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.
Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?
And have a great weekend, everybody!!!
[h/t Bekka Sakhno]
speaking as a former member of the unitarian universalist association, nowadays attending habitually attending mass for personal reasons, who has had many close associations with persons of the hebrew persuasion - friends, roommates, girlfriends, and indeed is part jewish myself - if it counts that my in-real-life first name is from the bible - i nominate randy newman, who pushes the stereotype to the limit in "It's money that i love" - they say that money won't buy you love in this world, but...
ReplyDeleteif we want a song about love but not money, then this morning what comes to mind is dylan's lay, lady, lay - bob is still bopping - he appeared at FarmAid this week - long may he wave
Good call, my friend, And it’s kind of a two-fer, Jewish wise.😎
DeleteAlways on the Run - Lenny Kravitz. Man, this rocks. Anything by S&G. The Weight by the Band is devine; I loved Robbie's look as he wore his yarmulke in 1969...
ReplyDeleteKinky Friedman; 'They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore'
ReplyDeletePeter Green(baum) - "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" - (and he claimed it was about money!)
ReplyDelete10cc toyed with the idea of calling the band ‘Three Yids and a Yok,’ Eric Stewart being the yok.
ReplyDeleteTwo members of the tribe, Herb Alpert and Lou Adler, penned this wild piano rocker by "Lloyd" Copas. This was in reality Cowboy Copas who was an ill-fated passenger on Patsy Cline's airplane. He was hoping to cash in on the rock and roll craze, hoping to not be recognized. Enjoy "Circle Rock."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab6fC8ZyVp8
Bob in IL
There are so many great Dylan songs they quite outweigh all the rest. Briefly, "Serve Somebody," "License to Kill," "Nothing Was Delivered,"
ReplyDelete"Neighborhood Bully," "Groom Still Waiting at the Altar," "Gates of Eden," "Tears of Rage." I could go on. In fact, it could be argued that all Dylan songs are basically Talmudic. BTW, his Farm Aid 40 set is up on YouTube and well worth watching.
Gefilte Joe & The Fish - "Walk On The Kosher Side"
ReplyDeleteLittle Stevie Weingold - Be True To Your Shul
ReplyDeleteTurn, Turn, Turn - Byrds
ReplyDeleteGod Only Knows – Beach Boys (Tony Asher is Jewish)
Neighborhood Bully - Bob Dylan (seconded)
Springtime for Hitler - Mel Brooks
Flute Thing - Blues Project
Dixie Flyer - Randy Newman
Jewish Princess - Frank Zappa
Hava Nagila - Dick Dale
The Flower Children - Marcia Strassman (Worst Performance By a Jewish Ingenue) (#1 in Berdoo; #2 San Francisco; #4 San Diego; #6 L.A. but only #105 Billboard) (Huge on the Sunset Strip and the Haight where candy abounded) (how embarassing, yet charmingly naive)
Ride 'em Jewboy - Kinky Friedman
Hello Goodbye - Beatles
Light My Fire - Doors (Robby Krieger)
Station to Station - David Bowie
Chanukah Song - Adam Sandler
Don't Blame the Children - Sammy Davis Jr (Worst Song Ever Performed by a Black Jew with a Glass Eye) (The Candy Man came in 2nd)
All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix Experience
Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen
Dr. Wu – Steely Dan
Captain Jack - Billy Joel (I think there is some Jewish ancestry) (Heard this one lately? Man, it really sucks the rod)
Caroline, No – Beach Boys (Tony Asher is Jewish)
VR
Hello Goodbye? Don't you mean Baby, You're A Rich Man? I can't see the Jewish connection in Hello Goodbye.
DeleteC in California
Ha. One of these things is not like the others. One of these thngs doesn't belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the others by the time I finish this song?
DeleteHela heba-hello-ah Hela heba-hello-ah Hela heba-hello-ah Hela heba-hello-ah Hela heba-hello-ah
You like potato and I like po-tah-to
You like tomato and I like to-mah-to
Potato, po-tah-to, tomato, to-mah-to
Oh, let's call the whole thing off
VR
If you're not buying it, I'll fall back on Dr. Robert.
The Bangles - Hero Takes A Fall: From my favorite album of theirs (the first). Susannah Hoffs, the lead singer on this song, is Jewish; so is the bass player, Michael Steele. The other two band members are Catholic, which once led Hoffs to joke that the Bangles were "perfectly balanced, we're an all-guilt band." :-)
ReplyDeleteMichael Steele is a nice Jewish girl? Cool — she was always the Bangle I had the biggest crush on.😎
DeleteSreve,
DeleteFantasize away. But the September Gurl is gay.
VR
Road Runner : Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
ReplyDeleteThere She Goes: Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground
VR — I know Michael Steele is…y’know. But a boy can dream, can’t he?😎
ReplyDeleteBy all means. And as lucidly as possible. Dive into the narcotic warmth of the Pearly Gates. Heaven awaits, Wander into the mist. Don’t be afraid to lose your way. The path is already there to follow.
DeleteVR
Drink the nectar.