I'm calling it now: the Phil Collins revival, which has already begun, is about to come full swing. I even saw a friend's band, The XYZ Affair perform a rousing rendition of Take Me Home not too long ago. Among an impressive catalogue of hits, it's an exceptional one… though it's also only fair to mention Easy Lover as well.
Songs »Take Me Home
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Songs »So Easy, Blue on Blue, and Mr Lonely
Electronic music is not the most familiar genre to me (compared to say, obscure love ballads from the 50's), and it's the inclusion of a sample of the great, dreamy Bobby Vinton (of Blue Velvet fame) song that drew me to the Royksopp song, So Easy in the first place.
So you can actually count this as a double entry, because after raving, taking “e” and playing in a field, or any other activity that accompanies electronic music, you should listen to the original Vinton song, Blue on Blue.
And while we're on a roll, check out the equally great Vinton single, Mr. Lonely.
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Posted on May 4, 2009
Songs »Deamon Lover
Known primarily (if at all) for their hit Venus, a song that certainly colored my early years when it was covered by Bananarama, Shocking Blue was a groovy Dutch band made up of good looking kids that were slightly more popular in Europe.
While Venus is great, I'm more drawn to the less commercially successful track Deamon Lover from the album Scorpio's Dance. A moody song with a witchy heart accompanied by kind of surfy mesmerizing guitar.
Plus, it shares its title with Jim's favorite movie about corporate espionage in the porn video game industry.
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Posted on April 27, 2009
Songs »Big Yellow Taxi
Joni Mitchell, universally lauded for her impact and song-writing, is kind of an acquired taste. Thanks to extremely poignant and relevant environmental lyrics and the beautiful refrain, “Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you got till it's gone” (which was oddly sampled by Janet without any regard to the original meaning), Big Yellow Taxi is one of Mitchell's most popular and accessible songs.
Even reluctant listeners, like my friend Mike you used to torment the little hippy girls in high school by singing, “I wanna shampoo your haaaaaiiir” in a mocking falsetto would have to admit that this song has a lasting and pretty ring to it.
Written during a trip to Hawaii when Joni, “…took a taxi to the hotel and when I woke up the next morning, I threw back the curtains and saw these beautiful green mountains in the distance. Then, I looked down and there was a parking lot as far as the eye could see, and it broke my heart… this blight on paradise.”
See more: Songs 1970s Earth Day Folk Pop
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Posted on April 20, 2009
Songs »Searching For My Love (1966)
Bobby Moore and the Rhythm Aces' Searching for My Love, which was released on Chicago's famous Chess Records label in '66 was the band's (who were part of the Alabama R&B club scene) only major hit – but it is a great one. Soulful and infectious, the song has features the gritty voice of Chico Jenkins.
Once a big hit, the song seems almost forgotten, with even allmusic left with little to say about the one hit wonder band. Huey Lewis agrees with me that it shouldn't be forgotten and covered the song in 1994, but sadly by then he was kind of forgotten too.
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Posted on April 13, 2009
Songs »Sugar Man
I can not, for the life of me, figure out why Sugarman, the amazing 1970 song by little-known Rodriguez, never became a smash hit here in the USA. It's like a long lost dreamily upbeat Donovan track, minus the chilling goofiness of Mellow Yellow but imbued with the naughtiness of the Codeine's derided subject matter; it seems, to me, to be an ode to the pleasures of drug-taking.
Now considered a “cult” classic rock song, Sugarman is a huge hit in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Propelled by its recent appearance as a sample in a song by someone called “Nas” that you kids are all into these days, maybe this spectacularly catchy song will finally catch on and reach wide American audience, inspiring them to swing their shoulders like a hippies and let the sound carry them away.
Originally a Motown singer, Rodriguez came Icarianly close to stardom but lost it all with a bunk record company then went on to to shed his musical roots, living quietly and eventually making a run for local office in Detroit.
While I'm sure he's a well rounded man who's enjoyed his life and recent re-discovery, I can't help but feel sad about all the music he could have made if he'd stuck with it through the years. Though, just ask the Rolling Stones what the last good song they recorded was (answer: none)… Maybe we should just count our blessings that we're left with this singular and underplayed gem.
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Posted on April 6, 2009
Songs »Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under
Shania basically represents everything that I find unholy about the direction of modern country music. I like my pop music in my pop music but when it comes to twangy heartbreak I like it old timey Loretta Lynn style and nearly faint with grouchiness at the thought of modern country.
Still, there’s no point in denying that her big haired first big hit just gets me right in the gut and before I know it, I’m singing it all day long to the frustration of those around me.
In the video she’s a tarty waitress who spends more time flirting with the town’s sons, dads, and grandpas in a totally inappropriate work dress. On the cover of the single, wow, she seems to have taken some cues from Silk Stalkings and gone double breasted and somehow, inexplicably jump suit at the same time. This is pretty much a poster child for how the latest trend can go horribly wrong. Just look at the length of that crotch.
The song was written together with her then husband Mutt Lange who is legendary in the business for his hit making producing of AC/DC, Def Leppard, and Foreigner.
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Posted on March 30, 2009
Songs »You Give Good Love (and More)
After recommending her aunt's greatest hit last week, I was going to recommend Whitney's Whitney Houston album this week, but after spending time with it, all the filler just drags it down. On the other hand, her hits from the album are fantastic and choosing just one was a chore.
Depending on your mood each hit can get you right in your heart. If you're feeling like a home wrecker with off the shoulder dresses and headbands then Saving All My Love For You is your song.
If however, like me you have fond, fond memories of birthay parties at mall spin art shops and long to put a big bow in your hair (oh, God, yes I do, as soon as winter hats are no longer required) then saddle up to How Will I Know.
If you need a sense of pride and get sentimental over the children's laughter, you know where to go.
But today I happen to be in a getting Galmour Shots in hot pink spandex mood, so today I recommend You Give Good Love.
Also, it's just kind of nice to see and hear Whitney in such better mental shape.
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Posted on March 23, 2009
Songs »Walk on By
Man, did Dionne Warwick have a lot of hits! According to Billboard she “is second only to Aretha Franklin as the female vocalist with the most Billboard Hot 100 chart hits during the rock era”. Sadly, those of us in my generation will probably only remember her as someone with psychic friends or the auntie who tried to host an intervention for Whitney; those younger than me might not remember her at all – not that she minds, retired as she in on the shores of Brazil, enjoying the fruits of her labor.
Still, her hit song Walk on By is a phenomenal one and one unlikely to be forgotten by those who have nodded their heads to it. I certainly haven't been able to get it out of my head since I heard it blaring from a tape deck in a flea market in London. Sure, I've heard it countless times before, but sometimes a familiar song surprises you one day, like back in junior high when a boy you'd known forever suddenly appears in gym class and you realize that he's totally cute.
Walk on By was one of many of Warwick's collaborations with the great Burt Bacharach and it spawned many, many covers. Isaac Hayes's 1969 version is a stand out for sure, but the original is still the best and the most true sounding to Hal David's bittersweet lyrics.
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Posted on March 16, 2009
Songs »Rock ‘N’ Roll parts 1 and 2
We can start this discussion by all agreeing that Gary Glitter is a very bad man. Last that I heard, he was going to be executed by the Vietnamese government — but I get information wrong all the time and this time was no different, it turns out that he spent three years in jail and paid five million dollars to the families of his victims. Now that that's cleared up, we can move on to that other thing he most famous for: the stadium anthem, the heart pounding fist pumper, Rock and Roll parts 1 and 2.
Part 2 you know well, at least you know it well if you've ever been to a sports game or seen one on TV, or are a fan of D2: The Mighty Ducks. It's the kind of song that electrifies crowds but there's also something curious about the layering of the sounds, something that's prompted me to listen to this more and more on my recent subway rides without a thought of hockey goals in my head.
Despite his personal defects (and if you feel bad enjoying his music, it might make you feel better to know to profits go towards his victims), this is a really interesting and awesome and weird piece of music. And don't ignore Part 1! Everyone forgets that there really is a Part 1; it gets very little radio play, but I must have listened to it often as a kid because I remember singing/screaming, “Doctor Whoooo, hey Dr Who?quot; to the tune, possibly to torment my sister, who hated watching the sci fi show so much, she'd take a break outside when I watched it.