Music 45: Who rocks the music world in Chicago

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	Who rocks the music world in Chicago 1998	BACK
	Nos. 28-36	MUSIC 45 HOME
	28 JIM O'ROURKE	Guitar guru
	An accomplished guitar improviser who has extended the perimeters of tape manipulation and experimental music, O'Rourke is driven to both non-stop work and inventive collaboration. While O'Rourke helped put Dave Grubbs and their Gastr Del Sol fraternity on the worldwide map with his omnivorous musicianship and ebullient charm, he recently walked away from this partnership to pursue a distinctly personal muse. If only for his visionary production work with Krautrock legends Faust, O'Rourke would have greatly endeared himself to the reigning rock/improv cognoscenti. A rabid music fan, his tireless championing of great, non-commercial music has helped to legitimize numerous semi-obscure artists and resulted in fruitful associations with anti-heroes like John Fahey, Mayo Thompson's Red Krayola, Flying Saucer Attack and Tony Conrad. Musically, O'Rourke always pushes the envelope and has consistently topped himself year after year. Greatly respected by his peers, O'Rourke remains a modern avant-garde classicist. TOP NEXT 9
	29 BRAD WOOD PRODUCER	High grade Wood
	Smashing Pumpkins. Liz Phair. Red Red Meat. Veruca Salt. Seam. Hum. More than just a collection of Chicago rock kings and queens (admittedly, there are some deposed rulers in the bunch), these name-droppings, along with the farther-flung likes of Ben Lee, Sunny Day Real Estate and That Dog, are highlights from producer Brad Wood's resume. The much-in-demand man from Idful Studios (a super cool space in Wicker Park) has become an indie- and alt-rock household name, having put his touch (and occasional bass licks) on some of the genre's biggest and/or best-loved records. To this day, true Liz Phair fans mentally link her name with Wood's, thanks to his masterful-some would say mastermind-work on all three Phair records, especially, "Exile In Guyville." That record will forever be held up as a jewelbox of the simple, spare, and in-your-face Idful sound. In his spare time (yeah, right) Wood noodles around on one of his many beloved woodwinds, particularly the sax. TOP NEXT 9
	30 KOKO TAYLOR	Hot Koko
	Koko Taylor has a powerful voice, like one of "those women with Big in front of their names," according to Village Voice critic Robert Christgau. She also integrated the boys club known as Chicago blues. Some of her toughest material, like "Love You Like A Woman," was admittedly male-penned, but Koko is not some producer's toy...she brought a lot of personality to the table when she recorded those sides. When she signed with Alligator Records in the early seventies, she was regarded as a minor player in the history of the legendary Chess dynasty, with an incredible backlog of material, but only one fluke hit single ("Wang Dang Doodle," Top Ten R&B/Top Sixty pop in 1966) to show for it. Blues ladies, in Chicago and elsewhere, were regarded as curiosities, and the idea of a Blue Chicago (the noted Windy City club that mostly books female artists) was in a galaxy far, far away. Alligator head Bruce Iglauer reportedly had his doubts as to whether a female blues vocalist could actually sell. Twenty-three years, seven albums (six Grammy-nominated), two blues clubs bearing her name and umpteen thousand female blues singers later, Taylor's role cannot be denied. TOP NEXT 9
	31 THE JESUS LIZARD	Holy reptile
	Of course they're still making music. And no, despite the rumors, they have not broken up. In fact, this past spring the group unleashed a new record (its tenth) which continues the Lizard's fine tradition of four-letter titles: "Blue" (Capitol Records). A burning continuation of the ongoing saga of angular tech riffs, serrated time signatures, and deep-down soul howl punk rock. Formed in Austin, Texas, from the wreckage of the infamous Scratch Acid, the band's nucleus, frontman David Yow, bassist David Wm. Sims and guitarist Duane Denison (their latest drummer is Jim Kimball) moved to Chicago in 1989 and, in the minds and ears of many, promptly defined what it meant to be Chicago rock band. Renowned for chaotic stage shows which often ended with a naked, wasted and bloody Yow spewing epithets and unidentifiable chunks at a viciously adoring crowd, the band says it has grown up and toned it down. But even if they don't live up to their notoriety anymore, they're still one of the few groups that haven't lost their edge, volume or importance; they're still making music to rile the greasy, tattooed, thinking punk rock boys everywhere. And we're just glad Yow's still alive. TOP NEXT 9
	32 JON LANGFORD	Uber cowboy
	It doesn't seem humanly possible for one man to be involved in so many projects at one time; more telling, it doesn't seem possible for all of them to be so good. But Jon Langford somehow finds enough hours in the day to devote to playing, recording and even touring with the power-punk legends the Mekons, the insurgent country outfit the Waco Brothers, the crash-and-burn eighties noise rock machine Three Johns, the off-the-cuff trad-countrified Pine Valley Cosmonauts, and his Welsh solo project Skull Orchard. He's active as a visual artist, including his weekly cartoon in these pages, Great Pop Things. He also produces his own music as well as that of other bands-and collaborates with other artists, like Alejandro Escovedo and the Old 97s, whom Langford occasionally joins on stage to belt out the single word "asshole" in their song "Going Over The Cliff." "Good work if you can get it, eh?" he chuckles. So what's the secret to his juggling act? Simply taking it one day, one project at a time. And, apparently, working 24 hours a day. Langford, who followed his heart across the Atlantic six years ago, joining his wife, hometown Chicagoan Helen, says there is one musical avenue he won't explore, even though it's one of his loves. "I'm too embarrassed by white boy reggae to ever try it myself. I don't want to ruin it like the Police did." TOP NEXT 9
	33 GREG KOT MUSIC CRITIC, CHICAGO TRIBUNE	Big cat
	In the twenty years since Greg Kot started hammering out pop music reviews for the Quad City Times in Davenport, Iowa, he has established national name recognition within the music biz. As the chief rock critic for the Chicago Tribune, a position he has held since 1990, Kot is the undeniable reigning pop kingmaker in Chi-town. The 41-year-old critic turns up regularly in the pages of Rolling Stone, reviewing concert and current releases, and contributes to a few guitar-noodler publications. He also has worked with Encyclopaedia Britannica and Trouser Press. Wanna see your name in Chicago lights? Learn three chords and become fast friends with Greg Kot. TOP NEXT 9
	34 EDDY "THE CHIEF" CLEARWATER	Headdress blues
	He came north on a Greyhound bus from Birmingham, Alabama, as a starry-eyed 15-year-old kid with a dream to hang out with his heroes. Jimmy Reed. Howlin' Wolf. Muddy Waters. At the time, Eddy Clearwater just wanted to be in and around the scene. Now, 63-years-old, but reportedly feeling 35, Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater is as much a part of that scene as the heroes he once came to see. With twelve albums under his belt and number thirteen coming out next fall (tentatively titled "The Blues Walk") Clearwater shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, this Chicago blues legend, whose picture incidentally graces the cover of Frommer's "Chicago" and Compass American Guides "Chicago," may just be hitting his stride. He's "The Chief," incidently, because of his 1980 album of the same name, the cover of which depicted him on a white horse with Indian headdress for good luck. TOP NEXT 9
	35 THE STAPLE SINGERS	All God's children
	The Staple Singers are living proof that a gospel act can broaden its horizons without looking foolish, but then again the talent of the Staples family is too far-reaching to stay confined to one category. Mavis taught a whole generation of rock and soul singers how to phrase a lyric, and any fan of rockabilly, surf or the blues should pick up on guitarist Pop, who practically made reverberation a work of art. (John Fogerty was wise enough to emulate both.) And when the Staples stopped singing strict gospel, once or twice they even got up the gumption to sing about s-e-x (really, what else could 1975's "Let's Do It Again" be about?). But even then they managed to describe the act without being vulgar. TOP NEXT 9
	36 COMMON	Anything but
	If you believe in judging someone by the company they keep, then Common's The Man just by association. Guest stars on his third and most recent record, "One Day It'll All Make Sense" (Relativity Records), include Erykah Badu, Q-Tip, Lauryn Hill of the Fugees, and De La Soul. But the South Side rapper and former Bulls ballboy has earned both his well-deserved props (see the cover of last December's Rap Pages) and plenty of fans, both famous and otherwise, by rethinking rap. Rather than just copping the best licks from somebody else's hit (wake up and smell the Puffy), Common gives his music a deep and rich historical foundation of soul, jazz, funk and hip-hop. And he raises the roof like nobody's business. TOP NEXT 9
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