JB's Warehouse Music Annex

D-E-A-D

2007-09-04T11:28:00.001-04:00

This site is no more. Please move along. For fresh posting, check out JB's Warehouse and Curio Emporium.

193: Closing Time

2007-03-11T21:47:00.000-04:00

Closing Time - Leonard Cohen
from album THE FUTURE (Columbia 1992)

With this post, the Music Annex shuts down. I admit it: I haven't spent much time on this site for the past year, not enough to justify shelling out for new FTP access to replace what I lost awhile back. The video clips plan hit a brick wall when it seemed every other clip I was ready to spotlight was deleted.

In short, the thrill is gone, babe.

In retrospect, I should have given this site a decent Viking funeral earlier, when my postings fell off the rails. C'est la vie.

Not that I'm abandoning writing the odd entry about music...those will appear over my main site, JB's Warehouse and Curio Emporium - I've already moved over the links to other fine, fine music sites.

For the final selection on this site, I think the most appropriate tune comes from Mr. Leonard Cohen...

As for this space, who knows? I may turn it into something completely different. I may come back in a year. I may let it sit as an internet ghost. Watch it, this site will probably continue to gather more hits in hibernation than my main one.

Life's weird that way. - JB

192: Don't Tell Me I've Nothing To Do

2007-02-11T20:39:00.000-05:00

Flowers on the Wall - The Statler Brothers
Columbia single, 1965
Clip: THE PORTER WAGONER SHOW, c. 1967

Today's pick is a tune I remember hearing occasionally on country radio growing up (when they dug into the vaults), then got a shot in the arm when Quentin Tarantino used it for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.

The Statler Brothers began as a teenage gospel group in the mid-1950s. Originally the Kingsmen, they changed their name in the early 60s, with their new name derived from a Kleenex rival. Around 1964 they began touring with Johnny Cash and were soon signed to his label, Columbia. Their gospel roots and association with the Man in Black may account for their appearance in this clip, far more toned down that the nudie suits and other wild ensembles seem on country performers around this time (the source did not include a date for this clip - TV.com claims it's from 1967).

The Porter Wagoner Show enjoyed a 20-year syndicated run (1960-79). 1967 was a transitional year for the show, as Dolly Parton replaced Norma Jean as the main female singer. Parton remained associated with Wagoner on TV and records through 1974 - their professional split inspiring the writing of I Will Always Love You.

Alas, haven't found any video clips of Porter warbling Rubber Room yet... - JB

190: Swaying Away

2007-01-12T15:36:00.000-05:00

Over the holidays, I received or bought a mixed bag of DVD box sets, ranging from 30s tough guy flicks to 50s film noirs, pre-Production Code horror movies to classic Looney Tunes. When my sister and I were struck down with a nasty bug during the dawning days of 2007 (be glad you're being spared the gruesome details), we alternated watching season 4 of Kids in the Hall and the second volume of old episodes of The Electric Company.

From the latter, originally aired in November 1972, it's The Sweet Sweet Sway:

Notes:
* Yes, that is Morgan Freeman as the groovy DJ introducing today's toetapper.
* The song was written by Joe Raposo, who's usually associated with another Children's Television Workshop show, Sesame Street. Among his best known compositions: Bein' Green, C Is For Cookie, Doin' The Pigeon and Sing.
* The lead singer is Denise Nickerson, best known as the human blueberry in the previous year's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. - JB

188: Warehouse Musical Theatre: Brasilfest 3

2006-11-23T10:03:00.000-05:00

Cleaning up a few items that have been hanging around...aka unused files I slipped into my Blogspot FTP site before I lost access. I have at least one more batch of MP3s to use up...think 60s Detroit and a performer who didn't make it big until the mid-70s.

Today's video clip comes from a 1967 song festival. Note Gil's cheeriness, even though the song is about two rivals having it out. - JB

187: Inspired by What Happened at the Tallahatchie Bridge?

2006-10-18T15:37:00.000-04:00

Cross-posted at my other site.

I should know to stick to back roads.

Driving down to Montreal last Friday was an exercise in frustration whenever my wheels touched 401. Numerous construction zones, inexplicable traffic jams, much like recent travels along 401 from Toronto to Windsor. I thought I'd mix freeway and backroad travel, but should have stuck entirely to the latter.

Especially when odd discoveries were made.

After filling up in Napanee, I headed along county roads to the north of 401, an area I'd never been through before. Among the towns I passed through was Yarker, northwest of Kingston. At the town's main intersection, I saw a bridge ahead of me and decided to check out the view from it.

The name of the street next to the bridge caused me to do a double-take.

Choctaw Ridge...next to a bridge...cue the record player in my head. The only thing missing was a sign indicating this was the Tallahachie Bridge (I didn't see any signs namimg it).

Views from the bridge, showing off fall colours. Any local version of Billie Joe would appear to have a painful landing.

Carvings next to the bridge. It was soon time to move on, driving peacefully until I hit a traffic jam along Hwy 2 in Kingston.

***

Here's Bobbie Gentry, performing Ode to Billie Joe on the Smothers Brothers show in 1967 (it's the second tune - Niki Hoeky is up first).

As an added bonus feature attraction, we present Roland Kirk from the same year, performing in Prague. - JB

Mah-Na-Mah-Nahing

2006-09-19T23:38:00.000-04:00

Mah-Na-Mah-Na - Piero Umiliani
Ariel single, 1969

Mahna, Mahna - Mahna Mahna and the Two Snowths
from album THE MUPPET SHOW (Arista 1978)

This week, another musical mystery solved.

When my sister was in university, she taped a German Sesame Street album off of one of her residence mates, Sesamstrasse. One of the tracks included was a version of Mahna, Mahna that sounded anemic compared to the version we grew up with from The Muppet Show. We chalked it up to the German voiceover artists lacking soul.

Then, while surfing on YouTube earlier this week, I stumbled upon this clip from the first season of Sesame Street...and I gained a new perspective on the German version...

I don't recall seeing this version, so I figure it was placed in the discard bin next to the orange version of Oscar the Grouch and the pinhead Big Bird. It feels like a dry run for what Jim Henson & company did to the tune later on - Henson's vocal isn't as manic, the backup singers less energetic, the pacing slower.

The song's origins couldn't be any further from children's television. Written by Italian composer Piero Umiliani in 1968, Mah-Na-Mah-Na (as it was originally spelled) made its debut in soft-core documentary, Svezia, Inferno e Paradiso (Sweden, Heaven and Hell). It was released as a single and climbed into the Billboard Top 100 in fall 1969. The B-side? You Tried to Warn Me.

While I can't find any clips from Sweden, Heaven and Hell, I can show you an odd use of the Umiliani version from a 1980s NYC-area cable access show, Stairway to Stardom. The "performer" is a rubbery-limbed comedian named Don Costello, who made several appearances on the show (the sight of this guy in drag as "Ms. Bosoms" is nightmare-inducing).

Sharpeworld features a radio feature about the show, plus a link to many clips of performers giving it their all. Trust me, your jaws will drop. The Village Voice recently featured an article about the show's rediscovery. There are DVDs floating around out there, having rented a couple from Toronto's finer video emporiums.

I'll end with a clip that may look familiar...despite the accidental identification of the lead singer as Animal (I asked Animal in a phone interview what he thought of the song and all he could say was "WOMAN! WOMAN!")

Jim Henson, we miss you. - JB

I Went to London And All I Brought Back Was A Dozen CDs (Part 2)

2006-08-16T23:17:00.000-04:00

Batida Diferente - Sergio Mendes
from album THE SWINGER FROM RIO (Atlantic 1965)

After The Fox - The Hollies and Peter Sellers
from album AFTER THE FOX (United Artists 1966), on this trip, from album GREATEST COMEDY CUTS (EMI 2004)

The Big Hurt - Scott Walker
from album SCOTT (Philips 1967)

Victoria - The Kinks
from album ARTHUR OR THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE (Pye 1969)

Midnight Confessions - Phyllis Dillon
Trojan single, 1971, on this trip, from album LOVE IS ALL I HAD (Trojan 2004)

Top Top - Os Mutantes
from album JARDIM ELECTRICO (Polydor 1971)

Clear Spot - Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
from album CLEAR SPOT (Reprise 1972)

Tomorrow Is A Long Time - Sandy Denny
from album SANDY (Island 1972)

She Cries Your Name - Beth Orton
from album TRAILER PARK (Heavenly 1996)

Round two of selections from discs I brought back from London two months ago (yeah, this summer has flown by in a hurry...it feels like two weeks ago).

The odd thing about this trip was that I brought back far more music than when I lived there for four months. Several factors play into this:

* Prices at the major chains dropped dramatically in the past decade
* A greater awareness of material that isn't readily available in North America at budget prices or at all (examples: The Party soundtrack, Sandie Shaw)
* I hadn't gone on a disc-buying binge in eons
* Albums at the back of my mind stared me in the face

I had also started my transition from tape to CD in '97 (the only CD I really bought, outside of bargain Blue Note samplers, was Captain Beefheart's Safe as Milk). Mostly worn tapes which literally were from the 70s came back from that stay - a Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac's Greatest Hits, a Meters compilation on Island, Elvis Costello's Out of Our Idiot, etc.

The toll on this year's trip could have been higher if I had gone for more Sony twofer sets, which averaged 5-6 pounds a shot. The only one I ended up with was a pairing of Beth Orton's Trailer Park and Central Reservation...which was my sole purchase of anything recorded after the 70s.

Had to consider baggage weight, after all.

No used purchases this time around - didn't make a point of seeking out stores, and those I came across either had weak selection, prices on par with new copies at the majors or prices higher than North America. Deep digging required another week.

My old stomping grounds, Camden Town, has gained a couple of chain stores. Virgin set up shop close to the tube station, while a branch of Fopp (pictured above) was next to the canal. I fell in love with Fopp quickly - I'd say 50% of my purchases came from their 5-6 pound shelves. It was difficult to put material back on the shelf (most sacrifices were 60s Atlantic jazz reissues). Their book prices weren't shabby either, even if I had many of the ultra-bargain titles.

The rest of my finds came at the giant central megastores - HMV on Oxford St (the basement, featuring most of the non-rock sections, was deadly to my pocketbook) and Virgin (formerly Tower) at Piccadilly Circus. Great places to browse slowly when your batteries are running low after a day of walking...even if they are the big boys.

* * *

Brief notes about the music: The Mendes track comes from an early US session, which featured Antonio Carlos Jobim, Phil Woods, Art Farmer and Hubert Laws (though only the latter two are on the track included). Peter Sellers and the Hollies teamed up for the title track to Sellers' 1966 movie, which featured a Burt Bacharach score. Scott Walker's track is from his first solo album, full of covers including Toni Fisher's mid-50s hit (the original was one of the first examples of phasing effects on record). The Kinks were allowed to tour the US again around the time Victoria came out, which also led off a concept album about dillusionment with Britain and moving to Australia.

Virgin had a sale on Trojan reggae compilations, out of which I grabbed a Phyllis Dillon compilation, heard here covering the Grass Roots' 1968 hit. Lots of Tropicalia-era material on sale too, including most of Os Mutantes's catalogue. Clear Spot was Captain Beefheart's final album for Warner/Reprise, and hinted at his attempts to sound slightly more mainstream in the mid-70s (producer Ted Templeman would be best known for producing David Lee Roth-era Van Halen). From Sandy Denny's self-titled '72 album, picked a Bob Dylan cover, featuring Linda Thompson on backup vocals. - JB

I Went to London And All I Brought Back Was A Dozen CDs (Part 1)

2006-07-14T09:59:00.000-04:00

At The Ball, That's All - The Avalon Boys
appeared in film WAY OUT WEST (Hal Roach-MGM 1937)
from album EMI COMEDY: LAUREL & HARDY (EMI 2000)

Football Results - Michael Bentine
from album IT'S A SQUARE WORLD! (Parlophone 1962); on this trip, it came from EMI COMEDY: CLASSIC BRITISH COMEDY (EMI 2000)

Baby Elephant Walk - Quincy Jones
from album QUINCY JONES EXPLORES THE WORLD OF HENRY MANCINI (Mercury 1964); on this trip, it came from STRIKE UP THE BAND (Verve 1988)

Birdie Num-Nums - Henry Mancini
from album THE PARTY (RCA Victor 1968)

Chromophone Band - Brian Hodgson
appeared on DOCTOR WHO story THE MACRA TERROR (1967)
from album DOCTOR WHO AT THE BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP VOLUME 1: THE EARLY YEARS 1963-1969 (BBC 2000)

The Rain, The Park and Other Things - Rogerio Duprat with Os Mutantes
from album A BANDA TROPICALISTA DO DUPRAT (Philips 1968)

Million Dollar Bash - Fairport Convention
from album UNHALFBRICKING (Island 1969)

Mama Roux - Sandie Shaw
from album REVIEWING THE SITUATION (Pye 1969)

...almost. CDs, curry sauce and chocolate.

The full story about where I bought these discs will be in part two. For now, let's dive into the music...

One of the first books I clearly remember my father encouraging me to pick up at the many library book sales I went to as a kid was The Films of Laurel and Hardy. Even though I've never managed to see much of their output (it was usually their later, weaker films for 20th Century Fox in the 40s that usually made it to the closest TV screen), I've always been interested in them because of that book.

The EMI Comedy disc culls scenes from their films for producer Hal Roach in the 1930s, mixed in with songs. The disc begins with one of Roach's unsuccessful experiments when his studio switched to sound - opening credits spoken by two girls. My pick comes from their 1937 trek Way Out West...for which YouTube comes to the rescue.

Unfortunately, the only clip I could find is colourized. Please set your screen to black and white while watching. Useless trivia: the yodelling member of the Avalon Boys, seated on the bottom right, is Chill Wills, later known as the voice of Francis, the Talking Mule (a 1950s movie series that inspired Mr. Ed).

Of the other musical numbers in Way Out West, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine resurfaced as a novelty hit in the UK in the early 1970s.

***

I suppose I should have posted the Michael Bentine track while the World Cup was still on. Note the building hysteria of the announcer. I have seen copies of this sketch floating around the web that were misattributed to the Goons, understandable as Bentine appeared on the early seasons of their radio show. Can't say I've ever seen any clips of It's A Square World. Later on, he starred in a children's show, Michael Bentine's Potty Time.

The disc this was culled from also includes several tracks previously featured on this site (Bernard Bresslaw's You Need Feet and Bernard Cribbins' Right Said Fred), along with tracks by Dudley Moore & Peter Cook, David Frost, Morecombe & Wise and Kenneth Williams.

***

I've also covered Henry Mancini before, so I won't say much, other than to point out Quincy Jones's take on Baby Elephant Walk comes from a compilation of 1961-64 band dates and I finally found a copy of the soundtrack to The Party that didn't cost an arm and a leg. The latter is a twofer with another Mancini soundtrack for Blake Edwards, The Great Race.

***

I guess the oddball buy of the trip was a collection of music from 1960s episodes of Doctor Who. Tons of clips of sound effects and electronic music. Most of this material was devised by the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop.

All four parts of The Macra Terror, along with a hundred other 60s Doctor Who episodes, no longer exist in their original form (only a minute of footage, ironically hacked out by censors in Australia, survives). Basic summary: the Doctor and his three companions land on an outpost where the colonist work to produce food for their crab monster overlords. The monsters looked like they were closely related to this statue a friend saw in Thailand, with glowing eyes.

***

Rounding out this set, a trio of covers.

Rogerio Duprat was one of the key figures during the Tropicalia era in Brazil, mostly as an arranger. A Band Tropicalista Do Duprat is the Tropicalia equivalent of a 60s MOR covers album, except for the odd twists and musical instruments that marked Duprat's work with artists such as Os Mutantes. They appear on three of the album's tracks, including the Cowsills cover featured here. The album features strange mix of tunes, ranging from medleys of Honey and Summer Rain to songs by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.

Songs from Bob Dylan's "basement tapes" leaked across the musical landscape in 1969, on both sides of the Atlantic, including Fairport Convention's version of Million Dollar Bash. The other Dylan track on Unhalfbricking turned into one of Fairport's few charting singles, a version of If You Gotta Go, Go Now done en francais (Si Tu Dois Partir)...which also happens to be the song that introduced me to Fairport Convention, via a two-tape set to commemorate Island Records' 25th anniversary.

Finally, the oddest cover of the lot, Sandie Shaw taking on Dr. John's Mama Roux. Reviewing the Situation wound down the 60s for Shaw, a set of covers that ranged from good (Led Zeppelin's Your Time Is Gonna Come, which has appeared on other music blogs) to awful (the wispy vocals on Lay, Lady, Lay don't work at all). - JB

London Exile

2006-04-05T21:22:00.000-04:00

London, London - Caetano Veloso
from album CAETANO VELOSO (Philips 1971)

London, London - Gal Costa
from album LEGAL (Philips 1970)

I have all but decided to head across the Atlantic in a little over two months. While I will roll out celebrations of the city in the run-up to the trip, this seems like a good opportunity to show the experience of a stranger in a strange land (and exorcise my demons from the shaky first week of a semester I spent there a decade ago).

Running up against the military government in Brazil for their controversial lyrics and rebellious actions and appearance, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil were jailed for four months in 1969. Both musicians then spent the next three years as exiles in London, though they were permitted one last concert at home to raise funds to support their first few months in the UK.

In his book Tropical Truth, Veloso writes about being an exile.

London represented for me a period of utter vulnerability. I took English lessons for foreigners in one of those schools with many rooms and large classes. But I spoke Portuguese nearly all the time, living as I did in a house inhabited or frequented by Brazilians. I felt unable to take advantage of what should have been an opportunity...it is astonishing to think that, in two and a half years, I never once went to see an English play, attended not a single classical music concert, never enterted a library or bookstore.

...I simply lacked the strength to even adumbrate an act of will. The bell that had rung as I was falling asleep the morning the police had come to take me away had so deeply left its mark that I was still trembling at the sound of the doorbell in Chelsea. So it was impossible for me to dare do anything I might wish. (270-271)

The frustrations Veloso felt are evident in London, London, especially in the first minute. There's no avoiding the weariness in his voice or lyrics. The expression on the album cover makes that clear.

Back home, Veloso and Gil's fellow artists showed support by continuing to record the exiles' songs. Gal Costa had worked closely with Veloso and Gil and her albums were filled with their songs. Her version was the first I heard, a stark contrast to the disco-y late 70s/early 80s material on a Costa compilation I once owned. - JB

Yet Another Chapter Of "Music I Remember From Growing Up, But In Odd Contexts"

2006-03-28T19:55:00.000-05:00

Across 110th Street (Instrumental) - J.J. Johnson
from album ACROSS 110TH STREET (United Artists 1972)

Today's oddball connection: an early 70s crime flick and college football preview shows.

Detroit and area television tended to use popular tunes in the oddest places in the late 70s/early 80s. It was years before I discovered that the weird, creepy music with the "ah, ah, ah"s used for channel 20's Saturday horror movies was Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love. Ditto the station that used Styx for its afternoon movie. A Toledo station used part of the Citizen Kane score for a children's show theme. Bugs Bunny cartoons on channel 4 were preceeded by the Star Wars cantina band music.

I was introduced to today's selection via Michigan Replay, the long running maize-and-blue football roundup. Not sure how long Across 110th Street served as the show's theme - at least through the late 80s. I'd check recent episodes online, but I don't feel like shelling out a few bucks just to hear what the first 30 seconds sound like. Go ahead, call me a cheapskate.

While I was in high school, our senior football team had a yearly match with the Wolverines' next door neighbour, Pioneer High School (famous musical alumni: Bob Seger and Iggy Pop). Trips consisted of signing up for never-to-be-used-but-we'll-take-the-freebie-anyways department store credit cards at Briarwood Mall, games that were fun even if we were blown out of the water (we scored once), downing lots of cider and donuts afterwards and failed attempts to convince the bus driver to turn into Studio 4 (the "Windsor Ballet" venue just off the Ambassador Bridge). The tradition ended shortly after my father stopped coaching, when our team misbehaved so badly they were never invited back. - JB

Baby You and Me, We've Got An Earthy Kind of Love

2006-02-12T23:01:00.000-05:00

What Is Love? - Anthony Quinn
from album IN MY OWN WAY...I LOVE YOU (Capitol 1969)

Our contribution to Valentine's Day is this unusual ode to the love a husband feels towards his wife. Possibly the only romantic song which mentions the loving way a wife scratches herself.

Who better to commit this ode to record than jack-of-all-ethnicities Anthony Quinn, an actor best remembered for earthy roles like Zorba the Greek. According to the book Hollywood Hi-Fi, Quinn and producer Harold Spina first thought of a record while blotto.

During a New Year's party at a California beach house, everyone had a bit too much burgundy and ended up humming unsteadily as Quinn read The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. This sounded so good to Quinn (who, let us remind you, was drunk) that he suggested cutting an album. Spina's reaction was astoundingly clearheaded: "Can the world stand it?" he asked. (22)

You be the judge. - JB

A Lifetime of Christmas Music

2005-12-22T10:41:00.000-05:00

Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Dean Martin
from album A WINTER ROMANCE (Capitol 1959)

Caroling, Caroling - Nat King Cole
from album THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS (Capitol 1960)

Winter Wonderland - Mitch Miller and the Gang
from album HOLIDAY SING ALONG WITH MITCH (Columbia 1961)

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - Julie Andrews and Andre Previn
from album A CHRISTMAS TREASURE (RCA Victor 1968)

Two records in particular received heavy rotation, neither of which I can remember the name of. The first two tracks in this post appeared on a Capitol compilation which probably came out in the late 60s (the Beach Boys pic is circa 1969's 20/20), but our copy is a cheap Pickwick reissue.

Dean sounds as if he threw back one too many drinks while recording Rudolph - I've heard holiday drunks who sounded less sauced while wailing away to seasonal favourites. Dasher, Dancer and the rest of the reindeer were miffed when they discovered Dino forgot to mention them.

One year in university, a group from my residence attempted to spread seasonal cheer by caroling around downtown Guelph for charity. Mixed results: some folks were happy, the old folks home was not (residents were sent to bed before 8!). Our luck would have improved had Nat King Cole joined us.

Other highlights: The Beach Boys wanting to be home for Christmas - whether Murry Wilson was invited is unknown. Lou Rawls' Vegas-y take on The Little Drummer Boy. After listening to Sandler & Young's muddled version of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, it's easy to see why SCTV thought the duo was a target for abuse ("I'm Belgian! BELGIAN!!!").

I think album #2 was called 20 Christmas Favourites: released on TeeVee Records, it has a festive tree on the tree, with a green broder around the picture. Most of the tracks were raided from Columbia and RCA's MOR libraries: Johnny Mathis, Ray Conniff, Peter Nero, etc. Mitch and the Gang lead off side one with as whitebready a version of Winter Wonderland as you'll find.

Our album doesn't credit Andre Previn's role in It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. No matter - it's the classiest track on the record. No choirs, choruses, etc, just Julie Andrews and a good arrangement.

Other highlights: The high, high voice that blurts out "four calling birds" in Tennessee Ernie Ford's take on The Twelve Days of Christmas. Mahalia Jackson's soul-stirring version of Go Tell It On The Mountain.

Happy holidays. Programming will resume in 2006. - JB

Don't Drink and Gift This Year

2005-12-18T23:05:00.000-05:00

Christmas In Jail - The Youngsters
Empire single, 1956
available on BUMMED OUT CHRISTMAS (Rhino 1989)

Originally presented December 8, 2004

The most soulful anti-drinking and driving tune of the 1950s. I could picture this song being used for a SADD/MADD commercial, done as a 50s sitcom parody. Any ad agencies interested?

First encountered this song on one of my dad's favourite radio programs, The Bone Conduction Music Show, which he'd record off of WEMU Ypsilanti (Eastern Michigan University's station, whose signal limit we just fell within) to fill in leftover space on his CBC/NPR tapes. It's best to let host Thayrone describe the show. Its playlist was definitely tail-feather shakin' music. I thought about doing at least one of my CFRU shows as an homage, but figured I'd be canned if I ever did. I suspect I missed out on creating some goofy radio, especially with two buddies who wanted to come on in semi-plastered personas...or just semi-plastered.

Bummed Out Christmas is one of those loopy compilations Rhino use to do so well. Not an album for the excessively cheery, who'd miss out on downbeat tunes by the Everly Brothers, George Jones, the Sonics and the Staple Singers. - JB

Next: Not a rerun...just some seasonal tunes I grew up with, thanks to a handful of scratchy all-star Christmas records.

We're Trying To Find A Reason For That Cowbell!

2005-09-22T10:01:00.000-04:00

Sweet Jane (early version) - The Velvet Underground
recorded 1970
from album LOADED: FULLY LOADED EDITION (Rhino 1997)

I Found A Reason (demo) - The Velvet Underground
recorded 1969
from album LOADED: FULLY LOADED EDITION (Rhino 1997)

I Found A Reason - The Velvet Underground
from album LOADED (Cotillion 1970)

Let's get this out of the way: I admit I've never seen the Saturday Night Live skit parodying VH1's Behind the Music with Christopher Walken suggesting that Blue Oyster Cult needs more cowbell for Don't Fear The Reaper. Well, here's a true tale of cowbell, though in this case, it's an abuse of the instrument from a legendary group.

If you click onto Sweet Jane, feel assured that you could keep time better than the cowbell. One wonders what the Cowboy Junkies version of the tune would have been like had they added this element.

For the rest of the story, we go to David Fricke's liner notes for Loaded: Fully Loaded:

The early take of Sweet Jane moves at the sensual country-ballad tempo of the original stage version caught on 1969 Velvet Underground Live. (According to (Doug) Yule, that's manager Steve Sesnick playing the irritating, sluggish cowbell on the track. "He's way out, all over the place," Yule says with an amused sigh. "The guy couldn't dance either.") Also, (Lou) Reed's lyrics are still in the working stage; in the opening verse, Jack and Jane have not yet switched wadrobes (Jane is wearing the corset, Jack has the vest). Finally, this Sweet Jane does not have the identifying guitar lick, later created by Reed in the studio, that gives the final recording so much of its special power.

"I loved that lick," Reed exclaims. "I still, to this day, love playing that lick. And you know, you can make up lyrics to that lick all day long. I had to settle on something at some point."

Based on most accounts of the man, it's not a great shock to find Sesnick pulling a stunt like this. Here's Doug Yule's take from a 1994 interview:

Breaking up the Velvets was all Sesnick...he used the divide and conquer mentality. You take four people who are basically insecure and very hungry for something and you feed each one what they want to hear and you keep them from talking to each other by telling them that the other people are against them and keep them isolated from the group. I would be told by him that I was better than Lou and that the others were not really my friends I should not confide in them and he did that to everybody that way your only source of information becomes him and he can tell you whatever he wants because you're not talking to other people. My brother was in a band managed by him and they sat down one night in the living room after Sesnick went to Europe and abandoned what was left of the Velvets in London with no money. They started talking, it was the first time they'd talked and started relating stories of what he'd said to them and they found this all out. His whole scam collapsed on that band because they started talking to each other. The Velvets never talked to each other. He kept them apart and we never communicated much.

The country/folkish feel extended to other Loaded songs in the demo phase. Compare the two versions of I Found A Reason. On the demo, the harmonica sounds straight out of early Bob Dylan. The final version is one of my favourite Velvets tunes, thanks to the beautiful harmonies.

The group had started to splinter by the time the album hit record stores in the fall of '70. Reed left before it came out, Maureen Tucker was on pregnancy leave, Sterling Morrison was losing faith in the group's future. Sesnick attempted to propel Yule into the lead spot and a parade of members passed through the group before calling it a day in '73. - JB

Ode to Miss Christine

2005-09-11T23:42:00.000-04:00

Christine's Tune (Devil In Disguise) - The Flying Burrito Brothers
from album THE GILDED PALACE OF SIN (A&M 1969)

Little Umbrellas - Frank Zappa
from album HOT RATS (Bizarre/Reprise 1969)

This is how my mind works: my umbrella dies last week and my sister plays Frank Zappa's Little Umbrellas in its memory, which ties into a couple of tunes I've had on the backburner for awhile.

It has to do with the cover girl of Hot Rats, Christine Frka, better known as Miss Christine of 60s Zappa-produced groupie troupe the GTOs. She also babysat Moon Unit Zappa and went out with the lead singer of another group signed to Zappa's labels - Alice Cooper.

One wonders what happened to Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman to prompt them to write Christine's Tune. Definitely not a flattering portrait, though it could refer to run-ins with groupies in general.

After Frka died in 1972, there was some remorse over her portrayal in the song and later performances byt the Burritos of Christine's Tune were simply titled Devil In Disguise...as it is in our bonus track, a nifty live rendtion by the torchbearer of Parsons' works, Emmylou Harris.

Devil In Disguise - Emmylou Harris
from album LAST DATE (Warner Bros. 1982)

What Else Rhymes With "Orneo"?

2005-08-27T23:49:00.000-04:00

Borneo - Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band
from album UNBLUSHING BRASSINESS (Vanguard 1963)

I'm A Woman - Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band
from album JUG BAND MUSIC (Vanguard 1965)

Whither the jug in popular music these days? Heard a lot in 20s "hillbilly" or blues music. A standby of several strains of the 60s folk boom. Electrified by the 13th Floor Elevators. Cheap, handy, useful for "good time" music, Muppet sketches or as the butt of jokes. Always a handy instrument to attach to your band name, as in the case of Jim Kweskin & The Jug Band.

Based in the Boston/Cambridge area, Kweskin's repetoire leaned towards blues, standards and novelty tunes written in the 20s, giving their music a lighter vibe than many of their contemporaries. Skillful yet fun stuff.

Most folks my age probably remember Borneo as a tune sung by the jug band on The Muppet Show. The song itself dates back to the late 20s, from the prolific pen of Walter Donaldson, who also wrote standards like My Blue Heaven, Makin' Whoopee and Yes Sir, That's My Baby. It's up to you whether you listen to this song while your clothes are all torn-e-o.

I'm A Woman was one of the few contemporary songs they recorded. Written by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller (too many R&B and early rock classics to list), it had been a smouldering hit for Peggy Lee in early '63. The Kweskin version is much earthier, thanks to Maria D'Amato's vocals (who soon married fellow band member Geoff Muldaur).

Kweskin recorded regularly thorugh the end of the decade, usually with other members of the controversial Fort Hill commune he joined, which was led by harmonica player Mel Lyman (he's the "Mel" who gets a shoutout in I'm A Woman), covered in a lengthy early 70s Rolling Stone article. There's an extensive site on the Lyman commune here. - JB

Proud Not To Be A Dropout

2005-08-24T22:14:00.000-04:00

Don't Be A Dropout (unedited version) - James Brown
recorded 1966, from album STAR TIME (Polydor 1991)

Say It Loud-I'm Black and I'm Proud, Part 1 - James Brown
King single, 1968

Yet we still have his music to remind us of the best of soulful '60s and the optimism that was that era's great strength. Most pop artists are products of their time. From the mid-'60s to early '70s James Brown was so innovative, so defiantly African in America, that you can't even begin to recall that time without referring to his vast catalog. Just as Say It Loud-I'm Black and I'm Proud championed the new black priode, his friendship with Richard Nixon suggested the limitations of integration that would confound black aspirations in the '70s. Looking back, it's not a matter of whether Brown was right or wrong, trendy or reactionary, in his political judgements. The point is what Brown did mattered. In the black community during the civil rights era Brown's magnetism earned a respect and attention few leaders, be they preachers or Panthers could command.
- Nelson George, liner notes for Star Time

Given the Godfather of Soul's shenanigans over the past two decades, there are times it feels like the man's accomplishments back in the day get short shrift, at the expense of those laughing at his latest mug shot. Listen to these tunes and forget all the other stuff. - JB

As a Parting Gift, All Contestants Will Receive a Year's Supply of Rice-a-Roni, The San Francisco Treat

2005-08-11T23:22:00.000-04:00

A Swingin' Safari - Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra
Dot single, 1962

Theme from Match Game - Robert Israel
first used on-air 1973

A contestant not doing so well on The Price Is Right
date unknown

Theme from Tic Tac Dough - Hal Smith Hidey
first used on-air 1978

Rice-a-Roni ad
date unknown, but I'd guess 1960s

Game Show, Game Show - The Frantics
from album BOOT TO THE HEAD (Attic 1987)

Beat The Reaper - Firesign Theatre
from album WAITING FOR THE ELECTRICIAN OR SOMEONE LIKE HIM (Columbia 1968)

Today's entry is inspired by a game show taping I went to earlier in the week, for one of our local home design cable channels. A friend of mine was a contestant and about 55-60% of the studio audience was rooting for her. Alas, she didn't win, but the producers loved our rowdy energy.

For awhile, my sister had the Game Show Network as part of her cable package, until the decreasing number of vintage shows induced her to get my Mom to drop it (up in the Great White North, it's an optional digital channel). Hands down, her favourite golden oldie was Match Game, the show that gave new meaning to (blank). Half the fun of watching the show, especially back-to-back episodes, is seeing the level of intoxication increase among the celebrity panel (drinks were served during tapings). The original, bland version ran from 1962-69 and used Billy Vaughn's hit version of Bert Kaemphert's A Swingin' Safari. Few episodes exist of that version. The theme used for the 1973-82 version is pure 70s game show gold - wah-wah guitar, a hint of mariachi band. Host Gene Rayburn kept things rolling along, while mainstays of the panel included Broadway jack-of-all-trades Charles Nelson Reilly, Jack Klugman's ex-wife Brett Somers, future Family Feud host Richard Dawson and author Fannie Flagg.

The 70s daytime version of Match Game appeared on CBS, debuting a year after the network revived another old game show, The Price Is Right. This is Bob Barker's 50th consecutive year of hosting shows, a streak running back to Truth or Consequences in 1956. The clip we have here has poor Bob witnessing a contestant going down in flames during the yodel-rific mountain climber game (I've always preferred Plinko).

Tic Tac Dough was often on while growing up, though all I remember is the tic-tac-toe board, the primitive cartoon dragon that caused contestants to lose, the quintessential game show host name (Wink Martindale, a former DJ who had a hit in the late 50s with the maudlin recitation Deck of Cards) and the theme song, heavy on the synths favoured by late 70s TV. Catchy stuff.

And now a word from our sponsor...my favourite kind of Rice-a-Roni is the rarely seen Red Beans n' Rice, while my future brother-in-law favours the cheesy varieties. Every other type I manage to turn into mush.

Game shows have been fair game for comedians over the years. 20 points to anybody who can figure out the premise of the Frantics' quiz show, while Firesign Theatre predicts reality TV 30 years ahead of time. I'm half-surprised that no Fox execs went back to this record and used the "disease of the week concept" for real. - JB

The Rest of The Working Week

2005-07-25T08:46:00.000-04:00

A Wednesday In Your Garden - The Guess Who
from album WHEATFIELD SOUL (RCA 1968)

Thursday - Morphine
from album CURE FOR PAIN (Rykodisc 1993)

Friday On My Mind - The Easybeats
United Artists single, 1967

Before the birthday-related posts, we wuz ramblin' about the daze of the week...

Wednesday's the eager beaver of the week. Growing up, every social event in my family fell on a Wednesday - soccer games, Girl Guide meetings, meetings my parents went to, etc. My theory is that organizers figure Wednesday is the happy medium between recover-from-the-weekend Monday and time-to-cut-loose Friday.

How the Guess Who managed to find time to linger in somebody's garden is beyond me. Judging from the vibes they're getting from said garden's owner, they should have stuck to playing Wednesday gigs.

Thursday is the moodiest day of the week. You can feel the weekend in the air, but can't grasp it. Lingering projects at the office pile up. Stress builds. The people around you grow restless. Nighttime activities pick up. If you can't shoot morphine to ease the pain, you can listen to some.

Finally, Friday, the day most working stiffs look forward to all week. Clock-watching is the day's most popular sport, as everyone counts down until they can yell "yabba dabba doo!" (just don't hit a chestnut tree on the way home like Homer Simpson, OK). Time to get out of the office/house and enjoy yourself, until your body tells you that the rest of the week has caught up to you and it's time to hit the sack. As the Easybeats say, it's gonna happen in the city, even if your girl ain't so pretty. - JB

In Musical Memorium - 1975

2005-07-14T22:07:00.000-04:00

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - Cannonball Adderley
from album MERCY, MERCY, MERCY! - LIVE AT "THE CLUB" (Capitol 1966)

Aren't You The Girl - Tim Buckley
from album TIM BUCKLEY (Elektra 1966)

Poontang - T-Bone Walker
from album GOOD FEELIN' (Polydor 1969)

Among the musicians who passed away in '75:
Cannonball Adderley
Leroy Anderson ("Syncopated Clock")
Josephine Baker
Tim Buckley
Lefty Frizzell
Ralph J. Gleason (ok, not a musician, but hey, he was an influential jazz critic/promoter in the 60s and Rolling Stone writer in the 70s)
Al Jackson Jr. (Booker T & The MGs)
Louis Jordan
Moms Mabley
Ozzie Nelson
Dmitri Shostakovich
Noble Sissle
Hound Dog Taylor
T-Bone Walker
Bob Wills

- JB

30 For 30

2005-07-12T22:33:00.000-04:00

The Hustle - Van McCoy
Avco single, 1975

Dynomite - Bazuka
A&M single, 1975

Keep Our Love Alive - Patricia Dahlquist
Epic single, 1975

Down By The Henry Moore - Murray McLauchlan
True North single, 1975

As of Friday, it appears I will no longer be trustworthy. Yes humble readers, I hit the big 3-0.

Hoohah.

Anyways, I decided to search to web to see what was hitting the airwaves the week I entered this mudball. Voila - the CHUM chart for July 12, 1975.

Hum along in your head...if you dare!

1 - Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tennille
2 - Listen To What The Man Said - Wings
3 - The Hustle - Van McCoy
4 - Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John
5 - I'm Not In Love - 10cc
6 - Magic - Pilot
7 - Hey You - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
8 - Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me) - The Doobie Brothers
9 - Please Mr. Please - Olivia Newton-John
10 - I'm Not Lisa - Jesse Colter
11 - Jive Talkin' - The Bee Gees
12 - Midnight Blue - Melissa Manchester
13 - Swearin' To God - Frankie Valli
14 - Wildfire - Michael Murphy
15 - Christina - Terry Jacks
16 - Dynomite - Bazuka
17 - Only Women - Alice Cooper
18 - One Of These Nights - Eagles
19 - Old Days - Chicago
20 - You Make Me Want To Be - Dan Hill
21 - Down By The Henry Moore - Murray McLauchlan
22 - When Will I Be Loved - Linda Ronstadt
23 - So What If I Am - Paper Lace
24 - Bad Luck - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes
25 - The Rockford Files - Mike Post
26 - Bad Time - Grand Funk Railroad
27 - (I Believe) There's Nothing Stronger Than Our Love - Paul Anka
28 - Sister Golden Hair - America
29 - You Come And You Go - Odia Coates
30 - Keep Our Love Alive - Patricia Dahlquist

You'll notice I didn't include a sample of the #1 hit...never a big Cap n' Ten fan. But who can resist doing The Hustle (do, do, do...)?

Bazuka? Never heard of them before glancing at this chart. Seems to have been a studio group led by Tony Camillo, who produced several of Gladys Knight & The Pips' 70s run of hits, including Midnight Train to Georgia.

Patricia Dahlquist? Never heard of her before glancing at this chart. From what info I can dig up, it seems she won the 1976 Juno (Canadian equivalent of the Grammies) for Most Promising Female Vocalist and currently works as a vocal coach and actress. A few other acts on the chart can be filed under "further research required"

As for the Murray McLauchlan track...the "Henry Moore" referred to is the sculpture sitting in Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square, Three-Way Piece No 2 (The Archer). Head a few blocks to the northwest and you'll be in Henry Moore nirvana at the Art Gallery of Ontario (now undergoing a controversial Frank Gehry-designed renovation). - JB

NEXT: Music from those who shuffled off this mortal coil as I shuffled on.

Weekend Was Nice, Monday's OK, Tuesday's Torture

2005-07-06T22:24:00.000-04:00

Seven Day Weekend - Elvis Costello and Jimmy Cliff
from album CLUB PARADISE (Columbia 1986) or, if you prefer, OUT OF OUR IDIOT (Demon 1987)

Monday Monday Monday - Tegan and Sara
from album IF IT WAS YOU (Superclose 2002)

Tuesday Afternoon (Forever Afternoon) - The Moody Blues
Deram single, 1968

We're baaack...

I took an extended holiday, starting the long weekend a day early. You might even extend it back to Wednesday, as I missed most of the work day due to a morning bout with acid ref...you don't need the details. Not much accomplished at work on Monday either, with most of the day spent alternating between being burned and being soaked at a company golf tourney. In short, just shy of Elvis and Jimmy's weekend.

The music's probably the best thing about Club Paradise, a weird collision of comedians that doesn't quite hang together. Not the best use of most of the SCTV cast in a movie (speaking of which, I got the third SCTV box as an early birthday present and spent most of Saturday watching it. Great stuff, but DAMN YOU LED ZEPPELIN FOR BEING SO TIGHTFISTED WITH YOUR LICENSING RIGHTS!) The soundtrack's a decent Jimmy Cliff collection, or if you like your Elvis, you can hunt for the British comp it appeared on, Out of Our Idiot. The tracks from Out of Our Idiot are now scattered as bonus tracks across the endless repackagings of Mr. McManus's catalogue, but as a beat-up tape I bought in London, it's a nice collection.

Oddly, Monday's usually when I'm at my perkiest at work, usually not suffering through the mood swings that bug Tegan and Sara. One of those tunes whose hooks reel you in - stayed in my head for several days after first hearing it on CBC's late-night potpourri, Zed.

Tuesday's my crash day. It hit worse than usual this week, thanks to post-tourney fatigue. If Monday zips by, Tuesday crawls by. Forever afternoon is an understatement. If my groove is back by lunch, that's a good Tuesday.

Wednesday's here and all is better with the world...though Friday's on my mind. But that's a song for another day... - JB

Breakfast Music For Those With A Sweet Tooth

2005-06-28T08:49:00.000-04:00

Banana Juice - The Mar-Keys
Stax single, 1965
What could get the morning off to a better start than some sweet soul from Stax? OK, maybe sleeping in...then getting up and tossing a few bananas in the blender, along with other fresh fruit and yogurt for a smoothie.

I first came across this tune when it used as part of the promo for the show that followed mine on CFRU, Sugarcoma - two gals playing sweet tunes and reviewing oddball candy they found (the reviews later found their way into the campus paper when I was entertainment editor). All that's missing is the popping sounds the hosts added in.

PS - At long last, the links on the right are being overhauled - should be more by the end of the week. - JB

Shipping Out

2005-06-24T22:23:00.000-04:00

Sailing By (excerpt) - The Perry Garner Orchestra
music used for the BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast

Sail On Sailor - The Beach Boys
from album HOLLAND (Brother/Reprise 1973)

Sail Away Sweet Sister - Queen
from album THE GAME (Elektra 1980)

A selection of seaworthy tunes, spawned by my discovery of the BBC Radio 4 shipping forecast theme, found over at Radio Rewind, a site dedicated to Auntie Beeb's radio stations.

I can't explain why, but when I lived in London nearly a decade ago, I developed an addiction to the shipping forecast, likely because it was the last thing I'd hear before conking out for the night. Maybe the gentle, rolling feel sped me on my way to sleepyland. Radio 4 ruled my side of the room, while my roomie usually listened to Virgin, though he'd take short detours to the local London news station or Radio 1 if Virgin grew too repetitive. Some of the same 10 tunes they cycled through - Ready to Go (Republica), Beetlebum (Blur), Say What You Want (Texas), Don't Marry Her (Beautiful South) and some Bon Jovi tune. One relief - NO SPICE GIRLS!

Years and many listens to Sail On Sailor on Detroit's classic rock stations went by before I found out it was the Beach Boys. It was one of those tunes the DJs never identified. Didn't help that I knew little of their catalogue outside of my Dad's copy of Endless Summer. Very odd period for the Boys, with a disasterous venture into studio-building in the Netherlands, the short-lived additions of South Africans Blondie Chaplin (the vocalist on this track) and future Rutle Rikki Fataar and Brian Wilson's further sinking into bed...still, he managed to write this tune with Smile collobarator Van Dyke Parks, which Warner Bros brass decided to use to rescue an album they'd previously rejected.

As for Sail Away Sweet Sister...it will ship us out of this entry, as Sailing By still has sedative powers... - JB

If You're In Paradise, You'll Believe A Man Can Fly

2005-06-09T21:23:00.000-04:00

Lost In The Paradise - Caetano Veloso
from album CAETANO VELOSO (Philips 1969)

Theme from Superman (Main Title) - John Wiliams and the London Symphony Orchestra
from album SUPERMAN (Warner Bros 1978)

Two discs picked up on the New York leg of the trip.

It was a difficult task to pick one non-used Tropicalia-era album. It's become a habit to pick one up everytime I head to the east coast, as they usually run $30-45 as imports in Toronto. Because I've never seen it in any form up here, Caetano Veloso's "white album" from '69 (the only marking on the cover is his signature) won the sweepstakes. It was recorded during a turbulent time for Veloso, after his release from prison (he was tossed in for ticking off the newly-installed military government in Brazil) and before he and Gilberto Gil were booted into exile. Lost In The Paradise is one of two English tracks on the album, foreshadowing his recordings in exile in London.

You'll believe a man can fly. You'll believe you can find his soundtrack used in the East Village for $5. You'll also believe it's an early CD release, as two tracks "have been omitted so as to facilitate a single, specially-priced compact disc". - JB

New Yawk, New Yawk

2005-06-06T23:55:00.000-04:00

Positively 4th Street - Bob Dylan
Columbia single, 1965

Slum Goddess - The Fugs
from album THE FUGS FIRST ALBUM (ESP 1965)

Egg Cream - Lou Reed
from album SET THE TWILIGHT REELING (Warner Bros. 1986)

The first tie-in with the roadtrip entries on my other site - you want to go to Episode 3 for NYC.

I walked a healthy chunk of 4th Street, though I didn't feel compelled to tell anybody they weren't my friend. A great song to play when you're really pissed off at your chums. Maybe the other songs on Dylan's mid-60s couldn't bear to keep company with this tune, since it first appeared as a single.

What happens when you bring together East Village poets, a few musicians and a label known for avant-garde recordings? The Fugs First Album. Didn't see anyone I wanted to make my bride, but then I only went as far as Ave A. This also marked my first NYC trip since '95 that I didn't eat at the Benny's Burrito on Ave A.

But I managed to grab an egg cream at a newsstand on St. Mark's Place. There was a trendier place offering them up across the street, but the grungy newsstand had more charm (something "spa" - any NYCers help me? I think I grabbed one at the same place last year). I made my first one at home on the weekend, using Fox's Vanilla U-Bet. Wasn't prepared for how fast the foam rose, but it was worth the mess. - JB

Refuelin' Time

2005-06-04T14:17:00.000-04:00

Everybody Eats When They Come To My House - Cab Calloway
Columbia single, 1947

Black Coffee - Willie Bobo
from album BOBO MOTION (Verve 1967)

I'm back, finally recovered from last week's swing through the east. 2,875 km on the road and the car and I are still in good shape. There'll be music related to the trip as I write about it on my other site - it will be crossover craziness for away, with tunes related to places I passed through or discs I bought.

To keep your musical appetites satisfied, and because I'm going to a potluck tonight, why not a couple of songs about items that will keep your engine running? If you can't decide what to eat, why not stop by Mr. Calloway's? He always a tasty spread going on....maybe you'll run into Minnie and Reefer while you're there (though not in this tune).

I wish had a scan from an old Defenders comic book sitting back at my Mom's (I think it was #62 - any comic geeks out there?), where the Incredible Hulk passes out coffee to other superheroes visiting the group's compound. Old Jadejaws comes from the school of no-nonsense service, as he orders others to take the brew one way only: "HULK SAYS DRINK COFFEE BLACK!". Maybe Willie Bobo would have soothed the savage beast...he soothes me, even if I can't stand coffee. - JB

Hey Rocky, Watch Me Pick A CD From Behind My Back!

2005-05-18T21:43:00.000-04:00

1984 - David Bowie
from album DIAMOND DOGS (RCA 1974)

This is how scientific I am at picking music for this site. Feeling a touch too brain-dead to work on one idea I had mapped out, I reached from behind the computer to the CD rack behind me on the left and grabbed a disc without looking.

Result of this patent-pending method for programming a music blog: David Bowie's continued experiments with genetic mutation.

No comment from Big Brother.

In all seriousness, an album with several gems - the title track, Rebel Rebel and this tune, which I didn't know was a Bowie tune for years. It's likely I first heard the song in '84, due to the heavy rotation on the family stereo of this album...

1984 - Tina Turner
from album PRIVATE DANCER (Capitol 1984)

Private Dancer is one of the few albums I remember my father purchasing new in the mid-80s. Other than the odd Springsteen or classic album, it was all cutouts that were added to the record case.

Here's what I can tell you about my life back in '84...
* Turned 9, entered grade 4.
* Rooted for the Detroit Tigers as they spent all season in first place.
* Since it was 1984, George Orwell cropped up several times in classes, which I doubt they'd teach to 8-9 year olds today. Back then, I thought the fact he reversed the numbers of the year it came out was cool.
* My grandmother moved from Toronto to an apartment down the road from us, a penthouse along the Detroit River. I wouldn't visit TO again with any regularity for a decade.
* Played first summer of soccer, after two years of baseball. Never attracted any Premier League scouts.
* Figured out what "self-consciousness" was (though I didn't know the name at the time).
* First definite memory of Canadian political life: watching Pierre Trudeau's retirement party on TV with Dad, then watching Brian Mulroney sweep into power a few months later. I still see the red and black backdrop behind Pierre and the Mulroney poster our French teacher displayed.
* Couldn't believe the size of the special LA Olympics issue of Sports Illustrated, about half a phonebook. - JB

Ela, Not Ella

2005-05-05T00:15:00.000-04:00

Black Is Beautiful - Elis Regina
Golden Slumbers - Elis Regina
from album ELA (Philips 1971)

Yes, it appears they had some weird hockey hair going on in Brazil in the early 70s...seriously, there's a pile of Brazilian material that will occasionally drift onto the site in the near future.

That is if I ever come out of my golden slumbers...it looks like my computer should be fully functioning again by the weekend.

Background material on Regina in an upcoming entry, along with a wider sample of her work. Consider this a teaser, songs that wouldn't have been out of place in Vegas or on a 70s variety show.

LINK-O-RAMA
Slipcue's page on Elis Regina.

Son of Spring Cleaning

2005-04-27T23:46:00.000-04:00

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - John Barry
from album ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (United Artists 1969)

Dallas - The Flatlanders
from album THE FLATLANDERS (Plantation 1972)...but since that was only released as an 8-track, better luck's to be had with MORE A LEGEND THAN A BAND (Rounder 1990)

Girls Talk - Linda Ronstadt
from album MAD LOVE (Asylum 1980)

Where The Hell Is Bill? - Camper Van Beethoven
from album TELEPHONE FREE LANDSLIDE VICTORY (Independent Project/Rough Trade 1985)

Goodnight Irene - Pere Ubu
Decca from album WORLDS IN COLLISION (Fontana 1991)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the odd movie out in the official Bond series. One, it's infamous for being George Lazenby's sole outing in the role (no Connery, but it could have been a lot worse). Two, Telly Savalas is the non-Doctor Evilish Blofeld, taking a low/non-campy approach. Three, Bond is a married man...for 10 minutes. Fourth, the title tune is an instrumental, one of the strongest used in the series, which was rehashed for early ads for The Incredibles. The title sequence used clips from earlier films to remind viewers this was still the official Bond franchise and not another offshoot like Casino Royale. Bond theme compilations tend to use Louis Armstrong's "We've Got All The Time In The World" to represent this film, one of Satchmo's last recordings.

Department of unusual instruments: listen for the musical saw in Dallas. The Flatlanders were led by singer/songwriters Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock, who each went on to lengthy, influential careers based in Austin. It took narly two decades for their recordings to see wide release, given their lone album was only available on 8-track.

Twenty years on, we're still asking Where The Hell Is Bill? Maybe he went away and never came back. Maybe he went to a Camper Van Beethoven reunion. Maybe he went to buy a gnarly suit.

Debate topic: should Linda Ronstadt have been let anywhere near Elvis Costello tunes? It's a bone of contention among 70s music fans, much like the whitey cover versions of R&B tunes in the 50s. Girls Talk is one of her better ones, though I prefer Dave Edmunds's version. One of the albums I heard in heavy rotation while growing up, along with Ronstadt's 70s platters.

Pere Ubu dissolved for most of the 80s, coming back together at the end of the decade for increasingly poppier records that are among the few albums I still regularly listen to on tape. It's a far cry from the gloominess of Thirty Seconds Over Toyko. This song doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Leadbelly standard, unless anybody has a good theory. - JB

Spring Cleaning, Part Deux

2005-04-26T11:51:00.000-04:00

The Old Piano Roll Blues - Hoagy Carmichael and Cass Daley
Decca single, 1950

I Wish You Would - Billy Boy Arnold
Vee-Jay single, 1955

Why Did I Get So High? - The Peanut Butter Conspiracy
from album THE PEANUT BUTTER CONSPIRACY IS SPREADING (Columbia 1967)

From Here To Eternity - Giorgio Moroder
from album FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (Casablanca 1977)

Laurence Olivier for Diet Coke - Radio Free Vestibule
from album SKETCHES, SONGS AND SHOES (Borpo 1994)

Continuing on with day 2 of our clean sweep...

Hoagy Carmichael (short for Hoagland, incidentally) composed standards like Stardust and Georgia On My Mind, as well as a healthy career as a supporting actor in the 40s. He even appeared as himself on an episode of The Flintstones. Cass Daley was a singer/comedienne known for a set of buck-toothed choppers that would only lead to freak roles in Farrelly Brothers films these days. They teamed up for this spirited toe-tapper - admit it, you're bouncing along.

Next, we head to the 50s blues scene in Chicago. Billy Boy Arnold was one of its youngest participants, only 20 when he recorded I Wish You Would. Covered by many artists afterwards, including the Yardbirds, David Bowie and Big Sugar.

Why Did I Get So High? is an example of a record company cashing in on hip new trends, in this case the emerging drug culture. Nicely arranged (it was produced by Gary Usher, who had co-written early Beach Boys hits like In My Room), but definitely sounding like it came from The Man than the groovy kids. Think of this as one of the charming burps Columbia went through before finally figuring out the rock market.

I first heard From Here To Eternity in my teens on a A&E doc on disco my father taped. The clip featured Moroder, with jumpsuit and bushy 'stache playing a synth as if he was a DJ scratching a record, while a glittery dancer boogied away. Best served as a side dish with Moroder's Donna Summer productions.

Anybody remember the controversies surorunding the Coke commerical which slipped Elton John in with classic movie stars, or Fred Astaire being digitally enhanced to dance with a vaccuum cleaner? Laurence Olivier for Diet Coke takes the use of dead celebs in commercials to its logical extreme - I'm still expecting a real ad sometime soon. I first heard Montreal-based Radio Free Vestibule on countless CBC Radio shows - they seemed to be everywhere on the sched in the mid-90s.

The cleaning will continue... - JB

Spring Cleaning

2005-04-25T22:11:00.000-04:00

Two Glasses, Joe - Ernest Tubb
Decca single, 1954

Boogie Stop Shuffle - Quincy Jones
from ablum BIG BAND BOSSA NOVA (Mercury 1964)

Wait A Minute - Tim Tam and the Turn-Ons
Palmer single, 1965

Band of Gold (alternate version) - Freda Payne
recorded c. 1969
from album UNHOOKED GENERATION: THE COMPLETE INVICTUS RECORDINGS (Castle 2001)

Blue Flower - Slapp Happy
from album SORT OF... (Polydor 1972)

Over the next week, I'm clearing the files off my computer in preparation of an overhaul. Partly due to this, and partly to make up for the paucity of tracks over the past two months, we're going to breeze through a ton of tracks over the next few days. It's musical spring cleaning time! No overall themes, no adhering to one genre, just sit back, relax and perk up your ears.

Some people might need a couple of glasses of liquid strength to get into the cleaning mood, so drink up with some honky tonk, courtesy of Ernest Tubb. We'll leave it up to you if there's any memories lingering nearby.

On the album it derives from, Quincy Jones's take on Charles Mingus's Boogie Stop Shuffle has the task of following a song anybody who's watched an Austin Powers movie knows, Soul Bossa Nova. Easy to imagine a parade rolling by while listening to this and most of the album.

Wait a Minute was a song I heard often on Detroit oldies stations while growing up, but had no clue what it was until recently. A local hit, the date threw me off - it hit radio playlists in early '66, but sounds more in step with pre-Beatlemania tunes than the garage rock emerging among other local bands. For more about Tim Tam and the Turn-Ons, including the apartment buildings named after the group, check out this article from a site dedicated to one of the Motor City's most popular top 40 stations, WKNR ("Keener 13").

This alternate version of Band of Gold seems to be more guitar-based, or at least its twang is more pronounced (one wonders if the guitarist is going to launch into Hooked On A Feeling at any second). It's also nearly a minute longer than the version favoured by karaoke vocalists everywhere. Payne had mixed reactions when she first heard the song:

"The first time I heard the track, it sounded great. Then I read the lyrics and I turned to (songwriter Ron Dunbar) and I said, 'I would never do this! It's too adolescent for me...it's for some fifteen or sixteen-year old and I don't like the lyrics!' He said 'Don't worry. You don't have to like them! Just sing it!'"
(from liner notes to UNHOOKED GENERATION)

So she did...and a soul classic was born.

We head across the Atlantic for today's finale, a poppy tune from a band known more for its prog-rock wanderings. The Mystical Beast did an excellent series of entries on Slapp Happy - we let them tell the story (start with the Aug 30/04 entry and go through the next week's worth of posts - the downloads have been removed).

More uncovered items tomorrow. - JB

Windsor's A Wonderful Town

2005-04-10T22:07:00.000-04:00

Wonderful Windsor
jingle, date unknown, guessing late 60s/early 70s
After some delay, an ode to my old stomping grounds, the birthplace of Canada's current prime minister, Windsor, Ontario.

Windsor generally doesn't earn much respect from the rest of the province. Some think you've fallen off the face of the earth once you go beyond London, or even suburban Toronto. "Armpit of the province" is a term I've heard (and jokingly used). It's a industrial city, revolving around the auto industry thanks to its neighbour to the north, Detroit.

Yes, you heard me, north. I've run into people who are puzzled by the geography of Windsor, which lies to the south of the US. Essex County is surrounded by the States on three sides, with bodies of water providing the barrier (Lake St. Clair to the north, Detroit River to the west, Lake Erie to the south). It took awhile for my sense of being Canadian to develop, given that there were only a couple of Canadian TV stations, few radio stations and regular trips across the border. Visiting my grandmother in Toronto felt so foreign.

I forget where I found this tune. The only information I have is in the file name, which indicates it was used on CKWW and produced by the PAMS jingle machine. The radio station makes sense, since its last two initials stood for "wonderful windsor" according to this site. CKWW was the local news/talk/MOR station for years, until CHUM gained control of all of Windsor's private radio stations and flipped formats with CKLW's "music of your life" mix of standards in 1993.

Anybody else think this tune, with a couple of line changes, could have been adapted for other cities?

Some of the places mentioned in the song:

Ouellette - the main drag downtown, dividing streets east/west. On life support by the early 90s, then every other building was turned into a bar for young Americans (all night...) to get blotto. Often closed off during evenings on summer weekends so that the prowlers and bar chickies don't stumble into traffic. Heading south, it merges into Dougall Avenue, which leads to 401.

Tecumseh - the main east/west road, stretching across the city. No distinctive along its entire length - can't think of anything along Tecumseh that's been tagged a "village", or special BIAs, like Via Italia (Erie St) or Walkerville (Wyandotte St E.). Mostly dotted by plazas and second-tier malls.

Ottawa St - north of Tecumseh, running between Howard and Walker. Known as Ottawa St Village for years, one of the few areas designed for strolling shoppers. Currently anchored by Freed's Men's Store. Most of my time on Ottawa was spent either buying stamps (anybody want a large collection that hasn't been touched in 15 years?) or wolfing down burgers.

Windsor's contributions to popular music: Jack Scott, Skip Spence, The Tea Party, parts of Big Sugar.

Oh yeah, if you ever visit Windsor, try one of its fine Asian restaurants, especially places like Shin Shin, Wah Court and The Mini.

LINK-O-RAMA
Official site for the city of Windsor.
Site dedicated to PAMS jingles, with samples.

Go Ahead, Make My Recording Day

2005-02-27T19:26:00.000-05:00

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Ennio Morricone
from album THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (United Artists 1967)

I Talk To The Trees - Clint Eastwood
Best Things - Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin
from album PAINT YOUR WAGON (Paramount 1969)

Beers To You - Clint Eastwood and Ray Charles
from album ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN (Warner Bros 1981)

In The Jailhouse Now - Marty Robbins, John Anderson and David Frizzell
from album HONKYTONK MAN (Warner Bros 1982)

A little late in the game (I'm preparing this entry an hour before the Oscar telecast begins), but hey, I've been busy punk!

Eastwood has a long musical history, stretching back to a few singles and one album released while he starred on Rawhide in the early 60s. It was the trio of spaghetti westerns he starred in for Sergio Leone mid-decade that made him an icon - hard to resist playing the best-known piece of music from those films?

Clint got his chance to sing onscreen in 1969's Paint Your Wagon. Usually regarded as a clunker, I think the soundtrack has a certain charm. Yes, Lee Marvin can't sing, but how many prospectors could?

Since Ray is also in the Oscar race, seems like a good excuse to play a duet between The Man With No Name and Brother Ray. Wonder where Clyde the chimp was during that recording session.

The soundtrack for 1982's Honkytonk Man is notable for being among the last recordings of Marty Robbins, who had a posthumous C&W top 10 hit with the title song.

I wanted to include a piece from his bio of Charlie Parker, Bird, to show Eastwood's jazz side (he has run Malpaso Records for years), but (a) I own a copy on cassette and (b) had no luck finding from other sources tracks produced for the movie from actual Parker recordings. - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
From clinteastwood.net, a section on Eastwood's musical career, with Real Media clips.

Birthdays, Testimonials and Music, Music, Music

2005-01-30T23:57:00.000-05:00

The Party (vocal) - Henry Mancini
from album THE PARTY (RCA Victor 1968)

Hallelujah - John Cale
from album I'M YOUR FAN (Atlantic 1991)

Come Together - MC5
from album KICK OUT THE JAMS (Elektra 1969)

Ammaeli - Sykurmolarnir
Smekkleysa single (Iceland), 1986
English version (not excerpted here) appeared on LIFE'S TOO GOOD (Elektra 1988) under a name related to the theme of this entry

Hey, I couldn't do the straightforward thing and throw on the version most folks know...

I was at a couple of birthday celebrations Saturday night, connected by the College streetcar. During birthday #1, the conversation somehow got around to The Party, probably because I mentioned I rented it last week. Since we're talking about a night of parties, I think it fits into this entry - the go-go dancers at birthday #2 could easily shimmy to this slice of Mancini, ably backed by Shelley Manne and other jazz vets. Come to think of it, the venue for birthday #2 did shoot some bubbles into the crowd...

Birthday #1 was at two-level pub in Cabbagetown. We were in the basement, while a soiree with lots of middle-aged folks went on upstairs. The music wafting down was a tad too mellow, especially a mediocre version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. To compensate for those who were there, I've included a lovely take by John Cale. Our table pondered heading upstairs to be "beligerent", but never carried out on it while I was there. Maybe we should have turned on the organ behind us.

The second birthday was at a dance club in Little Italy, running a "Mod Night". One friend (we'll call him Carny) decided to see if, since the theme implied 60s music might be played, the DJs would throw on the MC5's Come Together. Apparently the DJ laughed, then said they might throw it on later, which translated as never. Later on, as the night wound down, we talked about the group, and how their debut album was the one that influence him most. We both grew up within in the shadow of Detroit and occasionally heard the MC5 on oldies radio, usually just the clean version of Kick Out The Jams. He said that the closest he had ever had to a religious experience was sitting in an audience of fans during the showing of the documentary on the band that ran during the Toronto film fest several years ago.

I think it's time for a testimonial. This one's for you Carny. Rama lama... - JB

If 3's A Crowd, Then What's 5 or 6?

2005-01-27T23:40:00.000-05:00

I Don't Want To Drive You Away - 3's A Crowd
Bird Without Wings - 3's A Crowd
Wasn't It You - 3's A Crowd
from album CHRISTOPHER'S MOVIE MATINEE (Dunhill (US)/RCA Victor (Canada) 1968)

Note: I apologize for the sound quality of these three clips - while I own a copy the album, I don't have the hookups to rip from vinyl. I discovered these files back in the prehistoric days of downloading.

For our first long trip back into the vaults of Canadian music this year, we focus on folk-rockers 3's A Crowd, whose ever-changing membership included several interesting connections.

For the group's convoluted history, it's best to visit either of these sites:
* A lengthy look from Classic Rock Page
* Original guitarist/vocalist Brent Titcomb has a section on the band on his page, including CBC footage of an early Murray McLauchlan tune, Coat of Colors.

In brief: started as a Calgary folk trio in the early 60s, moved east, picked up new members out of the Ottawa music scene (mostly from a folk-rock group, The Children), intermittently featured the bassist from Neil Young's first recorded band (who was briefly a member of Buffalo Springfield with Young), produced a record with a Mama, nearly involved in a big LA drug bust, original trio departs, investors sign up new recruits including a future Canadian music mainstay, appear as house band on a CBC summer replacement series, finally calling it a day in '69.

The line-up depicted on their sole long-player, Christopher's Movie Matinee, consisted of original trio Brent Titcomb (gtr/vcls), Trevor Veitch (gtr/vcls) and Donna Warner (vlcs), plus David Wiffen (gtr/vcls), Ken Koblun (bs) and Richard Patterson (drms).

We lead off with Wiffen's I Don't Want To Drive You Away. While at CFRU, I once recorded a listener discretion cart that led off with this tune, hoping listeners wouldn't flee in terror. It led into the screaming section of the Mothers' Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet, then ended with the "come right back" section of the Honeycombs' Have I The Right? The only other cart I recall producing was for a summer programming guide, using Miles Davis' take on Summertime and a snatch of Albert Ayler's Sunwatcher. Unfortunately, the distortion mars the strong harmonies on this track.

Bird Without Wings was written by a former bandmate of Wiffen and Patterson's in The Children, Bruce Cockburn. It's one of the earliest recordings of his songs. Cockburn contributed two other pieces, the lovely The Way She Smiles and the satirical View From Pompous Head. This wasn't the end of Cockburn's involvement with the group...

Co-producer Cass Elliot lends backing vocals on Wasn't It You, a Carole King-Gerry Goffin composition originally recorded by Petula Clark in '66. Other covers included Get Together and Don't Mess Up A Good Thing.

After the album came out, the group disintegrated. Warner developed vocal problems and when she left, the other remaining original members soon followed. With Wiffen and Patterson as the sole holdovers, the group's financial backers decided to carry on, so it was back to Ottawa to fill out the band, including Cockburn. No records were made of this version, though a reputedly trippy video exists that was made for an exhibition (Electrocution of the Word, a Cockburn tune nobody can decipher the lyrics to), along with a stint as the house band on CBC's One More Time. By the end of 1969, 3's A Crowd called it a day. The group's entire output (including a single by the original lineup for Epic) has long been out of print.

Most of the members stayed in music, with varying degrees of success. Cockburn had the widest success as an artist. Of the originals, Titcomb went to the folk circuit, while Veitch first played with Tom Rush (along with Patterson) wound up writing the English lyrics for Laura Branigan's hit Gloria. Wiffen recorded a couple of albums in the early 70s.

As a windup, here are several tracks related to the group - a piece off Cockburn's debut, Wiffen's most covered song, Anne Murray performing a Titcomb tune and Veitch accompanying Tom Rush on the latter's version of a tune that ended side one of CMM.

Going To The Country - Bruce Cockburn
from album BRUCE COCKBURN (True North 1970)

More Often Than Not - David Wiffen
from album DAVID WIFFEN (Fantasy 1971)

Sing High, Sing Low - Anne Murray
from album STRAIGHT, CLEAN & SIMPLE (Capitol 1971)

Gnostic Serenade - Tom Rush
from album WRONG END OF THE RAINBOW (Columbia 1970)

LINK-O-RAMA
The lyrics to Bird Without Wings at The Cockburn Project.

Please Stand By

2005-01-26T19:57:00.000-05:00

We're not dead folks...things have been busy lately, so entries are appearing slowly. I hope to have a large installment up in the next day or so - it's about 75% done and may set a record for tunes included in one go.

Love By The Numbers

2005-01-23T01:11:00.000-05:00

Paint By Number Heart - Martha and the Muffins
from album METRO MUSIC (Virgin 1980)

No story today, just picked a track totally at random. Printed off a list of songs, posted it, closed my eyes, hummed the Final Jeopardy music, moved my finger up and down the page until it landed on this.

That's just how scientifically we run things around here.

A method that worked A-OK in this case, a peppy tune from the same album that produced M&M's best-known song, Echo Beach.

This could also be a subconcious sign it's time to add more vintage CanCon to the site. You be the judge.

LINK-O-RAMA
Martha and the Muffins official site.

Just Another Band Of Teenagers From The UK

2005-01-19T23:57:00.000-05:00

It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft - Fairport Convention
Chelsea Morning - Fairport Convention
from album FAIRPORT CONVENTION (Polydor 1968)

Meet On The Ledge - Fairport Convention
from album WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAYS (Island 1968)

For those who associate the group with its meld of rock and traditional English folk music, their debut self-titled album may come as a surprise: a group of teenagers heavily influenced by early Jefferson Airplane and other west coast groups. Ian Matthews and Judy Dyble were the early lead singers, and I've included one track with each in the fore. Chelsea Morning is a trippy, whirling take on Joni Mitchell's tune, while It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft rocks out on its bluesy riff.

By album two, Dyble was out, Sandy Denny in after a stint with the Strawbs. It was also the beginning of the group's turn towards folkier material. Guitarist Richard Thompson's Meet On The Ledge is my favourite track off What We Did On Our Holidays, with Denny and Matthews trading off vocals on this poignant ode to friends no longer around. Less morbidly, it makes me think of several friends who have ventured off around the world for long adventures abroad.

Constant turnover of personnel became the rule (tragically in the case of drummer Martin Lamble, killed in a van accident that also claimed the life of Thompson's girlfriend and injured other band members), so that by 1970's Full House, only Thompson and guitarist Simon Nicol were left from the first album...and Thompson was soon off to solo adventures. The group soldiered on through the 70s, calling it a day at decade's end, only to reform shortly thereafter. They remain a staple of the UK folk scene, with annual concerts at Cropredy bringing back former members.

In the future, we'll sample some of their better known efforts, which were just around the corner...some Liege and Lief, anyone? - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Official site of the current version of Fairport Convention, including a summary of the band's history.
I had hoped to find an official company site for the Island Remasters series, which includes most of Fairport Convention's early catalogue, along with the likes of Traffic and Nick Drake. Alas, no such varmint - Island's official US site ignores the company's rich history, which the company's UK site acknowledges (not to mention the Brits use a funkier design).

You Are Forgiven

2005-01-16T23:03:00.000-05:00

A Quick One (While He's Away) (Rock and Roll Circus version) - The Who
recorded for THE ROLLING STONES ROCK AND ROLL CIRCUS TV special, 1968
first appeared on album on THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (MCA 1979)

A quick one to start off the week...OK, not that quick, since this is one of the longest tracks we've served up so far. Originally recorded for the Stones' shelved TV 1968 special (legend has it that one of the reasons it never aired was that the Stones felt this performance blew them off the stage), it first received a legitimate airing in the 1979 doc on the Who, The Kids Are Alright. It's one of their first extended epics, often cited as one of the early dry runs for Tommy - lecherous old Ivor the Engine Driver could have easily fit into the pinball wizard's world.

Ironically, I usually listened to this on a train, whenever I headed from Guelph to Windsor. Longer songs always made the grade on those trips, helping them pass by. I placed this on a mix tape along with other long tunes from the 60s (Alice's Restaurant, Canadian Railroad Trilogy, etc). The "soon be home" section felt like a reassurance that the trip didn't have much more to go...unless we were sitting in London waiting for a shuttle bus when the connections were off.

LINK-O-RAMA
The who.net, gateway to information, links, etc about the Who.

It Don't Worry Me

2005-01-12T00:07:00.000-05:00

200 Years - Henry Gibson
Dues - Ronee Blakely
from album NASHVILLE (ABC 1975)

Oh These Troubled Times - The Corn Sisters
Memphis - Carl Newman
from album A TRIBUTE TO NASHVILLE (Mint 2002)

Welcome to the first of several glimpses of music from the year I made my singing (and living) debut, 1975. We'll start with a trip to the movies, and Robert Altman's classic of overlapping stories and dialogue, Nashville.

I've seen it on the big screen, when it made a run through the local rep houses a few years ago. I caught it at the Paradise, the dumpiest theatre I've ever been in. The armrest was held on with either stick-tack or chewing gum, which fit with its earlier life as a porno house.

The lead actors wrote or had a hand in creating their songs, as opposed to Nashville pros, for reasons Altman explained in Jan Stuart's book on the making of the film, The Nashville Chronicles:

"It became too expensive," insists Altman as he attempts to explain why he avoided the inclusion of bona fide country songs and singers. Of greater consideration than the expense, perhaps, was the dam break of prima donnas that might result by casting country stars. "Everybody's going, Oh, my songs will cost you this and this and I want so and so! I just didn't want to deal with any of that. I didn't want the agents walking around telling me what to do, mainly what the f**king songs would be.

"We had to get songs, but I didn't want them competing. I wanted them to be the same cross-section that those songs in Nashville are - that means I didn't want them all to be good songs. Henry's [Gibson] were a little obvious, but they're not all that different than some of those by Hank Snow. Barbara Jean songs were a little smarter. Dues is not a real good country-western song, but it was Ronee's favourite, she wanted to do it. My point is that making those choices is an arbitrary thign to do under the best of circumstances, and who is that person who says, 'Oh, we're going to use this'? The Nashville companies, the songwriters, want to use the ones they think are going to sell the most copies. So, I just flet I didn't want them professionally written."

In other words, this wasn't going be one of those movies with the "music inspired by" soundtracks. Out of the actors' contributions, one bona-fide chart single emerged, Keith Carradine's I'm Easy. Besides the above-mentioned Dues, which I think is the loveliest song in the film, I've also included the tune that opens the movie (after a mock TV record ad that serves as the credits), Gibson's 200 Years. I wonder if any humour-challenged uber-patriots of recent years have ever considered unearthing this song and selling it as a straight-faced patriotic anthem? It beats I'm Proud To Be An American...

This is an album I'd love to see an expanded reissue of, as there's plenty of music that was left off the soundtrack. I suspect some songs were left off to protect the ears of listeners - Gwen Welles' gloriously awful warbling as wannabe star Sueleen Gay, which gave new meaning to the term "tin ear".

Oh These Troubled Times didn't make the vinyl cut in '75, but was resurrected on Carolyn Mark's tribute album a quarter of a century later. It was inspired by frequent viewings of the film, which led to a live performance. According to her liner notes, "it became apparent as the tables filled that we were not alone in our obsession with the film. An older couple sat at the front table and mouthed along with every snippet of dialogue and nudged each other knowingly when we nailed it." Here, Mark and fellow Corn Sister Neko Case fill in as the Smokey Mountain Laurels (who were one of few real acts featured in the film), while Case's fellow New Pornographer Carl Newman slips into Karen Black's shoes for Memphis. If you like the movie, this tribute's a fun listen.

LINK-O-RAMA
IMDB entry for Nashville.
Altman's Annex, a site on the director.
Carolyn Mark's segment of the Mint Records site.

Disco For Geeks

2005-01-06T22:07:00.000-05:00

I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper - Sarah Brightman and Hot Gossip
Ariola single, 1978

An odd mix of characters were responsible today's dance floor platter, spawned in the midst of the original wave of Star Wars mania...

Hot Gossip were a dance group that appear on The Kenny Everett Video Show, whose costumes and routines were considered risque for UK TV at the time - from the sound of it, a slightly naughtier version of Pan's People from Top Of The Pops. Everett had been one of the first DJs on Radio 1, but his style of humour led to a sacking in the early 70s, followed by a career on commercial radio and TV sketch/variety shows.

The singer was Sarah Brightman, years before she became the darling of Phantom of the Opera fanatics and PBS pledge drives. I wonder if any stations have ever dug out the video of this song to entice viewers to donate (I could see somebody using it as a torture method for members of the audience who never had an ounce of groove in their body).

I first encountered this song on an A&E documentary on disco years back, which included a lengthy video excerpt with the girls in costumes that appear to have been salvaged from any 70s futuristic show. Funny stuff, especially when they attempt to dance stiffly. It's not quite the Robot...

At least there doesn't appear to be a George Lucas remix on the horizon.

LINK-O-RAMA
The lyrics to I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper.
Wikipedia entry on Kenny Everett.

Moving Forward

2005-01-03T23:45:00.000-05:00

Past Is Past - The Dishrags
Modern single, 1979

The last word on this site for getting 2004 out of the way, courtesy of this slice of the late 70s Vancouver punk/new wave scene.

So, what can you expect in the next bit, once my brain is back in gear?

In the works:
* Music from Robert Altman's Nashville, with originals and cover versions.
* More journeys back into vintage Canadiana - Mainline and 3's A Crowd are on deck.
* Since I'm turning 30 this year, look for plenty of music from 1975.
* The next installment in our series of taking a song and plowing through a pile of cover versions. Up next: leaning towards Walk On By or I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself. For sure, it will be a Bacharach tune.
* Whatever else current events or life suggest. - JB

What's Cooler Than Ice Cold? Frozen!

2004-12-23T20:37:00.000-05:00

Frozen Warnings - Nico
from album THE MARBLE INDEX (Elektra 1969)

It's official: Toronto has entered the next ice age. The icebergs on top of my car confirm this.

For an icy day, how about some bone-chilling music?

For pure Teutonic-style iciness, nothing beats a dose of Nico. By the time of her second album, she'd picked up the autoharp and proceeded to make her songs creepy. The type of music you might see in an art flick where a character slowly sinks into depression or freezes to death. Bleak, hypnotic, strangely beautiful.

Note to our faithful readers: it's Xmas vacation time, which means this will be the last entry for a week or so. Until next time, a happy holiday to everyone. Let's not leave on a frosty note...this has a distinct possibility of being the last post of the year, so let's end 2004 with one of the greatest album (and movie) enders of all time.

Take care folks.

I Believe - Stevie Wonder
from album TALKING BOOK (Motown 1972)

Sleep Softly

2004-12-14T08:01:00.000-05:00

Why Are We Sleeping? - The Soft Machine
from album THE SOFT MACHINE (also known as VOLUME ONE) (Probe 1968)

Because we're starving ourselves of sleep, that's why!

First encountered this tune on the late, lamented Nightlines on CBC radio, during one of the program's periodic "identify the clips" contests - in this case, the brooding "it begins with a blessing and ends with a curse" was the excerpt. I have a couple of those contests taped, which made for a fun weekend of listening when the answers were given. If I ever get off my arse and purchase the proper hook-ups, I should digitize them and let the webosphere play along.

Soft Machine emerged out of Canterbury, with an ever-changing lineup that veered from psychedelia to jazz-fusion. The lineup at the time of Why Are We Sleeping? included guitarist Kevin Ayers and drummer Robert Wyatt. Their debut album appeared in the States on ABC's short-lived Probe subsidiary, recorded in the US during a tour which ended with the group temporarily breaking up.

Wyatt had the best-known post-Soft career, not slowed by an accident at a party in the early 70s rendered him paraplegic (right after the accident, he had a surprise hit in the UK with a cover of I'm A Believer). A haunting voice, charged with his strong left-wing politics. Check out his cover of Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding sometime.

LINK-O-RAMA
AMG entry for Soft Machine.
A chronolgy of Soft Machine.
Site about Robert Wyatt.
Official site for Kevin Ayers.

The Songs Behind The Face

2004-12-12T21:20:00.000-05:00

I Didn't Want To Have To Do It - Julie Driscoll
Parlophone single, 1966

Save Me - Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity
Marmalade single, 1967

Soulful swingin' London tunes for a Sunday evening...

Judging from publicity in The End of Innocence (a nifty coffeetable book of photos from EMI's 60s archives), it appears Driscoll was initially molded to look like whatever was in fashion in any given season, her soulful voice appearing on a series of flop singles for Parlophone. I Didn't Want To Do It was one of those, a cover of a tune I'm not quite sure who did the original version - I've heard renditions from the same time by the Duprees and Lovin' Spoonful.

Auger and Driscoll first hooked up in 1965, as members of Steampacket, along with Rod Stewart and Long John Baldry. After that group dissolved the following year, the two hooked with others to form the lengthily-named Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity. Save Me is one of their early singles, showcasing the strengths of both of the group's namesakes. The group's best known tune on these shores was their cover of Bob Dylan's This Wheel's On Fire, which Driscoll later rerecorded for use on Absolutely Fabulous. The group had a burst of success, with Driscoll earning the nickname "The Face" for the influence of her look.

Driscoll later married musician Keith Tippett, switched to her married name (but added an "s" to the end) and recorded more avant-garde, jazz-based material, as well as becoming a vocal teacher. Auger formed the jazz-fusion group Oblivion Express and continues to perform his mastery of the Hammond. They reunited for one album in the late 70s, notable for Julie's amazing mullet on the cover.

LINK-O-RAMA
Julie Tippetts' site.
Brian Auger's site.
A lot of links about Driscoll appear to be broken, so the best I can offer up is her AMG entry.

The Master Would Not Approve Of This Post

2004-12-09T22:43:00.001-05:00

Torgo's Theme (for lack of a better title) - Russ Huddleston and Robert Smith Jr. (composers)
from movie "MANOS" THE HANDS OF FATE (1966)

Another mystery from the past solved.

Back when my sister Amy first got a computer in the mid-90s, she immediately loaded it with all sorts of crazy screensavers. One of them featured a slow-shuffling animated dude in cheap Indiana Jones hand-me-downs named Torgo. He said a short schpiel, then over the repetitive music you're listening to today, shuffle across the screen. We thought it was goofy, used it for a short time, then moved on.

I'd nearly forgotten about it until I rented Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Essentials last week. It's a two-disc set, featuring their jibes at Santa Claus Conquers The Martians (likely the only Xmas movie I'll see this year outside of A Christmas Story) and a film Amy had always wondered about, having constantly seen it listed near the top of IMDB's 100 worst-rated movies, "Manos" The Hands of Fate.

Oh did it live up to its reputation...compared to this, Ed Wood should have won the Best Director Oscar several times over. I wondered if the opening camera-stuck-out-of-the-car window footage was ever going to end. The fun didn't really start until Torgo and his theme made their entrance...and solved the mystery of that old screensaver.

Jay Bob says go see it.

LINK-O-RAMA
Lots of stuff about Torgo, the Master and their buddies lurks throughout the web. A good starting point is All About Torgo, complete with clips and screensavers. For technical details about the film, there's always the IMDB.

A Timely Reminder This Holiday Season, Brought To You By RADD (Reindeer Against Drunk Driving)

2004-12-08T01:06:00.000-05:00

Christmas In Jail - The Youngsters
Empire single, 1956
available on BUMMED OUT CHRISTMAS (Rhino 1989)

The most soulful anti-drinking and driving tune of the 1950s. I could picture this song being used for a SADD/MADD commercial, done as a 50s sitcom parody. Any ad agencies interested?

First encountered this song on one of my dad's favourite radio programs, The Bone Conduction Music Show, which he'd record off of WEMU Ypsilanti (Eastern Michigan University's station, whose signal limit we just fell within) to fill in leftover space on his CBC/NPR tapes. It's best to let host Thayrone describe the show. Its playlist was definitely tail-feather shakin' music. I thought about doing at least one of my CFRU shows as an homage, but figured I'd be canned if I ever did. I suspect I missed out on creating some goofy radio, especially with two buddies who wanted to come on in semi-plastered personas...or just semi-plastered.

Bummed Out Christmas was one of the discs I picked up on a trip to Ann Arbor last week, one of those loopy compilations Rhino use to do so well. Not an album for the excessively cheery, who'd miss out on downbeat tunes by the Everly Brothers, George Jones, the Sonics and the Staple Singers. - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Site for the Canadian chapter of MADD.
Tried finding info on the Youngsters, turned up nada. If anybody knows anything about them, let me know.

I'm Checking It Out

2004-12-05T13:18:00.000-05:00

Cities - Talking Heads
from album FEAR OF MUSIC (Sire 1979)

With winter starting to settle in, it's time to set aside most trips out of the city, especially the snowbelt to the west of Toronto. Which means its time to check out this city, as the Heads do in today's tune...OK, I'm babbling, I just felt like posting some Talking Heads. It's been a crazy weekend, so anything I write today may not make much sense. Just go ahead and enjoy the music.

You may have noticed this site has fallen off the daily posting regimen. I'm very busy with holiday-related activities, so I haven't been working on this blog as much as I'd like to. When I do, I'm not in the most inspired of moods. So, this site is officially cutting back to 2-3 entries per week, unless I get into a good groove. Watch it - now that I've said this, I'll go back to increased frequency.

Don't expect a celebration of Xmas tunes...with one exception, which will take the spotlight this week. If you read my other site (see Partner Blogs on the right), I've already spilled the beans on what that will be. Let's just say that if you're already become Scrooge-like in your attitude to hearing Xmas music 24-7, you'll appreciate this one.

Sometime this week, I'll also fix the links on the right and add a few more sites, including a couple of well-written local sites. Now it's time to kick out the jams, motherf...err...go Xmas shopping. - JB

Flowers For Rosa

2004-12-01T20:45:00.000-05:00

Little Rosa - Red Sovine and Webb Pierce
Decca single, 1956

Born Woodrow Wilson Sovine, he worked extensively with Webb Pierce (he of the famous guitar-shaped swimming pool) in the early-to-mid 50s, a partnership resulting in both of today's tunes. After being dropped by Decca, Sovine recorded for several smaller labels, mostly in the Gusto-Starday corral. By the 60s, he specialized in "trucker monologues", songs which were mostly spoken tales designed to touch the hearts of those driving long haul. He would re-record Little Rosa, along with tunes such as Teddy Bear and Daddy's Girl.

Signs You're Listening To A Red Sovine Song
1) When he says "Well mister...", this is a cue to drain your tear ducts.
2) Accents are done phonetically, not with funny voices.

My introduction to Sovine came through heavy rotation of TV ads for greatest hit collections. My dad groaned whenever they aired. He'd mock the weepiest samples, making l'il ol' me laugh.

In his later years, the Brits became attached to his sorrowful tales of broken families, dead kids and lonely truck drivers. Unfortunately, Sovine met an end as sad as his songs, crashing his car into a tree after a heart attack in 1980.

OK, time to put down the hankie. We need something peppier to lift our spirits...even if the subject matter isn't much happier (broken love). George Jones recorded the best-known version of this tune, but this rendition sounds just fine. - JB

Why Baby Why - Red Sovine and Webb Pierce
Decca single, 1955

LINK-O-RAMA
Section on Sovine from Truck Drivin' Music.

And So We Had A Cup Of Tea (While Waiting For The Kinks In Blogger To Work Themselves Out)

2004-11-28T21:28:00.000-05:00

Right Said Fred - Bernard Cribbins
Parlophone single, 1962

I plan to move from my current bunker-like surroundings next spring. With any luck, I won't have to resort the moving techniques Fred and his buddies dream up in today's song. And yes, from all I can gather, this is where the I'm Too Sexy guys derived their band name.

This was one of a number of novelty hits George Martin produced for Parlophone. Martin became head of Parlophone in 1955, inheriting at 29 a label considered a low-end budget brand by its owner, EMI. He carved out a niche in comedy, especially a successful series of albums by Peter Sellers. It was around the time Right Said Fred came out that the label signed a bunch of Liverpool kids calling themselves The Beatles...

As for Cribbins, he maintained a healthy acting career, starring in several mid-60s installments of the Carry On film series. If you're my age and watched heavy amounts of TVOntario growing up, you may have grown up with many of the children's shows he narrated, especially Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings.

LINK-O-RAMA
Lyrics for Right Said Fred.
BBC article on the song.

Brave Belters

2004-11-21T20:41:00.000-05:00

Anyday Means Tomorrow - Brave Belt
Lifetime - Brave Belt
from album BRAVE BELT (Reprise 1971)

Another Way Out - Brave Belt
Too Far Away - Brave Belt
from album BRAVE BELT II (Reprise 1972)

Today's entry begins in 1970, after Randy Bachman left The Guess Who at the height of their popularity. He returned to Winnipeg and was hired on to produce an album by former Guess Who leader Chad Allen in late 1970, which evolved over the sessions (with the addition of Bachman's drummer brother Rob) into a country-rock band, Brave Belt.

In the liner notes to the 2001 reissue of their two albums, Bachman related the origin of the group's name.
I was looking for a name that was sort of Buffalo Springfield, buckskin fringe, Indian cowboy hat, Gretsch guitars, country rock thing; a name that would convey a western motif. I almost called the band Peguis after Chief Peguis, who west West Kildonan's hero, our very own Sitting Bull. I was in Kildonan Park looking at the Peguis statue one day trying to be inspired and somebody came by and saw me there. "What are you doing?" 'I'm thinking of calling a band Peguis.' And he replied "You know, you've been really hard done by. You've been scalped When an Indian becomes a brave he carries a brave belt to carry his scalps on, to show that he is a brave." And I thought 'Brave Belt, that's the name.' I mentioned it to Neil Young and he said "Cool name!"

Anyday Means Tomorrow (with Bachman on vocals) and Lifetime come from the first album, whose singles I discovered back in my college radio days while digging through the mounds of unsorted pre-1980 singles.

Once the sessions were finished and the group signed to Reprise, the label insisted another member be added, at least for touring. Enter local cover-band veteran Fred Turner. Allan left during the production of tracks for their second album - Another Way Out was one of his last songs with the group. A harder edge crept into the band's material as Turner took over on lead vocals, typified by the album's opener, Too Far Gone.

With a label change from Reprise to Mercury, and a further push towards hard rock, Brave Belt's third album wound up becoming the first Bachman-Turner Overdrive platter. Soon they were takin' care of business... - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Randy Bachman's official site, with info about Brave Belt scattered throughout.
Info on the Brave Belt reissues from Bullseye Records.

Cover Stories, Quebec Style

2004-11-17T18:57:00.000-05:00

L'amour c'est un jeu - Les Ingenues
A1 single, 1967

Hello Goodbye - Les Intrigantes
Jupiter single, 1968

both available on GROUPES FILLES JEUNESSE ANNEES '60 (Disques Merite c. 2000)

Time for another dip in the 60s Quebec ye-ye music box. This time out, it's the girls' turn. From the pictures on the compilation I have of this genre, it appears the female groups didn't go into the gimmicky-costume-to-match-the-group-name routine as the guys did (one exception was Les Beatlettes, who donned Beatle-style wigs).

The girls did their fair share of cover tunes, giving the chart hits of the day a Quebecois twist. It may take a few bars of L'amour c'est un jeu (roughly translating as Love Is A Game) before you figure out it's a cover of Mickey and Sylvia's 50s classic Love Is Strange, with conventional 60s guitar playing.

Hello Goodbye hews closely to the Beatles' original. You'll notice the habit that crops up in many Quebec ye-ye covers of leaving at least one line in English - here, "why, why, why, why, why, why do you say goodbye, goodbye..." Note the deadpan delivery through the song, as if they really didn't care if it was hello or goodbye.

We'll dig deeper in the coming months...

LINK-O-RAMA
Disques Merite, the label these tunes are currently available from (site in French).
Radio Ye-Ye, pumping out ye-ye music from both sides of the Atlantic (site in French).
Little to no luck in finding any information on today's groups, in French or English. If you've got ideas where this is lurking, let me know and I'll add it to the Link-O-Rama. If you're thinking of using a net translation site like Babel Fish to look at some of the French sites, be prepared to laugh - I don't think Quebecois French was in mind when the programs were built.

Come And Listen To My Story 'Bout A Man Named Jed...

2004-11-15T22:19:00.000-05:00

Critters - cast of The Beverly Hillbillies
Doctor Granny - cast of The Beverly Hillbillies
Love Of Money - Nancy Kulp and Raymond Bailey
from album THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES (Columbia 1964)

It took the closure of a branch of Tower Records to solve a decade-long mystery in my life.

The year: 1989. Place: Malden Central Public School, halfway between Amherstburg and Harrow, Ontario. My grade 8 class is gearing up to put on its annual skit for the school assembly. The theme chosen for our bunch was The Beverly Hillbillies.

It was around this time I had started listening to radio regularly, especially the Sunday night Archives show on CKLW-FM (93.9 in Windsor, the sister station to the legendary Big 8). My favourite segment was Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, which dug up screwball recordings. Blame my collection of bizarre celebrity tunes on this station.

Around the time we prepared the class skit, Archives had a segment on Beverly Hillbillies-related music. Several clips were played, including the three songs here. I dutifully taped the segment, then brought it to class. I don't remember for certain, but I think the segment I had of Doctor Granny was rehearsed, then dropped.

If I dug around here, I'd probably find the soundtrack for the play, which my friend Mike and I put together. This meant going over to his house, using his boom box and attempting to record the James Bond theme from a 60s portable record player with no direct hookup. When working with limited resources, any 13-year old will learn to improvise. We also used clips from Van Halen, Dolly Parton and others.

Fast forward to c. 2000, where I do recall my house was very small. The Tower branch in North York is having a closing sale, with discs slashed by at least 50%. In two trips, I blew around $250, finding gems like the first Stax/Volt box, a compilation of pre-P-Funk Parliaments, etc.

One find stood out: a $5 reissue of a Beverly Hillbillies album. Looked at the track listing...could this be the grade 8 play music?

Indeedy.

It's a charming disc, with all the leads fully in character. Buddy Ebsen (Jed) and Irene Ryan (Granny) had been in musicals before (Ryan would end her career in one, appearing in Pippin before her death in 1973). Ably assisting them on the album are Flatt & Scruggs, performing the show's them to open and close the album. Maybe in the future I'll play Elly Mae's misinterpretation of the birds and the bees, or Jethro proving how thick he was in deep conversation with Jed.

Y'all come back now, y'hear? - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Profile of The Beverly Hillbillies from the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
This you have to see to believe. That's all I'm gonna tell ya!

A Mighty Baby

2004-11-12T11:10:00.000-05:00

Hard Times - Baby Huey & The Babysitters
Curtom single, 1969
available on THE BABY HUEY STORY (Curtom 1971) and various Curtom compilations

This was one of the first tunes I discovered while volunteering at CFRU...and one of the first records I noticed MIA. There was a period where I swore somebody had a death wish for any record I thought I might use once I reached the airwaves.

Born James Ramey, and naming himself after the cartoon character, Baby Huey played around Chicago in the mid-to-late 60s, eventually coming to the attention of Curtis Mayfield. Signed to Curtom, Huey and the Babysitters put out several nifty Mayfield-penned tunes, including Mighty Mighty and Running. Among the various Babysitters over the years: Chaka Khan.

His weight (in the 350-400 pound range) and drugs led to his early demise in 1970. Huey's obits (inlcuded with the vinyl version of The Baby Huey Story) mentioned him in the same breath with other recent rock casualties (Joplin, Hendrix).

Mayfield later recorded a slowed-down version for 1975's There's No Place Like America Today.

LINK-O-RAMA
All Music Guide entry for Baby Huey.
List of songs sampling Hard Times.

Note: Searching the web for Baby Huey may turn up a Washington-area party band with the same name. As far as I can tell, there's no connection.

Morale Boosting During Wartime

2004-11-10T22:09:00.000-05:00

Over There - Billy Murray
Edison single, 1917

Der Fuehrer's Face - Spike Jones & His City Slickers
Bluebird single, 1942

Novemeber 11 - Remembrance Day in the Great White North. Originally established to remember those who perished in World War I, it was extended to remember all war casualties. It used to be a school holiday, but only the moment of silence at 11 AM remains. In salute, we're featuring two songs that built morale for the troops and the homefront during the World Wars.

Full text for this entry will appear tomorrow - I was 75% finished when my increasingly-shaky computer decided to have a meltdown. Not in the mood to rewrite tonight. It's still spcing out as I type this (stupid highlighting tricks).

LINK-O-RAMA
From the U.S. Library of Congress, sound samples of WWI-era stage performers, including this version of Over There.
From Musicals 101, a primer on George M. Cohan.
DVD Verdict review of Walt Disney Treasures: On The Front Lines, which features Der Fuerher's Face.

With Tonight's Musical Guest...

2004-11-08T23:26:00.000-05:00

High School Confidential - Rough Trade
from album AVOID FREUD (True North 1980)

The Elephant's Graveyard - The Boomtown Rats
from album MONDO BONGO (Columbia 1981)

Spent the past week watching the second DVD collection of the classic Canuck satire, SCTV - a set I eagerly look forward to seeing under the Xmas tree. My sister and I watched toxic amounts of the chopped-up reruns in our teens, helping warp our styles of humour. We can still quote skits verbatim to each other...which is scary, but not in a Lola Heatherton-type way.

Today's songs were performed on the shows seen in the new box. Unlike Saturday Night Live, SCTV integrated the musical acts into skits, often with hillarious results (John Mellencamp as the suave version of Ed Grimley in a Nutty Professor parody, Natalie Cole possessed by an extra-terrestrial cabbage, Dr. John in a parody of Chinatown, Tony Bennett helping about the McKenzie Bros, etc)

High School Confidential is one of those songs that one wonders how the prudes patrolling popular culture managed to miss. Never mind which sexual standpoint you view the song from - the delivery is innuendo-filled enough. A few lines, like "cream my jeans", were skipped over during the show(though singer Carole Pope gives a sly smile when she pauses where naughty lines should have been). The performance was on SCTV's kid show parody Pre-Teen World, installments of which barely reached syndication.

The Boomtown Rats were integrated into two skits on their SCTV appearance: blowed up real good on Farm Film Report (John Candy and Joe Flaherty as two bumpkins who liked to blow celebrities up), then as difficult students in a parody of To Sir With Love, Teacher's Pet (featuring Eugene Levy as Ricardo Montalban in the Sidney Poitier role). During the teacher's going-away party, the Rats present him with this song. Soon after, lead singer Bob Geldof became better known for his efforts spearheading Band Aid, Live Aid and other efforts to combat starvation in Africa.

So sit back and enjoy our fine, fine programming... - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
SCTV Guide, a comprehensive guide to the show. See what else was on the Rough Trade and Boomtown Rats episodes.
The Vinyl Tourist's section on Rough Trade, plus Carole Pope's website.
The official Bob Geldof website.

Got Post-Election Blues? November Blahs? Cheer Up!

2004-11-05T23:50:00.000-05:00

Seven Day Weekend - Elvis Costello and Jimmy Cliff
from soundtrack to CLUB PARADISE (Columbia 1985)

This song accurately describes what I could use right about now...

Too bad the movie this came from was a middling showcase for its cast, mostly drawn from SCTV (I taped it years ago in the middle of buidling a library of SCTV episodes, but only watched it once or twice). Decent soundtrack, mostly by co-star Cliff.

LINK-O-RAMA
Official site for Jimmy Cliff.
IMDB entry for Club Paradise. Take a gander at that cast.

Breathing Space

2004-11-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

If you're a regular visitor, you've noticed there hasn't been anything new posted so far this week. You might say I'm taking a breather, but the reality is life's been busy this week. There should be a fresh entry no later than Saturday. I'll try to go for something cheery, as most of my friends are still bummed out by the election results (ashen faces being commonplace in Toronto since Tuesday night).

I'll also update the link list, throwing on more sites I frequent, or those of you who have popped in here. Don't be afraid to leave your comments - they're greatly appreciated and could provide springboards for future entries.

What Costume Shall The Rock Star Wear?

2004-10-31T23:38:00.000-05:00

Please Mr. Gravedigger - David Bowie
from album DAVID BOWIE (Deram 1967)

Rock 'N' Roll Suicide - David Bowie
from album THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS (RCA 1972)

(OK, this final Halloween entry got delayed...hey, it was a busy weekend! Parties and haunted houses to go to, projects to finish, etc.)

Say you have a large group of friends who want to go with a theme for Halloween. A concept that all of you can dress up as, that allows a lot of latitude within.

How about the many personas of David Bowie? The 70s could satisfy half-a-dozen alone. Let's pick two at random, with songs featuring allusions to death.

Please Mr. Gravedigger comes from Bowie's cabaret/"Anthony Newley" phase, when he sang tunes about laughing gnomes and such. Songs more in a musical theatre vein than rock, about characters like the little man in Please Mr. Gravedigger. He also relied on a lot of cutesy tricks at the time, like the sneezes.

With Ziggy Stardust, the mixing of theatricality and rock struck gold.

LINK-O-RAMA
The lyrics to Please Mr. Gravedigger.

2004-10-29T01:05:00.000-04:00

Haunted House Blues - Bessie Smith
Columbia single, 1924

Haunted House - Johnny Fuller
Specialty single, 1958

Today's haunted house hop day around these parts - one at the office (our HR department always comes up with a wicked theme), one outside of the city. Never went to any as a kid, as it took little to frighten me. Now it's a question of "how could I build/look like this?"

CRMW's haunted house is an old, southern gothic home, its walls oozing with the blues. The type where ghosts of singers like Bessie Smith still ply their craft (except for Robert Johnson, whose spirit is already accounted for, if you believe the legend).

Fuller's house has played host to many others over the years, notably Jumpin' Gene Simmons (not the Kiss dude) and Bruce Springsteen. I prefer this version, with its chicken-scratch guitar, though the homeowner is anything but chicken.

LINK-O-RAMA
From Red Hot Jazz, many RealAudio clips of Bessie Smith.
All Music Guide's entry for Johnny Fuller.
The Halloween Project, a guide to Canadian Halloween attractions.

Hyde 3, Jekyll 0

2004-10-27T23:07:00.000-04:00

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - The Crossfires
Capco single, 1963

Docteur Jekyll et Monsieur Hyde - Serge Gainsbourg
Philips single, 1966

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - The Who
Decca single, 1968

The most racking pangs succeeded: a grinding in the bones, deadly nausea, and a horror of the spirit that cannot be exceeded at the hour of birth or death. Then these agonies began swiftly to subside, and I came to myself as if out of a great sickness. There was something strange in my sensations, something indescribably new and, from its very novelty, incredibly sweet. I felt younger, lighter, happier in body; within I was conscious of a heady recklessness, a current of disordered sensual images running like a mill race in my fancy, a solution of the bonds of obligation, an unknown but not an innocent freedom of the soul. I knew myself, at the first breath of this new life, to be more wicked, tenfold more wicked, sold a slave to my original evil; and the thought, in that moment, braced and delighted me like wine. I stretched out my hands, exulting in the freshness of `these sensations; and in the act, I was suddenly aware that I had lost in stature.

There was no mirror, at that date, in my room; that which stands beside me as I write was brought there later on, and for the very purpose of those transformations. The night, however, was far gone into the morning - the morning, black as it was, was nearly ripe for the conception of the day - the inmates of my house were locked in the most rigorous hours of slumber; and I determined, flushed as I was with hope and triumph, to venture in my new shape as far as to my bedroom. I crossed the yard, wherein the constellations looked down upon me, I could have thought, with wonder, the first creature of that sort that their unsleeping vigilance had yet disclosed to them; I stole through the corridors, a stranger in my own house; and coming to my room, I saw for the first time the appearance of Edward Hyde.
- Robert Louis Stevenson, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886)

My Mr. Hyde is preventing my Dr. Jekyll from giving a brilliant dissertation on about the nature of duality in humans and why Stevenson's story still fascinates. Hyde just wants to play the damned records and go to sleep.

That's Frederic March in the picture, from the 1932 film. Rented it earlier this year and to say that version of Hyde was a sexual sadist is putting it mildly. I don't think I'll ever be able to say "champagne for the lady" to a waiter in a restaurant.

As for the performers:
The Crossfires were a Southern California high school surf band who recorded two singles before changing their name in 1965 to one that was more in line with the popular animal-named groups of the day...the Turtles. When the music switched from Jekyll to Hyde, singer/sax player Mark Volman would throw on a rubber mask to freak out the audience.

Serge Gainsbourg...the dirty old man of French music, captured here during his mid-to-late 60s peak. I seem to have lost my sole Gainsbourg disc, as frantic searching around CRMW HQ has failed to uncover it. Remember kids, put your music away after you listen to it!

The Who's Jekyll and Hyde tune was a B-side, backing Call Me Lightning in the US, Magic Bus in the UK. Kind of surprising it wasn't matched with its natural mate, Boris The Spider - both tunes are creepy, crawly, creepy creepy, crawly crawly...

LINK-O-RAMA
Read Stevenson's story, at Bibliomania.
A piece on the film history of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, up through the 1941 Spencer Tracy version.

John Peel R.I.P.

2004-10-26T16:27:00.000-04:00

Just caught this sad tidbit while trolling through other music blogs - legendary BBC DJ John Peel passed away yesterday from a heart attack while on holiday in Peru. Check out the story in his BBC1 website. A good night to get out any Peel Sessions you might have lying around the house.

Headless Riders Of The Night

2004-10-26T01:27:00.000-04:00

Ichabod Crane - Jim Reeves
from album SINGING DOWN THE LANE (RCA Victor 1956)

Night Rider - Stan Getz
from album FOCUS (Verve 1961)

Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner - Warren Zevon
from album EXCITABLE BOY (Asylum 1978)

Ichabod, who had no relish for this strange midnight companion, and bethought himself of the adventure of Brom Bones with the Galloping Hessian, now quickened his steed, in hopes of leaving him behind. The stranger, however, quickened his horse to an equal pace. Ichabod pulled up, and fell into a walk, thinking to lag behind—the other did the same. His heart began to sink within him; he endeavored to resume his psalm tune, but his parched tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and he could not utter a stave. There was something in the moody and dogged silence of this pertinacious companion, that was mysterious and appalling. It was soon fearfully accounted for. On mounting a rising ground, which brought the figure of his fellow-traveller in relief against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was horror-struck, on perceiving that he was headless!—but his horror was still more increased, on observing that the head, which should have rested on his shoulders, was carried before him on the pommel of the saddle; his terror rose to desperation; he rained a shower of kicks and blows upon Gunpowder; hoping, by a sudden movement, to give his companion the slip—but the spectre started full jump with him. Away then they dashed, through thick and thin; stones flying, and sparks flashing at every bound. Ichabod’s flimsy garments fluttered in the air, as he stretched his long lanky body away over his horse’s head, in the eagerness of his flight.
- Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1819)

But was the rider a Hessian ghost or a romantic rival out to teach ol' Ichabod a lesson he'd never forget?

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to rustle up any audio clips from Disney's 1949 take on the tale - but this nifty portrait of the Headless Horseman by Frank Frazetta captures the mood of the tale. In place of Bing Crosby, how about Jim Reeves' song about the unlucky schoolteacher?

Getz's Night Rider feels like appropriate music to play while reading the climax of the story...though I also think it would work for nastier images of real-life monstrous horseman, like a KKK member on the prowl. There's an atmosphere of dread at work here, a year or two before Getz plunged into the bossa nova sounds he's best known for.

Not all headless beings in song have been horsemen. Take the protagonist of Warren Zevon's Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, a mercenary who loses his head during the Biafran conflict in Nigeria in the late 60s. Anybody have suggestions for a modern rewrite of the last verse (listing 70s hotspots...OK, 3/4 of them are still warm).

LINK-O-RAMA
The full text of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Site about Jim Reeves.
One of many sites with the lyrics to Roland, along with a site on what happened in Biafra.

Love Burns

2004-10-25T01:35:00.000-04:00

My Old Flame - Spike Jones & His City Slickers
RCA Victor single, 1947

Halloween...a time to celebrate love gone bad? Especially while singing like one of Hollywood's favourite spooky characters?

We'll have more about 40s musical mavericks Spike Jones & His City Slickers in a future entry. Briefly, Jones was a Hollywood session drummer who came together with other talented sessioneers to send up the music they loved, through a series of hits for RCA in the 1940s. Invented instruments and corny jokes were the rule of the day, punctuated by shots from an old Smith & Wesson. Have had a warm place in my heart since my Dad's repeated playing of Spike Jones Is Murdering The Classics.

Peter Lorre was part of the German diaspora who fled after the Nazi takeover in 1933. Born in Vienna, Lorre started on stage in a variety of roles, then gained fame as the child murderer in M (1931). Once in America, he usually played psychologically tormented characters or ne'er-do-wells, though he had a starring series as Japanese detective Mr. Moto. He died in 1964, after providing comedy relief in several of Roger Corman's Poe-related films.

Dr. Demento's notes on My Old Flame from the excellent compilation MUSICAL DEPECIATION REVUE: THE SPIKE JONES ANTHOLOGY (Rhino 1994):
Spike keeps his straight face on for a full chorus - nearly half the record - while Paul Judson, who was then handling some of the "non-comic relief" spots for the Revue, sang the 1934 Mae West favourite as pretty as you please. A half-chorus of the City Slickers at full steam restores the proper disorder, but the real highlight comes after, with versatile Hollywood voiceman Paul Frees doing a character Spike wanted to call "Peter Gory" on the record label (RCA overruled him).

Frees was one of the busiest voiceover artists in Hollywood until his death in 1986. Take a gander at his long entry at IMDB - yup, it's the voice of Boris Badenov! Frees recorded several tunes with Jones, including another Halloween-themed song, a vampiric take on I Only Have Eyes For You in 1959.

That's Lorre in the centre of the picture, surrounded by City Slickers Sir Frederick Gas, Doodles Weaver (Sigourney's uncle), Dick Morgan and Mr. Jones.

LINK-O-RAMA
Unfortunately, there are more broken than working links to sites about Spike Jones. We can show you where he's buried. This site offers up a discography and mp3s.
Check out the front page of this site about Peter Lorre - remember those hints if you ever meet him in the afterlife...
A site on voiceover artists from Jay Ward's cartoons featuring several pages about Paul Frees.

BONUS TRACKS
Check Otis Fodder's Oddiooverplay site, where he's compiled two discs worth of Halloween tunes and movie trailers that is perfect for your next spooktacular. Cover art to boot. Especially recommended - one track I was going to include her, The Lurch, by the Addams' butler himself, Ted Cassidy.

Lon Chaney Jr's Gonna Get You Tonight

2004-10-24T14:11:00.000-04:00

Monster's Holiday - Lon Chaney Jr.
Tower single, 1964

Theme from Spider Baby - Lon Chaney Jr.
from movie SPIDER BABY (1964)

Sometimes fame is thrust on you regardless of how you feel. Take the case of Lon Chaney Jr, who had to live in the shadow of his famous father, the star of silent box office hits like Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Phantom Of The Opera, The Unholy Three and London After Midnight.

Born Creighton Chaney, his father tried to prevent him from entering films, sending him to business school. He resisted the lure of Hollywood for a short time after his father's death in 1930, but eventually broke into films under his real name. Soon, studios insisted he change his name to Lon Jr. for marquee value. He spent the rest of the 30s in supporting roles, mostly in Westerns, where his craggy, heavyset look was best put to use.

After his breakthrough role as Lennie in Of Mice and Men (1939), Lon Jr. was signed by Universal to follow in his father's footsteps as their lead horror star. The studio threw him into all the classic monster roles, some better than others (the most ludicrous being Son of Dracula (1942), where poor Lon's midwest accent and build suggest ol' Drac must have spent a spell in the Prairies).

In 1941, Chaney landed the role he would be forever identified with: Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man.

After the 40s horror boom ended, His went back and forth between small roles in A-films (High Noon, The Defiant Ones) and leads in increasingly lower-grade B-pics. Hampered by alcoholism, he acted right up until his death in 1973, throat cancer rendering him mute for his final roles.

Chaney hit the recording studio a few times in the mid-60s. His old man once had a song dedicated to him (Lon Chaney Will Get You If You Don't Watch Out, from Hollywood Medley of 1929), Monster Mash was a popular tune and old horror movies were now a staple of TV.

We'll let George Gimarc and Pat Reeder describe Monster's Holiday, from their book Hollywood Hi-Fi:
This pointless 45 is a pale Xerox of Monster Mash, right down to the lab noises and identical zombified backup singers, only with a Christmas angle. We know this because someone shakes sleigh bells along with the Monster Mash backing track, and the lyrics tell how all the monsters planned to hijack Santa's sleigh abd steal his goodies...Chaney grumbles, rumbles and chortles his way htrough his recited lyrics, barely keeping up with the beat, and from the gruff condition of his voice, it sounds like it took a lot of free booze and cigarettes to lure him into the studio.

Spider Baby was one of Chaney's later starring roles, as the dedicated chauffeur trying to protect the family he works for, who all suffer from a disease that causes them to mentally regress as they age. Now regarded as a cult classic, it's an odd, disturbing little flick, though the theme song is misleading - the only monsters here are the family, though you feel more sympathy for them than their money-grubbing cousins who attempt to grab the family fortune. - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Lon Chaney Jr's IMDB entry.
Official family site for Lon Sr. and Jr.
Article on Spider Baby.
Universal's site for their Monster Legacy Collections, sadly tied in to Van Helsing.

The Mad Doctor Meets The Clown Of Death

2004-10-23T15:59:00.000-04:00

My Solution - The Beach Boys
recorded in the 1970s

Clowny Clown Clown - Crispin Hellion Glover
from album THE BIG PROBLEM DOES NOT EQUAL THE SOLUTION. THE SOLUTION = LET IT BE (Restless 1989)

Today, two of the scariest creatures to occupy the Halloween landscape: mad doctors and clowns.

Here's your classic Hollywood mad doctor shot. Loads of equipment that could only work on a drawing board. A hapless victim on the table. Our crazy doc, in white smock and goggles, turning sixty million doohickeys "in the interest of science".

(BTW, I think this is a shot from 1941's Man Made Monster - that's definitely Lionel Atwill running the machinery, while it looks like Lon Chaney Jr on the table - whose singing talents you'll hear soon!)

Today's challenger of the unknown: Dr. Brian Wilson.

As a radio host once said about this song, it may be the only time the girl dies in a Beach Boy tune (feel free to send in any other examples). Even on a joke horror tune, the group's signature harmonies shine through. The music was later reused for one of Wilson's solo tunes in the 90s, Happy Days.

Clowns. Their faces inspire laughter or revulsion. Though they're supposed to make us laugh, there's something about their grotesque look that easily suggests something darker. In short, a great source for characters for talespinners of terror.

Never cared too much for them as a kid, even in mild forms - I remember being freaked out by a girl in a Wendy's costume at the CNE. Later, I got tagged with the nickname "The Joker" for an evil grin not unlike the Clown Prince of Crime moving in for the kill.

"Bizarre" is too mild a description for the album Clowny Clown Clown appeared from. Maybe Crispin was permanently scarred by a visit to the circus as the kid. If you can track a copy of this down, his version of These Boots Are Made For Walkin' is worth the price of admission.

LINK-O-RAMA
For Crispin Glover, best bet is to do a search on your favourite web browser.
As for My Solution, check for sites dealing with Beach Boys rarities.

Zombie Interlude

2004-10-20T23:08:00.000-04:00

Time Of The Season (alternate version) - The Zombies
recorded 1967
from album ODESSEY AND ORACLE 30TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (Big Beat 1998)

Our crack research team is still traipsing around New Orleans preparing our swampland spectacular.

While we're waiting for tales of witches and voodoo, why not some Zombies?

Actually, "undead" was an apt description for the Zombies when Odessey and Oracle became a hit, as the group disbanded by the time the album reached turntables. It was a slow, shambling creature - recorded in '67, released to indifference in the UK in '68, then slowly selling in the US until Time Of The Season hit the charts in '69. This alternate version differs in the added organ and drum fills during the chorus.

Originally from suburban London, the Zombies signed to Decca and scored several hits on both sides of the Atlantic, notably She's Not There and Tell Her No. By '67, problems with producers, decreased airplay and plain out weariness made the group decide to record one final album on a new label, then call it a day. (I also suspect their preppy, academic image didn't help their prospects). The group resisted offers to reform after the success of Time Of The Season, with vocalist Colin Blunstone and keyboardist/songwriter Rod Argent going on to healthy careers in the UK in the 70s.

Note the odd spelling of the album name. At the time, the band claimed it was intentional, but it now appears the cover artist misspelled "odyssey" and the band let it go.

LINK-O-RAMA
Fan page for The Zombies.

Danse Macabre

2004-10-19T22:53:00.000-04:00

Midnight Stroll - The Revels
Norgold single, 1959

The Black Rider - Tom Waits
from album THE BLACK RIDER (Island 1993)

The Dancer - PJ Harvey
from album TO BRING YOU MY LOVE (Island 1995)

"The danse macabre is a waltz with death. This is the truth we cannot afford to shy away from. Like the rides in the amusement park which mimic violent death, the tale of horror is a chance to examine what's going on behind doors we usually keep double-locked. Yet the human imagination is not content with locked doors. Somewhere there is another dancing partner, the imagination whispers in the night - a partner in a rotting ball gown, a partner with empty eyesockets, green mold growing on her elbow-length gloves, maggots squirming in the thin remains of her hair. To hold such a creature in our arms? Who, you ask me, would be so mad? Well...?
- Stephen King, Danse Macabre (1981)

Join these three performers in the danse...

Midnight Stroll exhumes an old short horror tale cliche, the person who doesn't realize until the end of the story that it's not just the ghouls around them that bid life adieu. Ideal slow dance material for your Halloween shindig, whose pace any freshly-risen romantic stiff will appreciate.

The Revels, who also recorded as the Re-Vels, were a doo wop group from Philadelphia. They have no connection to the California surf band of the same name and time period, who are best known for a tune that popped up on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, Comanche (aka the music they brought out the Gimp to).

The Black Rider was a theatrical collaboration between Waits, William S. Burroughs and director Robert Wilson, originally performed in Germany. It spins a Faustian tale, based on German folk tales, about a young man who makes a deal with the devil to improve his hunting abilities in order to win approval to marry his love. Waits is in full carnival barker mode here, reaching out to all the little shavers in the audience. Just watch you don't start singing the theme from The Flintstones afterwards...

Whenever I think of creatures dancing around in their bones, two images come to mind:

1) A Benny Hill skit where Benny, dressed as a clown, does a striptease literally to the bone.

2) An educational show I watched as a kid on TVOntario, Readalong, which had a regular puppet named Mr. Bones. He sang, he danced, he played a mean rubber-band guitar. For some reason, one song stuck in my head, which started "I'm going down the road feeling bad", with each line after that rhyming.

The Dancer may have nothing to do with skeletons and ghouls (unless the man visiting her at the start of the song is who I thought he was when I first heard this tune), but it's an unsettling tune. Very...creepy...organ. Dark, moody, bluesy album that's my favourite in the Harvey catalogue, which was in heavy rotation my second year of university and one of the first CDs I bought.

If I ever go on a roadtrip through a murky swamp, or anyplace that looks like the backdrop for an Alan Moore issue of Swamp Thing, this would be the album I'd want...which is a good segueway for tomorrow's trip down to the bayou.

It'll be a witchin' good time. - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
A chart listing for KDWB from Nov 21/59, showing Midnight Stroll as the #2 song in Dallas that week. Local charts sure were eclectic in those days - the other artists range from Bo Diddley to Martin Denny, Nina Simone to Webb Pierce, Eddie Cochran to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
The lyrics to The Black Rider.
Information on Readalong and other TVO kids shows of the '70s and '80s.
Official websites for Tom Waits and PJ Harvey.

Moving Through Your Fears

2004-10-18T16:42:00.000-04:00

Night Of Fear - The Move
Deram single, 1966

Nightime. Sitting in bed by yourself, with all the lights out. No night light can keep the boogey man away. Strange shadows float across the reflection through the window cast by a street light. An odd noise. Your imagination runs wild - hide under the covers!

Welcome to your NIGHT OF FEAR!

(cue cackling)

It was never easy being a character in a Move song. An undercurrent of madness or other unseemly business runs throughout their early catalogue. Cases in point:

* Disturbance - the B-side of Night Of Fear, about a guy going looney his entire life. Lots of screaming at the end.

* Walk Upon The Water - a warning about the dangers of drinking and swimming.

* Wave Your Flag And Stop The Train - girl on train goes mad.

* Cherry Blossom Clinic - this single was pulled shortly after its release for being too disturbing, its images of a mental asylum not perking up the ears of radio programmers.

One wonders just what was going through songwriter Roy Wood's head at times. You can say this - he knew a twisted lyric and a great hook. Night of Fear was the Move's first single, with a snatch of the 1812 Overture thrown in...foreshadowing the group's evolution into Electric Light Orchestra by 1972.

More about the Move post-Halloween.

LINK-O-RAMA
The Move Online, with further links to sites of former members. Look also for links for their recently deceased original lead singer, Carl Wayne.

Hangin' Out At The Tofu Hut

2004-10-18T01:53:00.000-04:00

If you're not in Halloween mood, check out the ever-amazin' The Tofu Hut. A regular feature invites the first folks who respond to listen to and review a disc compiled by the site. Once everyone's comments are in, the tracks and views are loaded onto the site. I got a chance to review one, so you can see my comments on The Numbers Game over the next week or two. Laugh as I stumble my way through genres I'm still getting the hang of. - JB

Let The Halloween Fun Begin

2004-10-17T22:54:00.000-04:00

It's Halloween - The Shaggs
from album PHILOSOPHY OF THE WORLD (Red Rooster 1969)

As some radio stations switch to all-Christmas music before that holiday, we here at CRMW are switching over to all-Halloween music between now and the 31st.

A couple of ground rules:

1) We will not be presenting any versions of Monster Mash. Overplayed! However, we do recommend this clip over at TV Ark, featuring a wacky performance of the tune by the Bonzo Dog Band from the proto-Monty Python series Do Not Adjust Your Set (3/5ths of the Pythons hosted the show - Idle, Jones and Palin).

2) As long as a piece fits the mood of Halloween, we'll consider it for inclusion - a creepy instrumental break is all it takes. You might think we'll be stretching it at times, but we hope you enjoy the music.

We also have a guest contributor coming aboard with their ghoulish take on the season - watch for it.

To start, here's a simple ode to the 31st, listing all the fun things one can do. Primitive, but from the heart. - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Fan site about The Shaggs...and the official site.

It's Only A Motorcycle Song

2004-10-17T01:54:00.000-04:00

Blue's Theme - Davie Allen & The Arrows
from soundtrack album THE WILD ANGELS (Capitol 1966)

Time to rev up the hogs folks, with this ridin' down the highway classic. Given what was in my father's record collection (mostly classical, followed by folk-rock, country and jazz), this soundtrack was one of the odd ones out. I never recall hearing this on the ol' Dual.

The soundtrack for this Roger Corman-directed Peter Fonda/Nancy Sinatra biker flick (neither of whom sing on the album) was produced by Mike Curb, later infamous for knocking all "drug-related" acts off MGM Records (he turned the label's fortunes around for a time with wholesome acts like the Osmonds). Later on, he ran the mainly-country Curb Records, and served a controversial stint as lieutenant-governor of California in the late 70s. He was also a big booster of Rappin' Ronnie Reagan.

If Dick Dale was the king of surf music, Davie Allen filled the same function for chopper flicks. Sit back and be showered by the fuzz (guitar, not The Fuzz). Check here for a new two-disc reissue of his 60s material.

Road-trip season is drawing to a close around these parts, as the fall colours fade - enjoy it before the snow and slop of winter set in.

LINK-O-RAMA
Official site for Davie Allen & The Arrows (very slow fade-in).
IMDB entry for The Wild Angels (useless trivia: Laura Dern was conceived during the shooting of this movie - her parents were 3rd/4th billed).
Mike Curb's site. Feel free to cringe (I did).

Continuing Our Celebration Of Scotchtoberfest

2004-10-15T17:04:00.000-04:00

I Only Want To Be With You - The Bay City Rollers
from album DEDICATION (Arista 1976)

Head On - The Jesus and Mary Chain
from album AUTOMATIC (Blanco y Negro 1989)

Vow - Garbage
from album GARBAGE (Almo 1995)

Love Is An Arrow - Aberfeldy
from album YOUNG FOREVER (Rough Trade 2004)

Ya used me Skinner! Ya used me!

We had hoped to use Groundskeeper Willie as our guest commentator, but he's still peeved from Principal Skinner's cruel mind games. As our regular program director is on the brain-dead side today, we're just going to let today's selection of tunes from acts with Scottish musicians (even if it's just the singer, as in the case of track 3) do the talking. Sit back and enjoy.

Our regular format returns for a day or two, then it's headlong into Halloween tunes next week.

It's Scotchtoberfest Time!

2004-10-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

Surprise, Surprise - Lulu & The Luvvers
Decca single (UK), 1965

Jumping Jack Flash - Alex Harvey
from album ROMAN WALL BLUES (Fontana 1969)

While Oktoberfest is going on around Germany and southern Ontario, the staff at CRMW have decided to celebrate a neglected fall festival, Scotchtoberfest. Robbie Burns Day isn't the only time of the year to say an ode to the haggis and get out those rusty bagpipes at the back of the closet. Besides, kilts are more comfortable than lederhosen.

To get into the mood, we'll feature a small sampling of musicians from Scotland over the next two days.

Though better known for later, softer material like To Sir With Love and Morning Dew, Lulu began her career as Scotland's answer to Brenda Lee, with a raspy older-than-her-years voice suited for songs like her first hit, a cover of Shout! in 1964. This tune is in the same vein - hard to believe four years later she'd record the Eurocheese that was Boom-Bang-A-Bang (though redeeming herself in the 70s with some spiffy David Bowie covers and the title song for The Man With The Golden Gun).

Alex Harvey had knocked around since the late 50s, when he won a contest to find Scotland's answer to British teen star Tommy Steele. He fronted various blues-based groups, usually under the Soul Band moniker, through the 60s, ending the decade as a member of the pit band for the London production of Hair. This Stones cover came from his last album before hooking up with Glasgow group Tear Gas, who became the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. The group proved a popular live draw through the 70s, with a heavily theatrical show (complete with guitarist Zal Cleminson in mime makeup), reflected in songs like Boston Tea Party and their cover of Delilah. Back problems and booze forced Harvey to cut back on live performances late in the decade, but continued recording until his death in 1982.

It Came From Finland

2004-10-12T22:52:00.000-04:00

Nuku Pommiin - Kojo
Finnish entry in 1982 Eurovision Sing Contest

One more slice of Eurocheese, from the rock-bottom finisher in 1982's edition of Eurovision, a guy who scored no votes. Apparently the singer was a glam-rocker who offended the judges with pants that were way too tight. First encountered this in a British book of rock lists I had as a kid (and went looking for over the weekend, but couldn't find. Last time I saw it, the binding had collapsed, so I suspect it's been recycled).

I tried watching a free rental of a Eurovision contest, to see if they lived up to their cheesy/wretched reputation. I didn't make it to the end (though I survived a tribute program featuring the likes of Shane McGowan warbling old winners).

LINK-O-RAMA
Cover your ears for other acts who scored naught over the years.
Kojo's competition and the full results.
Eurovision official site.

NEXT ON CRMW: Scotchtoberfest!

Carnaval, German Style

2004-10-12T15:06:00.000-04:00

Carnaval In Rio - Heino

Thanksgiving's over, time to go through the leftovers. I had intended to ost over the weekend, but my sister's computer has having issues with the ol' FTP site.

Still, if it was a good bird, leftover turkey tastes as good as one out of the oven.

First heard today's toe-tapper as a running joke on a seasonal NPR survey of weird music. Think I had a version of this song on a Disney record as a kid, Going Quackers (coupled with other memorable tunes like Vaccuum Cleaner Hoses and On Top Of Spaghetti).

From the marimbas that lead off the tune, you know you're in for a beer-stein swingin' good time.

Zing!

Heino - the Germans love him, with that all-too-white hairdo and shades, both too large for his head. Must be a Wayne Newton type of love affair. Idolized by lovers of kitschy music, star of many hours of TV singalongs.

Zing!

Makes one wonder how he'd handle Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart...anybody know if such a recording exists?

LINK-O-RAMA
This site has way too much information (check the FAQ).
Sometimes his doppelganger appears in Toronto.
Official Heino page, which only appears to be contact info. Dig the frames on his glasses.

The Organ Lies Down On Broadway

2004-10-08T01:15:00.000-04:00

Funky Broadway - Jimmy Smith
from album RESPECT (Verve 1967)

A little Jimmy Smith to groove into the holiday weekend with (if you're a canuck - Monday's Thanksgiving up here). If this sounds slightly familiar, it was sampled by US3 for Chili Hot in Get Shorty. I don't think that Respect has been properly reissued, other than today's tune cropping up on compilations (Jimmy's volume of Talkin' Verve for one). The CD age is missing a mighty fine cover of panels of Jimmy doing karate moves in front of the Hammond. Other covers on the album included the title track, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and Get Out Of My Life Woman.

LINK-O-RAMA
AllMusic Guide's review of Respect (they're lukewarm towards it).
Jimmy's page from the Blue Thumb/Verve website.

Shake Your (Four-Year Old) Groove Thing

2004-10-06T18:59:00.000-04:00

Welcome To Rio
Watch Out For Goofy
from album MICKEY MOUSE DISCO (Disneyland 1979)

Hey, everybody else had a disco album, why not a mouse?

Some of the albums I grew up to:
* Raggedy Ann & Andy Rock n' Roll, featuring covers of 50s tunes with junk food in their title.
* Pink Panther Punk, with very little PP. Instead, it was a DJ spinning covers of late 70s hits, with odd choices for the pre-teen set (Another Brick In The Wall? Call Me?) Billy Joel popped by with the non-punk It's Still Rock N' Roll To Me. Apparently Nardwuar The Human Serviette also possessed a copy.
* A book n' record set of Brer Rabbit & The Tar Baby (nobody's perfect).
* Roald Dahl reading James & The Giant Peach (whose rich delivery added an edge to reading the book).
* Various Ronco novelty compilations.
* Later on, my sister had gems like Barbie Goes Country (remember zilch about it) and a couple of Care Bears LPs (sung by Flo n' Eddie, a 180-dgree turn from their days with Frank Zappa).

But no child's collection in the late 70s/early 80s would have been complete without a couple of disco albums. We had at least two: Sesame Street Fever (with Robin Gibb pitching in) and Mickey Mouse Disco.

Mickey was the first we owned - was it an attempt to give us something current to listen to without jumping into top 40 waters? I suspect my Dad may have picked it up at The Met, the local discount department store, where he always picked out cutout discs. As for the tunes themselves, Welcome To Rio doesn't sound much sillier than some of the tunes that hit adult discos (it might work as an accompaniment for a drag queen), while Watch Out For Goofy sums up how graceful I would have been on the dancefloor.

Other than copies for sale, not much info on the web about this album - anybody know who the musicians on it were? Were they sessioners who appeared on well-known shake your booty tunes?

Oddball note: according to sample source The Breaks, the version of It's A Small World from this album was used for Fatboy Slim's Praise You!.

Feet First

2004-10-04T23:02:00.000-04:00

You Need Feet - Bernard Bresslaw
HMV single, 1958

Today's tune is dedicated to a hard-working yet often overlooked part of the body - the feet. All hail feet!

Quick notes:
* Bernard Bresslaw (1934-93) was a British comedian best known on these shores for his appearances in the Carry On movie series in the late 60s-early 70s. Catchphrase: "I only arsked!"
* This was the background music for the parody of John and Yoko's experimental films in The Rutles, A Thousand Feet Of Film.

LINK-O-RAMA
IMDB entry for Bernard Bresslaw.
Site with info on the Carry On series.
How to keep your feet healthy, courtesy of the American Podiatric Medical Association.

The Cream Of A & M

2004-10-02T23:52:00.000-04:00

Comin' In The Back Door - The Baja Marimba Band
from album THE BAJA MARIMBA BAND (A&M 1964)

Just To Satisfy You - Waylon Jennings
A&M single, 1964
from album DON'T THINK TWICE (A&M 1970)

But You Know I Love You - Evie Sands
from album ANY WAY THAT YOU WANT ME (A&M 1969)

My Kingdom For A Car - Phil Ochs
from album GREATEST HITS (A&M 1970)

all of these tracks available on CREAM OF THE CREAM (A&M Canada 1970)

A&M Records built its fortunes in the 60s off the carloads of albums sold by its co-owner Herb Alpert. It soon became known in the industry as an artist-friendly indie which built its reputation on MOR material but dabbled in most genres, building up solid rock roster through the 70s, distributing the early CTI catalogue, etc. Alpert and partner Jerry Moss ran the label through 1989, when it was sold to Polygram. When the latter merged with Universal in the late 90s, A&M was gutted, its staff laid off by 1999.

Cream Of The Cream was a label sampler released in Canada around 1970. The MOR/non-rock acts get the lion's share of the action here - noticeably absent are acts licensed from British labels (mostly Island, who didn't start a US branch until '73). My parents had a copy, which I often threw on my Fisher-Price turntable.

As for the artists featured here:

Julius Wechter & The Baja Marimba Band were mainstays of the label through the 60s, recording mostly Latin-tinged covers of the hits of the day. More about them on this website. Comin' In Through The Back Door was from the ensemble's first album, the interior of which is pictured here. Guess which bandito in the picture is Herb Alpert.

Waylon Jennings recorded a few singles for A&M before a 20-year run on RCA. Don't Think Twice consisted mostly of covers, ranging from Unchained Melody to House Of The Rising Sun. Just To Satisfy You was one of the few originals on the album, done in a folk-rock vein one wouldn't associate with Jennings. He rerecorded the song several times for RCA, including the title track of a 1968 album and a 1982 single in keeping with his later "outlaw" image. Official website here.

Evie Sands was cursed with recording the original versions of several songs that were hits for others soon after (I Can't Let Go, popularized by the Hollies, and Angel Of The Morning, a hit for Merillee Rush and others), mostly written by Chip Taylor (useless trivia - Angelina Jolie's uncle). But You Know I Love You was recorded by several acts at the time, with Kenny Rogers & The First Edition (writer Mike Settle had been part of that group) grabbing the most airplay. A bio can be found on her current label's website.

Finally, we hit a track from Phil Ochs' last album of new material, the ironically titled Greatest Hits. By this point, Ochs was doing his best to enrage his remaining fans by performing medleys of 50s rock tunes and Okie From Muskogee wearing an Elvis-style gold lame suit. He posed for publicity pix in the suit with plenty o' guns, trying to find a way to cross Che Guevara and Elvis. The fans were not amused. Neither was A&M. One more live album from the gold lame tour, Gunfight At Carnegie Hall, was released in Canada only to end the contract.

One last note about Ochs. Growing up, one of our neighbours was named Phil Ochs. Once I learned how to match sounds and words, I was confused by who the heck the guy on these records was, since he didn't look or sound like our neighbour. Dear old Dad cleared up the confusion by assuring me that musical Phil was dead and told nastier jokes than neighbour Phil. I had a soft spot for Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends as a kid, ignorant of what the lyrics meant under the happy piano playing - maybe I'll throw it on down the line.

Other acts on the album include Claudine Longet, Liza Minnelli, the Sandpipers, Quincy Jones and, of course, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass (represent by the song that launched the label, The Lonely Bull).

LINK-O-RAMA
A&M Corner, a fan site for the label, concentrating on 60s material.
A&M discography from Both Sides Now.

Tell Me Is It Worth It All?

2004-09-30T11:50:00.000-04:00

I Ain't Marchin' Anymore (electric version) - Phil Ochs
Elektra single (UK), 1966
available on CHORDS OF FAME (A&M 1976) and FAREWELLS AND FANTASIES (Rhino 1997)

With all the rumours swirling around about reinstatement of the draft down south, the time is ripe for somebody to revisit this Vietnam-era chestnut.

Ochs originally recorded I Ain't Marchin' Anymore as a acoustic number for his 1965 album of the same name. From Ochs' original liner notes:

This borders between pacifism and treason, combining the best qualities of both. The fact that you won't be hearing this song over the radio is more than enough justification for writing it.

The song was re-recorded in early '66, one of Elektra's first moves from folk to electric music (by the end of the year, they'd signed their first rock acts, Love and the Doors). Blues Project provided the catchy backing, but the single was only released in the UK. According to Richie Unterberger's book Turn, Turn, Turn, one Brit who wasn't in love with the tune was Roger Daltrey. In a Melody Maker column, he said "it sounds like a punished protest song. Turn it off, turn it off, turn it off! It's not even good for my grandmother."

It ended up being one of Ochs' last recordings for Elektra. He moved over to A&M in '67, mixing political tunes with highly orchestrated tunes. His idealism was shot after the '68 Democratic convention riots, resulting in a decrease in songwriting (his recording career effectively ended with '70's Greatest Hits, which was a collection of all-new tunes that ended with the prophetic No More Songs). Alcoholism, mental illness, an assault that affected his vocal cords and other maladies plagued him until his death in '76.

LINK-O-RAMA
From Unterberger's site, a series of 60s folk-rock lists than mentions today's tune under "Twenty-Two Great Overlooked Folk-Rock Songs".
Site on Ochs with lyrics, discographies, etc (but not updated since 2002).
Phil's brother Michael runs one of the largest archives for music-related photos.

There's Something Going On That Wasn't Here Before

2004-09-29T22:30:00.000-04:00

Strange - Wire
available on PINK FLAG (Capitol 1977)

Strange - R.E.M.
available on DOCUMENT (I.R.S. 1987)

Same song, different interpretations.

Wire's original drags too much for my ears, like a 45 played at 33. Is this why the other songs on Pink Flag were so short (one of those albums critics love, but i say "meh")? Not a group I've ever been able to get into, despite their influence and the great riffs Elastica later sto...er...borrowed.

Part of the problem may be I grew up with R.E.M.'s livelier version, one of my favourite songs on Document. The Wire version suggests something ominous but unknown going on, while R.E.M....I used to picture an awkward moment at a party, such as a glance at two folks getting friendly, but not with the folks they should be friendly with.

Document marked an end and beginning for the group. It was their last for I.R.S. before moving on to Warner Bros. It's the first to feature songs that made a dent on mainstream radio, with
The One I Love going top 10 and
It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) trailing not far behind. How many of you will fess up to shouting out "LEONARD BERNSTEIN"?

I'm too sleepy to throw on links - wait 'til tomorrow. - JB

Drunk Eye For The Straight Guy

2004-09-28T18:28:00.000-04:00

I'm Gonna Hire A Wino To Decorate Our Home - David Frizzell
available on FAMILY'S FINE, BUT THIS ONE'S ALL MINE (Warner Bros. 1982)

OK kids, it's flashback/annoying autobiographical pause time again.

Growing up, my father used drive to Windsor on Sunday morning to pick up the Sunday New York Times, the Times Literary Supplement and any other magazines we didn't subscribe to. The nature of the trip evolved over the years - by the mid-90s, it also included grocery shopping and a cup of joe at the Coffee Exchange. The newsstands changed over the years, but they were all in or near downtown Windsor - Tidas News, J&J Variety, Whittingtons, etc. I usually managed to get him to buy me packs of sports cards or toss in a comic book. Unless it was football season, we'd wander the countryside before coming home.

Through the 80s, the radio was set to one of two things - Patterns in Music on WJR, which played standards based on the theme of the week, or the American Country Countdown on W4 Country (WWWW, which in an earlier rock incarnation was one of Howard Stern's early stops). If it was a rare occasion where Amy was along, America's Top 40 rolled out the long-distance dedications.

(Note: this pic is the closest radio I could find to any of the cars we owned. It's from an '84 Calais - we had several different Oldsmobiles, including an '81 Delta 88, a mid-80s Cutlass Ciera and the first car I unofficially considered mine, an '86 Calais).

It's the country countdown that sticks in my mind, if only for the cheese/humour value of some of the songs that stayed in the charts for weeks. This was the post-Urban Cowboy, pre-Garth Brooks era, where the genre was drifting around. While you could still some of the 70s Outlaw movement performers or acts that are more popular outside of country circles now (ie Emmylou Harris), you'd also hear music more pop than country or songs like Tight Fittin' Jeans, The Day The Squirrel Went Berserk and today's tune. I doubt we'll ever see much of a widespread 80s country revival unless the arbitrers of cool decide to make old Alabama records the next big thing (relax, we didn't own any - the old man's collection was more along the lines of crooners like Don Williams and John Conlee).

Even as a kid, I thought this was one goofy song, though I didn't fully understand what it meant. "Wino" was a funny word, the singer is happy - maybe I needed to build a bar to live out my honky-tonk dreams! It's still a funny song, more palatable than, say, Achy Breaky Heart.

Frizzell was the much-younger brother of honky-tonk legend Lefty Frizzell, who usually recorded duets with Dottie West's daughter Shelley (his sister-in-law) with a sound at home with electric bullriding.

As the 80s ended, the country countdown faded from the car radio, replaced first by classic rock (veteran Detroit DJ Russ Gibb's show on WCSX, the guy responsible for spreading the "Paul Is Dead" rumour to the States), then audio tapes of jazz, classical and rock programs taped off CBC.

Alas, the days of the Sunday drive are gone. It would have been my father's birthday this past Sunday, and the drive would have been a key part of it. Knowing the way the Sunday morning music changed, I wonder if it would now be mix CDs of music or programs he found on the web...

LINK-O-RAMA
American Country Countdown is still going strong. I found the '82 year-end top 100 chart and it looks like Wino was #17. Here's what else I would have heard in the car. Haven't seen some of those titles for years, yet it's scary how many of them I can hum a few bars of. Guess those rides buried themselves in my brain.

Music To Play When Dancing With Your Parents At A Wedding

2004-09-27T22:21:00.000-04:00

Journey To The Centre Of The Mind - The Amboy Dukes
Mainstream single, 1968
available on the NUGGETS box set and various other 60s comps

...by accident, of course.

To make a long story short: as mentioned a few times here, I DJed a friend's wedding on the weekend. As per traditon, the dance portion of the evening began with bride/groom, then bride/father, groom/mother, wedding party. The first two went well. Went into the book of CDs I brought along to pick slow tune #3. Looked at track listings, picked a disc and popped it into the player.

Expected to hear You Only Live Twice...but instead of Frank's kid, the audience got an earful of early Ted Nugent.

Cue laughs and shocked looks, a rolling-over groom and a good-spirited mother. The kind of moment that will linger long after the celebrations die down.

As for me, I was somewhere between panic and being dumbstruck, but let it roll on after peeking through the barrier and seeing smiles in the audience.

Action shot from midway through the evening, cooling down after the stage set was struck - jackets off and sleeves are rolled, but tie hasn't reached punk/elderly reporter loosened stage yet. Reaction was generally positive - the groom was beaming (I still remembered his tastes back in university well - the last of the opening numbers was one he and the best man used to crank out regularly, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Bellbottoms).

Good practice for my sister's wedding a year from now. - JB

COMING UP: Homeless decorators. The Appliance Doctor, coming up at 4:15.

Relax, I'm Not Going To Stomp On Your Inability To Use Past Tense and Conjunctions Correctly

2004-09-23T23:45:00.000-04:00

It's Bad Grammar, Baby - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks
available on ORIGINAL RECORDINGS (Epic 1969)

For those of you keeping a running tally, this is entry #50...according to Blogger.

By day, I work as an editor for a large retailer. Not a glamourous job, but the co-workers are easy to get along with, it pays the bills and offers a great balance between work and home life. One of the interesting side-effects is the reaction I get whenever I mention what I do.

If you want to make a new contact you've been writing to nervous, tell them you're an editor. Watch how quickly panic or apologies set in.

I've lost track of how many times people have asked if I'll start nitpicking their writing or speaking abilities. Usually in jest, sometimes not. Those of you who fall in the latter category can breath easy - unless every word consists of a two-letter shortform, I'm not going to give you a remedial course in communications. It's not the way to break the ice, especially when you're communicating in real time. It's petty and nitpicky. The content's more important when you're first getting to know somebody, as you learn their verbal and written rhythms. Then you can dump on their language skills...OK, just kidding. Heck, feel free to go crazy to pick this entry apart - I tend to leave the careful attention to detail at the office or for freelance work.

Besides, you should hear how much I mangle the language when I open my mouth. 'Fraid the ol' noggin works faster than the ol' facial muscles most of the time. I think that's part of the reason I'm still a holdout when it comes to cellphones.

Love is a great source of language mangling, not unlike this song. How often would the dialogue from a breakup earn an A+ in grammar class? Not very. The only thing missing here is a whole lot of "uh...um...uh...mmm...err...uh". - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Slipcue's reviews of Hicks' albums.
Website for Dan Hicks.

EXTRA TRACKS
We're taking a break for a few days, coming back after the weekend - when depends on the state of our program director after a weekend of wedding-related wildness. We'll still take your comments.

We also just signed up to be one of the sites listed by the MP3 Blogs Aggregator - see what else lies out there...

I'm Sorry Ladies and Gentlemen, There's No Reason To Post This Tune Here

2004-09-21T22:13:00.000-04:00

Less Than Zero...oops, better make that Radio Radio (live) - Elvis Costello
performed on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, Dec 17, 1977
available on SNL 25: THE MUSICAL PERFORMANCES VOLUME 1 (Dreamworks 1999)

This week's audio lesson from Great Moments in Television Musical History 101, as offered by Whattsamatta University.

This was an odd episode of SNL, hosted by 80-year old grandmother Miskel Spillman, who won an "Anyone Can Host the Saturday Night Show" contest. As per usual, Costello had two numbers on the show: Watching The Detectives and Less Than Zero.

Or so Lorne Michaels thought.

You can hear what happened next. Most sources say Costello was inspired by a similar act by Jimi Hendrix. Gotta live the spectre of danger and unpredictability in live performance.

Costello wasn't invited back for over a decade.

The only controversial musical moment on SNL I saw as it unfolded was Sinead O'Connor's tearing up of a picture of a religious leader with a large hat. I used to tape the show back then, but don't remember how I missed recording the big moment - I think I hadn't liked her first number, and I tended to not record the second musical number if the first stunk. My sister will correct my memory one of these days...

LINK-O-RAMA
From SNL Transcripts, what went down on this episode.
From ecostello.com, the story behind this performance (apparently EC was a last-minute replacement for the Sex Pistols!)

BONUS TRACKS
Was grazing over at Scenestars, which includes tracks from the musical Avenue Q...which made me fall off my chair. After hearing this, I'm lining up for tix when it hits TO . It's soundtrack week and they're making great picks.

Speaking of which, watch this site in October for theme days/weeks to go along with the month's celebrations here in the Great White North - Thanksgiving, Oktoberfest and Halloween! - JB

Good Vibrations Make You Want To Smile

2004-09-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

Promotional ad for Smile - The Beach Boys
recorded 1966

Smile excerpt (usually referred to as "Fire Intro" or "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow") - The Beach Boys
unreleased session, c. 1966-67

Good Vibrations (live) - The Beach Boys
recorded on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, Oct 13, 1968

There's plenty of buzz out there about the upcoming release of Brian Wilson's newly recorded version of Smile, the legendary shelved Beach Boys album. Since clips of the new recording are floating around the mp3 blogosphere, though I'd go back to some material related to the original.

The first clip here appears to be a promo prepared by an anxious Capitol Records. January 1967 came and went...no Smile. It was promised several times, but never appeared - there are many sources out that tell the story (give your friendly neighbourhood search engine a spin).

Songs written for the Smile sessions gradually leaked out onto the group's albums over the next half-decade, even providing the name for one ('71's Surf's Up). The rest of the material recorded flowed out on bootlegs, with the odd piece popping up on box sets. It became the great phantom rock album, passing into myth.

The second clip is an example of what might have ended up on album, part of the "fire" section of The Elements. It's been said that while recording these sessions, Brian was convinced his music set off nearby forest fires. Maybe this was his way of conjuring up the fire trucks. Sounds like background music for a children's TV show...use it with, say, a dog puppet riding along with firefighters on the way to a blaze, with an unending stream of questions that make it seem like the truck's going way out of its jurisdiction to reach the fire.

Before plunging into Smile, the group had their biggest hit with Good Vibrations, which was listed as a track on copies of the Smile cover that were pressed. The version here also appears in the doc An American Band. Carl Wilson's responsible for the lovely lead vocal, while Mike Love plays something that's supposed to simulate a theremin, but looks like a mutant steel guitar. He also sounds out of it vocally, his first entrance an awkward drop. The end sounds off-kilter (phasing effects instead of the extended "ahhhhhh...." before the final repeat of the chorus). They're all dressed in white, with a backdrop of trippy visual effects (ie each member walks into himself). Groovy man...

LINK-O-RAMA
Comprehensive unofficial Beach Boys site.
Brian Wilson's website.
DVD Verdict review of An American Band.
Reactions to the new version of Smile from The Guardian.

Wedding Shimmy

2004-09-18T02:10:00.000-04:00

Marriage, French Style - Burt Bacharach
available on WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT? (United Artists 1965)

With so much wedding-related stuff going on among friends and family lately, thought I'd toss on one track - though I doubt if I played this one at a reception if I'd get the entire audience to shimmy down to the floor like they did in the movie. - JB

Game Off!

2004-09-15T23:05:00.000-04:00

Hockey Night In Canada theme - Dolores Claman
composed 1968, this arrangement used until c. 1980

Scoring - Guy Lafleur
recorded in the late 70s or early 80s

Revellers on the streets of TO last night got their last blast of big-time hockey for awhile - the NHL lockout was made official today. Silly me managed to get caught in traffic when the game let out, leading to the whitest knucks I've ever seen as over-enthusiastic fans darted into traffic. I was so edgy I refused any calls to honk my horn. Better a lousy patriot than smacking into a drunk fan at 5 km/h.

So, here's a couple of hockey tunes to tide any fans reading this for the rest of the week. We start with Canada's second nation anthem, written for Hockey Night in Canada in 1968. I dimly remember this rendition being used when I starting watching hockey games on the boob tube - it was soon replaced by what seemed like a different version each season. The version by Toronto's Shuffle Demons was the easiest to find on disc and hear on the radio for years. If the season ever starts, I'll post it as a kickoff tune.

Growing up in Amherstburg, there were three teams to throw your support behind. The closest team was the Red Wings, or the Dead Things as they were usually called, as they were coming to the end of the nightmare that was the Bruce Norris era (only two trips to the playoffs between 1966 and 1983). There were an equal number of Maple Leafs fans, or the Maple Laffs as they were usually called, in the middle of the nightmare that was the Harold Ballard era (still too painful to mention to most Torontonians). You'd also find pockets of Canadiens fans, the mighty Habs, whose games could be seen on the local French CBC station (channel 78 - the highest over-the-air dial position in Canadian history).

Coming into the 80s, the Habs' main star was the Flower, Guy Lafleur.

I first encountered the Lafleur track, like many other oddball recordings, on CBC's late, lamented Nightlines, during a weekend of hockey tunes. I've got part of the show on tape - it appears this was from a series of grocery store giveaway records with The Flower giving tips in French and English. Must from the turn of the decade, judging from the disco beat and backup singers. Maybe the producers had a spare track from a workout record to use up...

Two tracks I taped from that show I've been searching for on disc or mp3 for years - 70s Buffalo Sabre (and later New Jersey Devils coach who told a ref to eat a donut) Jim Schoenfeld singing You Can't Do That, and 60s Leafs goalie Johnny Bower's rendition of Honky The Christmas Goose (which my father sang to me as a child - I doubted its legitimacy until I actually heard it).

BTW, if anybody's interested, I managed to scoop up a few of the French tracks, including Scoring en francais (called Marquer Un But - "Scoring A Goal"). - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Official site for the sheet music for the HNIC theme.
Scoring can also be found at the archive for the great 365 Days mp3 project from last year - scroll down to song #266.
TSN, Canada's annswer to ESPN.

Now You Know Why Blinds Were Invented

2004-09-13T23:35:00.000-04:00

When I'm Cleaning Windows - George Formby
Regal Zonophone single, 1936

Is George's wink that innocent? Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more! Proven to cause people to howl with laughter, or bury their face deep into their hands. Either way, you'll be glad somebody invented Venetian blinds.

Formby was one of Britain's most beloved performers during the 30s and 40s, with his ukelele heard through all forms of media. If you have mid-century British ancestry in your family, ask them about him.

Regal Zonophone - now there's an intriguing label name. Always sounded so weird when I'd run across it in rock encyclopedias (child nerd me devoured those like mad). This British label was formed by a merger of the Regal and Zonophone budget labels in 1931, and acts like Formby kept it going through the 40s. The label went through a long spell as the home to Salvation Army recordings - yup, the Sally Ann were one of EMI's long-running acts pre-Beatles. Finally, the label had a spell as a rock label in the late 60s, as the home to The Move, Procol Harum, T. Rex (under their full name) and Joe Cocker. The last I've seen of the name was a brief spell as a punk label around '79, with the "Regal" part dropped.

LINK-O-RAMA
The lyrics to When I'm Cleaning Windows, found on the George Formby Society website.

A Giant Step

2004-09-12T23:42:00.000-04:00

Take A Giant Step - Taj Mahal
available on GIANT STEP/DE OLE FOLKS AT HOME (Columbia 1969)

Fishin' Blues - Taj Mahal
available on GIANT STEP/DE OLE FOLKS AT HOME (Columbia 1969)

Back in my university days, it helped that a lot of residence-mates had kick-ass music collections. We'd sit around listening to what we'd discovered over the years, passing CDs and tapes back and forth (and maybe even buy them later on). Music became very handy, whether it was to relieve stress during exams (the bi-annual round of Cat Stevens dance parties every night during loud hours) or as weapons to drive unbeloved roommates out of the room. Here's a tip to you frosh out there - if you have a roommate you can't stand, try blaring old Mothers of Invention, Spike Jones or anything not found on a "lite" FM station recorded in the past 2 years. You'll have your room to yourself in no time!

One guy down the hall from me during my second year always had great tunes pumping out of his room. It's how I started listening to Tom Waits and Taj Mahal. Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home got a lot of airplay, and soon I made a copy to pop in the walkman. Take A Giant Step soon led off any long trips I made, the song to flip on when leaving the Guelph train station in the morning for a trip home.

Quick notes on the posted tunes - Take A Giant Step was a Carole King/Gerry Goffin composition, first recorded by the Monkees in '66. Fishin' Blues had been recorded by several acts during the decade, notably The Jim Kweskin Jug Band.

As for the friend who introduced this album to me? He'll soon be taking a giant step...down the aisle.

Good luck JD! - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Taj Mahal's website.
From a Monkees lyric site, the words to Take A Giant Step.

Rational Thought

2004-09-10T21:26:00.000-04:00

Feelin' Lost - The Rationals
A-Square single (later issued on Cameo), 1966

Respect - The Rationals
A-Square single (later issued on Cameo), 1966

Temptation 'Bout To Get Me - The Rationals
available on THE RATIONALS (Crewe 1970)

We rocket back to the Motor City in the mid-60s for today's batch of tunes, from a group poised to hit it big but never did, The Rationals.

Their first singles came out on the Ann Arbor-based A-Square label (run by manager Jeep Holland, also home to early material by the MC5). Another of Holland's acts, Bob Seger, helped arrange several songs for the group, including Feelin' Lost. Respect was a big enough hit in the Detroit area to still be played on local oldies stations while I grew up - this version uses "hey, hey, hey" to replace the horns (but "sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me" would have to wait until Aretha's version a year later). Tempation 'Bout To Get Me appeared on the only album they produced, just before their demise.

Singer Scott Morgan remains active in Detroit and Europe, notably with Sonic's Rendezvous Band in the late 70s.

Good luck finding legit reissues of the Rationals catalogue - apparently ownership of the A-Square material is hazy, and many of their singles were released through Cameo-Parkway, whose catalogue has been notoriously guarded by Allen Klein. I've lost track of the number of websites that moan about Klein's reluctance to release much of the label's catalogue (heck, just look at how long it took to get decent reissues of the Stones catalogue he controls, about the only thing you ever seen out of ABKCO). You will find their turn-it-up-to-11-in-the-car version of the Kinks' I Need You on the Nuggets box, but otherwise, it's boots or live performance discs.

LINK-O-RAMA
Scott Morgan on the group's history. Another interview is here.
Official group website, including discography.

Works In Progress

2004-09-10T13:05:00.000-04:00

Your Hometown - Bruce Springsteen
recorded 1983, available on bootlegs
final version appeared as My Hometown on BORN IN THE USA (Columbia 1984)

Hellhole (alternate version) - Spinal Tap
didn't make the final cut of movie THIS IS SPINAL TAP (Embassy 1984)

Two mid-80s tunes you may be familiar with, but not in these versions...

As I've mentioned before, my father didn't buy many records new during my childhood, usually opting for the sale or cutout bins. Born In The USA was a rare exception which I grew to know pretty well. While lazily looking for songs using "demo" as a search term on Napster eons ago, found this fast-paced, one-word-in-title-changed cut. Talk about a song changing by the time it made vinyl - where the final version was a moody ballad, this version is a tossed-off, speedy rocker. Fun to listen to, but the words don't have the same impact as the released version.

This version of Hellhole comes from the Tap's disasterous tour in support of Smell The Glove. In a scene that didn't make Marty Dibergi's final cut, we see what happened between the departure of Nigel Tufnel and the resurrection of Jazz Odyssey...namely a replacement singer that blows the rest of the band off the stage (though David St. Hubbins manages to harmonize well in his new back-up singer role).

LINK-O-RAMA
Only info I could find online about the sessions that produced Your Hometown.
The Boss's official website.
SpinalTapFan.com, a wealth of info for the dedicated Tapophile. A trove of sounds from the movie (including this one, though I found my copy elsewhere), live performances, etc.

Three McLean Boys And That Wild General Wolfe

2004-09-09T01:21:00.000-04:00

Brave Wolfe - Ian & Sylvia
Four Rode By - Ian & Sylvia
available on album NORTHERN JOURNEY (Vanguard 1964)

Another album I grew up on, from Canada's top folk duo of the early-mid 60s, and one of the first Canadian acts to gain recognition south of the border during that decade. They also appear to be one of the inpsirations for the "Mitch & Mickey" characters in A Mighty Wind, though Ian Tyson didn't end up an acid casualty (he became a rancher). Among the tunes they composed that were hits for others were Four Strong Winds and You Were On My Mind (the original version leading off this album). Later albums would veer into country-rock territory, before the act and marriage dissolved in the mid-70s.

Both of these songs are rooted in Canadian history. Brave Wolfe was based on a piece found in a 1929 collection of traditional songs, about the British general who died as his country defeated France for control of New France in 1759. The song takes place before that, using a spare arrangement to tell about the courtship of his wife. Four Rode By takes place 100 years later, on the other side of the continent. The McLean Gang was a rowdy bunch of teens who made life living hell for trappers in British Columbia until they were hung in 1881. Guess this proves to the paranoid of today that teens will always be capable of inducing fear.

More about the duo in future entries.

LINK-O-RAMA
Notes (and purchasing info) on this album from Vanguard Records.
Sylvia Tyson's website.
Ian Tyson's website.

Not The Kind You'd Serve In A Ball Park...Then Again...

2004-09-08T23:43:00.000-04:00

I Wanna Hot Dog For My Roll - Butterbeans & Susie
Okeh single, 1927

A classic example of the fine art of the 1920s blues double entendre. Don't think I need to spell out the storyline in this tune. According to this site, this act was responsible for convincing Moms Mabley to start her lengthy comedy career.

By the way, what type of paint/marker/food coluring/toxic waste do you think they used to create those oh-so-perfect grill lines in hot dog ads? That I'm pondering this means it's time for bed... - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
A picture and brief sketch of Butterbeans & Susie from the American Vaudeville Museum.

Weill Business

2004-09-07T22:34:00.000-04:00

Moritat von Mackie Messer - Bertolt Brecht
recorded 1930
available on SEPTEMBER SONGS: THE MUSIC OF KURT WEILL (Sony 1997)

Alabama Song - Lotte Lenya
available on album SINGS BERLIN THEATRE SONGS BY KURT WEILL (Columbia 1955)
and its many repackagings over the years

Two of Kurt Weill's most recognizable tunes, sung by the original lyricist in the first case, his wife (and key interpreter) in the second.

During my second year of university, I faced an avalanche of Bertolt Brecht. The drama department performed The Caucasian Chalk Circle, which seeped into several of my courses. It soon became handy to drop the phrase "Brechtian alienation effect" into any paper when the brain cells ran on empty. There's an otherworldly quality to the recording and Brecht's vocals that sends you back in time while listening to this, coupled with the present-day knowledge of what would happen to the cabaret scene and Germany in a few years...very much an "alienation effect" (see, it's handy!)

The Lenya track comes from the first of several albums she recorded for Columbia in the 1950s, in the wake of the successful Off-Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera in 1954 (a production which launched the career of Bea Arthur). Lenya's career was on the upswing, leading to her most recognizable role to the young'uns, the evil Rosa Klebb in To Russia With Love. These recordings have been repackaged several times, but I've a nice, warm, crackly vinyl copy of the original for those moments that call for a touch of the Weimar Republic. - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Website of the Kurt Weill Foundation, which also includes info on Lotte Lenya.
Website of the International Brecht Society.

Vive La Musique Quebecois! (episode un)

2004-09-06T13:42:00.000-04:00

La Poupee Qui Fait Non - Les Sultans
Teledisc single, 1966
available on LES SULTANS (Disques Merite 2001)

Les Filles - Les Sultans
Teledisc single, 1966
available on LES SULTANS (Disques Merite 2001)

Turn On Your Love Light - Les Sultans
available on album EN PERSONNE LES SULTANS A STAROVAN (DSP 1968)
reissued as LES SULTANS 2 (Disques Merite 2001)

Rock music was a regionalized beast in the 60s. Sure, you had your national hits everyone tapped their toes to, but there were many more acts whose popularity was confined to a certain region of the continent. Acts big in Detroit were unknown in Dallas. Toronto music barely raised a murmur in Vancouver. There was one market off in its own world entirely: Quebec.

Since most acts in North America weren't in the habit of cutting French versions of their songs, French listeners had to find cover versions from France or develop their own acts. Tons of acts emerged in what became the North American equivalent of the French "yeh yeh" sound. Before this, music in the province had mainly been traditional fiddle, country-based or writer-singers like Felix Leclerc.

Most groups had a gimmick to go along with their name, such as Les Gendarmes (dressed as gendarmes) and Les Habits Jaune (dressed in yellow suits). There were Les Classels, who looked like clones of the Man from Glad (white everything, including their hair), but who were more interesting visually than musically (other than some CCR covers at the end of their career, Les Classels tended to overbelt out ballads). The girl groups got into the same spirit, with acts like Les Beatlettes (Beatle wigs and repertoire).

I discovered this music while at CFRU, trolling the record library for further ways to kill off my Candian content requirements using older material. Stumbled onto a couple of K-Tel comps (they were a Canadian company), which I soon played regularly.

From what I've seen, Les Sultans didn't go the "costume-to-match-your-name" route. They hailed from St. Hyacinthe, a town east of Montreal that I've seen referred to as Quebec's Liverpool, due to the large number of yeh yeh groups that started there. La Poupee Qui Fait Non was a cover of a Michel Polnareff tune, more driving than the original (which has covered many times over the years - check out versions by Luna and St. Etienne).

Their 1968 live album featured a mix of English and French language tunes. I've included their English version of Bobby Bland's Turn On Your Love Light, which morphs into the chorus of Land Of 1,000 Dances halfway through. I suspect they may have picked up the song via Them's version, as Them/Van Morrison covers are prevalent in the Quebec scene (tons of covers out there of Brown Eyed Girl and I Can Only Give You Everything).

We'll have more Quebec rock in the future, including close Beatles knock-offs, song titles that have nothing to do with the original song being covered and odes to our swingingest Prime Minister. - JB

LINK-O-RAMA
Note that most of the sites below are in French, so you may want to have a translation program handy if your grasp of the language is pauvre.
The reissue label for Les Sultans, Disques Merite, who have acquired the masters for many of Quebec's pop labels from the 60s and early 70s.
The group's profile from Quebec Info Musique.

Vroom, Vroom, Vroom, Let's Go Back To My Room

2004-09-05T23:39:00.000-04:00

Bad Motorcycle - The Storey Sisters
Cameo single, 1958

A quickie for today. Sounds like an old geezer's attempt to make up teen lingo - as strange as some of the slang in the 50s was, I can't imagine anybody saying half the lines in this song. Talented vrooming throughout. Besides, "I knew by the way that he smoked" could mean many things - the cancer stick permanently affixed to his lip? The fumes coming out of his hog? How good he was in the sack?

I'll take other suggestions to answer this riddle...

(Oh yeah, this song was covered several times, notably by Tracey Ullman in the mid 80s).

LINK-O-RAMA
Zilch on the Storey Sisters out there, not even an AllMusic Guide entry (OK, there's a space for them, but it's blank),other than several record-selling sites suggest they were also known as the Twinkles.