Not much going on out there in blog-world. A little quiet time doesn’t hurt, though…
RedTelephone66 – Dino, Desi, and Billy, Boyce and Hart.
Clicks and Pops – Talks about the Fleshtones.
Power Pop Criminals – RAIDERS OF THE LOST HOOK – VOL 4
The Song In My Head Today – Seems to have been around awhile (since 2006, which is kinda like forever), and worth checking every day. Tell Holly I sent you.
Keepers:
Amarillo
Together Again
Feelin’ Single, Seein’ Double
Sin City
One Of These Days
Till I Gain Control Again
Here, There And Everywhere
Ooh Las Vegas
Satan’s Jeweled Crown
Wheels
Keepers:
Novocaine For The Soul
Beautiful Freak
My Beloved Monster
Mental
Spunky
Manchild
Keepers:
30 Century Man
Big Louise
Butterfly
Copenhagen
Funeral Tango
If You Go Away
It’s Raining Today
Rosemary
Sons Of
Two Ragged Soldiers
Two Weeks Since You’ve Gone
Keepers:
For Pete’s Sake
I’ll Spend My Life With You
You Just May Be The One
Sunny Girlfriend
Mr. Webster
You Told Me
Randy Scouse Git
No Time
Look at that! Lots and lots of keepers! Know why? Because this is a great album!
My absolute favorite from 2008 (and 2009 and 2010 so far).
First heard “Jolie Frimousse” on an Oh-la-la – Franco à Gogo podcast (which you MUST check out, by the way) and became an instant fan.
Guaranteed that you’ll love them too.
Keepers:
Le Jeu Du Téléphone
Bang Bang
Petit Homme
Etonnez-Moi Benoît
Nefertiti
Dou Liou Dou Liou St Tropez
Jolie Frimousse
Si Tu Veux Que Je Te Dise
Deux Minutes 35 De Bonheur
Mon Amour, Mon Ami
Ce soir après dîner, nous passerons des disques
And check out their really fun video on MySpace:
My father came from a musical family – all of them sang, nearly all of them played instruments, many were classically trained.
My mother’s side was different – her tone-deaf father used to sing “Rock-A-Bye-Baby” to make his kids laugh themselves to sleep, and her mother was a yodeler who liked to sing along to western and bluegrass 78s. My mom took as much advantage of that gene as she could and wound up being a really good singer. Her voice was (and is) clear, on-key, unaffected and happy, and among the many things she taught me possibly the most enduring was how to harmonize.
We spent hours on the front porch listening to Everly Brothers 45s and getting the parts right – sometimes she was Don, sometimes Phil, and I took the brother that she didn’t. Pretty soon I was able to harmonize to records that only had one vocal and I started singing that way with practically everything I listened to (still do). There was a lot more she would teach me in the 17 years I spent with her, but those days sitting on the toy chest listening to “Devoted To You” are still among my happiest memories.
Thanks for everything, Mom, and Happy Birthday!
Power Pop Criminals Has a couple of great comps from Bam Balam and the first IPO collection.
Power Pop Overdose Says goodbye to Doug Fieger, as do we all.
Never Get Out Of The Boat Henry Kaiser: scientist/musician.
Delta-Slider Begins John Fahey week tomorrow (Monday, Feb. 22). Don’t miss it!
Keepers:
Nowhere Road
Sweet Little ’66
San Antonio Girl
The Rain Came Down
I Ain’t Ever Satisfied
This record sounded kinda goofy and aimless to me when I first got it, but it’s one of those albums that gets better every time you hear it.
I’ve always thought that when a songwriter starts writing about certain subjects (dancing, writers block, the music business, the road, sex on the road, sex in the road, concepts) or is inclined to do tribute-y things it means that they’re beginning to run out of gas. As perfect a song as “Brontosaurus” is, it was very possibly the first sign that Roy Wood was getting tired. He still managed to put out around ten albums worth of stuff in a very short period of time after this before he disappeared into the misty moisty morning of the 80′s.
Wood is a great, under-appreciated talent who wound up writing a LOT of songs about dancing, but thankfully left the writer’s block songs to Pete Townshend, the concepts to Ray Davies and the tributes to… oh yeah, Eddie and the Falcons. Forgot about that. Still… Roy Wood is a hero, and I miss him.
Lots of extra tracks, one of which (“Blackberry Way”) might be the best combination of minor key verse and beer-drenched singalong chorus not sung by Mary Hopkin.
Keepers:
Turkish Tram Conductor Blues
What?
When Alice Comes Back To The Farm
Brontosaurus
Wild Tiger Woman
Omnibus
Blackberry Way
Something
Curly
Keepers:
Cretin Hop
Rockaway Beach
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
We’re A Happy Family
Teenage Lobotomy
Do You Wanna Dance?
I Wanna Be Well
Surfin’ Bird
It’s A Long Way Back To Germany (Uk B-side)
…and Happy Birthday Lynne, wherever you are.
Courtesy Michael Fennelly – It’s You (Demo Version)
