An Album From 1973 That Changed My Life -- Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band

January 18, 2013, 7:25 am

≫ Next: Friday Flashback 1973

Get it at:

Amazon | iTunes

Hear this album in it's entirety beginning at 5pm CST this afternoon.

Track Listing:
01. Blinded By The Light
02. Growin' Up
03. Mary Queen Of Arkansas
04. Does The Bus Really Stop at 82nd Street?
05. Lost In The Flood
06. The Angel
07. For You
08. Spirit In The Night
09. It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City

A first album is monumental in anyone's life, probably more so for a teenage boy than a teenage girl. For a teenage boy in 1977, namely me, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band was perfectly monumental.

I got this album on 'full-length cassette' from my father in 1977 just after he had been diagnosed with malignant brain cancer. I was 13, and it was the first recording of music of any kind that I had owned. Dad gave it to me because I used to ride my bike to his house to visit and care for him and I had strapped a radio/cassette player to the handlebars, my equivalent, I guess, of a stereo system for my vehicle. But the reception on the radio was poor so I got the cassette as a gift that summer because my dad hated hearing that fuzzy, poor reception blasting from my deck as I got closer to his house.

The coolest thing about a cassette player strapped to your handlebars is that you pretty much have to listen to the entire recording, especially as a thirteen year old with a busy schedule and a lot of bike riding to do. You don't want to be bothered with stopping your bicycle, rewinding your tape and trying to measure with exact precision where your favorite songs begin just to hear them again. That's needless, wasted time.

Rewind. Stop. Play. Rewind some more. Stop again. Play. Rewind. Hit 'play' without even stopping. Fast Forward. Play again. Rats!

It gets a little unnerving, so you just let it play through.

This, I assume, was my first life lesson in discovering new music.

Look where I am today.

I had heard the staple songs from this album frequently on the radio (Blinded By The Light, For You and Spirit In The Night) and being that the cassette was four years old when I got it, Springsteen was already firmly established as a rock icon. By 1977, he had released not only Asbury Park, but The Wild, The Innocent & The E-Street Shuffle and also Born To Run, the album produced by Jon Landau that launched Springsteen and his E-Street Band into the stratosphere.

But Asbury Park was a completely different version of Bruce Springsteen. It was raw and gritty and offered a more poetic and lyrical version of Springsteen, one that leaned heavily on artists like Bob Dylan and John Prine as esteemed peers and genuine influences. And it wasn't the songs that I knew that captivated me so much, but songs like Lost In The Flood, It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City and especially Growin' Up, that made me a lifelong Springsteen fan one full listen through.

Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ was a revelation. It was actually more of an inspiration or an epiphany. It's pathos defined my being, especially on Growin' Up and It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City, songs that appealed to real life experiences for me. Bruce Springsteen helped me get through a very difficult time, and Asbury Park was a veritable remedy for my awkwardly confused teenaged soul that was weighed down considerably more by a dying father. Dad was my hero and my best friend and at thirteen, sheesh, I was still getting to know him just as I was losing him.

The cool thing about Growin' Up was that it wasn't just my story, it was my father's too, in my imagination at least, but as well as from the stories Dad had told me, most definitely. This epic Springsteen masterpiece was a three verse poem with no chorus that somehow helped me figure it all out and cope with it all, or at least made me think that I had.

Verse one was my story:

I stood stone-like at midnight, suspended in my masquerade
I combed my hair till it was just right and commanded the night brigade
I was open to pain and crossed by the rain and I walked on a crooked crutch
I strolled all alone through a fallout zone and come out with my soul untouched
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, but when they said, "Sit down," I stood up
Ooh... growin' up

Verse two was certainly my father's story, or at least as I'd imagined it:

The flag of piracy flew from my mast, my sails were set wing to wing
I had a jukebox graduate for a first mate, she couldn't sail but she sure could sing
I pushed B-52 and bombed them with the blues with my gear set stubborn on standing
I broke all the rules, strafed my old high school, never once gave thought to landing
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd, but when they said, "Come down," I threw up
Ooh... growin' up

Verse three was a little bit of both of our stories:

I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere, and you know it's really hard to hold your breath
I swear I lost everything I ever loved or feared, I was the cosmic kid in full costume dress
Well, my feet they finally took root in the earth, but I got me a nice little place in the stars
And I swear I found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car
I hid in the mother breast of the crowd, but when they said, "Pull down," I pulled up
Ooh... growin' up
Ooh... growin' up

Yeah. Verse three, to me, was the perfect explanation of life and death. It explained treatments and surgeries that I didn't understand, things that took my Dad away for weeks at a time and left me more and more introverted so that I wouldn't have to give daily updates to my friends. It also helped me imagine what my father was going through in that he was similarly affected, and even more so, as he was the one going through those treatments. Those experiences also made me stronger, more diligent, infinitely more mature and grown up and I soon begin to take on most of my father's characteristics. Dad taught me as much about living, through dying, as anything he ever actually taught to me via example or stern lecture. I was in fact, growing up, and probably at a much more accelerated pace than I should have rightfully had to.

How could he have known I needed this?

That's what made him such a great Dad. Dad just knew, and that's what Dad's do.

And here I am, 35 years later, still discovering new music.

Dad used to say, before he got sick, that he had hoped I would go to Notre Dame or Northwetsern and become a lawyer one day. But I think deep down he knew I was made for a career in music. Who knew, in 1977, that my path would start with Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ and a cassette tape repeatedly played through a tired old cassette player? For what I am today, I thank my father, and the wonderful gift that was this cassette.

↧

Friday Flashback 1973

January 18, 2013, 10:08 am

≫ Next: Road Trippin' To SXSW: Raising Pennies To Help Save Lives

≪ Previous: An Album From 1973 That Changed My Life -- Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band

FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Every Friday we set the Hot Tub Time Machine to one year in rock history and give you the best (and worst) music from that year, all day long beginning at 1:00 AM EST and running for 24 hours on Jivewired Radio powered by Live365.

This week: 1973
Next week: 1967

To listen, just press play on the radio widget to the right or use this link to open in a new window that will allow you to listen when you navigate away from this page:

Launch Jivewired Radio

Album Art From 1973, Click Cover To Download:

1973 Album I Wish I Owned: A Passion Play by Jethro Tull
1973 Nominee For Worst Album Cover Ever:There Goes Rhymin' Simon by Paul Simon
1973 Most Underrated Song:Thirteen by Big Star
1973 Most Overrated Song:Piano Man by Billy Joel
1973 Most Memorable Song:You're So Vain by Carly Simon
1973 Most Significant Song: A Song For You by Gram Parsons
1973 Most Forgotten Song:Ooh La La by Faces
1973 Fan's Choice For Most Popular Song:Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd
1973 Album Of The Year:Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
1973 Most Likely To Start A Party Song:Dixie Chicken by Little Feat
1973 Please Don't Play Anymore Song:Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks
1973 Song That I Like More Than I Actually Should:Diamond Girl by Seals & Crofts
1973 Album I Liked More Than I Thought I Would:Honky Tonk Heroes by Waylon Jennings
1973 Song That I Tend to Leave on Repeat:Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
Guilty Pleasure of 1973:Bad, Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce
Breakout Artists of 1973: Styx, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Jackson Browne, The Eagles
Overplayed In 1973: Paul McCartney
Not Played Enough In 1973: George Harrison
Greatest Chart Re-Entry from 1973:Rock Around The Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets (1954)
Best Cover Song Of 1973:Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by Bette Midler
Worst Cover Song of 1973:A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall by Bryan Ferry
An unheralded great album from 1973:The World Is A Ghetto by War
An unheralded great single from 1973:Sail On Sailor by The Beach Boys, Celluloid Heroes by The Kinks
Best Soundtrack of 1973:American Graffiti

Jivewired's Top ~~FiveSix~~ Seven Songs Of The Year
01. Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd
02. The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin
03. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
04. Money by Pink Floyd
05. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) by George Harrison
06. 5:15 by The Who
07. Ooh La La by Faces

Jivewired's Top Five Albums Of The Year
01. Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd
02. Houses Of The Holy by Led Zeppelin
03. Quadrophenia by The Who
04. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John
05. The Wild, The Innocent & The E-Street Shuffle by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band

This week we take you on a one day odyssey into one of two benchmark years in the first half of the polyester decade. Dark Side Of The Moon.Houses Of The Holy. A coming out party, musically speaking, for Elton John. Debut albums from Bruce Springsteen (Greetings From Asbury Park), and Aerosmith (Eponymous Title) -- yes they're that old. Way underrated albums by the Rolling Stones (Goat's Head Soup) and Neil Young (Time Fades Away). Toss in some Marvin Gaye, War, Aretha Franklin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Paul McCartney's Band On The Run and it all adds up to a pretty spectacular year in music.

Also, let us take a moment to pay homage to the father of alt-country. 1973 gave us alt-country/rock releases by Gram Parsons, leader of the movement, as well as songs by Little Feat, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Eagles, Jackson Browne and even the Rolling Stones, all inspired by the late Mr. Parsons. Tom Waits (yes I said Tom Waits) wrote Ol' 55 which is the closest that man ever came to alt-country, a song which was eventually taken a step further toward the movement by The Eagles in '74. If you've never heard Silver Train, a blues and alt-country hybrid masterpiece by The Rolling Stones, you should listen to the wonderful piano/slide guitar interplay that sounds like it was produced and arranged by Parsons himself.

1973 also proved to be the birth of Outlaw Country, a roots/country sub-genre led and inspired by Waylon Jennings. Jennings' 1973 album Honky Tonk Heroes is considered an important piece in the history of country music. Billy Joe Shaver, who is highly regarded for helping push forward outlaw country, opined that by creating an amalgam of roots rock and blues country, Jennings became the sub-genre's first forefather. Ken Burns, in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, says that Honky Tonk Heroes is "one of country music's landmark albums", and points out Jennings' rock and roll roots as bass player for Buddy Holly. Indeed, Waylon Jennings painted a near-defiant stance that merged rock's attitude and cocksurety with country and western's roots traditions to create the hardest country tunes imaginable.

1973 also provided our initial witness to the exponential growth of FM radio and it's burgeoning influence on popular music. FM radio represented the counterculture and gave it's audience the experience of deeper album cuts and longer, original versions of songs. AM radio was losing it's stronghold as the favored outlet due to its inherent lack of variety and it's aging demographic -- combining commercialized, repetitive playlists with high-strung, obnoxious deejays, and long-winded news/weather/traffic breaks between songs. It was a 1950's attitude forced upon a generation that had long-since disassociated itself from it's formative years.

FM radio also cast the album into mainstream airplay as the intellectual counterpoint to AM radio's obsession with the 45 rpm single (and what FM radio station didn't feature an album sides weekend at least twice a year?). Pop music enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence as well, returning triumphantly to the old-fashioned values that had sustained it's creative boon of the 1960s. A big part of the reason was the popularity of George Lucas' epic film American Graffiti and it's soundtrack that included some of the most popular songs from 1957-1962.

Don't believe me? I offer you Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks as proof, a song that was formulaic to a fault, leaning on the tragi-pop sensibilities that proved to be hits for artists like J. Frank Wilson (Last Kiss) and The Shangri-Las (Leader Of The Pack) in the previous decade. Regretfully, if AM radio in turn decided they liked a deeper album cut that proved popular on FM Radio, the record labels acquiesced by taking perfectly beautiful songs and chopping them down to somewhere around three to four minutes in length. On this point, I offer the AM radio version of Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd, which is actually as disgusting as it is disheartening.

Perhaps it was savvy marketing strategy, a trend toward conservatism after a turbulent era in society and more specifically, in music, or just plain selling out, but the restoration of traditional forms of popular music (rock, blues, country) helped spread new music and thus turn rock music into one of consumerism's most successful phenomena. We even witnessed the return of the thought-to-be-extinct one-hit wonder, a diminished music commodity due to gains in popularity of deeper album cuts thanks to AOR and MOR radio.

Through everything however, 1973 represented a transitional midpoint in the history of rock and roll. Think about what was considered popular seven years previously in 1966, and what was popular seven years going forward in 1980. Basically we made the jump from Rubber Soul and Pet Sounds to London Calling and The Wall , with Houses Of The Holy and Dark Side Of The Moon identifying the true midpoint in that time span. As a music culture we spent that span going into and past popular music anomalies such as psychedelia, one-hit wonders, disco, prog-rock, punk and post-punk and right into new wave, electronica and the birth of rap and hip hop. Similarly, we could split the differences in music from 1958 to 1988 for an even more dramatic example of music evolution, with some dilution of emphasis, however, because at that point you are speaking in generational terms.

Do you see anything odd about the following top twenty list?

Top 20 Songs For 1973
(rankings are based on initial and lasting popularity and on acclaim received from deejays on both AM & FM bands as well as critics and musicians)

01. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd
02. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
03. Midnight Train To Georgia - Gladys Knight & The Pips
04. Dream On - Aerosmith
05. Living For The City - Stevie Wonder
06. Money - Pink Floyd
07. Piano Man - Billy Joel
08. Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack
09. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
10. That Lady - Isley Brothers
11. Angie - The Rolling Stones
12. The Joker - Steve Miller Band
13. Radar Love - Golden Earring
14. Drift Away - Dobie Gray
15. Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan
16. I Shot The Sheriff - Bob Marley & The Wailers
17. Ramblin' Man - The Allman Brothers Band
18. We're An American Band - Grand Funk
19. Band On The Run - Paul McCartney & Wings
20. When Will I See You Again? - The Three Degrees

In 1967, KSAN-FM deejay Tom Donahue lambasted AM radio's top forty format in an article for Rolling Stone Magazine entitled "AM Radio Is Dead and Its Rotting Corpse Is Stinking Up the Airwaves." By 1973, Donahue was perceived as somewhat of a prophet. Blame American Bandstand for creating so many one hit wonders, and credit Soul Train for the crossover of funk and R&B back into the mainstream as the Motown Records hit machine began it's run of diminishing returns. In 1973, the differences in format between FM and AM proved that radio represented partisan ideologies as diverse as America's two-party political system.

But the term crossover, at least in 1973, no longer applied to music genres and sub-genres. Crossing over meant having hits on both AM and FM simultaneously. Arguably the king of that type of crossover in the mid-1970s was Elton John, who found success with his more mainstream work on AM radio and with his more progressive stuff on FM.

In many ways, 1973 represented the Dark Ages in rock music history, as many artists began to explore their more progressive sides. Even songs like Living For The City by Stevie Wonder and Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding by Elton John veered heavily toward progressive experimentation. But rather than attempt to destroy the movement, established radio absorbed it, particularly on the FM side, allowing rare tracks and obscure artists into the mainstream. This diversification led to radio's renaissance. Just ten years earlier top 20 radio was dominated by The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan. In 1973, and for the first time in modern rock history, twenty separate and distinct musical acts comprised year-end top 20 radio.

Gone Too Soon:

Ron Pigpen McKernan of The Grateful Dead, aged 27 (March 8)
Clarence White of The Byrds, aged 29 (July 15)
Gram Parsons, aged 26 (September 19)
Jim Croce, aged 30 (September 20)
Gene Krupa, aged 64 (October 16)
Zake Zettner of The Stooges, aged 25 (November 10)
Bobby Darin, aged 37 (December 20)

The Strange Death of Gram Parsons: 1973

Time Is Money, Money Is Time:

Dark Side Of The Moon was the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on March 1, 1973 to almost immediate success. It was Number One on Billboard's Top LP & Tapes List for only one week, but subsequently remained in the Top 200 charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988.

741 weeks. Fifteen years.

With an estimated 50 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd's most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide. It has twice been remastered and re-released, and has been covered in its entirety by several other acts, the Flaming Lips most recently.

The LP spawned two Top 40 singles, Time& Money and was engineered by Alan Parsons, who spring-boarded that success into a nice musical career as a performer.

It even carries with it an urban legend of sorts.

Dark Side of the Rainbow and Dark Side of Oz are two names commonly used in reference to rumors circulated that Dark Side of the Moon was written as a soundtrack for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

Fat chance? Or somewhat true?

Observers playing the film and the album simultaneously have reported apparent synchronicities, such as Dorothy beginning to jog at the lyric "no one told you when to run" during Time, and Dorothy balancing on a tight-rope fence during the line "balanced on the biggest wave" in Breathe. David Gilmour and Nick Mason have both denied a connection between the two works, and Roger Waters has described the rumors as "amusing".

That being said, there are thousands of annual showings of the movie simulcast against Dark Side of The Moon. The definitive answer may lie with Alan Parsons, who has stated that the film was not mentioned during production of the album.

Moves Like Jagger? Not So Much

The song is a mystery no longer!

After 40 years of guessing and wondering, Carly Simonhas revealed who her iconic You're So Vain song is written about.

Ah well, it's out there, allegedly. The song, which was rumored for years to be about one of her ex-boyfriends, was actually written about gay record label boss David Geffen according to a UK tabloid.

So, while for years the speculation was that song was intended to be an angry-bitter break-up song, now the lyrics take on a whole new meaning. It may be that Carly is signing about her resentment towards Geffen because he allegedly put more effort into promoting rival star Joni Mitchell.

Stop the presses.

No really.

It's just more speculation with no textual reference or concrete evidence.

In truth, Carly Simon had never met David Geffen before writing Your So Vain. Simon herself stated recently, "What a riot! Nothing to do with David!"

So who is it about then? The person Simon is singing about in this song remains a mystery, as she has never made it clear who she wrote it about; rumors include Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens, and Mick Jagger, all of whom she had affairs with. Carly has been elusive and changed her story a bit when asked the inevitable question about the song. In 1974, she told Modern Hi-Fi and Music: "That song is about a lot of people. I mean I can think of a lot of people. The actual examples that I've used in the song are from my imagination, but the stimulus is directly from a couple of different sources. It's not just about one particular person."

I vote she is singing about me.

I have a more pressing question: What the hell does "clouds in my coffee" mean?

It was a reflection of the sky in a cup of coffee while Simon was traveling, pointed out to her by a friend sitting next to her on the airplane. So she jotted down the phrase and used in the song. Ho hum.

To be honest, the best thing about the song is how everybody stops singing at the following line because nobody knows the exact phrasing: "You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte."

You can now stop, stop singing. That's why we do.

Go Forth, For You Are The Future Of Rock & Roll.........

The following bands trace their formations back to 1973: AC/DC, Bad Company, Cheap Trick, Pablo Cruise, Heart, Journey, KISS, Los Lobos, Quiet Riot and The Tubes. On the flip side, 1973 also gave us KC & The Sunshine Band.

Playlist Adds For Friday Flashback 1973

****Release dates are to the best of my knowledge and in most cases represent the release date of the album from which the single derived. In cases of singles and/or B-Side releases only, we use the official U.S. single release date for the A-Side.****

October 1972 (and earlier):
001. Hello It's Me by Todd Rundgren (1971)
002. Thirteen by Big Star
003. One Tin Soldier by Coven
004. Also Sprach Zarathrusta by Deodato
005. Whammer Jammer [Live] by The J. Geils Band
006. Papa Was A Rolling Stone by The Temptations
007. Midnight Cruiser by Steely Dan
008. Brooklyn (Owes The Charmer Under Me) by Steely Dan
009. Reelin' In The Years by Steely Dan
010. Dirty Work by Steely Dan
011. Will It Go Round In Circles by Billy Preston
012. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life by Steely Dan
013. Stuck In The Middle With You by Stealer's Wheel

November 1972:
014. The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia by Vicki Lawrence
015. Satellite Of Love by Lou Reed
016. Me & Mrs. Jones by Billy Paul
017. Frankenstein by The Edgar Winter Group
018. The Cisco Kid by War
019. The World Is A Ghetto by War
020. Celluloid Heroes by The Kinks

December 1972:
021. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by Bette Midler
022. You're So Vain by Carly Simon
023. Dueling Banjos by Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell
024. Love Train by The O'Jays

January 1973:
025. She by Gram Parsons
026. A Song For You by Gram Parsons
027. The Free Electric Band by Albert Hammond
028. Blinded By The Light by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
029. Growin' Up by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
030. For You by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
031. Spirit In The Night by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
032. Dream On by Aerosmith
033. Dancing In The Moonlight by King Harvest
034. Daniel by Elton John
035. Skyline Pigeon by Elton John
036. Sail On, Sailor by The Beach Boys

February 1973:
037. Drift Away by Dobie Gray
038. Dixie Chicken by Little Feat
039. Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do) by Aretha Franklin
040. Search & Destroy by The Stooges
041. No More Mr. Nice Guy by Alice Cooper
042. Right Place Wrong Time by Dr. John

March 1973:
043. If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up by Betty Davis
044. Ooh Yeah by Betty Davis
045. Time by Pink Floyd
046. Money by Pink Floyd
047. Us & Them by Pink Floyd
048. Neither One Of Us by Gladys Knight & The Pips
049. Long Train Runnin' by The Doobie Brothers
050. The Song Remains The Same by Led Zeppelin
051. Over The Hills & Far Away by Led Zeppelin
052. The Crunge by Led Zeppelin
053. Dancing Days by Led Zeppelin
054. D'Yer Mak'er by Led Zeppelin
055. The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin
056. Give It To Me by The J. Geils Band
057. Ol' 55 by Tom Waits
058. Ooh La La by Faces

April 1973:
059. Diamond Girl by Seals & Crofts
060. Here I Am (Come & Take Me) by Al Green
061. Natural High by Bloodstone
062. Can't You See by The Marshall Tucker Band
063. I'll Be Around by The Spinners
064. Could It Be I'm Falling In Love by The Spinners
065. Tequila Sunrise by The Eagles
066. Desperado by The Eagles
067. Doolin' Dalton by The Eagles
068. Warm Love by Van Morrison
069. My Love by Paul McCartney & Wings

May 1973:
070. Across 110th Street by Bobby Womack
071. Loves Me Like A Rock by Paul Simon
072. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) by George Harrison
073. The Fever by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band

June 1973:
074. Rock On by David Essex
075. Live & Let Die by Paul McCartney & Wings
076. Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh
077. Just You 'N Me by Chicago
078. Feelin' Stronger Every Day by Chicago
079. In Time by Sly & The Family Stone

July 1973:
080. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce
081. Roller Derby Queen by Jim Croce
082. The Cover Of The Rolling Stone by Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
083. Radar Love by Golden Earring
084. Lady by Styx
085. Honk Tonk Heroes by Waylon Jennings
086. Knockin' On Heaven's Door by Bob Dylan
087. We're An American Band by Grand Funk Railroad
088. Who's That Lady by The Isley Brothers
089. China Grove by The Doobie Brothers
090. Waitin' For The Bus by ZZ Top
091. Jesus Just Left Chicago by ZZ Top
092. La Grange by ZZ Top
093. Looking For A Kiss by The New York Dolls

August 1973:
094. The Most Beautiful Girl by Charlie Rich
095. Midnight Train To Georgia by Gladys Knight & The Pips
096. Ramblin' Man by The Allman Brothers Band
097. Jessica by The Allman Brothers Band
098. Brother Louie by Stories
099. Keep On Truckin' by Eddie Kendricks
100. Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder
101. Living For The City by Stevie Wonder
102. Tuesday's Gone by Lynyrd Skynyrd
103. Gimme Three Steps by Lynyrd Skynyrd
104. Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd
105. Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd
106. Is It Love or Desire? by Betty Davis
107. When Romance Says Goodbye by Betty Davis
108. Bar Hoppin' by Betty Davis
109. Let's Get It On by Marvin Gaye
110. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) by The Rolling Stones
111. Angie by The Rolling Stones
112. Silver Train by The Rolling Stones

September 1973:
113. My Maria by B.W. Stevenson
114. Kitty's Back by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
115. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
116. Ballroom Blitz by Sweet
117. Stealin' by Uriah Heep
118. Jean Genie by David Bowie
119. The Love I Lost by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

October 1973:
120. Never Gonna Give You Up by Barry White
121. Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo by Rick Derringer
122. Take It Easy by Jackson Browne
123. Red Neck Friend by Jackson Browne
124. Grey Seal by Elton John
125. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John
126. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding by Elton John
127. Half-Breed by Cher
128. Shambala by Three Dog Night
129. Time Fades Away [Live] by Neil Young
130. Don't Be Denied [Live] by Neil Young
131. The Real Me by The Who
132. 5:15 by The Who
133. Love Reign O'er Me by The Who
134. I Shot The Sheriff by Bob Marley & The Wailers
135. Mind Games by John Lennon
136. The Joker by The Steve Miller Band

November 1973:
137. Showdown by Electric Light Orchestra
138. Ma-Ma-Ma Belle by Electric Light Orchestra
139. Street Life by Roxy Music
140. Photograph by Ringo Starr
141. She's Gone by Hall & Oates
142. Piano Man by Billy Joel
143. Still.....You Turn Me On by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
144. Karn Evil 9: Second Impression, Pt. 2 by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
145. Jungle Boogie by Kool & The Gang

December 1973:
146. Let It Ride by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
147. Taking Care Of Business by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
148. When Will I See You Again? by The Three Degrees
149. Hooked On A Feeling by Blue Swede
150. Show & Tell by Al Wilson
151. Workin' At The Car Wash Blues by Jim Croce
152. I Got A Name by Jim Croce
153. I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song by Jim Croce
154. Jet by Paul McCartney & Wings
155. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five by Paul McCartney & Wings
156. Band On The Run by Paul McCartney & Wings
157. Smokin' In The Boys Room by Brownsville Station
158. Little Girl In Bloom by Thin Lizzy
159. Come & Get Your Love by Redbone
160. Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield

Previous In This Series: Friday Flashback 1984

↧

Road Trippin' To SXSW: Raising Pennies To Help Save Lives

January 20, 2013, 11:11 am

≫ Next: The Monday Mix: MLK

≪ Previous: Friday Flashback 1973

I am excited to do something for others and get healthy at the same time.

This year I am going to travel from Milwaukee, WI to SXSW in Austin, TX by bicycle and I am going to raise money to donate to my favorite charity in the process. And we are offering some far out love-gifts in exchange for your charitable donations.

About The Trip:

The trip is 1,207 total miles and I still have to route it. The plan is to ride 121 miles per day starting on March 1st and to arrive in Austin, TX on March 10th or 11th. I will stay in hotels and journal the experience each evening on this blog. I will take pictures and videos along the way and introduce you to someone cool in each destination city. When I arrive in Austin we will have a raffle at our showcase event to give the bike to one of our donors. I'll even autograph the bicycle for you.

About The Charity:

http://www.twloha.com/

Mission

To Write Love On Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

Company Overview

To Write Love on Her Arms began in Orlando, FL in February 2006 as a (written) story, the true story of five days spent with a friend who was denied entry into a drug treatment center. The story was a look at those five days, and the t-shirts were printed and sold initially as a way to pay for our friend's treatment.

The vision is that we actually believe these things…

You were created to love and be loved. You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you're part of a bigger story. You need to know that your life matters.

We live in a difficult world, a broken world. Life is hard for most people most of the time. We believe that everyone can relate to pain, that all of us live with questions, and all of us get stuck in moments. You need to know that you're not alone in the places you feel stuck.

We all wake to the human condition. We wake to mystery and beauty but also to tragedy and loss. Millions of people live with problems of pain. Millions of homes are filled with questions – moments and seasons and cycles that come as thieves and aim to stay. We know that pain is very real. It is our privilege to suggest that hope is real, and that help is real.

You need to know that rescue is possible, that freedom is possible, that God is still in the business of redemption. We're seeing it happen. We're seeing lives change as people get the help they need. People sitting across from a counselor for the first time. People stepping into treatment. In desperate moments, people calling a suicide hotline. We know that the first step to recovery is the hardest to take. We want to say here that it's worth it, that your life is worth fighting for, that it's possible to change.

Beyond treatment, we believe that community is essential, that people need other people, that we were never meant to do life alone.

The vision is that community and hope and help would replace secrets and silence.

The vision is people putting down guns and blades and bottles.

The vision is that we can reduce the suicide rate in America and around the world.

The vision is that we would learn what it means to love our friends, and that we would love ourselves enough to get the help we need.

The vision is better endings. The vision is the restoration of broken families and broken relationships. The vision is people finding life, finding freedom, finding love. The vision is graduation, a Super Bowl, a wedding, a child, a sunrise. The vision is people becoming incredible parents, people breaking cycles, making change.

The vision is the possibility that your best days are ahead.

The vision is the possibility that we're more loved than we'll ever know.

The vision is hope, and hope is real.

You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story.

Donation Tiers:

Donate a penny per mile: For a donation of $12.07 I will personally hand write and mail you a postcard from each destination city. They will be the free ones provided by the local hotels, but still........

Donate two-pennies per mile: For a donation of $24.14 you will get the postcards and we will send you a Jivewired wristband. You will be the envy of all your friends. I know this for a fact because I wear one and everybody who sees it on my wrist is like "Dude, that wristband is so rad. Whoaaaa - where can I get one?" and of course everybody I meet talks exactly like Keanu Reeves.

Donate three pennies per mile: For a donation of $36.21 you get the postcards, the wristband and a picture diary in disc form documenting the entire trip in scenic pictures from America's heartland. I can already hear your 'oohs' and 'ahhs' for ten sunsets in ten different cities!

Donate four pennies per mile: For a donation of $48.28 you get your postcards, your wristband, your picture disc and a digital download featuring 10-15 songs showcasing some of Jivewired's member bands and artists. Adele will not be on this compilation. But assuredly every song we choose will bring some serious heat. Street value on this donation tier, is, um, infinity. Believe that baby!

Donate a nickel per mile: For a donation of $60.35 you get the postcards, the wristband, the picture disc, the music digi-pak and, wait for it........

A rad-tacular 'Jivewired Is Road Trippin' To SXSW' t-shirt designed by me.

The cool thing about the t-shirt is that if you wear it every single day no one will ever forget your name. Promise. But you have to wear it every single day.

Dime It Up: If you make a donation of $120.70 you get everything included in the nickel package plus you can give your favorite band or artist a lifetime Jivewired membership - or you can use it for yourself if you are in fact a person of musical persuasion or a member in a band and you want the coolest digital one sheet representation on the face of the earth. I do have a testimony somewhere that actually says that. Remind me to dig that up.

Buy Me A Meal: Three squares a day for ten days is thirty meals. Donate ten dollars and I only need to cover 29 more meals. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. See what I did there? Maybe I need a shampoo sponsor. Somebody call Proctor & Gamble.

Shelter Me: Hey, I'm not asking for the Ritz-Carlton here. The average Red Roof Inn, Budgetel Inn or Motel 6 comes out to about $55 per night including taxes in a semi-safe neighborhood. Yeah there are cheaper hotels, the ones where the sheets are conveniently crispy and I'd probably have a heart attack if I killed the fluorescents and inspected the linens with a black light. It is what it is. $550.00 in donations shelters me for ten nights. You'll sleep well knowing I'm sleeping well. You may now try to get the Joe Cocker song Shelter Me out of your head.

Dine With Me: Going to SXSW? I am having a dinner for my industry peers and your donation of $301.75 gets you a seat at the table. Are you an industry mogul? Maybe you always wanted to be an industry mogul? Maybe you just want to have dinner with me? This is your chance then. Disclaimer - please do not represent me as your 'date' for the evening without my expressed, written consent ahead of time. Break ups are always messy so I'd rather we dine and then depart as friends only.

(But, kick in $10,000.00, I'll fly you to Austin and you've got yourself a date! Send check for $10,000.00 made out to TWLOHA to our business office by February 15th, 2013. Our mailing address is 403 N. Main St. Unit A, Thiensville, WI 53092).

Music To Our Ears!: Donate $1000.00 and I will book a band to come to your house and play two full sets in your backyard this summer. I'll cover their expenses, but you have to feed them, even if you just throw a couple weenies on the grill and dole out a few mustard packets as a garnish. This makes a great graduation present for your musically enriched high-schooler, the perfect setting to 'pop the question' to your betrothed, or, it will serve as a loud, musical statement that will either make you the coolest cat in your neighborhood or everyone's mortal enemy.

How To Donate:

Simple.

Select an option from the dropdown box, click the BUY NOW button and Paypal will do the rest.

I hope I can count on you, in all seriousness. TWLOHA is a charity that I am very, very endeared to and I'd like to make a difference in any way that I can. True, teenagers and young adults spend more on music per year than any other demographic, but we value them and their contributions for so much more. Our futures need their futures. If even one of them needs our help, we as an industry should reach out a united, helping hand whenever possible.

Regards,
Michael Canter

↧

The Monday Mix: MLK

January 21, 2013, 9:59 am

≫ Next: The 12 Days Of Beatles - I Am The Walrus

≪ Previous: Road Trippin' To SXSW: Raising Pennies To Help Save Lives

During the 1950s and 1960s, American clergyman Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. worked to bring national attention to issues of inequality that were taking place in this country.

His efforts helped foster a movement to end practices that kept people of different backgrounds segregated and called for unity, fairness and equality amongst the nation’s diverse people. King offered a voice of peace during turbulent times through speech and organized rallies that stressed non-violent, civil obedience and education.

On October 14, 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.

Dr. Martin Luther King remains to this day one of the greatest orators in American history. Taking a liberal stance on the subject of racial inequality, King was unfairly labeled as a radical rather than as the forward-thinker that he really was.

For his actions, he became an object of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI agents investigated him for possible communist, criminal and mob ties, recorded his extramarital liaisons and provided extensive files to government officials and conveniently "leaked" that information to national and world press syndicates.

Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, TN on April 4, 1968.

Each year, Martin Luther King's accomplishments are recognized nationally on the third Monday in January in honor of his birthday. Today is extra special as America also celebrates the second-term inauguration of it's first black President, Barack Obama.

Today's Monday Mix will be a veritable musical movement in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

THIS WEEK'S FACEBOOK FRIENDS

My words would never do justice to the amazing accolades that Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires have garnered. Let's take a look:

Between the twang in Bains’ voice, the twang in his guitars, and the plaintive howl of the melodies, this music is Southern by the grace of God, and Bains and his bandmates — guitarist Matt Wurtele, bassist Justin Colburn, and drummer Blake Williamson — aren’t afraid to show their colors, whether it’s on the R&B-influenced groove of "Everything You Took," the C&W weeper "Reba," the old-school Southern rock strut of "Righteous, Ragged Songs," or the high-speed buzz of "Centreville." While Bains talks a good game about punk rock in his lyrics, this music is less about high-velocity grit than the homey texture of red dirt, and the band’s instincts and feel are pretty undeniable here, sounding as natural and as potent as a jar of iced tea and bourbon.
~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide

I’m going to go as far as calling it a Southern rock manifesto. I will go even further and make comparisons to The Band: in addition to stellar displays of musicianship, it’s hard not to hear Lee Bains and his band’s love of Southern rock. Except these guys are actually from the South.
~ Adobe and Teardrops

Shall I continue? Maybe one more:

Guitarist/singer/songwriter Lee Bains III leads his Birmingham, Alabama–based band in a raucous exploration of the intersection between garage rock, soul, country and punk on this full-length debut. Not unlike acts like the Black Keys, Bains manages to merge these styles into a rollicking, timeless sound with plenty of six-string swagger.
~ Guitar World

Love these guys. You can Facebook Friend Lee Bains III & The Gloryfires by clicking the following link, which will magically transport you to their Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/thegloryfires

Can you dig that? I figured as much. Please tell them Mike from Jivewired sent you.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Hoka Hey by The Outer Vibe

ABOUT THE MONDAY MIX

The Monday Mix airs from 12:00PM to 5:30PM CDT each Monday and is designed to help you get through that brutal after-lunch, energy-sucking span that kicks off every work week. This particular show will be a mix of old, deep album cuts and new indie music with a lot of genre crossover. No Adele. Sorry.

What else does The Monday Mix do? Well, it helps you discover new indie music by combining some really great under the radar tracks with more established songs that were, once in fact, under the radar as well. The hope here is that the culture shock of discovering your next favorite band won't be so enormously imposing if we surround the new stuff with some of your old, familiar friends.

Jivewired supports independent musicians by paying royalties for airplay on Jivewired Radio. Please help us support indie artists by listening to our station and by purchasing indie music. Thank you.

The links on the radio player will give you download options if you really dig on the music and some of the songs are offered for free.

To listen, just press play on the radio widget to the right or use this link to open in a new window that will allow you to listen when you navigate away from this page:

Launch Jivewired Radio

MONDAY MIX PLAYLIST FOR 21 JANUARY 2013:

01. Another Man Done Goneby Carolina Chocolate Drops
02. A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke
03. Everything Will Be Fine by JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
04. Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) by Marvin Gaye
05. 5 Years Time by Noah & The Whale
06. Magnolia by Alberta Cross
07. Perfect Love by Alpha Rev
08. Today's The Day by Aimee Mann
09. In A Daydream by The Freddy Jones Band
10. Fuel [Live] by Ani DiFranco
11. Love Is Life by Jesse Aycock
12. King by UB40
13. Time Is On My Side by Irma Thomas
14. Everything You Took by Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires
15. Midnight City by M83
16. Hymn #76 by Joe Pug
17. I Shall Be Released [Live] by Eddie Vedder, Jack Johnson & Zach Gill
18. Understanding by The Spencer Durham Band
19. Say It Loud (I'm Black & I'm Proud) by James Brown
20. Let's Work Together by Canned Heat
21. Whole Love by Wilco
22. I'd Rather Go Blind by Etta James
23. I'm Not The One by The Black Keys
24. Put A Little Love In Your Heart by Annie Lennox & Al Green
25. Hold That Thought by Ben Folds Five
26. There's Gotta Be Change by Jonny Lang
27. Save Tonight by Eagle Eye Cherry
28. Disparate Youth by Santigold
29. Pride (In The Name Of Love) by U2
30. Abraham Martin & John by Dion
31. Lost In The Light by Bahamas
32. Can't Go Home by Good Old War
33. Hard Times by John Legend & The Roots
34. Ain't Messin' Round by Gary Clark Jr.
35. Yet Again by Grizzly Bear
36. Love Like We Do by Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians
37. Peace Train by 10,000 Maniacs
38. Eyeoneye by Andrew Bird
39. Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars
40. Is Your Love Big Enough by Lianne La Havas
41. Yabba by Anton Mink
42. One Vision by Queen
43. 32 Flavors by Alana Davis
44. Man Of Peace by Bob Dylan
45. I Believe In You by Sinead O'Connor
46. Love Train by Keb' Mo'
47. Hold On by Alabama Shakes
48. The Ocean by The Dustin Pittsley Band
49. These Dreams Of You by Van Morrison
50. Past Lives by Langhorne Slim & The Law
51. Ghosts by The Hundred In The Hands
52. Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) by George Harrison
53. Only For You by Heartless Bastards
54. The Sweetest Thing by JJ Grey & Mofro
55. The Pursuit Of Happiness by Ben Sollee
56. Hold On To What You believe by Mumford & Sons
57. Big Yellow Taxi by Counting Crows
58. Forward by Bad Lucy
59. Float On by Jennie Arnau
60. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley
61. Make You Crazy by Brett Dennen & Femi Kuti
62. Lonesome Day by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
63. Don't You Evere Think I Cry? by Buffalo Killers
64. I Need A Dollar by Aloe Blacc
65. City Of Refuge by Abigail Washburn
66. Imagine by John Lennon
67. Dreams by The Allman Brothers Band
68. Bloody Sunday by Cruachan
69. Land Of Hope & Dreams by Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band
70. Get It by Buffalo Killers
71. Good People by Jack Johnson
72. Precious Hands by The Big Wu
73. Where It's At by Beck
74. Balance by Future Islands
75. Beyond Here Lies Nothin' by Bob Dylan
76. Peaceful World by John mellencamp
77. Have A Good Time by Brother Magnum & The Razor Bumps
78. Look The Other Way by Justin Townes Earle
79. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards by Tame Impala
80. We Can Love by Delaney & Bonnie

↧

The 12 Days Of Beatles - I Am The Walrus

January 21, 2013, 2:29 pm

≫ Next: This Week's New Spins On Jivewired Radio

≪ Previous: The Monday Mix: MLK

Magical Mystery Tour was the first Beatles film project following the death of manager Brian Epstein in August 1967, and there has been much speculation that the absence of Epstein's judgment contributed to its undisciplined production, as seen, for instance, in the absence of a screenplay and professional direction. The film originally appeared twice on BBC-TV over the 1967 Christmas holidays (first in black and white on BBC 1 on Boxing Day, then in color on BBC2 a few days later), but was savaged by critics on its release; it was, however, noted by Steven Spielberg in film school:

"I've read that people like him have sort of said, 'When I was in school that was a film we really took notice of...' like an art film, you know, rather than a proper film."
-- Paul McCartney, Beatles Anthology

The movie's soundtrack was far more favorably received than the film. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for best album in 1968 and held number 1 in the US for eight weeks.

Along with the rest of the Beatles' canon, it was re-released on CD in newly re-mastered stereo and mono versions on September 9, 2009.

On November 13, 2012 The Beatles released a full vinyl box set of their entire canon, manufactured on 180-gram, audiophile quality vinyl with replicated artwork.

Written by: John Lennon (100%) (credited as Lennon-McCartney)
Producer: George Martin
Recorded: September 5-6, 27-28, 1967
John Lennon: lead vocals, electric piano (Fender Rhodes)
Paul McCartney: harmony vocals, bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S)
George Harrison: harmony vocals, tambourine
Ringo Starr: drums (Ludwig)
Additional Musicians: Sidney Sax, Jack Rothstein, Ralph Elman, Andrew McGee, Jack Greene, Louis Stevens, John Jezzard and Jack Richards on violins, Lionel Ross, Eldon Fox, Brian Martin and Terry Weil on cellos and Neill Sanders, Tony Tunstall and Morris Miller on horns, Peggie Allen, Wendy Horan, Pat Whitmore, Jill Utting, June Day, Sylvia King, Irene King, G. Mallen, Fred Lucas, Mike Redway, John O'Neill, F. Dachtler, Allan Grant, D. Griffiths, J. Smith and J. Fraser on backing vocals

Get it at:

Amazon | iTunes

Track Listing:
01. Magical Mystery Tour
02. The Fool On The Hill
03. Flying
04. Blue Jay Way
05. Your Mother Should Know
06. I Am The Walrus
07. Hello Goodbye
08. Strawberry Fields Forever
09. Penny Lane
10. Baby, You're A Rich Man
11. All You Need is Love

The basic track for the song was laid down on November 5, 1967, after a week or so of mourning their recently deceased manager Brian Epstein, with John on electric piano. His lead vocal was added the next day, along with the rhythm track; on the 26th and 27th of the month, producer George Martin added horns, strings, woodwinds, and backing vocals by the Mike Sammes singers. John reportedly orchestrated the instruments himself through Martin, but allowed Martin to orchestrate the voices, including the cacophony of conversation that occurs just before the bridge.

The genesis of the lyrics is found in three song ideas that Lennon was working on, the first of which was inspired by hearing a police siren at his home in Weybridge; Lennon wrote the lines "Mis-ter cit-y police-man" to the rhythm of the siren. The second idea was a short rhyme about Lennon sitting in his garden, while the third was a nonsense lyric about sitting on a corn flake. Unable to finish the ideas as three different songs, he combined them into one.

Lennon received a letter from a pupil at Quarry Bank Grammar School, which he had attended. The writer mentioned that the English master was making his class analyze Beatles' lyrics. Lennon, amused that a teacher was putting so much effort into understanding The Beatles' lyrics, wrote the most confusing lyrics he could. Lennon's friend and former fellow member of The Quarrymen, Peter Shotton, was visiting, and Lennon asked Shotton about a playground nursery rhyme they sang as children.

Shotton remembered:

"Yellow matter custard, green slop pie,
All mixed together with a dead dog's eye,
Slap it on a butty, ten foot thick,
Then wash it all down with a cup of cold sick."

The Beatles' official biographer Hunter Davies was present while the song was being written and wrote an account in his 1968 biography of The Beatles. Lennon remarked to Shotton, "Let the fuckers work that one out."

"The first line was written on one acid trip one weekend. The second line was written on the next acid trip the next weekend, and it was filled in after I met Yoko... I'd seen Allen Ginsberg and some other people who liked Dylan and Jesus, going on about Hare Krishna. It was Ginsburg, in particular, I was referring to. The words 'Element'ry penguin' meant that it's naive to just go around chanting Hare Krishna or putting all your faith in one idol. In those days I was writing obscurely, a la Dylan."
-- John Lennon, 1980

"It never dawned on me that Lewis Carroll was commenting on the capitalist system. I never went into that bit about what he really meant, like people are doing with the Beatles' work. Later, I went back and looked at it and realized that the walrus was the bad guy in the story and the carpenter was the good guy. I thought, Oh, shit, I picked the wrong guy. I should have said, 'I am the carpenter.' But that wouldn't have been the same, would it? [Sings, laughing] 'I am the carpenter....'"
-- John Lennon, 1980

Although never specifically designated as such, I Am The Walrus was clearly considered the b-side to its single counterpart, Hello Goodbye, by the band, producer George Martin, and specifically Paul McCartney. Lennon had wanted I Am the Walrus to be The Beatles' next single after All You Need Is Love. This infuriated John Lennon, who, spurred on by his new relationship with Yoko Ono, grew increasingly more anxious to have the Beatles singles move in a more avant-garde direction. This would be the first battle in a war which would eventually contribute to the band's breakup. Lennon, complained after the group's split that "I got sick and tired of being Paul's backup band".

Some interesting facts about the song:

For the performance, filmed in West Malling in Kent, Lennon tellingly wore an 18th century madman's cap.
Some have speculated that the opening line, "I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together", is a parody of the opening line of Marching to Pretoria, a folk song: "I'm with you and you're with me and we are all together."
The dramatic reading in the mix towards the end of the song is a few lines of Shakespeare's King Lear (Act IV, Scene VI), which were added to the song direct from an AM radio receiving the broadcast of the play.
The bulk of the audible dialogue, heard in the fade, is the death scene of the character Oswald (including the words, "O untimely Death! Death!"); this is a piece of the "Paul is dead" urban legend.
I Am The Walrus contained words ("crabalocker", "texpert", the chorus refrain "goo goo g'joob") coined by Lennon. As such, it owed more to his books In His Own Write and A Spaniard In The Works than anything The Beatles had previously recorded.
After the "Paul Is Dead" rumors began in 1969, the question of who actually was the Walrus became significant in the minds of many Beatles fans, since, the rumor went, the Walrus was an Eastern religious symbol of death. This, of course, is not true.
"Semolina pilchard" is said to be a slap at Detective Sergeant Norman Pilcher of Scotland Yard, notorious in the late Sixties for busting rock stars on trumped-up drug charges.
Author Jeff Kent's biography The Last Poet: The Story of Eric Burdon published in 1989 claims that Burdon, the Animals' lead singer, was the "eggman" of this song; supposedly, Eric liked to break raw eggs on groupies' bodies, and Lennon, having witnessed this in person, gave him the name "eggman."
The noise of the out of tune radio appears before the line "Sitting in an English garden waiting for the sun". A snippet from King Lear can be heard in the chorus immediately before the "Expert texpert choking smokers" line, with an exchange between Gloucester and Edgar:

Lennon:I am the eggman
Gloucester:Now, good sir, what are you?
Lennon:They are the eggmen
Edgar:A most poor man, made tame to fortune's blows
Lennon:I am the Walrus

The BBC banned the song for the lines "pornographic priestess" and "let your knickers down". As Hunter Davies recorded, the lines were particularly admired by George Harrison.

"Why can't you have people fucking as well? It's going on everywhere in the world, all the time. So why can't you mention it? It's just a word, made up by people... It doesn't mean a thing, so why can't we use it in a song? We will eventually. We haven't started yet."
-- George Harrison, 1967

Previous In This Series: Day Eight - A Day In The Life

Visit The Beatles Bible!

Sources: The Beatles Bible; Many Years From Now - Barry Miles (author); Beatles Interview Database; The Beatles Recording Sessions - Lewisohn, Mark (author); Whitburn, Joel (2007), Billboard Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin; Playboy Magazine; Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties, Ian McDonald (author); The Compleat Beatles Vol. 2, Milton Okun (author); Apple Records; Oldies Music Guide, Robert Fontenot (author); The Beatles On Record, BBC Televison; What Goes On, The Beatles' Anomalies List; The Beatles, Hunter Davies (author);

↧

This Week's New Spins On Jivewired Radio

January 22, 2013, 5:01 pm

≫ Next: Friday Flashback 1967

≪ Previous: The 12 Days Of Beatles - I Am The Walrus

Real quick, and at first glance, we are assuredly in the camp that believes that guitar-driven rock is coming back in a big way in 2013, but we are seeing a resurgence in the Yo La Tengo/Dinosaur Jr. sound, or as I like to call it College Rock.

Yeah, college rock is not a defined genre and it certainly has never disappeared, but I am talking about those bands and that sound that defined the left side of the dial for years and years.

Fuzzy feedback.

A lot of density busting at the seams of self-contained space and beyond.

Hints of psychedelia.

Big guitars. Distortion.

Epic-ness for lack of a better word.

And what's with all the picking on Brooklyn? Brooklyn is fine and it's music scene is undeserving of recent brow-beatings amongst the critics and haters. The hipsters are moving on, vacating those pricey lofts in the low-rent district with their Bon Iver LPs in tote and leaving nothing but wretched refuse and cold emptiness, squalor, desolation and drafty dwelling spaces nowhere near anything necessary for legitimate survival.

And the money is coming back. We can thank the Brooklyn Nets for commercializing an area that badly needed commercialization and re-re-re-gentrification, hipsters be damned. The hipsters never learned, you cannot poorly and incorrectly recycle a lifestyle and simply adapt it to a convenient soundtrack and call it your very own genre.

Brooklyn has some great music. See what a couple of amazing guitar riffs and a big sound can do? That college radio sound, that feel, that vibe...... it's back and a legion of hipsters have been spayed and neutered and left as roadkill hanging from the overpasses that separate the cool from the purposefully not cool. Not that they needed to be spayed or neutered, as that was the obligatory requisite in order to purchase those skinny jeans, cheap, canned beer and vinyl-sized ear gauges.

If you can't whine in real life then whine in song, but hide behind big, bushy unkempt beards, PBR Tall Boys and fixed gear bicycles. For me, the hipster era just seemed like a wave of emo-wannabes in disguise.

Aren't you loving all the new music that actually features a lead guitar?

You'll love today's new spins too.

We did, however leave the hipsters with one representative song this week: Oh! You Lied by Book Club

Thank you Brooklyn for Bear Ceuse, Isadora, Grizzly Bear, The Can't Tells and Dirty Projectors.

Thank you for evicting those slacker hipsters from our music scene.

We air a scheduled program dedicated to nothing but each week's new adds each Tuesday evening from 7pm - 11pm CST on Jivewired Radio powered by Live365.com.

You can listen to Jivewired Radio by activating the radio player in the right sidebar or by following this link: Launch Jivewired Radio In A New Window

Songs that receive favorable ratings will be placed into regular rotation.

Thanks for listening!

(Well Hung Heart)

STAFF PICKS OF THE WEEK:

Before We Run by Yo La Tengo
Dixie Brothers by Bear Ceuse
Would That Not Be Nice by Divine Fits
The Pursuit Of Happiness by Ben Sollee
Get It by Buffalo Killers
Eyeoneye by Andrew Bird
Gimmie Something by Fidlar
Ava by Kilto Take

TEAM PHOTO:

Lying To Myself by The Can't Tells
Devil by Well Hung Heart

WILL PROBABLY BE A HIT:

Don't Save Me by Haim
That Much by Ra Ra Riot

A SONG THAT WILL GROW ON YOU QUICKLY:

On The Rights by Isadora

A FILTHY, BAD ASS SONG YOU WON'T QUIT PLAYING:

Sad Days Lonely Nights by Left Lane Cruiser & James Leg

PLAYLIST ADDS FOR THE WEEK OF 01/22/2013

01. NO, NO Mister!! by Radio Moscow
02. You Never Need Nobody by The Lone Bellow
03. Everything You Took by Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires
04. That Much by Ra Ra Riot
05. On The Rights by Osadora
06. The Jailer by Erin McKeown
07. The Pursuit Of Happiness by Ben Sollee
08. Dixie Brothers by Bear Ceuse
09. Get It by Buffalo Killers
10. Ain't No Stranger by Lee Bains & The Glory Fires
11. Maw Maw Song by The Joy Formidable
12. Lying To Myself by The Can't Tells
13. Wild Night by DRGN KING
14. Ava by Kilto Take
15. Sad Days Lonely Nights by Left Lane Cruiser & James Leg
16. Worst Side Of Me by The Wanton Looks
17. Devil by Well Hung Heart
18. Eeyore by Gram Rabbit
19. Gimmie Something by Fidlar
20. Cold City by Hollis Brown
21. Sinful Nature by Bear InHeaven
22. B-12 by The Lennings
23. Before We Run by Yo La Tengo
24. Don't Save Me by Haim
25. River Song by Shannon Wurst
26. Box Above The Belt by Hello Caller
27. Still Life With Hot Deuce On A Silver Platter by Titus Andronicus
28. Would That Not Be Nice by Divine Fits
29. Amnesia by Hilly Eye
30. My Love Won't Wait by Two Gallants
31. Perennials by Widowspeak
32. Oh! You Lied by Book Club
33. Elephant by Tame Impala
34. Milwaukee Man by Hugh Bob & The Hustle
35. Letters To The Metro (Zombi Remix) by Mogwai
36. Don't Wake Me by Robot's Don't Sleep
37. Song For Zula by Phosphorescent
38. Running For Cover by Ivan & Alyosha
39. Your Name's Mostly Water by The Luyas
40. Crystal Vases by The Last Royals
41. The Dark Age by Widowspeak
42. Bikini Babes by Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin
43. Never There by A Course Of Action
44. Purge by Infinite End
45. Justice by Burning Slow
46. Say A Prayer by Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown
47. Don't You Ever Think I Cry by Buffalo Killers
48. Eyeoneye by Andrew Bird
49. Dance With Me by Ra Ra Riot
50. Walking In Your Footsteps by Shout Out Louds
51. Our Lives by David Thomas Jones
52. Next Stop by Bleached
53. Ramona by Night Beds
54. Lazarus by The Deer Tracks
55. Here We Go by Christopher Owens
56. Varsity by Christina Courtin
57. Showdown by Ethan Farmer
58. Cheap Beer by Fidlar
59. Golden Sparklers by Holopaw
60. Nervous Wreck by Sera Cahoone

↧

Friday Flashback 1967

January 25, 2013, 6:44 am

≫ Next: Album Review - Don Domestique by Bear Ceuse

≪ Previous: This Week's New Spins On Jivewired Radio

FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Every Friday we set the Hot Tub Time Machine to one year in rock history and give you the best (and worst) music from that year, all day long beginning at 1:00 AM EST and running for 24 hours on Jivewired Radio powered by Live365.

Article & Image Sources: All Music Guide, Amazon.com, The Beatles Bible, Rolling Stone Magazine, Previous Jivewired Flashback Articles, WLS-AM, The Guardian, UK, Joel Whitburn, Billboard Magazine, DeRogatis, Jim (2003). Turn On Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock.

This week: 1967
Next week: 1987

To listen, just press play on the radio widget to the right or use this link to open in a new window that will allow you to listen when you navigate away from this page:

Album art from 1967 - Click album cover to purchase at Amazon.com

1967 Album I Wish I Owned: Live In Europe by Otis Redding
1967 Album I'd Give Back If I Could: These Are My Songs by Petula Clark
1967 Nominee For Worst Album Cover Ever:Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles
1967 Most Underrated Song:Heroes & Villains by The Beach Boys
1967 Most Overrated Song:Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
1967 Most Memorable Song:I Am The Walrus by The Beatles
1967 Most Significant Song: All Along The Watchtower by Bob Dylan
1967 Most Forgotten Song:The Oogum Boogum Song by Brenton Wood
1967 Fan's Choice For Most Popular Song:To Sir With Love by Lulu
1967 Album Of The Year:Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
1967 Most Likely To Start A Party Song:Tighten Up by Archie Bell & The Drells
1967 Please Don't Play Anymore Song:It Must Be Him by Vicki Carr
1967 Song That I Like More Than I Actually Should:The Happening by The Supremes
1967 Album I Liked More Than I Thought I Would:The Look Of Love by Dusty Springfield
1967 Song That I Tend to Leave on Repeat:Get Together by The Youngbloods
Guilty Pleasure of 1967:You're All I Need To Get By by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
Breakout Artists of 1967: The Doors, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Monkees, The Buckinghams
Overplayed In 1967: The Moody Blues
Not Played Enough In 1967: The Buckinghams
Greatest Chart Re-Entry from 1967:Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye by The Casinos (1962)
Best Cover Song Of 1967:Chantilly Lace by Shorty Long (original: The Big Bopper)
Worst Cover Song of 1967:Release Me by Englebert Humperdink (original: Eddie Miller)
An unheralded great album from 1967:Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. by The Monkees
An unheralded great single from 1967:Goin' Down by The Monkees
Best Soundtrack of 1967:Easy Rider
An Album From 1967 That Changed My Life: The Doors by The Doors

Get it at:

Amazon | iTunes

Track Listing:
01. Break On Through
02. Soul Kitchen
03. The Crystal Ship
04. Twentieth Century Fox
05. Alabama Song
06. Light My Fire
07. Back Door Man
08. I Looked At You
09. End of The Night
10. Take It As It Comes
11. The End

It's not the best album from 1967 (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) nor my favorite album from 1967 (Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.) and the Doors aren't even the best debut artist from 1967 (Jimi Hendrix), but this debut album by The Doors had the most profound impact on my life of any album released in 1967. It introduced me to music's dark side and it probably wasn't even the darkest album of 1967 (Their Satanic Majesties Request). It was the first time that I realized that AM Radio chose to release songs in reduced form - the album version of Light My Fire is seven minutes in length and it's AM Radio counterpart clocked in at under three minutes. Then there is that epic scene from Apocalypse Now featuring The End and finally the book about Jim Morrison, No One Here Gets Out Alive, that I read over and over and over and over freshman year. This album came out when I was two years old and it wasn't until 1980 that I actually discovered it. There is nothing poetic about it, nothing that stands out musically and for the most part the album is solemn and tragic. Still, as a full-length play it is always welcome on my turntable. It's imagery and it's ethos are immediately identifiable to me. Jim Morrison was not the poet he is often credited as. But hell, he sure played the role quite well.

You can hear The Doors in it's entirety beginning at 5PM CST.

Jivewired Picks: Top Five Songs Of The Year

01. I Am The Walrus by The Beatles
02. Dear Mr. Fantasy by Traffic
03. For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield
04. A Day In The Life by The Beatles
05. Ball & Chain by Janis Joplin

Jivewired Picks: Top Five Albums Of The Year

01. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles
02. Are You Experienced? by Jimi Hendrix
03. Disraeli Gears by Cream
04. John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan
05. The Doors by The Doors

The summer of 1967 will forever remain as The Summer of Love. In saying that, it is important to remember that 1967 was the most significant year for psychedelic rock, with releases from The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour), The Doors (The Doors and Strange Days), Jefferson Airplane (Surrealistic Pillow and After Bathing at Baxter's), Pink Floyd (The Piper at the Gates of Dawn), Cream (Disraeli Gears), The Rolling Stones (Their Satanic Majesties Request), The Who (The Who Sell Out), Moby Grape (self-titled), The Velvet Underground (The Velvet Underground & Nico), Procol Harum (Procol Harum), and The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Are You Experienced? and Axis: Bold As Love).

The love theme of 1967 was fully cemented into the annals of music history by The Beatles with their performance of All You Need Is Love to a worldwide audience of 400 million in the first international television broadcast, a broadcast that came right on the heels of Paul McCartney revealing to the British press that all four members of the band had previously dropped acid. For the broadcast, The Beatles were (except for Ringo Starr) seated on stools, accompanied by a small studio orchestra. They were surrounded by friends and acquaintances seated on the floor, many of whom were among the leading stars of the British pop scene in 1967, and all accompanied vocally with the refrain during the fade-out, including Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richards, Keith Moon, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, Pattie Harrison, Jane Asher, Mike McCartney, Gary Leeds and Hunter Davies.

A number of socio-political events had a profound impact on music in 1967.

The various pacifist strains of the late 1950s and early 1960s had converged and formed the hippie culture that established it's roots in San Francisco. But all was not groovy. While the hippies celebrated their first Summer of Love, Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis and other black activists founded the Black Panther Party in nearby Oakland. The Black Panthers were one of the most visible and disruptive protest groups initially, but there were others as well, creating unrest and division accentuated by urban violence. This led to racial and political riots for the rest of the decade, culminating in the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy in 1968.

Meanwhile the Vietnam War was becoming increasingly unpopular as American citizens realized that facts of the war were being misrepresented by the U.S. government. Overall, many felt completely disenfranchised from the entire political system. Feminists also made a stand, and the gay liberation movement formally launched near the end of 1967. Student protests and riots were the theme on college campuses throughout the country as socio-political issues came to a head, and soon spread to places like West Berlin and Paris, twisting ideologies and demanding a platform on which the youth of the world could both be seen and heard. Within two years, student demonstrations forced Charles DeGaulle into resignation and exile while leftist students and leftist unions led Italy into political chaos.

But back to the music.........

Jimi Hendrix and The Who played to 200,000 revelers at the sold-out Monterey Pop Festival in California and the Doors and the Rolling Stones were launched into the homes of millions of American families during their prime-time performances on the Ed Sullivan Show. Hendrix and The Doors introduced a generation to the psychedelic sounds of the Sixties, releasing best-selling albums. Other stars from 1967 included Aretha Franklin, Bobbie Gentry, Sam & Dave, The Moody Blues, The Hollies, Lulu, The Turtles, The Beach Boys and The Monkees.

In 1967, so many things happened in pop music, some ephemeral (like flower power) and some that had a profound and lasting effect on the music industry. The Monterey Pop Festival demonstrated the cultural distrust between the Los Angeles music scene, home to commercially successful bands like the Byrds, the Mamas and the Papas, Big Brother & The Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin and Buffalo Springfield and San Francisco, where the counter-cultural influence of bands including the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane was just beginning to receive national attention.

Although organized and conceived by John Phillips of the Mamas and Papas, the concert would be a swan song of sorts for Phillips' band and a launching pad for hitherto unknown acts, including Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. The concert also introduced soul sensation Otis Redding to a wider (and whiter) audience only months before his death in a plane crash on Dec. 10, 1967.

At 1967's now-historic Monterey International Pop Festival, Otis Redding charmingly inquired from the stage, "This is the love crowd, right?" Jimi Hendrix actually lit his guitar on fire, putting an exclamation point on an incendiary performance that launched his career in epic fashion.

Motown entered 1967 a well-oiled juggernaut of success. The previous year, Berry Gordy, Jr.‘s musical empire-in-the-making had dubbed itself “the Sound of Young America”, and 1967 reinforced such boastful sloganeering with copious hits: three-quarters of the A-sides released on the company’s various imprints made the charts that year. The great pop-R&B crossover continued with incredible singles from acts like the Four Tops (Bernadette), the Supremes (Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone), the Miracles (I Second That Emotion), Martha & the Vandellas (Jimmy Mack), the Temptations (All I Need), and, for the first time, the inspired pairing of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and You're All I Need To Get By, among many others). Hitsville USA, as Gordy had christened his operation when he first opened shop in a house at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit eight years earlier, was nothing if not a self-fulfilling prophecy.

On May 1, 1967, Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin, Las Vegas. On October 18, 1967 The first issue of Rolling Stone rolled off the press at about 5:30pm, with a cover dated November 9 and featuring a photograph of John Lennon in the film How I Won the War. On November 22, Otis Redding recorded his most successful hit, Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay. He never lived to see it's worldwide success. On December 10, Redding and four of the six members of his backing band, The Bar-Kays (all of whom were only 18 years old) died in a plane crash in Lake Monona (Madison, Wisconsin). It was considered to be one of the worst air tragedies in entertainment history, and the worst since the Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Big Bopper air crash in 1959.

Gone Too Soon:

J.B. Lenoir (April 29)
John Coltrane (July 17)
Brian Epstein (August 27)
Woody Guthrie (October 3)
Otis Redding (December 10)
Ronnie Caldwell (December 10)
Phalon Jones (December 10)
Jimmy King (December 10)
Carl Cunningham (December 10)

Jim Morrison You Have Been Served:

Ed Sullivan wasn't always the wholesome, lovable TV host that he personified on his Saturday evening television show on CBS. There was in fact, a dark side to Sullivan: he could be very quick to take offense if he felt he had been crossed, and could hold a grudge for a long time. This could sometimes be seen as a part of his TV personality.

The Doors appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in September, 1967 and performed Light My Fire. Sullivan had requested that the line "Girl we couldn't get much higher" be changed for the show. Jim Morrison agreed, but ended up performing it the way it was written and The Doors were forever banned from the show.

Jackie Mason, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, and The Byrds had previously become intimately familiar with Sullivan's negative side. But Ed sure loved his Beatles.

Lying In Bed, Just Like Brian Wilson Did......

Capitol Records pulled the plug on the Beach Boys' mysterious Smile project. Brian Wilson, who had taken more than a year to compose and produce the album, could not bring himself to finish it.

The project was intended as the follow-up to Pet Sounds, but was never completed in its original form. The project was resurrected in 2003, and a newly recorded version was released by Wilson in 2004. A reconstructed version of the album, along with many of the existing sessions, was released as The Smile Sessions on November 1, 2011, over 43 years after the project was originally scheduled to be released. Smile has come to be regarded as the most famous unreleased album of all time.

During the 37 years from its cancellation to the release of Wilson's version, Smile acquired considerable mystique, and bootlegged tracks from the never-completed album are circulated widely among Beach Boys collectors. Many of the tracks which were originally recorded for Smile eventually found their way onto subsequent Beach Boys albums.

Go Forth, For You Are The Future Of Rock & Roll.....

The following bands all formed in 1967: Fleetwood Mac, Blue Oyster Cult, Steppenwolf, T-Rex, Genesis, Chicago, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Steve Miller Band, Jethro Tull, Procol Harum, REO Speedwagon, Traffic & The Stooges.

Playlist Adds For 1967 (by Release Date):

****Release dates are to the best of my knowledge and in most cases represent the release date of the album from which the single derived. In cases of singles and/or B-Side releases only, we use the official single release date for the A-Side.****

October 1966:

001. Last Train To Clarksville by The Monkees
002. Papa Gene's Blues by The Monkees
003. You Keep Me Hangin' On by Diana Ross & The Supremes
004. Try A Little Tenderness by Otis Redding
005. Mellow Yellow by Donovan

November 1966:

006. (I Know) I'm Losing You by The Temptations
007. Tell It Like It Is [Live] by Aaron Neville
008. I'm Gonna Keep On Tryin' Till I Win Your Love by Edwin Starr
009. Words Of Love by The Mamas & The Papas

December 1966:

010. Happy Jack by The Who
011. The Beat Goes On by Sonny & Cher
012. It Takes Two by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
013. Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron by The Royal Guardsmen

January 1967:

014. Break On Through by The Doors
015. Soul Kitchen by The Doors
016. Twentieth Century Fox by The Doors
017. Light My Fire by The Doors
018. Back Door Man by The Doors
019. I Think We're Alone Now by Tommy James & The Shondells
020. I'm A Believer by The Monkees
021. (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone by The Monkees
022. She by The Monkees
023. Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) by The Monkees
024. Goin' Down by The Monkees
025. For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield
026. Love Is Here And Now You're Gone by The Supremes
027. The Happening by The Supremes
028. Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones
029. Let's Spend The Night Together by The Rolling Stones
030. Get Together by The Youngbloods

February 1967:

031. White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
032. Somebody To Love by Jefferson Airplane
033. Jimmy Mack by Martha Reeves & The Vandelles
034. So You Want To Be A Rock 'N Roll Star by The Byrds
035. Gimme Some Lovin' by The Spencer Davis Group
036. Bernadette by The Four Tops

March 1967:

037. Respect by Aretha Franklin
038. Heroin by The Velvet Underground
039. Knock On Wood by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
040. Tramp by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
041. Morning Dew by The Grateful Dead
042. Viola Lee Blues by The Grateful Dead
043. Leaving On A Jet Plane by Peter, Paul & Mary
044. Windy by The Association
045. At The Zoo by Simon & Garfunkel
046. Ain't That The Truth by Jr. Walker & The All-Stars
047. Chantilly Lace by Shorty Long

April 1967:

048. Don't Sleep In The Subway by Petula Clark
049. Soul Finger by The Bar-Kays
050. Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

May 1967:

051. Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks
052. Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Franki Valli
053. A Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum
054. San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair) by Scott McKenzie
055. Strange Brew by Cream
056. Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream
057. Kind Of A Drag by The Buckinghams
058. Don't You Care by The Buckinghams
059. Hey Baby (They're Playing Our Song) by The Buckinghams
060. Carrie Anne by The Hollies

June 1967:

061. It's Been A Long Time by The Elgins
062. Within You Without You by The Beatles
063. When I'm Sixty-Four by The Beatles
064. A Day In The Life by The Beatles
065. Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In by The 5th Dimension
066. Ode To Billie Joe by Bobby Gentry
067. To Sir With Love by Lulu
068. Chain Of Fools by Aretha Franklin
069. Funky Broadway by Wilson Pickett
070. Hip Hug-Her by Booker T & The MGs
071. Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison

July 1967:

072. Expressway To Your Heart by The Soul Survivors
073. The Letter by The Box Tops
074. Cold Sweat, Pt. 1 by James Brown
075. (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher by Jackie Wilson
076. Reach Out (I'll Be There) by The Four Tops
077. Reflections by Diana Ross & The Supremes
078. Heroes & Villains by The Beach Boys
079. Groovin' by The Young Rascals
080. How Can I Be Sure by The Young Rascals

August 1967:

081. See Emily Play by Pink Floyd
082. Soul Man by Sam & Dave
083. Itchycoo Park by The Small Faces
084. Tears Of A Clown by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
085. Different Drum by Linda Ronstadt/Stone Poneys
086. You've Made Me So Very Happy by Brenda Holloway
087. I've Got To Find It by Brenda Holloway
088. Purple Haze by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
089. Little Wing by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
090. If 6 Was 9 by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
091. Castles Made Of Sand by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
092. I Was Made To Love Her by Stevie Wonder
093. What A Good Man He Is by Tammi Terrell
094. Happy Together by The Turtles
095. She'd Rather Be With Me by The Turtles
096. Bye Bye Baby by Big Brother & The Holding Company
097. Down On Me by Big Brother & The Holding Company
098. Ball & Chain by Big Brother & The Holding Company
099. Woman, Woman by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

September 1967:

100. Everybody Needs Love by Gladys Knight & The Pips
101. Dedicated To The One I Love by The Mamas & The Papas
102. Jackson by Johnny Cash & June Carter
103. It Must Be Him by Vicki Carr
104. Nobody But Me by The Human Beinz
105. The Rain, The Park & Other Things by The Cowsills
106. Gonna Give Her All The Love I've Got by Jimmy Ruffin
107. The Oogum Boogum Song by Brenton Wood
108. Gimme A Little Sign by Brenton

October 1967:

109. Tighten Up by Archie Bell & The Drells
110. Good Vibrations by The Beach Boys
111. I Can See For Miles by The Who
112. Solitary Man by Neil Diamond
113. Thank The Lord For The Night Time by Neil Diamond

November 1967:

114. (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet by Blues Magoos
115. The Afternoon: Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)/Time to Get Away by The Moody Blues
116. The Night: Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues
117. Judy In Disguise (With Glasses) by John Fred & His Playboy Band
118. Baby Please Don't Go by Amboy Dukes
119. All Along The Watchtower by Bob Dylan

December 1967:

120. Bend Me Shape Me by The American Breed
121. The Look Of Love by Dusty Springfield
122. (They Long To Be) Close To You by Dusty Springfield
123. Don't Forget About Me by Dusty Springfield
124. The Fool On The Hill by The Beatles
125. I Am The Walrus by The Beatles
126. Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles
127. All You Need Is Love by The Beatles
128. She's A Rainbow by The Rolling Stones
129. 2000 Light Years From Home by The Rolling Stones
130. Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) by Kenny Rogers & The First Edition
131. Dear Mr. Fantasy by Traffic
132. I Wish It Would Rain by The Temptations
133. Dance To The Music by Sly & The Family Stone
134. Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding
135. You're All I Need To Get By by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

Previous In This Series: Friday Flashback 1973

↧

Album Review - Don Domestique by Bear Ceuse

January 28, 2013, 2:00 am

≫ Next: The Monday Mix - Love In The Time Of Cholera

≪ Previous: Friday Flashback 1967

"One of the most frequent attempts at a diss that music writers hear is that any negative review is just a product of jealousy because they’re no good at songwriting. Well suck it, haters: Bear Ceuse sure has a knack for it. The Brooklyn foursome includes music writers Cameron Matthews and Adam Horne, along with Jordan James and Danny Sher. Hear for yourself on the supremely catchy “Entertain Me,” a free song from Bear Ceuse’s forthcoming record, “Don Domestique,” which they recorded at Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn with Patrick Crecelius. The tune glides past, with overdriven guitars crackling over a steady beat and Matthews’ dreamy, murmuring vocals."
~Listen, Dammit

Release Date: April 2013 (expected)
Genre: Rock / Indie Rock / Alternative
Publisher: [c] 2013 Medical Records
Label: Medical Records
Total Time: 34m 34s
Review Date: 28-January-2013
Review Format: MP3
Bit Rate: 320 kbps
For Fans Of: Pavement, Superchunk, Yo La Tengo, Dinosaur Jr.
Songs In Jivewired Radio Rotation:Dixie Brothers, Entertain Me
Best Songs:All Out Of A Hat, My Friends, Entertain Me, I Saw It Beating, Yes Man
Team Photo:Dixie Brothers, This Or That
Previous Jivewired Review: None
Jivewired Press Kit:http://www.jivewired.com/bearceuse

Get it at:
This album is set for release in Spring 2013. For more info click on either of the following links.

Band Website | Label Website (Medical Records)

Track Listing:

01. My Friends 3:54
02. All Out Of A Hat 3:55
03. Dixie Brothers 2:14
04. OK LE OMA 4:19
05. Entertain Me 2:30
06. I Saw It Beating 4:18
07. This Or That 2:47
08. Streets Of Something Good 3:49
09. God's Looking Down 3:34
10. Yes Man 3:14

Review:

There is a little mystery to Bear Ceuse and if you want to know just how to read into that, I'd say that an upcoming release combined with radio silence throughout the interwebs usually indicates something large is looming on the horizon. Record labels and indie management teams live by two hard and fast rules:

+ Speak softly and carry a big stick.
+ Loose lips, sink ships.

Other than a few blurbs from the critics, a highly complimentary CMJ review, some obligatory band tweets, a couple of free downloads and a lot of chatter from, well, me, there isn't a lot out there on Bear Ceuse if you find yourself in a seek and discover mood. That's usually a good thing. Bands that reserve or stifle the hype show a purposeful confidence that is the best tell that they believe something really good is coming. Obviously the whole Bear Ceuse team is on board with this philosophy and after reviewing Don Domestique I am here to let you know that my assumptions are 100% correct.

This is a killer album and one I can't listen to enough.

And maybe my personal taste is skewed just a little because I favor the times when bands like Dinosaur Jr., Primal Scream and Pavement ruled the college radio station airwaves and provided the soundtrack for frat house hi-jinx, late night listening parties, drinking games and frisbee football on the quad.

But........

One listen through and you'll want to surrender your favorite, over-sized flannel to the cute co-ed across the hall. Songs like I Saw It Beating or My Friends are the stuff that those classic home made mixtapes are made of, and either could be your go-to statement song (that would be Side A, song number 3 on your TDK SA-90 if you are keeping score at home) in your attempts to persuade your friends that your musical tastes are indeed relevant and to show those members of the opposite sex that digging you means access to a plethora of cool music.

If that isn't a detailed enough description for you just know this: The new Yo La Tengo album, Fade, is currently number one on the CMJ charts (as of 01/25/2013). I love Yo La Tengo, and have since their first album release. No disrespect to that band or it's label, Matador Records, but I can say this in all honesty and with full conviction -- song for song, Don Domestique is a better album. That's a strong endorsement, no doubt, and it comes with but one caveat: you really need to dig on this type of music to fully understand that endorsement. There's not much that screams mainstream about this album, but what is mainstream anyway? Mainstream radio is dead and it's rotting corpse is stinking up the airwaves**.

There are three defining moments on this album in my opinion. The first is the coda/outro on My Friend. The second is the intro and opening verse on I Saw It Beating. The third is the bridge and guitar solo on Entertain Me. When we think about what separates good music from truly great music it is usually a defining moment, or rather, something that burns an indelible mark within us that makes a song, or a sequencing of songs, unequivocally memorable. Those musical moments strike a chord within us that tend to make a song or a section of a song instantly addictive. Repeat plays are no longer a nuisance, they are a requisite. That's what makes Don Domestique so damn good.

If I have one criticism in critiquing this album it's the song Streets Of Something Good, which just doesn't fit here, it being a little more pop-centric and slightly airy in contrast to the rest of the album. It's not a bad song, but it's definitely a slam-on-the-brakes moment and feels just a little out of place among it's LP brethren. Other than that, this album is stunningly good top to bottom and nothing else even remotely resembles burner or filler material.

As a collective audience most if us have simply had it with the underground populace and their two-year affection with the painfully morose sound of synthesized one-man outfits that pose as bands and further, pose as true musicians. Indie music took a gigantic leap forward when Arcade Fire's The Suburbs won the 2011 Grammy for Album Of The Year and then we turned around and shit-canned the movement with the odd and overly avant-garde in a ridiculous attempt to establish sovereignty as industry taste-makers.

In short, I love Don Domestique and what this album represents. That college radio sound, with it's big sound and merciless guitar riffs and heavy-handed distortion, and it's unapologetic, licentious fuzz is back, and back in a big way, and Bear Ceuse arrives as a leader of the imprisoned dissolute. A hearty thank you is in order.

**Thank you very much for letting me steal your quote as it pertains to modern-day mainstream in comparison to 1970s AM Radio, Tom Donahue.

About Bear Ceuse:

Quick update for y'all: Bear Ceuse had to move the release of Don Domestique to the spring, like Aprilish. But that just means we're working on A LOT of rad stuff. So stay tuned, and download our Daytrotter Session in the meantime!

Bear Ceuse is a band of four gents from the Midwest who now happen to live in different parts of New York City. They go hard in the paint.

"Bear Ceuse is drinking the same water as everyone at Merge Records because that shit tastes real good. Perhaps if Thurston Moore and Ryan Adams worked on a project together in the 90′s, there would be no need for this Brooklyn band but since that never happened, Bear Ceuse picks up where that (my) dream left off."
-- Jeremy D. Larson, Consequence of Sound --

"Bear Ceuse's "All Out of a Hat" is the kind of indie rock song that somehow sounds comforting in its experimentation. Here's a song that drips with warmth and feeling, but still maintains the ability to grow and transform throughout its run."
-- Alyssa Coluccio, Pure Volume --

"I think, in all, they're a band on the verge, and in a year or so they could be something really great."
-- Emily Hulme, AM New York --

"Sexually unthreatening"
-- Flavorpill --

↧

The Monday Mix - Love In The Time Of Cholera

January 28, 2013, 9:56 am

≫ Next: The 12 Days Of Beatles - Hey Jude

≪ Previous: Album Review - Don Domestique by Bear Ceuse

"Hey, I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I'm certainly not the dumbest. I mean, I've read books like 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' and 'Love in the Time of Cholera', and I think I've understood them. They're about girls, right? Just kidding. But I have to say my all-time favorite book is Johnny Cash's autobiography 'Cash' by Johnny Cash. "
~ Rob Gordon, High Fidelity

I don't know if John Cusack is really a good actor or not, but there is a parallel between John Cusack movies and amazing soundtracks. I mean, he tends to get a bit wordy and always seems somewhat more intelligent than his co-stars, but in that deadpan delivery of his, he always manages to make a statement no matter how much or little he has to say, despite dialogue that tends to be run-on and purposely complicated in a way that is meant to be nearly unintelligible or, at the very least just plain indecipherable rambling, while somehow managing to make something seem like it is perfectly good common sense, in an almost Jack Kerouac sort of way of getting his point across and then asking if you agree, you know?

As guys we bond with the Cusack, because he has this unabashed and presumptuous way of saying something that we wish could have come out of our mouths. Plus he's just an average looking guy, at least in comparison to guys of his generation like Brad Pitt and George Clooney. He doesn't offer the unctuousness that defines Rob Lowe or the ridiculousness that is Tom Cruise.

The Cusack speaks to us and for us in genuine sincerity. Truth be told, it is merely a deflection of sorts, a slight-of-hand conversational axiom that says something that is so completely out there that it actually makes sense. And the Cusack has perfected it, in a way that is cinematicaly breathtaking and conversationally perplexing all at once.

"Maybe I didn't really know you. Maybe you were just a mirage. Maybe the world is full of food and sex and spectacle and we're all just hurling towards an apocalypse, in which case it's not your fault. I'm been thinking about all these things and... you're probably standing there monitoring. And one more thing - about the letter. Nuke it. Flame it. Destroy it. - It hurts me to know it's out there. Later."
~ Lloyd Dobler, Say Anything

"Top five things I miss about Laura. One; sense of humor. Very dry, but it can also be warm and forgiving. And she's got one of the best all time laughs in the history of all time laughs, she laughs with her entire body. Two; she's got character. Or at least she had character before the Ian nightmare. She's loyal and honest, and she doesn't even take it out on people when she's having a bad day. That's character. Three; I miss her smell, and the way she tastes. It's a mystery of human chemistry and I don't understand it, some people, as far as their senses are concerned, just feel like home. I really dig how she walks around. It's like she doesn't care how she looks or what she projects and it's not that she doesn't care it's just, she's not affected I guess, and that gives her grace. And five; she does this thing in bed when she can't get to sleep, she kinda half moans and then rubs her feet together an equal number of times... it just kills me. Believe me, I mean, I could do a top five things about her that drive me crazy but it's just your garden variety women you know, schizo stuff and that's the kind of thing that got me here. "
~ Rob Gordon, High Fidelity

See what I mean? The Cusack is incredibly long-winded but we certainly identify with what he is saying. I have a theory regarding this very phenomenon. In any single, identifiable situation of conflict with a member of the opposite sex, the Cusack, or whatever character he is portraying, seems to say EXACTLY what we would be thinking were we in that very same moment. And we've been in those moments. Too many times to count, as a matter of fact. Cusack's characters have a way of escaping those situations on an almost too-easy basis. Is the Cusack written this way because that is how he is characteristically defined, or is the Cusack characteristically defined because that is the way he is written?

Hot Tub Time Machine offers the single greatest homogeneousness of John Cusack characters. In this movie, of course, Cusack gets to play both the adult and adolescent personalities of himself. It's a correction of sorts of the theories of quantum physics and simple equilibrium dusted against a backdrop of pure human spectacle and it is incredible on an almost man-crush level.

What do we take from this? I hope nothing. I've discovered that being too wordy tends to have the opposite effect in real life than it does for the Cusack in each of the characters he plays. If you took a straw poll among the women I've dated you would probably find one common denominator: Mike has sooooooo many words.

Guilty as charged. It's no wonder that my Netflix queue, my Vudu library and my DVR are heavily skewed with John Cusack movies.

At any rate, after 25 years of watching the Cusack I've decided that the best thing he's ever really done for me is introduce me to a lot of great music. Today's Monday Mix offers a a veritable mixtape of selections from and inspired by movies that star John Cusack.

"Some of these guys need some kind of ethical philosophy to justify it, some guys like "live free or die," but that's all bullshit, I know that now, that's all bullshit. You do it because you were trained to do it, because you were encouraged to do it, and because, eventually, you, you know... get to like it. I know that sounds bad......I was sitting there alone on prom night, in a goddamn rented tuxedo, and my whole life flashed before my eyes. And I realized finally, and for the first time, that I wanted to kill somebody. So I figured since I loved you so much, it'd be a good idea if I didn't see you anymore. They're right behind us. So I was in the Gulf last year, I was doing this thing anyway. And I came up over this dune, and I saw the ocean... and it was on fire. The whole thing, on fire, and it was beautiful. So I just sat there and watched it, and that's when I realized there might be a meaning to life, you know, like an organic power that connects all living things, God, Yahweh, I dunno."
~ Martin Q. Blank, Grosse Pointe Blank

THIS WEEK'S TOP FIVE LIST

Top five John Cusack movies based on best accompanying soundtrack:

01. High Fidelity
02. Grosse Pointe Blank
03. Say Anything
04. Hot Tub Time Machine
05. His next romantic comedy

THIS WEEK'S FACEBOOK FRIENDS

Mixing up hard rock, loose-limbed boogie, psychedelia, and early heavy metal into a sound that ambles and pummels at once, Cincinnati's Buffalo Killers aren't so much a stoner rock band as a band that makes rock that's ideal for stoners.

The Buffalo Killers were founded in early 2006, shortly after guitarist Andrew Gabbard and his brother, bassist Zachary Gabbard, decided to break up their previous band, the powerful Stones-influenced garage rock act Thee Shams. Only a few months after Thee Shams called it quits, the Gabbard brothers joined forces with drummer Joseph Sebaali (who had played keys with Thee Shams for a spell) and set off in a very different musical direction with Buffalo Killers.

Wasting no time, the band cut its self-titled debut album at John Curley's Ultrasuede Studios and landed a deal with Bomp-distributed Alive Records by the fall of 2006. The album won enthusiastic notices from the independent rock press, and The Buffalo Killers set out to support the release with lots of road work.

The band’s second album, Let it Ride, was released in 2008. After tour dates opening for the Black Crowes and the Black Keys, they returned to the studio to work on 3, which was released in August of 2011. Dig. Sow. Love. Grow., the band's fourth studio album, followed in 2012.

That description is a duirect copy form the All Music Guide but you need only listen to the song Get It, the first track off of Dig. Sow. Love. Grow. to develop an instant affinity for this band. You can catch them this year at Wakarusa, SXSW and the Deep Blues Fest and likely they are coming to a city near you.

You can Facebook like them right here, and as per usual tell them Mike from Jivewired sent you.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Blister in the Sun by Milwaukee's very own, The Violent Femmes

ABOUT THE MONDAY MIX

The Monday Mix airs from 12:00PM to 5:30PM CDT each Monday and is designed to help you get through that brutal after-lunch, energy-sucking span that kicks off every work week. This particular show will be a mix of old, deep album cuts and new indie music with a lot of genre crossover. No Adele. Sorry.

What else does The Monday Mix do? Well, it helps you discover new indie music by combining some really great under the radar tracks with more established songs that were, once in fact, under the radar as well. The hope here is that the culture shock of discovering your next favorite band won't be so enormously imposing if we surround the new stuff with some of your old, familiar friends.

Jivewired supports independent musicians by paying royalties for airplay on Jivewired Radio. Please help us support indie artists by listening to our station and by purchasing indie music. Thank you.

The links on the radio player will give you download options if you really dig on the music and some of the songs are offered for free.

To listen, just press play on the radio widget to the right or use this link to open in a new window that will allow you to listen when you navigate away from this page:

Launch Jivewired Radio

MONDAY MIX PLAYLIST FOR 21 JANUARY 2013:

01. Absolute Beginners by The Jam
02. Even Heroes Have To Die by Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
03. Such Great Heights by Iron & Eine
04. A Call To Apathy by The Shins
05. All Your Gold by Bat For Lashes
06. Pink Moon by Nick Drake
07. Add It Up by The Violent Femmes
08. Sugar In The Kettle by Wally Dogger
09. Julius by Starfucker
10. Tupelo Honey by Van Morrison
11. Monkey Gone To Heaven by The Pixies
12. Your Own Ghost by Gold Motel
13. If I Were John Cusack by Dr. Pants
14. You Don't Know by The Mastersons
15. 1957 by Milo Greene
16. Cut Me Some Slack by Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic & Pat Smear
17. A-Punk by Vampire Weekend
18. Forward by Bad Lucy
19. Satellite by Guster
20. I'm So Tired by Fugazi
21. Never Saw The Point by Cults
22. Charlie Don't Surf by The Clash
23. Stay Useless by Cloud Nothings
24. Gimmie Something by Fidlar
25. The Pursuit Of Happiness by Ben Sollee
26. Mr. Blue Sky by ELO
27. Slow Cheetah by The Red Hot Chili Peppers
28. Agnes & Myrtle by The Panda Resistance
29. Perennials by Widowspeak
30. Get It by Buffalo Killers
31. Spoon by Cibo Matto
32. I Really Need Love by The Bees
33. Jack Ass Ginger by Poi Dog Pondering
34. Entertain Me by Bear Ceuse
35. Bad Thing by King Tuff
36. Cult Of Personality by Living Colur
37. Portland by Middle Brother
38. Would That Not Be Nice by Divine Fits
39. Heartbreaker by Girls
40. Three Women by Stereolab
41. Gold Lion by The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
42. Everything You Took by Lee Bains III & Glory Fires
43. Find The River by R.E.M.
44. City Of Love by Persephone's Bees
45. Combat Baby by Metric
46. I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab For Cutie
47. Vicious by Lou Reed
48. Blister In The Sun by The Violent Femmes
49. Mean Bitch by Taddy Porter
50. Spanish Bombs by The Clash
51. Sixteen Blue by the Replacements
52. Dry The Rain by Beta Band
53. Maybe On Monday by Calexico
54. Want by Jawbreaker
55. Imitation Of Life by R.E.M.
56. Just Say When by Brandon McHose
57. Hold That Thought by Ben Folds Five
58. Under Pressure by Queen & David Bowie
59. Motel Blues by Loudon Wainwright III
60. Love You 'Till The End by The Pogues
61. Yabba by Anton Mink
62. Taste The Pain by Red Hot Chili Peppers
63. Some Place by Nick Waterhouse
64. 1904 by The Tallest Man On Earth
65. Yet Again by Grizzly Bear
66. Ava by Kilto Take
67. Lying To Myself by The Can't Tells
68. North Side Gal by JD McPherson
69. Do It With A Rockstar by Amanda Palmer & Grand Theft Orchestra
70. In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel
71. Airline To Heaven (Live) by Wilco
72. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths
73. Skankin' To The Beat by Fishbone
74. Mirror In The Bathroom by The English Beat
75. The Only Place by Best Coast
76. Clampdown by The Clash
77. On The Rights by Isadora
78. Sex by The 1975
79. Before We Run by Yo La Tengo
80. Before by washed Out
81. Anxiety by Wanting
82. Serpents by Sharon Van Etten
83. I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever) by Stevie Wonder
84. Let My Love Open The Door by Pete Townshend

↧

The 12 Days Of Beatles - Hey Jude

January 28, 2013, 11:41 am

≫ Next: Album Review - Sweet Action by Beau Jennings & The Tigers

≪ Previous: The Monday Mix - Love In The Time Of Cholera

Visit The Beatles Bible!

Though I am an avid Beatles fan, the articles in this series are the result of research and fact checking rather than personal insight or actual interviews - so this is more of a report and not an editorial by any means. For more information, please visit www.beatlesbible.com - a site where you'll find a wealth of information about The Beatles, from their earliest days to their final recording sessions in 1970.

This series will run every Monday evening for 12 consecutive weeks in an effort to comprehensively cover the entire Beatles' canon with a focus on one particular song each week. Each Monday evening we will play an entire Beatles' album in it's entirety to coincide with this feature.

You can listen to the Beatles' album The Beatles [aka The White Album], preceded by the single Hey Jude, in it's entirety beginning at 5:30 PM CST and again at 11PM CST on Jivewired Radio. To listen, activate the radio player in the right sidebar, or follow this link to launch Jivewired Radio in a new window.

Launch Jivewired Radio

Day Ten: Hey Jude

The Beatles' biggest U.S. single -- nine weeks at Number One -- was also their longest, clocking in at seven minutes and eleven seconds. During the recording sessions, the Beatles' producer, George Martin, objected to the length, claiming radio DJs would not play the song.

"We recorded Hey Jude in Trident Studios. It was a long song. In fact, after I timed it I actually said, 'You can't make a single that long.' I was shouted down by the boys - not for the first time in my life - and John asked: 'Why not?' I couldn't think of a good answer, really - except the pathetic one that disc jockeys wouldn't play it. He said, 'They will if it's us.' And, of course, he was absolutely right."
-- George Martin, Beatles Anthology

Hey Jude was recorded during the sessions for the album The Beatles (aka The White Album), but was never intended to be a part of the album release. Instead, Hey Jude was released as a single and was the debut release of the Beatles' record label, Apple Records.

Despite the album's official title, which emphasized group identity, studio efforts on The Beatles captured the work of four increasingly individualized artists who frequently found themselves at odds. Hey Jude was no exception and is essentially a Paul McCartney song with the rest of the band relegated to backing roles in the recording.

"Hey Jude is a damn good set of lyrics and I made no contribution to that."
-- John Lennon, 1980

"We were joking when we made the Anthology: I was saying: 'I realize I was a bossy git.' And George said, 'Oh no, Paul, you never did anything like that!' ... But it was essential for me and looking back on it, I think, Okay. Well, it was bossy, but it was ballsy of me, because I could have bowed to the pressure."
-- Paul McCartney, 1994

Along with the rest of the Beatles' canon, The Beatles was re-released on CD in newly re-mastered stereo and mono versions on September 9, 2009.

On November 13, 2012 The Beatles released a full vinyl box set of their entire canon, manufactured on 180-gram, audiophile quality vinyl with replicated artwork.

The recording sessions for The Beatles were mired in turbulence. The album was written and recorded during a period of turmoil for the group. After visiting the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, India and having a particularly productive songwriting session in early 1968, the group returned to the studio for recording from May to October 1968, only to have conflict and dissent drive the group members apart. Drummer Ringo Starr quit the band for a brief time, leaving bassist Paul McCartney to perform drums on some of the album's songs.

The sessions for The Beatles marked the first appearance in the studio of Lennon's new girlfriend and artistic partner, Yoko Ono, who would thereafter be a more or less constant presence at all Beatles sessions. Prior to Ono's appearance on the scene, the individual Beatles had been very insular during recording sessions, with influence from outsiders strictly limited. McCartney's girlfriend at the time, Francie Schwartz, was also present at some of the recording sessions.

Hey Jude was released on August 26, 1968 in the United States and August 30, 1968 in the United Kingdom, backed with Revolution on the B-side of a 7" single. Lennon wanted Revolution to be the A-side of the single, but the other Beatles did not agree.

"I wanted to put [Revolution] out as a single, I had it all prepared, but they came by, and said it wasn't good enough. And we put out what? 'Hello, Goodbye' or some shit like that? No, we put out 'Hey Jude', which was worth it - I'm sorry - but we could have had both."
-- John Lennon, 1970 - Rolling Stone Magazine

Hey Jude was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1969 for the Record of the Year, as well as in the Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal categories, but failed to win any of them. The song is frequently included on professional lists of the all-time best songs. In 2004, it was ranked number 8 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Written by: Paul McCartney (100%) (credited as Lennon-McCartney)
Producer: George Martin
Recorded: 29-31 July, 1 August 1968 (Trident Studios, London, England)
John Lennon: harmony vocals, rhythm guitar (1963 Gibson "Super Jumbo" J-200)
Paul McCartney: lead vocals, bass guitar (1961 Fender Bass VI), piano (C. Bechstein)
George Harrison: harmony vocals, lead guitar (1961 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster)
Ringo Starr: drums (Ludwig), tambourine
Bobby Kok: cello
Bill Jackman: flute
Unknown orchestra musicians: violins (ten), trumpets (four), trombones (four), violas (three), cellos (three), double basses (two), flutes (two), clarinets (two), horns (two), bass clarinets (two), bassoon, contrabassoon, percussion

Get it at:

Amazon | iTunes

Track Listing:

BONUS: Hey Jude

01-01. Back In The USSR
01-02. Dear Prudence
01-03. Glass Onion
01-04. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
01-05. Wild Honey Pie
01-06. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill
01-07. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
01-08. Happiness Is A Warm Gun
01-09. Martha My Dear
01-10. I'm So Tired
01-11. Blackbird
01-12. Piggies
01-13. Rocky Raccoon
01-14. Don't Pass Me By
01-15. Why Don't We Do It In The Road?
01-16. I Will
01-17. Julia
02-01. Birthday
02-02. Yer Blues
02-03. Mother Nature's Son
02-04. Everybody's Got Something To Hide....
02-05. Sexy Sadie
02-06. Helter Skelter
02-07. Long, Long, Long
02-08. Revolution 1
02-09. Honey Pie
02-10. Savoy Truffle
02-11. Cry Baby Cry
02-12. Revolution 9
02-13. Goodnight

About Hey Jude:

The song's original title was Hey Jules, and it was intended to comfort Julian Lennon from the stress of his parents' divorce. It was written in June 1968, as McCartney drove his Aston Martin to Weybridge to visit Cynthia Lennon and her son. On the journey he began thinking about their changing lives, and of the past times he had spent writing with Lennon at the Weybridge house.

Cynthia Lennon recalled, "I was truly surprised when, one afternoon, Paul arrived on his own. I was touched by his obvious concern for our welfare.... On the journey down he composed 'Hey Jude' in the car. I will never forget Paul's gesture of care and concern in coming to see us."

"I started with the idea 'Hey Jules', which was Julian, don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better. Hey, try and deal with this terrible thing. I knew it was not going to be easy for him. I always feel sorry for kids in divorces ... I had the idea [for the song] by the time I got there. I changed it to 'Jude' because I thought that sounded a bit better."
-- Paul McCartney, 1997

John Lennon felt there was more than one meaning to McCartney's lyrics and thought it might have actually been written for him as well:

"But I always heard it as a song to me. If you think about it... Yoko's just come into the picture. He's saying. 'Hey, Jude—Hey, John.' I know I'm sounding like one of those fans who reads things into it, but you can hear it as a song to me ... Subconsciously, he was saying, Go ahead, leave me. On a conscious level, he didn't want me to go ahead."
-- John Lennon, 1980

McCartney originally intended many of the lyrics, especially the line "the movement you need is on your shoulder," as mere placeholders, but John insisted they were perfect just as they were, and there they stayed. He had recorded a demo tape on his own and played it for Lennon and Yoko Ono.

"I got to the line, 'The movement you need is on your shoulder,' I looked over my shoulder and I said, 'I'll change that, it's a bit crummy. I was just blocking it out,' and John said, 'You won't, you know. That's the best line in it!' That's collaboration. When someone's that firm about a line that you're going to junk, and he said, 'No, keep it in.' So of course you love that line twice as much because it's a little stray, it's a little mutt that you were about to put down and it was reprieved and so it's more beautiful than ever. I love those words now..."
-- Paul McCartney, 1997

The Beatles recorded 25 takes of Hey Jude at Abbey Road Studios in two nights, 29 July and 30 July 1968. These were mostly rehearsals, however, as they planned to record the master track at Trident Studios to utilize their eight-track recording machine (Abbey Road was still limited to four-tracks).

The basic track was recorded on 31 July 1968, the orchestra overdubs, clapping, and "na-na-nas" of the lengthy coda recorded on August 1. (Part of the rehearsal was filmed for a BBC documentary simply entitled Music!; the footage features George playing bass, though he does not play on the final recording.) Four takes were recorded, but the first was deemed best and used for the overdubbing.

Some interesting facts about the song:

Ringo took a bathroom break during the recorded take of this song, but managed to finish up and quietly work his way back to the drum kit just in time to begin his part.
When, in an effort to recapture the spirit of A Day In The Life, Paul asked the orchestra musicians to sing and clap along with the song (for double the money, mind you), one blustered, "I'm not going to clap my hands and sing Paul McCartney's bloody song!" and stormed out.
John can clearly be heard shouting something after the last "Let her under your skin," right on the beat, and then exclaiming "f***ing hell!" at 2:58. Remarkably, the expletive has never been removed or censored on radio.
There are 19 repetitions of the "Na... na-na na-na-na-na / na-na-na-na / Hey Jude" chorus in the coda.
Hey Jude spent an unprecedented nine weeks at Number One in the US, making it the biggest Beatles single ever in America. It has sold over eight million copies, three million in just the first two months.
Totalling more than seven minutes in length, Hey Jude was at the time the longest single ever to top the British charts.
The Amusement & Music Operators Association ranked Hey Jude the 11th-best jukebox single of all time.
During recording, Paul and George became involved in a famous argument over the arrangement of the song: George wanted to echo each of Paul's lines in the verse with an accompanying guitar flourish, but Paul didn't see it that way, leaving a permanent chip on the guitarist's shoulder.

"I did want to insist that there shouldn't be an answering guitar phrase in Hey Jude - and that was important to me - but of course if you tell a guitarist that, and he's not as keen on the idea as you are, it looks as if you're knocking him out of the picture. I think George felt that: it was like, 'Since when are you going to tell me what to play? I'm in The Beatles too.' So I can see his point of view."
-- Paul McCartney, Beatles Anthology

Previous In This Series: Day Nine: I Am The Walrus

↧

Album Review - Sweet Action by Beau Jennings & The Tigers

January 29, 2013, 8:57 am

≫ Next: This Week's New Spins On Jivewired Radio

≪ Previous: The 12 Days Of Beatles - Hey Jude

"Music comes at us from all directions. Sometimes a short review will catch your eye and lead to an overwhelming discovery. Other times a new band seems promising, and then one of its members takes off on their own. That’s Beau Jennings. The Oklahoma native has a name that sounds like he should come from that state, but his music is as big as America."
~ Bentley's Bandstand

Release Date: 05-February-2013 (expected)
Genre: Rock / Roots Rock / Americana
Publisher: [c] 2013 Beau Jennings
Label: Unsigned
Total Time: 20m 27s
Review Date: 29-January-2013
Review Format: AAC (iTunes)
Bit Rate: 160 kbps
For Fans Of: Wilco, Whiskeytown, Jay Farrar
Songs In Jivewired Radio Rotation:Song For Wynn
Best Songs:A Full Moon, Readin' To My Baby, Song For Wynn
Team Photo:Sweet Action, Quick Trip
Previous Jivewired Review: None
Jivewired Digital One Sheet: Not currently a Jivewired Subscriber

Get it at:

This album is set for release on February 5, 2013 but you can get the lead single, Song For Wynn, immediately at Bandcamp. For more info click on either of the following links.

Bandcamp | Artist Website

Track Listing:

01. Song For Wynn
02. A Full Moon
03. Sweet Action
04. Readin' To My Baby
05. Quicktrip

Review:

I saw Beau Jennings & The Tigers at Opolis (Norman, OK) in July, 2012 as the opener for the Heartless Bastards. It was the first time I had heard Beau perform live and he closed his set with an amazing back-to-back-to-back uptempo face-melter that kicked off with Readin' To My Baby, one of the new songs on Beau's latest release Sweet Action.

The performance revealed a more lively side of Beau, one that I hadn't heard on some of his earlier releases which were more identifiable to me as a singer/songwriter-meets-contemporary-roots brand of rock music. Kicking it up a notch suits Beau well. He certainly has the talent as a vocalist/guitarist and the necessary confidence to carry that sound and it opens up a warmer, story-telling side to Beau Jennings.

Sweet Action is a music travelogue of sorts, an EP that sketches a landscape deeply rooted in the Bible Belt-meets-Midwestern-heartland section of Broken Arrow, OK in which Jennings resides. It also portrays a career that has taken Beau on journeys across America, those very journeys that have shaped his career as a performer and songwriter. This EP represents more of an alt-rock and Americana showcase that is akin in spirit to works by Uncle Tupelo and early Wilco.

A Full Moon is an absolute stellar jam of a song that is the repeat player on Sweet Action. Here Beau really shows maturity and polish as a performer. Readin' To My Baby is similarly good, an uptempo number with just a hint of rockabilly in it's verse structure. Readin' To My Baby builds on impeccable, pitch-perfect harmonies featuring Beau and Samantha Crain and includes a smoking keys and guitar call/response between Beau and Chad Copelin before finishing with an abrupt close that in statement begs for more. The addition of Copelin and Crain offers a defining moment on this EP that includes a number of defining moments:

The pedal steel of Michael Phillips on Sweet Action
Brine Webb's sick and wicked bass on Song For Wynn
The wonderful, Wilco-influenced arrangement of A Full Moon
Beau's ethereal vocals on Quicktrip that ooze pure Americana

The thing that's really cool is that Jennings' backing band, The Tigers, is really an ensemble cast of interchangeable parts with the constants being Beau, guitarist Jarod Evans and Chad Copelin on keys. That puts an interesting spin on this project that makes it slightly more effusive than a solo project and something slightly less than a singularly traditional group effort. A great example is the sublime drumming by Nathan Price on Song For Wynn. Jennings has really put together a cast of some of Oklahoma's best talent for this recording and the result is first rate.

An EP release certainly allows Beau Jennings to give us the best he has to offer. Sweet Action offers five really good songs in the tradition of some of the best alt-country and roots-based rock releases of recent memory. It's a quick listen, and a repeat player. Definitely worth adding to your collection and well worth giving up twenty minutes of your undivided attention.

About Beau Jennings:

After spending several years in Brooklyn fronting the americana rock band Cheyenne, singer and songwriter Beau Jennings was in search of a new backing band upon returning to his home in Oklahoma. The Tigers - based out of Norman and a wrecking crew of some of the best musicians in the state - were already known as the go-to backing band for songwriters from the area and were a perfect match for Jennings' new songs. After one rehearsal and several beers, Beau Jennings & The Tigers performed a hastily assembled set at the Okie Noodling Tournament and soon realized they were a match for each other. At times channeling the energy of early Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, other times the more modern Wilco, Beau Jennings & The Tigers set out to begin work on their debut recording, the Sweet Action EP.

Initial tracking began at The Honey Jar Studios in Brooklyn, NY with Devin Greenwood (Norah Jones, Amos Lee) at the helm. On songs like Readin' To My Baby, A Full Moon, and Song for Wynn, a bigger, broader sound for Jennings' songs began to emerge, contrasting with the more intensely personal nature of the lyrics. There were no fictional storytelling songs this time around, only reflections on real life situations: "I guess it's a funny way to go about it, pairing these big sounding songs with lyrics that are probably better suited for quiet acoustic stuff, but I try not fight what seems to be coming in" says Jennings. Rounding out the Tigers' debut recording were Sweet Action and Quicktrip, balancing the rock n' roll with lush, acoustic keyboard driven instrumentation reminiscent of Jennings' early recordings with Cheyenne. Tracking later moved back to the familiar Blackwatch Studios in Norman with both Jarod Evans and Chad Copelin handling final tracking and mixing duties.

The songs on Sweet Action were written in between periods of writing songs for Jennings' other ongoing project, The Verdigris: In Search of Will Rogers. "I've written all the songs I can about Will Rogers at this point, and it was time to focus a little bit on some of the others songs I'd been writing on the side."

With The Verdigris album and documentary film not scheduled for release until sometime late in 2013, Jennings is happy to focus on working with the Tigers until then. "All these different projects seem to inform each other I think. The Verdigris has been a tedious and painstaking process and I know the results will show it was all worth the effort, but I also have a musical side that needs to turn it up and make a lot of noise with the band."

↧

This Week's New Spins On Jivewired Radio

January 29, 2013, 3:47 pm

≫ Next: iPod Shuffle III

≪ Previous: Album Review - Sweet Action by Beau Jennings & The Tigers

Not a lot of new stuff this week so in closing out January we're offering an EP equivalent of our regular stash of new, wonderful music and we'll add our favorite selections of the month to this week's radio show.

That being said, we have some pretty primo stuff on tap today.

And on the plus side you get a chance to catch up on purchasing some of the older, newer stuff as you pay down those holiday bills. It would be nice if my bank balance had one more left side column, and I know most of us are in similar situations.

But if new music purchases are not necessarily in your budget for 2013 just yet, then it's a good thing you have your old pal Jivewired Radio to listen in. That's what we do here in our efforts to enlighten the masses.

(Fidlar)

A new release we are extremely high on this first part of 2013 is the eponymous relase by FIDLAR on Mom + Pop Records. Get to know this band, I am sure you will be hearing quite a bit about them this year.

FIDLAR is a garage/surf rock/punk band out of Los Angeles CA whose influences include, but probably aren't limited to: Coors Light, Miller High Life, King Cobra, Four Loko, Jameson, Taak, Steel Reserve, Natural Light, Bud Light, Miller Light, Bud, Miller, PBR, Taurino, Joose, JD, Evan Williams, Benders, Simpler Times, Coors, 211, Mickeys, OE.

OE, I am guessing, is Old English 800.

Nice.

Bio peculiarities, understated press shots, aggregate influences and just-kidding-around stuff aside, this is a tremendous full-length debut. The album dropped barely a week ago and we are already featuring nearly half of its fare in regular rotation and here in the radio studio we think of Fidlar as the perfect counterpoint for whatever mood you happen to be in when you first listen.

If you buy one new release from this year (so far) buy this album. Goes great with your favorite beer. Cheers!

STAFF PICKS OF THE WEEK

Portland (re-release) by Middle Brother
You Found Another Lover (I Lost Another Friend) by Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite
Max Can't Surf by FIDLAR
Demon To Lean On by Wavves

TEAM PHOTO

Up Against The Wall by Fiction Family

WILL PROBABLY BE A HIT

Our Love Is Here To Stay by Meiko

A SONG THAT WILL GROW ON YOU QUICKLY

Ivy Covered House by Ducktails
Maybe On Monday by Calexico

LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO.........

Think I'm Somethin' by Allie Lauren
Tetop by The McLovins

A COVER SONG WHOSE LYRICS MAKE MORE SENSE NOW THAT I KNOW THE STORY

Mother by Natalie Maines

In 1993, three teenagers were arrested and convicted for the murders of three eight-yer old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. DNA and other evidence cleared the men after 18 years of incarceration, inspiring this soundtrack. Knowing that story makes this version of 'Mother' chills-inducing. The travails of the West Memphis Three, as they are known, have long appealed to musicians' sense of justice because the prosecution presented heavy metal music as evidence in the crimes. This album is the result. Get it at Amazon by clicking on the cover art.

THIS WEEK'S NEW SPINS ON JIVEWIRED RADIO

01. Max Can't Surf by FIDLAR
02. Demon To Lean On by Wavves
03. Jean's Waving by Amor de Dias
04. Our Love Is Here To Stay by Meiko
05. You Found Another Lover (I Lost Another Friend) by Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite
06. Up Against The Wall by Fiction Family
07. So Many Details by Toro y Moi
08. Mother [Pink Floyd Cover] by Natalie Maines
09. Ivy Covered House by Ducktails
10. Rule The World by Max Gomez
11. Portland (Re-release) by Middle Brother
12. On & On by The Sea & Cake
13. Civilian Stripes by Divine Fits
14. Maybe On Monday by Calexico
15. Tetop by The McLovins
16. Song For Wynn by Beau Jennings & The Tigers
17. Think I'm Somethin' by Allie Lauren

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iPod Shuffle III

January 30, 2013, 8:09 am

≫ Next: Top Spins For January 2013

≪ Previous: This Week's New Spins On Jivewired Radio

We did the original iPod Shuffle on January 13, 2011 and it was so much fun I decided to do it again. With all the Friday Flashbacks, Monday Mixes, CD Reviews and the like, I don't often get time to be a fan.

If you follow this blog, you know I am a proponent of discovering new music. Sometimes, however, we are so busy looking everywhere else for new music that we fail to realize we can discover a lot of great stuff within the confines of our own music collections.

This exercise helps that process.

You can see the results from our first attempt at this RIGHT HERE

In the meantime -- onward!

Here's the game:

(1) Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer.

(2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.

(3) List the first 15 songs that come up (song title and artist) NO editing/cheating, please. Even if you might skip the song when it comes up or be embarrassed for people to know that it's in your collection, you still must list it. DISCLAIMER: I do skip past Christmas songs.

(4) You are strongly encouraged to try this exercise at home and we welcome your feedback in the comments section. Ready? Go!

01. Lonesome Blues by Phil Guy from the album Say What You Mean [unsigned] (7m 21s)

Phil was a good friend of mine so a great start so far. I probably appreciate this song a lot more than others do for that reason. Yes, Phil was Buddy Guy's younger brother and though a great guitarist in his own right, he never found the mainstream or genre success that Buddy did. But, Phil Guy shows on Chicago's South Side in the 1980s and 1990s were legendary and Phil would jam with guys like Ronnie Baker Brooks, Junior Wells and of course, Buddy Guy. In fact, at one time or another Phil was a part of all of those artist's bands. Sadly Phil died from complications of prostate cancer in 2008. I urge everyone to grab this album if you can find it - likely a used vinyl or CD store is your best bet, digital versions do not exist. Lonesome Blues is a repeat player. And Phil, I miss you walking around the room playing your guitar behind your head. Great times.

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Get it at: Amazon

02. Voodoo Woman (Live) by Susan Tedeschi from the album The Best Of Susan Tedeschi 2 [IndiBlu Music] (5m 36s)

Back-to-back blues is always a good thing, right? Tedeschi is a phenomenal guitarist and a decent vocalist with one of those raspy Melissa Etheridge-meets-Demi Moore voices that I absolutely love when it comes to female vocalists. Unfortunately, for guitar fans, this song is more of a showcase for Tedeschi's band and features an incendiary electric organ and a bass line that should be illegal in most jurisdictions. Tedeschi does manage a pretty decent solo - but I've heard way better from her. The whole package, however, makes this one of my favorite Susan Tedeschi songs.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

03. Naked As We Came by Iron & Wine from the album Our Endless Numbered Days [Sub-Pop Records] (2m 33s)

So this is Iron & Wine channeling some combination of Nick Drake, Elliot Smith and Jeff Buckley. Yes, it is an incredibly beautiful song but truth be told it doesn't feel like Iron & Wine to me and listener reviews that state things like "it literally stops time and makes whatever I'm doing a joy while I feel peaceful, humble and thankful as it plays" seem slightly exaggerated and far too superlative in my opinion, which lowers my respect factor considerably. PLEASE STOP THE HYPE!!

No doubt, this song is a great fit for our 'Cool Songs For A Cliched Film' playlist on iTunes, but to me, it's for that reason alone that I feel this song is slightly cliched and way too overrated to be considered an Iron & Wine classic. Let the hate mongering and riots begin. I'm a big boy. Film at eleven.

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Get it at: Amazon

04. A Cowboy's Works Is Never Done by Sonny & Cher from the album The Way Of Love: The Cher Collection [Geffen] (3m 17s)

How the hell did this song get into my iTunes collection? Stupid Friday Flashback! There is barely a peep out of Sonny on this song and 2013 Cher, though not as hot as 1969 Cher, is still a very sexually attractive human being. That being said, and despite the fact that Cher is 25 years older than me, I am far too old to have any chance at even a passing conversation with her. This song may have ended America's infatuation with spaghetti westerns thanks to it's absurd campiness. OK, now I have no chance.

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Get it at:Amazon | iTunes

05. Counting Train Cars by Widespread Panic from the album Ball [Sanctuary Records] (2m 53s)

Not one of the better WP songs but there are no bad songs by this band, and you can believe me just because I said so. This was the band's first album without founding member and guitarist Michael Houser who had passed in 2002, so the band gets a mulligan here. More so, this was Widespread Panic's first ever album that didn't include any songs previously played before live audiences. All new songs, no test market, and still an admirable effort. If you listen to this song three times it will have grown on you. It's very Jay Farrar-like and the steel pedal on this song is insanely addictive. Buy. Listen. Repeat. Dig. It's that simple.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

06. Lady Picture Show by Stone Temple Pilots from the album Tiny Music...Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop [Atlantic Records] (4m 09s)

Too many sounds, too many textures, too many riffs. It is a melange of something but I am not sure what. A decent guitar solo somewhat saves face and the summer that this album was released was in fact one of the best summer's of my life, so I am sure songs from this album made a number of my let-me-woo-you-with-my-incredible-taste-in-music mixtapes I gave to Sally, Kim & Peaches, yes, I said Peaches, and you can pretty much surmise how she made a living by that name. Seventeen years later it feels like maybe Prince may have written this song and that maybe by this point Scott Weiland was a little too strung out to remember that STP was supposed to be a rock band, not some ephemeral 1990s amalgam of simplistic guitar chords drowned in fake fuzz and sampled distortion.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

07. Summer Day by Sheryl Crow from the album 100 Miles From Memphis [A&M Records] (4m 30s)

The best Sheryl Crow album that nobody has ever heard of. Summer Day is probably the most adult contemporary song Crow has ever recorded. The idea with this album was, of course, to ditch her country/rock identity in favor of a more blues-based Memphis Stax sound. The rest of the album accomplishes that but Summer Day feels a little Toni Braxton/Mary J Blige to me, with the cover of Citizen Cope's Sideways being the true keeper on this album. And, just an aside here, after her much publicized break up with Lance Armstrong, I find it utterly amazing that she kept her mouth shut regarding all the performance enhancing drug use. A woman who can keep a secret like that is a keeper. I want to marry Sheryl Crow. If you have a connection let me know.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

08. Ain't Messin' Round by Gary Clark, Jr. from the album Blak & Blu [Warner Bros.] (4m 09s)

The Stuart Scott, booyeah, feel good moment of 2012: don't hate the player, hate the game, there's always room on my dance card for INCENDIARY because this young man is gettin' his freak on and like gravy on a biscuit it's all good! Gary Clark, Jr. triumphantly and single-handedly brings scathing guitar-driven blues-rock back to the forefront of mainstream popularity in a haze of Hendrix-inspired white-hot riffs that instantly melts faces in near-nuclear fashion. Did you count the hyphens in that last sentence? The number of descriptive hyphens is always directly proportionate to the quality of the music being, er, descripted (George W. Bush-ism, 25 points!).

Okay, I am exaggerating somewhat. This is a great song though. I'm sure you've heard it and if you haven't you must be my grandfather or a fan of adult contemporary radio, which means you stopped reading after I kicked Cher to the curb earlier. Shame.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

09. Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan from the album Highway 61 Revisited [Columbia Records] (3m 30s)

What a great follow up to Gary Clark Jr, dare I say iGenius? Of course there is nothing I can say about Bob Dylan that hasn't already been said and I don't want to make something up in light of the whole Mant Te'o scandal -- who needs that kind of publicity? This is my favorite Dylan song, however, and I'm sure that I am in a small faction of Dylan fans that agrees with that simply because of the obscene number of great songs that have come from Dylan's amazing and incredibly laureate brain. This was Dylan's first electric album. I love the innovative ways in which Dylan uses subtle, poetic lyrics awash in blues-driven funk to capture the cultural misgivings and political chaos in America. The electric organ on this song - wow.

Something to chew on: the song is punctuated by the sound of a police siren. (In the liner notes, Dylan is credited with playing "Police Car").

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Get it at: Amazon

10. Gettin' Old and Grey by Howlin' Wolf from the Chess Blues Box Set, Disc One: 1947-1952 [Chess Records/Geffen] (2m 38s)

iTunes is sending me a message today as a number of songs here are deeply rooted in traditional blues. Ol' Wolf (Chester Burnett) was the baddest of the ensemble put together by Leonard Chess over at the original Chess /Checkers studio at 4750 S. Cottage Grove in Chicago. This is pure blues raunch, the stuff that begot rock & roll, in fact. Honestly I had never heard this song despite it being in my collection - box sets are best experienced when you have an entire day to kill. I just found my excuse to call it an early day today. What a gem.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

11. New Year by Beach House from the album Bloom [Sub Pop Records] (5m 26s)

2011 and 2012 arguably belonged to Beach House from an indie standpoint and 2013 is looking like another banner year on the strength of this album, though it is my belief that this type of music in general is beginning to trend downward in popularity, somewhat. This is my favorite song by Beach House and maybe my favorite song by the duo overall. It's dreamy and ethereal. Everything they do is. No need to check your buzz-induced haze at the door, you and your haze are quite welcome here.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

12. Parted Ways by Heartless Bastards from the album Arrow [Partisan Records] (4m 58s)

The Heartless Bastards were my go-to band of 2012, I saw them six times and Parted Ways is my favorite song from this album. The guitar solos and the bridge are crack-like addictive. Erika Wennerstrom's amazing vocals are immediately recognizable and the combination of blues, roots and guitar-driven rock is, in a word, infectious. I could listen to this song hundreds of times continuously without tiring of it. The finish to this song is wild and beautifully unrestrained. Better than really great sex. Swear.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

13. Agnes & Myrtle by The Panda Resistance from Fassler Hall Presents: The New Tulsa Sound II: The Church Studio Sessions [Horton Records] (5m 35s)

Instrumental groups simply don't get their due, and that's unfortunate because without instrumentals, music is just spoken poetry, right? Agnes & Myrtle may be the best instrumental I've heard, and in full disclosure, this song has taken a long time for me to become so fond of it. I always liked it, but when you talk about placing a song in the upper echelon of its genre, at the zenith even, you are really making a bold statement. I don't know, every time I hear this song I fall more in love with it.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

14. The Mayor Of Simpleton by XTC from the album Fossil Fuel: The XTC SINGLES COLLECTION 1977 - 1992 [Virgin Catalogue] (3m 58s)

Well, I love XTC, they are no doubt the preeminent pure pop group of the 1980s. This is also one of my favorite songs. Pop music used to be the enclosure that housed a varying ideology and style with which music containing cleverly penned lyrics and pristine soundscapes (and structures) could stand. Andy Partridge had the creative vision to meld simplistic or inconsequential subject matter and an extreme, rapier wit with complex melodic buoyancy, the likes of which may have been matched by Brian Wilson alone. Partridge was a master of creating something of an eerie or self-deprecating sensation that belied it's upbeat melody and the intelligent descriptive of it's lyrics no matter how simplistic or complex the subject matter. I long for a return of this sound.

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Get it at: Amazon | iTunes

15. A Mistake by Fiona Apple from the album When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing 'fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You'll Know That You're Right, commonly shortened to When the Pawn...[Clean Slate/Epic] (4m 58s)

Fast As You Can is generally conceded by most Apple fans as the go-to song on this album but A Mistake is considerably better. Apple is genuinely more misunderstood than she is appreciated as she carries a somewhat undeserved reputation due to her indie sound/major label backing and a negative Spin magazine article at the onset of her career. She is often lumped together with indie maven Tori Amos and lesser qualified artists like Alanis Morissette, Meredith Brooks and Joan Osbourne.

Apple sounds nothing like any of those artists, combining aching vocals, post-adolescent angst and scorching attitude infused with a funky blues sound and a somewhat complicated arrangement that is haunting and poetic. There's a rueful self-awareness and extreme sensuality to her lyrics. “I’m gonna make a mistake/ I’m gonna do it on purpose,” she defiantly announces in A Mistake and you line up to be chosen to help the cause, knowing full well that that path leads to an imminent curb-kicking and a failed attempt to remotely satisfy that choice and those desires.

I don't think listeners really get Fiona Apple, which is too bad. Further, not many people really delve into Fiona Apple's entire catalog and that's almost sad.

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Top Spins For January 2013

January 31, 2013, 9:19 am

≫ Next: Friday Flashback 1987

≪ Previous: iPod Shuffle III

New format. Less wordy. Same great content.

How Songs Qualify:

This is a Listener's Poll based upon user ratings from Jivewired Radio and at Jivewired.com for the period of January 1, 2013 through January 30, 2013 inclusive. Listeners can rate songs through an application on our radio player. A minimum of 100 Total Listens for the month is required to qualify.

Total Listens is defined as the number of times a song is played times the number of listeners online when the song is aired with the number of drops (listeners who log off during the song) subtracted.
(Total Plays x Total Listeners) - Total Drops = Total Listens

To Hear Our Top 25 Broadcast:

You can listen by clicking on the following link: Launch Jivewired Radio -- Our Top Spins show airs every Monday evening from 7pm until 11pm and repeats Saturday mornings from 8am until noon. That's Central Time, so adjust to your time zone when you tune in.

Purchase Options:

Links are provided for each song.

01. The Ocean by The Dustin Pittsley Band
from the album Fassler Hall Presents: The New Tulsa Sound 2 - The Church Studio Sessions
available on Horton Records
Review:Jivewired.com

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Horton Records

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02. The Pursuit Of Happiness by Ben Sollee
from the album Half Made Man
available on Tin Ear Records
Review:Consequence Of Sound

Get it at:Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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03. Stay Useless by The Cloud Nothings
from the album Attack On Memory
available on Carpark Records
Review:Pitchfork

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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04. 1957 by Milo Greene
from the album Milo Greene
available on Chop Shop/Atlantic
Review:Consequence Of Sound

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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05. Crying Tree by Fiawna Forte
from the album Fassler Hall Presents: The New Tulsa Sound 2 - The Church Studio Sessions
available on Horton Records
Review:Jivewired.com

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Horton Records

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06. Desperate Heart by Gram Rabbit
Single Release
Available on Royal Order
Review:Jivewired.com

Get it at: Desperate Heart Free Download (Fruit Of The Loom) | Artist Website
Get Welcome To The Country at: iTunes

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07. Entertain Me by Bear Ceuse
from the album Don Domestique
available on Medical Records
Review: Jivewired.com

Get it at: Artist Website | Set for release February 26, 2013. Stay tuned.

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08. Sex by The 1975
from the album Sex EP
available on Vagrant Records/Dirty Hit
Review:Consequence Of Sound

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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09. Feels Like We Only Go Backwards by Tame Impala
from the album Lonerism
available on Modular Fontana
Review: Pretty Much Amazing

Get it at:Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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10. Next Year by Two Door Cinema Club
from the album Beacon
available on Glassnote Records
Review:The Guardian UK

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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11. I'm Writing A Novel by Father John Misty
from the album Fear Fun
available on Sub Pop Records
Review: BBC Music

Get it at:Amazon | iTunes | Sub Pop Store

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12. Ava by Kilto Take
from the album Resolute
available on Medical Records
Review: Jivewired.com

Get it at: Artist Website | Set for release in Spring 2013. Stay Tuned.

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13. Get It by Buffalo Killers
from the album Dig. Slow. Love. Grow.
available on Alive NaturalSound Records
Review: Louder Than War

Get it at : Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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14. Only For You by The Heartless Bastards
from the album Arrow
available on Partisan Records
Review:Jivewired.com

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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15. Before We Run by Yo La Tengo
from the album Fade
available on Matador Records
Review: Time Magazine via Consequence Of Sound

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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16. Everything You Took by Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires
from the album There Is A Bomb In Gilead
available on Alive NaturalSound Records
Review: The Examiner

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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17. Coming For You by von Grey
from the album von Grey EP
available on vG Records
Review: Access Atlanta

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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18. New Year by Beach House
from the album Bloom
available on Sub Pop Records
Review: Pitchfork

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Sub Pop Store

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19. Electric Daisy Violin by Lindsey Stirling
from the album Lindsey Stirling
available on BridgeTone Records
Review: Forbes Magazine

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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20. These Sore Eyes by Gold Motel
from the album Gold Motel
available on Good As Gold Records
Review: Jivewired.com

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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21. Devil by Well Hung Heart
Single Release
available on GROWvision
Review:OC Weekly

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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22. You Don't Know by The Mastersons
from the album Birds Fly South
available on New West Records
Review: Hear Ya

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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23. Careening Catalog Immemorial by Frontier Ruckus
from the album Eternity Of Dimming
available on Quite Scientific Records
Review: American Songwriter

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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24. Hold On When You Love & Let Go When You Give It by Stars
from the album The North
available on ATO Records
Review: Paste Magazine

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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25. Gimmie Something by FIDLAR
from the album Fidlar
available on Mom + Pop Music
Review: Consequence Of Sound

Get it at: Amazon | iTunes | Artist Website

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Fifteen That Just Missed:

26. Bad Thing by King Tuff
27. Cheap Beer by FIDLAR
28. Retrogress by Kilto Take
29. 3,6,9 by Cat Power
30. All Your Gold by Bat For Lashes
31. The Wicked Dance by Vandevander
32. Magnolia by Alberta Cross
33. Ain't Messin' Round by Gary Clark Jr.
34. The Only Place by Best Coast
35. Sad Days Lonely Nights by Left Lane Cruiser & James Leg
36. Charmer by Aimee Mann
37. In Between Jobs by Todd Snider
38. Big Love by Matthew E. White
39. Forever & A Day by Giant Giant Sand
40. EyeoneEye by Andrew Bird

See Also:Mike's Choice 116 Must Have Songs From 2012

*Note: Listening statistics are provided by Live365 as part of our contractual agreement as a Pro Station Broadcaster. Jivewired currently has a total of 24,798 songs in our library that are played randomly at any given time, with about 2,500 songs programmed for airplay in any given month.

↧

Friday Flashback 1987

February 1, 2013, 7:39 am

≫ Next: Performer Confirmations for the 5th Annual Unofficial Showcase At 311 Club

≪ Previous: Top Spins For January 2013

FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Every Friday we set the Hot Tub Time Machine to one year in rock history and give you the best (and worst) music from that year, all day long beginning at 1:00 AM EST and running for 24 hours on Jivewired Radio powered by Live365.

Article & Image Sources: All Music Guide, MTV.com, Viacom, Bob Minkin, Amazon.com, Rolling Stone Magazine, Previous Jivewired Flashback Articles, The Guardian, UK, Joel Whitburn, Billboard Magazine,

This week: 1987
Next week: 1996

To listen, just press play on the radio widget to the right or use this link to open in a new window that will allow you to listen when you navigate away from this page:

Album Art From 1987 - Click Cover To Download

1987 Album I Wish I Owned: Sister by Sonic Youth
1987 Album I'd Give Back If I Could: Into The Abyss by Poison
1987 Nominee For Worst Album Cover Ever:Daddy's Highway by The Bats
1987 Most Underrated Song:Disturbance At The Heron House by R.E.M.
1987 Most Overrated Song:Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns 'N' Roses
1987 Most Memorable Song:In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel
1987 Most Significant Song: Fight Like A Brave by Red Hot Chili Peppers
1987 Most Forgotten Song:Jammin' Me by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
1987 Fan's Choice For Most Popular Song:With Or Without You by U2
1987 Album Of The Year:The Joshua Tree by U2
1987 Most Likely To Start A Party Song:Pump Up The Volume by M/A/R/R/S
1987 Please Don't Play Anymore Song:Mony Mony by Billy Idol
1987 Song That I Like More Than I Actually Should:Rock Me by Great White
1987 Album I Liked More Than I Thought I Would:Tunnel Of Love by Bruce Springsteen
1987 Song That I Tend to Leave on Repeat:Dear God by XTC
Guilty Pleasure of 1987:Dirty Dancing Soundtrack by Various Artists
Breakout Artists of 1987: U2, Bruce Hornsby, David & David, 10,000 Maniacs, INXS, Guns 'N' Roses, George Michael, Los Lobos, Midnight Oil
Overplayed In 1987: Debbie Gibson, Tiffany
Not Played Enough In 1987: Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, The Cult, The Bats
Greatest Chart Re-Entry from 1987:Cry To Me by Solomon Burke (1962)
Best Cover Song Of 1987:Peace Train by 10,000 Maniacs (original: Cat Stevens)
Worst Cover Song of 1987:I Think We're Alone by Tiffany (original: Tommy James & The Shondells)
An unheralded great album from 1987:Daddy's Highway by The Bats
An unheralded great single from 1987:Wild Flower by The Cult
Best Soundtrack of 1987:The Lost Boys
An Album From 1987 That Changed My Life: Joshua Tree by U2

01. Where The Streets Have No Name
02. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
03. With Or Without You
04. Bullet The Blue Sky
05. Running To Stand Still
06. Red Hill Mining Town
07. In God's Country
08. Trip Through Your Wire
09. One Tree Hill
10. Exit
11. Mothers Of The Disappeared

It was the album that launched a million pairs of shades for Bono and put The Edge among the elite in 'Best Guitarist' discussions. I took off work to get the album the day it was released. The anticipation was huge and it may have have been the last album that I actually stood in line to buy a record. I bought it in cassette, CD and vinyl formats. Standing in line on March 09, 1987 also meant that I had to give up my standard day off a week later on St. Patrick's Day. I grew up in Chicago where St. Patrick's Day is bigger than New Year's Eve. Yes, that album meant that much to me. It was before Bono's disgusting pretentiousness and it was the album that launched U2 into mainstream popularity. From first listen until this very day One Tree Hill is still my favorite song. Rolling Stone said the album turned U2 from heroes into superstars but someone forgot to tell Bono, who still plays the hero whenever he can, whether he's needed to or not. U2 has yet to put out anything even close to this album and likely never will, though All That You Can't Leave Behind came close. I'm somewhat jaded because Bono proclaimed that U2 was reapplying for the job of best band in the world." See what I'm talking about? I still love The Joshia Tree and I always will, no matter how hard Bono tries to make me dislike his very being.

You can hear The Joshua Tree in it's entirety beginning at 5PM CST during today's Friday Flashback presentation.

Jivewired's Top Five Songs Of The Year
01. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For by U2
02. The Dead Heart by Midnight Oil
03. I Started Something I Couldn't Finish by The Smiths
04. Can't Hardly Wait by The Replacements
05. One Tree Hill by U2

Jivewired's Top Five Albums Of The Year
01. Document by R.E.M.
02. So by Peter Gabriel
03. The Joshua Tree by U2
04. Pleased To Meet Me by The Replacements
05. In The Dark by The Grateful Dead

I'm going to start out by stating 1987 wasn't a banner year for popular music. On the surface, it was absolutely heinous. Look what we had to put up with - releases from Buster Poindexter, Bruce Willis, Don Johnson, Billy Vera, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, Henry Lee Summer, Richard Marx and Eddie Murphy. There was the Lionel Richie factor, the George Michael factor, and the hair-metal-ballad factor as music was becoming a Made-for-Television entity. Thanks to MTV and VH-1, music was being built around videos rather than the videos being built around the songs. In fact, 1987 feels like one, big video music soundtrack with its closing credits rolling to the tune of Don't Mean Nothing by Richard Marx.

Richard Marx, 1987. Yup. You listened. And you know all the words to Don't Mean Nothing - admit it.

Sadly, even MTV realized the wretched excess of it's own creation and began airing - *gasp* - regular programming to avoid shoving those awful videos down our throats, (yes I am talking to you Dancing On The Ceiling by Lionel Richie). But, something was happening in the midst of the musical atrocities that defined 1987. The inevitable backlash that followed ripped open a hole in the underground, releasing bands like U2, R.E.M., the Cult, the Smiths, Sonic Youth, the Cure, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Replacements, and the Pixies into the mainstream, generously sowing the seeds for the ’90s alternative rock movement.

The contrarian in me, who makes an occasional appearance now and then, can counterpoint by stating that 1987 may have actually been a pivotal year in the history of music. Absurd you say? It may make for fascinating debate. In 1987, U2 released The Joshua Tree, giving them superstar status that they have maintained in the twenty-five years since. R.E.M. released Document, cracking the top ten for the first time and also giving them superstar status that has continued to this day. Hip-hop turned into an album-oriented art form in 1987, Guns 'N’ Roses debuted with Appetite For Destruction and the Pixies released their debut EP. Prince delivered another masterpiece and Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson followed up on career-defining blockbusters. The Beastie Boys released their masterpiece Licensed To Ill and The Grateful Dead tasted real Top Ten success aided by the help of a wonderful video with the release of Touch Of Grey from their In The Dark LP.

Speaking of videos, at the MTV Music Video Awards, a veritable statuette manufacturing plant was opened up backstage to handle the production of awards for Peter Gabriel. The former Genesis singer was the night's biggest winner with nine awards for his iconic Sledgehammer video, a stunning piece of animation that remains one of the best MTV has ever aired.

Among the honors Gabriel took with him that night were Best Male Video, Best Overall Performance and Video of the Year, as well as the Most Experimental Video trophy and the hugely important Video Vanguard Award. Respect. U2 walked away with the Viewer's Choice Award for With or Without You. And, 1987 was also the year that Bon Jovi won the Best Stage Performance for their enduring hit Livin' on a Prayer.

Aretha Franklin became the first female performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 1987. Four albums from that year have sold more than 20 million copies since their release dates; The Joshua Tree by U2, Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi, So by Peter Gabriel and George Michael's Faith. Michael Jackson's Bad has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. Respect.

1987 was the preeminent year for college rock, a genre that oscillated with the individuality of those who craved comfort and intellect rather than the instigation and mayhem of punk rock. College rock's lionization started the regional segregation of popular music in this country. Punk was never as popular in the South as it was throughout the rest of the United States, where music clung to a moral and ethical standard that the genre defiantly failed to meet, and in its regional variations leaned more to the avant-garde rather than punk's hardcore (think Flaming Lips). On the other hand, the South's rapidly increasing college population adopted the ethos and the lush aesthetics of the romanticist, new wave movement of the earlier part of the decade and adapted it to melodic music.

Boston, ever the archetypical college town, had boasted some of the most sensitive musicians going as far back as the mid-seventies with Steely Dan, and really spoke to the intellect and philosophical viewpoint of the college undergraduate. Another college town, Hoboken, spawned a similar brand of intelli-literate pop. Pat DiNizio's Smithereens were the merriest and most exuberant, though subtly the most erudite purveyors of power-pop. Minneapolis gave us the Replacements and Philadelphia gave us the Hooters. But it was Athens, Georgia that became the epicenter of college rock. Athens spawned the quirky dance-music of the B52's, an amalgamation of new wave, disco and revivalist genres, created by a superb and surreal call/response balance of alternate male/female leads, funky guitars and Farfisa-like digital synth.

Athens had also spawned the neo-folk rock of R.E.M. and in 1987, R.E.M. burst into national prominence with their fifth release, Document.

"Without exception, their records combined a spirit of willful perversity with a healthy restlessness and a steadfast refusal to acknowledge either commercial or critical expectations — there was the Beat, and R.E.M. knew how to use it. It was the band's incomparable stage rage, Buck's Who-like slice-and-dice guitar, Stipe's steely vibrato and Mills and Berry's rhythmic tug that wowed Deep South barflies and East Coast in-crowds in the early days."
-- Rolling Stone Magazine

The entire college rock scene was a monumental tribute to the guitar-driven pop of Brian Wilson and Alex Chilton, and R.E.M. was, and has remained, the best of that sound for over thirty years.

In retrospect, there was a lot going on in popular music in 1987, which is why it is such an important and pivotal year in music history. Needless to say, this week's playlist is extraordinarily extensive........

Oh, That Makes Much More Sense, Doesn't It?

For the 1989 movie Say Anything, director Cameron Crowe couldn't find the love song he wanted until he heard Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes from Gabriel's 1987 release So. Gabriel asked to see part of the movie. Crowe had the production company send him an unfinished cut. Gabriel responded by saying he would let them use the song, as he liked the film. He was, however, wary about the part where the lead character overdosed at the end. It was then that Crowe realized that Gabriel had been sent a copy of Wired instead.

The Smithereens were originally commissioned by Crowe to write the theme song for the movie, and they came up with A Girl Like You. Crowe thought that the lyrics were too leading (they outline the entire plot), so he rejected it in favor of the Gabriel song. A Girl Like You went on to be included in The Smithereens' next album, 11, and in the movie Backdraft directed by Ron Howard.

I've Glimpsed The Future, And All I Can Say Is "Go Back"........

Steve Winwood was such a sensation in 1987 that the 1982 single Valerie was re-released and charted in the Top Ten. Aerosmith mounted a huge comeback with the release of Permanent Vacation, an album which redefined their sound and was pretty much awful, though they garnered a legion of new fans. Not quite as interesting, both the Pretenders and Sting charted on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart with Jimi Hendrix covers: Room Full of Mirrors and Little Wing, respectively and even far less interesting, Tommy James had two Top Ten hits as Tiffany covered I Think We're Alone Now and Billy Idol reworked Mony Mony into the vomit-inducing club hit of the year. The Bangles had a minor hit with a cover version of A Hazy Shade Of Winter from the movie Less Than Zero. The song was originally performed by Simon & Garfunkel. Likewise, the debut release by 10,000 Maniacs featured the Cat Stevens hit Peace Train.

The movie Dirty Dancing also helped a lot of acts from the 1960s reach a new, younger audience. Songs by Solomon Burke, Micky & Sylvia, The Ronettes, Bruce Channel, the Contours and Otis Redding all saw somewhat of a revival in 1987 because of the movie's soundtrack. Bill Medley (formerly of the Righteous Brothers), who sang co-lead on the song (I've Had The) Time Of My Life with Jennifer Warnes actually experienced a mainstream career resurgence for a short time as a number of Righteous Bros. hits from the sixties made somewhat of a comeback.

The Monkees had an historic revival in 1987 with That Was Then, This Is Now, though it was nothing compared to twenty years earlier in substance nor legitimacy and screamed of legacy stumping.

Why Exactly Again?

March 13, 1987 was an historic day in rock music.

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on that date. I guess getting Tom Cruise to dance around in his underwear brought legitimacy to Seger's career. He reached soundtrack saturation when Forrest Gump jogged cross country and back to the song Against The Wind years later.
Also on that date, Bryan Adams' Heat of the Night became the first single to be commercially released on cassette. The purveyors of the cassette singles tried to brand them as cassingles, but in actuality they were merely a waste of money and ingenuity as well as a terrible insult to the intelligence of discerning consumers.

Go Forth For You Are The Future Of Rock & Roll.......

The following bands all formed in 1987: Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Green Day, The Roots, Gin Blossoms and Uncle Tupelo. Sadly, 1987 also gave us Color Me Badd, Kid 'N Play and Pepsi & Shirlie.

To hear 170 songs from the year 1987 please tune in to Jivewired Radio all day long and thank you for reading!

Previous In This Series: Friday Flashback 1967

↧

Performer Confirmations for the 5th Annual Unofficial Showcase At 311 Club

February 2, 2013, 11:01 am

≫ Next: This Week's New Spins

≪ Previous: Friday Flashback 1987

+ For Immediate Release: February 2, 2013

JIVEWIRED.COM ANNOUNCES PERFORMER CONFIRMATIONS FOR THE 5TH ANNUAL UNOFFICIAL SHOWCASE DURING SXSW (MARCH 11th-17th at 311 Club):

(Milwaukee, WI) - Jivewired.com in association with Audio Wall Studios and Lynwood King Presents announced today it's first round of confirmations for their fifth annual unofficial showcase during SXSW, happening at the 311 Club on Sixth Street in Austin, TX (311 E. Sixth Street). The Audiowall Takeover Showcase is open to the public (no badge or cover charge required) for guests 21+.

Now in it's fifth consecutive year, the Audio Wall Takeover is one of the largest and most popular independent showcases on Sixth Street. Managed by Joe Chavez of Chavez Artist Management, the Audiowall Takeover aims to celebrate independent music of peerless quality while creating social media awareness and a national springboard for many Jivewired.com musicians and bands and independent acts not necessarily associated with Jivewired.com.

Wednesday and Thursday events for this showcase will feature acts selected and curated by Jivewired.com, an online digital one sheet distribution and event submission platform that officially launched in December 2012. We will also be placing a few acts on other dates at the 311 Club during SXSW Music Week. A number of the acts associated with this event have acheived buzzworthy status through mainstream media outlets like MTV, AOL Music, Spinner.com and Paste Magazine as well as in film, commercial and gaming platforms

Today we are pleased to announce the first round of confirmations for this event: Tony Memmel, Von Din, David Fagan, The Nghiems, Cary Morin, Dimitri's Rail, Whitney Mann, Well Hung Heart, Mr. Clit & The Pink Cigarettes,The David Castro Band, Wink Burcham, Jesse Aycock, Pilgrim, Desi & Cody, A Course Of Action, Beautiful Bodies, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, Buffalo Killers, The Can't Tells, Bear Ceuse, The Paul Benjaman Band, Hydra Melody, American Flags, The Dustin Pittsley Band, The Wanton Looks, A Boy & His Kite, The Deer Tracks, Left Lane Cruiser and Gram Rabbit.

More confirmations are expected in the coming days. Please check back here for more announcements.

We will be profiling our performers individually in this blog leading up to the event as well as dedicating a four-hour block to these artists each Saturday and Sunday evening on Jivewired Radio powered by Live365.

The submission process for the Audio Wall Takeover is still open!

The submission deadline has been extended to February 11, 2013. To submit, please visit: http://www.jivewired.com/event/audiowallinvasion

Jivewired.com and Audiowall in association with Lynwood King Presents and Joe Chavez Arists Management is currently seeking additional sponsors for this showcase, as well as parties interested in hosting a Kick Off Meet & Greet Mixer on Thursday evening, March 14, 2013.

Those who are interested can contact Michael Canter at michael.canter@jivewired.com

A few slots are still open for those artists wishing to submit through Reverbnation or Indie On The Move.

Jivewired plans an all out media blitz for our performers at this year's event, including:

The headliner for Thursday night's show is Gram Rabbit. They are going on at 10PM CST. If you do not know Gram Rabbit please check them out on their website: http://www.gramrabbit.com/

The Wednesday Headliner is still TBD

We have a team of senior level students from TX State University 's MassComm department whose second term project it is to promote our venues and related showcases. They'll be deploying all available tools impacting social media, blogging, press releases etc. The project is being spearheaded by one of the professor's who has amazing credentials and is invited to speak on topics regarding new media and marketing around the world.

We are printing a minimum of 15,000 flyers, 500 tour posters and other promotional material.

We are launching a YouTube channel promoting the showcases and events. We're casting for a hostess now and will be creating short segments of content building up to the event as well as a nearly real-time capture of the highlights from our events. On this channel we'll also do feature segments about our sponsors and showcase their products and services. The venue itself has over 15K Facebook friends within the scope of their 3 sites, and combined with all of the bands and sponsors we have it will be a considerable media reach.

We will provide a red carpet/photo backdrop shoot on both evenings from 5pm until 9pm to present photo and branding opportunities matching attending industry VIP and sponsoring affiliates. We anticipate Getty Images handling this. This is an excellent way to promote brand awareness on a national platform.

We will provide contact information including phone number and e-mail address to interested media for all of our performers for interview opportunities. To obtain this information please direct e-mail inquiries to michael.canter@jivewired.com and provide valid references.

We are also sponsoring a 90-minute meet and greet mixer on Thursday the 15th for sponsor affiliates and attending industry VIP.

More details forthcoming. Press Release 1 of 5 for this event.

↧

This Week's New Spins

February 5, 2013, 3:01 pm

≫ Next: Album Review - TRACKS by Left On Red

≪ Previous: Performer Confirmations for the 5th Annual Unofficial Showcase At 311 Club

February kicks off with a lot of really great additions into the Jivewired Radio library. With Valentine's Day just around the corner we'll dedicate today's episode to a few of our favorite female performers.

This week we are really excited about two new additions, Shannon Labrie, whose first full-length album, Just Be Honest, dropped today, and another first full-length, TRACKS, by Left On Red which dropped at the end of 2012.

(Shannon Labrie)

Shannon was one of our more popular artists this past summer. Her song Gettin' Tired regularly finished in our listener's poll of Top 25 spins for most of the summer. The new album is amazing and expect a review this week. I'd urge everybody to grab it and Shannon just confirmed to play our showcase at 311 Club during SXSW.

From Shannon's bio: On Shannon Labrie’s debut album Just Be Honest, she kicks off the proceedings by staring down her demons and admonishing her biggest fears with “Secret,” a retro-R&B influenced song laced with vibrant horns. The young songwriter comes by her fears more honestly than most, battling a serious (and ongoing) illness at age 9 and losing her father at 14. She grew up fast, at first rebelling, then spending several years on a curious solo journey across the country studying philosophy, theology and writing songs. Now in Nashville, she’s readying her 12-song February 5, 2013 release with plenty of industry buzz, receiving compliments from The Lefsetz Letter, M: Music and Musicians, Kings of A&R and more.

(Kelly Halloran & Liah Alonso of Left On Red)

I came across TRACKS because I was accidentally Facebook phished by Liah Alonso of Left On Red. We started a friendly conversation about TV projects and traveling and she asked me to check out Left On Red's new album. I was floored by their arrangement on a cover version of Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash. I then spent most of last night listening to TRACKS and you can expect a review this week as well.

From Left On Red's Bio: Meet Liah Alonso and Kelly Halloran, collectively known as Left on Red. The two young women’s talents run the musical gamut but they are primarily an acoustic rock group featuring Liah on guitar, Kelly on violin, and both on vocals with lots of harmonies. Left on Red means simply to take your own direction. Despite meeting on a traditional gig Kelly and Liah’s true maturation as a duo actually began in the subway stations of New York City. Over the last 2 years LOR has wowed public audiences with their brand of fun socially relevant lyrics and improvisational instrumentation.

In addition to busking, Left on Red routinely play in hospitals and nursing homes as well as performing for Veterans on a shared bill with Tom Morello and his organization Axis of Justice, Musicians on Call, YWCA and many more. TRACKS, their debut full-length, tries to capture the essence of those subway busking experiences.

It is amazing the way we discover new music and start new friendships. I've said it before, music is such a great icebreaker because everybody likes great music and almost everybody likes to tell you about their favorite bands and artists. We're no different, we just do it on a slightly larger level.

STAFF PICKS OF THE WEEK

Gettin' Tired by Shannon Labrie
Gone, Long Gone by Left On Red
Love To Get Used by Matt Pond
Sunday by Jet West
Onshore by LA Font

TEAM PHOTO

Hold On by Sam Page
We The Common (For Valerie Bolden) by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down

WILL PROBABLY BE A HIT

Drinkin' by Holly Williams

A SONG THAT WILL GROW ON YOU QUICKLY

Zi-Zi's Journey by Lindsey Stirling
Long Ride Home by Jemez Mountain Hawkz

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK

Where's Home? by Richard Thompson
It Always Happens To You by The Go

DO I DETECT MADONNA?

Peach Blossoms by Eels

LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO:

Hold On by Shannon Wurst
Song For Wynn by Beau Jennings & The Tigers
Falling by The Iveys
Miranda by The Imperial

IS IT LIVE OR MEMOREX?

Little Lion Man (Live) by Mumford & Sons
Heavy Chevy (Live) by Alabama Shakes

WHAT CAME FIRST - THE SONG OR THE BAND NAME?

Yellow Red Sparks by Yellow Red Sparks

THIS WEEK'S NEW SPINS ON JIVEWIRED RADIO

01. Gone, Long Gone by Left On Red
02. Headlines by Shannon Labrie
03. Peach Blossoms by Eels
04. Love To Get Used by Matt Pond
05. Yellow Red Sparks by Yellow Red Sparks
06. Breakers by Local Natives
07. We The Common (For Valerie Bolden) by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
08. Know Til Now by Jim James
09. Irie Eyes by Jet West
10. 3,6,9 by Cat Power
11. Hold On by Sam Page
12. Jersey Shore by The Mickey Hart Band
13. Little Lion Man (Live) by Mumford & Sons
14. Wonderful, Glorious by Eels
15. Lazarus by The Deer Tracks
16. Song For Wynn by Beau Jennings & The Tigers
17. Invincible by Beautiful Bodies
18. I Just Want To Feel Right by Brian Owens
19. No Control by Pepper
21. Sunday by Jet West
22. Gettin' Tired by Shannon Labrie
23. Lying To Myself by The Can't Tells
24. It Always Happens To You by The Go
25. California by Hydra Melody
26. Zi-Zi's Journey by Lindsey Stirling
27. Screens by Low Culture
28. Falling by The Iveys
29. Latenight by Burywood
30. Hold On by Shannon Wurst
31. The Way Of The Zebra by Left On Red
32. Dead Man's Shoes by The Virginmarys
33. Heavy Chevy (Live) by Alabama Shakes
34. Let Me Live by Matt Pond
35. Physical Tongue by Pegleg Pig
36. Long Ride Home by Jemez Mountain Hawkz
37. Onshore by LA Font
38. Where's Home? by Richard Thompson
39. Drinkin' by Holly Williams
40. Miranda by The Imperial

↧

Album Review - TRACKS by Left On Red

February 6, 2013, 8:29 pm

≫ Next: Tonight On MHP Radio 02.07.2013

≪ Previous: This Week's New Spins

“On the Path of Right”
~ Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Street Sweeper Social Club)

Release Date: 31-July-2012
Genre: Rock/ Pop / Folk
Publisher: [p][c] 2012 Left On Red
Label: Unsigned
Total Time: 52m 18s
Review Date: 06-February-2013
Review Format: MP3
Bit Rate: 256 kbps
For Fans Of: Ani DiFranco, Rickie Lee Jones, Michelle Shocked, Teagan & Sara
Songs In Jivewired Radio Rotation:Folsom Prison Blues, Gone Long Gone, The Way Of The Zebra
Best Songs:Gone Long Gone, Folsom Prison Blues, Erase, The Only Thing That's Real
Team Photo:Set Me Free, The Way Of The Zebra, Subletter's Lament
Previous Jivewired Review: None
Jivewired Digital One Sheet:Not currently a Jivewired Subscriber

Get it at:

Artist Website

Track Listing:
01. Bombay To Baylon 2:04
02. Folsom Prison Blues 2:35
03. Set Me Free 4:07
04. Gone, Long Gone 4:49
05. Th Way Of The Zebra 4:21
06. The Difference Between Brooklyn & Manhattan Girls 0:48
07. Subletter's Lament 2:57
08. Santa Monica 4:56
09. Pieces Of The Past 0:37
10. Erase 4:43
11. The Extra Mile 3:19
12. The Only Thing That's Real 4:35
13. The Homeless Preacher On The L Train 0:36
14. Breath 5:47
15. Another Track 0:35
16. Left On Red 3:57
17. ... 0:43
18. Folsom Prison Reprise 0:49

Review:

It was by chance encounter two days ago that I came across this amazing album and upon first listen I was immediately impressed. TRACKS by Left On Red offers amazing nuances and abstract narratives designed to suit it's intended purpose: that being to recreate both the mechanical and written storyline that comes with busking in New York City's Subway System. The ebb and flow of the entire novel within is spot on and Left On Red even uses those very sounds and fleeting subway moments to encapsulate the spirit of this record. This is a concept recording. And that's what makes TRACKS so amazing - it offers a very real portrayal of that experience.

The album makes it's statement at it's very onset. This is a privileged tour of inner city mass transportation with Liah Alonso and Kelly Halloran as our guides. Bombay To Babylon, an instrumental driven by haunting violin from Kelly, segues into a chilling cover of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues featuring Liah on vocals to kick off TRACKS. The arrangement on Folsom is breathtaking -- part folk, part post-apocalyptic punk slow-burner -- moody and dark in ambiance. It aptly details the dreariness of seemingly endless transfers and the unknown, drone-like passerby. The opening two-song sequence is fierce and the juxtaposition of an original song and a similarly arranged cover is jaw-dropping. It's especially bad-ass. Johnny Cash would be proud.

Gone, Long Gone is the best representation of true busking on this album in my opinion. This is a song that would likely stop the Friday, after-work subway riders dead in their tracks. Kelly's violin is mesmerizing. Liah's vocals are enchanting. Together their harmonies are pitch perfect. The pauses and layers serve a purpose - everything leads up to an amazing crescendo that plays like a train that starts slowly before reaching it's peak, pure power and expanse but without force. Gone, Long Gone really captures Kelly's strong presence instrumentally.

TRACKS offers lighter fare as well. Set Me Free is more upbeat instrumentally and in arrangement. If there is a hit single on this recording this song is it. Set Me Free shows remarkable professionalism and a keen sense of the entire recording process. The great breaks in mood allow Liah to explore the higher boundaries of her vocal range, which she accomplishes in effortless fashion. The entire song is crisp, clean and dynamic. The harmonies are sublime.

Santa Monica is a great song that offers a wide-eyed glimpse of a woman starting the return journey to a lost love. Santa Monica has a Sheryl Crow and jam band vibe, and there is an absolutely fetching minutiae of an electric guitar riff in it's verses that expands on the bridge and get's wonderfully funky. The song closes on an array of instrumentals, audio bytes and vocal harmonies that is just infectious before completing it's journey. A brief interlude follows as the song winds down and then Liah moans in a soliloquy of torch and desperation on Escape.

One of my favorite songs is Subletter's Lament. Kelly takes the lead vocally and presents something fans of Liz Phair would enjoy. Erase and The Way Of The Zebra are a bit more darker and allow Liah to expand her vocal range further from low end to high end. Interspersed between all of these wonderful songs are real sounds from the bowels of New York's Subway System. It's all marvelous.

Credit producer Ethan Allen with capturing the essence of this project. Allen has worked previously with Ani DiFranco, Melissa Ferrick, The 88, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Gram Rabbit. Left On Red was equal to the task as Allen brings out the best in Liah and Kelly. Most admirable is his ability to weave various soundscapes into an album that flows perfectly and seamlessly. There is no unnerving repetition in sound from one track to the next. It's purposefully moody, on both ends of the spectrum, mind you, but the end result is a record whose arrangements breathe life into fresh track after fresh track.

It's nice to know that independent artists are willing to go to such great lengths to produce quality music. When an album like TRACKS comes along, you feel instantly gratified that the investment to purchase it, and further, the investment to listen, to get to know the music and to familiarize yourself with the performers is well worth the time and effort.

Real music, the stuff that makes you take notice and smile, something that contains a wicked riff, a perfect harmony or a stop-you-dead-in-your-tracks violin solo, is the stuff that makes the indies so much better than the fluff and major label manufactured garbage that passes for today's hits. Real music comes with a soul and emanates from the heart, and in this case, the bowels of the subway as well. This is better than anything you'll hear on your local Top 40 radio outlet. Stellar effort across the board by Left On Red and a great "get" for my music collection.

About Left On Red:

BUSKERS | VOLUNTEERS | ACTIVISTS

Meet Liah Alonso and Kelly Halloran, collectively known as Left on Red. The two young women’s talents run the musical gamut but they are primarily an acoustic rock group featuring Liah on guitar, Kelly on violin, and both on vocals with lots of harmonies. Left on Red means simply to take your own direction. Despite meeting on a traditional gig Kelly and Liah’s true maturation as a duo actually began in the subway stations of New York City. Over the last 2 years LOR has wowed public audiences with their brand of fun socially relevant lyrics and improvisational instrumentation.

In addition to busking, Left on Red routinely play in hospitals and nursing homes as well as performing for Veterans on a shared bill with Tom Morello and his organization Axis of Justice, Musicians on Call, YWCA and many more.

Left on Red’s captivating shows consist of originals and cover songs, diverse in era, genre and language. The duo officially came together in early 2008 and in early 2009 they took their unique brand of music from the New York streets to the masses in the form of their debut album, which is available on iTunes.

Their self-titled disc features an entertaining range of genres and topics that appeal to both men and women of all ages. “Shop” finds LOR singing about America’s addiction to retail, “Crash and Burn” deals with the poisoning of our food, while the self explanatory “High Heel Blues” and the duo’s first single “Jack and Jill” will hit home with anyone whose dealt with societal expectations. The beauty of LOR is they find a way to present heavy hitting topics in a fun manner, leaving audiences enlightened, empowered and happy.

↧

Tonight On MHP Radio 02.07.2013

February 7, 2013, 11:58 am

≫ Next: Friday Flashback 1996

≪ Previous: Album Review - TRACKS by Left On Red

Tonight's episode of MHP Radio offers an eclectic mix of jazz, dance/electronic, classic rock and world music that features a very distinguished list of past and current clients of Miles High Productions. There is a nice Valentine's theme going on for the first half of the show, too. Truly great selections across the board.

About Miles High Productions:

Miles High Productions (MHP) was created to bridge the gap of companies working directly with music artists and entertainment based projects who are in need of additional marketing support. MHP also focuses on non-music ventures such as corporate brand building, cosmetics, gaming, sports and other industries. MHP’s goal is to elevate your product or artist to a higher ground in an expedient timeframe by exposing them to new and existing online audiences. MHP also focuses on taking our campaigns one step further by cross-promoting all traditional methods of marketing with online opportunities for further outreach.

Since we have long valued our friendship with Miles High Productions and treasure the great music that MHP continues to send us, as well as Chip Schutzman's invaluable support, we decided to dedicate a weekly two-hour time slot to Chip's clients.

MHP Radio airs each Thursday evening at 8PM CST on Jivewired Radio and each week's musical selections are personally selected by MHP CEO and Founder Chip Schutzman.

Potential clients can learn more via their website:http://mileshighproductions.com/

To follow MHP on Facebook: http://facebook.com/MilesHighProductions

Each week we are going to feature one of their clients and today we put the spotlight on Roxanna.

NOW AVAILABLE ON iTunes -- ENGLISH AND SPANISH VERSIONS AVAILABLE JANUARY 15^th ON ALL MAJOR DIGITAL RETAIL OUTLETS

January 15, 2013 (Los Angeles, CA): “Unforgotten” takes you on a personal journey of an empathetic story. Joining forces with producer Mark Portmann, known for working with Michael Buble and Barbara Streisand, Roxanna has produced a polished and luxurious rich sound. Her upcoming album release will provide a seamless, mastered mix of adult contemporary, classic pop, world, and a taste of flamenco. This song is universal and anyone that has experienced heartbreak will be able to identify with the message.

Roxanna has always had a love for music. Growing up in Canada, she idolized Madonna, Celine Dion, Julio Iglesias, and Olivia Newton John. Not only did the musicians open up Roxanna to a new world of music, but was also how Roxanna was introduced to the English language. Before entering into the music industry, she would use music’s influence in her nursing profession to heal her patients.

Spain and the country’s music found its way into Roxanna’s heart as well, and it has inspired how she wants to convey her creativity. Due to her love for Spanish culture, she has decided to release an alternate Spanish version of the single “Unforgotten” titled “Para Siempre.” Both versions of the song can be found on upcoming album Exotica, due out late spring.

For more information about Roxanna, check out her links:
http://roxannamusic.com/
http://www.facebook.com/RoxannasMusic
http://twitter.com/roxannamusic
http://www.youtube.com/RoxannasMusic

Tonight's Playlist:
01. Bonemarrow by Mellowdrone
02. Lovers by Into The Presence
03. Snowflakes by White Apple Tree
04. Eyesore by Janus
05. The Garden by Into The Presence
06. The Mating Game by Bitter:Sweet
07. Galapogos by Natalie Walker
08. Dirty Laundry by Bitter:Sweet
09. Mars by Natalie Walker
10. Different From The Rest by Alice Peacock
11. It's A Ruse by Rosey
12. Unforgotten (Single Edit) by Roxanna
13. Time by Alice Peacock
14. Pretty Little Stranger by Joan Osborne
15. Wreckage Of The Future by RJ Comer
16. See What It Brings by Mutlu feat. Daryl Hall
17. Breathe In by Luke Potter
18. Betty Jean by The Soul Of John Black
19. Wasted/If I Was The Ocean by Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real
20. Shaky Ground by Mutlu feat. G. Love
21. Hell Hole Swamp by RJ Comer
22. One Day by Luke Potter
23. Walk Away by Kristine W.
24. Stars by Erika Jayne
25. Something About You (Dave Aude Radio Edit) by Irina
26. Unforgotten (Remix) by Roxanna
27. The Power Of Music by Kristine W. feat. Big Daddy Kane
28. Pretty Mess by Erika Jayne

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Friday Flashback 1996

February 8, 2013, 11:05 am

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≪ Previous: Tonight On MHP Radio 02.07.2013

FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Every Friday we set the Hot Tub Time Machine to one year in rock history and give you the best (and worst) music from that year, all day long beginning at 1:00 AM EST and running for 24 hours on Jivewired Radio powered by Live365.

Article & Image Sources: All Music Guide, MTV.com, Viacom, Bob Minkin, Amazon.com, Rolling Stone Magazine, Previous Jivewired Flashback Articles, The Guardian, UK, Joel Whitburn, Billboard Magazine,

This week: 1996
Next week: 1975

To listen, just press play on the radio widget to the right or use this link to open in a new window that will allow you to listen when you navigate away from this page:

Album Art from 1996 - Click To Download

1996 Album I Wish I Owned: Aenima by Tool
1996 Album I'd Give Back If I Could: 18 'Til I Die by Bryan Adams
1996 Nominee For Worst Album Cover Ever:A Worm's Life by Crash Test Dummies
1996 Most Underrated Song:King Nothing by Metallica
1996 Most Overrated Song:You Oughta Know by Alanis Morisette
1996 Most Memorable Song:Only Wanna Be With You by Hootie & The Blowfish
1996 Most Significant Song: Rooster (Unplugged) by Alice In Chains
1996 Most Forgotten Song:Caramel by Suzanne Vega
1996 Fan's Choice For Most Popular Song:You Learn by Alanis Morisette
1996 Album Of The Year:Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morisette
1996 Most Likely To Start A Party Song:California Love by 2pac
1996 Please Don't Play Anymore Song:Macarena by Los Del Rios
1996 Song That I Like More Than I Actually Should:#41 by The Dave Matthews Band
1996 Album I Liked More Than I Thought I Would:Tidal by Fiona Apple
1996 Song That I Tend to Leave on Repeat:Where It's At by Beck
Guilty Pleasure of 1996:Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt
Breakout Artists of 1996: The Wallflowers, Alanis Morisette, No Doubt, Beck, Jewel, Fiona Apple, Matchbox Twenty, Dave Matthews Band, Oasis
Overplayed In 1996: Alanis Morisette
Not Played Enough In 1996: Wilco
Greatest Chart Re-Entry from 1996:How Soon Is Now? by The Smiths (1985)
Best Cover Song Of 1996:I Will Survive by Cake (original: Gloria Gaynor)
Worst Cover Song of 1996:Killing Me Softly With His Song by The Fugees (original: Roberta Flack)
An unheralded great album from 1996:Being There by Wilco
An unheralded great single from 1996:How The West Was Won & Where It Got Us by R.E.M.
Best Soundtrack of 1996:Trainspotting
Worst Soundtrack of 1996: That Thing You Do!
An Album From 1996 That Changed My Life: Odelay by Beck

Get it at:
iTunes | iTunes

01. Devil's Haircut
02. Hotwax
03. Lord Only Knows
04. The New Pollution
05. Derelict
06. Novacaine
07. Jack-Ass
08. Where It's At
09. Minus
10. Sissyneck
11. Readymade
12. High 5 (Rock The Catskills)
13. Ramshackle
14. Computer Rock

I walked into a pool hall on Southport (Chicago) in late spring 1996 and Where It's At was playing. I hadn't heard it and it hadn't been released yet, the bartender had an advance copy or a bootleg or something. I asked him about the song and I got back "I'll make you a tape." The tape included that song and about 85 minutes of pure, unmemorable garbage. But I had me some Beck.

I was in a new relationship with this woman named Robin who at that time was the end all be all in my life, but I was a little nervous to play my hand and a little gun shy to make a full-fledged commitment to her. I was trying to decide if we should take our relationship to the next level. Robin and I loved music, that was our thing, our connection, the foundation of our early dating life. I heard Where It's At, I knew immediately Robin would love it, and I called her from the nearest payphone, and asked her to be exclusive, to commit fully to a relationship I had hoped would eventually lead to marriage. I was so fired up about this song I professed undying love for a woman.

I brought the tape home and we played Where It's At until the tape wore out. Play, rewind, play again -- we beat the shit out of that crummy little mixtape for that one amazing song. Robin and I stayed together for four years and though it ended badly, I still have great memories of Robin, and I still have Odelay, and the two will always go hand-in-hand. Maybe Where It's At isn't all that great in retrospect. But the memories that it carries are.

You can hear Odelay in it's entirety beginning at 5PM CST during today's Friday Flashback presentation.

Jivewired's Top Five Songs Of The Year
01. Where It's At by Beck
02. Criminal by Fiona Apple
03. 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins
04. Who You Are by Pearl Jam
05. Big Me by Foo Fighters
HONORABLE MENTION: Off He Goes by Pearl Jam
HONORABLE MENTION: Far Far Away by Wilco

Jivewired's Top Five Albums Of The Year
01. Odelay by Beck
02. Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness by Smashing Pumpkins
03. Being There by Wilco
04. No Code by Pearl Jam
05. New Adventures In Hi-Fi by R.E.M.

1996. Holy Hell. That’s all I have to say.

OK, I have more to say. Damn. It's possible that 1996 might have been the worst year in the history of modern music. If not, it certainly was the oddest. The great unifying theme of the 1990s may very well turn out to be the explosion and subsequent mainstreaming of alternative forms of art, commerce, and communication – where anything other than the mainstream became, in fact, mainstream. In retrospect, if that is indeed the truth, then 1996 was probably the apex of the entire decade.

There was a growing gap between the euphoric, X-driven collective psyche and the dejected, controlled individual psyche in '96. The arts embraced a form of visualization that hid beneath the masquerade of post-modernism, creating a quiescent existentialism not seen previously in music. The discrepancy was significant in that it left the arts as a whole wandering aimlessly between it's roots and it's future in a form of musical purgatory with no apparent escape. At once, it seemed, musicians strove for popularity and obscurity at the same time. Something had to give.

The keywords of 1996 were latency, alienation and disorientation, perhaps offshoots from the grunge movement, perhaps a form of nascent, underscored rebellion or perhaps just plain apathy. Thematically, music was right there. How else can you explain the image of Darius Rucker, aka "Hootie" of Hootie & The Blowfish singing I Only Wanna Be With You wearing a flannel shirt, in desperate hope of intertwining the look of grunge with the sound of mainstream popularity? If said flannel shirt wasn't buttoned to the collar AND tucked into his blue jeans, he may have made that happen.

OK, no, he wouldn't.

That's because 1996 saw grunge breathing its final breath, and Rucker, et al, may have pulled the plug on it's life support. Britpop was at the height of its popularity and industrial metal dominated the alternative music scene. Few remnants of the 1980s still existed; instead, a new generation of young musicians had emerged and, inspired by the likes of Dave Matthews, Sister Hazel, Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows, began to conquer the charts with their new brand of soccer-mom approved pseudo pop-rock.

Several hit singles were released in 1996 that first appeared on albums that debuted the previous year, such as Stupid Girl by Garbage, Big Me by Foo Fighters and Ironic by Alanis Morissette. Seal had three Top 200 hits in 1996 off his second album which had been released in late 1994. Other songs that were released in 1996 didn't become hits until 1997.

The reason is simple: The summer of '96 may have provided us with the least amount of blockbuster music of any summer in modern music history. From personal recollection only Killing Me Softly With His Song by Fugees, California Love by Tupac, Where It's At by Beck and three or four singles from The Dave Matthews Band stand out as a clear, summer hits from that year. In fact, Tupac had released the first ever rap double album, All Eyez on Me, in time for the summer season, and achieved platinum sales in just four hours, immediately reaching #1 on the Billboard charts.

The loser in all of this was punk. Punk and apathy just cannot exist simultaneously. That's a given. The momentum of the punk movement had clearly dissipated by 1996. All that was left of the aesthetic was the sloppiness. The fury, the attitude, the rebellious predilection and it's resolute discord had died. That had been punk's true legacy. Indeed, The Ramones played their final show on August 6, 1996 at The Palace in Hollywood. Pack your things and go, the labels have rendered you irrelevant in a one-sided exchange that netted us bands like Dishwalla, Citizen King and The Verve Pipe.

Music homogenized itself in 1996. As a whole, the labels wanted us to embrace what they deemed popular. They momentarily succeeded, capitalizing on the non-caring attitude of listeners as a whole, pounding another nail into the coffin of creativity and disestablishment.

It's Creative License, Not Plagiarism, If You Rip Off Something Four Hundred Years Old:

The comedian Rob Pavaronian had a great routine where he talked about how much he hated Pachelbel's "Canon in D", but that it endlessly haunted him because every song he liked followed a similar chord progression. The most egregious example? Hook by Blues Traveler.

For shame, John Popper. Ripping off a 400-year dead baroque composer. The nerve. But hey, a gig in the movie Kingpin was the result.

The End Of The World As We Know It:

Hootie and The Blowfish actually took their name from two of Darius Rucker’s high school buddies, so no one in the band was ever intended to be called "Hootie". To this day, however, people still refer to Darius as "Hootie", and man, he hates it. That being said I’m sure he prefers the name “Hootie” to “Tender Crisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch Guy.”

In a slightly related yet somewhat puzzling reference from 1996, Garth Brooks refused to accept his American Music Award for Favorite Overall Artist, saying that Hootie and the Blowfish had done more for music that year than he did. Wow.

What If Prince Was One Of Us?

One Of Us is a song written by Eric Bazilian of The Hooters and originally released by Joan Osborne, charting in late '95 and early '96. In 1996, William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League, took issue with the song. Because "even [Joan Osborne's] admirers see something of the sacrilege in her work", Donohue claimed the song was agenda-driven and tip-toed "awfully close to the line of Catholic baiting."

But, Prince loved this song, so much in fact, that in October 1996 he stated, “...that’s the one song in the last 20 years that I wish I had written.” So he covered it on his "Emancipation" album, changing the phrase "just a slob like one of us" to "just a slave like one of us".. And his version is even better than Joan’s version. So, come on, man. Prince loved it. And he is all-funky, so you should too. Shut yo' mouth William A. Donohue.

Fame. It's A Bitch. Damn.

Oh how the mighty had fallen, and in such short time, no less.

In 1996, Former Milli-Vanilli band member Rob Pilatus was hospitalized when a man hit him over the head with a baseball bat in Hollywood, California, while Pilatus was attempting to steal the man's car.

Later that year, M.C. Hammer filed for bankruptcy.

Go Forth For You Are The Future Of Rock & Roll.....

The following bands all formed in 1996: Linkin Park, Dropkick Murphys, O.A.R., Disturbed and 3 Doors Down. Sadly, 1996 also gave us 98 Degrees.

To hear 170 songs from the year 1987 please tune in to Jivewired Radio all day long and thank you for reading! Previous In This Series: Friday Flashback 1987

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