Friday, February 27, 2009

Weekend Listomania (Special Seven Days in February Video Edition)

Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental nafkeh metaphysical adviser Fah Lo Suee and I will be travelling to the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC for the annual batshit insane wingnut fest CPAC 2009 Conservative Forum and Cattlecall.

I'm currently scheduled to host a seminar entitled "Rachel Maddow and the Lesbian Plot to Sap Our Precious Bodily Fluids," but I may be sitting in at the "Al Franken and ACORN: How Liberals are Destroying the American Election System" forum as well. [Author's Note: That last one is absolutely real. Swear to god.]

In any case, posting by moi will necessarily be sporadic for a few days.

But in my absence, here's a fun project for you all to contemplate:

Most Memorable Post-Beatles Song With Either the Word Week or a Specific Day of the Week In Its Title!!!

Self-explanatory, obviously, so no arbitrary rules this time. Although if you try to sneak in Loudon Wainwright's "April Fools Day Morn," or "Wild Weekend" or something similar, I will come to your house and taunt you unmercifully. Okay? We're talking either Monday through Sunday or the actual word week.

Incidentally -- without having checked the archives (which is more complicated than I want to think about, frankly) it occurs to me I might have done something kind of similar to this not too long ago. if so, please forgive my incipient senility and a workload that would be crushing for a college kid on meth, let alone a senior citizen.

Thank you.

Okay, here's my totally top of my head Top Seven:

7. Groovy Tuesday -- The Smithereens



From Especially For You, which remains one of the great underrated albums of the 80s. This is a recent solo performance by head 'Reen Pat DiNizio, and it's so good I can almost forgive him for being a winger.

6. Sunday Morning -- The Velvet Underground



Lou's big Brill Building move on the Velvets' otherwise kinda scary debut LP. Seriously -- this is so pretty, the Monkees could have covered it.

5. Saturday Night -- Kaiser Chiefs



Not a fan, particularly, but in the absence of anything relevant featuring Billy Corgan's pretentious cueball noggin, I thought it appropriate to have something recorded in the current century.

4. Eight Days a Week -- The Beatles



From the non-canonical American LP Beatles VI. As Cameron Crowe famously said of something else, you still can't buy a better record.

3. Sunday Girl -- Blondie



You know, it's not exactly a secret that I'm a sucker for a woman in a man's dress shirt and tie, but -- and I've never seen this clip before -- she was really to die for, wasn't she?

2. Lazy Sunday -- Small Faces



One of the most evocative "knickers up at the pub" songs of 60s Brit rock. And those little psychedelic breaks in the middle, with the chimes and organ, are just exquisite, doncha think?

And the numero uno 7 Jours Par Semaine song of them all, c'mon for a change I'm not exagerrating here and there really can't be any doubt about this, obviously is --

1. Friday on My Mind -- The Easybeats.



C'mon -- you knew this was gonna be the one, right? Great song, and the amazing thing is that it's not even their best, although that remains a fairly well-kept secret outside of Australia.

Awrighty then -- what would your choices be?

[Shameless Blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania -- theme: most memorable cop flicks -- is now up over at Box Office (inspired by the radically new transfer William Friedkin did for the Blu-Ray version of The French Connection). As always, if you could see your way to going over there and leaving a comment, it would convince management that I'm worth the vast sums of money they're paying me. Thanks!]

38 comments:

Mister Pleasant said...

Slots 1 through 4 are all top notch. I just discovered that Blondie's "Sunday Girl" was a number one single in the UK! Go figure.

A couple of glam entries on my list:

Drive In Saturday - David Bowie. A way underrated tune in my book. Incredible that Mott the Hoople passed on the chance to record it. And speaking of MTH....

Remember the Saturday Gigs. - Mott The Hoople. Their last great gasp before Hunter left.

Anonymous said...

Please...."Monday, Monday"

Anonymous said...

Pleasant Valley Sunday - are Monkees post-Beatles? I figured since the Beatles themselves are in this, the Monkees also qualified.

Anonymous said...

Ruby Tuesday - The Rolling Stones (couldn't find a clip of their Sullivan appearance)
Ironing Tuesdays - The Posies (from the first album, I think?)
Manic Monday - The Bangles (obligatory)
Black Friday - Steely Dan
Saturday Night Is Dead - Graham Parker
Saturday Night Didn't Happen - Reparata & The Delrons (kinda trippy)
Almost Saturday Night - John Fogerty (an unsung.......erm......song)

Anonymous said...

she was really to die for, wasn't she?

She still is -- I don't care how old she gets. (Blondie just played at State Line last night. It's good that some things don't change.)

Also, another vote for Pleasant Valley Sunday (I was beaten out). Almost a perfect pop song.

John Fowler said...

Only Sunday & Monday for me:

Sunday Papers - Joe Jackson - (wasn't this a clue a week or so ago?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnaUL8OpBck

Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2

Monday - Wilco, off of Being There, my favorite album of theirs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAchM1rqiOg

and
Blue Monday - New Order -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts9r0QHuFHw

Anonymous said...

I detest Lynyrd Skynyrd, but I love Tuesday's Gone, especially a cover by a couple of bluegrass singers called The Stevens Sisters.

I've never heard a bad version of T-bone Walker's Stormy Monday, but I'll take the Allmans' amazing rendition on Fillmore East.

steve simels said...

Just for the record, I was going to include the Graham Parker and the Fogerty, but I couldn't find vids for either.

BTW, does anybody have the CD of the Searchers Sire albums, with their version of "Almost Saturday Night"?

TMink said...

Great clips Steve!

Trey

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

It's early and my brain isn't fully functional yet, but I still can nominate, with great confidence, "I Don't Like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats.

Feral said...

Kris Kristofferson - Sunday Morning Coming Down

And who could forget the Bay City Rollers...?

Anonymous said...

"Welcome to the Working Week" - Elvis Costello (too obvious?)

"Monday" - The Jam

"Saturday Night" - Bay City Rollers

"First Week, Last Week... Carefree" - Talking Heads

David said...

"To Claudia on Thursday": The Millennium ... Steve, do you know this? Curt Boettcher of the Association? A great wacky song. Will send if you don't have ...
"Wednesday Week" Elvis Costello and also by the Undertones
"Gentle Tuesday" -- Primal Scream
The exquisite "Tuesday Morning" by the Pogues
"Friday I'm in Love" one of the most uplifting of all Cure songs
Baron Saturday: The Pretty Things

Anonymous said...

saturday nights alright for fighting - elton john
sunday will never be the same -spanky & our gang
tuesday afternoon - moody blues

steve simels said...

David:

I know the Millenium, and I know I had the album at some point, but the song has not apparently impinged on my consciousness.

Anonymous said...

rainy days and mondays - carpenters
i met him on a sunday -shirelles or laura nyro
saturday in the park- chicago
monday morning rock - Marshall Crenshaw
saturday night at the movies - Drifters
saturday night fever -bee gees

Anonymous said...

steve simels said...

BTW, does anybody have the CD of the Searchers Sire albums, with their version of "Almost Saturday Night"?


Yes, and it's like pure gold. Love those covers.

Regarding Deb, the first time I saw her was probably in late 78 or early 79 in the Heart Of Glass video. I must have been 10 years old and suddenly I knew (a) that I was definitely straight (not that there was ever any confusion) and (b) what the whole male/female thing was all about.

steve simels said...

I saw Debbie H a couple of times when she was in some ersatz girlgroup, way before Blondie...I forget what they were called. I think the Stillettos. She and they were amazing.

And then my crappy 70s band did a show with pre-Blondie at CBGBs. It was Debbie, Chris Stein, Fred Smith (later of Television) and I'm not sure who the drummer was -- might have been Billy Ficca. They were called Snake, but they were basically exactly what Blondie became.

We saw their soundcheck and wanted to either kill ourselves or just go home without playing because they were so obviously great.

Very nice folks, though -- said undeserved complimentary things about us, and I talked equipment with Chris Stein, who was a mensch. They had no attitude whatsoever at that point...

Anonymous said...

"Calender Girl" work - NEIL SEDAKA --

TMink said...

Stein has got the goods, that is for sure. Actually, the whole band rocked, the drummer pushed hard and the lead guitarist was all sneer and cocky attitude and then there was Ms. Harry, her generations Grace Slick.

Trey

Anonymous said...

I can't believe nobody mentioned One More Saturday Night by the Grateful Dead, one of the few - perhaps only? - songs where Bob Weir gets solo writing credit.

Kid Charlemagne said...

I saw Debbie H a couple of times when she was in some ersatz girlgroup, way before Blondie...I forget what they were called. I think the Stillettos. She and they were amazing.


We appear to be all willfully forgetting "Wind in the Willows"

Kid Charlemagne said...

The Minders - "Hooray for Tuesday"

The Undertones - "Wednesday Week"

Ultravox - "Satday Night in the City of the Dead"

Anonymous said...

And who could forget the Bay City Rollers...?

:wave:

Jesus, Steve, you played at CBGB?

I want to hold your ... um, pick.

Seriously.

MBowen said...

"(Say No To) Saturday's Girl", Human Switchboard - such an amazingly great song. Robert Pfieffer deserves a pardon just for being part of this record.

"A Life of Sundays", The Waterboys - a deliriously happy love song.

"Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo", Jens Lekman - goofy fun, and yes, from this century.

Noam Sane said...

Hey, wait a minute, I played CBGBs too. In a blues band. Summer of '86, I believe.

Within 30 seconds of our first song, pretty much the entire room got up and walked out.

How about "Semi-interesting Week" from last year's Was/Not Was album?
Pretty great record.

Righteous Bubba said...

Big Hollywood shout-out! You are totally one of the top 25 conservative music websites.

Anonymous said...

My daughter would like to add one of her favorites (I like the song quite a bit as well):
One Week - Barenaked Ladies
And another I've always liked
Manic Monday - The Bangles

Anonymous said...

megisi said...
And who could forget the Bay City Rollers...?

:wave:

Jesus, Steve, you played at CBGB?

I want to hold your ... um, pick.

Seriously.

2/27/2009 6:06 PM


Dirty little secret: Everybody my age played CBGB.

There wasn't really a lot of quality control. Hilly, god bless him, let everybody who even tried play a couple of times play.
:-)

Dave said...

The best pop recording of a day of the week is my favorite song title ever, the Harptones' "A Sunday Kind of Love."

Alas, it wasn't recorded post-Beatles. But the Beatles were alive, if pre-pubescent, when it was recorded, so it qualifies in some totally illegitimate way.

Many worthy entries, but let me add one more. I'm a huge fan of Sunday Morning (and I was a friend of Chris Stein's mother!), but it isn't the only inspired song on the subject: Spanky and Our Gang's "Sunday Mornin'" is cool, but here is a video that is undecidedly uncool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2eobNTqhxo

TuneLovinJacket said...

Spent a week with you Last Night - The Records
Every Day Feels Like Sunday - Of Montreal
New Moon On Monday - Duran Duran (I am SO sorry)
Super Tuesday - The Shazam
Wednesday - Drive By Truckers (hard to find a wed or thur song)
Good Friday - Black Crowes
Saturday Night - The Thrills

Kid Charlemagne said...

How could I forget my faves The Move - Mist on a Monday Morning?

preznit said...

Shoot Charlie- Weekdays
Shoulders- On Sunday
Shermans- Monday Morning Girl
Cloud Eleven- Tuesday Letter
Pipas - It's Wednesday
Autocollants- Another Thursday
Jens Lekman- Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo
The Pains Of Being Pure at Heart- Come Saturday

Anonymous said...

.I forget what they were called. I think the Stillettos.

The last time I saw Blondie (2001, I think?) the band was actually selling Stilettos T-shirts, along with all of the Blondie shtuff. I couldn't help but think that maybe 1% of us knew what that was all about.

Anonymous said...

Another Saturday Night - Sam Cooke.

Anonymous said...

Heart Of A Saturday Night - Tom Waits

I'm especially fond of Shawn Colvin's take, on her appropriately-titled cd of covers, "Cover Girl".

Anonymous said...

Ah Debbie...first saw her on the Midnight Special and baby I was gone! Have seen her in concert with and without Blondie. Clem is the BOMB. Stein I don't know...the young new guy in the band seemed to be doing the heavy lifting...same with Frank Infante (all sneer and attitutde yes) in the old videos, it seems...