got a guitar and an amp, they want to make that glorious NOISE!
Why isn’t this noise on the radio? Why is what’s on the radio about dancing, about going down to the club and bouncing bodies? Why isn’t it about being possessed, being overjoyed, so motivated by the sound that you’re DANCING IN YOUR SEAT!
That’s what I’m doing now. And this is a LIVE TAKE! Without the perfect comped/auto-tuned vocals. But I can feel the POWER!
You can check out the original at:
the ninety second intro…you know MTV’ed never go for that.
Turn up the sound, for some reason on this video it’s too low.
But the audio’s just fine on the video for "Innocent Days":
Oh, don’t bitch about the images. This was the end of the initial rock video era. Before bands stopped appearing in their OWN clips. When cute boys and girls took their place. When if you weren’t cute you couldn’t even BE on MTV.
I’m not gonna say Giant was ground-breaking, I’m not gonna say your life will end if you never experience "I’m A Believer".
But what I will say is, if you’re a fan of rock, if you listen to these tunes, they’re going to make you feel SO GOOD!
