Pleasant Valley Sunday

Why I Ever Tried I Don't Know

2011-10-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

It is a rare day indeed when a fresh young band releases a record that gets my attention. While visiting my local record store (the fantabulous Music Millenium in Portland, OR) I caught a few songs playing over the store PA. And this incredibly odd and wonderful feeling hit me - was I hearing a never released recording by The Nazz? Or was it a lost 60's psych band with a penchant for sounding like the Beatles circa '66. A giddy feeling took over me and I just had to know what was being played.

So I trucked over to the service desk and looked at the CD.... and see that it is Innerspeaker by Tame Impala. Who the hell was this? I asked an attentive staff member and he mentioned that they were a new band from Australia. Based on what I had heard I purchased the CD, rejoiced as I listened on my car stereo on the trip home. Upon arrival I immediately looked them up on the internet. These young men are barely out of their teens. And sure enough they hail from Perth - way over on the lost coast!

Repeated listenings have only cemented my opinion that these guys have the goods. Not only because I hear echoes of Todd Rundgren, early Pink Floyd, Revolver-era John Lennon, but because they pull together elements of sixties power pop and infuse them with a psych-trance groove in a wicked stew that is totally original in conception.

Choosing a tune to post for this blog was tough but I went with the number that first caught my attention in the store - Desire Be Desire Go. The initial guitar riff is spell-binding with its circular motion. When the middle section comes in with "Everyday..." I swear I hear Mr. McCartney. Goodness - the guitar sound with layers of feedback is just so delicious.

Tell me what you're after

2011-10-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Michael Brown is a pianist/songwriter who wrote two amazing hits for his first band the Left Banke - Pretty Ballerina and Walk Away Renee. And in fact just about everything he wrote for that band is top notch. His father was a violinist and Michael often added string arrangements to his songs, lending the "baroque pop" moniker to the Left Banke.

Several years after leaving the band his father introduced him to Ian Lloyd, a singer who was the son of a colleague. They formed a band known as The Stories and released two albums of classical-tinged rock. Michael left the band just as their record company foisted upon them what would become their only radio hit, the despicable Brother Louie. The band soldiered on for one more LP without Mr. Brown, but without his keyboard magic they faded into oblivion.

Those first two albums have a high percentage of listenable Beatlesque pop-rock and some killer string arrangements. Here is Please Please from their second LP About Us. That heavily reverbed piano opening is just so lovely.

Distorted view, see through baby blue

2011-09-29T21:38:00.000-07:00

I came late for the party. The Pink Floyd party that is. And even then it was only that wacky, hallucinogenic early period that ever caught my fancy. I expended considerable effort to gain some enjoyment from their 70s heyday recordings, but frankly it all still leaves me cold. But that early Syd Barrett material is another story. Especially those first three singles released before Syd's internal psychic battle resulted in his departure from the band. Arnold Layne beat the Kinks to the tranvestite-themed punch by three years. Needless to say it never garned any US airplay, but what a wonderful little trippy tune it is, along with its witty description of Arnold's predilection for stealing women's undergarments from a clothes line.

As for Syd, he managed to record a couple of solo albums before his internal demons rendered him unable to continue. One of the off kilter tunes from The Madcap Laughs - his first LP - is also a personal favorite. When I listen I imagine an acoustic Kinks song with chord changes inspired by Charles Ives and a lyric that is so obtuse that even John Lennon would be in awe. Ladies and gentlemen, please leave us here to close our eyes to the Octopus ride:

Knitting while blindfolded

2011-09-13T20:46:00.000-07:00

I figured it was time I got around to posting about John Lennon, as Macca has received plenty of attention on my blog in the past. It is not that I like one more than the other. To the contrary, when John was "on" - and from '64-'67 he could do no wrong in my book - he was the superior songwriter of the two. There was often an introspective sadness to his middle period Beatles output, including the three little masterpieces that kick off Beatles For Sale. When he kicked off his solo career in 1970 however, his first successful shot out of the gate became for me one of the happiest, most uplifting, and downright kick ass radio hits of my youth. Instant Karma espouses a do-it-yourself personal rebuilding program. Perhaps he wrote the song to himself as an antidote for the awful debacle of the disintegration of the Beatles. But the happy vibe, the cosmic lyrics, and the twin pummels of the piano and the drumming created a sound that was never really duplicated by anyone.

I love this song in a way that verges on being unhealthy. Back in the day it got me through some tough times and I will forever be indebted to John for writing it.

Speaking of John and the Beatles, there is an amazing thread over at Hey Dullblog that started out as discussion of "favorite" unreleased Beatles tracks but went sidewise into a psychological discussion of John and his relationship with his former bandmates. Although I do not agree with everything written the discussion is lively and left me pondering for days.

Happy Birthday Macca

2011-06-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

I would be remiss to bypass a birthday greeting to Paul McCartney who turned 69 today. My passion for pop music was fueled by The Beatles. To this day their music is an integral part of my heart and soul. But this day belongs to Paul alone, so I picked an old chestnut from his magnificent second solo album Ram. Too Many People was seen by some - including Mr. Lennon - as a poke at his former bandmate. Even if it is true, the poke was understated and good humored. Certainly nowhere nearly as offensive as the attacks that were made against him back in the early days after the breakup.

Regardless, Too Many People is a little Beatlesque treasure, with the prerequisite awesome bass line, Linda's simple harmonies, and a guitar solo that never ceases to amaze me. When Ram was released I was somewhat underwhelmed. But over the years it has grown and grown to the point that I now rank it with Band on the Run as Paul's finest post-Beatles work.

Happy birthday Mr. McCartney - your music has made me smile for 47 years and I am still counting.

More than meets the eye

2011-06-13T18:18:00.001-07:00

The other day I was chatting with a friend about pop songs with string quartet accompaniment, and way in the back of my mind I remembered a song of the utmost loveliness. As the final song on the Bangles first full length LP All Over the Place from 1984, More Than Meets The Eye walks a fine line, veering ever so slightly towards baroque pop. Their harmony work is absolutely stunning, but the real clincher for me is the coda - just an acoustic guitar and the quartet weaving in and out.

Why they never ventured down this road again is likely the fault of the record company. With their next album their sound went 80's top 40 and a lot of promise was lost for eternity. But bless them for getting this on vinyl first.

Goin' to Louisiana

2011-02-17T18:31:00.000-08:00

Folks have been "borrowing" melodies for ages, from Bach to John Lennon. But perhaps the most outrageous steal involves today's post subject. The Big Three - an early sixties folk group consisting of Mama Cass, Tim Rose, and Jim Hendricks - took Stephen Foster's Old Susanna and wrote an entirely different melody and harmony, calling it The Banjo Song. So give a listen and be amazed at how not just the melody, but even the guitar lick was reused for a chart-topping hit from 1969. I am not naming names but every person alive over 45 should figure it out quickly.

And I have to say that it is wonderful to discover new music (to me) with Mama Cass's great voice.

When you see some puddles on the ground

2011-01-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

What pop single from the late 60s starts with an awesome acoustic guitar lick, the most ferocious hand claps ever recorded, contains delicious vocal harmonies to extremely bitter lyrics, and ends with a sitar freakout? Why Carpet Man from the Fifth Dimension's Magic Garden LP, of course! Also released as a 45 rpm single on Soul City Records #762, debuted 2/3/68 and peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Another Jimmy Webb gem wherein the upbeat melodies attempt to hide the intense pain of the subject matter.

I would think you'd get tired of hurtin'
Every now and then
It's no good down there that's for certain
And carpets do get thin
And that's when they have to be thrown away
That's what she'll say to herself some sunny day
And she'll say come to my wedding and of course you do
And then the groom and her will have a dance on you
She walks all over you
You know she can, she knows she can
You're a carpet man

Taking over bars and holding nights for hipsters

2010-12-24T22:34:00.000-08:00

2010 was not the finest year for new music, but certainly there were a few releases that caught my attention. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the overtly power-poppy Blood/Candy from The Posies. Over the years they have mastered the Hollies/Byrds jangle-pop sound, layered with some grunge and hard rock. But this latest release is a new direction, beautifully produced and positively filled to the brim with hooks. Over the last twenty years or so they have produced some of my favorite recordings of that period. So it is high praise from me to say that this is quickly becoming my favorite Posies release. Guest spots from Hugh Cornwell (The Stranglers) and Lisa Lobsinger only enhance the broadening of musical styles to be found here.

She's Coming Down Again is a power pop masterpiece with one of the most stupdenous choruses in many a year. But underneath the layers of harmonies, fuzzed-out guitars, and uber-awesome keyboard work is one extremely sad drug parable. Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer (both born in the very late 60s) have perfected the art of power pop. One hopes they continue on for many years to come.

Life is kinda groovy in the gutter

2010-12-17T18:00:00.000-08:00

For those who consider the Fifth Dimension to be corny or square, you can skip this entry entirely. I for one am a unabashed fan. Their stellar harmonies and pop/soul hooks of the late sixties are essential listening for me a decade into the 21st century.

Jimmy Web wrote all but one song on their 1967 Magic Garden LP, just as he was breaking up with his longtime girlfriend Susan. Her name pops up frequently in the lyrics. A true pop/psych song cycle, there are introductions and connecting pieces between the plethora of fantastic songs. The turmoil of the breakup is reflected by the increasingly depressing song subjects. In Dream/Pax/Nepenthe the singer refers to "cobweb shadows all over her face like lacquered lace", as if some long buried memory. In the heartbreaking The Worst That Could Happen he imagines her marrying another.

The true test of real "ear candy" is a song that hooks me within five seconds. The dense syncopated piano cluster chords that open Paper Cup are absolutely smile-inducing for me. Even in my worst mood this song will perk up my spirit. Quite the enigma considering that the lyrics are one supreme downer. "And everyone says I'm quite insane, and someday I'll be going down the drain. I know they're right, but I don't care. I feel no pain."

Don't Leave Me Waiting Here

2010-12-16T20:33:00.000-08:00

From the ashes of the Get Back recording sessions in 1969, who would have guessed that the most controversial reworking for the Let It Be LP would be Paul's simple yet emotionally powerful Long And Winding Road? Paul's legal case to end The Beatles listed Phil Spector's tinkering with this song as one of six reasons for the dissolution. On most counts I prefer the Naked versions of the Let It Be songs, but in this one case I have to disagree strongly with Mr. McCartney. Perhaps this is due to my memories of this song on the radio back in 1970, released just after the world learned that The Beatles were no more. The tugging of Richard Hewson's mid-song string arrangement just works for me on so many levels. When I listen to the untouched version I still hear the strings deep in my head. Paul's little ode to a broken heart begging to be let back in is perhaps his most touching late Beatle's moment, and one of the few times he was given free reign to bare his soul.

The house on Sandusky

2010-11-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

I only lived there for about eighteen months. My first real "home" in Tulsa after moving there in 1980. Built in the 1930s and featuring a black glass art deco fireplace surround, my strongest memories of living there revolve around the music that I was listening to at that time. As a frame of reference consider Talking Heads - Remain In Light; EC and the Attractions - Trust; the Police - Zenyattà Mondatta.

At the time a little-known Kiwi band was making some noise in the US. Split Enz got some radio traffic with their 1980 single I've Got You. In 1981 their LP Waiata was released and immediately got some music videos playing on that new-fangled MTV channel. I was (and still am) very enamoured by that record. In fact I don't believe they ever released a better record. The radio hit One Step Ahead is a standout, but there are at least half a dozen other songs of equal quality on that album.

Which brings me to I Don't Wanna Dance, which appears snuggly in the middle of side one. The opening salvo of synths and drums leads to the first verse in which songwriter and vocalist Tim Finn makes the complex melody line seem simple. At 2:20 Neil Finn lets loose with an intense guitar solo that does not let up until the end of the song, and the complexion of the song changes dramatically. The angst inherent in the lyrics come front and center as the synthesizer chords build and build. The chorus returns and when repeated a second time, at just about 2:51, a moment of transfiguration occurs when the harmony is changed and Mr. Finn sings the line "I don't wanna dance.... tonight....". It is that rare moment in pop music where the perfect chord, the perfectly sung lyric, and the emotion of the moment take this song into another realm.

I drove by that house at the corner of Sandusky and 12th in the summer of 2009 and was happy to see that the current owners have spruced it up. I wonder if they kept the art deco fireplace, and what sort of music they listen to.

Why you want to keep these lies on parade

2010-11-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

Back on the subject of Heatmiser, Elliott Smith wrote some sparkling gems during his end of days in that band. Mic City Sons was released in 1996 and for me is their most fully realized effort, with both songwriters (Smith and Neil Gust) really hitting their stride.

The Fix Is In begins with a quietly lovely electronic piano accompaniment. Always attuned to emotional violence, Smith practically whispers the warning of the opening verse:

You want every day to be like that magic first
When she took shape in your eyes and you in hers
You're going down to see her, it's a big mistake
She got ice she don't want anyone to break

Then at 1:46 the guitar ratchets up the volume just a bit as he makes it clear he is heading down a path against his will:

I fit the perfect picture that you want for all
The fix is in I'm going where I don't belong

Mr. Smith would go on to perfect his little world of sad, lonely songs sung by a singer too tired and emotionally drained to fight back. But this earlier effort still hits me right in the gut.

You may write the perfect song

2010-11-07T18:29:00.000-08:00

Elliott Smith was a founding member of Heatmiser, a great Portland band from the early to mid 90s. Elliott's began his solo career in 1994, then the band broke up in 1996. He was nominated for an Academy Award for best song - Miss Misery - from the Gus Van Sant film Good Will Hunting. He moved to Los Angeles and there were rumored bad vibes left behind, possibly due to his self destructive behaviors and drug abuse.

Sam Coomes, the bass player in Heatmiser, went on as the frontman for Quasi. Several Quasi songs have links to Elliott. He played bass on several tunes on Quasi's Field Studies (1999). Lyrics to several Quasi songs certainly seem to be aimed at him, including Little Lord Fontleroy from Sword of God.

Perhaps the most poignant and biting is The Poisoned Well. It is unclear whether the lyrics are self reflective or aimed at another. But given the circumstances of Mr. Smith's death, there is certainly a haunting truth to several lines.

A Tale of Two Interpretations

2010-10-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

I have always been somewhat of a fan of the songwriting of Bachrach/David, especially those songs they farmed out to Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick. There is often a hint of real pathos in the lyrics, which are somewhat sweetened by the never ending progression of 9th and 11th chords. In 1966 they wrote songs for the soundtrack to What's New Pussycat? and among the odds and ends is an odd little minor key ditty named My Little Red Book. From the point of view of the gentlemen with the little red book, he has met his match with one particular girl. This swinging sixties dude realizes that she is the real deal, but unfortunately for him she has moved on.

So here are two versions of the song. The first, performed by Manfred Mann, starts off with an awesome piano pounding. The second - only a link here as there is no embed available - is Love's transmogrification and perhaps one of the oddest and most endearing relics of that transitional period between pop rock and psychedelia, with some garage rock thrown in for good measure. It starts much simpler, with a thudding repeated bass note. The minor key is discarded for a less fussy yet almost atonal harmonic structure. This video of the original Love line-up is perhaps their only filmed testament.

I know which version I prefer but will leave it to you to decide for yourself.

All I did was talk about you
Hear your name and I'd start to cry
There's just no getting over you... oh, no...

There ain't no girl in my little red book
Who could ever replace your charms
And each girl in my little red book
Knows you're the one I'm thinkin' of
Oh won't you please come back
Without your precious love I can't go on
Where can love be I need you so much

My Little Red Book-Love

Keep On Rollin' On

2010-10-20T19:47:00.001-07:00

A really odd thing happened with the demise of The Easybeats. After years as the number one rock'n'roll band in Australia, in 1967 they moved lock stock and barrel to London in hopes of becoming a worldwide sensation. And sure enough their first effort - Friday On My Mind - was an international smash hit. But the big followup never came. They made some great music but it never caught on with the public. When things came apart in 1969, George Young and Harry Vanda made some demos which ended up being released by the record company as the final Easybeats LP.

Never really considered a part of the Easybeats canon, some of the music on the Friends LP is top notch. There is one little nugget that just pops my chops everytime I hear it. Rock and Roll Boogie is a joyous excursion that celebrates the title in every way - a real tribute to the power of rock'n'roll. Some songs just have a"sound" and wow, does this ever have that chugging late 60's groove. The guitar lines throughout are pure genius. Nothing flashy or overpowering, just some of the tastiest licks ever put down on vinyl. Add to that the off kilter drumming, awesome bass lines, and some great syncopations and you have one hell of a tune that really makes me want to get up and dance.

Tulsa Time

2010-10-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

The summer of 1975 my Tulsa homeboys Dwight Twilley Band hit the national charts with the power-pop-tastic I'm On Fire. It has every element that a hit single should have - a monster guitar riff, cool harmonies, great drumming, rockabilly lead vocals and a closing chorale over the top of the chorus. With a top 20 hit on their hands, their record company was in shambles and by the time the followup album appeared ten months later the group was already forgotten. Mr. Twilley is somewhat of a god in power pop circles and has been making music pretty much continuously with a real renaissance in the last ten years.

Since you are here, give a listen to the tunes on Dwight's just-released Green Blimp. The Turtles-ish Me and Melanie and the gorgeous beyond belief Let It Rain are just stupendous.

Never bring me down

2010-10-09T00:26:00.000-07:00

There once was a quartet of young women from Los Angeles who wrote and performed wonderful music in the vein of The Byrds and The Beatles. They released an EP and a LP of incredibly charming power pop and the future looked bright. Then the worst that could happen happened. Their talent got them noticed and they became popular with their third release. And it was all downhill after that.

The Bangs become Bangles. The girls who had previously shared singing and songwriting duties turned into a front for the girl singled out by the record company as the "lead" singer and they began to have hits with songs by outside writers. Their own material was miles above the dreck that was foisted on them - the wonderful Prince-ly Manic Monday notwithstanding.

But enough on what went wrong. Those first two releases have nothing but right on them. Here is their first single from the EP Bangles released in 1982. The Real World is a miraculous reincarnation of the 1964 Byrds, with a dash of harpsichord to boot. When the harmonies come in I just swoon!

Just casually appearing from the clock across the hall

2010-10-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

She makes me so unsure of myself
Standing there but never talking sense
Just a visitor you see
So much wanting to be seen
She'd open up the door and vaguely carry us away

It is about time I got around to writing about the title song Paris 1919 from John Cale's 1973 LP. It is a clever ghost story, cloaked in his usual obscure lyrics, with one of pop music's finest keyboard and string arrangements. In recent years Mr. Cale has been known to give this the full symphonic treatment, hence the live video embedded below. This is another one of those songs that drilled into me on first listen and has remained inside throughout they years.

Considering that he had just previously produced the haunting, austere The Marble Index for Nico and the initial mix for the first LP byThe Stooges, the grandeur and scope of Paris 1919 went in a totally different direction. The addition of tubular bells and a glockenspiel in the last chorus in this live performance just put it totally over the edge for me.

You're a ghost la la la la la la la la la
You're a ghost
I'm in the church and I've come
To claim you with my iron drum
La la la la la la la la la

Across the wooded plain the wild geese have fled

2010-10-06T23:21:00.000-07:00

There are some songs that seem to have been with me all my life. Although I only discovered the Pretty Things in the last couple of years, their best work really gets under my skin in a good way. She's A Lover from Parachute jumped out at me the first time I heard it. Of course it is a totally subjective issue and I cannot really put my finger on why this song gets to me as it does. But it is so worthy of trying so here goes...

Repeated listenings reveal a constantly changing texture of keyboards and guitars. And the song construction is quite unusual with an overall A-B-C-A-C form. The main verse and chorus share the same underlying chords but the melody and driving percussion become much harder in the chorus portion. There are two additional sections that interrupt mid song, with the second instrumental section returning as a coda at the end.

The roxichord opening is augmented by some mega awesome drumming and a syncopated bass line obbligato. Phil May's lead vocal soars above it all, sounding like a cross between Colin Blunstone and George Harrison (!). At this point (1970) he was the primary songwriter and vocalist and this song is one of his many gems.

She takes the moon and stars
To wear as her disguise.
Then catching cosmic rays
She uses them for eyes.

At 0:55 lovely harmony vocals open the first of the two middle sections.

There below the grey stone walls
Behind the hill she waits for you.
Painted on a field of corn
Strange messages she leaves for you.

Then at 1:19 a battle of two guitarists breaks out with a constant dizzing change of meters.

At 1:57 it flows back into the main theme with the obbligato taken up by a very fuzzy guitar.

She sheds her summer dress
Fearing it displeases you
Amid the white silk melting forest
Where she flew.

The final verse is puncuated by savage drumming, the instrumental section returns, then that final out of tune guitar chord, as if A Hard Day's Night had gone sour.

Excuse me while I listen to it again :)

When you smile I have to take a chance

2010-10-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

The introductory guitar salvo in Tonight is for me perhaps the most electrifying opening in all of rock 'n roll. Chords raining down from heaven. And the guitar work only gets better as the song progresses. In my book Wally Bryson is a guitar god. So much attention was paid to Eric Carmen's vocals and the groups 60's throwback harmonies that the tastiness of Bryson's guitar work was criminally overlooked. Not that I have a problem with the band's sound as I consider it to be power pop in its prime. And Mr. Carmen has a knack for recycling ideas from 60s bands and making them his own. By his own admission Tonight was intended to replicate the sound and texture of The Small Faces. And he succeeded in spades. How this managed to only barely graze the top 100 is one of life's great mysteries. Along with Overnight Sensation this is the peak of their work - a work that transcends its medium. The LP it came from - Side 3 - is pretty darn great too.

Don't ask any questions, you won't get an answer

2010-09-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

Here is another in a series of songs that appeared on 45rpm in a radically different version from that on the LP. At the time of their breakout hit Stuck In the Middle With You in 1972, Stealers Wheel went through a massive personnel transformation. First off, one of the primary songwriters - Gerry Rafferty - had already left the band. A replacement came in so that the band could tour to take advantage of their radio hit. Then Rafferty came back, all ancillary members left, leaving only Rafferty and the other songwriter - Joe Egan - to soldier on. They release Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine as their next single.

The song has a wonderful loping tempo, Beatlesque duo harmonies, perfect little guitar/sitar interjections, and a killer faux-raga interlude with lovely harmonies. As excellent as this song is - and mark my words, it is a nearly perfect single (see my top 100 list for criteria) - it did not catch on with the public and was never released on a followup LP. Meanwhile Rafferty and Egan put out a second LP with a completely different rendition of the song. Slow, plodding, and missing all of those little flourishes that made the single so wonderful. To this day the single version has never been released on CD.

Moving through the city, making all the rounds
Trying different places, didn't like the faces (oh no, oh no)
Rollin' in the gutter, throwin' up my pride
Belly full of whiskey, was it hard to swallow (oh no, oh no)

Happy coursing through my veins

2010-09-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

Back in the days of music videos (remember when you could actually hear music on MTV?) I would often stay up late to catch 120 Minutes. It was my refuge from the hair metal and power ballads being touted on that network in the early 90s. Nearly every episode contained a song or two that inspired me to head out to buy a new CD.

De-Luxe by Lush is one of those tunes that drilled itself into my brain on first listen. I knew nothing about the band at that time, and I came home empty handed from the record store after attempting to score this song on CD. As it turns out it was released on a hard-to-find EP and as a promo single. Years later I finally found it on a "best of" CD.

This is exactly the kind of out-of-nowhere song that hits me upside the head. Alternating meters, jangly guitars, and sweet vocal harmonies. The lyrics - how can I say this gracefully - are dripping with sexual metaphors and imagery. But the insistent beat and the swirling guitar layers take me off to a very happy place whenever I hear this song.

When we're wrapped in polythene
What's that supposed to mean
Paper flowers bring me luck
No birds in sight I fear
Stick sticks in you my dear
When I'm up you're coming down

Skip's Song

2010-09-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

I have been a fan of that first great Moby Grape LP for years, but only just discovered the song Seeing last year. It was never quite finished by Skip Spence before his departure from the group in 1968 after ingesting large amounts of hallucinogens. The remaining band members finished the song for inclusion on Moby Grape '69.

This song haunts me. It stays in my head for days. I cannot really say why. It just does.

If you'd seen the naked dream
I had of you
Would you care
And would you now come through?

Take me far away
My miles and mind can't beat the dream of death today
Hard to get by
When what greets my eyes takes my breath away

In my dream you are around the stars
I watched your walls all fall away
You were bare of thoughts, we were to part
And we stayed that way

Some try to hide because they lied
They were not true, they were afraid
And they refuse to see or be free
Be on to the gods they prayed

Ahh, save me, save me, save me, save me
save me, save me, save me
I'll save you, can I spend you?

And now this naked dream
I had of you
And will you care
And will you now come through?

Take me far away
My miles and mind can't beat the dream of death today
Oh, no, hard to get by
When what greets my eyes takes my breath away

Oh, cryin', save me, save me, save me, save me
save me, save me, save me
I'll save you, can I spend you?

-- Alexander Lee Spence

The Girls Are Back In Town

2010-09-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

I am not about to harsh anyone's mellow with today's post. Back in the summer of 1974 I was between my college freshman and sophomore year, living on my own, and hanging with a new crop of friends. On occasion we would boogie up US 81 to Wichita to hit the bars and spend Sunday afternoons at the city park along the Little Arkansas River.

David was one of my buddies and he drove a hot orange muscle car. I vividly remember one Sunday afternoon on a return trip home. He had his swanky car stereo radio tuned to a top 40 station and three songs by female vocalists were played consecutively. All three were to be big hits. In the case of today's tune, it was that artist's biggest radio hit.

So what were the songs? I love them all but fully expect some groans related to at least one. First was Anne Murray's version of the Beatle's You Won't See Me. Believe it or not I was unfamiliar with that great McCartney tune from Rubber Soul. Ms. Murray's version pales in comparison, but the arrangement really isn't too bad and she had a nice voice that suited it well. Next up was Maria Muldaur and Midnight At the Oasis. The lyrics are as corny as all get-out but I have a real soft spot for this song. Maria has an unmistakable voice and her odd phrasing is frankly quite sexy. Plus the short guitar solo is quite tasty.

So my favorite of the batch? Hands down - Help Me by Joni Mitchell. Joni was entering a very jazz-inflected phase and the amazing procession of odd tunings and 11th chords ushered this song right up into the top ten. This was my introduction to her work and soon afterwards I had worked my way back through her catalog. Certainly not the Canadian folky sound of her earlier work, but it was a breath of fresh air in that summer of '74 and still brings a big smile to my face whenever I listen to it.

You've got your cue line and a handful of 'ludes

2010-09-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Opinions vary on the genuineness of David Bowie as a rock'n'roller. For me it is not so much a question of his theatrics. Nor is it a matter of his chameleon like qualities, shifting from the long haired hippy in a man-dress to an alien rocker to the thin white duke, etc. It all comes down to the music. There are big swaths of his career that lay outside my area of interest, but from 1970 to 1980 he turned out a string of songs - both for himself and for others - that I believe are essential listening.

In 1974 he released Rebel Rebel as a single from the upcoming Diamond Dogs LP. In the spirt of the Kink's Lola, it is a real gender bender - "You've got your mother in a whirl, cause she's not sure if you are a boy or a girl". In the USA the 45rpm release was a completely different production than on the album and on the UK single. The tempo is a bit faster, there are wonderful phased vocal harmonies, the run time is 1:20 shorter, and the mix is absolutely on fire. The US single version is very hard to find. My brother bought the single back in the day, and I finally found it on the Sounds & Vision box set. Some obliging soul has put it up on YouTube, so I suggest you give it a listen. It really rocks my sock off.

And a favorite memory from the olden days - I saw a punk band from Pine Bluff, Arkansas perform this song at the Blue Grotto club on S. Main in uptown Tulsa in 1980. Priceless!

Thinking 'bout what to say and I can't find the lines

2010-09-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Back Of A Car is perhaps the quintessential power pop song. Frequent commenter and fellow blogger Who Am Us Anyway recently had a post about Memphis. It made me realize I have never written about Big Star. I am still reeling at the death of Alex Chilton earlier this year. There are no words I could write that would express my deep admiration and appreciation for the short but unique legacy left by that band.

I promise not to write much as the music speaks for itself, but I want to mention that Back Of A Car proves that counterpoint (that amazing guitar work) is just as necessary in rock as it was to 17th century baroque music.

Beatles minus one

2010-09-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

Back in the late 70s after Apple Records was dissolved, some bright entrepreneur put all of the remaining Apple LPs and singles on sale via mail order. I was a total Beatles nut by that point so I ordered nearly every single I could get my hands on. A good portion of the non-Beatles singles were heinous, but there were definitely some surprises. Ronnie Spector's Try Some Buy Some (a George Harrison tune) from 1971 is really quite lovely and epic. There is a wonderful early James Taylor song - Carolina in My Mind. And of course Badfinger - all of which rules my world.

One tune really knocked me out. George Harrison wrote Sour Milk Sea around the time of the White Album. There is even a rough demo out there with the Fab Four performing it. But alas like so many Harrison songs, this one was never to be part of the offical Beatle's canon. Instead he gave it to Jackie Lomax, an up-and-coming singer who was signed to Apple early on. It was released as a single in the US and UK in 1968. Apparently it sank without a trace.

On the recording you will find George on guitar, Paul on bass, and Ringo on drums. Nicki Hopkins tickles the ivories and Eric Clapton joins George with some blistering licks. It has a "sound" that really works for me. Deep and heavy, with lots of reverb. With Paul and Ringo holding down the rhythm section, how could it not be good?

Music of the spheres

2010-08-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

Back in the 1980s there was a classical music FM station in Tulsa that always closed their broadcast day with an a capella Russian choral piece. Sometimes late at night I would have the radio on that station just so that could be the last thing I heard before falling asleep. Pure serenity and peacefulness.

What does that have to do with a blog about power pop? Everything really. For in the rock universe we have our own vocal prayer, that never-duplicated combination of Brian Wilson at the top of his game and the peerless harmonies of the Beach Boys. From the aborted Smile project circa 66/67, here is Our Prayer to lull you off into a night of peaceful contended sleep.

The words have all been writ by one before me

2010-08-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

How many rock'n'roll bands had a resident poet who was a non-performing member? I can think of only one - Procol Harum - and what a fine band they were. It took me many years to really turn on to them. I purchased Grand Hotel when it came out in 1973, and although I quite liked it I did not seek out further PH music. Little did I know that the group had radically changed by that point. The original guitarist Robin Trower had departed just prior to GH, and the groups' second (and possibly finest) songwriter Matthew Fisher had left after producing their third album A Salty Dog in 1969.

By 1973 only lead singer/songwriter Gary Brooker and drummer B. J. Wilson remained as original performing members. Poet Keith Reid continued on as lyricist, and his darkly disturbing words were a key link between the old and new lineups. With Fisher and Trower gone, Gary Brooker was now the undisputed leader. His distinctive vocals, songwriting craftsmanship, and powerful piano pounding kept the group going strong well into the mid 70s. But for me the original lineup was unsurpassable. With Trower's white hot guitar interjections a'la Hendrix and Fisher's gentle lead vocals and baroque Hammand organ counterpoint, this band was unique among its peers. Sometimes lumped in the "prog rock" bailywick, PH was really much more than that.

The closing number on A Salty Dog is Pilgrim's Progress. The third and last Fisher written composition on the album, it begins with his signature Hammond organ sound accompanying his sweet soft vocals. If ever there was a song that makes me take a long look back at my life, this would be it. The lyrics are introspective and full of truth. Damn - this song sends shivers down my spine.

A few things I wish to point out:

B. J. Wilson's drumming. I rank him up there with Keith Moon and Ringo. Never was a better percussion man.
Fisher's uncanny ability to write a melody that could have come out of a Bach cantata
The absolutely stunning beauty of that melody
The sound of the Hammond
The touching story arc and the realization that life really is a big circle
The opening of the piano-driven coda, and B. J.'s entrance therein
The hand claps in the closing section
The Beach Boys-esque vocal harmony at the end

In starting out I thought to go exploring
and set my foot upon the nearest road
In vain I looked to find the promised turning
but only saw how far I was from home

In searching I forsook the paths of learning
and sought instead to find some pirate's gold
In fighting I did hurt those dearest to me
and still no hidden truths could I unfold

This Is All You Will Every Be

2010-08-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

Speaking of bands that were buried by the onslaught of grunge in the early nineties, The Posies rank near the top of my favorite bands of the last twenty years. Other than their first odd but endearing new wave-ish LP, every record since then has remained on my frequent playlist. The bass player and drummer positions were revolving doors throughout the first ten years, then the group went on several sabbaticals under the billing of a break-up. But the co-lead vocalists and songwriters Ken Stringfellow and John Auer keep drifting back together. They have a penchant for beautiful close harmonies a'la the Byrds and Hollies. Coupled with their fine guitar work and songwriting abilities, they were asked by Alex Chilton to join him and Jody Stephens for the third and last edition of Big Star.

Frosting On The Beater hit the record shelves in 1993. Unlike their pop-filled sophomore effort Dear 23, FOTB contains a definite movement towards a harder rock sound. It is filled with moments of grandeur as well as some of their finest melodies up to that time. Definite Door has a possible sci-fi premise with hints about "another dimension", but underneath it really seems to be about a life out of control. Heavenly harmonies come in with the second section of the bridge at 0:56, then around 1:24 an instrumental interlude kicks out the jams. The simple bass line alone is worth the price of admission. It knocks me in the gut every time I hear it.

Keeping track of the eyesight streaming
Isn't part of the regimen
Many hours of sleepless dreaming
Unaware of the mess you're in
And if you didn't have a clue
You probably never will
And all the things you didn't do
Will inundate you still...

Everything I Need To Know

2010-08-10T23:05:00.000-07:00

The current post over at the PowerPop blog reminded me just how much I love The Small Faces. Just as they reached their peak with Ogden's Nut Gone Flake, they splintered when lead singer Steve Marriott left to join Humble Pie. That album has a unique construction, with hard rockers and music hall tunes on side one, while the flip is a philosophical journey of a character named Happiness Stan, and is told as a fairy tale.

Here is the fabulously soul-drenched Afterglow from side one. I love everything about this song - the initial comical acoustic opening, the Hammond organ sound, Marriott's vocal pyrotechnics from a whisper to a scream, Kenny Jones' powerful drumming, and the way the song builds each time to the furious chorus. They were an amazing band at this point in the career.

Desert Island Disks - a continuing series

2010-07-28T19:06:00.000-07:00

If I remember correctly, John Cale's 1973 LP Paris 1919 was not originally released in the US. Regardless I had to hunt it down via Gem Imports (anyone remember those good old days?) after reading about it in Stereo Review. Upon arrival I carefully removed the vinyl, removed all surface dust with a disc washer, and placed it on my turntable. What followed was one of those little epiphanies that occur too rarely. A collection of songs that hang together as a single unit of work via the underlying mood and textures. Not to mention the lyrics, which globe trot from post-WW1 Paris to Antarctica.

An obvious choice for this post would have been the title track by virtue of its haunting melodies and ghostly back story. But this album has one rocker that deserves equal attention. A chunky rhythm section starts Macbeth off like gangbusters. In a typical obtuse John Cale fashion the lyrics do not give away enough information to make it clear who or what the song is about. But it does not matter for the music is upbeat and joyful, and the fiery guitar work by Lowell George of Little Feat is top notch. Something about this groove here reminds me of Paul MacCartney and Wings circa the same 73-74 period. Cale was firing on all cylinders.

And you know it's true
You never saw things quite that way
She knew it all
And made you see things all her way
Somebody knows for sure
It's gotta be me or it's gotta be you
Come on along and tell me it's alright
It's alright by me

Macbeth (press ctl-enter)

All The Lonely People

2010-07-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

For a change of pace, here is a live Beatles' cover by Jellyfish that breaks the mold and goes off into its own little world of melancholy. It really gets me how the chords have been altered ever so slightly in a way I could never have imagined would work. Normally I would toss off any attempt to alter this classic, but it all works beautifully.

Nothing can hold the tears in me

2010-07-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

Back in the 70s I was an avid reader of "Stereo Review" and especially the reviews by rock critic Steve Simels (now a co-host over at the fabulous Power Pop). He mentioned a long lost classic 45 by The Left Banke, the 1967 followup to their hit Pretty Ballerina. Desiree was a chart failure, barely denting the Billboard top 100 before disappearing in the mist. I searched high and low for years and was finally rewarded when a greatest hits LP was released in the 80s.

What other pop record starts with a string quartet and bassoons? It is a song of incredible complexity - mulitple sections which intertwine betwixt and between organ, trumpet, strings, brass, jangly guitar and the kitchen sink. Lead singer Steve Martin has a one-of-a-kind tenor voice that works perfectly within the baroque atmosphere of Michael Brown's compositions. And that ending with the cacophony of "la la las" over the orchestral counterpoint sends me over the edge. A guaranteed 2 and 1/2 minutes of pure listening pleasure.

God's gift to oxygen

2010-07-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

Jellyfish could do no wrong in my book. Yet they barely dented the charts during their regrettably short two LP career. Grunge was ruling the airwaves in the early 90s so there was no large audience for a band with killer chops, Beach Boys harmonies, and complicated melodies. Pity because if there is any band that I wish had hung together for more recordings, it would be this one.

Listen to the impeccable harmony work in The Ghost and Number One. I have no idea who the "knappy superstar" is who inspired the rant in the lyrics but there is real venom exuding here.

Sure life's no cherry but a cupcake for the meek
So he shoots up his poison until the frosting tastes so sweet

At 1:23 the song enters a Pet Sounds-inspired musical universe. And again at 2:40, what with the banjo, chimes, and bass line, the spirit of Brian Wilson lives on.

Mrs.Lynn the fruit of your labour
Gives us a savior, nappy superstar.
To you we bid congratulations, to him adulation.
A blessed life begun, for the ghost at number one.

Searching in the sun for another overload

2010-07-16T22:23:00.000-07:00

From Stockholm to Wichita in 24 hours. Wichita is a great little city. Clean and prosperous, never in the race to build a clunky downtown skyline like Dallas. Beautiful 1930s bungalows stretch north of downtown along the meanders of the Little Arkansas River. The gorgeous art deco tower and terra cotta work on Wichita North High School brings to mind a time when school architecture was adventurous and a student actually could look forward to going to school there. A two hour drive north of my home town, I always felt a special affinity there and still have fond memories of once a week journeys during my senior year in college to take viola lessons at WSU (The Wheatshockers!).

What brings me to revisit Wichita is perhaps one of the finest songs written in the 20th century. Those that read this blog know that I have a big gooey soft spot for the songwriting of Jimmy Webb. He has a way with weaving his words into melodies that seem to have always been there in the back of my mind. And more often than not the lyrics hit a chord with me that continues to vibrate years later. Wichita Lineman conveys a feeling of yearning, a desire for a connection that never quite transpires. The lineman imagines the voice of his lover echoing over the electric lines. But there he is, up on the pole, miles away from the real thing and the reality and loneliness sets in. The arrangement adds to the mood, with swooning strings and a Gulbransen synthesizer (thanks Wikipedia!) telegraphing an insistent morse code signal.

I hear you singing in the wire
I can hear your through the whine
And the Wichita lineman is still on the line

And I need you more than want you
And I want you for all time
But the Wichita lineman is still on the line

Lazing on a halucinogenic Stockholm afternoon

2010-07-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

Ah, sweet psychedelia is in bloom on my speakers. Here is Fantasy Island - the uber-fine A-side for the 1968 single by Swedish band Tages. The track kicks off with a fuzzy descending guitar riff that grabs me by the throat and will not let go. The drummer puts in his best clomping Ringo licks and a fiddle adds texture to the middle eight. The chorus harmonies are infinitely lovely. Then at 1:10 a riff out of Yardbirds heaven breaks open the skies.

The B-side - To Be Free - is a lovely piano driven Beatleish tune that would have fit nicely on Magical Mystery Tour. Wish it was available on Youtube so that I could share it. If I had to pick a year that was the peak of the 45rpm single it would probably be 1968.

Based on what I read at Tages they were the predominant pop/psych band in Sweden in the mid 60s. Based on a dozen tracks I downloaded a few years ago I can see why. Tuneful, great harmonies, and production work nearly on a par with the best UK bands. Many of their later tracks were recorded at EMI/Abbey Road studios in London.

She doesn't have anything you want to steal

2010-06-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Just a short post today to thank my friends Caroline and Lisa for taking me to the Psychedelic Furs concert last night. Both the Furs and the opening band She Wants Revenge were in fine form. Richard Butler has to have one of the most distinctive voices in all of rock, and he was a virtual perpetual motion machine during the show, jumping, pogo-ing, and gesturing wildly throughout the show.

Here is a video for the original version (imho much better) of Pretty In Pink. Caroline (my friend, not the subject of the song) is pretty sure the song is about a drag queen, and now that I have read the lyrics I must say I think she is spot on. Just like all of those great Lou Reed songs about transvestites, Pretty In Pink casts a shimmering soft light on its subject and treats her with great respect.

caroline laughs and it's raining all day
she loves to be one of the girls
she lives in the place in the side of our lives
where nothing is ever put straight

the one who insists he was first in the line
is the last to remember her name
he's walking around in this dress that she wore
she is gone but the joke's the same

Why there always has to be subterfusion

2010-06-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

There is a quote attributed to John Lennon regarding an appearance by Sparks on British TV in 1974. "It's Hitler on the telly" was his supposed response the Ron Mael's toothbrush moustache. I remember watching the band on "In Concert" in that same year. My dad - a blue collar guy if there ever was one - walked into the living room and amazed my brother and me by watching all of their performance. He still mentions it occasionally.

I have no doubt that the Mael brothers were using every trick in the book to get noticed. After all this was their shot at the big time. They had two big hit singles in the UK earlier in the year and their offbeat stage personas had worked well amongst the oddities of UK pop music at that time. Glam glitter and gold lame were all the rage. Ron sat behind the electronic keyboard like Charlie Chaplin on tranquilizers while pouty-lipped brother Russell pranced around the stage with his poodle dog haircut bouncing in rhythm to the beat. Needless to say the effect did not translate to sales or radio play in the USA.

For me their first two Island albums are little treasures of pop depravity. The excellent lead guitarist and talented bassist from Kimono My House were jettisoned when their suggestions for a musical direction threatened the Mael's stranglehold on the band. Waiting in the wings was Trevor White, perhaps my favorite glam-era guitarists ever. His work throughout Propaganda is full of pyrotechnical somersaults, and the producer put that sound front-and-center in a way that was never allowed again on a Sparks recording.

Reinforcements consists of a verse melody that could have been composed by Kurt Weill and a rock chorus that is driven by an insistent guitar chord. The double entendre of the lyrics are a hoot, with comparisons of the sexual appetite of the singer's girlfriend Denise to the lexicon of armies going to war. At 2:04 the chorus repeats, each time building with more energy until the guitar nearly explodes, then at 2:36 the bottom drops out. What comes next is one of those unexpectedly divine moments that pop music can sometimes deliver. The verse harmony recurs, but instead of lyrics it is accompanied by a softly sung vocalise, a lovely guitar counterpoint, and a background chorus. Then on the second time through it is joined by the guitar and even more counter vocal lines. And then it repeats just enough times to linger in my head for hours afterwards. Imagine God Only Knows mutated into a twisted glam cacophony.

Shake it. Baby don't break it.

2010-06-16T22:41:00.000-07:00

I am an unabashed a fan of the album Band On The Run. There - I said it. It feels good to let it out. Unlike many other 70's LPs that came into my collection back in the day (including several by Wings), this is a record that I still listen to, and always with a big smile on my face. In Geoff Emerick's must-read Here, There, and Everywhere not only does he cover his engineering days with The Beatles from Revolver through Abbey Road but he also includes a chapter on his experiences as producer for BOTR.

One of Paul's crazier ideas was to record his next record in a small EMI studio in a tropical land far away from the UK. Only after he had signed up as producer did Mr. Emerick learn that the studio was in fact in Lagos, Nigeria. Paul had recently ejected Wing's drummer and lead guitarist, leaving only the core of Paul and Linda, and the ever-faithful Denny Laine. Upon arrival in Lagos the hardy travellers were met with hostile locals, flooding monsoon rains, and a recording studio which was - shall we say - something less than modern.

In the process Paul pulled himself together to write what is likely his finest collected batch of post-Beatles songs. No worries about his departed band mates - Paul was more than up to the task of playing drums and guitar along with his vocals and always stellar bass work. And no solo McCartney or Wings record ever sounded as good as this album. Whatever was in the water in Lagos, Paul should go back for another drink.

The album closing track, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five finds Mr. McCartney in a rockier groove with a super fine bass sound. Then there are the lovely vocal harmony sections that weld together all the pieces. When the final buildup occurs at about 3:45, the smile on my face gets so big that my moustache touches the bottom of my reading glasses. Brass, synthesizer, piano, bass, and a final explosion that leads back to a reprise of the Band On The Run chorus. Thank you Paul -- all memory of At The Speed of Sound has been erased.

Another lost classic

2010-06-10T19:29:00.000-07:00

According to Wikipedia, The Pretty Things 1968 album "S.F. Sorrow was released in the same week as The Beatles White Album, The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet, and The Kinks Village Green Preservation Society. The album was barely promoted by EMI." Produced by former Beatles former engineer Norman "Hurricane" Smith, it was a concept album sometimes referred to as the first rock opera. For me, its narrative of a man's descent into melancholy madness holds together better that Tommy.

Musically, Sorrow is a product of its time with psychedelic flourishes throughout. Mr. Smith's production adds odd instruments along with layered vocals. Pandora's box was opened with Sgt. Pepper the previous year and Sorrow takes advantage of the giant leap forward. Unlike the musical kaleidoscope, the story is quite grim. In fact it may well contain the most depressing story arc in the history of pop music. Before side one has ended, Sebastian F. Sorrow - the protagonist - as a young man has taken a job as a scab worker at a factory where his father had previously been employed. He goes off to war, witnesses atrocities, returns home only to witness his fiance's death in a Zeppelin disaster.

Later in the story Sorrow has been shown the dark side of life by the wicked Baron Saturday, and comes to the conclusion that the world is devoid of people of honor and trust. The song Trust finds him barely holding on to the last of his sanity. The loping melody, syncopated bass line and gorgeous vocal harmonies stab at a sharp angle with the hopelessness of the lyrics. This is truly one of the lost treasures of the sixties.

Excuse me please as I wipe a tear
Away from an eye that sees there's nothing left to trust
Finding that their minds are grey
And there's no sorrow in the world that's left to trust.

I'm just the oily slick on the windup world of the nervous tick

2010-06-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

Elvis Costello has mentioned that he has always wanted to write a song with only one chord. But given his gift with melody and harmony he has always failed miserably. Both Imperial Bedroom and Blood and Chocolate kick off with songs in this vein, and both of them have enough chord changes to destroy his intention. In the first instance, Beyond Belief contains perhaps his most perfect wordplay. I will spare you any awkward analysis and instead embarrass myself by mentioning that I spent an entire Saturday long ago learning all the words so that I could sing along. Thanks to the amazing production work of Geoff Emerick that entire LP remains near the top of my desert island disks list. It was a one-off experiment in fancy studio trickery, never to be repeated in the EC & the Attractions canon. Still gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.

A little goth Saturday

2010-06-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

As a card-carrying Carhartt Okie, the last trend my friends would identify me with is the goth scene. And I certainly never ran in those circles or wore the trademark all-black. But every once in a while in indulge myself with the music of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Over the course their first ten or so years they released a bevy of singles that still find their way to my turntable on a regular basis. Insistent, spooky, dark, cloaked in sometimes candy-coated coverings, their best work reminds me very little of the punk/new wave movement from which they sprang. That is one of the oft-forgotten joys of that 1976-1982 period when just about anything different was lumped under the heading of "punk".

Some day I must write about Peek-a-boo, a disturbing song with an art house video in which Siouxsee Sioux dons a killer Louise Brooks bob. But today I am listening to Spellbound, a single from 1981. From the point the percussion (courtesy of Budgie) and acoustic guitar make their entrance about 30 seconds in I am hooked. The fast guitar strumming with interesting chord changes is a hallmark of this song. Reminds me of The Who and Aztec Camera. Listen and enjoy.

Nice paying the price for being kept under

2010-06-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

Upon the departure of original lead singer Alan Clarke in 1972, the Hollies continued on unabated with a Swedish replacement, Mikael Rickfors. Known for their phenomenal gifts with singles in the 60s, the loss of Graham Nash resulted in a somewhat less successful career although there are still a few excellent nuggets to be mined from their 1968-1972 output. But they were never really contenders when it came to 33 1/3rd. That is, not until 1973 and the advent of the first (and only US-released) Rikfor's led LP.

Romany is a little-heard jewel that contains some of their finest harmony work. Terry Sylvester turned out to be quite a talented replacement for Mr. Nash, and Rickfors added a soulful baritone lead that took them in an entirely different direction. Unfortunately, except for a few singles and a release-in-Germany-only LP, this lineup would never again issue vinyl.

There is so much to enjoy here. Judee Sill's odd vision of religious ecstasy Jesus Was a Crossmaker is given a beautiful power pop rendition with Terry Sylvester's lead vocal. Magic Woman Touch is the failed single that should have been a hit what with its lovely opening guitar work by the underrated Tony Hicks and a splendid lilting verse melody. Or Courage of Your Convictions - seen by some as an attempt to cash in on the sound of 1971's hit Long Cool Woman - but in my book this is a vastly superior rocker with more excellent chiming guitar work by Mr. Hicks. And the ballad Romany exhibits Mr. Rickfor's honeyed-voice in a way that no previous Hollies tune could have.

Perhaps the most surprising song here is Delaware Taggett and the Outlaw Boys. The Hollies imbue this tune with harmonies right out of Crosby Stills and Nash, and the tightness of the instrumental work indicates that they had finer chops that anyone had given them credit for up to this time.

Long time fans rejoiced the next year when Mr. Clarke returned to the fold but for me the promise of Romany was forever lost.

When are they gonna stop all of these victory processions

2010-05-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

When Trust came out in 1981 the backlash against Elvis Costello's cringe-inducing racist comment was in full force. The momentum of his career was affected enough that the album was treated with mostly indifference by the press and public, and for the first time since his first album no singles made the charts in the UK.

Knowledgeable reviewers knew the score though - this was EC's finest album to date. The power pop of This Year's Model, the orchestrated sweep of Armed Forces, and the compressed soulfulness of Get Happy all came together in a mature collage of lyrics and melodies. And the Attractions were at an absolute peak, giving each song a sound universe befitting the generally downbeat lyrics.

Just about every tune on this LP is a keeper, even the near rockabilly Luxemburg. For my money the absolute standout track it New Lace Sleeves with its shifting rhythms and harmonic movements that take it into new unexplored territory. The bass, percussion, and keyboard work are so fine I cannot bring justice to them with mere words. The final staccato organ chords keep coming back again and again as the song trails off. The first half deals with the aftermath of a less than successful tryst and then pulls in the media circus around politicians and their penchant for indiscreet rendevous. In the second half EC wags his finger at the British empire and its pursuant warmongering. At least that is how I read it, as on this album Mr. MacManus becomes even more opaque and obscure, but the rhythm and the poetry of the lyrics stand up even if they have become nearly indecipherable.

We once collided like a broken wheel

2010-04-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while a record comes along that strikes a chord in my heart. In the late 90's Cheap Trick had been on a downward spiral since the mid 80's with long gaps between recordings, and those few releases were mediocre mishmashes. In 1997 they released what I consider to be their masterpiece, the ill-fated Cheap Trick also known as Cheap Trick '97.

The front cover photo contained no band members, just a five-necked checkered guitar and a bass drum skin. The moment I picked up the CD I could feel that something was different. Inside was a bonus disc which I listened to first. It contained a killer hard rock number Baby Talk and a spot-on cover of The Move's Brontosaurus. My expectations were high at this point, but I was in no way prepared for what I encountered on the official release.

CT 97 is filled with some of the finest power pop ever made. There are a few angry rockers like the opening Anytime that transforms itself into a grunge screamer. Then there are some stunningly beautiful quieter numbers like the closing It All Comes Back to You. And the remainder - mostly written by the band - shows a maturity beyond what I ever expected from the Tricksters.

I keep coming back to this album again and again. Because of the consistent quality from start to finish I am reluctant to pick a favorite. But at the moment there is a one song that keeps cropping up in my subconscious due to its combination of aching lyrics and one of the finest chorus melodies in the annals of power pop.

Carnival Game begins with a man who is sure that the pain caused by his relationship is so great that he would be better of alone.

Some days are easier said than done
Always expecting something's wrong
I'd rather live alone than drag this on

When the chorus arrives he momentarily relents and gives in to his need for a physical connection. But soon the pain returns and he gives up. That brief respite never returns.

Take your time - please lay your hands on me
Don't wanna be alone, oh no
A mask behind a face then you're gone
Oh yeah - comes a time when you're better off alone

We once collided like a broken wheel
So undecided what was real
Maybe a crash somehow has sex appeal
Whatever turns you on

One down - one to go
Oh no, playin' in a carnival
Your time is gone

Repulsion Part 2

2010-04-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

After a month of soaking up the sonic awesomeness of Quasi's new release American Gong it is time to post my thoughts on it. Joanna Bolme was added as full time bassist a few years ago and finally we have a studio recording available to hear the results. Quasi had mined the two member setup since inception in 1993, and the addition of the bass has thrown them into a new direction. And I for one love the results. The fullness of sound and the anchor provided by Joanna's inventive bass riffs gives their music a deeper dimension.

I previously posted an audio-only preview of the lead off track Repulsion but with the success of the release and the accompanying tour, a plethora of live videos have been posted. A favorite of mine is an video filmed at the Gibson studio in Austin TX by KEXP (Seattle) during the SXSW festival. It gives a real glimpse of the loose yet focused energy the band brings to their live performances.

Sam summons up a combination of Keith Richard's riffage and Summer of Love psychedelic guitar freak out in this little tale of a sad loser with love making performance issues. Meanwhile Janet and Joanna have become my favorite rhythm section of any band currently working. My objectivity is clouded of course - these folks are based here in my little heaven of a city.

I could not stop, I stayed too long
I gave it a shot but I got the gong
I hit the bed and I pull up the sheets
I am stuck in this rotten lump of meat

And "folding" over at You-tube has posted the studio version with a video credited to Mike Donovan that has a zillion jump cuts and odd video effects. Fits the song to a tee.

Try to save a world that doesn't want to be saved

2010-03-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

Another gem from Quasi today, this one from 1999's Field Studies. More roxichord driven goodness, extremely cogent lyrics, and even a string quartet which enters at 2:22. Sam Coomes' former Heatmiser bandmate Elliott Smith plays the bass. This was the my introduction to Quasi from when I was living in Seattle, and I have been hooked ever since. Little did I know then that I would be moving to their base in Portland, Oregon three years later.

Sam moves beyond the heart-tugging relationship struggles from their previous release. As the lead off track All The Same expounds a world-weary attitude.

"frayed at the edges, busted at the seams
i can walk with a song, sleep with my dreams"

When he does touch on relationship troubles his take is much more adult than in previous lyrics. The decision of whether to suffer or move on is now within his grasp.

"you can get out with it clean or prolong the agony
which ever you prefer, it's all the same to me"

And perhaps my favorite bit of lyric from Quasi is a poke at starry eyed do-gooders. I count myself in that group from time to time. But as an environmentalist and realist I know the chips are stacked against us.

"you worship the future like it's some kind of saint
but it's just like the past with a new coat of paint
try to save a world that doesn't want to be saved
stolen like a child, the one you think is misbehaved"

We purchase pleasure, and pay for it with hurt

2010-03-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I have found the perfect CD to represent the break up of my long term relationship. It has been here right under my nose for years. If I promise not to continue down this road, then please indulge me this one time with a dose of super melodic pop that is juxtaposed with the most downright bleak and pissed off lyrics ever. My hometown band Quasi just released an awesome new CD, but today's post goes way back to their 1998 release Featuring "Birds".

The CD is chock full of bright roxichord-driven pop songs with broken hearts sprinkled liberally throughout the lyrics. There will be no tragic 19th century romantic subjects here. The sentiments expressed come from deep inside a wounded heart for sure, but there is no gothic vision nor tragic barely missed opportunities. Long time fans like myself have always wondered if Sam Coomes was writing about his failed marriage to drummer Janet Weiss. Only the two of them know for sure, but in a wicked twist of fate they journey on in the band now entering its seventeenth year. If she is indeed the antagonist of these tunes, it is an amazing resolution that they continue to make great music together.

So for your listening please here is I Never Want To See You Again.

Fuzzy wuzzy lovin' cup explosion

2010-02-28T21:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, happy music today. The Guess Who might seem an odd choice, but I love that Canuck bunch of beer-chugging prairie hosers. And today's song-o-the-day is none other than Hand Me Down World. From their hippy aesthetics period, it is a little environmental ode with all of the hit single accoutrements necessary to make me quite happy. At about 1:32 Kurt Winter lays down a very fine solo, followed by a Beatle-ish "la la la la" reintro to the next verse. A fine listening experience to be had by all!

Letting Go

2010-02-27T17:29:00.000-08:00

OK, so maybe this isn't the happy song I promised to post next. But Who Am Us Anyway had a post up today about the Hollie's exquisite rendition of Chip Taylor's I Can't Let Go. And that reminded me that it was originally written for Evie Sands. Her slower, blue hot soulful version is one of those "should have been a hit" situations that was not meant to be. A situation echoed in the lyrics, for as uplifting as the music may be, the words describe a passionate love which is just a bit too desperate for its own good.

Goon Squad

2010-02-24T18:35:00.000-08:00

Seems that Mr. Costello / MacManus and I share some sentiments. As with the last posting there is a subtext here that will remain private, but the song title rings so true I could not resist. The Attractions have to be one of the tightest, most dexterous bands ever, and this live performance of I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea gives a glimpse at the mighty power they wielded in their heyday.

No Valentine's Day This Year

2010-02-13T21:53:00.000-08:00

Not much to say - it is a sad day around Pleasant Valley Sunday. I am not going to write about it here. But Elvis Costello pretty much hits the nail on the head with High Fidelity. Great to see the rarely broadcast promo video.

Even though you're nowhere near me
And I know you kiss him so sincerely now
Even though the signal's indistinct
And you worry what silly people think

Who just can't wait to feel frozen out
I bet he thinks that he was chosen out of millions
I suppose he will never know about... High Fidelity

Sixty More

2010-02-01T22:06:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in the comments in the previous post, several singles were omitted from my top 100 list due to my negligence/ forgetfulness. Definitely Photograph should have been there, along with at least a couple of Jeff Beck-era Yardbird's singles. The opening chords to Evil Hearted You remain as shocking today as upon first listen in 1965, and Shapes of Things blows a hole in the atmosphere at 1:35 with Beck's psychedelic interlude.

Here is an unordered list of sixty songs that were all contenders, and if I could fit 164 into 100(+4) entries I would. Maybe a year from now I will revisit and refine the original list, but for now I think these 164 entries are a fine collection of the lost art of the 45rpm single.

A-Side	B-Side	Artist	Year	Link
Carpet Man	The Magic Garden	The 5th Dimension	1968	Video
Earn Enough For Us(Australia only)	The Man Who Sailed around His Soul	XTC	1986	Video
Grass	Extrovert; Dear God	XTC	1986	Video
O, My Soul	Morpha too-I'm in Love With a Girl	Big Star	1974	Video
September Gurls	Mod Lang	Big Star	1974	Video
Say Goodbye	Yeah Yeah	Cheap Trick	1997	Video
Stop This Game	Who D'King	Cheap Trick	1980	Video
Surrender	Auf Wiedersehen	Cheap Trick	1978	Video
Homburg	Good Captain Clack	Procol Harum	1967	Video
Heroes	V-2 Schneider	David Bowie	1977	Video
Golden Years	Can You Hear Me	David Bowie	1975	Video
Changes	Andy Warhol	David Bowie	1972	Video
#9 Dream	What You Got	John Lennon	1974	Video
Mind Games	Meat City	John Lennon	1973	Video
Stand by Me	Move Over Ms L	John Lennon	1975	Video
Photograph	Down and Out	Ringo Starr	1973	Video
It Dont' Come Easy	Early 1970	Ringo Starr	1971	Video
Back Off Boogaloo	Blindman	Ringo Starr	1972	Video
When We Was Fab	Zig Zag	George Harrison	1988	Video
Blow Away	Soft Touch	George Harrison	1979	Video
Hi, Hi, Hi	C Moon	Wings	1972	Video
The Back Seat of My Car	Heart of the Country	Paul McCartney	1971	Video
Shangri-La	This Man He Weeps Tonight	The Kinks	1969	Video
See My Friends	Never Met a Girl Like You Before	The Kinks	1965	Video
Wonderboy	Polly	The Kinks	1968	Video
Days	She's Got Everything	The Kinks	1968	Video
Sleepwalker	Full Moon	The Kinks	1977	Video
Dead End Street	Big Black Smoke	The Kinks	1966	Video
Nutbush City Limits	Help Him	Ike and Tina Turner	1973	Video
Help Me	Just Like This Train	Joni Mitchell	1974	Video
Killer Queen	Flick of the Wrist	Queen	1974	Video
Past, Present and Future	Paradise	The Shangri-Las	1966	Video
Remember (Walking in the Sand)	It's Easier to Cry	The Shangri-Las	1964	Video
Anarchy in the U.K.	I Wanna Be Me	Sex Pistols	1976	Video
God Save The Queen	No Feeling	Sex Pistols	1977	Video
See Emily Play	Scarecrow	Pink Floyd	1967	Video
Arnold Layne	Candy and a Currant Bun	Pink Floyd	1967	Video
Laughing	Undun	The Guess Who	1969	Video
No Time	Proper Stranger	The Guess Who	1969	Video
These Eyes	Lightfoot	The Guess Who	1969
Turn! Turn! Turn!	She Don't Care About Time	The Byrds	1965	Video
So You Want To Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star	Everybody's Been Burned	The Byrds	1967	Video
Chestnut Mare	Just a Season	The Byrds	1970
Walk Away Renee	I Haven't Got the Nerve	The Left Banke	1966	Video
The Little Girl I Once Knew	There's No Other (Like My Baby)	Beach Boys	1965	Video
Wild Honey	Wind Chimes	Beach Boys	1967	Video
White Rabbit	Plastic Fantastic Lover	Jefferson Airplane	1967	Video
Little Games	Puzzles	Yardbirds	1967	Video
Evil Hearted You	Still I'm Sad	Yardbirds	1965	Video
For Your Love	Got To Hurry	Yardbirds	1965	Video
Shapes of Things	You're a Better Man Than I	Yardbirds	1966	Video
Happenings Ten Years Time Ago	Psycho Daisies	Yardbirds	1966	Video
Over Under Sideways Down	Jeff's Boogie	Yardbirds	1966	Video
It's My Life	I'm Going to Change the World	The Animals	1965	Video
We've Gotta Get Out of This Place	I Can't Believe It	The Animals	1965	Video
Stand!	I Want to Take You Higher	Sly and the Family Stone	1969	Video
Hot Fun in the Summertime	Fun	Sly and the Family Stone	1969	Video
I'm Free	We're Not Going to Take It	The Who	1969

Top 100 7" Singles

2010-01-28T23:13:00.000-08:00

I am very tired of futzing with html table tags, so I went with the simplest code and yet it still looks like crap. Anyway those who can count will note that the list has grown to 104. Yes there are four ties and I cannot bring myself to edit the list further so it is what is is.

A few rules were applied in making these choices. The single had to be released on vinyl in either the USA or UK. If the B-side was different in one country, I went with the version from the country in which the artist was resident at the time of the release. Promo or canceled releases are prohibited.

As far as the subjectivity of the choices, this is a list of my favorite singles, not favorite songs. Hence [#3] may be a better song than [#1] but based on my singles critera [#1] wins out. The criteria for a great single include
(a) the song must be instantly recognizable within two seconds
(b) the introduction must have that "wow" factor
(c) the quicker the tempo the better
(d) generally the run time should be less than three minutes (obviously [#3] and [#100] are massive exceptions
(e) the production must be either extravagant[#8] or bare bones [#9]
(f) clever lyrics are more important than the actual meaning of the words. Again, this is about what makes a great single, not necessarily a great song
(g) as my interest begins with the British Invasion, nothing pre-Beatles is included

Extra points for odd instrumentation such as glockenspiel, tubular bells, saxophone, tympani, strings, harpsichord. Additional extra points for lovely melody, vocal harmonies, and general "hookiness".

Songs further down the list may be lacking in one or more of these areas but have enough of the right stuff to earn their spot. So without further ado, here is Mister Pleasant's top 100 singles list.

Rank	A-Side	B-Side	Artist	Year
1	Lady Madonna	The Inner Light	The Beatles	1968
2	I Can See For Miles	Mary Anne With The Shaky Hands	The Who	1967
3	Hey Jude	Revolution	The Beatles	1968
4	Fire Brigade	Walk Upon The Water	Move	1968
5	Tonight	Hard To Get Over A Heartbreak	Raspberries	1973
6	Instant Karma	Who Has Seen the Wind?	John Lennon	1970
7	Waterloo Sunset	Two Sisters	Kinks	1967
8	Born To Run	Meeting Across the River	Bruce Springsteen	1975
9	Honky Tonk Women	You Can't Always Get What You Want	Rolling Stones	1969
10	This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us	Barbecutie	Sparks	1974
10	Itchycoo Park	I’m Only Dreaming	Small Faces	1967
11	Friday on My Mind	Made My Bed, Gonna Lie in It	Easybeats	1966
12	Desiree	I've Got Something on My Mind	Left Banke	1967
12	Accidents Will Happen	Sunday's Best	Elvis Costello	1979
13	Strawberry Fields Forever	Penny Lane	The Beatles	1967
14	Starry Eyes	Paint Her Face	The Records	1979
15	Do Ya	No Time	The Move	1972
16	Talkin' About The Good Times	Walking Through My Dreams	The Pretty Things	1968
17	Pictures of Lily	Doctor Doctor	The Who	1967
18	Bus Stop	Don't Run and Hide	Hollies	1966
18	Wichita Lineman	Back In The Race	Glen Campbell	1968
19	Brown Sugar	Bitch	Rolling Stones	1971
20	Wouldn´t It Be Nice	God Only Knows	Beach Boys	1966
21	Time Of The Season	Friends Of Mine	Zombies	1968
22	They Don't Know	You Broke My Heart in 17 Places	Tracey Ullman	1984
23	Rebel Rebel (US phased version)	Queen Bitch	David Bowie	1974
24	Junior's Farm	Sally G	Wings	1974
25	This Is The Story Of My Love (Baby)	Nixture	Wizzard	1974
26	Lady Friend	Old John Robertson	The Byrds	1967
27	Jumping Jack Flash	Child Of The Moon	Rolling Stones	1968
28	7 and 7 Is	No. Fourteen	Love	1967
29	I Can't Let Go	I've Got a Way of My Own	Hollies	1966
30	Hello Goodbye	I Am The Walrus	The Beatles	1967
31	I'm On Fire	Did You See What Happened?	Dwight Twilley Band	1975
32	Something For the Girl with Everything	Marry Me	Sparks	1974
33	Overnight Sensation	Hands On You	Raspberries	1974
34	Message In A Bottle	Landlord	Police	1979
35	Be Stiff	Social Fools	Devo	1978
36	I Will Follow	Boy/Girl	U2	1980
37	Sunny Afternoon	I'm Not Like Everybody Else	Kinks	1966
38	Pleasant Valley Sunday	Words	Monkees	1967
39	Pretty Ballerina	Lazy Day	Left Banke	1966
40	Autumn Almanac	David Watts	Kinks	1967
41	Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine	Next To Me	Stealers Wheel	1973
42	Whenever You're Ready	I Love You	Zombies	1965
43	A Whiter Shade Of Pale	Lime Street Blues	Procol Harum	1967
44	See My Baby Jive	Bend Over Beethoven	Wizzard	1973
45	All The Way From Memphis	Ballad of Mott The Hoople	Mott the Hoople	1973
46	Waterloo	Watch Out	Abba	1974
47	Eight Miles High	Why	The Byrds	1966
48	Goin' Back	Change Is Now	The Byrds	1967
49	If You Want My Love	Four Letter Word	Cheap Trick	1982
50	Mister Pleasant	Harry Rag	Kinks	1967
51	Carrie Anne	Signs That Will Never Change	Hollies	1967
52	Open My Eyes	Hello It's Me	Nazz	1968
53	Star	What More Could You Want	Stealers Wheel	1973
54	I'm A Boy	In The City	The Who	1966
55	Cecilia	The Only Living Boy In New York	Simon and Garfunkel	1970
56	Sail On Sailor	Only With You	Beach Boys	1973
57	Baby Blue	Flying	Badfinger	1972
58	Walking In the Rain	How Does It Feel?	The Ronettes	1964
59	Hand Me Down World	Runnin Down The Street	The Guess Who	1970
60	Dogs	Call Me Lightning	Who	1968
61	When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)	She Knows Me Too Well	Beach Boys	1964
62	Wedding Bell Blues	Lovin' Stew	Fifth Dimension	1968
63	Lola	Mindless Child of Motherhood	Kinks	1970
64	Valleri	Tapioca Tundra	Monkees	1968
65	Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing	Blame It On the Sun	Stevie Wonder	1974
66	Fight The Power (Part I)	Fight The Power (Part II)	Isley Brothers	1975
67	Blackberry Way	Something	The Move	1968
68	Message Of Love	Porcelain	Pretenders	1981
69	Mother and Child Reunion	Paranoia Blues	Paul Simon	1972
70	Paper Cup	Poor Side Of Town	Fifth Dimension	1967
71	Drive In Saturday	Round and Round	David Bowie	1973
72	Back on the Chain Gang	My City Was Gone	Pretenders	1982
73	The Kids Are Alright	The Ox	The Who	1966
74	Tell Her No	What More Can I Do?	Zombies	1964
75	Porpoise Song (Theme from Head)	As We Go Along	Monkees	1968
76	I Saw The Light	Marlene	Todd Rundgren	1972
77	Live and Let Die	I Lie Around	Wings	1973
78	Break Away	Celebrate The News	Beach Boys	1969
79	Albert Flasher	Broken	The Guess Who	1971
80	Care of Cell 44	Beechwood Park	Zombies	1967
81	Hot Smoke and Sasafrass	Lonely	Bubble Puppy	1968
82	Sunrise	My Girl	Eric Carmen	1976
83	Superstition	You've Got It Bad Girl	Stevie Wonder	1972
84	Middle Of The Road	2000 Miles	Pretenders	1983
85	Paperback Writer	Rain	The Beatles	1966
86	Jet	Let Me Roll It	Wings	1973
87	John I'm Only Dancing	Hang On To Yourself	David Bowie	1972
88	Ticket To Ride	Yes It Is	The Beatles	1964
89	Leave Me Alone	Takin' the Long Way Home	Peggy March	1964
90	Couldn't I Just Tell You	Couldn't I Just Tell You	Todd Rundgren	1972
91	She's Not There	You Make Me Feel Good	Zombies	1964
92	I Feel Fine	She's A Woman	The Beatles	1964
93	Talk of The Town	Cuban Slide	Pretenders	1980
94	All I Know	Mary Was an Only Child	Art Garfunkel	1973
95	No Matter What	Better Days	Badfinger	1971
96	You Got the Love	Rags to Rufus	Rufus	1974
97	Indication	How We Were Before	Zombies	1966
98	Join Together	Baby Don't You Do It	The Who	1972
99	Avenging Annie	So Fine (It's Frightening)	Andy Pratt	1973
100	MacArthur Park	Didn't We	Richard Harris	1968
100	Bridge Over Troubled Waters	Keep the Customer Satisfied	Simon and Garfunkel	1970

Sneak peek at number **** five

2010-01-24T19:15:00.000-08:00

The Pleasant Valley Sunday Top 100 Singles list is prepped and ready for the press sometime this week. I must warn anyone brave enough to continue here that I have some really oddball interests. For instance, I am one of the world's biggest Jimmy Webb fans, so you know what that means - MacArthur Park - you betch'ya. I also get all jiggly inside when I hear those massive bass lines in 70's funk, so the Isley Brothers are on the list too. Seventies acts with songs that sound like the Beatles are here, though maybe not the songs you would expect. For instance Stealer's Wheel makes the list twice, but Stuck In The Middle With You is not one of them.

The Raspberries are another band that carried the Beatle's torch into the 70's. Eric Carmen's lyrics are the band's weak spot, but I give him credit for writing songs that are so hook-filled that I scarcely notice the words. Way, way up on the singles list is a song that did not even crack the top 40. A look at some of the top 15 singles that year leaves me scratching my head:

1. Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree, Tony Orlando and Dawn
2. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, Jim Croce
5. My Love, Paul McCartney and Wings
6. Why Me, Kris Kristofferson
7. Crocodile Rock, Elton John
11. The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia, Vicki Lawrence
12. Playground In My Mind, Clint Holmes
14. Delta Dawn, Helen Reddy
15. Me and Mrs. Jones, Billy Paul

So why did Tonight fail to register on the top 40 charts that year? Can I blame it on the Nixon presidency, or perhaps the Vietnam War? All I know is that Mr. Carmen produced perhaps his finest work, and Wally Bryson anointed it with power chords from heaven. Bryson also layered the song throughout with contrapuntal goodness. Gorgeous lead guitar arpeggios, leading tones, grace notes. Recently Steve Simels at PowerPop listed it at numero uno in his post Best Use of Power Chords. It doesn't get any better than this, folks.

99 + 1 = 103?

2010-01-19T22:20:00.000-08:00

Someday soon I plan to post the complete Pleasant Valley Sunday top 100 singles. The list has been in existence for a while and other than a few minor alterations, the list has remained fairly constant over time. There are a few ties, but I cheat by not skipping the next position. So in actuality there are 103 singles on the list.

Last October I wrote about three Beatles' singles in Teenage Angst. Turns out that one of those is in my top spot, another is #3, and the third is #29. Not to spoil the unveiling party, I won't disclose which is which just yet. But since #1 and #3 have already been covered here, let me introduce #2, the first Who entry here at PVS - I Can See For Miles. Not sure what I can say it that has not already been said. This is a pinnacle, one of the most powerful, amazing, unrepeatable artifacts of what rock'n'roll is all about. Townshend's lyrics about a young man with (possibly imaginary) super powered vision to spy on his cheating lover are cut from the same cloth as many of the other Who diamonds from those pre-Tommy years.

Due to the complexity of the song, it was rarely performed live during Keith Moon's lifetime. There are a gaggle of lip synced video performances, but many are from a few years later when the band took on a different persona and it just does not work for me. I need to see the Oooo in frilly shirts and Roger Daltrey with his page boy haircut to really appreciate this song. Probably the best lip synced version is available here, but alas no embedding. So instead here is an arty black and white video which consists mostly of jump cut face shots.

Uncontrollable

2010-01-18T22:52:00.000-08:00

Generally I am a studio album kinda listener. Live performances are great if I am in the audience, but on live recordings I keep listening for the studio effects that are not there. But every once in a while I come across a performance that for various reasons becomes the de facto version. In the case of today's post the performance is so hair raising that it has haunted me since discovering it.

In the early eighties I became a fan of New Order. That eventually led me to check out the band's previous incarnation as Joy Division. I bought the two cassette (remember those?) release of Still. The recording is of terrible quality and frankly I listened a few times then put it away. Later I discovered the 45 single Love Will Tear Us Apart - their most famous song - years after the fact and made a note to go back and check out their few studio releases. Well I never did. Then one day I came across a live 1979 performance of She's Lost Control. The video is not well synchronized and is herky-jerky, the sound quality is poor, and yet it is a fascinating and surreal performance. So much so that it refuses to leave my brain after viewing.

Lead singer Ian Curtis was afflicted with epilepsy, and his performance here includes a disturbring St. Vitus dance that only accentuates the lyrics and their description of a girl who suffers from the same malady. At :50 seconds in the main guitar riff rears its massive head. The bass line sometimes follows, sometimes mirrors the riff, all the while the drums keep an ominous unstoppable beat that reminds me of those early industrial revolution machines in David Lynch's The Elephant Man. This performance is both powerful and frightening.

And she turned to me and took me by the hand and said,
I've lost control again.
And how I'll never know just why or understand,
She said I've lost control again.
And she screamed out kicking on her side and said,
I've lost control again.
And seized up on the floor, I thought she'd die.
She said I've lost control.

She Had Tears In Her Eyes

2010-01-09T23:29:00.000-08:00

In 1968 The Pretty Things released a couple of singles that were totally out of left field. Their previous R&B incaranation was gone, never to return. In its place came a band totally immersed in the psychedelic movement, in no small part thanks to producer Norman Smith. Smith previously was the recording engineer for the Beatles up through Rubber Soul, and upon his promotion to producer he became the sound steward for the Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd.

The first of these singles, Defecting Grey b/w Mr. Evasion is a groovy trip through hallucinogenic fields. All sorts of odd instruments and sound were used, included phased vocals, early synthesizers, and tons of guitar feedback. As far as I can tell the single sold about five copies in the UK. Undaunted the band released another pair of gems in the same vein - Talkin' About the Good Times b/w Walking Through My Dreams. The A side kicks off with jangly guitar which is almost immediately overridden by an electric guitar riff that sounds almost like a rooster crowing. Then the chorus comes in - oddly before the verse - with all sorts of Beatle-ish goodness. Mellotron, lovely harmonies, crazy stilted martial drumming, I could go on forever. Yeah its just my opinion, but this is probably in the top five finest psychedelic 45s ever released. And of course it disappeared without a trace upon release.

She has sun in her face
Her lips kiss the sun, caress the sun, arrest the sun, fields of light we found the place
She has sun in her eyes
The clouds cross the sun, without the sun, the evening shadows in her eyes

Rise Up, Mutants

2010-01-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

What do Iggy Pop, Artie - the strongest man in the world, and mutants have in common? Well someone has spliced together a set of clips from The Adventures of Pete and Pete and set it to the music of Devo. I was way past the age for the target audience of Pete and Pete, but regardless it was a guilty pleasure for me. I could not get enough of the surreal suburban adventures of the brothers who shared a first name. The show had a bevy of cool guest actors and often used music by a variety of great indy rock artists. When Nickelodeon pulled the plug on the show I felt like a part of my inner child had departed.

But my main point for posting this embedded video is that this seems to be the only available video which uses the original 1978 "Stiff Records" recording of Be Stiff, Devo's third single in the UK. I am unapologetic about my enthusiasm for Devo, at least up through the first four or five LPs. Musically this song stands apart from their more off-the-wall social sarcrasms and synth-driven songs. Underneath the nerdy veneer they were one hell of a rock'n'roll band. And this song has the goods. From the opening telegraphing guitar riff you know you are in for a roller coaster ride. The lyrics use the same sophmoric syntax of many of Devo's songs, obsessed with all things sexual.

Be stiff my b-abies be stiff
Fruit ooze is wetly lewd
Stay dry in rubber boots
and cucumbers ripe and rude

I have always been fascinated that "babies" is plural, making me wonder exactly who they are singing to. The mid-song guitar solo is a miracle, so simple yet powerful. And like any great single, it says what it has to say and is over in less than three minutes.

Devo - Be Stiff (The Adventures of Pete & Pete) from IO1011 on Vimeo.

Rocking in Stumptown

2010-01-04T23:12:00.000-08:00

The Portland indy music scene is wild and wooley, and given their longevity, Quasi has become somewhat of a godparent to the younger bands. In the olden days Sam Coomes was in Heatmiser with Elliot Smith, and Janet Weiss worked the drum skins in Sleater Kinney in parallel with her work with Quasi, which formed in 1993 as a duo. Long before the White Stripes Sam and Janet experimented within the boundaries of a two person band. A couple of years ago Joanna Bolme (Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks) joined, adding a big fat bass sound to the mix.

Quasi has gone through several transformations in sound, from the first proggy/pop album, to the middle period noted for heart wrenching lyrics sugar coated with some of the hookiest pop melodies in recent history, to the current incarnation with a heavier emphasis on Sam's pyschedelic guitar workouts and Janet's take-no-prisoners Bonham inspired drumming.

Some old fans disappeared with the release of Hot Shit in 2003, although for me it may be their finest record. I am not such a big fan of their last release, but based on the buzz from their recent New Year's Eve all Who-cover set, their upcoming release American Gong might be just what the doctor ordered. Here is the white hot first track - Repulsion.

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T23:56:00.000-08:00

I just realized I have four minutes to get this post in before the new year. So here is a great little lost tune by Colin Blunstone, a B-side to his first official solo single. I Hope I Didn't Say Too Much Last Night.

And Happy New Year!

Found All the Parts

2009-12-29T22:01:00.000-08:00

If you want to make a damn good record there is no better start than to hire producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick. In a nod to the 66-69 Beatles, Cheap Trick did just that for their 1980 LP All Shook Up. Sadly the record buying public missed the boat and the album sold considerably less than the previous year's Dream Police.

Regardless the album is full of odd little gems like Baby Loves to Rock which starts out like a 50's Elvis number and turns into a guitar riff driven cruncher in the chorus. Or the heavy metal Merseybeat tune Just Got Back. Or the proggy High Priest of Rhythmic Noise or even proggier Go For the Throat. Or the Stone-ish I Love You Honey But I Hate Your Friends with a stellar bass part by Tom Petersson.

But the killer track and initial single release was Stop This Game. Never mind that it tanked on the charts (though our Canadian neighbors put it in their top ten), for it kicks out the jams. Mr. Petersson delivers another classic bass part. Rick Neilson scales back his guitar pyrotechnics to allow the awesome Martin production to come through. I even detect a glockenspiel in there. And best of all Robin Zander delivers another top notch vocal. Is it just me or is he one of the most underappreciated rock vocalists ever? Not to worry Bun E. Carlos fans - I will sing his praises in another post.

When I Go Anywhere I See Love

2009-12-27T21:40:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like a day trip to the Oregon coast to clear one's mind. A spectacular hike at Cape Lookout with temps above freezing and no rain made for a memorable day. Upon return I had a yearning to listen to some Brian Wilson tunes. Today's post was a real toss-up among several of the Beach Boy's lesser-known singles. I settled on This Whole World from 1970. The single did not chart and the LP it came from - Sunflower - was the lowest charting BB album up to that point at 151. By that time Brian was no longer performing but he still provided a number of songs on the group's records. Invariably they were the highlights of the album.

After a two bar introduction with chugging guitar and Carl's solo vocal, the song immediately moves into the main verse:

"Late at night I think about the love of this whole world. Lots of different people everywhere. And when I go anywhere I see love I see love I see love."

Carl's voice never sounded more soulful. And dig the tubular bell chiming amongst the doo-wop background vocals by the rest of the band (something along the lines of aaauuummm bop dibit). Then a new section begins:

"When girls get mad at boys and go
Many times they're just putting on a show
But when they leave you wait alone"

The ultimate Spector-ism - a glockenspiel - plays a counter melody and the band adds their gorgeous "oh-s". The first and second sections are repeated, then at 1:35 the boys go acappella, soaring off into the distance as the track ends before two minutes have passed.

What really casts a glow over me is Brian's incomparable harmonic progressions. I know a thing or two about music theory, and the modulations here are way beyond the grasp of almost any pop group then or now. Brian Wilson has an ear for sounds and harmonies like no other.

Auf wiedersehen to the beat

2009-12-26T21:50:00.000-08:00

Few bands engender such hostility as Sparks. In the first edition of The Rolling Stone Record Guide Billy Altman of Creem Magazine wrote "The(ir) objective was to hit it big in a foreign land and then return home to conquer the masses who ignored them before they went to England to get rich and famous". He also "docked" them "one star per album for being somewhat responsible for Queen." Of course the first statement is not true. Little did he know when he wrote that put-down in 1979 that Sparks would still be around in 2009 with a dedicated worldwide fanbase. And the second statement is way off the mark, as Queen was already well on their own upward path in 1974 when Sparks hit the big time in the UK.

From their first demo recording of oddball California Folk/Psych (the sadly never-released Woofer in Tweeter's Clothing) in 1968, to their most recent 2008 release Exotic Creatures of the Deep the Mael brothers have followed their own path. They have conquered, then jettisoned more musical styles (and bandmates) than even David Bowie. Frankly I never got into their Euro-electro-dance pop albums of the 80s and 90s, but what came before and after are essential pieces in my LP/CD collection.

The central nugget that ties their 21 albums together is Ron Mael's songwriting. He can pop out a killer hook in a heartbeat. And the lyrics - oh my - how does one begin to decipher the byzantine layers of psychological maneuvering that takes place in most of their songs? At the same time there is a junior high school sex-obsessed boy peeking out from under the sheet music.

Leaving my syntax back at school
I was thrown for a loss over gender and simple rules
You mentioned Kant and I was shocked ... so shocked
You know, where I come from, none of the girls have such foul tongues

That little nugget comes from Hasta Manana Monsieur on 1973's breakout LP Kimono My House. Here is a live performance from Don Kirchner's Rock Concert in 1974 at the Beacon Theatre NYC. I can only imagine the shocked look on the faces of the people in the crowd... what the heck IS this? Give a listen to the crackerjack band - Dinky Diamond was a powerhouse drummer, and guitarist Trevor White laid down a glam sound that kicks these songs into fifth gear.

Immediately following HMM is Thank God It's Not Christmas, which may be my favorite Sparks song ever. The opening guitar melody is genius. The music may be upbeat but the lyrics tell the tale of a man who spends 364 days of the year seeking thrills in the streets of the city

There I'll spend the night
Meeting fancy thins
At bistros and old haunts
Trying very hard to sin

That 365th day is the one he wishes to avoid at all costs - spending time with only his mate.

Thank God it's not Christmas
When there is only you
And nothing else to do
Thank God it's not Christmas
Where there's just you to do
The rest is closed to public view

They Came From Birmingham

2009-12-19T22:58:00.000-08:00

The Move were at least three bands rolled into one. The initial version to appear was a first class pop outfit, delivering two and a half minute hit singles with great regularity in the UK starting in 1967. The dandy Carl Wayne and slightly freaky Roy Wood were a killer pair of lead singers, and of course Roy had the secret formula to writing melodic hooks. And Trevor Burton, initially a rhythm guitarist then bass player, was a fine vocalist in his own right, and between the three of them their harmony work was right up their with their contemporaries. Last but not least, Bev Bevan was a force to be reckoned with on the drums.

The second incarnation grew organically from the first. Burton was replaced by Rick Price on bass, but the big change was an opening up of the musical scope. Roy was a fan of the new US West Coast sound, and all kinds of musical ideas from bands such as The Byrds and Love crept into their recordings in 1969. The musical forms were expanded and Roy began to experiment with the production. This culminated with their 1970 LP Shazam. There are only six tracks, but several of them are miniature rock symphonies with multi-part structures. And Roy's guitar playing comes front and center. There is no doubt he was one of the most gifted rock musicians of the flower power era. The first side was comprised of three original Wood tunes, the second side was all covers.

The last track is American folk singer Tom Paxton's The Last Thing On My Mind. It takes a cue from the Byrd's twelve string interpretations of Dylan then carries it about as far as the fabric will stretch.

It's a lesson too late for the learnin'
Made of sand, made of sand.
In the wink of an eye my soul is turnin'
In your hand, in your hand.

The yearning for a lost love in the powerful original version is surrounded by a haze of ringing guitar arpeggios and harmonics. Adding to the sonic mix are repeating quaverings in both the vocals and the guitar lines. Mr. Bevan's percussion work is sensitive yet powerful throughout. Somewhere around 3:34 Roy lets loose with a multi-tracked psychedelic guitar solo for the ages.

Shortly after the completion of Shazam Carl Wayne and Rick Price left The Move, and upon the entry of Jeff Lynne the third incarnation was off and running.

Zombie Heaven

2009-12-18T23:41:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I am definitely into a Zombie's kick at the moment. There is magic around every corner, on the B-side of neglected singles, even on the post-breakup songs recorded by Rod Argent and Chris White to take advantage of the success of Time Of The Season.

For example, take She Does Everything For Me, the B-side to their November 1966 UK-only single with a slap-dash version of Goin' Out Of My Head on the A. Give a listen to this unbelievable rave-up. From the opening keyboard riff, to the vaguely middle eastern sounding guitar riff, to the wonderful Hollies-inspired harmonies this is a killer song. And that last note - wow!

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

2009-12-16T21:36:00.000-08:00

I have a "thing" for Southern gothic stories. Bring me a book by Carson McCullers or some short stories by William Faulkner and I will hole up for days to read until I can no longer stay awake. In 1967 the Zombies entered EMI's Abbey Road Studios to record what would become their swan song, the Odessey and Oracle album. Rod Argent used a Falkner short story as the basis for A Rose For Emily, which appears as the second track on side one. The dense five part construction of the original story is jettisoned for a simple tale of a spinster who never finds love. But the tune itself and its arrangement - like everything on this album - is one-of-a-kind baroque pop of the most beautiful variety imaginable. Colin Blunstone's breathy vocals are unparalleled in pop music, and on this occasion he used his choirboy simplicity to evoke something antique. He effortlessly handles the leaping melodic twists, and the band joins him for the middle eight, their harmony vocals echoing clear and stark, imbuing an emotional burden almost too intense to bear. The closing lines bring no final respite for Emily's plight.

"The roses are fading now. She keeps her pride somehow it's all she has protecting her from pain. And as the years go by, she will grow old and die. The roses in her garden fade away, not one left for her grave, not a rose for Emily."

Too Much Too Soon

2009-12-12T23:34:00.000-08:00

Recently over at Clicks And Pops Alex Stein discussed one of his guilty pleasures, a holiday tune by the glam metal band Angel. The ugly beyond-belief album cover brought back memories for me of purchasing the first New York Dolls album. In the wheat country of Northwest Oklahoma in 1973 there was good reason to fear reaction of the locals to this photo of the boys dressed up in provocative derelict drag. I had read about the Dolls in various rock magazines and decided I had to hear it for myself.

I went to the local 5&10 cent store to buy it, expecting.. I'm not sure what.. but the fears were real in my mind. Amazingly they had the record in stock, and I bought several other LPs in hopes it would blend in with the crowd, so to speak. My fears turned out to be unnecessary as the big haired clerk rang up my purchases without blinking an eye. I took it home, placed the vinyl on my turntable, and about two seconds into Personality Crisis I was hooked. None of my college friends had much to say about it. To this day I may be the only Dolls fan who ever lived in Enid.

Generally the US rock press originally either ignored or dismissed the band, but now bestows honors upon them as if they had been in their corner all along. In a way I am happy to see them reincarnated and receiving the accolades they deserve, but then again would I have such a passion for them if they had met the same success in the early 70's that David Bowie encountered in the UK? Perhaps I enjoy the drama of a contender that never makes it to the big time. And certainly there was a thrill and daring for me in that LP cover that was taboo in the vast farmlands of middle America.

Recently there has been a wealth of live videos surfacing of the original New York Dolls in their prime. Few of these videos would have been allowed on broadcast TV back in the day. Here is Chatterbox off of their second LP In Too Much Too Soon. David Johansen struts across the stage in a killer cocktail dress while Silvain Silvain lays down majestic riffs and Johnny Thunders sings and coaxes devil sounds out of his guitar.

I'll feel much better on the other side

2009-12-07T22:54:00.000-08:00

With the stroll through my Kink's LPs completed, first I need to tip my hat to Dave Emlen's Unofficial Kinks Web Site which is a treasure trove of all things Kinks. It is an invaluable resource. Great work Mr. Emlen.

So if you have visited here before you know I am a nut for British Invasion bands. But there were some damn fine 60's bands in the US too. And three of my favorites were from smoggy LA - The Beach Boys, The Byrds, and Love. I love Love. Founder Arthur Lee passed away in 2006 and it hit me hard. If there is a silver lining to his end of days, it is that he was released from prison in 2001 and the fabulous Baby Lemonade became his new "Love". The DVD of their concert performance of Forever Changes is a must have for Love fans. And better yet, they toured for several years and there is a wealth of video available on YouTube.

I just happened across this 2003 Glastonbury performance of Your Mind and We Belong Together, which was the final single released by the original incarnation of Love. It is a trip and a half, with Mr. Lee in fine form and the band literally rips it up. RIP Mr. Lee.

Kinkdom is a land populated exclusively by mods who wear shoulder-length hair which droops, boots, guitars who twang and baby doll eyes which turn you

2009-12-05T13:33:00.000-08:00

...on and on.

With the release of Kinkdom in November 1965 the Kinks - or rather Reprise Records - had managed four LPs in the span of twelve months. There is no UK counterpart to this release, as it was cobbled together from singles A and B sides, the British EP Kwyet Kinks, and a leftover track from an early UK EP. That track - Louie Louie - makes its second US LP appearance as Reprise was desperate to fill up side two. By this point they had nearly emptied the vaults of Kinks material.

In terms of music this is an awesome album. All but two tracks were written by one of the Davies' brothers. But I would have ordered the tracks differently. For instance, why bury I Need You in the middle of side 2 when it cries out for either the lead-off track or the LP closer. But enough nitpicking. Reprise was right on to include A Well Respected Man, and even more so to release it as a single A side the previous month. Why it was relegated to an EP track in the UK by Pye is one of the great mysteries of Kinkdom. This would be the first of many character sketches to come in which Ray would explore the pompous and the pure. The amount of bile generated towards the "man" of this song is astonishing for a 1965 hit. Such a Shame is that rare early Kink's track to dwell in minor keys. Never Met A Girl Like You Before starts off with the opening riff from Tired Of Waiting For You, then completely switches gears into a perky R&B number. In the previously mentioned I Need You Ray Davies perfected the proto-metal genre he created with You Really Got Me. The sound is vastly improved over that earlier hit, as is the production which uses feedback to propel the song forward into the pile driving riff that carries through to the end. The Kinks would not return to this sort of raw rock until the late 70's, and even then they would never surpass it.

Today's bonus embedded video contains one of the oddest Kinks performances, this one of See My Friends, a single A side released the previous summer and also the closing track on side 1. The song's novel use of an Indian drone accompaniment (using western instruments) was no doubt ahead of its time. Ray produced one of his most touching lyrics in which he deals with the departure of his girl. We learn that she left by crossing the river, but why she left is never discussed. All we know is that she left him and he feels abandoned, but at least he does have his friends, who he watches playing across the river. The vocals on this performance are live, though I suspect the basic instrumental track may be canned. Ray uses a much more nasal voice for the "see my friends" lines, while Dave's harmony vocals during the "she is gone" are louder and fuller than Ray's lead. It is a very affected and affecting performance.

I Don't Need Nobody Else

2009-12-04T21:03:00.000-08:00

Kinda Kinks hit the US record shelves in August 1965, five months after the UK release with the same name. Many of the same tracks appeared, augmented by two 45 single A-sides, Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy (UK March 1965) and Set Me Free (from May 1965). Ev'rybody failed to make the top ten in Britain so the A and B sides were switched for the US market with Who'll Be The Next In Line getting the A honors when it was released in July 1965. Meanwhile a new single was out in the UK . Confusing? Reprise and Pye were each attempting to keep the masses buying Kinks' product, unsure just how long the British Invasion was going to last. Neither Set Me Free nor WBTNIL would come close to the top ten in the US, a steep drop-off from their first three hits.

The US LP kicks off with Look For Me Baby, a Motown influenced number in which Ray chides his lover "In your desperation you're going to look for someone else". There is a clumsiness to Ray's lead vocal that endears it to me, and the background vocals are a dead-on swipe from the Motown girl's group of that period. On Nothin' In This World Can Stop Me Worryin' About That Girl Ray opens up a new sound for the Kinks with a bluesy acoustic opening, then midway through the electric guitar and bass play a unison riff underneath his gentle lead vocal and propel the song to a most satisfactory end. Of the two previously mentioned singles Set Me Free is far superior, containing one of Ray's first falsetto attempts and a middle eight of impeccable beauty.

On the LP's final track The Kinks offer up a brilliant combination of Merseybeat songwriting and a chiming guitar riff that sounds as if the boys had been transplanted from sunny Southern California. Given that Something Better Beginning was recorded in December 1964, months before the Byrds would make their big splash, one wonders where Dave came up with this unique sound. Ray plays out this story of young love on the dance floor, one of the first of many Kinks songs to do so. And for once Ray is feeling positive, believing that this time it might just work out.

"Is this the start of another heart breaker
Or something better beginning"

The Sun Never Sets on English Quartets

2009-12-03T20:12:00.000-08:00

Kinks-Size was the Kinks' second Reprise LP, released about the same time as the UK Kinda Kinks in March 1965. You know the drill - the contents were not same, although there are a few tracks in common. The US release contains All Day And All Of The Night, the hit single from fall of 1964. Two tracks from Kinks (UK) also made their first US appearance.

Because I grew up with them I really love these early US releases. The UK versions are generally longer but not necessarily better, even if they were what the band intended. For the Kinks were being rushed to put out product, so I do not believe they put in much effort to create a cohesive collection. That would come with their landmark post-1966 albums down the road.

Today I shall take the easy route for my song of the day. Tired Of Waiting For You was the third Kinks hit single in a row, and the first to slow down the tempo and offer more than a wall of guitar noise. The real kicker here is the gorgeous middle eight in which Ray grants his girl the freedom to make her own way, yet pleads with her to make a decision.

It's your life
And you can do what you want
Do what you like
But please don't keep-a me waiting

There are even some simple sweet harmony vocals to accompany his plea. The Kinks were growing and some real changes are just around the corner. Normally I prefer a live rather than lip-synced performance, but the Kinks have a priceless, purposely lame outdoor video with a surprise ending.

Lord she almost touched the sky

2009-12-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Three Kinks LPs to go, but today I am taking a break to clear my head for the final volley. So in the interim it brings me the utmost pleasure to blather on about my most favorite lost cause. Do you remember the Rolling Stone Magazine 1970 album of the year? Let It Be? Nope. All Things Must Pass? Nein. Fun House? If only. Led Zeppelin III? Just kidding. Parachute? (yes) Huh? Am I referring to The Pretty Things LP? Indeed. The only RS Mag album of the year ever not to earn the RIAA gold certification. And probably the only time those RS dipwads got it right. Dumped on Motown's Rare Earth label in the USA with no promotional effort whatsoever, it died a lonely underground death on the charts.

This album was 36 years old the first time I heard it. And literally within two or three listens it rose to somewhere in my top ten favorite LPs ever. If I could distill this album into a single concise description I would, but it escapes my effort. All I can say is that it is a cohesive unit, a soundscape that never fails to set a mood when I listen.

It was recorded at EMI's Abbey Road studios and produced by Norman Smith of early Beatles fame. And like the Beatles' album named for that studio, it has a deep rich sound. And it also borrows some of that album's novel structures - a couple of song suites, and a couple of heavy rockers that are years ahead of their time. Here are the opening tracks that set the stage for the side 1 story of the pitfalls of life in the city. The bottom drops out when the story line descends into a dark back alley in tracks 7 & 8 but that will be a post for another day.

Scene One - a prelude that sounds nothing like anything the Pretties had produced up to this point. "Stone spires rise high, lacerate warmer skies, iron laced populations, beneath molten fields"
The Good Mr. Square - the Pretties are not the Hollies or Beatles when it comes to harmony singing, but their effort here is top notch. Lovely! Mr. Square could very well be the social hermit from Waterloo Sunset. The linkage to the next track is seemless.
She Was Tall, She Was High - Ah that opening is so Beatle-worthy! More stellar harmonies.
In the Square - The beginning of another song suite, with a breathtaking acoustic guitar and harpsichord-like mellotron accompaniment.
The Letter - An upbeat melody hides the pain as the protaganist learns that his girlfriend has bailed to move out to the country
Rain - a gradually building rave-up that starts acoustic and ends in blue-hot heat.

And we have yet to reach the REALLY good parts :)

They Really Got Me

2009-11-30T18:40:00.000-08:00

The folks at Reprise Records in the USA were a crafty bunch. They figured out how to multiply two 12" LPs into four. By shuffling a few tracks across LPs, reducing the track count by two or three, and adding non-LP single A and B sides, they succeeded in creating twice as much Kinks product as their counterpart Pye in the UK.

In the US that meant the first LP - known as You Really Got Me - would have only 11 tracks compared to 14 on Kinks. I Took My Baby Home had already been released on the B-Side of The Kinks initial Long Tall Sally single on the Cameo label. I'm A Lover Not A Fighter and the instrumental Revenge would be moved to the next LP. Given the high percentage of covers already on the record, it does not take away from the overall feel to miss these tracks. In fact it makes the listening time just about right.

Of course the real deals here are that harbinger of metal You Really Got Me, and Stop Your Sobbing which would be covered by the Pretenders early in their career. The remaining songs are rough around the edges and yet there is a real joy in the performances. Mr. Quaife lays out some awesome bass lines. Dave's solos on the two Chuck Berry covers are wild and wooly in the best possible way. I will go out on a limb here and state that for me the early Kinks were a much more fun R&B band than the Rolling Stones at this stage of their careers. Yeah I know - the accepted opinion is that the Stones were hands down the best at covering American R&B - but the fact is I never listen to anything they released before Satisfaction. I will take Ray Davies' more natural attempt at blues vocals over Mick Jagger's exagerated cotton-balls-in-mouth slurry any day of the week. If you think I speak blasphemy - well, sue me.

Case in point - dig Ray's performance on this clip of The Kinks covering Got Love If You Want It. No need for any further words from me. It speaks for itself.

I bet you danced a good one in your time

2009-11-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

Over two years had passed since The Kinks released Low Budget in 1979. Other than the One For the Road live double LP, there would be no new Kinks product until early 1982 with the release of Give The People What They Want. During that span I lost track of the band that had been such an important part of my life during the 60's and 70's. Fresh out of college I started a couple of synchronous but separate careers, one of those being a part time symphony musician. The duality of my professional life spilled over into my personal life, for as often as I listened to a Mahler symphony I was just as likely to put the latest Elvis Costello LP on my turntable. The pop side of my brain was voraciously consuming the great "new" music being produced on both sides of the Atlantic. In the span of a year I completely abandoned the latest output of the ex-Beatles, The Kinks, The Who, and all the other bands of my youth. In their stead came the Talking Heads, Pretenders, The Clash, Devo, B-52s, Madness, and a couple of dozen other bands of that period.

I was very aware of the Kinks' new found success with State of Confusion in 1983, as Come Dancing was all over MTV and the radio. And I was happy for them, but at the same time saddened that it just did not connect for me. I had become like a caffeine junky needing the latest fix of new wave outlandishness to keep my interest. There would be no more Kinks vinyl added to my collection after Low Budget. And in terms of my current Kinks blog project I have also come to the chronological end, although I will eventually go back to cover the first four US LPs that I skipped at the beginning of the month.

Years after the release of SOC I discovered a song that - believe it or not - had escaped my notice. This song had sneaked under my radar but once I heard it I was instantly addicted. Don't Forget to Dance may be the most touching song in the Ray Davies songbook. Who else would write a song about an lonely aging woman, the story told from Ray's vantage point, encouraging her to dance so that she can forget her loneliness and remember a time when she felt vital?

"But that's no reason to just stop living. That's no excuse to just give in to a sad and lonely heart."

And the line that just sends a quiver through my heart, as a retort to the younger apemen who taunt her for her age:

"And when they ask me how you dance, I say that you dance real close."

There is nothing in the synth-addled background that would identify this as a Kinks' song, but dammit the synths and the background vocals and Ray's lilting lead vocal and the percussion 101 drumming coalesce into a sum much greater than its parts.

Some people say it blows your mind

2009-11-27T22:31:00.000-08:00

Holy cow, Batman! I just finished my first listen to The Kinks Low Budget since the early eighties and it hit me that this is the killer follow-up to Some Girls that the Stones should have recorded. Scattered amidst the Keith Richard's riffs and driving drums are some juicy new wave nuggets too. At this point the Kinks had cast off most of their otherness that made them so special, but in return they were playing real honest-to-goodness rock'n'roll. And doing it as well as any band out there. There is no looking back.

Ray had his ear to the track and was picking up all sorts of interesting sounds from the burgeoning new wave and punk movements. Pressure pumps it up with a driving Ramone's fury. National Health takes the Stone's Shattered and adds a veneer of ska/reggae ala the Clash. Check out Holly Hughes bang-up posting on this LP's new wave influences over at the Ray Davies Forum. And there are some juicy Ray Davies' nuggets in the lyrics throughout. Misery has a couplet that really slays me:

"Until you learn to laugh you'll never come to any parties at my house/And if you go on like this the only house you'll ever visit is the nut house"

My only complaint about this LP is that a few of the songs go on too long, wearing out their welcome after they have had their say. In 1979 I bought the 12" single of (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman which is the extended 6:01 edit on the LP. But I really wish I had bought the 7" 45rpm edit because it is a real corker. It lays out all the juicy parts and then is done in 3:26.

The summer's all gone

2009-11-22T22:08:00.001-08:00

It has been a busy weekend in the Mister Pleasant household so I had to delay the next Kinks' LP posts until things settle down a bit. In the meantime here is a non-LP single from October 1967, the exquisite Autumn Almanac. No bullsh*t from me this time, just one of the finest 45 rpm singles ever cut.

'Cos when he puts on that dress he looks like a princess

2009-11-19T21:23:00.000-08:00

The Kinks second LP release on Arista was Misfits, released in mid-1978. Cut from the same cloth as the previous year's Sleepwalker, the band takes a further step into the guitar rock of the pre-punk period. Of course the punk movement itself was already underway in the UK while in the USA the C.B.G.B.'s bands were beginning to make some noise. By this point the Kinks were a product of a different generation and yet somehow managed to tap into a market that had been so indifferent to them in their 60's heyday.

There are some good songs here, including Misfits, A Rock and Roll Fantasy, Black Messiah, Out of the Wardrobe, and Live Life. The band had developed into a very cohesive live unit at this point. I would rank it a few steps down from the previous effort but there is certainly nothing to be ashamed of here.

The Kinks pull out all the stops for the extremely Stones-ish Live Life. Ray takes a very pragmatic view about political causes and the extreme views of both ends of the social spectrum.

Trendy intellectuals always take action,
For every cause that's ever been in fashion
Weekend revolutionaries protest and sing
Because they're dedicated followers of any old thing

With a hilarious two word fragment from his 1966 single he puts a whole movement in its place.

Ev'rybody got problems, buddy. I got mine

2009-11-18T23:10:00.000-08:00

Putting the concept albums behind, The Kinks moved forward with an album that became a blueprint for what would follow until the end of their career. Sleepwalker paved a path into the rock mainstream for a band that had never been a follower. The glove did not quite fit - and for me that's why it works. Little bits of the real Ray Davies keeps popping up in both the lyrics and the music. Years later I read a quote from Dave about Ray's habit of sleepwalking. Coupled with Ray's insomnia, suddenly the song made sense to me. The sentiment reflected in Brother is carried aloft by a slow lilting melody in a gorgeous middle period Beach Boys style, with Ray sounding exactly like Carl Wilson on the high chorus parts.

The album produced a couple of entries into the pop charts in the USA. Sleepwalker kicks off with a great jangly guitar, a perky verse melody and a classic rock construction, ending with a repeated harmonic line over which the band plays with a real gusto and Ray and band literally bellow the chorus. It is a cathartic moment. Juke Box Music offers a glimpse at how great the Davies Brothers could be when sharing the vocal lines, and Dave lets loose with some very fine guitar playing. Listening to the radio in 1977 was wonderful for me because there was new Kinks music being heard by the masses.

If Ray had taken a further step down the path he had started with Preservation, The Kinks would likely have come to an end. I wonder what he might have produced on his own at the point, but the fact is he didn't, and the band moved ahead to reach their highest levels of success on this side of the Atlantic. This is the starting point for that next journey.

Higher Education

2009-11-17T21:40:00.000-08:00

The last of The Kinks musical theater albums hit the record bins in January 1976. Schoolboys In Disgrace is a prequel of sorts to the Preservation albums, as it covers the last of the school days of the character Flash. On the non-musical level, I think the LP cover is the best of The Kinks RCA years. The front comic drawing of a school boy smarting from corporal punishment has to be seen to be believed, and the back shows the now five Kinks in schoolboy attire, and Ray Davies' expression is worth the price of the LP.

The music is a move back towards the rock'n'roll world. The spoken sections and theatrical interludes of the previous concept albums are gone. The musical styles run the gamut from 50s doo wop to contemporary rock. Its a fun romp but I wish it were better. Dave's guitar is front and center on several tunes, and he certainly proves that he has the chops. A further move towards a more mainstream 70s rock sound is just around the corner.

Here is one of the real rock'n'roll cuts - No More Looking Back. Thanks to Vivalabeat for providing a live video on Youtube:

Borax

2009-11-16T22:52:00.000-08:00

Coming out of the three album Preservation series, The Kinks were still an eight man band plus additional backup singers. At the time Ray Davies stated that after the intensity of the previous albums he wanted something lighter and less serious. The rest of the band - well, at least Dave for certain - were growing tired of the concept albums. But Ray persevered to complete and release A Soap Opera one year after Preservation Act 2.

This album tells its tale in a single LP with dialogue interspersed to assist with the story telling. It is cute and listenable but I rarely find myself pulling out the vinyl. There are not any songs that I would list as a favorite, although the first song opens the record with a wall of sound. Ray has been accused of "borrowing" from himself and other bands, though I do not hear it so much. But in this case the opening riff on Everybody's a Star (Starmaker) owes a heavy debt to The Move's awesome Do Ya. It loses some steam after the opening salvo but is one of the perkiest tunes on the album.

Four More Respected Gentlemen Part 2

2009-11-15T17:00:00.000-08:00

Sunday is a day off for the official Kinks Chronological Album Listen. But I am so far into this thing now that I cannot let go, so let's take a look at an album that is not a part of the official canon. The Great Lost Kinks Album came out as a USA-only release in 1973 when Reprise decided to recover some of their investment after the Kinks bailed for RCA a few years earlier. It was a hodgepodge of unreleased tracks and singles B-sides mostly from 1968-69.

I bought the LP when it was released, as it came out soon after I became a Kinks fanatic. Little did I know that I have been sitting on one of the rarest Kinks' recordings around. Only recently has it come to my attention that it was pulled from distribution in 1975 as a result of a lawsuit filed by Ray Davies. The expanded CD releases include the B-sides as extra tracks but I don't know if the unreleased tracks are available elsewhere.

Maybe it is because I just cannot extricate myself from the Kinks "second" period music - Face to Face up through Lola - but the music on TGLKA seems so darned intimate and touching. Employing the classic four man Kinks sound, you will immediately feel at home here if you like The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society.

For a change of pace I am going to write just a little about each song. The first two rank fairly low on the Mister Pleasant-o-meter but the remaining dozen are charming and then some.

Plastic Man - unfortunately this was released as a single A-side. Other than the cleverly Monkee-ish "ba-oom bah bah bah" section, this song is the one Kinks failure in their otherwise stellar 66-70 singles releases.
Groovie Movies - ostensibly from Dave's never released first solo album. He wrote some great songs over the years but this is not one of them
Pictures In The Sand - apparently an outtake from TVGPS, a slight country tune which points the way towards where the band would be heading in the 1970s.
Lavender Hill - great drumming, bassoon!, one of the verses is instrumental with a wah wah guitar solo line, ethereal vocal harmonies, and a rare Beach Boys type vocal section at the end. Also a few hard-to-hear mellotron licks.
The Way Love Used To Be - from the Percy soundtrack. As far as I can determine, Reprise included it on TGLKA because Percy was never released in the USA. A lovely contemplative song with acoustic guitar accompaniment. Ray sings as if his heart is in his throat. Touching.
Mr. Songbird (yes another Kinks "Mr." song) - That rare truly happy Kinks song with a mellotron sounding like a duo of flutes and a very jazzy contrapuntal vocalized section sounding a bit like the Swingles Singers
This Man He Weeps Tonight - Dave's best effort here. It opens with an awesome guitar riff doubled on bass. The guitar work throughout is gorgeous but way too much in the back of the mix. Mr. Avory gets in some really good hits.
Till Death Us Do Part - Ray's great theme song for a 1969 film based on Britain's long running sitcom (and basis for the USA's All In The Family). Like Dead End Street, a trombone plays a major role here and its use is spot-on spectacular. The vocal harmonies in the chorus are a harbringer of that la-la-la-iest Kinks' tune - Wonderboy. This song is a little lost treasure.
There Is No Life Without Love - credited to both Davies' brothers, a sweet little tune with simple accompaniment of mandolin bass and drums. I would guess that there are no more than twenty distinct words total in the lyrics, but you know it just doesn't matter when the melody is so wonderful and these two sometimes warring brothers are singing octave harmonies so peacefully.
Misty Water - It starts with succinct piano chords beneath Ray's delicately delivered opening verse, but things really get rolling on the second verse when the guitar kicks in. But wait there is even more fun - the chorus transmogrifies this into a garage rock sing-a-long. There is even a cheesy 60's farfisa organ buried deep in the mix. Then a short ethereal vocalized section appears as if we suddenly dropped into Gogi Grant's The Wayward Wind only to be knocked off our feet with Dave's ferocious guitar chords to bring us back for another pass.
When I Turn Off The Living Room Light - The opening line seems to get some people really angry but I think Ray is totally innocent of any sort of ethnic or racial slur. The lyrics may seem thoughtless at the beginning but by the final verse it is clear that the singer puts himself in the same boat as his less than lovely partner - "We don't feel so ugly, we don't feel so draggy, we don't feel so twisted up tight/and we don't feel as ugly as we really are, when we turn off the living room light."
I'm Not Like Everybody Else - The B-side to Sunny Afternoon. It seems to me as if Ray is singing with his best Dave vocal immitation. Or maybe it is Dave - I am never sure. A true classic, this one bridges the gap between The Kinks and The Who, with a few dollops of garage rock thrown in for good measure. Dave's guitar is thunderous here.
Where Did My Spring Go? - Opens with a piano and guitar intro, with Dave's guitar work sounding vaguely like something off of a Jefferson Airplane album. This contains some of Ray's most angry and bleak lyrics. "Remember all those sleepless nights, making love by candlelight, and every time you took my love, you were shortening my life."
Rosemary Rose - Luckily Ray just cannot stop singing about his sister. Starting off like an early Del Shannon rocker with a mandolin standing in for the musitron, the song adds a harpsichord for the middle eight. And the priceless lyrics are scolding yet tender - "You look nothing like a child, yet you're such a little baby/Chewing on your liquorish gum, and cigarettes."

I love this album dearly and cannot for the life of me choose only one song for your listening pleasure. So here are two - first Rosemary Rose:

And the tale of Anne Maria and her daughters in Misty Water:

It's painfully clear that the battle is near

2009-11-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

Preservation Act 2 really gets down to the nitty gritty of the story of the two principal characters Flash and Mr. Black in Ray Davies epic saga. Act 1 is stronger in terms of the tunes, but the drama really hits hard in this follow-up. Overall I find the first two sides of this double LP very strong, and side four really pulls out all the stops. There is a definite Weill/Brecht feeling throughout, with the magnificent horn oompahs and woodwind runs in the verse parts of Second-Hand Car Spiv sounding as if they came from a lost manuscript for A Threepenny Opera.

Reviewers back in the day considered the live road show version to be superior to the recordings. Having seen it then, I would agree that the combination of the expanded forces on the stage, projected images and a reduced, concise song lineup made for excellent theater. But the records really do hold their own, even with the spoken "announcements" in Act 2 which help to flesh out the story with a news announcer censoring the proceedings according to the wishes of Mr. Black's dictatorship.

It is weird and wonderful to hear female voices on a Kinks record, and especially the ladies-only Scrapheap City. I also picked up a 70s glam vibe on parts of Artificial Man and Salvation Road that I don't believe I ever noticed before - shades of Mott the Hoople! Some of the most heart-rending moments for me include the final lines in Nothing Lasts Forever - "Your love will fade but mine will last forever". This song would be a great companion to The Party's Over and the arrangement reminds me of a broken-heart love song in a big 50's musical. And Flash's plea for acceptance in Scum Of The Earth - "Before you condemn me my friends, I suggest that you look deep inside you" - he's not about to apologize for being human.

It may be the oddest combination of rock, musical theater, and political commentary ever produced. It is a very long way from Face to Face. Those Kinks no longer exist by this juncture. At the time I fought with myself on whether I would continue to follow them into their new world. I would like to think that as I grew older, I became wiser and more open to something different. Listening again after so many years I find Preservation to be refreshing and extremely current to today's world.

Who else was this musically adventurous in the mid 1970s? Preservation is one of Ray Davies' crowning moments.

Where are all the angry young men now?

2009-11-13T20:28:00.001-08:00

I sincerely hope that I did not chase away any hard-core Kinks fans with yesterday's post. There are no worries today. The demons of 1972 were thankfully gone by 1973. Ray Davies recovered his talent for composing stellar melodies on Preservation Act I. In fact this album is so tuneful that it really deserves a dozen listens just to let it all soak in.

The storyline of the Preservation LPs is fairly dense, and since this is Part 1 it serves as an introduction with more of the details to come with Part 2. My first live Kinks experience was about this time, though my rusty memory does not recall if Part 2 had been released yet. But I can tell you that it was like no other concert I have experienced. The stage was filled with a horn section, floozies, and the (at this point) five Kinks. There has always been a lot of conjecture about the alcohol level in the Kinks during their live shows from this period. If they were not tipsy they certainly put on a good act. But it fit perfectly in to the proceedings. For a detailed description of one of the live Preservation shows check out 10th December, 1974, Santa Monica. The end of the show was one encore after another of their well known hits. But the Preservation music already had the audience on its feet. So the encores were just gravy. (and delicious gravy too!)

This album is very even, in that every song is great in its own way. So it was a coin toss to pick a song for today's post. First is a short segment of a video for Sitting In the Midday Sun, followed by a the entire song without video. If anyone knows where the first video originated, and if it the full song is available I would love to know about it.

It's very hard to please the people every single time

2009-11-12T19:22:00.001-08:00

Neither trend setters nor trend followers, the Kinks marched to their own drummer, at least up until the late 70s. As is the case with bands that have lengthy careers, changes in musical styles and structure affect fans differently. Beginning in 1972 the Kinks entered a period that would soon evolve into a series of musical theater pieces. The album that fills the gap between that future and what came before is Everybody's In Show-Biz. At the time of its release I was very fond of this record and the song from it that became a staple of progressive FM radio - Celluloid Heroes.

Over the years my initial feelings began to wane as I found myself pulled back to their 1960s output. After listening to this album today for the first time in a long spell I wish I could say that it stirred those good old memories. It pains me to say that it just does not pull me in. It is not the "poor me, being a rock star is so hard" sentiments expressed in the lyrics. I would easily grant Ray Davies his right to wail and moan if only the songs themselves carried the melodic invention that he so amply demonstrated heretofore. Muswell was a bit shy on the melody front but more than made up for it with its crisp country arrangements and biting lyrics. For the two songs here that actually have wonderful melodies, one has lyrics so clumsy that I find myself cringing.

On the other hand the second disk is quite a fun listen. A chance for the boys to bring their boozy on-stage persona to vinyl for some wonderfully sloppy live performances of tunes taken mostly from the previous year's Muswell Hillbillies.

Luckily for today's post there is one studio song here that is more than worthy of repeated listening. Sitting in My Hotel finds Ray in a reflective mood, musing about what his friends might think of his present situation. He is in a funk, treading water. One gets the feeling that he knows he has to find a way to move forward, but he is unsure of himself. When assuming the viewpoint of his friends he cast doubts over everything from his haute couture to feeding his insomnia by watching old movies on TV all night long. His self deprecating humor here is really quite touching, and the tune is one of his lovliest creations.

They're never gonna kill my cockney pride

2009-11-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

In 1971 the Kinks jumped ship from Pye/Reprise records to RCA. And the first product from that move was Muswell Hillbillies, possibly the most surprising change of pace by any major long term rock band. The production is pared down to bare bones. Musically there are big changes too - the harpsichord is out, the electronic organ is in. Complex harmonies are replaced by sing-along choruses. But this is not a simple record by any means. The Kinks as a band had never played together so well before. There is a relaxed yet intense vibe, and the entire album holds together as a single piece. Perhaps the prospect of finally being paid some decent money for their troubles brought this about, but regardless of the genesis, the band delivers in spades.

The lyrics are also tighter and focused like a laser on the ills of modern society. Ray's singing takes on a whole new dimension. For each song he has devised a sound specific to the content therein. It works beautifully for me, but it does require shedding all my conceptions and expectations from what came before. This is a new Kinks.

20th Century Man is the lead off track, and serves as a blueprint for what is to follow. Listen to the chugging acoustic guitar lick after a brief intro, then kick into high gear when the drums enter. Midway through the electric guitar enters and a middle section begins. It is unearthly in its beauty. The melody has the clarity of an old English folksong. And Ray gets down to the dirty details of the cause of his melancholy:

I was born in a welfare state
Ruled by bureaucracy
Controlled by civil servants
And people dressed in grey
Got no privacy, got no liberty
Cos the twentieth century people
Took it all away from me.

It's Not the Size That Counts

2009-11-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled when I noticed that the Kinks Chronological album listen at the Ray Davies Forum had reserved a day for Percy. You are probably asking yourself "why on earth" I would care about a soundtrack album that was never released on LP in the US and is half full of mediocre instrumentals. Well let me tell you - I consider the non-instrumentals on Percy to be every bit as wonderful as the songs from the Kinks 1966-69 glory years.

Check out Holly Hughes' assessment of The Way Love Used To Be. Or Animals In The Zoo to hear the next installment after Apeman of Ray Davies' Jamaican voice. Or the lovely Moments in which Dave turns in a short guitar solo in the style of Abbey Road period George Harrison.

But the real deal here is God's Children. Considering that it was the theme song for a forgotten film about the first penis transplant (really I kid you not), it is quite amazing that the studio actually placed the song in the movie. As it takes a diametrically opposed view to any sort of organ transplant. Regardless of one's religious beliefs, there is no denying that the melody is of the first order of loveliness. And Ray's singing is so emotive and impassioned that I have no doubt that he meant every word.

"'Cause we are all God's children
And he got no right to change us
Oh, we gotta go back the way the good lord made us all"

Little man's weak and big man's strong

2009-11-09T21:36:00.000-08:00

Even when his is pissed off, Ray Davies can be hilarious. And he was very po'd when he wrote many of the songs on Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One. Mostly ticked at big business, especially the record biz (more on that in a minute). Granted there are some warm and lovely songs here, including a beauty written by Dave - Strangers - and Ray's touching but subtle warning to his brother - A Long Way From Home. And of course there is Lola, which resurrected The Kinks career and proved without a doubt that Ray is the king of the 45 rpm single. Too bad that the glory days of top 40 radio were already on the wane.

The success of Ray's little ode to a transvestite resulted in his pithy recount of its effects in Top Of the Pops. His anger reaches even deeper in The Moneygoround, which includes his astute observation:

"Everyone take a little bit here and a little bit there
Do they all deserve money from a song that they've never heard
They don't know the tune and they don't know the words
But they don't give a damn"

The song could have been an ultimate downer if not for the cheery musical hall treatment that turns the anger into one of the funniest songs in the Kinks career.

Put on your slippers and sit by the fire

2009-11-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that day seven of The Kinks album-a-day listen-a-thon is already here. Just around the corner the band will morph into something quite different, but on today's listen they melded the top notch songwriting of their last three LPs with a return to being a real rock'n'roll band. Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire was released in October 1969, with John Dalton replacing original member Peter Quaife on bass. This would be the first of several personnel changes soon to come. It was written for a never televised UK TV movie, and ushered in a return to the charts after The Village Green Preservation Society sadly managed to miss any chart in the known universe.

From the very first seconds it is clear that the guitar is back. Finally given the opportunity, Dave Davies' guitar work matures considerably. No longer dependent on power chords, his guitar lines becomes a counterpoint to the melody throughout the album. Along with a judicious and tasteful use of a horn section this album takes on a ruddy glow.

It turns out that Ray Davies had more than one masterpiece (Waterloo Sunset) in him. Shangri-La starts with a stunningly gorgeous melody to acoustic guitar accompaniment, soon augmented by a harpsichord and Dave's lovely high harmony vocal, and then by a lovely horn countermelody. The chorus arrives and builds with the band wailing "Shangri-La" as if their lives depended upon it. Then an amazing rockier section intrudes, with descending bass line a'la Sunny Afternoon, and Ray laying it out to the masses exactly why "Life ain't so happy in your little Shangri-la". With the truth about the bourgeois lifestyle laid bare, the chorus section returns with a renewed vigor. The final stanzas are delivered in an all-out fury with the most ferocious drumming that Mick Avory had ever laid down on a Kinks LP.

The second embedded video is Ray's first ever live performance of Shangri-La from 2007. Given the Phil Spector treatment with an army of musicians, it bears up beautifully to the production.

Four More Respected Gentlemen

2009-11-06T22:13:00.000-08:00

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society. It is a mouthful. And on plenty of days, my favorite LP of all time. By anyone. Thirteen of its fifteen songs clock in at under three minutes. The full flowering of Ray Davies' melodicism runs rampant throughout. Never again would his muse maintain such a consistently high level of songwriting (the pleasures of the next LP to come notwithstanding). Mr. Davies pulled a rabbit of a hat for TVGPS, for the songs were cobbled together from a solo project and the aborted Kink's LP Four More Respected Gentlemen. I have always wondered if those four distinguished Gentlemen went by the names of Quaife, Davies, Avory, and Davies.

If one includes the two splendid Kinks singles A sides released in 1968 - Wonderboy and Days - Mr. Davies gives the Beatles and the Rolling Stones their fiercest competition in that incredible year of music. But make no mistake, The Kinks at this point are about as far from a rock and roll band as they will ever get. The focus here is on the past, things that no longer exist, and our attempts to recall that past via memories and photographs. Ray Davies was fighting to keep that past alive. And I suppose that by writing about it, I attempt to do the same.

If you do not own TVGPS in some media format, shame on you. But since I know you do, go listen. There is a wonderful live performance of Last of the Steam-Powered Trains and Picture Book on YouTube, but alas no embedding. Just click the link.

As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset I am in paradise

2009-11-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

Something Else is a great album, no doubt about it. As Who Am Us Anyway mentioned in yesterday's comments , Death Of A Clown is Dave Davies' one-of-a-kind masterpiece. As much as I love it and David Watts, and frankly nearly every song here, the album itself is overshadowed by its finale. Waterloo Sunset is such a pinnacle, I cannot even attempt to describe it.

There are a number of fine live Ray Davies video performances from over the years. Even in later years his voice is still tender. But I decided to embed Terry Reid's shattering club performance, with Waddy Wachtel's churning guitar. Mr. Reid channels Laurence Olivier's Archie Rice from The Entertainer. A song as great as this deserves a bravura performance.

No one can penetrate me

2009-11-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

Ray Davies first foray into East Indian music was See My Friends, the A-side of a 45-rpm single released by The Kinks in July 1965. It coupled a haunting melody with a simple, sad lyric whose subject of loneliness would be explored more fully in 1967 with Waterloo Sunset.

Fancy from 1966's Face To Face uses an even more exotic instrumentation and melody. The first verse is accompanied by two acoustic stringed instruments (guitar & ?), then at the 0:55 mark percussion instruments come aboard. No other song in the Kinks Kanon sounds at all like it. The lyrics are more difficult to decipher. Mr. Davies becomes opaque, and in the process tells us more about human nature in one short stanza than a lesser songwriter could with an entire LP.

"My love is like a ruby that no one can see,
Only my fancy, always.
No one can penetrate me,
They only see what's in their own fancy, always."

I've got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell

2009-11-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Holly Hughes and a bunch of Kink's Kooks at the Ray Davies Forum are listening to one Kinks (UK) album per day, in chronological order. They started on November 1st, and today they are listening to The Kink Kontroversy. See Holly's post at The Song In My Head Today.

Because my Kinks LP collection consists of the US releases I waited until today to join them, as from this point forward the UK and US albums contain virtually the same tracks. The Kink Kontroversy is also an entry point for what I consider to be the Kinks run of five consecutive studio LPs that are essential to any rock collection, along with The Kink Kronikles which collects all their exquisite 45 rpm only singles along with a few outstanding album tracks. The newer CDs include these singles A and B sides on the LP from the same period.

Till the End of the Day is the single that was pulled from today's LP. A great song that bridges the gap between their early guitar-riff oriented songs and the new direction they would take after this LP. But for sheer listening pleasure I'm On an Island is the song that grabs me and won't let go.

More so than most rock singers, Ray Davies sings with a vast array of inflections, and when he forces out the words "I'm..On..An..Island" I cannot help but smile and chuckle. The unusual calypso beat and hilarious entry of the cowbell take this song to a whole new level. Ray moans wistfully that "my girl left me behind. She said that I'm not her kind" but hoping against hope "there is nowhere else on Earth I'd rather be, than if my long, lost little girl was here with me". The island in question is no doubt an analogy to the lonely state of his heart, so setting the song to a Caribbean beat not only deflects the pain of his loss but creates one of the finest happy tune/sad lyrics pop songs of the 60s.

I've Got Mine Together Too

2009-10-30T22:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Alex over at Clicks and Pops for a bunch of great links in a recent post. There are so many great music blogs that I am beginning to lose track. Via those links I came across a couple of excellent posts on one of my favorite "should have been" contenders from the 1990s - Jellyfish. From Australia, Peter's Power Pop Why I Adore Jellyfish, and My hmphs has a three part My Ode to Jellyfish. Both give a fine overview of the band.

Reading those posts got me to thinking about the amazing talent in that band. Possibly the most talented musician of the bunch is guitarist Jason Falkner, who bailed after the first album, rumored to be due to the unwillingness of his bandmates to perform his songs. Remind you of any other bands wherein a fine musician/guitarist/songwriter had trouble getting his tunes on their albums?

Mr. Falkner stepped out into a solo career that has had its ups and downs. His most recent work was released only in Japan, although a comment by artintodust over at Burning Wood Jason Falkner - All Quiet on the Noise Floor indicates that this will be rectified with a couple of USA releases in 2010.

I own only one Falkner album, but what a doozy it is. Can You Still Feel? from 1999 is a guitar-driven power pop paradise. Sometimes I listen to Holiday an unnatural number of times in a row. I will not even attempt to enumerate the number of hooks in this song. This live performance lacks the sound quality of the studio version but gives a glimpse of his awesome guitar work. The baroque contrapuntal section that appears out of nowhere about two minutes in is simply to-die-for. And when he takes the melody up an octave in the last couple of runs through the chorus - well it just sends shivers down my spine. 2010 cannot get here quickly enough.

Fulfillingness' First Finale

2009-10-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

The Beatles Abbey Road was/is a miracle. Personal, financial, and musical battles had shattered their ability to work together. Geoff Emerick (their long-time chief recording engineer) stated in his book Here, There and Everywhere regarding the 1968 sessions for The Beatles "for weeks I had been incensed about what had been going on, with the horrible, unsettled atmosphere, the constant bickering." He was so distraught that he demanded to be reassigned by EMI, leaving the project in midstream. By all accounts the Get Back sessions the following January were even worse. George Harrison temporarily quit the band, the music degenerated into long jam sessions, John Lennon told George Martin that these session were no place for his slick production work.

With the Get Back project on the shelf, the realization set in that the end was near. McCartney and George Martin decided to attempt a recording done the way they used to do it, with Martin guiding the production, and the Beatles once again playing together as a cohesive band. Sensing that it might be their last shot, the other three agreed to the terms, and Geoff Emerick was persuaded to return.

Various rock critics have referred to the mini-suite on the second side as a pop symphony. But if one must attribute classical forms to this work, I think a more apt description is tone poem. From the Wikipedia page for Tone Poem: combined or compressed multiple movements into a single principal section. Most folks consider the suite to start with a song which in itself is a multi-part composition - Paul's amazing You Never Give Me Your Money. For me the entire LP side constitutes the tone poem. The lyrics from the chorus of Here Comes the Sun return in Sun King, as do the transplendent multi-layered vocal harmonies from Because. Outside of the Beach Boys, 11th chords have never been used so effectively in a pop framework.

From George's most sunny and possibly finest melody until Paul's little throwaway ode to the Queen, everything that made the Beatles a force of nature can be found here. Frankly I prefer to listen to it non-stop from start to finish. Even John's two little character studies Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pan - which taken on their own are a bit slight (especially the former) - in the context of the suite, and glued together with Beatle's magic, are an essential portion of the experience.

Nicholas Schaffner, in his fine book The Beatles Forever said "The album as it stands shows four musicians, all at the height of their powers but each tuned into very different wavelengths, making one final effort to work together creatively and efficiently. McCartney, who hasn't yet given up on Art, attempts to weld a glittering scrapheap of fragments into an ambitious song cycle. Between them, the sparks fly." Indeed.

Teenage Angst

2009-10-21T22:04:00.000-07:00

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I moved away from rock music in the late 60s. In truth I did not completely shutdown to what was currently playing on the radio, and I did acquire The Beatles aka. White Album. That spurred me to purchase Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band several years after its release. Oddly enough I would not venture into Abbey Road for many years - and was totally blown away when I finally heard it for the first time.

But I digress from the point of this post regarding the three Beatle's singles that ruled my life during my junior high school years. My family was dysfunctional for sure, but at the time I did not imagine it to be any different than any other. There was usually a lot of drama going around, and I found the best cure was to place some vinyl on my nifty General Electric turntable and tune out what was going on around the household.

The three 45rpms that I would repeatedly play ad naseum have been labeled by some as the Beatle's "Indian Summer" singles, coming between the pyschedelic year of 1967 and the White Album in late 1968. These songs are etched into my inner fiber, a part of who I am, and to this day they elicit a feeling of euphoria. After 40 years and thousands of listens I never tire of them. At the time of their release, I was oblivious to the notion that they were "Paul" songs, although it was clear to me that he was they lead singer on them.

Hello Goodbye got the short straw for some folks, John Lennon included. He called it "three minutes of contradictions and meaningless juxtapositions". It is mentioned that it is too repetitious, but I never want it to end. For me, the clever harmonies, delicious guitar fragments, and overall sunny disposition have always been a soul lifter. And Mr. McCartney knows his way around a chord progression or two. More than any other song, this would go on the turntable as a mood changer, a relief from the sturm und drang of being a teenager.

Lady Madonna is the odd one out here, the first Beatle single not to go to number one in the USA since Yellow Submarine just barely missed the top spot in August of 1966. Both would be chart toppers in the U.K. The first time I heard it on AM radio in early 1968 I was blown away by the opening piano riff. And speaking of chord progressions, the middle eight skillfully constructs a bass line that carries the tune like a baroque passacaglia. Everything about the production works for me - the gorgeous vocal harmonies at the end of each verse ("see how they run"), the tight little guitar riff that pops in for maximum effect, the saxophone, the hand claps, the kazoo middle eight. Paul's meaningless yet clever lyrics leave everything to interpretation. This is the pinnacle of the lost art of writing a hit single. At barely two and a quarter minutes in length, it says what is has to say and rolls to an end with some of the most delicious pop piano pounding in history.

Hey Jude Speaking of feel-good songs, one must have a stone heart to avoid the vibe that came out of the EMI studio on that day in 1968. Even John knew this was the real deal. "Hey Jude is a damn good set of lyrics and I made no contribution to that." I will leave the genesis of the lyrics to you to decide who it was really written for (John? Julian? Paul?, Francie?, Dylan?). I do not spend much energy pondering, I just listen. And listen. And listen some more. For a real treat, try the new mono remaster version. When that build up to the first "la... la la ladda da da" occurs, my life is transfigured. Just as when I was 13 sitting in my room hiding from the world.

Jonestown Punch

2009-10-20T21:53:00.000-07:00

I was a late-comer to the rock'n'roll show. Sure, as a nine year old I mowed my grandparent's lawn to earn enough to buy a ticket to the premier of The Beatles A Hard Day's Night in 1964. But by 1967 the US TV debut of the Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane promo film left me lost in translation. Of course I have since come around to recognize it as a pinnacle of the Beatles work, but at the time I just was not ready. So I drifted away from rock until my sophmore year in college. Of course by then the 60s were well over and the rock establishment was petrifying.

So when New Wave/Punk hit, I was so there, buying every new release that I read about in the rock press. My college crowd was there with me, trading homemade cassettes of Elvis Costello, Lena Lovich, Television, Talking Heads, etc. The Pretenders walked a fine line between the old and the new. During the time frame of their two albums and assorted singles released by the original members, there was not a better band. Chrissie Hynde was (and sometimes still is) a fabulous songwriter, and as a singer she could move me with barely a whisper. Her husky voice never strained or screamed, yet managed to become one of the true original voices in R&R. James Honeyman-Scott was a guitarist of unlimited potential, able to produce pure ringing tones as well as blistering solos. Pete Farndon (bass) Martin Chambers (drums) were an exceptional rhythm section, able to fill the space between the vocals and guitar and yet also understanding the importance of empty beats.

In the summer of 1981 I was lucky enough to see the Pretenders live at the Oklahoma City Zoo Ampitheater with some of my friends. A yet-to-become-famous Go Gos - who wore matching polka dresses - put on a killer opening set. But the real deal was yet to come. Frankly I was so delirious at seeing Chrissie and company in person that I remember very little of the actual music other than that they were tight, aggressive, and had an amazing stage presence.

The following video has been on and off of YouTube for several years. I am sure this will get pulled soon so take a look while you can, to see a band that had it all for a few brief months before twin tragedies would occur.

p.s. the blog posting title comes from the heinous concocotion that my college friends put together (grape koolaid and everclear) for the infamous Enid Oklahoma punk roller skating party of 1980.

Exquisite

2009-10-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

Borrowed from Merriam-Webster - marked by flawless craftsmanship, or by beautiful, ingenious, delicate, or elaborate execution

For me no power pop song brings this to fruition better than The Raspberries 1974 Overnight Sensation. It was somewhat of a flop upon release - I recall that it barely dented the top 20. Then the band broke up shortly thereafter. We have seen this before. Here is the drill - group hits its stride, produces their best work, then disbands as record sales fizzle. For instance, the Zombies and their magnum opus Odessey and Oracle, all of Big Star's 70s studio albums. Regardless of what should have been, this song lives on in my Power Pop hall of fame.

Opening with perhaps the finest piano riff in pop history
0:38 the first appearance of the chorus "(I just ) Want a Hit Record". Just gorgeous.
0:56 the middle eight "well the program director don't pull it..."
1:21 Wally Bryson's guitar is on fire
1:30 as the verse returns, stabbing guitar power chords barely registering in the background
2:08 saxophone solo on a par with anything on a Bruce Springsteen album
2:32 middle eight returns
2:56 "while in my head I hear the record play, hear it play..."
3:05 the bottom drops out and a very tinny mono version appears - a great tribute to the bygone era of listening to the hit parade on a transistor-radio
3:15 gradually the modern stereo version overtakes the mono
3:58 back to the intro piano riff and Eric Carmen's McCartney-esque vocalizations, which fades and fades
by 4:18 the sound has dwindled down to just the piano gently rolling through the opening chords
4:24 - bam - fireworks from the drummer, then multi-tracked vocals, guitar pyrotechnics, the overload trailing off in the final for-real fade out