There are several musicians and bands whose works I will buy immediately upon release (or at least soon thereafter). But most of those are relative unknowns -- bands that haven't made the big time (e.g., Bobtown, The Dusty Buskers) or former stars who (how do I say it delicately?) aren't as popyular s they once were (e.g., Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe).
One exception is "Weird Al" Yankovic. Yankovic is one of the few (maybe the only -- I'm not sure) musician whose albums I'll buy right away who is actually a household name. With that as backdrop, I discuss his latest release, Mandatory Fun. Scratch that. I'm not writing about tha album. I'm writing about my reaction to it.
MF makes me feel old. Of the twelve tracks, five are parodies. Of those, I am only familiar with one of the original songs being parodied. That one is "Word Crimes," which is a parody of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines." And it's probably too strong to say I'm "familiar with" the Thicke song. "Vaguely aware of" would be a more accurate phrase. And that's only because someone I know posted the video on facebook with a comment about how this is a good example of our rape culture. Oh, and I haven't heard of the other four musicians and bands whose songs are parodied.
Turning to the Polka medley, there are twelve songs represented in the medley. I'm familiar with three of them. And that overstates my familiarity with current pop music. One of the three is "The Too Fat Polka," which was a hit in 1947. The other two are "Gangnam Style," which became a pop-culture phenomenon way beyond the world of music, and "Wrecking Ball" the Miley Cyrus hit which has become widely known throughout the culture because of the video and the popular reaction to it.
Bottom line? I am way out of touch with the world of pop music.
I'll admit I was kind of nervous. As time went by Bobtown's Kickstarter campaign was sputtering, and it looked like they wouldn't make their goal.
Somehow, though, in the last few days, they got a bunch of large pledges -- one for $1000, a couple for $501, and one for $500. I don't know all the others. But that put them over the top. So they'll record their new album, supported in part by 126 supporters on Kickstarter. And I will get:
A recording of them doing one of my songs (I'll probably go with "Five Missing One," but that's subject to change.
My name in the liner notes
An autographed copy of the album
Two spots on the guestlist for the album's release show
A limited digital album of all the song demos from the album
A separate unreleased bonus track
The entire Bobtown discography
A Bobtown T-shirt and button
And now, as a thank you for reading this far, an outdoor version of one of my Bobtown favorites:
I don't know how to stress this enough. Please go to Kickstarter and pledge your support for Bobtown's new album. I did. And I want the album to come out.
Full disclosure: Part of the reason I want this Kickstarter to succeed is, of course, the fact that I want this album to see the light of day. There's also the fact that I pledged at the level that will have them recording a cover version of a song of my choice. They agreed to do a demo of one of my songs. I'll be asking them to record "Five Missing One." I want this to happen. So please, please, please. Pledge, pledge pledge.
So, thanks to my sister I have a very annoying earwig that I can't get rid of.
We were reminiscing over old times, and she asked if I remember, years ago at summer camp, there were some counselors who used to always sing about Wyoming. Singing, I didn't remember. But I did remember chanting. There was one year that a contingent from Wyoming would interrupt every Sabbath meal with chants of "Wyoming! Why Not?" or "We're going to Wyoming! How 'bout you?"
But my sister remembered singing, and could recall the specific song:
Ma tov le'echol
Et ha'donut hole
B'eretz Wyoming
Essentially, it means "How good is it to eat a donut hole in the land of Wyoming?" Obviously, it was mostly Hebrew, with a few strategic words in English. And it was such a beautiful melody. I can totally see it as being sung during the dancing at the Sabbath meals. Heck, the melody probably is from one of the regular sabbath songs.
Of course, we couldn't leave well enugh alone. We wrote another verse:
Ma to li'shtot
Et ha'root beer float
Be'eretz Arkansas
This translates to "How good it is to drink a root beer float in the land of Arkansas."
Add an emphatic "Amen" after it, and you've got an earwig that I can't shake.
I've written about Bobtown before. It's hard to describe them, so I'll just quote their website:
Drawing on field hollers, gospel music, folk songs, pop melodies and bluegrass harmonies, Bobtown reinvents American choral music for the 21st century to create a unique and compelling blend of voices and instruments that move gracefully between elegy and celebration.
I have both of their existing albums, and I've seen them in concert a few times -- I would love to see them more often, but job and family keep interfering. They're clever and innovative, and fun to listen to. But that describes a lot of bands. Bobtown is also interesting. The influence of the field hollers makes them unique among New York-area bands.
The reason for this post is to plead with anyone reading this to support their new Kickstarter project. Bobtown has gathered the necessary material for their third album (A History of Ghosts), and I want it to see the light of day. I've gone to their Kickstarter project and pledged. Won't you?
To read more about Bobtown, check out their website.
Wreckless Eric's album, The Donovan of Trash, has been rereleased on Fire Records, and Eric a has been touring to support it.
I saw him perform on Wednesday night at the Mercury Lounge. It was a good show -- Eric looked youthful and energized despite his thinning grey hair. His playlist emphasized tracks from DoT (naturally), whichj I liked. It was good to hear "Birthday Blues," "Duvet Fever," "Joe Meek" and others. I wished he had also played "School" and "Nerd/Turkey," which are two of my favorites from the album. Oh well.
Anyway, I don't want to devote this post to the concert. I bought a copy of the reissue despite it not having any bonus tracks because I wanted to read the new liner notes. And I'm a sucker, I guess. Once again, Eric aquits himself nicely as more than a musician. The liner notes, recounting the long recording process, are entertaining. But what I found interesting is that it gave me an extra insight into why the album sounded like it did.
Compared to all of his other solo albums, DoT seems inconsistent. There isn't one sound. I can't say that I've actually wondered about that -- that would be too strong a statement -- but I have noticed it.
Based on the notes, it seems that Eric recorded the various tracks over a long stretch. He wasn't really recording an album -- at least not on purpose. These are, by the way, my words (not his), and there is a bit of extrapolation. If you want an authoritative voice (free of my translations), buy the album and read. It seems that Eric was bored, and he was a singer and musician. So he wrote songs and recorded them. And he did it with whoever and whatever were available. When a frind was visiting with a full band in tow, he recorded with a full band. When it was an old mate from another band, he recorded with the one other person. Often he recorded alone, and some tracks feature just Eric and nobody else. At some point he had enough material, so he mixed it, mastered it, and went about trying to sell it. Eventually it came out on Sympathy for the Record Industry, a small label. It's not my favorite WE album, but it has some really good high points.
Also, now I have a new earwig: "And I think I must be going crazy / But I've never been more sane in all my life. / I'm just living with the realization / That all I want to do is live until I die."
As mentioned, a few thoughts regarding Graham Parker. Fair warning, though: it's kind of stream-of-consciousness.
I first got interested in Graham Parker's music because his backing band, the Rumour, included Martin Belmont who had been in Ducks Deluxe. I loved the Ducks and was exploring the world of music by expanding out from act to related act. The first album I bought by Parker was Another Grey Area, which actually didn't involve the Rumour. That wasn't his best work, and I didn't really take to it. I like it better now than I did then. Even though I didn't care for the album, I still bought his earlier ones (which did include the Rumour), since I was a bit of a completist. I guess I still am, but not as obsessively so.
I liked the early albums better (and now I love some of them -- especially Heat Treatment) but he just didn't make it to the top tier in my book. That level was occupied by Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds and Wreckless Eric. Over the years I picked up tyhe albums he did with the Rumour, and some of the solo albums as well (if I found them cheap). But I never really liked his music as much as I wanted to.
But that changed in the last few years. A few things happened. For one, I have come to better accept the mellowing of his music. I think I owe that to Nick Lowe. When he started his transition to crooner, I didn't like it. At one point, seeing an article that referred to his new style as "Americana" I joked with a friend that that must be another way of saying "Adult Boring." But my brain had hooked itself on Nick's voice, so it was able to make the transition and I slowly started appreciating Nick's new incarnation. That effectively helped my brain to appreciate Parker, who had also mellowed with age. So, when there were solo albums of stripped down versions of his early angry material, I was able to get my head around them. I realize that this may sound nutty, but I believe that's a big part of how the brain reacts.
More recently, Parker recorded an album, Your Country, with a version "Crawling from the Wreckage." Crawling was a song of Paerker's that Dave Edmunds had recorded for his album, Repeat When Necessary, which many people consider to be his best. I had to buy that. And, whicle I was dissapointed in the new version of the song, there was enough good material on the album to get me to notice Parker again. His next album, Songs of No Consequence, was a spectacular tour de force. He saounded angry again, and I loved it.
But what I like even better than his newer material are live recordings from his days with the Rumour. Which gets me to my recent support for a Kickstarter project that involved putting together a six-disc set of concerts. That box set reminded me of Graham at his greatest.
Going through some papers, I came across this, from the letters to the editor section of the Ann Arbor News, some time in June of 1988.
Back then I was a graduate student in the PhD program in mathematics at the University of Michigan. And, lest anyone say that I am trying to give a false impression, I state here clearly that I did not finish a PhD. I left with a Masters degree after two years and became an actuary.
My hobby at that point was writing letters to the letters sections of newspapers and magazines. That was a hobby that started in December, 1983 and lasted about ten years. I would go out of my way looking through magazines and newspapers to find things to write about. Some not so much. Some were sent under my real name, and some under a variety of pseudonyms. This one was prompted by a tongue-in-cheek article about a rash of Elvis sightings, and -- if memory serves -- a book that came out claiming that Elvis was alive and living an anonymous life.
The icing on the cake came that winter, when the News selected my letter as being among their best of 1988. So, yes, gentle reader, I am an award-winning letter writer.
Last week my wife asked about a couple books that she wanted to get
from Amazon. And, of course, I couldn't resist adding a few CDs to the
order. I stopped at four. They were (in the order that I received them
-- and note that this is not intended to be read as reviews): Graham Parker: Imaginary Television This
album has been on my radar and in my Amazon shopping cart for quite a
while, but I kept not buying it. That's kind of symptomatic of my
relationship with Graham Parker's music. I'd like to devote a post to
that. No promises. But since I want to devote a whole posty to it, I
won't get into it now. Anyway, I heard a track -- "It's My Party (But I
Won't Cry) -- on Pandora, and liked it enough that I wanted to buy the
album.The album itself has a peculiar conceit. Each song is the
hypothetical theme for an imaginary TV show. And in the liner notes, in
stead of lyrics, Parker includes descriptions of the show. It's kind of
pretentious if you ask me, but the music's good. So I'll try to go easy
on it.
Puffy AmiYumi: Spike
Puffy AmiYumi is a Japanese pop duo. They're kind of disposable, but the music is infectious and fun. I wanted to buy a different album -- Splurge --
on the strength of one track "Call Me What You Like (If You Like Rock
and Roll)," which I'd heard on Pandora. Somehow, I had a hard time
finding Splurge. I found this album for a low price (used), so added it
to my cart. Of course, I found Splurge before I placed my order, so I bought that too.
John Otway: Under the Covers and Over the Top
I'm kind of an Otway fan. Not a huge fan. But kind of a fan. Years ago, I got his record, Deep Thought, on Stiff Records -- I was pretty much trying to buy anything on Stiff that I could find. I loved his cover o
f
"The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" on that album. And there were other
great songs -- "Beware of the Flowers 'Cos I'm Sure They're Gonna Get
You, Yeh" comes to mind. I loved Otway's loopy delivery. Anyway, I
already have a two-disc compilation of his, and that's pretty much got
what I need. But I saw this -- an album of covers. Since I'm a sucker
for a well-done cover I couldn't resist. It wasn't quite as good as I
was hoping for, but remember -- I say that having had very high hopes.
My favorite track is "I Will Survive, which Otway turns in while
imitating Bob Dylan. Puffy AmiYumi: Splurge
This is the P AY album I wanted to get. Like Spike, it's part English and part Japanese. But it's pretty consistently fun.
I was recently cleaning out my office at work, and came across a bag full of mix discs I made years ago. That was back when I had embraced Minidiscs as a recordable technology. I loved them, but obviously they never took hold in the US. Anyway, these discs were lovingly recorded and anal-retentively labelled. This series had names that were simply cultural references that I liked. That's as opposed to prior series that had one key word in each title. For example, the "Cheesedip" series had titles that were popular phrases but in which one word was replaced by "Cheesedip." For example, E Pluribus Cheesedip. The "Peabo" series was similar, but had titles such as A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Peabo. You get the idea.
Anyway, I was amused enough by these titles that I decided to list them here, with an explication of where the title came from. These are listed in alphabetical order. Unless I goofed.
All the Good Times in a Pocketful of IOUs
From the Wreckless Eric song, "Take the Cash (K.A.S.H.)"
But there's only good in leaving with a suitcase full of loot 'Cos where's all the good times in a pocketful of IOUs?
Arriving Back at Where She's Coming From
A line from the Wreckless Eric song, "Hit and Miss Judy"
Goin' round in circles Arriving back at where she's coming fromLife for Miss Judy surely can't be any fun..
Beacons of Absurdity
I have no idea
Come in Space Monkey
From the Julie Brown song, "Earth Girls Are Easy:"
Come in, space monkey! Kiss me here, kiss me there! He still looked disgusting But I didn't care.
Darwin vs. the 1941 St. Louis Browns
I have no idea
Depending on the Zero Tolerance Factor
I have no idea.
Fighting for a Window Seat on the Road to Hell
I have no idea
The Ghosts of These Western Lands
From the Beat Farmers song, "Hollywood Hills"
The ghosts of these Western lands Are gonna rise up against English sands
A Half-Eaten Pizza and Three Catatonic Scuzzos on the Couch
I think this from an article in The Onion. But I'm not sure.
Here Is One Dollar for the Post Stamp Cost
From a book I have somewhere of crackpot-type letters. A guy wrote to the American Nazi Party asking about joining. His humor was in sounding stupid -- using horrific grammar and other devices. The last line of his letter, written to explain that he was enclosing a dollar to cover return postage, read "And here is one dollar for the post stamp cost."
Darwin vs. the 1941 St. Louis Browns
I have no idea
Herman was Healthy but Herman is Dead
From the Christine Lavin song, "Cold Pizza for Breakfast." The Herman in question was Herman Tarnower. Look it up on Wikipedia.
Herman was healthy. But Herman is dead. Pizza surely didn't do him in. Jean Harris is behind bars feeling quite sad and thin Do you see what I'm getting at? You tend to kill when you're skinny but not when you're fat
I Pulled Your Name Out of My Rolodex
From the "Weird Al" Yankovic song, "One More Minute:"
So I pulled your name out of my rolodex And I tore all your pictures in two And I burned down the malt shop where we used to go Just because it reminds me of you.
I Remember One Night the Kid Cut Off his Right Arm
From the Nick Lowe song, "So It Goes"
I remember one night the kid cut of his right arm In a bid to save a bit of power.
If You Break My Arm I'll Join the Union
From the Mickey Jupp song, "You'll Never Get Me Up (In One of Those):"
I'd rather work in the city In a pinstripe suit and bowler hat. If you break my arm I'll join the union. You know how I feel about that.
It Comes Springing from My Lips
This is part of the patter at the end of the Monkees' song, "Gonna Buy Me a Dog"
It Took Me a Fortnight to Remove the Thistles
I know that this is either the punchline to a joke or the prototypical (but not an actual) punchline.
It's Fatal and It Don't Get Better
From the Graham Parker song, "Mercury Poisoning:"
I've got mercury poisoning It's fatal and it don't get better
A Jew Who Doesn't Even Like Funerals
At some point my wife was asked to accompany one of her friends to a family funeral. Some time later he got a very angry letter from his cousin who berated him for a variety of offenses including coming to the funeral with "a jew who doesn't even like funerals."
K and Other Letters
I have no idea where this title came from.
Knocking Me Out with those American Thighs
A line from from the AC/DC Classic, "You Shook Me All Night Long."
She had the sightless eyes Telling me no lies Knocking me out with those American thighs
Lessons in probability Density
I assume this was from a probability textbook. But I have no idea which one.
Life Was Never Like Iowa Could have Been
I have no idea
My Best Friend Debbie Was Homecoming Queen
From the Julie Brown song, "Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun"
It was homecoming night at my high school. Everyone was there. It was totally cool. I was real excited. I almost wet my jeans 'Cos my best friend Debbie was homecoming Queen
No Special Parking Permits Available for Aunt GriseldaThis was from one of those crackpot letters books. I forget which one. But the author wrote a letter to Clint Eastwood, who was then mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA. He asked for an autographed photo and a special parking permit for Aunt Griselda who would be visiting the town. He explained that Aunt Griselda was getting old and might forget about parking rules, and the thought of Clint Eastwood enforcing the laws might give her a heart attack. Or something like that. Clint wrote back. He sent the autographed photo, but wrote "No Special Parking Permits Available for Aunt Griselda.
The Odyssey That is Spiro Agnew
I have no idea
Once You're Up to Foursies You're in the Zone
From a Calvin and Hobbes comic.
The One in the Middle Looks Like Willie Nelson
The punch line to a dirty joke. I'm not going to repeat the joke in a family blog, so Google it if you really want to know. Oh, what the heck. You talked me into it. A woman goes to a tattoo parlor and says that she wants tattoos of her two favorite country singers on the insides of her thighs. She wants Johnny Cash on one thigh and Hank Williams on the other. So the tattoo artist gets to work. Oh, did I mention that she's drunk and not wearing panties? Well, we can't leave that part out, because it's kind of necessary. Pretend that you didn't already read the punchline. So the tattoo artist finishes the job, but he was kind of distracted because he had her naked crotch staring him in the face, so he didn't do as good a job as usual. The customer picks up a mirror and looks, and immediately gets angry. They don't look like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, she says. And she doesn't think she should have to pay. He insists it's fine and she should pay. So they're at an impasse. But they agree on a solution. They'll find a random stranger to look at the tattoos. If he can't tell who they're supposed to be then she gets them free. If he can tell, then she pays double. So they find a stranger on the street and bring him in. She hikes up her skirt and spreads her legs and asks the stranger if he can tell who's in the pictures. The stranger takes a minute, then finally says, "Well, I don't know about the ones on the sides. But the one in the middle looks like Willie Nelson. One Part All-American Horndog
I'm not sure, but I think this was from a Jim Anchower column in The Onion.
Onion Fields Within Saskatchewan
I have no idea
Passersby Were Amazed by the Unusually Large Amou8nts of Blood
From The Onion. When there was a print edition, they used to fill space with what looked like text from an article. But it was simply this phrase repeated over and over. Relative Groups and Their Topological Invariance
I'm pretty sure that I took this from a topology textbook. Or maybe it was an algebra textbook. Probably algebraic topology.
Which reminds me of a joke: How do you tell whether a mathematician is an analyst, an algebraist or a topologist? If he's an analyst, he begins his proofs with "Let epsilon greater than zero be given." If he's an algebraist, he begins his proofs with "Suppose not." If he's a topologist he begins his proofs with "Nothing up my sleeve."
Robots Aren't Supposed to Be Furry
I think this is froma Calvin & Hobbes strip, but I'm not sure.
She's Got a Boyfriend Who Thinks He's Jonathan Bimbleby
From the Wreckless Eric Song, "Sarah." Of course, I got the name wrong.
She's got a boyfriend who thinks he's Jonathan Dimbleby He's obsessed with his career in TV.
Some Schmucko DH-Liver Doing the Wave Upside My Face
From a satiric column Desmond Devlin (yes, the Desmond Devlin. I was friends with him in college. You can all express awe and envy now) wrote for his college newspaper, parodying the writing that appeared in the paper. To illustrate the self-absorbed style, he wrote the line "I can't tell you how many double plays I've missed because of some schmucko DH-lover doing the wave upside my face."
Sometimes My Clothes Are Crunchy
I want to say that this is from a Calvin & Hobbes comic strip. But I'm not sure.
Somewhere Over Blighted Loves There Hangs a Heavy Pall
The second-to-last line of Casey's Revenge," which was written as kind of a sequel to "Casey at the Bat." The last verse goes:
Oh, somewhere in this favored land dark clouds may hide the sun And somewhere bands no longer play and children have no fun. And somewhere over blighted loves there hangs a heavy pall. But Mudville hearts are happy now, for Casey hit the ball.
A Straggling Few Got Up to Go in Deep Despair
Most of the first line of the second verse of Casey at the Bat. The verse goes:
A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast. They thought, if only Casey could but get a whack at that. We'd put up even money now with Casey at the bat.
The Suffocating Historical Dominance of Conservative Utility
I have no idea.
Suggestions for Service Improvement
I have no idea.
A Ten Pound Parakeet Named Mr. Whiskers
I have no idea.
That Sums It Up in One Big Lump
From the Charlie Manson Song, "Garbage Dump:
Garbage dump, garbage dump Why are you called the garbage dump? Garbage dump, garbage dump That sums it up in one big lump.
The Thick Fog of Human Incompetence
I have no idea. Too Passionate to Bathe
I wouldn't swear to it, but I think this is from a Calvin and Hobbes strip.
Traffic Patterns of the Soul
I have no idea
Trickle Down Pyrotechnics
I have no idea
Twelve Cents Worth of Lumber
I Have No Idea
Watch Me Run Just Like a Reptile
This is from a song called "Be Al" that some friends and I recorded at the Queens College radio station almost thirty years ago. It was about a guy named Al, and some of his foibles. If I remember correctly, the lyrics were as follows:
Hey hey! I'm a pasty grey. My name is Al, I'm really grand I'll be your pal with X's on my hand. You like my rap? I wear a cap! Be Al! Be Al! Do a stagedive on my head Or maybe drink alone instead. Don't you like the way I smile? I drive all the women wild. Watch me run just like a reptile. Be Al! Be Al! This song'll be heard by millions. Play that bass riff! I'm a natural singer.
The reptile line was a reference to an observation I once made about Al during a softball game. When Al ran, he looked like he kept his torso vertical with his legs and arms flailing in front of him. It reminded me of lizards that I used to see running on water in old National Geographic specials. See the following (starting at about 50 seconds in):
Now, I know Al couldn't be running like that. He didn't have a tail, so he would have fallen over backwards. But, dang if he didn't look like that lizard.
Watching for the Blinky
I have no idea.
We Look for Things That Make Us Go
From some annoying episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. There was an annoying race of people that seemed very simple. They had a broken engine and kept saying that they look for things that make them go.
We'll Get Some AM-FM Action in the United States
A line from the Wreckless Eric song, "A Popsong"
My record company phoned me today They said we're running out of product and we need some airplay Just a two-minute song, a snazzy middle eight We'll get some AM-FM action in the United States.
Here's the video:
Whenever the Facts Betray the Desires
I have no idea.
You Kissed Me So Chastely That I Could Have Cried
From the song "One More Night" whose author I don't know. I am familiar with Dave Edmunds' performance.
The cold hits my face as I stumble outside. You kissed me so chastely that I could have cried.
Now that I think about it, I think it's supposed to be present tense -- not past. Oh well.
You Yourself May Be Named One by the Tribunal
From Star Trek. "All Our Yesterdays" was the name of the episode (if memory serves). Captain Kirk, is told that the tribunal may identify him as a witch. Your Beer and Your Change Are in Your Boot
Spoken in 1998 by a then-friend of my then-future-wife. I forget exactly what had led up to it, but this woman had returned from running some errands, and had a beer and some change for me. Maybe I had asked her to pick up a beer? I don't remember. Anyway, she put my beer and change in my boot (it was a shoe-off house) and informed me.
One of the fun things about going through CDs that I got off Freecycle is when I come across something that I had never heard of, yet really like. All the more if its a CD that, based on the cover, I expect to not like. I'm human, and just like everyone else, I make judgements when I see a CD cover -- what genre, whether I will like it or not, etc.
So I came across an album by someone I had never heard of -- Henri Salvador. It's obviously a French language album, it's called l'essentiel, and it has a picture of a greasy old man with a shit-eating grin on the cover. I wasn't expecting much. But I gave it a shot anyway.
There was a version of "Mah-na Mah-na," titled "Mais non, Mais non" (which I understand means "But no, But no."). That was fun. But what really got me was "Zorro est Arrive" which seems to be a French reworking of the Coasters classic, "Along Came Jones" (presumably with Zorro as the title character." And there were other playful numbers -- more than enough to make this a keeper.
Never having heard of Henri Salvador, I decided to ask our couchsurfers (by coincidence we happened to have some French couchsurfers over), and they clearly recognized him. Apparently he's a big star in France. Or at least he was until he died in 2008 at age 90. I learned that last fact looking him up on Wikipedia. I'm glad I gave him a listen. Now it's your turn:
I spent most of yesterday moving bricks in the rain. I couldn't help but thinking about songs that mention rain in the title. So if I were making a mix disc for rainy weather...
Crying in the Rain (The Everly Brothers)
I Wish it Would Rain (Wreckless Eric)
Raining Raining (Nick Lowe)
I Love a Rainy Night (Eddie Rabbit)
Mandolin Rain (Pam Tillis)
Walking in the Rain (The Partridge Family)
It's Raining Men (The Weather Girls)
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (BJ Thomas)
Have You Ever Seen the Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
In my last post, I wrote a little bit about outsider music, and listed a couple of the big names in the genre -- as if that's not an oxymoron.
Irwin Chusid's book includes a section on Syd Barrett -- the man best known as a founding member of Pink Floyd. At the risk of being tendentious, I do not accept the notion thatBarrett counts as an outsider. It doesn't matter how badly his mental state degenerated or how unhinged his solo works are. If you were the creative force in a band as prominent as Pink Floyd -- to the point where some hardcore fans consider Piper at the Gates of Dawn (the only Floyd album to include Barrett) to be the only "legitimate" Floyd album -- the, I'm sorry, but you can never qualify for outsider status.
It's kind of hard to define exactly what is outsider music.
Certainly it has to do with msuicians and singers who are outside of the mainstream. But that definition casts a huge net. It has to do with honesty and earnestness. But there's more to it than that. There are many musicians who are really good but will never "make it." And being in the realm of outsider music isn't about being good. The best known and most beloved outsiders aren't great. Many are terrible (by most of the usual yardsticks). But not too terrible. There's some kind of sweet spot in there -- awful, but compelling. That's a tall order. I can't really define it. You can look it up on Wikipedia if you want. But I find that unsatisfying. Irwin Chusid is one of the leading experts on the genre. He wrote a book on the subject, titled Songs in the Key of Z. The companion CD and its sequel provide several examples.
Yet there are a handful of recording artists both past and present who are generally recognized as being at the epicenter of whatever outsider music is (and however it is defined. A few of those artists?
The Shaggs
A band of three sisters who recorded what Rolling Stone once called the worst album ever. Now, I know what RS was getting at, though that classification was wrong. The Shaggs' album (both of them actually) sucked. The vocals were frightening, the rhythm was off, and the songs were disturbing. But that's better than many supremely boring albums.
Wesley Willis
A homeless schizophrenic street singer who somehow managed to record several dozen albums and tour extensively. His songs seem to all have the same elements: A tinny repetitious synthesizer track, a chorus that consists of him repeating the title over and over, and verses that consisted of him shouting sentences about the subject. Many of his songs were about celebrities he had met, and the lyrics were along the lines of "You are a great musician!" or "You are a nice person to the max!" My favorite of his numbers is the classic, "Shoot Me in the Ass."
Wild Man Fischer
Another schizophrenic homeless man. But Wild Man ("Larry" to its friends) was also severely paranoid and bipolar. He wasn't as prolific as Wesley, but he did have the distinction of recording the first release by Rhino Records. He also worked with Frank Zappa for a time, until they had a falling out.
BJ Snowden
BJ was (is? I'm too lazy to look it up) a music teacher in Massachusetts. She is best known for two songs -- "In Canada" and "America" which are tributes to their respective countries. Her enunciation is off. Her lyrics are off. So off that one would think that it was done on purpose. But as far as I know she was absolutely serious.
There are others, and I intend to talk more about outsider music in a future post. I have some definite thoughts to express. But this is the intro to whet your appetite. Following are videos of some of the better-known outsiders.
"Philosophy of the World" by The Shaggs
"Cousin Mosquito" by Congresswoman Malinda Jackson Parker
I like to listen to music while I'm working. For the most part I can let the music be background, and it makes work more pleasant. Of course, it can be distracting -- there are some records or bands that I just have to pay attention to.
I saw a tip on Reddit that says that if you want to listen to music while working, listen to soundtracks to video games. Those are supposed to be stimulating but nondistracting. I don't know if there's anything to it, and I doubt I'll try it. Still, I found it interesting.
There are a couple of local musicians I need to talk to to arrange a recording session. Right now I have four demos of four different songs, but I want to record new versions for a few reasons. In a couple of cases this is because of some rewriting.
But another issue that I've become aware of is making tracks available for use in independent movies. I have a friend who used to act, and has some knowledge of the world of independent film. She says that one of the hardest things for filmmakers is finding music to use in their movies. If I can provide them with completed tracks that they can just plop down into the film then I'm golden. I'd like to have that possibility open to me.
The songs in question (listed in alphabetical order by title):
Do You Think of Me (Now and Again)
I have a great demo that was made by Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby. It's definitely my favorite demo. But I am not sure that I can just tell independent filmmakers that they can use it in their projects. I emailed Eric and Amy to ask if I can allow such use (assuming the opportunity arises), and they responded that that would depend on the terms of the agreement. I think I need a new version that I can provide more readilly.
Five Missing One
The demo I have was recorded by HP Mendoza and me a little more than a year ago. I like the recording, but I think there might be complications in making it availabale. Which is probably just as well, since the recording that HP and I did is somewhat rough, and I rewrote one of the lines since then.
Jackpot
I have a great demo, courtesy of the fine folks at County Q studios in Nashville. But at the time they made it, I was told that it could not be used for commercial purposes. Something to do with the pay provided the musicians. I don't know all the ins and outs, but it was clear to me that this can't be put in a film. Too bad.
Music No One Else Can Hear
I like the chorus and the bridge, but I have grown to not like the verses. So I have been rewriting it. I converted the chorus to a verse and chorus, and have written two more verses to go with it. Then I modified the bridge to with the "new" song. It still needs a little polishing on the melody. And I have to work a little on piecing it back together. But what I have now is, essentially a new song. In a way, this change is bringing it full circle, since the chorus (turned verse/chorus combination) was originally a verse and chorus in the first iteration of this song. When Matthew and I rewrote it 20 years ago, we converted the verse and chorus into a chorus and went from there.
The musicians I'll be working with include Charlie Shaw (who was my daughter's guitar teacher for a brief time last fall, and who plays drums for The Wicked Messengers. He said I should call him and arrange a sit-down with him and Alan Lee Backer, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the Wicked Messengers.I've blogged about him before. The idea is that I can discuss with them, and play what I have. Then, based on what Alan thinks make sense we can arrange a recording session (in his home studio) involving other musicians. I am hoping that it won'tr be terribly expensive, and I will make clear that I want to be able to allow use of the recordings in independant films. That should all be workable.
I also have a few other songs I am working on. Maybe I can discuss with them at that time. They may be able to advise as to which ideas seem the most promising. And if it comes up I'd certainly be amenable to cowriting.
Back in December I was on vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Walking across the plaza, I noticed a street singer.
She was playing a small Casio keyboard and singing "Shakin' All Over." It was a bit minimalist, as necessitated by the circumstances. But what struck me was her voice. She sounded like a theremin. I stayed and watched and listened. I had to buy her album. Actually, I bought both albums that she was selling -- only to realize later that they had the same material. One was a rerelease of the other, with the tracks reordered. She insisted that I, a good customer, should take her card.
And that was my live experience with the Space Lady.
The liner notes on one of the albums explain it. Actually, they explain too much. Not that there's a lot of personal details that you don't want to know. But a lot of background details that you probably don't care whether you know or not. Let's just say that the liner notes are thorough. And illuminating. Her parents were living in Roswell at the time of the famous UFO crash, and she was born shortly thereafter. I won't go into all the details, but she spent some time living with her husband in a cave in California, before they relocated to Boston. In Boston they lived off of her busking until they could afford to relocate to San Francisco. There they lived off of her busking.
And the music? Intriguing is the best way to describe it. She sings, she warbles and she moans. Most of the songs are rock standards, though her theremin voice transforms them into things they were never intended to be. And there are originals (written by her ex-husband). I can't quite tell if they're good or not, since the arrangement is so overpowering.
After I listened to her album in its entirety, I decided that this was a true musical outsider, and I should bring her to the attention of Irwin Chusid -- chronicler of outsider music. I'll post about him some other day if I remember.
Of course, today I pulled out Songs in the Key of Z, Volume 2, a CD of assorted outsider performances assembled by Chusid. Lo, The Space Lady is one of the featured artists. I guess he already knows about her...
For your listening pleasure, here is The Space Lady, live in Santa Fe, performing "Radar Love":
Going through some CDs, I found myself listening to Sandy Posey's 1966 hit, "Born a Woman." I can't help thinking that it hasn't aged well.
Let me back up a bit. My first exposure to the song was via Nick Lowe's version, which appeared on his 1977 EP, Bowi. Lowe's rendition is energetic and fun. The sound is very similar to that of "Marie Provost" which also appears on the EP. And, like "Marie Provost," it's jangly guitars and bouncy bass lines disguise the unpleasant subject matter. In the case of "Marie Provost," that subject matter is a has-been movie star fading from the public eye, dying in squalor and having her corpse eaten by her pet dog ("that hungry little dachshund"). In "Born a Woman," the topic is the mistreatment of women in society. "You're born to be lied to, stepped on, cheated on and treated like dirt." And in both, Ncik's smarmy presentation makes it hard to tell whether he's lamenting or celebrating.
It wasn't until years after I heard Nick Lowe's rendition did I actually hear the original. The two are -- how to put it? -- very different records. Putting aside the fact that Nick did some significant reqwriting of the song, the fact is that Posey's version is almost a dirge by comparison. But what gets me about it is that it could be a decent protest song, except that by the end she's singing that she wouldn't change a thing. Because, despite being under her man's thumb, it's worth it just be his woman.I don't think I like that message.
So you can judge for yourself, here are Posey's and Lowe's renditions.
With the Christmas holiday upon us, I was thinking of the song, "Winter Wonderland."Humming it, I started changing lyrics in my head. Bored, I texted a line to my sister:
In the oven you can melt a snowman.
I wasn't sure if she'd recognize where this was from. But she texted back:
Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby performed at a place in New Jersey called the Art Garage. At this point, having seen and blogged about a bunch of Eric'n'Amy shows, there's not a whole lot else to say. The set list was a variation on what I've seen before, though this time they did include "Someone Must Have Nailed Us Together" and "Young, Upwardly Mobile and Stupid" from Eric's days in The Len Bright Combo. I chatted with them before and after the show as well as during the brief intermission. We talked a bit about the experience recording with them. I really need to post a followup since I got the final recording of "Do You Think of Me (Now and Again)" about two and a half months ago. I also bought one of Eric's small paintings. "Guitar Player #9," which is apparently part of a series. See the picture accompanying this post. Something about it caught me. Eric told me not to frame it. He said that it's supposed to have a wire loop attached, and if I bring it to their house concert in January he'll attache the loop. Meanwhile I kind of like the idea of setting it on a small easel.
Yesterday ecvening I went to see the Wicked Messengers play at Hill Country, which is a barbecue restaurant in Manhattan. Alan Lee Backer, who is the leader of the Wicked Messengers (I hope I'm not getting in trouble for saying that. I don't know their internal band politics, and for all I know they never declared him the leader, but he appears to be the leader) is a favorite of mine. He was the author of The Twanglers' "Two Hearts (Tender, Lovin' and True)," which was a single on Diesel Only Records in the 1980s. And their drummer, Charlie Shaw (formerly of The Five Chinese Brothers) is my daughter's guitar teacher. That wasn't a show I had planned on going to. Or even known about long in advance. In the afternoon I texted Charlie about scheduling my daughter's next guitar lesson. Then, in the evening he texted something along the lines of "I should have told you earlier, but we're playing at Hill Country from 9:30 to midnight tonight. My wife, knowing I really wanted to go, encouraged me to. So we finished our errands, and I took the subway in. I was late -- I got there at ten But they played until 1 AM. So I got in a three hour show (as well as some barbecue and nearly half a dozen Mexican Cokes). I keep wanting to think of the Messengers as a Country band, and certainly there's a lot of country in their repertoire, but they're also a damn good rock and roll bar band.
What I find interesting is that I often have songwriting inspirations while watching shows. And at both of these shows I had some. A couple ideas for song titles -- which may or may not turn into songs. And some good thoughts about how to work through some blocks I've hit on songs I'm in the process of writing. There's one in particular. Without going into detail, I've been trying for several years to write a psychobilly song called "Bleed Me a River." There have been some places I've gotten stuck, but I think I may have gotten unstuck. In the morning I'll try to think it through.
And, yes, I did say that I've been working on it for years. That's the way it always is for my songwriting. From first inspiration to finished song is always a matter of years. Partly because I lack training and partly because I don't really have a lot of time to devote to it. Between my day job (which does require more than 40 hours in a typical week) and having a family with three kids, I just can't be a full-time songwriter. So I get ideas. And I may jot down a title or a line. And I ruminate. I may be on the subway doing number puzzles. Or I may be driving. Or shopping. Or sitting at the dentist's office. But I'm thinking about a song. And sometimes I'll have an epiphany that leads to progress. And sometimes something will emerge finished.
Something I find amazingly cool. Full article is here.
Apparently Leonardo Da Vinci conceived of and drew plans for a keyboard instrument that was never built during his lifetime. Or for nearly 500 years after his death. But now the plans have been found and dusted off, and the thing's been built. And so the world now has the "viola organista"
My take on it based on the sound in the video below and the description in the link above -- though I'm hardly an expert -- is that it is similar to a piano. But whereas playing the keys on a piano causes hammers to strike the strings, on the viola organista the strings are pushed against a wheel that is wrapped in horse tail hairs, similar to the bow. In addition, the player has to push a pedal to keep the bow-wheel moving. The effect sounds oddly like a string ensemble.
The video below shows the world premiere of the thing. It's the same video as in the article that I linked to.
Last week I talked about Kickstarter, and the projects I've supported on it. One of the campaigns that caught my interest was that of Sonia Leigh, a country singer who is trying to raise money for her next album. For a $250 pledge she'll record a cover version of the song of your choice.
I had never heard of Leigh before this, so I'm not exactly a fan. But I found some of her stuff on Youtube and it's not bad. I contacted her through Kickstarter to find out if that "song of my choice" can be an unpublished song I wrote, so that I can use her recording as a demo. That was a week or so ago, and I haven't heard back. With her Kickstarter campaign ending less than 24 hours from now, I'm assuming that I won;t hear back. Which means that I won't be supporting her album.
Four CDs came yesterday from Amazon. I figure I'll talk about them. As the gentle reader will realize, these are not reviews. They are what comes to mind. Some discussion of the music. Some reminiscence. Some other. Each is followed by a video of a song from the album. Enjoy.
In no particular order:
Nick Lowe: Quality Street
A disc of Christmas songs by the man formerly known as the Basher. This is similar in feel to Nick's last few albums, though it's not as catchy as the others. The arrangements are sparse, and the vocals are mixed far forward. His voice is as silky as its been. And there are nice guitars and all. But there's just not a whole lot to hold my interest. One thing I note, is that "I Was Born in Bethlehem" (video below) sounds sort of like a slow version of "If I Only Had a Brain (from The Wizard of Oz. The melody, that is. Not the words.
What I find most interesting about this album is the creepy cover. Nick standing with an aloof look, surrounded by nine grumpy people, one grump dog and one adoring woman in a Santa suit (is that the same woman who was on the cover of his prior album, The Old Magic?). I'd heard the whole album already since the label, Yep Roc made it available for streaming a few months ago. My opinion hasn't changed in the interim. The disc will probably grow on me, though. That's the way Nick Lowe albums are.
Candy: Whatever Happened to Fun...
When this first came out in 1985 I reviewed it for The Island-Ear, a Long Island based music and entertainment weekly (or was it bi-weekly?) tabloid. I wrote the following:
Despite their simplicity and sugar flavor, all of Candy's songs are upbeat, teenage anthems. For this reason, they may very well be the next Bay City Rollers—with all the positive and negative implications that go with such a label. Chances are that, if they get noticed at all, Candy will be looked down on by elitist fans of "serious" rock. If they're lucky, they'll enjoy a couple years as chart toppers before fading into obscurity.
God, I hate that review. I was right about that whole Bay City Rollers thing, though I missed the whole thing about them being "glam," which is largely how they're remembered today. It's hard to judge my assessment of "if they're lucky." They weren't lucky as a group.More on that in a minute. What's missing from the review was how much I just enjoyed the album. The anthemic songs stuck with me, and I still love them today -- though rethinking them, they're a bit darker than I remembered.
One new observation is that the sound is tinnier than I remembered. I'm not sure if that's a function of the recording or the remastering that went into the CD reissue. Another interesting fact, which I didn't know at the time -- though I couln't possibly have been expected to -- is that the guitarist, Gilby Clarke, would go on to be a member of Guns 'N Roses. Not that I am at all intrested in G'N'R. I just figured I'd mention it. Oh, and if this kind of thing interests you, I believe the infamous GG Allin did a cover of "Kids in the City, reinventing it as "Sluts in the City."
Trout Fishing in America: Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers
This is the only one of these four albums thatI hadn't heard in advance (when you count hearing the vinyl version). I have to say I'm disappointed here. TFIA generally does really good kids music -- they seem to be the only one out there who do fun kids' tunes without letting the lesson get in the way of the fun. But their last several albums, this included haven't been up to their peak matrerial, which came, in my humble opinion, shortly after I first heard of them. The album, It's A Puzzle, with the sublime "Alien in My Nose," was great. After that? meh. My wife theorizes that it's because their kids are grown, and that when they have grandchilderen the creative juices will get better again. I certainly hope so. The one high point on the album is "Creepy Dead Bug," which isn't even theirs. Oh well.
Nervus Rex: Nervus Rex
I originally got this album on vinyl during one of my trips to St. Marks Sounds when I was in high school. By way of background, my high school was in Manhattan, on 14th Street, between First and Second Avenues. St. Marls Sounds was a wonderful used record store on St. Mark's Place (the equivalent of 8th Street) between Third and Fourth Avenues.I never knew their exact system, but I did know that Sounds would reduce the prices on records that didn't sell. Their pricetags were circles, about two inches in diameter, with black and pink ink. But when they slapped on a big black and white rectangle with "25¢" on it, you knew the price had hit bottom. This was one of those albums that I decided to risk a quarter on, without really having any reference point. I guess I also liked the fact that the design screamed "New Wave" at the top of its lungs. It was OK. Not great. But I loved their cover of the Shocking Blue Classic, "Venus."
Some years later, after I was into The Washington Squares (a New York-based neo beatnick group), I noticed an uncanny resemblance between the women on the album covers and realized that New Waver Lauren Agnelli of Nervus Rex had become beatnik Lauren Agnelli of The Washington Squares. I alwauys find it interesting when someone whose music I've liked in one context shows up in a new one. By now, of course, Agnelli has moved on in other directions. I think I have an album of her and Dave Rave, but I can't recall what it sounds like. If memory serves she has had at least one solo outing. I wonder what they sound like?
Anyway, even though this album never did knock my socks off, I found it for like $2 on Amazon (which, adjusting for inflation, is probably not that far off a quarter at Sounds). So I bought it largely to re-experience that cover of "Venus." Lo, it's better than I remembered. Lots of catchy quirky new wave hooks. They really deserved better than the ignominy they got.
My wife has been a fan of Kickstarter for a while now. For the uninitiated, Kickstarter is a crowdfunding website. We've supported a variety of projects, including a solar oven, glow in the dark roses, and a 3-D pen. But, of course, what I want to write about is the music projects.
As I've mentioned, I supported the most recent album by Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby.. It was trhough that that I got their recording of "Do You Think of Me (Now and Again)" to use as a demo.They sent mke the recording a month and a half ago, and I still have to post about the finished product.Long story short, I love it.
More recntly, I signed up to support a project in which someone is trying to put together a 6-CD box set of Graham Parker and the Rumour live performances through the year. I was of slightly mixed minds. I like a lot of Graham Parker's music. But he's not quite up there with Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds and Wreckless Eric. But he did a bunch of great albums early in his career -- Squeezing Out Sparks, Heat Treatment, Howlin Wind. Then he got kind of boring, but more recently he seems to have regained that acidic bite that I liked. Songs of No Consequence, which he recorded with The Figgs, was as good as anything from his younger days. Three Chords Good, which was a reunion album with the Rumour, wasn't quite as good, but it still had some serious high points. And a recently released live album of him with the Rumour (see image of the cover) is scorching. The video also gives a good flavor. After due consideration, I decided to go with the $125 funding level, which rewards me with the six-disc box set, two additional live CDs and an 8×10 autographed photo of the band. Oh, yeah -- I also get my name in the liner notes of the box set. Woohoo!
In other Kickstarter music project news, I noticed someone is trying to fund a three--stringed guitar. They call it the Loog Guitar for reasons I don't know. Apparentky they already did an acoustic version, and now they're working on an electric one. Their plea video follows this paragraph. When I first saw it, I was thinking that I really wanted it. It looks simple and interesting. But some thought later I've changed my mind. The sound is a bit tinny and I realize that, while you can make a major chord with only three strings, you can't make a full minor or seventh chord, since those require four notes. And let's not even get started on suspendeds and whatnot. My daughter (who just started guitar lessons) had some interest, and I was thinking that if it helps her learn then it may be worthwhile. But no one whom I skaed seemed to think it was worthwhile. Oh well.
Getting back to Graham Parker, when I did a search on Kickstarter for "Graham Parker," I found two projects that I would have supported had I known about them at the time -- a documentary about Graham Parker -- and an album by Bob Andrews. Oh well. C'est la vie.
One other thing. I think I've found another use for Kickstarter. There are lots of musicians trying to fund albums, and some of them will, for the right support level, record a cover version of your choice. The question is, are they willing to record a demo of an unknown song? I contacted Sonia Leigh about that. One of the songs I am working on writing would be good for her style. There are some other musicians who I gave a look, but I don't think any of them would be right for the songs I'm writing. But there will be others...
A couple weeks ago I was at a book signing. Scott Turow just released a new novel (Identical). Anyway, he started off by taking about his experiences on book tours, including noting his two rules for air travel:
Never let go of your luggage
Never fly United
I don't know what experience caused him to feel that way about United -- I haven't had any experiences with them that stood out in my mind. Certainly nothing egregious. But when he said that, I was reminded of the following:
So, my daughter has started taking guitar lessons. So far she's had three lessons. Some time ago she expressed interest in taking guitar. But we hemmed and hawed about it for a bit. A big part of that was that we wanted to find someone who would be a good teacher.
This past summer, I hit on the idea of Charlie Shaw. Now's the point where I should talk about how Charlie and I are old buddies who go way back to our childhood years, playing freeezetag in the front yards. That would be great, but inaccurate. I have known of Charlie through his music for two and a half decades now. When I was in college, Charlie was the drummer for a New York alt-country band called Five Chinese Brothers. Years later, I saw him drumming as a backup for Ken Waldman (Alaska's fiddlin' poet) at the Long Island Children's Museum.
All those years later it's not like I saw him and said "Hey! That's Charlie Shaw from Five Chinese Brothers!" But I did see him and say that guy looks familiar. The whole show I was sure I'd seen hime before. Then Ken introduced him to the audience by name ("And I'd like to thank my drummer..."). I knew the name was familiar even though I couldn't place it. So after the show I asked him igf he had been in any bands I may have known. When he mentioned the Brothers that was it.
We chatted about music. The New York country music scene, Ken Waldman, what he's up to... At that point he was playing in a Band called the Wicked Messengers. See my posts about Alan Backer for details. I've seen him playing with the Messengers a couple times, and I also saw him playing guitar with Ken Waldman at least once. One of the things I noticed was that he was very patient answering kids' questions. I was also under the impression thathe worked in childcare.
So when I started thinking about potential guitar teachers for my daughter, I thought of Charlie and the fact that his combination of skills and interests may be good.
I should write more, but I won't for now. I'll leave other stuff for later days.
So now I know of two pop songs with the word "trashcan" in the title. The second, which I heard on the radio today, is "Love in a Trashcan" by the Raveonettes.
The first one, of course, is "Standing in a Trashcan, Thinking About You" by The Legendary Stardust Cowboy.
There are several musicians and bands whose works I will buy immediately upon release (or at least soon thereafter). But most of those are relative unknowns -- bands that haven't made the big time (e.g., Bobtown, The Dusty Buskers) or former stars who (how do I say it delicately?) aren't as popyular s they once were (e.g., Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe).
