They Say Music is a Universal Language...

...but I say you haven't lived until you've heard six fat bald guys doing The Kinks' classic "Dead End Street" in the original Norwegian.

Hey, I didn't say it was good -- just that you haven't lived until you've heard it. 😎

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckle and Photo-Funnys

Okay, I'm embarrassed about the first one. 😎

Songs That Sound Increasingly Relevant to Me For Obvious Reasons (An Occasional Series)

From 1988, please enjoy wise-ass Texas roots-rockers (heh) The Wild Seeds and their plaintively wistful "I'm Sorry, I Can't Rock You All Night Long."

I actually reviewed the album that's from at The Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review when it first came out, and if memory serves I loved it, especially "I'm Sorry." Nevertheless, I seem to have lost my copy, and until I chanced across the above on FB the other day, I had totally forgotten that the song had ever existed, let alone that it was such a pitch-perfect skewering of 80s hair band machismo.

Inspirational verse:

I'm sorry
So sorry
I can't rock you all night long
It's an interesting idea, baby
But it would be wrong

Lord knows, we've all known the feeling as we age, but it's rarely been expressed so eloquently.

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Yes, I Actually Am the Son of a Veterinarian" Edition

Okay kids, as some of you may know, I had a weird freak accident (a fall in my kitchen, no less) two weeks ago, and as a result I've been in excruciating back pain ever since. So today's business is, necessarily, gonna be something essentially tossed off and not up to my usual standard of excellence. (And if truth be told, I've probably done a variant of it sometime in the blog's dim dark past.)

Hey -- how do you say "cut me some slack, Jack!" in Yiddish? 😎

Anyway, by way of introduction, let me note that yesterday marked the 4th anniversary of the arrival of our beloved pussycat Mickey -- a rescue from the Bronx, thus named after Mr. Mantle -- at our digs in Forest Hills.

He's a real sweeteart, and you'll note that he's also polydactyl, i.e. he has six toes on each paw. Pretty cool, no?

In any case, that leads us inevitably and inexorably to the subject at hand. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) post-Elvis pop/rock/soul/folk record/song referencing animals either in the lyrics, title, or name of the artist/band is????

Discuss.

In case you're wondering, my nominee is this.

The song itself is sort of a guilty pleasure; it's a tad dated, obviously, but I think I just kinda dig the idea that these guys might possibly have named themselves after the hilarious absurdist play by Ionesco.

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody! And hope that the Heroin Jr. pills my pain specialist just prescribed for me make my weekend a little more bearable than I'm used to of late.

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "Insert QAnon Joke Here" Edition

From 1970 and their sophomore Boppin' the Blues album please enjoy the original five-piece lineup of NRBQ and their hilarious and irresistible "Flat-Foot Flewzy."

As most of you guys know, our good friend Sal Nunziato has been running a "Songs That Totally Rock" sort of contest this week over at his Burning Wood blog and the above song -- which I had not heard or even pondered in five decades -- got nominated. Imagine my pleasured surprise when it turned out to be an absolute unmitigated delight after all these years.

Now excuse me while I go check out both of the Q's first two albums, which I seem to recall as being just chock full of stuff as great as that.

Slacker Wednesday

Okay, a friend posted a version of this on FB yesterday, and I couldn't resist.

RUIN A BAND OR ARTIST'S NAME BY ADDING SOMETHING POLITICAL!!!

Dire Straits of Hormuz

The Andrew Formerly Known as Prince

Snoop DOGE

Adam Antifa

Rage Against the Voting Machine

Cheap Trickle Down

Ginger Baker's Air Force One

Join in, won't you?

Regular actual music posting resumes on the morrow -- Scout's honor!!!

[h/t NYMary]

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

And yes, I'm aware that the last one, once seen, cannot be unseen. 😎

Clean Cut Kids

And speaking of one-hit wonders as we were over the weekend, I was reminded of a band who I loved back in the day (I owned both of their albums) but I haven't thought about them in ages. And in any case, they never got the larger kind of critical acclaim I always felt they deserved, probably due to their commercially ill-advised anti-counter-cultural image.

I refer of course to Every Mother's Son, they of "Come On Down to My Boat" fame.

In any event, estimable as that song is, it's not my favorite of theirs.

That would be a cross between this one, from their debut album...

...and this one (from their second and final effort) which was actually a moderate hit in a lot of markets, including my own in the Tri-State area.

I think we can all agree that both of those are exemplary pop/rock confections. The first, I have long maintained, is the greatest Monkees record that the Monkees never made, and it is one of the most poignant regrets of my adult life that the Floor Models never got around to covering it. The second, of course, is merely two-plus minutes of flat-out folk-rock gorgeousness in that sort of baroque/moderately psychedelic style that was one of the genuine pleasures of its period.

I should add that the band's keyboard guy, Bruce Milner, went on to become a very ritzy upscale dentist on NY's Upper East Side; back in the 90s, he was a regular at my then Manhattan watering hole. Very nice guy, but I could never really get him to talk about his days as a minor league rock star.

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Better Than Being a Never Was" Edition

From 1997, please enjoy the mostly obscure White Town and his insinuating claim to fame "Your Woman."

From Wiki:

White Town auteur Mishra has said, "I'm a mediocre singer, I'm a terrible guitarist, I'm a pretty good keyboardist, I'm a good producer, not amazing, but good."Noting his status as a one-hit wonder, he said it is "better than a no-hit wonder" and elaborated, "To be a professional musician and to be entertaining people twenty years after my biggest hit, I feel like I'm the luckiest person alive. Just to have one song that connects with people—most musicians dream their entire lives of having that."

Which leads us, inevitably and inexorably, to the subject of today's business. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite, however unlikely that may be) post Elvis-20th century pop/rock/soul/folk/or whatever one hit wonder song (and artist) is...???

Discuss.

No arbitrary rules whatsoever, but I've included the 20th century proviso because commercial music in the current era is so built-in forgettable that it just seems unfair to compare to it to an earlier time. White Town being an almost exception that proves the rule.

Oh, and BTW, in case you're wondering, my fave is pretty much this.

I mean, that's so freaking good it kind of boggles the mind they never had another hit.

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Closed for Monkey Business

The good news -- saw my doctor yesterday, and I do not appear to have done any serious damage to my back. The bad news -- I am in serious pain a lot of the time and I'll be getting two MRIs later today. Please forgive ny slacking off on today's post.

Barring the unforseen, regular stuff -- including an amusing Weekend Essay Question -- resumes on the morrow.

Where No Banjo Has Gone Before!

Words fail me.

[h/t Gummo]

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckles

Hey, I've dated a few lyres in my time. 😎

Compare And Contrast

From 1964...

...and 1980...

...and 1995.

The song itself was written by Mick and Keith (in 1963) but the Stones demo remains unreleased; the song was given to Brit popsters The Mighty Avengers by Stones manager/producer Andrew Oldham and their record actually charted in England in '64. The dawn-of-the-'80s version by The Inmates (which was the first one I heard) was a big fave at Casa Simels for a long time; the Inmates themselves were the sort of missing link between pub rock and punk. The Lonely Boys (who were Swedish, and not to be confused with the American Los Lonely Boys, who came later and were something wholly other) were previously unknown to me, as was their version of the song.

I kind of love all of the above in equal measure, although if pressed the Inmates take is marginally my favorite, if only for sentimental reasons.

A pretty fab song overall, though, and it is one of the great regrets of my adult life that the Floor Models never got around to covering it.

Your thoughts? 😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Have You Never Been Mellow?" Edition

From his just released (last week) The Air That Your Breathe, please enjoy friend of PowerPop© and moi Lance Cowan and the album's utterly haunting title track..

...and the equally insinuating...

Those are my two favorites on the record, but trust me -- the rest of the songs are similarly terrific and will get under your skin post-haste.

Attentive readers will recall my raving about Lance's work in these pages previously, but if you missed those here's the backstory. Lance's day job is as Nashville's savviest music publicist. I've known him in that capacity since the '90s, and over the years (both when I was a small bigshot at The Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review and, more recently, as a poor scribbler at this here blog) he's hipped me to a lot of great stuff I might otherwise not have heard (thanks, Lance!). Ironically enough, however, I only vaguely knew that he also had an out-of-the-office secret identity as a singer/songwriter.

The new album is very much of a piece with his earlier efforts, which is to say it ain't a rock record of the type that usually is the subject of my postings here. But however you categorize it-- folk/country/Americana/whatever -- it's inarguably wonderful. Lance's songs are literate, melodically memorable, and poignant on subjects both contemporary and historical (like "William Cooper Smith," an old West saga that touches a remarkable number of bases). And as I've noted before they're sung by him in a deeply affecting Bruised Everyman voice that I'd kill to have. I should add that the instrumental backings are sheer understated perfection; the delicate, almost chamber music-ish acoutic guitar and piano interplay on the opening of the title song is the most ineffably lovely listening experience I expect to have in my apartment anytime in the forseeable future.

But enough of my yakking; you can find out more about Lance, and buy the new album (and the two that preceded it) at his official website OVER HERE.

In any event, all of the above leads inevitably and inexorably to the subject of today's business. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) post-Elvis pop, rock, country or folk album whose arrangements are mostly/largely driven by acoustic instruments is...???

Discuss.

In case you were wondering, my candidate for least favorite is the album this is from.

The aforementioned attentive readers are aware I'm in that weird/tiny critical minority who thinks this is the most soporific and overrated album in music history, but that's a subject for another time. 😎

So alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Those Wacky Brazilian Kids!!!

From earlier this year please enjoy Banda AL9 (yeah, I don't get the name either) and their effortlessly effervescent "She Can Do It All."

As longtime reader Dave Leonatti (who turned me on to them recently) observed -- that really checks all the power pop boxes. I mean seriously -- that's the most infectious pop/rock confection I've heard in ages

In any case, they're brothers (no shit, Sherlock) who've apparently been doing this kind of stuff since around 2010, and the above is from their amusingly monikered new album Hey! Hey! We're Banda AL9!. They don't seem to have an official webpage or any online presence that I can find, but I'll keep you posted if that changes.

Closed for Monkey Business: Special "Don't Get Old, Kids" Edition

The short version: Was puttering around in my kitchen last night, had a dizzy spell, lost my balance and fell flat on my back. I am now in so much pain I can barely walk.

Assuming I'm better, regular posting -- (hello, Lance C.😎 ) -- resumes on the morrow.

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckles

Clef Clavin indeed. 😎

Robyn Hitchcock Speaks for Me

I knew there was a reason I liked this guy. 😎

From the second verse:

I say what/I say words
I love the music of the Byrds

That came out a few months ago, but it's also now on his new album The Confuser, which dropped (as the kids say) last Friday.

In any case, a great song and I can't wait to hear the rest of the record.

La Fin de Ls Semaine Essay Question: Special "I Can't Believe We've Never Done This One Before" Edition

So yesterday, as you are doubtless aware, our good friend Sal Nunziato at the invaluable Burning Wood blog posted a playlist whose overarching theme was that innumerable 60s songs by The Who were clearly power pop as we understand the term. To which I can only say -- I couldn't agree more.

Which leads us, inexorably and inevitably, to the theme of the weekend's business. To wit:

...and your favorite pre-Big Star/Raspberries proto-power pop song is???

Discuss.

Long-time readers -- by which I mean who've been around since the 'aughts, when NYMary first gave me the metaphorical keys to the car around here -- will doubtless have guessed MY candidate.

I mean -- that drum opening, the chimes and guitar riff on the chorus, the background "oohs"??? Power pop fer sure.

I should add that it's the first cover song the savage young Floor Models learned, and in fact the very first thing we ever performed live in front of an audience (at our sneak audition for a gig at Kenny's Castaways). Alas, no live version of that has survived, but it was a staple of our repertoire for the longest time, and it was an absolute gas to play.

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

And Speaking of Transplendent...

...that was, of course, The Bangles and their hit cover version of Jules Shear's "If She Knew What She Wants."

Long time readers are aware that I consider those kids to be not just (obviously) the most fab/gear girl band ever, but one of the all-time great rock outfits period. That said, I hadn't listened to that song or watched that video in a couple of decades, and when I chanced across it the other day (hence Monday's post on Jules Shear) I was absolutely gobsmacked. Everything about that is perfect -- Susanna Hoff's haunting lead vocal, the ethereal harmonies, the jangly guitars, the rhythmic groove, the overall mood...a power pop masterpiece, in other words. Wow.

I should add that the above motivated me to check out Shears' original, which I had never heard previously.

Let us not mince words -- advantage Bangles. 😎

Seekers and Ye Shall Find

Prepare to get sniffly, ladies and germs.

That's from their 2013 Australian farewell tour, BTW.

I've always loved that song, and I just gotta say -- that performance is totally undimmed from their glory days. Way to go, senior citizens. 😎

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckles

The one with the monks just kills me. 😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "Please, Don't Ask Me Okay?" Edition

From 1978, please enjoy New Wave faves Jules (Shear) and the Polar Bears and their infectious "You Just Don't Wanna Know," the lead-off track from their debut album Got No Breeding.

That was a big hit around my office at Stereo Review at the time, if not alas with the public at large. Shear, of course, went on to considerable success writing for other artists like The Bangles; in fact, it was listening accidentally to one of those songs that prompted me to revisit the Polar Bears.

More on THAT, however, will have to wait for Wednesday's posting. 😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Countdown to Ecstasy" Edition

From 1971, please enjoy pub-rock genre-creators Brinsley Schwarz -- featuring auteur songwriter/bass player/lead vocalist Nick Lowe -- and their serenely Buddy Holly-ish folk/rock/pop masterpiece "Unknown Number."

And when I say Buddy Holly-ish that's not an exaggeration; as you may have noticed, the song's riff is pretty much identical to that of "Words of Love."

Which leads us inevitably and inexorably towards the subject of today's business. To wit:

...and your favorite post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/soul/jazz/country song featuring (either by suggestion or literally) a number either in the title or the lyrics is...???

Discuss.

No arbitrary rules, although I'm gonna be pretty annoyed if you chose an album rather than a song. I mean -- none of that Chicago III crap, okay?

And in case you're wondering about my choice -- it's this.

A;righty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend everybody!!!!

Closed for Technical Difficulties

No matter what I try, I can't insert images into Blogger at the moment.

Whether this is a glitch in the program or a computer problem on my end I have no idea, but unless I get it resolved in the next hour or so, I won't be posting today,

Whether this will affect tomorrow's Weekend Listomania is anybody's guess, but check this space on Friday and we'll share the news at the least.

Simels regrets the error. 😎

Your Wednesday Moment of "Size Matters"

Brit/Australian songwriter/actor/comedian Tim Minchin, ladies and germs. As Jack Nicholson famously said of Bob Dylan -- this guy's a riot.

I am embarrassed to admit it, but I was unaware of Minchin until I chanced across the above by acccident over at YouTube the other day. In any case, it's one of the most brilliantly funny things I've encountered in far too long, and there's lots more where that came from. Word to the wise.

P.S.: As you'll notice, the subtitles are almost -- unconsciously, if that is the apt word -- funnier than the actual lyrics.

P.P.S.: Minchin gets extra points from me for the Victor Borge reference near the end. 😎

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

Re: Mumford & Sons -- hey, SOMEBODY had to say it. 😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "Electric 12-String Guitars Rule!" Edition

From 1987, and the evocatively titled In the Heart of the Heart Country, please enjoy Madison, Wisconsin-based folk rockers Fire Town and their sublimely jangly "Carry the Torch."

As is so often the case these days, the song popped into my head unbidden over the weekend. The backstory is that the indie album that it's from crossed my desk at Stereo Review with no advance warning, and it will surprise nobody to learn that the main reason I gave it a spin immediately was due to the Vox guitar posed so enticingly on the right hand side of the album cover.

As for Fire Town, they got signed soon after to Atlantic, who re-released the album; alas, it still refused to sell despite my raving about it in the pages of SR. Two of the band members, however, went on to form Garbage with Shirley Manson, and the rest, as they say, is history.

That said, the whole album is great; I think I have a complete download of it somewhere, so if the above piques your curiosity, gimme a holler and I'll send you a zip file.

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "A Big Finish for a Moderately Big Week" Edition

And with that bit of vaguely onanistic tooting of my own horn (as it were) out of the way, we proceed directly and inexorably to the subject of today's business. To wit:

...and the best/most apppopriate closing track to a great post-Elvis rock/pop/soul/folk/country album is...???

Discuss.

Attentive readers will recall that two weeks ago we did the (as it were) flip side of this, i.e. best opening track, and as previously, there are no arbitrary rules for this one either. Hey -- if you want to pick something as silly as Abbey Road's "Her Majesty..." go for it. We won't sit anywhere near you, of course, but still -- knock yourself out!!!

In any case, my nominee -- which I suspect some of you will have seen coming down Queens Boulevard -- is this truly astounding piece of gorgeosity.

Ah, "Moonlight Mile." I should add that it's particularly noteworthy for a couple of reasons, starting with the fact that the album it's from opens with "Brown Sugar," which is surely a Top 5 contender for best lead-off song ever. I should also add that it's the only great Stones track on which Keith Richards does not play guitar (yup, it's all Mick Taylor), and that the orchestral arrangement, which to my ears channels Ralph Vaughan-Williams magnificently, is as beautiful as it is unexpected. Damn, that Paul Buckmaster really was a freaking genius.

Plus Jagger's vocal is non pareil. I mean, the melisma is truly melismatic, if you catch my drift. 😎

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Okay -- Mystery Solved!

Apparently The Forty Fours -- whose weirdly unreal studio video we posted yesterday -- are an actual, living, breathing real band.

This is a relief, at the very least.

Of course, if the above turns out to be AI, then I will have to kill myself forthwith. 😎

Words Completely Fail Me

Except for perhaps -- what the fuck?

I mean, is this real? Or is it some bizarre, psychotic manufactured-by-management unholy schtup between/commercial mashup of The Beatles and One Direction?

Perhaps you can make the call after checking out these kids' official website OVER HERE.

In all seriousness, I chanced across the above by accident the other day and for the life of me I can't decide what I think about it. Help me out here, folks!!! 😎

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

Words fail me over the electric sitar ad. 😎

Why Didn't I Get the Memo on This Kid? (An Occasional Series): Special "That's IRISH Country Music, Darlin'!" Edition

In my defense, commercially she's closer to a cult figure than a household word like Taylor Swift, but still.

Anyway, I just love everything about this, including the lyrics and the wonderful backing band. Plus, let's just say that whatever "it" is, CMAT (pronounced See-Matt, in case you were wondering) has it in impressive quantities.

Bottom line: this has given me more hope for slowing/reversing the artistic decline of 21st century popular music than (almost) anything I've heard since Amy Winehouse joined that stupid 27 Club.

It's America's 250th Birthday Party -- So Why Aren't I in a Better Mood?

Well, I think we all know the answer to THAT. 😎

In any event, in honor of Independence Day weekend please enjoy Bill Pullman, the greatest president of the United States who was never president of the United States...

...no, wait, in the era of President Inepstein that's not even a particularly good joke.

Sorry.

What I meant to say was please enjoy The Hollies and their killer live cover of Bruce Springsteen's "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)." A song which is something of an annual tradition around these here parts.

And obviously because nothing says "an American holiday" like a bunch of whey-faced Limeys singing in three part harmony. 😎😎

In the meantime -- have a great weekend, everybody! And stay as cool as possible!!!

Consumer Notes From All Over

So last weekend we were at a very cool record store in Worcester, MA...

...and what did our wondering eyes behold but the following. (In case you're visually impaired, they're rubber duckies for the bathtub and you can click on the images to enlarge).

Anyway, they tototally cracked me up. Particularly Aviary Grande. 😎

They're the work of a company aptly called Celebriducks; they cost approximately 20 bucks each, and they are now my official go-to gag gifts for every occasion.

You can order them over at Amazon, and you can see more of them at the official company page OVER HERE.

And no, the above has nothing to do with the theme of tomorrow's Weekend Essay Question. 😎 😎

Play This One Loud. REALLY Loud.

Preferrably under the headphones, if you live in a thin-walled NYC apartment.

As you have gathered by now, that's The Ventures with special guest twangster Duane Eddy and the most totally rockin' take on the Bobby Fuller/Sonny Curtis classic "I Fought the Law" ever beheard by sentient mammalian ears.

When I originally posted about that (which derives from a 1998 Ventures album) back in 2014, I opined that it has guitar textures that wouldn't have been out of place on albums by Television, and upon relistening to it again for the first time since then I see no reason to deviate from that assessment. In any case, it totally kicks ass and some of the instrumental interplay actually gave me chills this time around.

Now please excuse me -- I'm gonna go do the research (as today's kids say) on that aforementioned Ventures CD, which I suspect will be a fruitful subject for further exploration. 😎

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

Okay, admittedly Led Zep is an easy target. 😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "You Should Hear His Older Brother Covering Black Sabbath" Edition

Our good friend and proprietor of the invaluable Burning Wood blog Sal Nunziato linked to this the other day and I just couldn't resist putting it up over here.

I mean, my god -- this is freaking great.

I actually had a copy of the album that's from back in the day; I don't remember anything else from it (although a look at the track listing, which includes a lot of other potentially interesting covers, has intrigued me). But I vividly recall playing the shit out of the above at top volume (under heaphones, obviously) at my office at Stereo Review. And thinking then -- as I still do now -- that it may actually improve on The Who's original.

BTW, I should add that the credits on that are Shaun singing lead and Todd Rundgren and the members of Utopia doing everything else.

The bottom line -- power pop heaven.

And thank you, Sal!!! 😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "At My Age, It's Easy" Edition

Okay, as I mentioned earlier, I've had to go out of town unexpectedly for a couple of days, and consequently I've had to keep my scribbling to a bare minimum until my return.

So without further ado, this leads us inexorably to the subject of today's business. To wit:

...and the best/most immediately memorable lead-off track to a great album is...???

Discuss.

No arbitrary rules whatsoever, although I was tempted to add "excluding the Beatles or Stones". But heck -- if that's the stuff you wanna pick, go for it.

In any case, if you were wondering what I'm going for, it's this (which may surprise you).

To which I can only add -- wow. And the song that opens their previous (debut) album is pretty fucking amazing too. 😎

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend everybody!!!

[h/t Sal Nunziato]

Closed for Monkey Business

Had to go out of town unexpectedly for the next couple of days (family mishegass -- nothing too serious) so I didn't have time to write something for today. Mea culpa.

Regular posting -- by which I mean a particularly interesting Weekend Essay Questiion -- resumes on the morrow.

"The Local Rock Group Down the Street is Trying Hard to Learn Their Song..."

From Second to None, the just-released new album by Toronto's ace jangle-rockers The Get Alongs, please enjoy the band (plus a small but enthusiastic invited audience) live in the studio with the album's killer lead-off track "Come On."

I gotta say, as much as I appreciate that song in the abstract, the video has an old-fashioned (duh) garage band vibe to it that I just find irresistible. I was not previously familiar with those guys, who I'm informed have been around since 2017, but after seeing that I am an instant fan.

I should add that, as charming as the live rendition is, the studio version from the actual album is on a whole other level of great. You can hear it (plus the rest of the album and lots of their earlier stuff) over at their Bandcamp site HERE.

Tuesday's Music-Themed Photo-Funnies

Bill Wyman doing Ed Sullivan -- let's really hear it for him, boys and girls!!! 😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "Legendary Bands I Actually Saw in a Small Club Before They Were Legends" Edition

From January 1967, please enjoy the original (i.e. with Jerry Corbitt as the Lennon to Jesse Colin Young's McCartney) Youngbloods, and their utterly exquisite "All Over the World" (La La)".

An absolutely perfect mashup of Brill Building romanticism and folk-rock; proto-power pop too, come to think of it.

Pardon me for one more day's obnoxious geezer self-indulgence, but I happen to believe that the eponymous debut Youngbloods album, from whence that derives, is an absolute freaking masterpiece on every level. And let's not even bring "Get Together" into the discussion.

In any event, the song seemed like a fitting late coda to last week, in which we argued for the virtues of the Youngbloods contemporaries The Sopwith Camel and Chrysalis. Especially considering that I saw those Youngbloods guys at the tiny Greenwich Village dive the Cafe Au-Go-Go (seating: about 200-300) immediately after the album's release. And that the band sounded exactly -- and I mean EXACTLY -- like the above.

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Do You Slash Your Wrists in Hot or Cold Water?" Edition

Okay, the backstory.

Sometime in the '90s, I suddenly and unexpectedly came into a hefty chunk of cash, and having recently gone through another of the Great Girlfriend Crises that have punctuated my life on numerous occasions since college, I decided to indulge myself. And no, that did NOT mean (as I have no doubt longtime readers are assuming) splurging it all on hookers and blow. 😎

Instead, I planned to go into the recording studio to make a solo album or EP; it was going to be a concept record entitled More Songs About Anger and Embittered Self-Pity (for obvious reasons) and I had a whole list of songs I wanted to cover that fit the bill and some musician friends who were ready to accompany me on the journey.

The short version: Cooler heads ultimately prevailed. After a couple of rehearsals, I decided that the project was kind of silly, and I proceeded to piss away said hefty chunk of cash on...I frankly don't even remember what. Probably just the blow (but not the hookers). 😎😎

Hey, what can I say -- it was the '90s, and we were all a little over the top.

Anyway, that leads us now, inexorably, to the subject of today's business. To wit:

...and if YOU were going to make your own version of More Songs About Anger and Embittered Self-Pity, what songs by which artists would you include?

Discuss.

In case you're wondering -- and this will come as no surprise to the abovementioned longtime readers -- my Numero Uno pick, both then and now, would be this. In fact, I think I actually rehearsed a punkish take on it with a guitarist friend of mine from The Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review who could do a very good Johnny Ramone impression. (Hi, Mike!!!)

So alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Your Thursday Moment of Words Absolutely Freaking Fail Me

From 1963, please enjoy Ross McManus and his rousing rendition of the venerable Weavers/Peter Paul and Mary/Trini Lopez hit "If I Had a Hammer."

And in case you're wondering, Ross is -- wait for it -- Elvis Costello's dad.

Have I mentioned that words absolutely freaking fail me?

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "I Don't Want to Go to the Hippie's Graveyard" Edition

So this past Monday, in our discussion about sadly underated first-generation SF band The Sopwith Camel, our good friend and faithful reader Capt. Al mentioned another (far more) obscure fave of mine, the upstate (Ithaca) NY band Chrysalis, who made one very interesting album in 1967 and then were similarly lost in the mists of history.

I absolutely adored said album (Definition, released by MGM) and after getting myself over to YouTube and listening to it for the first time in about 40 years, I thought I'd get all self-indulgent and share.

I find both of those genuinely haunting, and IMHO there are several songs on the album at least as good (yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking). That said, if you conclude that their whole gestalt is just insufferably twee, I will not dispute you. I mean, at the very least, it's hard to argue that they were not, shall we say. very much of their time.

I should add that I saw them live (twice, I think) and their songs sounded vastly better in that context; as much as I dig the record, the production is pretty undistinguished/undernourished. I should also add that I think singer Nancy Nairn has one of the coolest voices ever and (you'll have to take this on faith) that they had a lot of charisma onstage.

Self-indulgence now over. More recent music, more suited to the actual theme of this here blog, resumes on the morrow. 😎

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckles

I gotta admit, it took me a minute or two to get the first one. 😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "Tales From Snoopy's Doghouse " Edition

And speaking as we were last week of genius producer Erik Jacobsen, here are three songs (recorded in 1966-67) he helmed by unfairly treated by history first-generation San Francisco band The Sopwith Camel.

Pump up the volume on these and prepare to have your tiny minds blown.

Man, where even to begin? 😎

Let me just say, though, and for the record, that one of the reasons these guys aren't as famous as they should be is that the album pictured in the vids above came out -- to my knowledge inexplicably -- almost a year after "Hello Hello", the Top 10 single that made them briefly a thing. A year, of course, is a lifetime in pop music terms, and what the hell were they thinking?

I should add that "Treadin'" was the B-side of the aforementioned Top-Tenner, and I get chills just thinking of the glorious jangly folk-rock guitars that decorate it. I should also add that it was not included on the original Camel LP, and that the stereo version above was not available till a CD reissue sometime in the 90s.

Needless to say, I can still vividly recall my delight when I heard it in all its two-channel glory for the first time. 😎😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "How Do You Say 'Art for Art's Sake' in Yiddish?" Edition

Okay, here's the short version.

So me and a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance have gotten hooked on/are bingewatching a teevee show called (Sky Arts) Portrait Arist of the Year.

It's been running annually since 2013; the season we're currently enjoying is from 2019. In any case, the format has remained consistent since its premier. Nine artists -- professional and amateur -- have a paint-off portrait contest where they start by doing quick (four hour) studies of live sitters who are mostly B-list (usually British) celebs -- tv stars, actors, comics, pop musicians, sports figures etc -- and then they whittle the contestants down to one.

Who then gets to paint -- over a much longer period, i.e. a couple of weeks -- a 10,000 pound commission portrait of an A-list celeb for a major Brit Art institution. (In the season we're currently watching, the sitter is Sir Tom Jones for a museum in Wales.)

In any event, it's a fabulously entertaining show, and most of the art is world class and brilliant.

Which leads us, inexorably, to today's theme. To wit:

...and the post-Elvis pop/rock/country/folk/jazz/hip hop music star that you personally would most have liked to have painted a portrait of -- from life -- is...????

Discuss.

And if you're wondering who my ideal sitter would have been...

Ah, the late great Ms. Winehouse.

For multiple reasons that I probably don't need to go into. 😎

Alrighty then -- who would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend everybody!!!

These Guys Are Gonna Be Bigger Than Rimsky and Korsakov Combined!!!

From their eponymous 1972 debut album, please enjoy (if possible) The Sidewinders and their shall we say interesting instro version of the venerable "Flight of the Bumblebee." Kinda like The Ventures on acid.

The Sidwinders were hugely hyped by their label (RCA) and they had a certain je ne sais quoi in the downtown NYC rock scene of the early '70s. I actually had the album at the time and listened to it often enough that I decided their underground cool did not make up for the crappy production by the young Lenny Kaye. Great album cover photo, however.

In any case, they never took off commercially, and these days if they're remembered at all, it's as the band that launched the careers of power pop deity Andy Paley (credits too numerous to mention) and Billy Squier (before he you should pardon the expression stroked out). 😎

Cue the Theme from The Twilight Zone

Okay, this has totally weirded me out.

I mean, I know they say that everybody has a doppelganger (i.e. somebody who looks just like them) somewhere in the world, but coming face to face (heh) with mine -- the dude in the middle with the sunglasses -- was not what I expected this morning.

In any case, those guys are a vintage rock tribute band from Santa Fe NM; the picture is apparently a promo for a gig they did seven years ago.

I should add that according to their official website they're still at it (god bless 'em). But in the more up-to-date group photos and vids over there my double now just looks like a generic old guy.

Whew. 😎

Tuesday's Music-Themed Photo-Funnies and Cartoon Chuckle

The Star Trek one just kills me. 😎