Pyjamarama- Roxy Music
Rotten Peaches- Elton John
Cold Part Of Town- Concrete Blonde
Blessed- Lucinda Williams
All Around The World- Little Willie John
Sugar Coated Love- Barbara Lynn
Joy Of A Toy- Ornette Coleman
Pyjamarama- Roxy Music
Roxy's second single, a glammy classic that, like their first, "Virginia Plain" did not appear on their debut. Though "Virginia Plain" did get tacked on to the US version.
Rotten Peaches- Elton John
I was writing up a lengthier piece about Elton and this song came to mind, though oddly enough, what I am writing doesn't mention this album at all.
Cold Part Of Town- Concrete Blonde
The first four or five Concrete Blonde records deserve more. They were on heavy rotation back in the retail days and it was great to hear this one again.
Blessed- Lucinda Williams
Lu's got a new memoir out and a new record coming. This one's a favorite.
All Around The World- Little Willie John
"Grits ain't groceries, eggs ain't poultries, and Mona Lisa was a man." Whenever this song would play in the shop, by anyone, my old pal Rob would always say "Eggs AIN'T poultries. They are poultry product." True or not, whenever I hear this song, I say "Eggs AIN'T poultries" out loud to no one. Thanks Rob.
Sugar Coated Love- Barbara Lynn
I miss seeing Barbara Lynn live. There was a stretch where I was seeing her perform twice a year for about five years, between Jazz Fest and the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans. With Jazz Fest just finishing, I thought of her and this song.
Joy Of A Toy- Ornette Coleman
One of Ornette's more accessible tracks, though your miles may vary. Not a Kevin Ayers cover, by the way, but great music, nonetheless. Enjoy, maybe.
14 comments:
The Concrete Blonde shoutout is so on point - aside from Joey off their third, the band seems forgotten. A very impressive run of albums! Powerful, brilliant songs. Tragic that God is a Bullet remains so valid and timeless.
The Sparks and Roxy Music connections are cool too!
Thank you for sharing!
A great mix of tunes. Sadly, never got to see Barbara Lynn. I agree about Concrete Blonde - a strong run of albums that got too little attention.
Today's song, Black Cadillac, is a killer! And my first impression of Rodney Crowell's new album is good. I expect it will be on a good rotation here.
- Paul in DK
Concrete Blonde! Damn, nobody talks about them these days, but I loved them.
Happy Sunday and a new songs of the week! Paul, I liked Rodney Crowell's new album The Chicago Sessions too! Listened to it because I saw it on Sal's What I'm Listening To page. The closer is an atypical political killer.
I mean Sal's "Now Playing" page, of course!
"and Mona Lisa was a man...." Great damn song!
The Fleshtones do a cool version of All Around the World.
Mike
Of Elton John's early work, Madman is the biggest disappointment (not counting Empty Sky, of course), especially in retrospect. He wouldn't make one as weak until Blue Moves, or maybe Rock of the Westies. After those, it would be twenty-five years before his next consistently strong record, Songs From The West Coast, the beginning of a late career renaissance.
Thanks for the SOTW zip. Well worth it for the nudge to hear Roxy's Pyjamarama again, in one or other of the mixes it seems to be knocking around in. Cheers!
As usual, another awesome eclectic mix that has me pulling out records I haven't played in years. Thanks so much.
"Of Elton John's early work, Madman is the biggest disappointment (not counting Empty Sky, of course), especially in retrospect."
Interesting, Cleveland Jeff. For years I considered "Madman" an Elton classic. It seems like many did, including a number of my friends. Then only recently, a year or two ago, I decided it wasn't that great at all. "Tiny Dancer," "Levon," "Rotten Peaches" and "All The Nasties" rank high on my list of favorite Elton songs. But just about everything else seems to have less than memorable melodies, including the beloved (I think boring) title track. Of Elton's first eight, excluding "Empty Sky," "Madman" is indeed the weakest.
Now as for Blue Moves, I believe that if it was a single instead of a double, we'd all be talking about it with the same respect as those early classics.
Blue Moves:
Side One
One Horse Town
Tonight
Chameleon
Cage The Songbird
Side Two
Between Seventeen & Twenty
Crazy Water
Sorry Seems To be The Hardest Word
Idol
Someone's Final Song
Really nice mix, Sal - 'specially Little Willie John... who is becoming one of my faves the more I listen to him.
Randy
Re: Elton: No love for Holiday Inn or Boogie Pilgrim? :)
Both his Madman and Caribou albums seem to be undergoing critical reconsideration with only Caribou benefiting.
Hmmm, glad I haven't heard about this critical reassessment of an album I've loved for 40 years now. I'm just going to stick my fingers in my ears now.
...la la la la la...
Bill
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