Sunday, July 30, 2023

Songs Of The Week, 2023: 7/22-7/28

 


A Girl Like You- Edwyn Collins
Waterloo- Abba
Someday- Concrete Blonde
Perfect Stranger- Cheap Trick
Runnin' Out Of Fools- Kiki Dee
This Is The Land- The Bees
She Goes On- Crowded House


A Girl Like You- Edwyn Collins
A prime example of brilliant record making. At its core, this track is simple, with a boring repetitive melody. But in the right hands, it became huge.

Waterloo- Abba
Speaking of huge, this is pop genius. "Waterloo" has a dozen things going for it.

Someday- Concrete Blonde
From day one, this song has reminded me of another and I've yet to figure it out.

Perfect Stranger- Cheap Trick
About four times a year, I sing the praises of Cheap Trick, and my song is always the same. All of those records that no one cares about are just as good, some better, than the ones that put them on the map. This is from one of those excellent forgotten records, "Rockford." (and don't forget to check out today's Small Faces cover.)

Runnin' Out Of Fools- Kiki Dee

The first time I heard this song was in either 1983 or 1984, when Elvis Costello performed it live. Once I tracked it down, an Herculean task back in the pre-internet days, Aretha's version became a favorite. But the song is so good, it's pretty great by anybody, including Kiki Dee.

This Is The Land- The Bees
In 2004, "Free The Bees" seemed to be everyone's favorite album, at least in my circles. After playing it twice a day for a year, I gave it a rest...for 18 years. Listening again, it could probably use a trim, but what's great is still great.

She Goes On- Crowded House

Somewhere out there is a live clip of Neil Finn and Sinead O'Connor performing this song. I think this is a lovely tribute to Sinead.

sotw

And for those who showed an interest in the Dion & The Belmonts reunion record but had trouble tracking down audio, here it is.

dion

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Re: Concrete Blonde. I can't figure out what song you might be talking about, but I'm getting a serious Chrissie Hynde vibe if Fleetwood Mac was playing backup.

Sixtyacres said...

Thanks for the Dion!

Marty said...

Dion Thank You!!

sclinchy said...

There are a few of these, here’s one: https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2016/05/04/476717308/after-10-years-an-inconvenient-truth-is-still-inconvenient

sclinchy said...

Actually, they may all be the same clip.

neal t said...

thnx Sal I did spend 1/2 a day looking for that after u talked it up. used to have back in my home cassette daze last millennium. hard2find hard to find stuff these days.

Sal Nunziato said...

sclinchy,
what's the connection here?

neal t said...

Can't find The Bees anywhere either :(. think I also had bacndaday

Sal Nunziato said...

The Bees is def streaming, that's how I listened to it.

JAYESSEMM said...

Thanks Sal -- for the Dion and for the SOTW.

Speaking of Songs Of The Week ... this week Sinéad O'Connor is much on my mind.

She was a brilliant artist, a passionate social activist, and a troubled soul. Too many obits I read this week failed to mention all three facets of a complex artists' life. She was way more than a ripped up picture of the Pope or a shaved head or -- our worst imagination at work -- someone with a messy death.

I'm an old man so maybe demographics kept her off my "Important" list but that is my shortcoming not hers. And, like your Celine Diaon fans buying Joe Strummer CDs, it is too easy to fall back on Nothing Compares To U (even though it has to be one of the greatest covers of a great song ever).

I loved you posting her Sacrifice; the song I've been playing over and over is her duet with Kris Kristofferson -- Help Me make It Through The Night.

This post ain't going nowhere -- I just wanted to share a few unfocused thoughts about a great and important artist / activist / person.


Noel M said...

Great SOTD mix, and enjoying the liner notes and comments as always!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the Dion. Looking forward to hearing the whole album.

- Paul in DK

Guy Incognito said...

Always be playing Crowded House (or Neil Finn, Split Enz, Finn Brothers, Tim Finn, etc.)

I have a vague memory of the performance of "She Goes On" with Sinead. Was that from the concert for Linda McCartney? Will have to do some research.

Anonymous said...

Sal,

I can't get either link to work. Let me know if everything is OK on your end.

VR

Sal Nunziato said...

VR,
Yes, both links are active and working.
Sal

cmealha said...

Those first 2 songs are a hell of a 1-2 punch!

Whattawino said...

Concrete Blonde’s “Someday?” kinda has a “Here Comes The Night” by Them vibe about it to my ears.
And Free The Bees is still a killer in my hive!
Also, the Small Faces cover by CT sounds great and I was lucky to catch that very same song being covered by Eels live at Webster Hall a few weeks ago. Thanks for everything!

Michael Giltz said...

ABBA's Waterloo is just marvelous. All these years later it's STILL practically the only reason to care about Eurovision (at least when it comes to music). :)