Weekend Listomania (Special Sweet Emotion Video Edition)

Well, it's Friday, and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental rentboy amanuensis Hop-Sing and I have returned, exhausted, from the land of the Ignoble Frog, and are consequently going to spend the rest of the weekend in bed.

Hey, I mean sleeping. Seperately. Get your minds out of the gutter.

But in any case, posting by moi will be completely not happening until Monday.

Thus, in my absence, here's a little project for us all:

Coolest Post-Elvis Song or Record Referencing The Emotion of Happiness or the Word Happiness Itself (Title or Lyric!!!)

No arbitrary rules this time -- just smile, please! And please remember: Our ongoing project to insert Billy Corgan's pretentious cueball noggin into every Weekend Listomania will resume next time.

And my totally top of my head Top Seven is:

7. The Rolling Stones -- Happy



A/k/a "Keith's Song." Obvious, I know, but what can you do.

6. The Edwin Hawkins Singers -- Oh Happy Day



If memory serves, John Lennon's favorite record of 1969 (along with Dave Edmunds "I Hear You Knockin'," which of course has no thematic connection whatsoever).

5. Neil Innes --How Sweet to Be an Idiot



A/k/a "The George W. Bush Song." Okay, a cheap shot...

4. Dashboard Confessional -- Standard Lines



"Hope you're happy." Not a particularly great song, but included just so we can have something recorded in this century...

3. Small Faces -- Happiness Stan



My second favorite song on the third greatest concept album of the 60s.

2. The Who -- Happy Jack



"I saw ya!"

And the number one coolest song about that up and positive feeling, there's not even a contest you MFs, so don't bug me, obviously is --

1. The Beatles -- I'm Happy Just to Dance With You



As with "I Want to Hold Your Hand," the title may not be 100 percent honest about the singer's intentions, but a delightful song and sentiment in any event, don't you think?

Awrighty then -- and what would your choices be?

[Shameless Blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania [theme: great female ensemble casts] is now up over at Box Office. As always, if you could see your way over there to leave a comment, an angel gets its wings.]

An Early Clue to the New Direction (Special Just Back From Paris! Video Edition)

From 1966, here's the original backing track of "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow," from the Beach Boys' Smile, a/k/a the Most Famous Lost Album in Rock (Nay, Music) History.



Incidentally, while in the land of the Ignoble Frog, I was reading Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall & Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, by Peter Ames Carlin, which has all the amazing backstory on the above and much more, and is highly recommended.

As always, a coveted PowerPop No-Prize will be awarded to the first reader who gleans the track's relevance to the theme of tomorrow's Weekend Listomania.

And boy, am I not holding my breath on THIS one.

[h/t Kerrin L. Griffith]

We'll Always Have Paris

Homeward bound, but here's one last shot from our trip.



Who knew the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles was actually in Dayton, Ohio?

Oh, and sorry for the shameless blogwhore, but over at Box Office please enjoy a wonderful 1979 video by the charmingly monikered first generation French punk band The Stinky Toys.

More Fun With Photoshop

Our first day in Paris: Here I am posed under the actual coat Napoleon Bonaparte wore during his career as a CPA in Dayton, Ohio.



Anybody heard from the Chinese Aviator today?

Greetings From Dayton, Ohio

Noted over at Eschaton the other night:

Simels is in Paris like I am a Chinese aviator.

Give me a break.
me | 10.25.08 - 3:35 pm | #



Hey Allen -- how's the air up there?

I Get Email...

Happy Monday!

From Ray at koolkatmusik.com:

On November 4, the fine folks at Numero Records (the same people who brought us Yellow Pills: Prefill) will be releasing a 2 CD set that chronicles the legendary, most excellent, Kansas City-based power pop label - Titan Records!

From 1978-1981 the Titan label issued only eight records, but over the years their tiny catalog has crawled to the top of power-pop want lists worldwide and appeared on scads of bootleg cassettes, building a legacy to rival L.A.’s Bomp or New York’s Ork. Located in fly-over country, Titan was forced to start their own scene, import their own skinny ties, and scour Missouri for their own talent. This is a brilliant 2 CD set that chronicles the legendary, most excellent, pop label! 42 tracks by artists like The Boys, Gary Charlson, Arlis, The Secrets, and Scott McCarl (of the Raspberries) will be featured. Consisting of two digipack sleeves housed in a slipcase, it also comes with a detailed, 40 page booklet that tells the whole Titan story.

I have several singles from Titan and they are all uniformly wonderful, especially the great Gary Charlson. Seriously, if you are a fan of late 70s skinny-tie powerpop, this is a treasure trove of hooks. I am really looking forward to this as it has been in the works for a long time! To sweeten the deal, if you pre-order from Kool Kat, they are throwing in a couple of bonus discs of material that didn't make it on the compilation.

Sunday Songcrush: Could Be Anything

Thers played me this the other night. (More on his discovery process later.) From 2004, it's The Eames Era with "Could Be Anything":



Noice!

Saturday Glam Blogging...

Ciao Kids,

I don't remember if I've featured the King of Glam Marc Bolan yet, 'cos I guess it seemed so bloody obvious. Nonetheless, here he is wearing his regal hubcap diamond star halo. This is without doubt one of the crunchiest riffs of the late 20th Century and I hope you enjoy it!
Cheers, mate!

Weekend Listomania (Special Deja Vu All Over Again Video Edition)

Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental manservant Hop-Sing, a certain shady dame and moi are spending a week in Paris, walking cheek by jowl with the Ignoble Frog down the City of Light's historic byways.

It's all very romantic, and we'll be posting all sorts of photos between now and our return, but in the meantime, here's a fun project for you all to contemplate:

Best Post-Elvis Song or Record Which Specifically Quotes Another Song or Record, Lyrically or Musically!!!

BTW, sampling really doesn't count as a quote, at least most of the time (see the Tone Loc entry below). So, for example, that Neneh Cherry song -- "Trout"? -- that uses the actual riff from Steppenwolf's "The Pusher" is right out. Just to be clear -- what we're talking about is somebody playing an instrumental snippet of another song's melody, or working a bit of another song's lyric into the narrative of a new one. Or...well, you get the idea.

Okay, that said, here's my strictly off the top of my head Top Seven:

7. Tom Petty -- Running Down a Dream



"It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down
I had the radio on, I was drivin'...
The trees went by, me and Del were singin
Little Runaway, I was flyin'"....

6. Cream -- Sunshine of Your Love



Clapton starts his solo by playing the opening line of "Blue Moon."


5. Tone Loc -- Funky Cool Medina



"And like Mick Jagger sang 'I can't get no satisfaction'." And that's a sample of Charlie's drums, BTW.


4. The Velvet Undeground -- Sweet Jane



The studio version, from Loaded (and in my opinion, Lou's best vocal performance ever): "Just watch me now!" Obviously, from the Contours "Do You Love Me."

3. The Beatles -- Glass Onion



"The Walrus was Paul."


2. Jimi Hendrix -- Wild Thing



In the version from Jimi Plays Monterey he starts his solo with the opening line of "Strangers in the Night."

And the number one coolest song/record quoting another song/record, it's so fricking obvious I'll smack you if you give me a hard time about this, is --

1. The Beatles -- All You Need is Love



"The Marseillaise," "Greensleeves," "In the Mood"....and then, in the all-time conceptual masterstroke, their own "She Loves You." Post-Modernism begins here.

Awrighty then -- and your choices would be...??????

[Shameless Blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania (theme: cool cult movies) is now up over at Box Office. As always, if you could see your way over there to leave a comment, an angel gets its wings.]

An Early Clue to the New Direction Goes to Paris

From 1975, here's Bob Dylan and his lachrymose ode to Jakob's mom, "Sara."



As always, a coveted PowerPop No-Prize will be awarded to the first reader who divines its relevance to tomorrow's Weekend Listomania.