Annals of Interior Redecorating

I love the title of this album. Wallpaper of Sound indeed.

The music, as you can hear from this representative track, is another story, alas.



Not The Searchers finest moment obviously, but if it came on my car radio, I wouldn't turn it off.

Here's the complete track listing -- I must admit, I'm kind of curious about the Long John Baldry thing.

1. To know her is to love her / Robb Storme & The whisperers
2. Spanish harlem / Jimmy Justice
3. First Teast Of love / Migil 5
4. Some Kinda Wonderful/ Johnny Sandon
5. I’m Counting on you / Petula Clark
6. Bless You / Peter London
7. I love How you love me / Marie Gordon price
8. Twist And Shout / Searchers
9. he Knows I Love him Too Much / Glo Marcari
10. Ecstasy / Oliver reed
11. He’ a rebel / Breakaways
12. Up on The roof / Jimmy Justice
13. Chapel of love / Cadets
14. Da Doo Ron Ron / Searchers
15. Here She Comes/ Breakaways
16. Be My Baby / Searchers
17. Goodnight Baby / Searchers
18. You baby / Jackie Trent
19. You’re lost that loving feeling / Barbra Ann
20. The coldest night of the year / Twice as much & vashti
21. Born to be together/ P.P Arnold
22. Is this what I get for loving you baby/ Twice as much
23. Home of the Brave / peanut
24. I’ll take you where the musics playing / Pat Lynch
25. Hungry / 5 A.M. Event
26. Goin Back / Jackie Trent
27. River deep Mountain High/ Long John Baldry

You should be able to download the album for free over HERE; if it doesn't work, you can get it at AMAZON for a reasonable twenty bucks or so.

Your Friday Moment of WHY DIDN'T I GET THE FREAKING MEMO?

From 1988, please behold in breathless wonder the great Material Issue (featuring the sadly departed too young Jim Ellison) and an absolutely transplendent cover of The Sweet's bubble-gum/verging on power pop/70s classic "Little Willy."



Moah cowbell!!!

As you can guess, I'm a big Material Issue fan, and for the life of me I don't understand how I missed this one until yesterday. Oh well, such is life.

In any case -- have a great weekend everybody!!!

Bring Me the Head of Arthur Godfrey

From 1952, please enjoy(?) Godfrey show regular Janette Davis and her crime against nature novelty hit from hell "Hold the Phone."



I have to say that -- and I find this terrifying -- I'm old enough to have listened to Godfrey on the radio in his heyday (I think tomorrow I'll post his 1967 appearance with Moby Grape -- I'm not making this up). But until yesterday, I'd never heard the song above.

BTW -- this was Davis' other big hit.



Ain't life grand?

Your Wednesday Moment of Words Completely Freaking Fail Me

The Japanese ambassador to the United States straps on a Fender Stratocaster and performs a credible version of the Jimi Hendrix arrangement of "The Star Spangled Banner."



I know rock-and-roll is a universal language, but this really takes the cake.

[h/t Peter Spencer]

Who Listens to the Radio?

A quick programming note: Friend of PowerPop Capt. Al makes his triumphant return to the intertube airwaves beginning at 11am EST over at AREA 24 Radio today.

I believe this is his first Lost at Sea broadcast since the beginning of our current medical crisis, and all I can say is -- welcome back, big guy. Play some Floor Models if you get a chance.

To check it out, simply click on the link above and then the LISTEN HERE icon.

Girls! Girls! Girls!

A documentary on The Go-Gos?

Hey, this could be interesting.



Premieres on Showtime end of the month.

For what it's worth, as self-contained 80s girl groups go, I'm way more of a Bangles fan. But these gals were undeniably great and the film looks terrific.

Apparently they're gonna have a new single drop right before the movie as well -- I'll keep you posted.

It's Independence Day in the Time of Corona!!!

And in its honor -- a PowerPop tradition since 2018 -- please enjoy Bill Pullman, the greatest president of the United States who was never president of the United States...



...no, wait, in the era of President Syphilitic Dementia that's not even a particularly good joke anymore.

Sorry.

What I meant to say was please enjoy the late great Ben E. King and his gorgeous cover of Bruce Springsteen's "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)."



I should add that the existence of that clip -- in the immortal words of Cristina Applegate on Married With Children -- makes my mind wobble.

I mean -- can you imagine how cool for Bruce it must have been to learn that one of the singers you idolized back in your youth had actually beautifully interpreted a song you had written?

I think the word is wow.

Have a great socially distanced weekend, everybody!!!

Your Thursday Moment of Speaking of Gorgeous

[I originally posted this back in 2017, but I had forgotten how great the song in question is until I stumbled across it in my iTunes library the other day, so I thought I'd repost. Thanks for indulging me. -- S.S.]

This is an oh so tragic story, so please try not to laugh.

A long time ago (no Spanish American War jokes, thank you) I was going through a really painful breakup, by which I mean I was at the beginning of a three year depression that made me all but impossible to hang out with because of my annoying habit of saying things like "What's there to live for?" in response to questions like "Would you like fries with that?"

As you can imagine, my emotional state was impacting my listening habits, and at one point the then new 1991 album Anything Can Happen, by Nashville alt-pop rockers The Questionnaires, happened to cross my desk.

One song from the album in particular -- the (I decided) ragingly beautiful breakup ballad "In the Back of My Mind" --



-- hit me pretty hard and I began listening to it obsessively, to the point where I think I basically ignored everything else on the record, the rest of which could have been Lithuanian grindcore for all I knew.

Anyway, one day a critical colleague of mine -- toiling at Entertainment Weekly, as I recall -- happened to ask me what I was listening to of late, and I recommended said Questionnaires album, rather heartily, as I also recall. A few weeks later he called me up about a review assignment, and he finally said "Uh...Steve? You know that Questionnaires thing you made me listen to? It...really sucks."

To be honest, I didn't see the point in arguing, and I'm sure I figured that my own judgement probably wasn't all that reliable anymore, for obvious reasons. So I put the CD away out of earshot, and eventually mislaid it somewhere, probably while moving to a new apartment a year or two later.

Cut to the present and, for whatever reason the song popped into my head unbidden. So out of curiosity, I went through my iTunes library and checked out "In the Back of My Mind" for the first time in at least two decades. And guess what -- I still think that it's ragingly beautiful in a sort of Brian Wilson/early Association/lotsa harmonies kind of way.

Okay, no larger point, but you can listen to it above and make up your own mind about whether or not I'm the biggest pathetic wimp who ever lived.

Incidentally, the guy who wrote the song is big band jazz great Woody Herman's grandson. What Woody would have thought about any of this, of course, is anybody's guess.

POSTSCRIPT: You can get a brand new copy of the Questionnaires CD -- which I just listened to for the first time in years, and which is really really good -- at Amazon, for a lousy six bucks, over HERE.

Your Wednesday Moment of Words Fail Me

Apparently, this is an official video for George Harrison's gorgeous "What Is Life."



I have no idea who is responsible for this, or when it's from, but I must confess I completely lost it yesterday when I stumbled across it at YouTube.

Seriously -- if this doesn't reduce you to a puddle of tears, I don't want to know you.

These Guys Speak For Me

From several moments ago, please enjoy Rick Estrin & the Nightcats and a sentiment I think we can all agree with -- "Dump That Trump."



Say what you will about our current historical moment, but it's turned out to be a vintage time for musical satire of fascist political shitheads.

I mean, don't even get me started on the brilliant RANDY RAINBOW. Who should probably get a Pulitzer before this is over.