Tesla takes a stand for, um, Tesla. Nikola Tesla that is..
When I lived in Sacramento in the late 80's, the band Tesla were the definition of local heroes. One of the few artists to make it big from Sac Town, for about five years they were THE band as their music infiltrated every part of Sacramento life. Even in dance clubs, you could hear Little Suzi sandwiched in between Janet Jackson and MC Hammer and no one would miss a beat. It's funny, when I saw them open for Night Ranger in 1987 I had no idea they would become as popular as they did although it was a good show. Had some good times while listening to Tesla, I used to play The Great Radio Controversy tape a lot. That was the band's gimmick, they were standing up for Nikola Tesla as the true inventor of Radio over Guglielmo Marconi. Not that rock fans really cared about this, but it was cool how the group insisted on this theme like they were WWF Wrestlers. They even wrote the song Edison's Medicine about the plight of Nikola Tesla ("They'll sell you on Marconi / Familiar but a phony."). This one's for you Nik!
I've had some reason to think about Sacramento lately and just coincidentally Tesla has released a new album Forever More. Their new song "I Wanna Live" has the sound a lot of classic rock bands are undertaking, slapping a shiny strident modern pop rock chorus on top of their established style. As far as that goes, it's not a bad song and the video with its extreme sports positive messaging is Sacramento the way I remember it. Hot, dry and active. Rock on Tesla!
Tesla "I Wanna Live"
3 comments:
Tesla was not a HUGE thing back here on the East Coast. At least not with the crowds I hung with. But I'm happy to hear about your earlier days, Mr. Mike. Keep em coming. :)
When I think of Tesla, I actually remember our trip up to Ukiah and our drive around Clearlake. I kept thinking, "Wow, I haven't heard Tesla in a long time. They sound great."
Thanks Some Kinda Wonderful!
The Tesla CD did sound really good in Ukiah and Clearlake. Hey!
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