Friday, May 14, 2010

Weekend Listomania (Special Changes We All Go Through Audio/Video Edition)

Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental gastroenterologist/social affairs director Fah Lo Suee and I will be off to waterlogged Nashville, Tennessee where she'll be hooking up (as the kids say) with country singer Chely Wright. Ms. Wright recently made a big splash in the news when she revealed that she was a thespian, and Fah Lo Suee assures me she'll be spending a couple of days at Wright's apartment for some private acting lessons.

I'm sure I'll find something to do in town while she's occupied, but in any case, as a result, posting by moi will be sporadic for a while.

But in the meantime, here's a fun little project for us all:

Best or Worst Post-Beatles Pop/Rock Song or Record With the Words "Change" or "Changes" in the Title or Lyrics!!!

Self-explanatory, I think, and as a result no arbitrary rules of any kind here, you're welcome very much.

That said, you'll notice that conspicuously absent from the list is the song that would probably be most folk's most obvious choice. You know, that stuttering number from that album...damn, what's that thing called?

Oh yeah -- Zally McMuffin and the Gay Guys From Outer Space, or whatever.

In any case, feel free to choose Bowie's "Changes" as a Best nominee if you must, but be warned I will make merciless fun of you if you choose to do so.

And that said, my totally top of my head Top Ten is:

10. The Zombies -- Changes




From the gorgeous Odessey and Oracle album, obviously. One of my favorite tracks from said album, not so obviously.

9. John Mayer -- Waiting On the World to Change



Rory Gallagher dies, yet this embarrassing poser gets to play his crappy song in a party scene on CSI. I don't get it.

8. The Hollies -- Signs That Will Never Change




The B-side of Carrie Anne, and its own poignant way, almost as good. The Clarke-Hicks-Nash songwriting cartel was really at the peak of its game at this point.

7. Sugar -- If I Can't Change Your Mind




Husker Du's great Bob Mould, at his most ecstatically Byrdsian.

6. The Poor -- She's Got the Time (She's Got the Changes)




Randy Meisner's pre-Eagles psych garage band; the song is by either Brewer or Shipley (of "One Toke Over the Line" fame). This was actually a minor hit, at least in NYC.

5. Jim and Jean -- Changes




The Phil Ochs song, obviously, which was cloying enough on its own, but here given one of the lamest folk-rock arrangements of the 60s. Any similarity between this duo and Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, as Mitch and Mickey, in A Mighty Wind is purely coincidental, I'm sure.

4. Spider -- Change




God, this is awful. That too-cheesy-to-be-cute organ, the over-stated drumming, the abysmal mannered vocals -- you can hardly tell there's an actually pretty good song lurking in there somewhere.

3. John Waite -- Change


\

And here's the song done the way it always needed to be done. Have I mentioned that Waite's version of the Spider track is one of my top five New Wave guilty pleasures?

2. Sam Cooke -- A Change is Gonna Come


Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come .mp3
Found at bee mp3 search engine
Sublime on every level.

And the Numero Uno track delineating how life differs from the rocks is, no question about it, the one and only....

1. Godfrey Daniel -- Them Changes




The often-covered Buddy Miles annoyance of the early 70s, performed (rather drolly) here in the manner of some late 40s blues shouter or...well, actually I'm no quite sure who this is a pastiche of. Cab Calloway, maybe. In any case, clearly the definitive reading of the song.

Alrighty, then -- what would your choices be?

[Shamless Blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania -- theme: breakthrough performances by an actor or actress -- is now up over at here. As always, if you could see your way to going over there and posting a comment, it would get me in good with the capitalist bastards who run the place.]

33 comments:

Unknown said...

RU Kidding? Moby Grape, dude!

steve simels said...

Too Jewish!!!
:-)

~*Neon Serpent*~ said...

What about that nice English fellow, David Jones? Too obvious?

Crusader AXE of the Lost Causes said...

Not rock but post Beatles and one helluva 60s get laid song, Phil Ochs "Changes..." Although, I revisited it a few years ago and gagged at the lyrics...Kind of foreshadowing of Small Circle of Friends? No...Pleasures of the Harbor, I guess. Hell of a writer, hell of a musician but no in between...and most of the stuff he did that was "meaningful" was ripe with stuff like "sit next to me come as close as the air..."

steves said...

Amazing how you steered clear of Bowie on this one. But then, I think this week's topic was just an excuse to work in another mention of Godfrey Daniels.

John Fowler said...

here are my few -

The New Pornographers “The Laws Have Changed” from Electric Version. My nominee for best Changes song, and my favorite from the NPs. (I just realized, 'Changed' is not officially a Listomania qualification this week. Maybe, stretch the definition?)

Nic Armstrong & the Thieves “She Changes Like the Weather”, from The Greatest White Liar. Don't know if this guy ever made another album - you can tell he listens to a lot of early Beatles, etc.

The Neville Brothers had a nice version of “A Change is Gonna Come” on Yellow Moon, but I agree that the Sam Cooke is spectacular.

John Fogerty – “Change in the Weather”from Eye of the Zombie. Ok, it's mostly a lesser re-write of some CCR hits, but, well, its not bad.

Jason & the Scorchers – “Change the Tune” from Lost & Found.

Special Mention: Sea Change by Beck. The entire album is made especially to go with the depressing changes (eg "The Golden Age")

Worst: Little River Band – “Cool Change”. As in, 'time for...'

I hadn't heard that John Waite song in ages...

Anonymous said...

John Waite has one of the BEST voices in rock. I had forgotten all about this one.

mister muleboy said...

Wow.

As soon as I read your topic, I thought of Changes by Sugar, from their album Copper Blue.


Comes the rule, with no exception. . . .

Then I wondered "will Steve and the gang accept Sugar as Powerpop? WIll I be ridiculed without mentioning Bowie?


And then at number 7, the other "chenges" song from Copper Blue. You know, the popular one that's powerful.

Oh; I get it: PowerPop!

Nice category. I dig my selection a hair more than IICCYM, but wouldn't wanna live on the difference. . . .

thanks

Sal Nunziato said...

The Brains!!!

David said...

a pregnant topic:
"Changes"--Donovan (one of his uncelebrated gems, from Open Road, his heyday officially over)
"Change with the Changing Times" --the dB's
"Change": Killing Joke
"Pick Up the Change': Wilco
"Change the Locks": Lucinda Williams
and one cheesy Raydio song: "You Can't Change That"

Cleveland Jeff said...

I agree with Peter above on Changes by Moby Grape. A classic.

Change Partners by Steven Stills (could go in the best or worst category depending on your personal taste)

Some Change by Boz Scaggs.

A Change of Heart by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Cleveland Jeff said...

I agree with Peter above on Changes by Moby Grape. A classic.

Change Partners by Steven Stills (could go in the best or worst category depending on your personal taste)

Some Change by Boz Scaggs.

A Change of Heart by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

steves said...

One of Bob's best in recent years:

"Things Have Changed"

Unknown said...

Small Change (Got Rained On With His Own .38) by Tom Waits

dave™© said...

How about Barry McGuire's "Changes," sung while gyrating around flat on his back in "The President's Analyst"?

Anonymous said...

my first thought was Tears for Fears, then felt silly for forgetting the Raspberries.

Jon said...

I like to play a game with these posts where I read the theme and try and guess what Steve will come up with while also hoping I can come up with a) something not on the list and b) something someone else didn't already come up with.

I lose twice! I went through the same process as Muleboy, thinking Sugar's "Changes" immediately and same surprise to see Steve do it one better it with "Can't Change Your Mind."

My only other ideas were Yes's schlocky "Changes" and Francis Dunnery "I Beloieve I can Change My World" which is fun.

David said...

On the subject of Yes, "Perpetual Change" would be my choice--used to fine effect in Buffalo 66, I might add...

The Kenosha Kid said...

"Change of Heart" - Altered Images

"There's a change in the weather" - The Kinks

"I'd love to change the world" - Ten Years After

...and that's all I got

Wendy said...

"So you say you want a revolutiuh-uh-uhn ... we all want to change the world."

Unknown said...

Loved the GD. I think the singer is channelling Billy Eckstine, with a little Al Hibbler thrown in. Did you note that on the "Change is Gonna Come" label the track's length is listed as 2:36 but the readout below reaches 3:15 by the end? A little analog chicanery.

That could be a LOM topic someday, songs "too long for radio" that turned out to be hits anyway: Hey Jude, etc.

Dave said...

I think Bob Dylan wrote a song about the times.

Maude Lange said...

Donovan definitely and The Zombies of course.

Worst: Black Sabbath (from Vol. 4). And I like Black Sabbath

Noam Sane said...

INXS had some hit in the 80's - "Don't Change"? Nothing special but I remember appreciating its appearance in those dark, dismal, hair-sprayed times.

"Hello, It's Me":
It's important to me
That you know you are free
'Cause I never want to make you change for me

DeepKarma said...

Chris Von Sneidern contributed "Change Your Way" to the sampler CD that came with John Borack's Shake Some Action. Couldn't find the song anywhere on the innertubz, so I posted it over at YouTube. Just a beautiful tune.

Change Your Way

MBowen said...

As Sal pointed out, the one big song missing is Tom Grey's "Money Changes Everything" in various versions:

The Brains

Cyndi Lauper

The Arcade Fire (!)

Speaking of Cyndi, her only really decent post-"She's So Unusual" hit was Change of Heart.

One of Richard Thompson's songs he never officially recorded: Time To Ring Some Changes

One of the great Beatles '65 rip-offs: Sam Phillips Same Changes

Couldn't find a link to it, but one of Chrissie Hynde's most gorgous ballads was "When I Change My Life" from Get Close.

Marsupial said...

I'm obligated to say "Change" by Sparks, although I'm actually not sure if that's one of the best or worst.

Other than that, I'll go with the INXS, Altered Images, and Cyndi mentions above (Cyndi Lauper for the LIVE version of MCE only -- for the screaming if nothing else!).

Anonymous said...

James Brown, "Money Won't Change You"

The Smiths, "Money Changes Everything" (lovely instr. off World Won't Listen)

Tracy Chapman, "Change"

Anonymous said...

Trying to figure out the definition of "Post-Beatles" that would include Sam Cooke. Is that just used ironically now?

Faze said...

Eric Carmen's Change of Heart, from the album of the same name, which, although it was his generally his "disco" album, also contained the deathless "Hey Deanie".

On the topic of Jim & Jean, apparently Jim came by his Phil Ochs songs honestly, having (according to Wikipedia) met Ochs in 1959 and introduced Ochs to folk music and left wing politics, going on to form a duo (the Singing Socialists) with Ochs, and sharing a room with him in New York.

Dan said...

I love Change My Mind by Tyrone Davis. And how about Steely Dan's Change of the Guard?. Now, please forgive me not passing up this rare opportunity to direct your attention to what may well be the only online comic about Jim and Jean (among others). Thanks!

Wendy said...

Trying to figure out the definition of "Post-Beatles" that would include Sam Cooke. Is that just used ironically now?

"A Change is Gonna Come" was recorded in 1963 but released at the end of 1964, which makes it post-Beatles.

Crusader AXE versus the carnivorous, dwarf ducks said...

God, I'm embarassed...I missed that Ochsian thing; on the other hand, the horrible arrangement is one that turns it into an entirely different, albeit still awful song.