Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "Encounters with Greatness!!!" Edition

So Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood turned 79 last Monday, and when I heard the news I immediately flashed on this song from his 1974 solo debut album.

Now granted, that features Keith Richards singing lead, which seems a bit odd given that the name of the record is I've Got My My Own Album to Do, but hey -- it was the '70s, and we were all a little over the top.

In any event, it's a to-die for rocker, and as I can testify from personal experience, a ton of fun to cover live.

P.S.: I've told this story before, but it behooves repeating. The short version is that my '70s band The Hounds was recording at legendary Electric Lady studios sometime in 1974 or '75, and during a coffee break, I found myself in the studio lounge with none other than -- you guessed it -- Ron Wood. Who presumably was working next door in one of the studio's bigger rooms on what became IGMOATD.

I was utterly awestruck, as you can imagine, but Wood couldn't have been more of a nice regular guy, and while pouring himself a cuppa, he leaned over and said "Here, mate -- have one of these."

And gave me one of his custom guitar picks...

...which I never used either on-stage or in rehearsal, but rather left in a little ceramic dish on my coffee table, where it remained one of my most treasured possessions until I lost it during a traumatic move to a new apartment some two decades later.

I should add that the song we were working on the day Ronnie gifted it to me later became the A-side of our 1976 indie single. Available now on the fabulous 2026 bands that played at CBGBs boxset on Cherry Red Records.

Closed for Monkey Business

Sorry, not feeling so well today.

Excellent stuff related to the theme of this here blog resumes on the morrow.

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckles and Photo-Funnies

I particularly like the Penny Lanesaw Massacre. 😎

I Knew Doris Day BEFORE She Was a Virgin!

So and speaking as we sort of were last week of the Great American Songbook hoo hah...

In case you're wondering, that was the B-side of the sublime "Concrete and Clay"; I know this because I actually owned the 45 back in the day (1965).

Well, actually I owned the American version on London Records, but you get the idea.

The song itself -- co-written by the great film composer Victor Young -- was originally a hit for Doris Day in 1952, but don't worry...I won't inflict that on you at this late date.

I should add that I have always loved U4+2's version; in fact, I wore out the b-side a lot faster than the putative hit.

I should also add that I stole today's title from Oscar Levant, who knew whereof he spoke. 😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "The Great Anglo/American Songbook" Edition

Okay, by way of introduction, from 2021, please enjoy my old friend/occasional bandmate/actual father of The Lemon Twigs (heh!) the remarkable Ronnie D'Addario and his genius-level cover of Frank Sinatra's classic 1945 plea for tolerance "The House I Live In"

In the style of the "Mr. Tambourine" era Byrds, i.e. 1965.

My god, that's brilliant. Both conceptually and execution-wise.

And I would be remiss if I didn't post the original proto-music video of the song, which won an Academy Award in 1946, just so you can see how transplendent Ronnie's cover is.

Anway, I bring all this up because the other day a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance and I were watching Robert Altman's fabulous 2001 Agatha Christie detective mystery pastiche Gosford Park, and I flashed on how much I loved co-star Jeremy Northam's performance of Brit pop songwriter Ivor Novello's 1924 hit "The Land of Might Have Been."

Seriously, I think that's gorgeous and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Lack of blues influence notwithstanding. 😎

And all of which leads us, slowly but inexorably, to the subject of today's thought experiment. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) pre-Elvis English or American trad pop song that's sort of become a standard or you just like is...???

Discuss.

No arbitrary rules whatsoever, and because I'm a nice guy, if you nominate something from the mid-50s or early '60s -- i.e., from My Fair Lady, West Side Story or The Music Man -- I will let you slide. But it's gotta be non-rock and nothing later than "Till There Was You"!!!

Anyway, in case you're wondering, here's my pick. By the Gershwins -- George and his lovely wife Ira. 😎

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

What -- No Love For Joey and Tommy?

From just now in 2026, please enjoy the brand new remix/reissue of Aussie punk/power pop pioneers The Eastern Dark's 1985 Ramones homage single "Johnny and Dee Dee."

I must confess to being heretofore unaware of those guys, who hailed from Sydney, although the guitar player had earlier been in The Celibate Rifles, who I recall enjoying back in the day. In any event, a terrific song; I particularly like the contrast between the delicately mournful instrumental intro and the buzz-saw guitars of the rest of it.

I should add that you can order copies of the newly pressed limited edition 45 -- in your choice of black, yellow, green and red vinyl -- over here at the website of Grown Up Wrong Records!.

BTW, get me drunk some time and I'll tell you about the, er, meeting I took with Dee Dee and my literary agent sometime in the '90s. The idea was they were gonna pitch a Dee Dee autobiography to some unsuspecting publisher and I was supposed to be the co-author.

Let's just say it was one of the creepiest experiences I've ever had.

It's Juxtaposition Wednesday

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. 😎

I should confess that the above Nashville Teens song is one of my favorite secret guilty pleasures of the Brit Invasion. Your mileage may vary, obviously.

In any case, actual new music directly relevant to the actual raison d'etre of this here blog will resume on the morrow.

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckles and Photo-Funny

The one with the album covers is actually kinda scary. 😎

For Sal, Who Knows Why

Okay, I really love this one. Actually wrote it up in a 1973 or '74 column in Stereo Review (having heard it on a Bowie bootleg) expressing my pleasure and surprise that I actually liked something by the guy. 😎

Pretty sure I didn't know that it had ever been officially released, however.

In any event, if Ziggy Stardust (the album) had sounded this Eddie Cochran-ish and cool, I would have probably spent the rest of my career/life raving about how much I dug its auteur. 😎😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Insert Michael Jackson Joke Here" Edition

Okay, this seemed kind of prescient/timely in the era of President Inepstein.

That is, of course, the incomparable Something Fierce, who as long-time/attentive readers will recall, I have described as the greatest pop/rock band you've never heard of unless you're from Minneapolis.

Of the song itself, I famously opined (at the time of its release in 1996):

"One song [from A Sound for Sore Ears] deserves particular mention...specifically, 'Watergate,' in which [they] posit -- over a hilariously overdramatic instrumental bed -- that A Girlfriend From Hell is the metaphorical equivalent of the Nixon scandals and sustain the conceit for more than five fricking minutes. If nothing else, this must be the first song in history to contemplate rhyming 'spill the beans' with 'Haldeman, Mitchell and Dean,' and I would like to go on record, at this juncture, as saying that this song remains for my money the most audacious conceptual masterstroke on any '90s rock album by anybody. So there."

And I stand by every word.

Which leads us, subtly but inexorably, to the subject of today's thought experiment. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) song centering on a person or people who are at the very least not so nice (and at the worst really evil) in the title or lyrics is/are???

Discuss.

No arbitrary rules whatsoever, but bonus points if the song you pick actually has the actual word "bad" in it somewhere.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, my fave is this fabulous Larry Williams cover you might possibly have heard before. 😎

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!