Produced and (more to the point) written by the aforementioned George "Shadow" Morton. Who if for no other reason than this intro -- declaimed with perfect New Yawk insouciance by lead singer Mary Weiss -- deserves to be immortal.
I was walkin' down the streetAnd it was gettin' mighty late
Well, the truth of the matter is
This poor girl had been abandoned by her date
When, from out of nowhere came this music loud and clear
Let me see, from over there?
(No, over there.)
Over there?
(Yeah.)
Well, I open up the door
And much to my surprise
The girls were wearin' formals
And the boys were wearin' ties
And I feel that I should mention
That the band was at attention
They just stood there, oh, so neat
While they played their swingin' beat
So I grabbed this little boy
Who came struttin' 'cross the room
And I say, "What's that?"
And he say
"Sophisticated boom, boom"
And that, my friends, is poetry.
Which leads us, inexorably, to business. To wit:
...and your favorite post-Elvis pop/rock/country/soul record featuring a spoken word section (of whatever length) is...???
No arbitrary rules, but c'mon -- no Dylan or rap allowed, for obvious reasons.
Discuss.
Oh, and here's my nominee -- note the big "Bonjour!" from guest speaker Joan of Arc at approximately the 2:20 minute mark.
Okay -- have a great weekend, everybody!!!
25 comments:
It is tough to top Tonio K. especially since it is part of the greatest album of all time.
There is Frank and Moon Unit Zappa's Valley Girl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Q1yVLSR3I
and this one from Mike Oldfield and Viv Stanshall is hilarious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syk1X0esick
- Paul in DK
"shinola" from utopia
everyone's talking, but few of them know
the rest are pretending, they put on a show
and if there's a message, i guess this is it
truth isn't easy -- the easy part's shit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg5eL9ZKAhQ
Was the Shagri-Las song the prequel to Rufus Thomas' Sophisticated Sissy, or was there just a trend for "Sophisticated" songs?
Edward -- my guess is the latter.
A Viv Stanshall reference? Yes! Love it.
Hail Atlantis!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAMYGzwUTK4
Frightening how "The Funky Western Civilization" keeps getting more relevant all the time.
my first impressions of you come former posing this album. in SR.
I'll start with. Poke Salad Anne
chomp chomp!
the vincent price monologue in michael jackson's Thriller is good. rs
I've always hearted Long John Baldry's 'Don't Try to Lay No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll'
and I second the hailing of Atlantis and Polk Salad Annie.
Honorable Mentions: Velvet Underground 'The Gift' and Spinal Tap 'Stonehenge.'
1950s: Coasters 'Shoppin' For Clothes'
1960s: Doors 'Peace Frog' (or Beatles 'I Am The Walrus' or Trashmen 'Surfin' Bird')
1970s: Was gonna pick LJB's 'Don't Try....' but Alzo beat me to it, so I'll take War 'Cisco Kid'
1980s: Concrete Blonde 'It'll Chew You Up and Spit You Out'
1990s: Chumbawamba 'Tubthumping'
2000s: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros 'Home'
2010s: ?
2020s: ?
C in California
Jan and Dean's "Dead Man's Curve", warning us all that Jaguar XKE's don't really handle all that well heading into a curve.
This song came up a few weeks ago in ANOTHER List-O-Mania post: the Diamonds - Little Darlin'. The spoken bit in the middle (My darling, I need you...)
The Crazy World of Arthur Brown intro to Fire
The Diamonds version of Buddy's "Words of Love" also had recitation like "Little Darlin."
The "crack up" version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight" by Elvis, released as a 45 in Canada. The dude had the greatest laugh.
Bob in IL
Leon Russell - Jumpin' Jack Flash / Youngblood medley.
Big Sky - The Kinks
Captain Al
Elvis Are You Lonesome Tonight
Far Away Eyes Rolling Stones
Spanish Stroll Mink DeVille
Gloria Patti Smith
Lord of the Ages Magna Carta
rs
The Flying Burrito Brothers "Hippie Boy" - never carry more than you can eat!
https://youtu.be/a4M0_4hgFpE?si=emxt9yQ5VC_bs8y2
"Little Girl" by the Syndicate of Sound.
Ellen Foley in Paradise By The Dashboard Light.
But Tonio K wins this hands down!
Vince
Tonio K wins anything and everything hands down!
Captain Al
"The Glory Of Love" - The Velvetones
"Deseri" and "Later That Night" - Frank Zappa, Reuben & The Jets
Post a Comment