It started as a not-so-random selection of tunes that popped up in a week's worth of iPod shuffle, turned into a possible mix of pop tunes with "strings," floated a bit in a "rarities" mode, made a right turn into a John Cale thing, (thanks to "ME" and his brilliant link in the chat box), but is now "September Songs," which is a little of everything.
I like it.
I guess I'll find out soon enough if you do.
Some notes:
The Macca track is one of six "Chaos & Creation" b-sides I just got hold of thanks to some fine friends and BW supporters.
The Todd Rundgren cover is from the super-rare Colin Blunstone release "Late Nights In Soho," courtesy of my pal Don over at ASH. Nice to hear the exquisite vocals of one legend covering another without having to shell out $200.
The Raisins? This was an odd discovery some years ago by my old roommate and current pal Rich. Hailing from Cincinnati, The Raisins turned into The Bears who were Adrian Belew's powerpop with artrock stylings quartet. Find it HERE, but it ain't cheap. Those savvy will find it "cheaper." Highly recommended.
The Donovan track was a long time obsession. Read about it in Trouser Press many moons ago, and finally found a white label 45 at Downstairs Records in Times Square sometime in the early 80s. Mr. Leitch covers Bowie in a BIG way.
The Cookies. Any opportunity to listen to this perfect piece of pop music, you know? It just brings you back there...even if you were never there. That's good work.
"The Electrician," a super-weird SINGLE (?) from the Walker Brothers' mega-rare "Nite Flights" album that leaves me frozen every time.
The Kinks track is currently my favorite Kinks track ever, taking over at least temporarily for "Scattered," which knocked "Waterloo Sunset" out of the top spot, though that will no doubt change.
Not sure who wrote the Willie & Ryan track, but I love the lyrics.
"Our song will never have
A final verse
Our hearts just finally
Settled back to Earth"
Enjoy. Comments welcome.
TRACKLIST
Mr. Wilson- John Cale
Art School Canteen- Godley & Creme
Strange Things Are Happening- Rings & Things
Mary Jean- Marshall Crenshaw
Summer Of '59- Paul McCartney
Can We Still Be Friends- Colin Blunstone
Get Back In The Line- The Kinks
The Bends- The Raisins
Pretty Girl- The Easybeats
The Land Torments The Sea- Finn Brothers
Even If You Don't- Ween
I Never Dreamed- The Cookies
The Electrician- The Walker Brothers
Rock & Roll With Me- Donovan
Back To Earth- Willie Nelson & Ryan Adams
IT'S ZIPPING
16 comments:
All I wanna do is make some money, and bring you home some wine. Surely one of Ray's most romantic lines - in its own way. great song. My current fave Kinks track of all time is Shangri-La, though. Waterloo could never leave the top 5!
Total agreement with richeye, Get Back In Line is a great song, and from a great album.
Holy cats, though, including Mr. Wilson and The Electrician?! Sal, did you inadvertently include them from your creepy October mix? On the other OTOH, both are certainly suitably dire and melancholy for my present mood. Love both of them.
Can't imagine what Walker Bros. fans must have thought when they slapped on the Nite Flights l.p. and heard this! Made 'em want to drill through the spiritus sanctus, I'll bet.
This looks great. Thanks, Sal.
JAG,
Are both those songs really on an earlier mix together? Damn. I'm slippin'.
No, sorry, Sal; poorly phrased. I meant they are creepy enough for inclusion on the (hopefully) upcoming October mix.
Over on Song Meanings, someone posted this about The Electrician:
"a political song ... having to do with ... the Americans sending in these people, trained torturers in South America ... I imagined these lovers in a conversation ... if you listen the words of The Electrician it really explains itself after I've started." - Scott Walker in a 1984 radio interview
The big revelation for me was seeing "30 Century Man," the Scott Walker documentary,and thinking what an absolutely normal guy he is. Yes, he may have used raw meat for percussion, but he was anything but serious about it. At least that's how I saw it.
sal i have only heard about that donovan single ...thank you for sharing, its wonderful!
Great selections Sal. And I particularly appreciate you giving The Raisins a nod. I've been a fan of these guys since the 70's when they started in Sylvania, Ohio (Toledo suburb). They have put out high quality music in all of their phases: Raisins, Psychodots, Bears and numerous solo albums.
'Art School Canteen' is an amazing piece of work, from my favourite Godley and Creme album. Ohhhh, those lyrics...and being an old art school boy myself, it rings especially true.
Next week, how about 'Five O'Clock In The Morning' from Consequences...I know you've got it Sal, don't be embarrassed...
Looking forward to this. Nice to finally see Mr. Ryan (don't call me Bryan) Adams on one of your mixes. I was listening to "Easy Tiger" last night and just love, love, some of the songs from that record like "Two" and "Everybody Knows."
Thanks for the early preview of weekendhood for those still slaving away at a hot computer, and cheers to all!
@Rushbo
I am not embarassed. Though my choice would be "When Things Go Wrong."
As for "Art School Canteen," I've been playing that tune since the record came out, and it never fails to shut me up.
"AAAAAAYYYY....aaaaaaaayyyyyy."
Is that actually an A they are singing?
Really enjoying this compilation, Sal. Lovely version of Can We Still Be Friends by Colin Blunstone...his accent coming through on the word "can" is so nice. The Electrician is something else....heavy & wonderful. I could go on...some great sounds here. Don't you just love good music.
Mr. Wilson by John Cale - who would have thought he'd have such a soft spot for the Beach Boys/Brian Wilson???
For me, the Ween track was a revelation because I'd only heard of the band, but thought of them as a comedy band for some reason.
Can somebody recommend the best record of theirs to start with? I'd like to check them out further
@Shriner
I'm with you, re: Ween. I have a friend who absolutely loves the band, but aside from a few tunes, like the one on this mix, I've yet to hear anything that has stayed with me. I look forward to any replies.
With Ween, the place *not* to start must be where I did, with 12 GOLDEN COUNTRY GREATS. Kind of fun, far from typical.
I listen to a lot of their live shows, free, on the Internet Archive (archive.org). Gives me an idea which studio albums to seek out.
So, to finish off this thread: "White Pepper" by Ween is one of the greatest pop albums I have heard in years.
How I never heard of this before -- astonishes me. It's like vintage 10cc and seems like some best-kept-secret or something. I've played it 3 times in 2 days (and it's a rare new record that I do that with...)
I'll have to dig through Spotify to hear the rest of their discography to see if this is just a one-off album or not..
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