Weekend Listomania: Special "Hell, My Kid Could Do That" Edition

It's been an exhausting week, for reasons too obvious to mention, so once again let's abjure the traditional snarky, pun-filled intro referencing my Asian manual catharsis technician Fah Lo Suee and thus get directly and inexorably to the subject of today's business. To wit:

...MOST AVANT-GARDE POST-ELVIS POP/ROCK/FOLK/JAZZ/COUNTRY/SOUL RECORD (SINGLE, NOT ALBUM) EVER TO CRACK THE TOP TWENTY!

DISCUSS!

No arbitrary rules whatsoever, so you can define avant-garde any way you want. I am, however, gonna be a stickler for the Top Twenty thing. And the single rather than album thing. And don't give me any of the Ramones-and-punk-rock stuff because admirable as those records may be not one of them was ever toppermost of the poppermost.

And now, in no particular order, my totally Top of My Head Top Seven is...

7. The Beach Boys -- Good Vibrations

Low register cellos and a theremin -- yeah, THAT's something you hear at the diner on a normal basis.

6. Buddy Holly -- Peggy Sue

Hiccuped vocals, drums fading in and out, and a guitar that suddenly gets way louder? It still sounds weird now -- can you imagine what it must have been like for delicate virgin boomer ears back when it was new?

5. The Beatles -- Strawberry Fields Forever

Forgetting the song itself -- that video is one kinda masterpiece of abstract cinema.

4. Sly and the Family Stone -- Dance to the Music

If ever a band was collectively possessed of genius, it was those guys.

3. (a tie) The Byrds -- Mr. Tambourine Man/Eight Miles High

Electric twelve-string guitar as gorgeous/atonal melodic as it gets.

2. Donna Summer -- I Feel Love

Synths, anyone?

And the Numero Uno weirdo freaking record of all time absolutely has to be there's no doubt about it is...

1. The Yardbirds -- I'm a Man

A singer who sounds likes his harmonica and a guitarist who ends the whole thing by just making noise. Works for me.

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be????

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

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

From 1989, please enjoy power pop legend Otis Ball and the title track from his transplendently great debut album I'm Gonna Love You 'Til I Don't.

This one popped into my head unbidden the other day, and I realized I probably hadn't heard it any time this century, which seems a shame. (Apparently I long ago lost my autographed copy of the CD).

I should add that back in the '80s, when I was living in Hoboken, there was a very cool record store about half way between the PATH train station and my apartment, and I used to stop in from time to time on my way home (from work in Manhattan at Stereo Review). Otis may or may not been the store's proprietor, but he was behind the counter pretty regularly and I would chat with him while browsing the latest cool stuff. He was a charmingly dweebish guy, and I was unaware of his musical career until Bar/None Records sent me a copy of his album at the magazine.

I just looked for him online, and apparently he's gone pretty much underground, so I can't tell you if he's still making music, but you can hear the album in its entirety over at YouTube HERE. Trust me -- it's worth your attention.

So....Did I Miss Anything Yesterday?

Regular music posting -- and actually pertinent to the raison d'etre of this here blog -- resumes on the morrow.

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

Depending on the election results, tomorrow's post will either be a) a well-lit photo of me smiling while wearing an "I Voted" button or b) a grainy black-and-white shot of me dangling from a noose in my bathroom. 😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "Corn in the Corn Belt" Edition

President Biff canceled and then uncancelled a desperate campaign rally in theoretically beet red Dubuque, Iowa yesterday, so this seemed suddenly relevant.

That is, I believe, from The Assocciation's self-titled 1969 studio album, which I had on vinyl when it was new, and probably haven't heard in five decades. A lovely, poignant song, my titular snark notwithstanding, by a band that has never really gotten the props it deserved IMHO.

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Close-Captioned for the Morally Impaired" Edition

This came up tangentially in Tuesday's reader comments, and I figured let's go for it. So we'll abjure the traditional snarky intro referencing my Asian Manual Catharsis Technician Fah Lo Suee and move, directly and inexorably, to the subject of today's business. To wit:

...and your favorite misheard/deliberately mangled/re-written as a parody song title or lyric from a post-Elvis pop/rock/rolk/soul song is...???

Discuss.

In case you're wondering, my fave in the more traditional category is...

...which I have always heard, and cannot un-hear, as "She's a muscular boy."

But this one...

...which I will forever sing in this version (written in 1965 by my long-time friend and Weasels bandmate Allan Weissman) has irrevocably permeated my consciousness to the point I hear it in my head whenever the actual song or video pops up.

Planes crashing into mountainsides
With the loss of many lives
That's what I like
Soft areas of babies heads
Hit them there and they'll be dead
That's what I like

They say that all good things must end someday
Governments must fall
But don't you know that I like it more
When I read in the news
That someone got mugged last night
It serves them right

So when your aunt
Goes and takes her landlord's life
And does it with a butcher knife
That's what I like
That's what I like!!!

I should add that Allan was widely considered to be the Poet Laureate of Teaneck High School during his tenure there, knocking out parodies like the above at an alarming rate. Most of them have been lost to history, but I do recall at least one other (just the title, not the lyrics alas) which was a re-write of Petula Clark's "Downtown" in honor of our 9th grade science teacher Mr. Dubin.

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be???

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Closed for Monkey Business

Sorry -- it's been a crazy week.

A particularly droll weekend essay question will be here on the morrow.

Kevin Ball -- Down the Road Apiece!!!

And speaking as we were the other week of acts that deserved to be stars on their name alone, please enjoy the kick-ass opening tracks from the new album by -- wait for it -- Kevin Ball & Busters.

Now I am well aware that Ball's brand of boogieing is not normally the purview of this blog. But as long time readers will recall, I am also not immune to the blandishments of this kind of roadhouse trad rock and jump blues, and frankly the songs above -- and all rest of the album, which is equally down and dirty -- had me movin' and groovin' in my seat more than anything comparable I've yet heard this year. Hey -- Ball's a wonderfully sly singer and a cool guitarist, and his band makes it all sound really easy. What more do you want?

In any case the whole album can be listened to over at YouTube. Or better still, you can stream and or purchase it (9$ -- cheap!) over at Bandcamp HERE,

You're welcome.

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckles And Photo-Shop Funnies

The fire engine guy. Words fail me. 😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "Like Long Hair!" Edition

From their 1967 masterpiece, please enjoy Paul Revere and the Raiders' "In My Community" and "Why? Why? Why? (Is It So Hard)". Both written and sung by everybody's second favorite Raider Phil "Fang" Volk.

Reaon I bring this up is because Volk's 80th birthday was yesterday; he's a Facebook friend and I am delighted to report that he is still alive and well and making music.

I should add that the above pictured The Spirit of '67 is one of the great American rock albums of the second half of the '60s, and if you don't know it your life is the poorer.