More specifically, it's an Italian language (obviously) cover version of the Stones' "Paint It Black." From a recent (2022) period heist movie (set during WW II) called Robbing Mussolini. And no, I never heard of it (the film) either, but Wiki informs me it was ill-received by critics. The track itself, being warbled by fetching co-star Matilda De Angelis, is apparently also featured on some compilation album somewhere, but I have not been able to track it down so far.
In any case, I haven't decided what I think about that musically (IMHO the film looks interesting, though), and as a companion piece, it occurred to me to dredge up the Italian language remake the Stones did of "As Tears Go By" (one presumes for the Eurovision Song Contest) back in 1965. So here it is.
Hadn't heard that in ages. A harmless bit of shlock, obviously, but certainly not their finest hour. 😎😎
Before we get started, a little non-musical news for you.
Just wanted to let you know that beginning Monday, a certain Shady Dame and I will be off on a vacation to Bonnie Scotland; for 8 days we'll be based in Edinburgh, and making excursions both in and out of the city (Loch Ness or bust, baby!!!).
I'm gonna try to interrupt our busy pre-trip schedule of getting flu shots and packing our clothes to write a few normal posts for next week before we leave, but what success I'll have in that regard is an open question. In any case, I figure you'll have to endure at least a couple of entries devoted strictly to our Scottish tourism. I beg your indulgence for this in advance.
Okay, with that out of the way, on to our traditional weekend mishegass.
Anyway, Petrusich has a piece in the most recent issue about current chart-topping pop tart Sabrina Carpenter, which I read with a certain degree of skepticism. And, initially, it struck me as just the usual indefensible cutesie puff piece from Petrusich's patented "Everything's Great Including the Obvious Shit" school of cultural musings.
But she begins the essay with a longish exegesis of Carpenter's latest single ("Manchild") and in the interests of critical responsibility, I gave the video of same a look-see.
And to my considerable surprise...
...I kinda (emphasize: kinda) liked it. The song is moderately catchy, the lyrics are legitimately funny, and the production -- and this floored me -- is really pretty good; the thing rocks, and there's even an actual, if brief, guitar solo for heaven's sakes. Couldn't stand Carpenter's singing, which sounds auto-tuned even if it probably isn't, but hey, you can't have everything.
Which brings us, inexorably, to the subject of our latest group discussion. To wit:
Proposed: Most current commercial pop music -- i.e. the stuff that sells -- is by and large the worst crap we've had to endure since the pre-rock Fifties.
Discuss.
By which, of course, I mean weigh in yea or nay.
I'm leaning towards yea, in case you haven't guessed, but I do wonder if this isn't just me being a grumpy old man who's turned into his parents. And then I hear something like the Carpenter song above and I grudgingly think -- y'know, maybe these kids today are not so bad. 😎
Alrighty, then -- which side are YOU on?
And have a great weekend, everybody! See you in Scotland!!!
From their forthcoming (November 3) 8-song EP The Completely Fictional History of This Great Nation of Canada (heh) please enjoy Toronto pop/punk powerhouse The Mendozaz and the utterly amazing lead-off track "Late Stage 12 Gauge."
Inspirational verse:
Why do I
Always have to
Come up through the cellar
When all we ever do
Is watch Penn and Teller
Seriously, what a terrific song and hilarious video. Plus, as you have doubtless intuited, it's depressingly relevant to our current cultural climate, if I may make a Charlie Kirk reference without being dragged from my apartment by masked ICE agents dispatched by Pam Bondi. 😎
In any case, these guys -- who've been around without registering on my radar since 2017 -- have three previous albums on their resume, and all of them presumably display the same vastly entertaining mix of melodic guitar hooks and snot-nosed harmonies.
You can download the earlier stuff and pre-order the new one over at their Bandcamp site HERE. They also appear to have an official website where, presumably, you can learn more about them, but at the moment I can't get the link to work; I'll see if I can get that resolved and get back to you.
Now excuse me, I have to go get my shotgun and head off for a discussion with a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance. 😎😎
Specifically -- a star-studded new (musically fab) tribute to power pop gods The Raspberries that's due out momentarily. And two of the acts participating are personal friends who I've actually played music with. 😎
The above video, of course, features current Greatest Rock Band in the World The Lemon Twigs covering the 'Berries "Play On" and (drop dead gorgeously) "Let's Pretend," plus an utterly infectious update of "Cruisin' Music" by the Twigs' proud dad (and occasional bandmate of mine) Ronnie D'Addario.
To which I can only add that God's in his heaven and all's right with the world.
Seriously, the two CD set -- unsurprisingly titled Play On: A Raspberries Tribute -- is one of the most entertaining things of its kind I've heard in ages. I should also add that it features Rick Springfield(!) doing a killer version of "Go All the Way," plus equally smashing tracks by Robin Zander, Marshall Crenshaw, Lou Gramm (absolutely nailing "Tonight") and Shoes (with a particularly jaw-dropping revisit to "Overnight Sensation").
Plus scads more great stuff; you can check out the complete track listing and pre-order the thing (official release date is October 10th) for purchase or streaming over at Amazon HERE.
So what are you waiting for? Get over there and snag a copy right this minute!
And tell 'em PowerPop sent you!!!
P.S.: Oh -- and I've been meaning to say this for a while now, but if the Lemon Twigs aren't musical guests on Saturday Night Live this season, I swear to god I'm gonna take a hostage. 😎😎
Okay, I was gonna post about the new and fab Raspberries tribute album today, but then I chanced across the clip below and had a physical reaction so intense that if I hadn't taken my blood pressure pill earlier in the morning I would have been in serious medical trouble.
I've always loved that song, and I'm sure I must have seen that video before. But still -- just now when Ronnie shimmied onto the set in time for that first "Be my little baby" chorus...I mean, no fooling, I got chills merely typing the preceding bit of this sentence. 😎
I'll post on that Raspberries tribute tomorrow -- word of honor. If I live, of course. 😎 😎
So me and a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance went to see Spinal Tap II: The End Continues yesterday.
Here's the trailer, which gives you a pretty good idea of the feel of the thing...
...and here's a song from the soundtrack album, featuring Paul McCartney. I particularly enjoyed his reaction to the ersatz "Penny Lane" trumpet part. 😎
So how did I like it? The short version...it's wonderful. And as for Valerie Franco, the heavily tattoed blonde punkette cutie who plays Didi Crockett, their new drummer (and she's really playing the drums)...
Let's just say that a star is born. 😎 😎
Seriously, if you enjoyed the original film you're gonna be delighted with this one. Trust me.
And I'd tell you more, but there's no way I can really do that without verging on spoiler territory.
I should stipulate up front that today's titular quote has been attributed to Marilyn Monroe; apparently she said it in real life, not in a movie, although a Google search has not disgorged a citation for it.
Anyway, if you were here yesterday, when I posted that kinda goofy rocked up version of J.S. Bach's "Air" by Dutch band Ekseption, you probably saw the subject of today's esssay question coming down Broadway, as they say.
So without any further ado, let's get right to it. To wit:
...and your favorite (or least favorite) post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/r&b record by a group or solo artist demonstrating either an overt or implied influence of European classical music in the writing or performing or both, is...?
Discuss.
No arbitrary rules, but just to be a little more specific, what we're talking about doesn't have to be some kind of obvious borrowing from a particular classical composition; some of my favorites aren't, as you will see shortly. And when I say post-Elvis, that's to make sure none of you bastid kids nominates one of those godawful 1940s hits like "Full Moon and Empty Arms," which actually appended sappy lyrics to a melody from Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto. And yes, you're allowed to put up prog shit if applicable, as distasteful as I might find that personally. 😎
And my nominees? It's a tie. Between this...
...and this.
That's the late Alan Civil playing French horn on the Beatles track, BTW; in case you're unfamiliar with him, he was considered to be perhaps the greatest exponent of his instrument in the second half of the 20th Century. You should hear him do the Mozart horn concertos with Otto Klemperer, is what I'm saying. 😎😎
An ad in Billboard, March 28, 1970. Boy, those were the days.
And here's the band and song in question, performing fake live on Dutch TV a few months earlier.
That's kind of appealingly Procol Harum-ish, no? And that keyboard player is really a lot of fun.
Anyway, I either never heard of those guys previously or I'd simply forgotten them, both of which possibilities strike me as odd, because as long time readers are aware I'm a fan of Dutch rock in general. In any event, when I stumbed across the above the other day, it was a very pleasant surprise.
Not to fear, however. Regular, less self-indulgent posting -- i.e., the traditional weekend essay question -- will resume on the morrow.
More to the point, it's a superb new (2025) fan remix of the Fabs' inexplicably undervalued "Hey Bulldog." I always thought this song was one of their coolest ever rockers, but now here it is as nature intended.
Wow. I mean -- that's a bit of a revelation, 'innit. 😎
Or as the guy who put it together points out in his YouTube notes, one of the clearest examples of how exciting The Beatles could sound as a live band.
And you're welcome very much, of course. 😎 😎
Mike Viola, as you all doubtless know, was the front guy/chief songwriter of the fab gear Candy Butchers, and voiced the lead singer of fictional band The Wonders in Tom Hanks' perpetually amazing That Thing You Do.
I was unaware of the above clip, however, until the other day when a musician friend turned me on to it, and it totally blew my miniscule mind. I mean -- wow.
I should add, and just for the record, that I am beginning to think it might not be an exagerration to suggest that Viola is, conceivably, the world's greatest living male rock vocalist. In the meantime, you can find out where's he playing live in the future -- and see some more utterly amazing video clips -- over at his official website HERE.
Courtesy of Pulitzer winning critic/friend of PowerPop Tim Page -- from the New York Times, here's the greatest mismatch of photo and caption in newspaper history,
Click on it to enlarge, if you can't read it. You'll thank me, honest.
I mean, I'm not much of an opera fan, but man -- what I wouldn't have given to see THAT production. 😎
From his brand new (and superb) album The Great Yellow Light, please enjoy the incomparable Willie Nile (and band) and the video for the lead-off single "We Are We Are."
Long time readers are aware of my enthusiasm for Willie's work over the years, but at this point it's just getting ridiculous. I mean, The Great Yellow Light (the title is a reference to Vincent Van Gogh's letters to his brother, Theo, and the light that inspired him in Arles, France) is by my count his 15th(!) studio effort since making one of the greatest debut records of all time back in 1980. And the fact that this new one one is of comparable quality -- and in fact sounds, in its brash high-energy and passionate intensity, like the work of some young artist who wasn't even born when that first one came out -- is nothing short of amazing.
I should add that, if you order a physical copy of the album (which you can do over at Amazon HERE or at Bandcamp) you get a little bonus sticker featuring a cameo appearance by your humble scribe.
And I stand by the judgement thereupon. 😎
Oh, I should also add that if you're in the NYC area, Willie and band are going to be doing two (Nov. 26 and 28) early and late career retrospective shows at the Loft at City Winery; the first one, which will feature songs from that aforementioned debut album, will very likely be in the spirit of his legendary gigs at the old Kenny's Castaways. Be there or be square -- a certain Shady Dame and I will definitely be in attendance, and we look forward to seeing you. 😎😎
Okay -- and, for reasons that will be obvious in a moment, that leads us inexorably to the weekend's business at hand. To wit:
...and the post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/soul artist -- solo or band -- who's done the most consistently excellent work over the space of a multi-decade career is...?
Discuss.
I don't really have a dog in this hunt; obviously, Willie would be one of my candidates, but other than him, top of my head I'm not sure who I'd nominate.
In any event -- alrighty then, who would YOUR choices be?
Sorry to have been slacking two days in a row. Have no fear, however -- you'll find that tomorrow's Weekend Essay Question is particularly substantive, if I do say so myself, and I'm offering it in penance. 😎
BTW, I don't usually like (or approve of) those so-called Nancy "remixes" that are omnipresent on the intertubes lately, but the Iggy joke was too good not to include here.
Okay, I realize that I'm late to the party, but this song and video (from 2020) by New Zealand punk/pop mavens The Beths (who I first discovered and wrote about last Thursday) is/are the most wonderful thing(s) I've seen/heard in ages.
Seriously, I love just everything about that -- the guitar interplay, the harmonies, the whole instructional premise -- but when the bass player suddenly showed up as Paul McCartney I nearly fell off my desk chair.
...and in its honor, we give you honorary American Neil Young going all up the workers with his classic "Union Man."
I should add that the above song is something of a holiday tradition in these precincts. Originally, I used to post The Strawbs' British hit "Part of the Union," which I always assumed had been designed to piss off Margaret Thatcher, may she rot in hell, but I have since been informed by several genuine Limeys of my acquaintance that in the UK the song is actually read as being ANTI-labor. Go figure. In any case, as a result, Neil is now my go-to guy for songs with a pro-prole bent. At least till I discover a really cool more contemporary song echoing the same sentiments.
I should also say that the above seems especially pertinent given that we are currently living in the kind of country that inspired Woody Guthrie's guitar to kill the kind of people now running it -- and hey, is Donny Demento dead yet? But I lack the energy to go into that at the moment, and I'd rather (and I bet you would too) just enjoy today's lovely weather.
So have a nice one, and regular power pop themed posting resumes on the morrow.
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