A sweet 17 selection of well-known songs or artists
Some things old, some things new, some things blue, all ring true.
1. DeVotchka. Charlotte Mittnacht.
To dance to with a woman in an evening gown.
Upcoming Hallowe'en concert ...
2. Franz Ferdinand. Dark of the matinée.
Viva Scotland! (We needed something from the 21st cent.)
Glasgow (Fratellis, Jesus & Mary Chain, et al.)
is obviously the Slough/East End muse-place of my ancestors' homeland,
though writers Irvine Welsh, Alan Warner ("Morvern Callar")
and Christopher Brookmyre make Edinburgh seem nearly
as inspiring
3. Elmore James. Done somebody wrong. Slide guitar from the master.
Or Junior Wells and Buddy Guy (as we walked through the South Side from Theresa's in 1978, a working girl said
"
Hey Slim, come back here, Slim. Where you goin' with that grin, Slim?" Shortly afterwards, a fat white cop in
plain clothes pulled up and almost just shot us when my buddy asked for ID.
Gave us a ride to
our motel
[two honkies fresh from Alaska in workboots and flannel shirts].
"I'd rather give you a ride home than fill out papers on you at the morgue." Gee officer, people have been great)
4. Erik Satie. Trois gnossiennes.
"Le coeur humain a une fâcheuse tendance a appeler destin
seulement ce qui l'écrase. Mais le bonheur, aussi, a sa manière, est sans raison, puisqu'il est inévitable."
Camus, Le Mythe de Sisyphe. [l'accent grave m'échappaient... je suis perdu ... j'oublie mon français]
"The human heart has a tiresome tendency to label as fate, only what crushes it. But happiness, likewise, in its
own way, is without reason, because it is inevitable."
The roots of punk? Shannon Wright must listen to him. [Only short classical bits considered.
How about "Bach's Violin Partita #3 In E, BWV 1006 - 3. Gavotte En Rondeau?"]
5. Rolling Stones. Ventilator Blues. Their greatest song? [Satisfaction or Paint It Bl;ack were where I started]
Some twit Brit post-modern rocker said "we don't listen to the Stones."
I bet noone will be listening to you in 40 years, luv. Mick & Keith may be incorrigible bastards, but I luv 'em.
6. James Brown. Get on the good foot. My only CD box set -- nuff said
7. The Clash. Guns of Brixton. or several others....
8. Nirvana. Smells like teen spirit.
When Weird Al Yankovic's parody is also a great song,
you know you have something
9. Black Uhuru. Youth of Egglinton. Gotta dance.
10. Patti Smith. Gloria.
The best cover ever? (as for the cover of Patti's "Because the night", oh god help us).
I liked Them. Later VM is a bit much for me.
11. PJ Harvey (w/ Thom Yorke). The mess we're in. So, I have a weak spot for Brits who
didn't really survive childhood (I spent my deformative years -- age 9 to 13 -- in Brit boarding school).
Late at night, with a sip of Lagavullin.
12. Howlin' Wolf. Spoonful. Big guy sings Willie Dixon. My favorite obscure blues song is
Catfish Blues by Bobo "Slim" Thomas.
"When I feel like a catfish, swimmin' deep down in the sea ..."
Was able to ID the song (old cassette) via internet plus Robert Palmer's book "Deep Blues"
[CD 2007 This is Blues; or B.B. King & Friends, track 7 on iTunes {not the Blues Legends album}]
13. The Ramones. Teenage lobotomy.
How would I have made it through grad school without this?
[No, not the lobotomy, though that may have helped also. The song]
14. The Beatles. Helter skelter. Okay, so you either hate the group, or you hate the choice. Yes!
15. Lucinda Williams. Copenhagen. Check the little piano bit nr the end. My heroine.
16. Lou Reed. Walk on the wild side. Total hoot.
17. Neil Young. Guitar solo X ("Dead Man" soundtrack). A great soundtrack... about six notes speak volumes
That wasn't so easy ..... what about Lucinda Williams, Bad Religion, The Sex Pistols, Edith Piaf, Elvis?