Weekend Listomania: Special "And the Angels Sing" Edition

Okay, no snarky intro involving my Asian Manual Catharsis Technician Fah Lo Suee blah blah blah, so let's get directly to the subject of the business at hand. To wit:

FAVORITE OR LEAST FAVORITE POST-ELVIS POP/ROCK/FOLK/SOUL/WHATEVER SONG/RECORD BY A BAND (OR DUO) WITH ONLY TWO SINGERS HARMONIZING UP FRONT!!!

No arbitrary rules whatsoever, but to my surprise I'm not mostly talking about sibling harmony acts. Also, if you attempt to nominate anything by the Byrds or Beach Boys, i.e. groups that normally feature three or four singers -- The Association, anyone? -- I will come to your house and pummel you severely. That said, however, I haven't decided if The Beatles are eligible or not, so at your discretion. 😎

And now, without further ado, my totally Top of My Head Top Seven is:

7. Chad and Jeremy -- A Summer Song

God, that's gorgeous. Seriously -- some days I think those guys were the most underrated of the British Invasion.

6. The Everly Brothers -- Don't Run and Hide

That was written by the Hollies Clarke-Hicks-Nash triumvirate, but I actually prefer the Everlys' cover.

5. Zager and Evans -- In the Year 2525

One of my traditional candidates for Worst Record Ever Made.

4. The Indigo Girls -- Closer to Fine

You know -- because (in the immortal words of Mick Jagger) you like to have a couple of chicks in there occasionally.

3. Stealer's Wheel -- Everyone's Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine

Early Gerry Rafferty, obviously. I literally wore out the grooves on my copy of that 45 when it was new.

2. Tom and Jerry -- Hey Schoolgirl

This was one of the first records I bought with my own lunch money. It was a huge hit in NYC for obvious reasons; I'm not sure exactly how it fared in the rest of the country, although I seem to recall seeing them lip-synch it on Bandstand. Whatever happened to those kids?

And the number one Two People Singin' Like Boids act of all time simply has to be...

1. The Lemon Twigs -- Look Out For Your Mind

That video is brand new, i.e. it just dropped (as today's hepsters say) this morning at 10am EST. Absolutely fantastic, and man -- these guys have a work ethic like nobody's business.

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Your Thursday Moment of Words Fail Me

The Mona Lisa Twins, ladies and germs -- let's really hear it for them.

Okay, my fondness for those kids is not exactly a state secret, but I'm absolutely over the moon about that one.

BTW, that's from their just released new album of 60s pop covers, which is otherwise pleasant enough but not life-changing. The above however...well, it's just freaking gorgeous, as you can plainly hear for yourselves. .

Why they aren't household words -- or at least been guests on Saturday Night Live -- is absolutely beyond me. 😎

Toppermost of the Poppermost!!!

In case you didn't know -- I didn't until last week -- but former SNL star Amy Poehler has an interview podcast, called Good Hang, where she does amusing one-on-ones with various pop culture celebs. And a recent episode had in-depth chats with both Paul McCartney and his (unexpectedly hilarious) fashion designer daughter Stella.

You can (and should) watch the whole thing over HERE, but in the meantime, this brief excerpt (in Tik Tok format, unlike the show itself) is Must-See TV. Paul discussing contemporary pop music and improvising a new smash hit on the spot. This has gone viral BTW, and I for one couldn't be happier.

Enjoy!!!

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

Okay, I groaned at the McCartney one too. 😎😎😎

Encounters with Greatness (An Occasional Series): Special "Dueling Senior Citizens" Edition

So my BFF (and longtime bandmate) Allan Weissman is vacationing in Europe (along with his charming wife) and they were briefly (i.e. just to connect to a train to London) in Paris the other day. A town where they actually had been, longer, on a few previous occasions, one of which you will hear about in the absolutely charming and romantic song below (written and sung by Allan, of course).

That just slays me, and it is with some regret that I confess I didn't play on it. But as I said, we've been doing music together off and on since 1965, when we made our first foray into a professional recording studio with another of Al's songs and came out with this (I think pretty damn good for kids) Beau Brummels-influenced number.

That's me doing the Hammond organ and meant-to-be Vince Guaraldi-ish piano solo. BTW, have I mentioned that Al is an absolutely brilliant singer/songwriter and bassist?

In any case, I bring all this up because Al has a birthday coming up on Tuesday, which makes him one day older than me, a fact that he never fails to remind me of around this time. And I just wanted to give him a big long overdue shout-out here, which this now officially is.

Hey Al -- it's been a gas!!! Here's to many more years of it, my friend!!! 😎

PS: Here's the true story of a song we kinda co-wrote (i.e., I came up with the lame riff) and first recorded in 1967 in Allan's basement in Teaneck, NJ (aka the Paris of Tri-State Metro Area). No audio, alas, but it's pretty funny all the same so enjoy!!! 😎😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Sing Along With 'Bitch'!" Edition

Okay, I'm too lazy to write a lame joke by way of the traditional intro at the moment, so let's just get -- directly and inexorably -- to the subject of the business at hand. To wit:

...and if you were somehow trapped in a sleazy karaoke bar and you were kinda drunk and wanted to sing along with a Rolling Stones song it would be...???

Discuss.

No arbitrary rules whatsoever, so just go for it. I should add, however, that today's post was inspired by accidentally discovering an instrumental-only track of one of -- IMHO -- the coolest Stones songs ever. Which I was planning, for the longest time, on going into the studio and overdubbing with a pathetic vocal by yours truly. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. 😎

And which song woould that have been? See below.

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choice(s) be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (an Occasional Series): Special "Yeah, Yeah, I Know -- It's Purple and Swims in the Ocean" Edition

I dunno if you guys heard any of Trump's rally yesterday, but let's just say that a) he was significantly more incoherent than usual and b) this song, which I hadn't heard in a million years, seemed suddenly relevant. 😎

The song, BTW, is off the Grape's 1971 attempted comeback album, which I found seriously disappointing when it was new, but I gave it a cursory re-listen while getting ready to post today and it seems to be better than I realized in my callow youth. I'll do the research and get back to you. 😎😎

Hey -- I'm a Three B's Kind of Guy From Way Back

Okay, everybody's doing this over at Facebook, so I figured I had to.

And don't give me any shit about this -- it's supposed to be the records that influenced the young you the most, not a list of the All-Time Greatest Albums Ever, which is totally different.

BTW, the song above goes out for my friend Nelson Bragg, who knows why. 😎

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

I confess, I've been that dude-watching-your-band-play guy. 😎

Cinema Notes From All Over: The Golden Age of Comedy

So I saw the new documentary on Martin Mull (on Netflix) over the weekend. It's really terrific, but it was not what I was hoping for, i.e. lotsa laffs. I mean, yeah, it's mostly that for sure, but by the end it's turned into an unexpectedly deeply moving meditation on loss and intimations of mortality.

I was a huge Mull fan before he made it big on TV with Fernwood Tonight, and several of his albums (including the live record below) were among my most-played of the early '70s. Obviously, the guy was a genius satirical songwriter.

The film, of course, covers all that plus excerpts from the movie and TV work (the stuff with Fred Willard is beyond hilarious), his live club act (I saw him at the old Reno Sweeney's in Manhattan, and it was the funniest comedy show I've ever witnessed in person) as well as his totally seperate career as a painter, which was how he really identified himself, and with good reason.

But I wasn't prepared for the heaviosity; there's a scene toward the end where he and his musician/songwriter wife duet on a lovely and poignant song of hers that reduced me to a puddle of tears. Not exactly what I wanted on a Saturday night.

In any event, Who is Martin Mull? is a really impressive piece of work, and I highly recommend it.