So -- first of all, thanks for all the kind birthday good wishes. I got very verklempt and you guys made an old man feel very happy.
But speaking of my birthday, a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance is taking me to see Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, starring that guy from The Bear as the Boss, on Sunday...
...and I gotta say that, on the basis of the trailer, and everything I've read about the flick so far, I suspect it might be pretty good.
I'll have more to say next week, unsurprisingly. 😎
But in the meantime, that leads us to the business at hand. And it's a two-parter.
To wit:
1...and your favorite or least favorite bio-pic (roughly defined) of a post-Presley rock/pop/folk/soul/country artist or group is...?
2. What post-Presley rock/pop/folk/soul/country artist or group would you most or least like to see as the subject of a forthcoming bio-pic?
Discuss.
Okay, in case you're wondering -- my favorite existing bio-pic is...
And the not-yet-made one I'd least like to see would be of this guy.
Actually, you could probably make a pretty funny flick about Lord Sutch, but hey -- I don't know if I would bother to watch. I mean, life's short. 😎
😎
From her just released (last Friday) new album Duets Special, please enjoy the incomparable Chrissie Hynde with (the song's composer's son) Julian Lennon and a shall we say interesting(?) version of The Beatles classic "It's Only Love."
The whole album is up at YouTube, BTW, and I'm still digesting it; so far my fave (which is not really saying much) cuts are the above and Chrissie's take on The Stones' "Sway" with Lucinda Williams.
I'll stipulate that Chrissie's voice remains undimmed, the songs are well chosen ("Every Little Bit Hurts" may be my favorite Motown ballad ever), and the arrangements and production seem apt. I just dunno if the whole thing feels really...I think necessary is the word.
Ooh -- as SCTV's Joe Flaherty (as Count Floyd) used to say...very scary!!!
More specifically, as long-time readers are doubtless aware, that's me in my callow youth, top left of the album cover.
And the reason I'm posting it, as today's title kinda gave away, is that today is my birthday.
Don't worry -- no contemporary photo will be inflicted on you.
In any event, what the aforementioned long-time readers will probably be unaware of, however, is that the reason I posted the cover is to honor my oldest friend and longtime bandmate Allan Weissman (bottom right).
It was Allan's birthday yesterday, and due to my incipient senility I neglected to mark the occasion in Monday's entry. This is especially ironic in that for as long as I've known him -- and we're talking going back to junior high school -- Allan has never let me forget that he's one day older than me.
As long-time readers are aware, it would be something of an understatement for me to note that I have never been a fan of KISS.
In fact, one of the best things I ever wrote for publication was a review of the four simultaneous 1979 KISS members solo albums done in the style of a Raymond Chandler detective story.
It's tone was not, shall we say, enthusiastic. 😎
That allowed, a lot of my younger friends -- people whose opinions I respect despite their callow years (that's a joke, people) -- do think highly of KISS, and they have often expressed why in passionate and plausible ways. Two obvious recent examples: Our amigo Sal Nunziato over at his blog Burning Wood just last Thursday and former Video Review colleague Doug Brod, whose recent book They Just Seem a Little Weird makes the case for them quite persuasively.
And of course I would not be so foolishly arrogant as to dismiss Sal and Doug's views out of hand, although, as I've hopefully made clear, I remain, er, unconvinced about KISS on a fairly profound, perhaps even cellular, level.
But, finally, I would be remiss if I did not conclude by acknowledging that one of my all time favorite bands, The Replacements, liked KISS. A lot.
I mean, a REAL lot.
And that they also did this superb cover of one of their songs.
So when all is said and done, what I'm really getting at today is -- there's just no way I'm gonna argue with Paul Westerberg and company on this subject.
And despite my larger personal feelings about KISS's music, I'm just gonna leave it at that.
[This was one of the very first Listomanias I posted -- back in 2007 (yipes)-- and to be honest, I had totally forgotten about it until the other day, when the subject of the Jefferson Airplane came up in casual conversation. In any case, I think that thematically it's pretty cool; as per usual, I've done some rewriting and made a couple of substitute nominations, just to keep my hand in. -- S.S.]
Okay, I have a birthday coming up (next Tuesday) and although I'm still younger than the demented vulgarian sitting in the People's now gilded White House, my work ethic just ain't what it used to be.
That being the case, I'm disinclined to write a long lead to today's post.
So let's get immediately to the business at hand.
To wit:
Sophomore Albums That Surpassed (Artistically) The Really Good Debut Albums That Preceded Them!!!
You know the cliche -- you have your entire life to write your first record, and then you have six months to write your second, which is why a lot of followup albums disappoint.
Perhaps the most obvious example is Pretenders II; an estimable work with some terrific songs, but small beer compared to the epochal first one.
More absurdly, think of the second Hootie and the Blowfish album.
Or rather, please don't think of it, as Hootie sucked right out of the gate, IMHO.
Although Fairweather Johnson was a really great album title. 😎
In any event, what do YOU think are the post-Elvis (Presley) rock/pop/folk/country/soul albums that best avoided the usual sequel slump?
Arbitrary rule: Nothing by The Beatles, or any other Brit invasion band is allowed, due to the fact that the difference between Brit and American album releases of the period is too obvious and confusing.
Okay -- submitted for your approval, my top of my head Top Eight would be......
8. Jefferson Airplane -- Surrealistic Pillow
I happen to be a fan of Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, which features work by their original drummer (and one of my all time musical heroes) the late great Skip Spence. That said -- c'mon. If you don't know that Pillow is a better album on every level, you probably shouldn't be allowed to take cash machine money out of your own account.
7. MC5 -- Back in the USA
The 5's debut -- recorded live -- was often impressive as a political and musical template, but the songwriting was inconsistent and the whole thing ultimately devolved into aural sludge at some point. However, the followup -- despite the fact that future Springsteen guru Jon Landau's production sucked hippo root -- featured short concise songs that totally rocked and got the band's revolutionary message over with a surprising level of wit and irony.
6. The Byrds -- Turn! Turn! Turn!
Not perhaps so staggeringly innovative as the first album -- which, after all, invented an entire new genre and sound -- but some of the songwriting and performances (the title track and the above Gene Clark masterpiece, for example) clearly surpassed the debut.
5. Marah -- Kids in Philly
Their indie debut was promising, but this is one of the great records of the 90s, an all but perfect mashup of Bruce Springsteen and The Replacements. They never even came close to equaling it, alas. I should add that it is one of my longtime dreams to play the song above live at very high volume in a band onstage somewhere. Which won't happen, but still.
4. Buffalo Springfield -- Buffalo Springfield Again
Not a dud song in the bunch, and production-wise it makes their first album sound like it was recorded on Edison cylinders.
3. Amy Winehouse -- Back to Black
Because we like to have something recorded in this century.
But seriously, folks -- Winehouse's debut album was the work of a talented journeyman with a lot of great influences. The followup, however, was the work of a fully formed artist.
I should add that special bonus points will be awarded to any reader who credibly posits a superior sophomore album by any artist SINCE Back in Black (which came out in 2006). I mean hell -- I'm hard pressed to think of a really good DEBUT record by ANYBODY in that time span. 😎😎
2. Bruce Springsteen -- The Wild, the Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle
The Boss's first album had its moments and changed a lot of lives, my own included. But this one? It sounds, still, like the kind of music that contains multitudes, the kind of rock-and-roll you only vaguely remember from the best dream you ever had.
And last but definitely not least....
1. Elvis Costello and the Attractions -- This Year's Model
Inarguable, I think, and thus further exegesis on my part would be superfluous.
So -- 59(!) years ago this evening, the incomparable Grace Slick made her official stage debut with Jefferson Airplane. Who amongst us does not recall where we were at the time? 😎
In any case, for want of a more appropriate clip to commemorate the occasion, here she is waxing highly amusing with Dick Cavett a couple of years later.
Wotta cutie. And I particularly like the stuff about Finch College. 😎😎
From the other night at the London Palladium, please enjoy The Patti Smith Group (with original members Jay Dee Daugherty and Lenny Kaye, plus two of Patti's kids) and a terrific version of her anthemic (and still desperately pertinent) "People Have the Power."
Oh -- and with some special guest movie actor who apparently is somewhat controversial these days, and who ruined the show for at least one Brit critic.
The occasion was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of Patti's debut album Horses; the song in question, of course, is from her fifth (1988) album Dream of Life, but what the heck -- who's counting? 😎
In any case, and speaking of that critic: It was Uncut's Sam Richards.
Take it away, Sam!
...But then Patti risks undoing all the goodwill she’s accrued over the previous two hours by bringing out auxiliary guitarist Johnny Depp. It’s a baffling misjudgement.
For a start, he adds nothing musically – and dressed ostentatiously in a fedora and an assortment of tie-dye rags, he inevitably serves to draw attention away from the show’s real star. But Depp is also a hugely divisive character, for obvious reasons. Smith’s traditional set-closer “People Have The Power” is always likely to lack its usual unifying qualities when there is a woman stood behind you shouting “Fuck off, Johnny!” throughout the song.
You can read the complete review, which is considerably more enthusiastic than that excerpt, over at the Uncut web page HERE. You're welcome very much.
From his just released album Only Fools Fall In Love Again, please enjoy Twigs touring bass player Danny Ayala and the utterly adorable hook laden pop confection that is his "I Don't Like Her."
Sounds very Twigs-ish, which is both a compliment and not a huge surprise, to be sure. I should add that the way the chorus takes off instrumentally, in particular, just slays me. 😎
From the guitarist's finished basement in (I think) 2020, please enjoy Middle Aged Dad Jam Band (MADJB) and the damndest version of "Born to Run" you'll ever hear.
Okay, I stumbled across that clip by total accident over at YouTube the other day, and I lack the words to convey just how charming I think it is, the sax player's deficiency in the Clarence Clemons department notwithstanding. (And BTW, he's the drummer's kid. 😎)
In any case, if you were wondering, those guys are a bunch of previously/highly successful actors and comedians who -- in the wake of the COVID epidemic -- got together to play music and found that they had stumbled on to an alternate career.
You can find out more about them over at their Wiki entry HERE.
And more usefully at their official website over HERE.
Hey -- I think you'll find the backstory fascinating. Not to mention the video links. 😎 😎
Meanwhile, all of the above leads us inexorably to the subject of our up to date business. To wit:
If you wandered into a local bar and there was a tribute band playing there (for free) -- what band (artist) would be you be most or least hopeful it would in tribute of?
Discuss!!!
Okay, no arbitrary rules whatsoever, but let's leave The Beatles out of it.
I mean, what could be more cliched than some Beatlemania shit?
Alrighty then -- forgetting the Fab Fauxs thing, what would YOUR choices be?
Which turned out (surprisingly) to be located, a few blocks from our rather upscale hotel, in a fashionable/trendy underground shopping mall called the Waverly Market.
We shot the breeze with the store's droll proprietor, the irrepressible Kevin Buckle...
...who's been running the place (in a variety of venues) for nearly 40 years (five in its current digs) and who has an impressibly encyclopedic knowledge of all things pop. And in general we had an absolutely fabulous afternoon at the place.
Here's the aforementioned Shady Dame of my aquaintance looking through the merchandise...
...and here she is (back in the States) with the incredible Yardbirds b-sides comp -- Psycho Daisies -- she scored after scouring the store's LP racks.
I should add that we also bought a vinyl copy of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, and I grabbed a really cool black hoodie that has the store's logo on the back (which I wore for pretty much the rest of our time in the Scottish capitol). I also gave Kevin a couple of CD copies of The Floor Models' Esprit de Floor (oh right -- you didn't see THAT coming) -- and he has since informed me that it is in heavy rotation on the the Avalanche in-store playlist.
Anyway, just a terrific afternoon; if you find yourself in Edinburgh (which I highly recommend in general -- it's a helluva town) be sure to check it out. And when you do, tell Kevin that PowerPop sent you.
Meanwhile, you can find out more about the place at their informative website over HERE; their physical address is Waverly Market, 3 Waverly Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1BQ.
And the vinyl version drops, as today's kids say, on Record Store day, i.e. November 25.
What exactly is it? From the official Omnivore Records press release:
Growing up, I always loved my dad’s music. The recordings he made at that time were never properly released and only came out in limited quantities. We had the idea of re-recording some of his more recent songs with some guest artists to shed more light on his great back catalogue. Over the years we met a lot of the amazing musicians who lent their voices to this project and gave the songs new life. I’m happy with how the record turned out, and I hope it’ll turn more people onto his records and beautiful songwriting.
—Brian D’Addario (The Lemon Twigs)
The Lemon Twigs are not the phenomenon they are by accident. Brian & Michael D’Addario's father is a brilliant songwriter and musician in his own right. The Lemon Twigs pay tribute to him by producing and performing on a collection of their father’s music (with Ronnie involved every step of the way).
Written By Ronnie D’Addario features 13 tracks written by Ronnie with special guests and collaborators: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Todd Rundgren adds his layered lead and backing vocals to “I See The Patterns” and Canada’s Mac DeMarco leads “Love’s Won Me Over.” Sean Ono Lennon, Darian Sahanaja & Probyn Gregory (The Wondermints, The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson’s band), and Matt Jardine contribute vocals and accompaniment to others—all while The Lemon Twigs and Ronnie himself hold down the performances on these stellar tracks.
While not a “classic tribute album,” Written By Ronnie D’Addario is a testament to incredible songwriting and interpretation from artists from across the musical spectrum.
As attentive PP readers are aware, Ronnie is a wildly talented old friend and occasional bandmate of mine going back 40-plus years to our days on the Greenwich Village folk and New Wave scene, so I am tickled to death that this album (which I had no idea was in the making) is about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world (in both CD and streaming form on December 5; I'll keep you posted on where).
Also alas, none of the tracks are yet available for preview -- I haven't heard 'em, although I know for a fact anyway that they're great (😎) -- but because I love you all more than food, here's a recent (2015) Ronnie-only original version of one of them.
Have I mentioned that this album is like the coolest thing ever?
Okay, I'm still decompressing from our quite wonderful Scottish vacation. So without any further hoo hah let's get directly to the subject of our new weekend business.
To wit:
...and the post-Elvis rock/pop/folk/r&b song/record you absolutely adore and couldn't live without by a major league band/solo artist the rest of whose work you otherwise couldn't give a shit about is...???
Discuss.
My pick to click? Gotta be this one.
Hey -- the freaking Cure, when I'm not giggling at head honcho Robert Smith's fashion choices, mostly bores me to scowling fidgets. But wow -- if there was a more gorgeous three and a half-plus minutes of anything in the last forty or so years, I for one haven't heard it.
The charmingly monikered Northumbrian pipe virtuoso Kathryn Tickell and her infectious "The Wedding."
And Scottish folk rock band Rura with the interestingly minimalist and quite lovely "Elliott's."
By way of explanation I should add that a certain Shady Dame and I took a particularly fun afternoon trip out to the Highlands and Loch Ness the second day we were in Bonnie Scotland. And our tour guide/bus driver, a delightful gentleman named Alex McClure, had some interesting playlists of sort-of traditionalist Scottish music prepared for the excursion; the two songs above particularly caught my ear.
I should also add that both Tickell and Rura are considered in the vicinity of national treasures by their fellow Scots. And yes, the Tickell song at times sounds (amusingly) like the music accompanying a Nintendo game. 😎
Flying home from our fabulous Scottish vacation; weather, Delta Airlines and Gestapo Security permitting, we should be decompressing in Forest Hills around 7pm EST tonight.
Regular music posting will resume on the morrow.
But here, as promised, a little taste of our just completed adventure.
Those hairy Highland Cattle (seen during a day trip tour of the countryside we took) are more or less the National Animals of Scotland now, and at this point they're pretty much farmed strictly as pets.
In any case, trust me -- they're absolutely hilarious in person.
Not gonna be home from our Scottish adventure till late Tuesday, so no normal (heh) posting till Wednesday (jetlag/time change permitting) due to the difficulties of one-fingered typing on my IPad Mini. Sorry.
Okay, possibly some amusing photographs.
I mean, wait till you see the one of the long-haired Highland Cow I caught actually mooing...
Yes, as some of you may be aware, a certain Shady Dame and I are having a great time on vacation in Bonnie Scotland, and I'll be favoring you guys with a photographic record of some of our exploits once we return (Tuesday, of next week, weather and Homeland Security permitting).
But in the meantime, I chanced across this online the other day...
...and it reminded me that I forgot to give a big PowerPop [insert Yiddish word for shoutout! here] to Rosh Hashanah last Tuesday.
All of which suggested a terrific topic for this week's Listomania. (In the interest of full disclosure, I should add that I originally posted a version of this back in 2010; as is my wont, I've done some rewriting and swapped in two new entries, if only as a way to underscore my puritan work ethic while we're off frolicking in the goyische heather).
So without any further tzuris, let's get to it. To wit:
Best or Worst Post-Elvis Pop/Rock/Folk/R&B Record/Song Either Written By, Performed By, or Simply About Our Jewish Brothers and Sisters!!!
And my totally top of my head Top Seven is:
7. Drake -- Passion Fruit
His mom was an Ashkenazi Jew(ess), which means that he's...well, you know. Or perhaps I should say -- who knew?
6. HAIM -- Gasoline
Nice Jewish girls, obviously; I like to think of them as Joey Ramone's much younger Bat Mitzvah-ed sisters. Fun fact (from Wiki): For their first gig, the trio played at a Jewish deli in Hollywood and were paid in matzah ball soup. 😎
5. 10cc -- Wall Street Shuffle
Featuring the great Grahame Gouldman (a nice Yiddish kid from England) on bass. And a song about money -- who'd have thunk it?
4. Desmond Dekker -- Israelites
I have no idea what this song actually means, by the way; I've been told it reflects rather unflatteringly on my fellow Red Sea pedestrians, but given its impenetrable Jamaican patois I've never really been sure.
3. Two Live Jews -- Oy It's So Humid
When we say these guys are def, we really MEAN....etc.
2. Fountains of Wayne -- Strapped for Cash
Another song about money written by a Jew -- what are the odds?
And the Numero Uno "Iceberg, Goldberg, what difference does it make to the Titanic?" hit of them all simply has to be...
1. The Blues Project -- No Time Like the Right Time
Left to right: Mssrs Blumenfeld, Kalb, Katz, Kooper and Kulberg. Not for nothing did they call these guys the Jewish Beatles.
From their just released sixth(!) album Baby Moon, please enjoy fabulous and cute as a button Australian power pop/rockers The Wellingtons and the official video for their new single "Sad Today."
Which I am informed is bassist/lead vocalist Kate Goldby's personal tribute to a lost friend and mentor.
In any case, these guys have been around for quite a while (although they hardly look it) and I was gobsmacked to discover that I'd forgotten (senility is a horrible thing) I'd first written about them back in 2007. When, as you know, both this blog and the world were young. 😎
Meanwhile, you can sample (or purchase) the rest of the new album over at their Bandcamp page HERE.
And since the clip for the band's 2007 song that got me started on them in the first place has inexplicably disappeared from my long-ago post, I'm re-appending it here. A darn good track in its own right, IMHO.
These guys are highly worth checking out, is what I'm saying. 😎
Tomorrow: Something from my current vacation in Edinburgh, swear to god!!!
Hey -- a big "Hi!" from Edinburgh, and also Rosh Hashanah greetings! More on both of those later in the week (and that last Jewish reference was a clue to Friday's Weekend Listomania, BTW). 😎
Meanwhile -- from 1973, please enjoy legendary UK folk-rockers The Strawbs lip-synching (live on German tv's Hits à GoGo) to their fabulous, and deserved, hit "Lay Down."
I don't think I'd thought about/heard that song in five decades or more, until the other day when it showed up on the soundtrack of the British time-travelling cop show Life On Mars, which I've been binge-watching of late and which I heartily recommend. The series is set in 1973 (hence the song's inclusion) and I gotta say, as period-accurate as it is, none of its underworld characters have teeth even remotely as bad/disturbing as Strawbs' drummer Richard Hudson in the video above. 😎
Consequently, and because I love you all more than food, I'm appending another video for "Lay Down"; this one has genuine high quality stereo sound, and lets you enjoy the song without having to watch that band of weirdo hippies in the German clip. 😎😎
You're welcome very much.
Tomorrow: Travel notes from the first day of our Scottish vacation. No fooling!!!
More specifically, it's an Italian language (obviously) cover version of the Stones' "Paint It Black." From a recent (2022) period heist movie (set during WW II) called Robbing Mussolini. And no, I never heard of it (the film) either, but Wiki informs me it was ill-received by critics. The track itself, being warbled by fetching co-star Matilda De Angelis, is apparently also featured on some compilation album somewhere, but I have not been able to track it down so far.
In any case, I haven't decided what I think about that musically (IMHO the film looks interesting, though), and as a companion piece, it occurred to me to dredge up the Italian language remake the Stones did of "As Tears Go By" (one presumes for the Eurovision Song Contest) back in 1965. So here it is.
Hadn't heard that in ages. A harmless bit of shlock, obviously, but certainly not their finest hour. 😎😎
Before we get started, a little non-musical news for you.
Just wanted to let you know that beginning Monday, a certain Shady Dame and I will be off on a vacation to Bonnie Scotland; for 8 days we'll be based in Edinburgh, and making excursions both in and out of the city (Loch Ness or bust, baby!!!).
I'm gonna try to interrupt our busy pre-trip schedule of getting flu shots and packing our clothes to write a few normal posts for next week before we leave, but what success I'll have in that regard is an open question. In any case, I figure you'll have to endure at least a couple of entries devoted strictly to our Scottish tourism. I beg your indulgence for this in advance.
Okay, with that out of the way, on to our traditional weekend mishegass.
Anyway, Petrusich has a piece in the most recent issue about current chart-topping pop tart Sabrina Carpenter, which I read with a certain degree of skepticism. And, initially, it struck me as just the usual indefensible cutesie puff piece from Petrusich's patented "Everything's Great Including the Obvious Shit" school of cultural musings.
But she begins the essay with a longish exegesis of Carpenter's latest single ("Manchild") and in the interests of critical responsibility, I gave the video of same a look-see.
And to my considerable surprise...
...I kinda (emphasize: kinda) liked it. The song is moderately catchy, the lyrics are legitimately funny, and the production -- and this floored me -- is really pretty good; the thing rocks, and there's even an actual, if brief, guitar solo for heaven's sakes. Couldn't stand Carpenter's singing, which sounds auto-tuned even if it probably isn't, but hey, you can't have everything.
Which brings us, inexorably, to the subject of our latest group discussion. To wit:
Proposed: Most current commercial pop music -- i.e. the stuff that sells -- is by and large the worst crap we've had to endure since the pre-rock Fifties.
Discuss.
By which, of course, I mean weigh in yea or nay.
I'm leaning towards yea, in case you haven't guessed, but I do wonder if this isn't just me being a grumpy old man who's turned into his parents. And then I hear something like the Carpenter song above and I grudgingly think -- y'know, maybe these kids today are not so bad. 😎
Alrighty, then -- which side are YOU on?
And have a great weekend, everybody! See you in Scotland!!!
From their forthcoming (November 3) 8-song EP The Completely Fictional History of This Great Nation of Canada (heh) please enjoy Toronto pop/punk powerhouse The Mendozaz and the utterly amazing lead-off track "Late Stage 12 Gauge."
Inspirational verse:
Why do I
Always have to
Come up through the cellar
When all we ever do
Is watch Penn and Teller
Seriously, what a terrific song and hilarious video. Plus, as you have doubtless intuited, it's depressingly relevant to our current cultural climate, if I may make a Charlie Kirk reference without being dragged from my apartment by masked ICE agents dispatched by Pam Bondi. 😎
In any case, these guys -- who've been around without registering on my radar since 2017 -- have three previous albums on their resume, and all of them presumably display the same vastly entertaining mix of melodic guitar hooks and snot-nosed harmonies.
You can download the earlier stuff and pre-order the new one over at their Bandcamp site HERE. They also appear to have an official website where, presumably, you can learn more about them, but at the moment I can't get the link to work; I'll see if I can get that resolved and get back to you.
Now excuse me, I have to go get my shotgun and head off for a discussion with a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance. 😎😎
Specifically -- a star-studded new (musically fab) tribute to power pop gods The Raspberries that's due out momentarily. And two of the acts participating are personal friends who I've actually played music with. 😎
The above video, of course, features current Greatest Rock Band in the World The Lemon Twigs covering the 'Berries "Play On" and (drop dead gorgeously) "Let's Pretend," plus an utterly infectious update of "Cruisin' Music" by the Twigs' proud dad (and occasional bandmate of mine) Ronnie D'Addario.
To which I can only add that God's in his heaven and all's right with the world.
Seriously, the two CD set -- unsurprisingly titled Play On: A Raspberries Tribute -- is one of the most entertaining things of its kind I've heard in ages. I should also add that it features Rick Springfield(!) doing a killer version of "Go All the Way," plus equally smashing tracks by Robin Zander, Marshall Crenshaw, Lou Gramm (absolutely nailing "Tonight") and Shoes (with a particularly jaw-dropping revisit to "Overnight Sensation").
Plus scads more great stuff; you can check out the complete track listing and pre-order the thing (official release date is October 10th) for purchase or streaming over at Amazon HERE.
So what are you waiting for? Get over there and snag a copy right this minute!
And tell 'em PowerPop sent you!!!
P.S.: Oh -- and I've been meaning to say this for a while now, but if the Lemon Twigs aren't musical guests on Saturday Night Live this season, I swear to god I'm gonna take a hostage. 😎😎
Okay, I was gonna post about the new and fab Raspberries tribute album today, but then I chanced across the clip below and had a physical reaction so intense that if I hadn't taken my blood pressure pill earlier in the morning I would have been in serious medical trouble.
I've always loved that song, and I'm sure I must have seen that video before. But still -- just now when Ronnie shimmied onto the set in time for that first "Be my little baby" chorus...I mean, no fooling, I got chills merely typing the preceding bit of this sentence. 😎
I'll post on that Raspberries tribute tomorrow -- word of honor. If I live, of course. 😎 😎
So me and a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance went to see Spinal Tap II: The End Continues yesterday.
Here's the trailer, which gives you a pretty good idea of the feel of the thing...
...and here's a song from the soundtrack album, featuring Paul McCartney. I particularly enjoyed his reaction to the ersatz "Penny Lane" trumpet part. 😎
So how did I like it? The short version...it's wonderful. And as for Valerie Franco, the heavily tattoed blonde punkette cutie who plays Didi Crockett, their new drummer (and she's really playing the drums)...
Let's just say that a star is born. 😎 😎
Seriously, if you enjoyed the original film you're gonna be delighted with this one. Trust me.
And I'd tell you more, but there's no way I can really do that without verging on spoiler territory.
I should stipulate up front that today's titular quote has been attributed to Marilyn Monroe; apparently she said it in real life, not in a movie, although a Google search has not disgorged a citation for it.
Anyway, if you were here yesterday, when I posted that kinda goofy rocked up version of J.S. Bach's "Air" by Dutch band Ekseption, you probably saw the subject of today's esssay question coming down Broadway, as they say.
So without any further ado, let's get right to it. To wit:
...and your favorite (or least favorite) post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/r&b record by a group or solo artist demonstrating either an overt or implied influence of European classical music in the writing or performing or both, is...?
Discuss.
No arbitrary rules, but just to be a little more specific, what we're talking about doesn't have to be some kind of obvious borrowing from a particular classical composition; some of my favorites aren't, as you will see shortly. And when I say post-Elvis, that's to make sure none of you bastid kids nominates one of those godawful 1940s hits like "Full Moon and Empty Arms," which actually appended sappy lyrics to a melody from Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto. And yes, you're allowed to put up prog shit if applicable, as distasteful as I might find that personally. 😎
And my nominees? It's a tie. Between this...
...and this.
That's the late Alan Civil playing French horn on the Beatles track, BTW; in case you're unfamiliar with him, he was considered to be perhaps the greatest exponent of his instrument in the second half of the 20th Century. You should hear him do the Mozart horn concertos with Otto Klemperer, is what I'm saying. 😎😎
An ad in Billboard, March 28, 1970. Boy, those were the days.
And here's the band and song in question, performing fake live on Dutch TV a few months earlier.
That's kind of appealingly Procol Harum-ish, no? And that keyboard player is really a lot of fun.
Anyway, I either never heard of those guys previously or I'd simply forgotten them, both of which possibilities strike me as odd, because as long time readers are aware I'm a fan of Dutch rock in general. In any event, when I stumbed across the above the other day, it was a very pleasant surprise.
Not to fear, however. Regular, less self-indulgent posting -- i.e., the traditional weekend essay question -- will resume on the morrow.
More to the point, it's a superb new (2025) fan remix of the Fabs' inexplicably undervalued "Hey Bulldog." I always thought this song was one of their coolest ever rockers, but now here it is as nature intended.
Wow. I mean -- that's a bit of a revelation, 'innit. 😎
Or as the guy who put it together points out in his YouTube notes, one of the clearest examples of how exciting The Beatles could sound as a live band.
And you're welcome very much, of course. 😎 😎
Mike Viola, as you all doubtless know, was the front guy/chief songwriter of the fab gear Candy Butchers, and voiced the lead singer of fictional band The Wonders in Tom Hanks' perpetually amazing That Thing You Do.
I was unaware of the above clip, however, until the other day when a musician friend turned me on to it, and it totally blew my miniscule mind. I mean -- wow.
I should add, and just for the record, that I am beginning to think it might not be an exagerration to suggest that Viola is, conceivably, the world's greatest living male rock vocalist. In the meantime, you can find out where's he playing live in the future -- and see some more utterly amazing video clips -- over at his official website HERE.
Courtesy of Pulitzer winning critic/friend of PowerPop Tim Page -- from the New York Times, here's the greatest mismatch of photo and caption in newspaper history,
Click on it to enlarge, if you can't read it. You'll thank me, honest.
I mean, I'm not much of an opera fan, but man -- what I wouldn't have given to see THAT production. 😎
From his brand new (and superb) album The Great Yellow Light, please enjoy the incomparable Willie Nile (and band) and the video for the lead-off single "We Are We Are."
Long time readers are aware of my enthusiasm for Willie's work over the years, but at this point it's just getting ridiculous. I mean, The Great Yellow Light (the title is a reference to Vincent Van Gogh's letters to his brother, Theo, and the light that inspired him in Arles, France) is by my count his 15th(!) studio effort since making one of the greatest debut records of all time back in 1980. And the fact that this new one one is of comparable quality -- and in fact sounds, in its brash high-energy and passionate intensity, like the work of some young artist who wasn't even born when that first one came out -- is nothing short of amazing.
I should add that, if you order a physical copy of the album (which you can do over at Amazon HERE or at Bandcamp) you get a little bonus sticker featuring a cameo appearance by your humble scribe.
And I stand by the judgement thereupon. 😎
Oh, I should also add that if you're in the NYC area, Willie and band are going to be doing two (Nov. 26 and 28) early and late career retrospective shows at the Loft at City Winery; the first one, which will feature songs from that aforementioned debut album, will very likely be in the spirit of his legendary gigs at the old Kenny's Castaways. Be there or be square -- a certain Shady Dame and I will definitely be in attendance, and we look forward to seeing you. 😎😎
Okay -- and, for reasons that will be obvious in a moment, that leads us inexorably to the weekend's business at hand. To wit:
...and the post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/soul artist -- solo or band -- who's done the most consistently excellent work over the space of a multi-decade career is...?
Discuss.
I don't really have a dog in this hunt; obviously, Willie would be one of my candidates, but other than him, top of my head I'm not sure who I'd nominate.
In any event -- alrighty then, who would YOUR choices be?
Sorry to have been slacking two days in a row. Have no fear, however -- you'll find that tomorrow's Weekend Essay Question is particularly substantive, if I do say so myself, and I'm offering it in penance. 😎
BTW, I don't usually like (or approve of) those so-called Nancy "remixes" that are omnipresent on the intertubes lately, but the Iggy joke was too good not to include here.
Okay, I realize that I'm late to the party, but this song and video (from 2020) by New Zealand punk/pop mavens The Beths (who I first discovered and wrote about last Thursday) is/are the most wonderful thing(s) I've seen/heard in ages.
Seriously, I love just everything about that -- the guitar interplay, the harmonies, the whole instructional premise -- but when the bass player suddenly showed up as Paul McCartney I nearly fell off my desk chair.
...and in its honor, we give you honorary American Neil Young going all up the workers with his classic "Union Man."
I should add that the above song is something of a holiday tradition in these precincts. Originally, I used to post The Strawbs' British hit "Part of the Union," which I always assumed had been designed to piss off Margaret Thatcher, may she rot in hell, but I have since been informed by several genuine Limeys of my acquaintance that in the UK the song is actually read as being ANTI-labor. Go figure. In any case, as a result, Neil is now my go-to guy for songs with a pro-prole bent. At least till I discover a really cool more contemporary song echoing the same sentiments.
I should also say that the above seems especially pertinent given that we are currently living in the kind of country that inspired Woody Guthrie's guitar to kill the kind of people now running it -- and hey, is Donny Demento dead yet? But I lack the energy to go into that at the moment, and I'd rather (and I bet you would too) just enjoy today's lovely weather.
So have a nice one, and regular power pop themed posting resumes on the morrow.
Okay, it's a holiday weekend, and consequently I have better things to do than write some kind of long sardonic intro to the following.
So let's just get to the business at hand with no further foo farrah. To wit:
...and your favorite (or least favorite) song/recorded performance (live or studio) by Bob Dylan is...?
Discuss.
No arbitrary rules, obviously, but just to be clear -- we're talking about one of Bob's songs, or Bob performing one of his own songs or Bob performing a song by somebody else. No Dylan covers by other artistes need apply.
And in case you're wondering, my favorite -- by a mile -- is...
That's absolutely spellbinding, but I should note here and for the record (as it were) that I was actually planning to post the electric studio version of same that Dylan did with The Hawks, and which I first heard on a Trademark of Quality bootleg circa 1974.
And which is right up there in my Top 10 Greatest Performances of Anything by Anybody list. 😎
Alas, to my surprise, it's not up at YouTube, so I went with that almost as fabulous live Aussie version from the same period (1966).
And speaking of which, I originally heard that on another Trademark of Quality bootleg, the one with this hilarious album cover by the great William Stout.
Okay, and moving right along, my least favorite Dylan performance, and man, is it fucking awful, is...
As you may have noticed, Bob's singing a duet with himself on that in both his normal and his Nashville Skyline voices, so it's possible -- perhaps, maybe, could be -- that it's meant tongue-in-cheek.
I doubt it, though. 😎😎
Have a great holiday weekend, everybody!!!
Oh wait -- I found that studio version of "Johanna" with The Hawks. Enjoy!!!
From their about to be released (Aug. 29) new album Straight Line Was a Lie, please enjoy New Zealand power-poppers The Beths and the album's utterly infectious title track.
In the interests of full disclosure, I must confess I was previously unaware of these kids -- who've been around for a decade, actually -- until somebody at a political blog(!) I hang out at posted a link to the above the other day. In any case, I was instantly charmed and (assuming you don't already know from them) I suspect you will be too.
In the meantime, you can (and should) find out more about them -- including tour dates and where to stream more of their music -- over at their website HERE.
I should add that seeing them live has now become a bucket list thing for me; fortunately, they're scheduled to perform in NYC in early December. 😎
And speaking as we were yesterday of Bruce Springsteen in 1975, attentive reader VR has inquired whether I was in attendance for any of the Boss's legendary August week-long 10-show run at the Bottom Line, the performances that directly preceded the release of Born to Run 50 years ago yesterday.
The answer -- yes, I was. I saw three of the shows in fact (three and a half, if you count the early one broadcast live on WNEW-FM, which I made sure to listen to/tape at home before I went out to see the 11:30 follow-up).
What can I tell you -- I was a hardcore fan.
Here's one of my favorite performances from the aforemetioned radio show. BTW, I seem to recall there was later a very fancy shmancy two-LP bootleg of it that I went on to play countless times in several different apartments of mine. 😎
I should add that -- believe it or not -- I was bitterly disappointed by the first of the shows I attended, and for possibly the stupidest reason imaginable. To wit, that some of the guys in the E-Street Band -- particularly Miami Steve Van Zant (who I had never seen playing with the group before) -- hit the stage wearing white ice cream pimp suits, rather than the usual casual street attire. I don't know why, but it struck me as some kind of ghastly betrayal at the time. I kid you not.
Hey, by the second show I had gotten over it. 😎😎
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