Wednesday, September 17, 2008

An Exceptionally Early Clue to the New Direction

On all sorts of deadlines for money this morning, so today's teaser must go up early.

Consequently, from 1996, here's (on balance) Australia's greatest rock band ever, the incomparable You Am I, with one of the great lost singles of the decade, "Mr. Milk."



Love those Rickenbackers.

Anyway, as always, a coveted PowerPop No-Prize will be awarded the first reader who divines the clip's relevance to the theme of tomorrow's Weekend Listomania.

30 comments:

  1. about groovy guitars?

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  2. Wow--this is really good! I might even have to reconsider my No. 1 Aussie band, Hunters & Collectors, if I can manage to find more of these guys. Unless, of course, you own some of their tracks...
    In any case, my guess is you're going for the Top 10 songs that have "Mr." in them, but please, don't let "Mr. Moonlight" win because I firmly believe it to be the Beatles' worst song. Think Otis Redding...

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  3. I actually like Mr. Moonlight, which is a note perfect remake of the r&b original -- group's name escapes me.

    Actually, Rhino used to have an album of the original songs the Beatles covered, and that was on it. Also: Larry Williams rules. Wonder if that's still in print...

    But no -- it's not songs with Mr. in the title.

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  4. I will make a point of hearing the original Mr. Moonlight--I think it all stems from the dull, fat sound of that organ which just irked my 6-year-old ears to no end. But just out of curious: Mr. Bigstuff, Mr. Pitiful, Mr. Soul, Mr. Pharmacist? Mr. Bad Example? The mind it doth boggle.

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  5. The original Mr Moonlight
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Moonlight_(song)

    And a YouTube of the record
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DkfeL2Rt8c

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  6. BTW -- I discovered this song courtesy of our friend Sal Nunziato, back when he ran the coolest indie record store in history.

    Go over to his new blog and thank him...
    http://burnwoodtonite.blogspot.com/

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  7. Veddy interesting indeed...but I have to say I feel slightly vindicated to know that, at least according to wiki, I'm not alone among Beatles fans in this regard. I guess you're either of the Mr. M-hating school or the Hello Goodbye-hating school.

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  8. Songs about buildings and food? Well, songs with food or drink in the title?

    Steve, did you ever play a Rick bass? I had a nice black and white stereo model for awhile. I loved it, then of course sold it like a moron. I sold it for a guitar as I recall.

    Trey

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  9. As far as favorite Australasian band, I have to go with the Hoodoo Gurus.

    Trey

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  10. The "Here's To You, Mrs. Robinson" list of songs containing la, la, las, bop, bop, bops, or comparable nonsense words as lyrics.

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  11. No, no, and no (and Trey, no I never played a Rick bass).

    Okay, here's a clue -- does the song remind you of another more famous band?

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  12. Bands influenced by the kinks?

    Bands influenced by the who?

    Bands influ -- OK, i'll stop.

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  13. Bands influenced by the Rockerfellers (of Minneapolis)? or more likely, bands influenced by whomever influenced the Rockerfellers?

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  14. The operative words are "bands influenced..."

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  15. Bands that remind me of XTC

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  16. Bands influenced by the need to answer the question posed by my screen name?

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  17. Hmm ... those backing "woo-woos" have a Sympathy for the Devil vibe.

    Bands influenced by the Stones?

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  18. who am us anyway? said...
    Bands influenced by the need to answer the question posed by my screen name?


    You are a very funny man, my friend.

    But no.

    I'm actually stunned nobody's got it.

    Okay, let's try this again.

    They sound like somebody else.

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  19. I think they sound just like the early Who, BTW....

    That's also a clue.
    :-)

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  20. Sounds like "Senses Working Overtime" by XTC

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  21. Bands that sound like The Early Who (or the Makes Nice)

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  22. OK One more at bat & if I strike out i promise I'll stop embarrassing myself (for a while anyway).

    But the very opening riff sounds like Honeyman-Scott doesn’t it?

    Bands influenced by the Pretenders? (Strike 1!)

    OK, & then when I start really hearing those Rickenbackers I’m also hearing:

    Bands influenced by the Byrds? (Strike 2?)

    By the Heartbreakers? (Strike 3!) (Throws bat down in disappointment.)

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  23. Bands influenced by Mixolydian mode?

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  24. OK I lied -- but was trying to do some quick reading for the big meeting when I had another Rickenbackery moment:

    Bands influenced by Elvis Costello & the Attractions?

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  25. Late in the game to this one, but every clue seems to be pointing to: Best Imitations of One Artist by Another Artist.

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  26. Bands influenced by amphetamines?

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  27. tjwood said...
    Late in the game to this one, but every clue seems to be pointing to: Best Imitations of One Artist by Another Artist.

    9/18/2008 11:24 PM


    Ta-dah!!!!!!!

    Not exactly, but way close enough. Your coveted PowerPop No-Prize is headed your way by trained carrier worms as we speak.

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  28. Oh, and the list goes up right after midnight if anybody's still up...

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  29. Rats! But another great early clue to the new direction. What's so cool about these things is that, as with any great mystery story, at the end you look back & see that, sure enough, week after week the clues all did point to the answer if one had only been clever enough to notice. I still can't believe you let us all play for free.

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