Frey came up with a cinematic scenario of a person who, tired from driving a long distance in a desert, saw a place for a rest and pulled in for the night, but entered “a weird world peopled by freaky characters”, and became "quickly spooked by the claustrophobic feeling of being caught in a disturbing web from which he may never escape.
Voted Orquesta del Desierto because I’m a Josh Homme fanboy. Kyuss was all kinds of awesome. QOTSA is great too. Mostly anything he’s involved with is solid.
I admit it. I love Sleepwalk; I used to dance the stroll to it (don’t ask, and yes, I’m that old). I just can’t figure out what it has to do with the desert (or dessert, either).
No Calexico? Found out about them and Tinariwen at the same time because of some newspaper article. (Prolly this one.)
Some might say U2’s The Joshua Tree qualifies only as desert tourist rock, but I’ve only been a desert tourist myself so I’ll always associate it with my travels in the Southwest.
I just happened to remember that this lacks that most important of desert songs, Ahab the Arab. (I should point out that this is an “updated” version, but more pleasant to listen to, and fun to watch.)
@2many2no Band member Robby Krieger has said it was inspired by “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend” performed by Burl Ives (Ives recorded two versions in the 60’s, no one has ever said which one was the inspiration).
Spent 3 years in Korea, never stationed in Seoul but spent some time there.
The bar district frequented by the troops was called Hooker Hill. You can guess why.
District had a midnight curfew, but if you paid off the cops, you could stay open all night. Thing was, the doors were shut at midnight. So no one else could come in, and those in couldn’t leave until 3:00 or so.
Bar at the top of the hill in the early '90s, right after the '88 Olympics, was called Stompers. Knew the owner well. One of my buddies bartended there. Guy was totally into black market, buying shit at the PX and selling it to the locals. So Stompers had the only video-disk player. And he had two disks. A Cure concert, and some weird Doors collection that I’ve never ever seen again. About half the songs were played over desert scenes.
This was the exact same time as the Stone Doors movie came out. So possible the theme was inspired by the movie. But equally likely it wasn’t.
Hotel California. No contest.
“On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair”
Frey came up with a cinematic scenario of a person who, tired from driving a long distance in a desert, saw a place for a rest and pulled in for the night, but entered “a weird world peopled by freaky characters”, and became "quickly spooked by the claustrophobic feeling of being caught in a disturbing web from which he may never escape.
@Pavlov Thank you! I was looking for this option
Boo you missed the best one, “Tea in the Sahara”, by The Police.
Cause c’mon what better way to keep your tea warm than what you are selling today.
There wasn’t a forum answer option, but can I raise A Horse with No Name by America? That was my first thought. But does it fit in this genre?
@ninjaemilee
Yes it does.
And that’s what I’m riding when I attack Hotel California. Sack and destroy.
/giphy horse with no name
/youtube throwrag swingset superman
Voted Orquesta del Desierto because I’m a Josh Homme fanboy. Kyuss was all kinds of awesome. QOTSA is great too. Mostly anything he’s involved with is solid.
Desert songs? What do any of these have to do with pie, ice cream, or tiramisu?
I admit it. I love Sleepwalk; I used to dance the stroll to it (don’t ask, and yes, I’m that old). I just can’t figure out what it has to do with the desert (or dessert, either).
Bitch, Please.
@droopus
/giphy horse ain’t no bitch
/giphy bitch please
UGH, You guys forgot Arizona rockers The Refreshments song about robbing a bank and hiding in a desert.
@jmendenhall Ahh… beat me to it…
Voted ‘Asleep in the Desert’, but ‘Sleepwalk’ and ‘Swimming Ground’ aren’t far behind
Two other potential songs (although “rock” is a stretch.)
@jmendenhall I loved El Paso ever since I was a little girl. My favorite version was done by The Brothers Four. Loved their harmonies.
One little kiss and Felina, goodbye
No Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers/Refreshments?
No Calexico? Found out about them and Tinariwen at the same time because of some newspaper article. (Prolly this one.)
Some might say U2’s The Joshua Tree qualifies only as desert tourist rock, but I’ve only been a desert tourist myself so I’ll always associate it with my travels in the Southwest.
Kinda partial to The Shadows version of SleepwalkTheShadows
Other deserty tunes: The Bangles Walk Like An Egyptian and the silly Midnight At The Oasis SendYourCamelToBed
Surely Metallica’s “Disappear” should’ve been the first option
I just happened to remember that this lacks that most important of desert songs, Ahab the Arab. (I should point out that this is an “updated” version, but more pleasant to listen to, and fun to watch.)
@Shrdlu OMG my cousins and I spent hours listening to his greatest hits and giggling. Love this song!!
Seems like ‘Horse with No Name’ should be on the list.
@HorseyB https://meh.com/forum/topics/which-of-these-desert-rock-songs-is-your-favorite#57c26bea63f870200b3d5270
I don’t really know why, but this song evokes the desert for me.
@2many2no Band member Robby Krieger has said it was inspired by “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend” performed by Burl Ives (Ives recorded two versions in the 60’s, no one has ever said which one was the inspiration).
@2many2no
Spent 3 years in Korea, never stationed in Seoul but spent some time there.
The bar district frequented by the troops was called Hooker Hill. You can guess why.
District had a midnight curfew, but if you paid off the cops, you could stay open all night. Thing was, the doors were shut at midnight. So no one else could come in, and those in couldn’t leave until 3:00 or so.
Bar at the top of the hill in the early '90s, right after the '88 Olympics, was called Stompers. Knew the owner well. One of my buddies bartended there. Guy was totally into black market, buying shit at the PX and selling it to the locals. So Stompers had the only video-disk player. And he had two disks. A Cure concert, and some weird Doors collection that I’ve never ever seen again. About half the songs were played over desert scenes.
This was the exact same time as the Stone Doors movie came out. So possible the theme was inspired by the movie. But equally likely it wasn’t.
Long way of saying you’re on to something.
For what it’s worth … remember the fairly recent HBO remix of The Godfather, splicing up 1 and 2 into chronological order?
Saw that in Korea in '91. Only they got their hands on outtakes and the damn thing was 8 hours long.
@MehnofLaMehncha
I saw the splice like forever ago. Decades? On cable someplace? But no 8 hours.
Coppola was kinda insane then, but I would have done the 8 hours.
Sleepwalk was so dreamy to slow dance. A huge fav for the boomers.