Song of the day: Ray Brown And The Whispers - "(Ain't It) Strange"

I heard today's song on the radio yesterday and thought:

"I like that. I'd like it on the blog so other people can like it, too. Or they may not like it. Never mind. Beat music from the Sixties isn't to everyone's taste. So there's no guarantee that whoever listens to is going to think it's as groovy as I do. But that's OK. You can't expect everyone to like what you put on the blog. And another thing: Why are you having this silly internal conversation?"

Ray Brown And The Whispers - "(Ain't It) Strange" (1966)

Link

And here's the original:

The Uniques - "Strange" (1966)

Link

I'd like to state for the record* that I think "The Uniques" is a great name for a 1960s band.

(*Pun unfortunately intended.)

Musical coincidences # 251

My friend Stonefish (Hi, Stoney!) recently posted on his blog a couple of songs by a band called Fools For Rowan.

One of the songs starts like this:

Fools For Rowan - "It's Alright" (2009) (excerpt 1)


And it was the first four notes – these four notes...

Fools For Rowan - "It's Alright" (2009) (excerpt 2)


...that piqued my interest, because they instantly reminded me of:

The Beatles - "Here Comes The Sun" (1969) (excerpt)


Here are the full versions:

Fools For Rowan - "It's Alright" (2009)



The Beatles - "Here Comes The Sun" (1969)


I would like to thank both Stonefish and Fools For Rowan for reminding me of "Here Comes The Sun".

Song of the day: The Corner Laughers - "Twice The Luck"

Speaking of psychedelic-neo-baroque-power-pop, I recently received the CD of The Corner Laughers' Poppy Seeds in the mail. (It arrived here in Australia only a couple of weeks after I bought it. Thanks, band! I like it when you give musicians money and they give you music.)

To celebrate*, here's one reason I bought the little critter:

(Beware: If you're allergic to "twee", you may want to visit a different blog today.)

The Corner Laughers - "Twice The Luck" (2012)


Oh, I've just discovered that in a lovely bit of happenstance Powerpopaholic has posted a review of Poppy Seeds (and scored it 9 out of 10 – Woohoo!).

(*I was going to say "commemorate", but that might be too official a word to use just to play a song on a blog.)

Musical coincidences # 250

Today's Song of the day is the rather splendid "Prince Of Thieves" by Skeleton Staff. Its rhythm is based on this:

Skeleton Staff - "Prince Of Thieves" (2011) (excerpt)


And the rhythm of "Like Wow - Wipeout!" by the Hoodoo Gurus is based on this:

Hoodoo Gurus - "Like Wow - Wipeout!" (1985) (excerpt)


Yes indeedy.

Here are the full versions:

Skeleton Staff - "Prince Of Thieves" (2011)


Hoodoo Gurus - "Like Wow - Wipeout!" (1985)

Song of the day: Skeleton Staff - "Prince of Thieves"

It's been aaaaages since I played you a Skeleton Staff song.

Time to rectify:

Skeleton Staff - "Prince Of Thieves" (2011)

***

Incidentally – and this doesn't have much to do with anything interesting – I was a bit late with today's post because of a mishap that prevented me from having access to the Internet for a while. The modem cable broke yesterday so I had to nip off to a shop and get a new cable. (It may or may not have been pet-rabbit-related. I didn't see the cable break, so I can't really blame the rabbit. Unless it was the rabbit.*)

(*Even if it was, I can't be angry at Alice. I mean, look at her:

How can I be angry at that?)

Official website
Facebook
MySpace
Bandcamp

Song of the day: Raspberries - "Play On"

There I was, enjoying my Sunday (Note to self: It's not just your Sunday, Peter – it's everyone else's, too) when I suddenly realised: "Gah! I don't have a song for the blog on Monday! Quick! Think of a song! And stop using exclamation marks!"

Here's the first thing that came into my head:

Raspberries - "Play On" (1974)

Link

Phew.

Now to think of a song for tomorrow...

Song of the day: Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - "A Taste Of Honey"

You know, sometimes I think I don't have enough Herb Alpert in my life:

Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - "A Taste Of Honey" (1965)

Link


Do you have enough Herb* in your life?

Here's the familiar version by those Beatles:

The Beatles - "A Taste Of Honey" (1963)

Link

Here's the version The Beatles based their version on:

Lenny Welch - "A Taste Of Honey" (1962)

Link

And here's the original:

Bobby Scott - "A Taste Of Honey" (1960)

Link

Bobby Scott - "A Taste Of Honey (Refrain)" (1960)

Link

Bobby Scott - "A Taste Of Honey (Closing Theme)" (1960)

Link

(*Double entendre fully intended.)

Song of the day: The Bowers - "Going To Love Me Now"

Here's another Australian song introduced to me by an American blog. (Hi, Aaron!)

Today's song is by a band called The Bowers, and they're from Melbourne. They have a new album out called Odds Or Evens.

Although the album didn't much for me (I'm not a huge fan of garage-y rock), I did like this track:

The Bowers - "Going To Love Me Now" (2012)


If you want to hear the whole album, here 'tis:



Official website
MySpace
Triple J Unearthed
Odds Or Evens review at Mess & Noise

***

By the way, I know of another album called Odds Or Evens. It's by jazz fusion guitarist Mike Stern. I have it (and like it). Did you want to hear a bit of Mike Stern's Odds Or Evens? No? Are you sure? Really? Well, I'll play it anyway. You ever know...

Mike Stern - "Odds Or Evens" (1991)

Link

Song of the day: The Wellingtons - "Your Love Keeps Bringing Me Down"

I haven't played you a song by The Wellingtons in quite a while. I don't know what I was (not) thinking, omitting some prime Australian power pop on an Australian power pop blog.

OK, I'll play you a song from their latest album, In Transit. But which one? They're all worth playing. Hmm.

(Note to self: Pick a song, Peter, any song. Stop holding people up. They've come here to listen to some decent music, and they can't because you're taking too long deciding which song to play. JUST PICK ONE.)

Er, here's a song by The Wellingtons:

The Wellingtons - "Your Love Keeps Bringing Me Down" (2011)

Link

The Wellingtons are everywhere:
On their official website
On Wikipedia
On Facebook
On MySpace
On Twitter
In England
On Soundcloud
On Bandcamp
On Audioleaf
On YouTube
On Mixi.jp

Song of the day: Evening Grease - "Cos He Must Go"

I know I played you a song by the band-who-must-not-be-named only last week, but I have a huge urge to play you this track by them as well.

Of the two versions I'm presenting here today, I'd like to steer you in the direction of the live one. To explain why, I must warn you that I'm now going to go into Boring Bass Player mode...

I'm a bass player, and for me one of the best things about the live version of this song is the bass in the choruses. The band's bass player, Peter Gifford, doesn't do anything fancy – it's purely the sound that gets me excited. It's a sound that makes me go "Wow". (For anyone still reading this paragraph, the cavernous sound of that bass's bottom end is due to a chorus effect.)

Oh, and there's one other reason I love this song: the coda. (Or to use the technical term: "the bit at the end"). In the live version it starts at 3:33 (and in the studio, 3:46). I don't know what it's doing there at the end of the song, because it has absolutely nothing to do with what went before it, but I think it's a great piece of music. (I actually think that little coda is one of the best tunes this band ever wrote.) Maybe it was a stray piece of music they had and didn't want to waste, so they tacked it on the end of the song thinking: "We can put that there. Nobody will mind, will they?"

Evening Grease - "Cos He Must Go" (1985)


Link

Musical coincidences # 249

Here's another Facebook-conversation-inspired coincidence. And this one, like the earlier one, was initiated by Facebook Fiend Friend Scotty (Hi, Scottster!).

Scotty posted a song by Australian troubadour Tim Reid called "Love With You". When I heard it, one of the song's melodies reminded me of a melody in a song from a year before.

Let the coincidencing begin...

Tim Reid - "Love With You" (2003) (excerpt)

Link

Starclock - "Yo Pussycat" (2002) (excerpt)

Link

Considering the Starclock track has never been readily available anywhere (i.e. hardly anyone's heard it), I'm 93.219% sure that's a coincidence.

Here are the full versions:

Tim Reid - "Love With You" (2003)



Starclock - "Yo Pussycat" (2002)

Link

Song of the day: Mi-Sex - "Computer Games"

If you're a) Australian, b) grew up listening to the radio in the 1970s, and c) reading this post, there's an exceedingly high chance that you're well aware of today's song. (And there's an even greater chance that this infernally catchy song is still stuck in your head after all these years.)

However, if you're not from the land of Australians then it's entirely possible that you've never heard this song – and that's the main reason I'm playing it here today.

Either way, please enjoy New Zealand Australian band Mi-Sex with their first major hit single (number one in Australia):

Mi-Sex - "Computer Games" (1979)

Link

Musical coincidences # 248

Australian band Splurge recently made their album, The Cure For The Cure, available for free on their website (Thanks, guys!), and the band's largesse prompted this particular coincidence.

Track 3 on the album, the non-cheery "She's Not The One", begins like so:

Splurge - "She's Not The One" (2006) (excerpt)

Link

And it reminds me of:

Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls - "Somebody's Forgetting Somebody (Somebody's Letting Somebody Down)" (1987) (excerpt)

Link

Here are the full versions:

Splurge - "She's Not The One" (2006)

Link

Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls - "Somebody's Forgetting Somebody (Somebody's Letting Somebody Down)" (1987)

Link

Song of the day: Splurge - "Too Much Is Not Enough"

Here's Australian band Splurge who don't mind putting electric guitars to good use in a song about intemperance:

Splurge - "Too Much Is Not Enough" (2006)

Link

By the way, Splurge have tizzied up their website and added an extremely pleasant bonus: they decided to make The Cure For The Cure, the album "Too Much Is Not Enough" appears on, available for free. (Or, putting it another way: Splurge would like you to have one of their albums.)

Now that's what I'd call A Mighty Good Thing. (But I think the band still calls it The Cure For The Cure*.)

Official website
MySpace

(*Sorry. That was probably the worst** joke I've made on this blog. If I make another one I hope it's much better.)

(**No, that isn't the worst. This is.)

Musical coincidences # 247

My friend Steve (Hi, Steve!) suggested this coincidence. Beware: it's extremely noticeable. (How noticeable? It's Jaw-Droppingly, Wide-Eyed-Disbelief-Grade Noticeable.)

I don't even need to play you excerpts of each song. You'll notice the, er, "similarities" in no time.

Let the jaw dropping begin...

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - "Crimson And Clover" (1981)

Link

Jarvis Cocker - "Black Magic" (2006)

Link

And here's the original "Crimson And Clover":

Tommy James and the Shondells - "Crimson And Clover" (1968)

Link

Song of the day: Slade - "Move Over" (live at the BBC)

A while ago I posted Slade's version of obscure Sixties track "Shape Of Things To Come". I posted it in response to an earlier post of that obscure Sixties song performed by someone else, and (sorry – I'll try not to make this paragraph as complicated as it's starting to sound) a commenter by the name of Murph (Hi, Murph!) mentioned the Slade version. I didn't know this (along with plenty of other things I don't know), and I found out that along with a studio version appearing on their second album, Play It Loud, it appears on Slade's Live At The BBC, a double album where the first disc contains recordings the band made for the BBC and the second disc is a concert recorded in 1972.

Anyway, I made Slade's Live At The BBC version of "Shape Of Things To Come" a Song of the day. (Oops. I mentioned that at the start of the previous paragraph. This post is becoming circular.)

But getting back to today's song...

As I listened to Live At The BBC (which I hadn't before) my predominant thought was: "No wonder people say Slade were a great live band." And then I remembered Robert Christgau's comment: "I judge a good rock and roll 'encyclopedia' by whether or not Slade is included."

For me, one of the standout tracks on the album was their version of Janis Joplin's "Move Over". It stood out because its main tune was so catchy. As soon as that melody went into my head it stayed there for the rest of the day. And that's why I'm playing it to you today – it's hooky as heck. (Or, to use an even ruder term: it's heckin' hooky.)

There are two versions of "Move Over" on Slade's Live At The BBC. I didn't know which one to choose for today's song because I think they're both magnificent, so I've gone for both.

Slade - "Move Over" (live at the BBC) (1972)

Link

Slade - "Move Over Baby" (live at The Paris Theare, London, August 17, 1972)

Link

Here's the studio version:

Slade - "Move Over" (1972)

Link

And the original:

Janis Joplin - "Move Over" (1971)

Link

Boy that's a catchy tune.

Coda:

It's just occurred to me that this is an Australian power pop blog. I really should try to find some Australian power pop to play on it.

Musical coincidences # 246

My friend Scotty (Hi, Scottarama!) spotted this one. He mentioned it on Facebook, and then I joined in on the conversation, and then a few other people joined in, and... well, now it's here.

East River Pipe - "Make A Deal With The City" (1993) (excerpt)

Link

Cornershop - "Brimful Of Asha" (single version) (1997) (excerpt)

Link

Okey dokey. That takes care of Scotty's coincidence-spotting. (Thanks, Scotty!)

When I listened to "Brimful Of Asha" there was a part of it that contained a bit of rapid singing. It reminded me of another song that engaged in rapid singing:

Cornershop - "Brimful Of Asha" (single version) (1997) (excerpt 2)

Link

Barenaked Ladies - "One Week" (1998) (excerpt)

Link

Here are the full versions:

East River Pipe - "Make A Deal With The City" (1993) (excerpt)

Link

Cornershop - "Brimful Of Asha" (single version) (1997)

Link


Barenaked Ladies - "One Week" (1998)

Link

Song of the day: The Stanleys - "Always"

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I found out about a new Australian band on an American blog.

My daily visit to Absolute Powerpop (Hi, Steve!) resulted in reading a review of Always, a new* four-track EP by Perth band The Stanleys.

As an introductory "Hello, we're The Stanleys and we'd like you to get to know us with a song we're giving to you free of charge", here's the title track from the EP:

The Stanleys - "Always" (2012)



Buy Always at CD Baby
Official website
Facebook
MySpace
Triple J Unearthed

(*As opposed to old.)

Song of the day: The Pigs - "Saturday Night"

I was contacted by a rather productive chap by the name of Geoff Westen (Hi, Geoff!) who introduced me to three of his albums.

Each album was released under a different pseudonym, and each one exudes a different 'vibe'.

I have a feeling that Geoff likes the music of the 1980's a lot, because musically all three albums are firmly entrenched smack dab in the middle of the 80's. His music is very 80's. I mean, VERY 80's. (I can't stress just how 80's his music is.)

Despite generally loathing the music of the 80's (it's my least favourite decade in the entire history of Western Music), I had listened to all three albums. (I would be a bald-faced – and possibly bald-headed – liar if I said I listened to the three albums in their entirety, 'cos I didn't.)

This is the quickest overview I can offer about Geoff's 80's 'bands':

• Digital Activity (Techno)
• VIDIOTS (New Romantics)
• The Pigs (New Wave)

The one I didn't mind (I was going to say "the one I disliked the least", but that would sound insulting – like damning with faint praise), I gravitated towards Geoff's The Pigs album because it sounded predominantly like a mixture of Oingo Boingo, The Cars, and Devo in 1980 (yep, just that year).

Now to actually play you a song. Here's the opening track on The Pigs' album, Oink!:

The Pigs - "Saturday Night" (2011)

Link

Before I finish this post (yes, I'm trying to make this a short one), I want to mention that one of Geoff's techno songs reminded me of three other songs. This is a bit of Geoff's track:

VIDIOTS - "Some Of You Girls" (2009) (excerpt)

Link

And it reminds me of these:

Herbie Hancock - "Rockit" (1985) (excerpt)

Link

Harold Faltermeyer - "Axel F" (1984) (excerpt)

Link

Yello - "Oh Yeah" (1985) (excerpt)

Link

Musical coincidences # 245

This coincidence comes to you courtesy of Pitchfork's review of Field Music's ineffably splendid album, Tones Of Town.

(Pitchfork didn't find it ineffably spendid. They considered it only moderately splendid, and thought it a bit effable.)

The reviewer said this:

"The bracing first single "In Context", which is even more invigorating out of context, kicks off with a heavy drum loop that could practically have been sampled from Nelly Furtado's 'Maneater'."

Let's see...

Field Music - "In Context" (2006) (excerpt)

Link

Nelly Furtado - "Maneater" (2006) (excerpt)

Link

Maybe.

Here are the full versions:

Field Music - "In Context" (2006)

Link

Nelly Furtado - "Maneater" (2006)

Link

Song of the day: Motor Ace - "Death Defy"

I'd like to thank my friend Scotty (Hi, Scotster!) for reminding me of this song. I'd completely forgotten about it.

Motor Ace - "Death Defy" (2001)

Link

Why am I now thinking of the Foo Fighters?

Song of the day: Pugwash - "It's Nice To Be Nice"

After my rudeness yesterday, it's time to remind myself:

Pugwash - "It's Nice To Be Nice" (2005)



Addendum: I've been told by Pugwash's main chap Thomas Walsh (Hi, Thomas!) that Jollity, the album "It's Nice To Be Nice" comes from, and the album I thought was unavailable anywhere (see comments below), is actually available at 1969 Records.

Official website
Other official website
MySpace
Facebook
Last.fm
Twitter

Musical coincidences # 244

And one more from Steve. (I might start calling him Mr. Perceptive from now on.)

I must warn you in advance that I find one of the songs that will remain nameless (hint: it's the Kiss one) absolutely horrendous, and although I had to listen to it for the sake of this coincidence I'm very comfortable with the idea that I don't have to listen to it ever again.

(I know that the above paragraph broke the golden rule my mother has taught me to live by – that is, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything" – but I thought that Kiss song the song that shall remain nameless was so lamentably awful, with cliché piled upon horrifyingly predictable cliché, that I couldn't contain myself. Unfortunately, I also let Steve know of how I felt when I replied to his email.)

Kiss - "Every Time I Look At You" (1992) (excerpt)

Link

Rod Stewart - "The First Cut Is The Deepest" (1977) (excerpt)

Link

Here are the full versions:

Kiss - "Every Time I Look At You" (1992)

Link

Rod Stewart - "The First Cut Is The Deepest" (1977)

Link

Song of the day: Starclock - "Girlfriend"

It's been a while since I pestered you with a song from the astonishing power pop album that apparently no-one's ever heard of (Starclock's self-titled album from 2002).

I think it's time for another song from the album to prompt you to wonder, "Why haven't I heard this before?":

Starclock - "Girlfriend" (2002)

Link

Musical coincidences # 243

Here's another coincidence promulgated by my friend Steve (Hi, Steve!).

April Wine - "You Won't Dance With Me" (1977) (excerpt)

Link

Dolly Parton - "I Will Always Love You" (1982) (excerpt)

Link

And for good measure:

Dolly Parton - "I Will Always Love You" (1974) (excerpt)

Link

(But not the Whitney Houston version. You've probably heard that one enough times.)

Here are the full versions:

April Wine - "You Won't Dance With Me" (1977)

Link

Dolly Parton - "I Will Always Love You" (1982)

Link

Dolly Parton - "I Will Always Love You" (1974)

Link

Song of the day: Night-Time Unguent - "Fortunate Island"

Here's a band that gets me into trouble whenever I mention their name. So I'm not going to mention their name. I'll let the music do the talking:

Night-Time Unguent - "Fortunate Island" (1981)

Link

Below is a live version, and I strongly urge you to watch the video. It gives you a pretty good idea of why they were my favourite band of the 1980's. Plus it has one of my all-time favourite filmed* moments in rock music. It occurs at 3:15 – but I must plead with you to watch the whole thing, as the low-key mid-section of the song builds and builds until that moment.



(*I think my all-time favourite is when Pete Townshend flies through the air in slow-motion as Roger Daltrey screams his lungs out in "Won't Get Fooled Again".)

Musical coincidences # 242

A recent coincidence involving Duran Duran prompted my friend Steve (Hi, Steve!) to say this:

The verses in the Caesars' "Jerk It Out" are reminiscent of Duran Duran's "Girls On Film".

Caesars - "Jerk It Out" (2003) (excerpt)

Link

Duran Duran - "Girls On Film" (1981) (excerpt)

Link

About the only thing I can add to Steve's comment is: "Yes they are."

Here are the full versions:

Caesars - "Jerk It Out" (2003)

Link


Duran Duran - "Girls On Film" (1981)

Link


Oh, I just remembered: a couple of years ago the 21-year-old of the household (Hi, Celeste!), who is a huge Japanese rock music fan (and actually in Japan at the moment) played me a song by one of her favourite bands at the time that ripped off Duran Duran's "Hungry Like The Wolf" as blatantly as any rock band could, Japanese or otherwise. I'll ask the 21-year-old what it is and then play it for you. It's a doozy.

Song of the day: 10cc - "Silly Love"

I want to make it up to you for yesterday's 10cc song (I can imagine you sitting there, with a thought bubble over your head, and the caption: "Yes, Peter, what were you thinking?"), so I'll play you two 10cc songs that I think are much more suitable for this blog. Hopefully that'll help compensate for yesterday's lapse.

10cc - "Silly Love" (1974)

Link

10cc - "Oh Effendi" (1974)

Link

Musical coincidences # 241

One of my favourite parts in The Cars' "My Best Friend's Girl" is this little guitar lick:

The Cars - "My Best Friend's Girl" (1978) (excerpt)

Link

And ever since I first heard it, it has always reminded me of:

The Beatles - "I Will" (1968) (excerpt)

Link

Here are the full versions:

The Cars - "My Best Friend's Girl" (1978)

Link

The Beatles - "I Will" (1968)

Link

Song of the day: 10cc - "Iceberg"

Well, I really wanted to play you a 10cc song today. But when it came to time to think of a track – one out of a hundred or so the band released that would show you why 10cc was one of my favourite bands in the Seventies – this is the first one I thought of:

10cc - "Iceberg" (1976)

Link

I don't know what I was thinking.

I love that track, but I haven't the foggiest notion as to why "Iceberg" was the one that applied for the position of "I'll be the first 10cc track you think of".

"Iceberg"?

Song of the day: Nushu - "My Best Friend's Girl"

American two-girl power pop band Nushu has released a five-track EP of cover versions entitled Joystick. I know this because one half of the band (the Lisa half – Hi, Lisa!) told me via Facebook that Joystick is now available.

When I saw the track listing for the EP I noticed that I'd already played you one of its songs (a mighty fine cover of Phil Seymour's "Precious To Me") on this very blog (in July last year). So I'm not going to play you that today.

Instead, I'm going to play you what I think is a splendid cover of a splendid song:

Nushu - "My Best Friend's Girl" (2012)

Link

In case you're interested, here's the original for comparison:

The Cars - "My Best Friend's Girl" (1978)

Link


If you're interested in hearing more (as opposed to less), you can preview the entire EP on Nushu's website.

Incidentally, when I went looking for Nushu links on the Internet I found a British band called Nushu. Unfortunately, that Nushu has songs with titles such as "March Of The Idiots" and "Kill All The Brutes", which I find fairly off-putting. I'd much rather listen to the American two-girl version instead, thank you.

Oh, and "My Best Friend's Girl" reminds me: there'll be a musical coincidence tomorrow featuring a part of it.

Official website
ReverbNation

Musical coincidences # 240

My commenting friend Mr. Tanner (Hi, Mr. Tannerman!) sent me an email a couple of weeks ago. I forgot about it, then remembered it, then forgot it. I'm now at the stage where I've both remembered and done something about it (i.e., put it on the blog).

Mr. Tanner told me that when heard the chorus of a song from 1979 called "I Wanna Make It With You" by Monalisa and Terry Young, it reminded him of the chorus in Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around And Fell In Love".

I must admit that although I don't think the two choruses are alarmingly similar (the kind that make you gasp and wonder if anyone's suing anyone else for plagiarism), I do think that musically they are in the general vicinity of each other:

Monalisa and Terry Young - "I Wanna Make It With You" (1979) (excerpt)

Link

Elvin Bishop - "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" (1975) (excerpt)

Link

One thing I did notice very strongly in "I Wanna Make It With You" was how weird some of Terry Young's singing was. Here's just one example:

Monalisa and Terry Young - "I Wanna Make It With You" (1979) (vocal weirdness)

Link

I think that is very strange indeed. (Especially the way Terry sings "eyes". I can't type a word to approximate the sound he makes.)

Anyway, here are the full versions:

Monalisa and Terry Young - "I Wanna Make It With You" (1979)

Link

Elvin Bishop - "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" (1975)

Link

Song of the day: Catcall - "The World Is Ours"

Now here's a theoretically rhetorical question for you (you don't have to answer it):

Is this song power pop?

Catcall - "The World is Ours" (2012)



Official website
Facebook
Twitter
Soundcloud
Last.fm

Song of the day: R. B. Greaves - "Take A Letter Maria"

I woke up the other day with today's song stuck in my head, and it stayed there all day. I don't know why that specific song was the first thing I thought of when I woke up (I haven't heard it in years), but it was. At the end of the day I was relieved, thinking that the day was over, I'd have a nice sleep, and then wouldn't hear that song any more.

Unfortunately, two days later I woke up and there it was again. And there it stayed. In my head. All day.

This is the song that's currently haunting me:

R. B. Greaves - "Take A Letter Maria" (1969)

Link

Musical coincidences # 239

Today's coincidence may get a little messy (it involves at least four different artists), but I'll try to be as concise as I can.

A couple of weeks ago I heard Al Green's "I'm Still In Love With You" over at Popdose. At the 1:02 mark in the song there's a little riff played on the strings. This is it:

Al Green - "I'm Still In Love With You" (1972) (excerpt)

Link

The first half of that tiny, tiny riff reminds me of one of the riffs melodies* in Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture:

Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (excerpt)
(Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sian Edwards)

Link

Incidentally, that Tchaikovsky riff melody features rather prominently in another pop song:

The Move - "Night Of Fear" (1966) (excerpt)

Link

Apparently that was deliberate, so it really shouldn't be here (i.e., it's not a coincidence), but what the hey (i.e., why not?). That Al Green violin riff on the other hand was coincidental. (Maybe.)

Here are the full versions:

Al Green - "I'm Still In Love With You" (1972)

Link

Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (excerpt)
(Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sian Edwards)

Link

The Move - "Night Of Fear" (1966) (excerpt)

Link

Oh, and one more thing:

This is the cover of Al Green's album I'm Still In Love With You:

As soon as I saw that wicker chair I remembered this Al Di Meola album from 1978:

And then I remembered this:

That's the photo on the back cover of ABBA's 1975 self-titled album:

Here's the front:

Wicker chairs sure were popular in the Seventies.

(*Can you call melodies in classical music "riffs"?)