Song of the day: Teen Machine - "Hot Mom"

Fountains Of Wayne weren't the only band to write a song about teenagers lusting after other people's mothers...

Teen Machine - "Hot Mom" (2000)

Link

And here's the Fountains Of Wayne song:

Fountains Of Wayne - "Stacy's Mom" (2003)

Link


By the way, I didn't think those two songs were enough for a Musical coincidence. For me, they're more of a conceptual coincidence rather than a musical one.

Musical coincidences # 130

Today's coincidence involves nothing more than a chromatic scale – in one of the songs it goes up and in t' other it goes down. Apart from that, these two songs have only one thing in common: I love 'em.

The one that goes up:

Wings - "Rock Show" (1975) (excerpt)

Link

The one that goes down:

Cheap Trick - "Clock Strikes Ten" (1978) (excerpt)

Link

And the full versions:

Wings - "Rock Show" (1975)

Link


Cheap Trick - "Clock Strikes Ten" (1978)

Link

Song of the day: Fountains Of Wayne - "The Summer Place"

Fountains Of Wayne have made a video for "The Summer Place", the opening song on their latest album, Sky Full Of Holes.

Beware: the video is very cinematic, which may mean one of two things to you...

1) It's wonderfully artistic
or
2) It's terribly pretentious

Fountains Of Wayne - "The Summer Place" (2011)

Link


By the way, I went looking for a photo of the band to show at the top of this post (I like you to have something to look at while you're listening to the music), so I toodled off to the band's website. I didn't like the three official photos there because the chaps looks incredibly serious:

Don't they enjoy playing music anymore?

Anyway, I went with the album cover instead. (I'd much rather see that than a bunch of sourpusses.)

Sidenote: That middle photo reminded me of this.

Fountains Of Wayne official website
Fountains Of Wayne on MySpace
Fountains Of Wayne on Facebook
Fountains Of Wayne on Twitter
Fountains Of Wayne at the All Music Guide

Song of the day: Tim Reid - "Only One"

[A picture of an album cover by Tim Reid
used to be here until Blogger complained
– see below]

After the loud head-pounding songs I inflicted upon you in the last few days, it's time to relax a little.

Here's Australian troubadour Tim Reid with a somnambulistic low-key and thoughtful song from his latest 4-track EP, Only One:

Update 1 (Tuesday 4 October): I had an MP3 of "Only One" by Tim Reid in this spot but it seems that someone, somewhere, somehow didn't want me to share it with you because Blogger sent me a none-too-friendly message saying that something (they never tell you exactly what the naughty part of the post is – see Update 2 below) was a big no-no.

And if you want to hear the whole thing:



Update 2: Here's the message from Blogger in its entirety. I would love them to tell me specifically what was wrong with this post...

Blogger has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that certain content in your blog is alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others. As a result, we have reset the post(s) to \"draft\" status. (If we did not do so, we would be subject to a claim of copyright infringement, regardless of its merits. The URL(s) of the allegedly infringing post(s) may be found at the end of this message.) This means your post - and any images, links or other content - is not gone. You may edit the post to remove the offending content and republish, at which point the post in question will be visible to your readers again.

A bit of background: the DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. If you believe you have the rights to post the content at issue here, you can file a counter-claim. For more information on our DMCA policy, including how to file a counter-claim, please see http://www.google.com/dmca.html.

The notice that we received, with any personally identifying information removed, will be posted online by a service called Chilling Effects at http://www.chillingeffects.org. We do this in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). You can search for the DMCA notice associated with the removal of your content by going to the Chilling Effects search page at http://www.chillingeffects.org/search.cgi, and entering in the URL of the blog post that was removed.

If it is brought to our attention that you have republished the post without removing the content/link in question, then we will delete your post and count it as a violation on your account. Repeated violations to our Terms of Service may result in further remedial action taken against your Blogger account including deleting your blog and/or terminating your account. If you have legal questions about this notification, you should retain your own legal counsel.

Sincerely,

The Blogger Team

Affected URLs:

[http://peterspowerpop.blogspot.com/2011/09/song-of-day-tim-reid-only-one.html]

Tim Reid official website
Tim Reid on MySpace
Tim Reid at Popboomerang Records

Song of the day: Grand Atlantic - "Central Station Blues"

I've just noticed that the previous two Songs of the day have been from the 80's. In an effort to modernise this ol' blog, I'll play you a song by Grand Atlantic from their latest album, Costellations:

Grand Atlantic - "Central Station Blues" (2011)


Now I feel up to date.

Grand Atlantic official website
Grand Atlantic on MySpace
Grand Atlantic on Facebook
Grand Atlantic on Twitter

Musical coincidences # 129

Today's coincidence appears as a result of me regularly visiting Stonefish's Music Blog. (Hi, Stonemaster!) A recent post featured a song by someone called Eden Kane. When I heard how the song started...

Eden Kane - "Boys Cry" (1964) (excerpt)

Link

...it immediately occurred to me that if you slowed that down a bit and took out a note or two, you could end up with this:

Billy J. Kramer - "From A Window" (1964) (excerpt)

Link

Easy.

Here are the full versions:

Eden Kane - "Boys Cry" (1964)

Link

Billy J. Kramer - "From A Window" (1964)

Link

Thanks, Stoneman, for graciously allowing me to borrow yer MP3 for illustration purposes today.

I like sharing.

Song of the day: A band - "Siren (Never Let You Go)"

Here's a band I won't mention by name – mainly because I get into trouble whenever I mention the name – with a song played at breakneck speed.

If you don't like this particular band, don't worry – the song will be over in two-and-a-half minutes:

A band Blogger doesn't like me mentioning - "Siren (Never Let You Go)" (1983)

Link
Mimed

Live

Musical coincidences # 128

I can't take any credit at all for this coincidence. I discovered it in "Music Weekly: John Lennon remembered", a podcast aired on The Guardian's website last year. In amongst the discussion about John's legacy, music journalist Alex Petridis talks about Yoko Ono's contributions to John's oeuvre:


Link

"There's a song on Fly called 'Mrs. Lennon' which, no doubt about it, Alex Chilton from Big Star totally ripped off for 'Holocaust' off the third Big Star album – it sounds exactly... it's exactly the same tune, it's exactly the same riff, there's no... he was a Beatles obsessive, he would have heard it."

Here they are:

Yoko Ono - "Mrs. Lennon" (1971)

Link

Big Star - "Holocaust" (1974)

Link

Yep.

Song of the day: Cold Chisel - "Houndog"

Here's a song by Cold Chisel that I'd consider to be a spiritual cousin / musical first cousin to The Beatles' "Hey Bulldog":

Cold Chisel - "Houndog" (1982)

Link

And if you want to compare riffs...

The Beatles - "Hey Bulldog" (1969)

Link

I didn't want to make today's escapade involving those two songs a Musical coincidence because "Houndog" would have ended up not being Song of the day – and I reckon with that driving riff, "Houndog" is definitely Song of the day material.

Song of the day: Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - "I'll Be There"

Have you always wanted to hear The Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" played as if it was The Cars' "Just What I Needed"? Yep, me too.

Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - "I'll Be There" (2003)

Link

The first time I heard it I was grinning throughout, but I laughed out loud when they started shouting "Hey!".

Here are the originals for an instructive comparison on how you can merge two unbelievably unrelated songs:

The Jackson 5 - "I'll Be There" (1970)

Link


The Cars - "Just What I Needed" (1978)

Link

Musical coincidences # 127

This is admittedly a fairly small coincidence, but whenever I hear it I can't help thinking "That's pretty obvious, isn't it?", and nobody else seems to have mentioned it (well, online anyway), so I thought I might as well present it to you.

As you may or may not know, I'm a fan of Sunshine Pop. Sunny melodies, sunny harmonies, sunny outlook. What's not to like? (Everything, if you're a perpetual moper.)

One of the heavyweights in the non-grumpy world of Sunshine Pop is The Association. ("Never My Love" is one of my all-time favourite songs. Ever.) I'd recently been listening to Just The Right Sound, The Association's splendid 2-disc album of their hits, when I came across a song I hadn't heard before. The song is "Pegasus", and it's credited to Association member Russ Giguere. There's a little orchestral bit at the start that pilfers quite shamelessly the start of a well-known piece of classical music:

Russ Giguere - "Pegasus" (1971) (excerpt)

Link

Wagner - "Ride of the Valkyries" (1856) (excerpt)
(Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly)

Link

It may be entirely coincidental, but that bit in "Pegasus" reminds me way too much of the Valkyries' noisy ride.

Here are the full versions:

Russ Giguere - "Pegasus" (1971)

Link

Wagner - "Ride of the Valkyries" (1856)
(Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly)

Link

Song of the day: The Sharks - "Jimmy"

I recently received an enlightening email from a chap called Paul (Hi, Paul!) about a band from London called The Sharks. The email was enlightening because I learnt that Paul is a member of The Sharks, and that The Sharks have recorded and released three EPs. I didn't know any of those things before Paul emailed me. Thanks, Paul. Oh, and the band is actually a duo:

The Sharks.
One of these individuals may be Paul.

I also discovered that there's an English band called Sharks, but they're not The Sharks. The Sharks that aren't The Sharks are from a punk band from Leamington Spa. Now I'm in the mood for a lamington:

Mmm.

Anyway, Paul from The Sharks pointed me in the direction of the band's Bandcamp page which is chock full o' songs. That page contains the contents of their three EPs each containing four songs which, if you're counting, amounts to 12 songs.

By the way, all the songs are free. Bargain!

And now to the songs...

THE SONGS – PART 1: JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER
I shimmied on over to The Sharks' Bandcamp page, but I have to say that before listening to any of the songs I was slightly fearful of what I saw. I looked aghast at some of the song titles. "Everybody Just Rapes Me"? "Dirty Horrible Jesus"? "Sinners Song"? "Bloodlust"? "Give It Up"? "Rock Is Dead"? They're not the cheeriest song titles I've ever come across. Judging by those titles, my guess was that there may be a bit of self-loathing, Grunge-style, going on here. Oh dear. (Or, putting it another way: Oh-oh.)

THE SONGS – PART 2: ACTUALLY LISTENING TO THE SONGS INSTEAD OF MOANING ABOUT THE SONG TITLES
I've now listened to all the songs, and I'm happy to say that listening to them wasn't anywhere near the ordeal I thought it was going to be.

THE SONGS – PART 3: REVIEWIN' THE BEASTIES
Now, because you don't want to waste your time reading the extended ramblings of an Antipodean blogger, I'll try to review each song as briefly as possible. (This post is already long enough.) I'm going to set myself a goal of reviewing each song using no more than six words.



BLOODLUST (EP) (1 August 2011)

What I reckon: EP with DIY garage/punk feel.


1. "Friends Of The Revolution"
Garage pop. Fun fake-sax solo.
RECOMMENDED.

2. "Rock Is Dead"
2/4 beat. Sings like Elvis Costello.
RECOMMENDED.

3. "Desire"
Thrashy, early-punk-esque. Skinny-tie vocals.

4. "It's Happening Again!"
50's-ish. Rockabilly-ish.



STOCKWELL LOVE (EP) (1 August 2011)

What I reckon: More like power pop than Bloodlust.


1. "Jimmy"
Noisy guitars. Like it.
RECOMMENDED.

2. "Stories"
Traditional songwriting. Passionate singing. Weird falsetto.

3. "Test Drive"
70's skinny tie with punk ethos.

4. "Butterflies"
50's song structure. Dodgy singing.



EVERYBODY JUST RAPES ME (EP) (13 September 2011)

What I reckon: Poppier than both Bloodlust and Stockwell Love.


1. "Give It Up"
Reminds me of The Cure's "Inbetween Days".
RECOMMENDED.

2. "Everybody Just Rapes Me"
Punk and rockabilly. Punkabilly? Rockapunk?

3. "Horrible Dirty Jesus"
Staccato beat. Reminds me of Britpop.

4. "Sinners Song"
Enjoyable. Missing an apostrophe.
RECOMMENDED.

Song of the day: Michael Holm - "I Will Return"

Today's song by German singer Michael Holm is one I have a love/hate relationship with. I think it's one of the dreariest songs I've ever heard – but I also think it's horrendously catchy. Aaargh!

Michael Holm - "I Will Return" (1972)

Link


If you're wondering why a German ballad is on an Australian power pop blog, it's because it was on an Australian K-Tel album, 20 Solid Hits Vol. 3, and that's where I heard it. Over and over again. (I loved those K-Tel albums when I was a nipper.)

As a bonus, here's the original version. It was an instrumental written and recorded single-handedly* by British musician Phil Cordell under the pseudonym Springwater:

(*He probably used both his hands.)

Springwater - "I Will Return" (1971)

Link


Phil re-recorded the song in 1985 under his own name, this time with vocals:

Phil Cordell - "I Will Return" (1985)

Link

But back to German singer Michael Holm...

Herr Holm released a song in 1975 called "I'll Return", but it's not "I Will Return". I think the 1975 song is even drearier – and nowhere near as catchy:

Michael Holm - "I'll Return" (1975)


By the way, here's a photo of Michael:

That's one of the nicest haircuts I've ever seen.

Michael Holm official website

Song of the day: Kate Bush - "Sat In Your Lap"

Have I told you that I love Kate Bush?

Kate Bush - "Sat In Your Lap" (1982)

Link


Incidentally, although I think Kate Bush is tremendously original – and all kinds of wonderful – "Sat In Your Lap" did appear in a Musical coincidence some time ago. At least the coincidence involved XTC.

Kate Bush official website
Kate Bush on MySpace
Kate Bush on Facebook
Kate Bush on Twitter
Kate Bush YouTube channel

Song of the day: Kate Bush - "James And The Cold Gun"

Before I get to today's song I want to make the following statement:

I am in love with Kate Bush – and always have been.

Now that I have that out of the way, here's a song by Kate Bush:

Kate Bush - "James And The Cold Gun" (1978)

Link

And here's a ripper live version, recorded during Kate's one and only tour:

Kate Bush - "James And The Cold Gun" (live) (1979)

Link


I was 18 in 1979. I wouldn't have minded living in England then, because at that time I would have been ready, able, and incredibly willing to attend at least one of those concerts. Sigh.

Kate Bush.

Kate Bush official website
Kate Bush on MySpace
Kate Bush on Facebook
Kate Bush on Twitter
Kate Bush YouTube channel

Song of the day: The Bynars - "Every Little Thing You Love"

I received an email from American band The Bynars promoting their latest song. I dare say a whole lot of other people received the same email, 'cos it's one of those "Hi everybody, here's our latest song" emails that bands like to send out to people.

Nevertheless, I was glad to get that email because it reminded me of The Bynars (Hi, Bynars!) and their debut album, conveniently titled The Bynars, which is full of songs I like and have mentioned before.

The email said that the song is being made available at Bandcamp on 19 September. Where I am – i.e., the Southern Hemisphere – it's the 19th of September which theoretically means it's now available, but if you're reading this up in the northern reaches of this planet we call Earth it may not be the 19th yet, so the song may not be available for you yet. (It wasn't available for me when I tried the link a moment ago.) Hemispheres are weird.

Ah well. Feel free to try it at Bandcamp:

http://thebynars.bandcamp.com/track/every-little-thing-you-love

If this hemispheres thing is messin' up The Bynars' quest to have you listen to the song, then you can hear it here. Enjoy!

The Bynars - "Every Little Thing You Love" (2011)

Link

Update: It's now available at Bandcamp:



The Bynars official website
The Bynars at Bandcamp

Song of the day: Paul Kelly And The Coloured Girls - "Dumb Things"

Today's post is a two-for-one deal courtesy of an American record company thinking people wouldn't want to hear an Australian song as it originally sounded.

Here's Paul Kelly's splendid "Dumb Things" released in Australia in 1987 on Mushroom Records:

Paul Kelly And The Coloured Girls - "Dumb Things" (1987)

Link

And here's Paul Kelly's "Dumb Things" remixed and foisted upon the American market in 1988 by A&M Records:

Paul Kelly And The Messengers - "Dumb Things" (1988)

Link

Song of the day: Flaming Youth - "Changes"

Today's song – and revelation – appears courtesy of my favourite Adelaide radio station, Three D Radio.

I was out with the family the other day, and as they went off to do some shopping that I don't engage in*, I sat cheerfully in the car listening to the Three D Radio's "Obscured By..." program which highlights rock music rarely heard anywhere, let alone on a radio. One of the songs played during my time in the car intrigued me. It was a prog rock track that had very poppy tunes. (Now, that's what I'd call rare.) When the announcer said what it was, and who was in the band, I said "Wow".

The announcer mentioned that the band was Flaming Youth (no relation to the Kiss song), an English prog rock band that released one album (Ark 2) in 1969 and then promptly disappeared. The announcer also mentioned that the person who played drums and sang on it was Phil Collins, who was 18 when the band recorded the album. Phil Collins. 18.

Flaming Youth - "Changes" (1969)

Link


Wow.

By the way, the distinctly prog-rock rhythms in the first section of "Changes" reminded me of another prog ditty:



(*They were shopping for stuff that doesn't interest me because it wasn't music or books or DVDs.)

Song of the day: Adrian Whitehead - "Spector's Dead:

Here's Adrian Whitehead with the musically gorgeous but lyrically unsettling "Spector's Dead":

Adrian Whitehead - "Spector's Dead" (2008)

Link

Adrian Whitehead on MySpace

Musical coincidences # 126

A few days ago I posted a song by American musician Jeremy Messersmith called "Lazy Bones". After hearing it one more time, I noticed something I missed the first six times I heard it*. In a part of the song's chorus Jeremy sings a background vocal in the left channel. He sings "You're working so hard":

Jeremy Messersmith - "Lazy Bones" (2010) (excerpt)

Link

I don't know why I hadn't notice it before, but the melody in that backing vocal reminds me of the violin backing in a part of John Lennon's "#9 Dream":

John Lennon - "#9 Dream" (1974) (excerpt)

Link

I know it's a pretty small coincidence, and probably not worth mentioning at all, but it gave me an excuse to play you Monsignor Lennon's "#9 Dream" which I sometimes think is my all-time favourite John Lennon song (if I'm not thinking about "Across The Universe").

Here are the full versions:

Jeremy Messersmith - "Lazy Bones" (2010)

Link

John Lennon - "#9 Dream" (1974)

Link

(*I just noticed how egocentric that sentence is, containing not one but three instances of "I". Ay Yi Yi! What a fat head I'm getting.)

Song of the day: Grand Atlantic - "Moth And Rust"

Here's Grand Atlantic with the inexplicably-titled "Moth And Rust":

Grand Atlantic - "Moth And Rust" (2008)

Link

Maybe I should listen to the lyrics. That might explain things. Maybe.

Grand Atlantic official website
Grand Atlantic on MySpace
Grand Atlantic on Facebook
Grand Atlantic on Twitter

Song of the day: Mental As Anything - "The Nips Are Getting Bigger"

Here are Mental As Anything with their debut single, an ode to the perils of alcohol:

Mental As Anything - "The Nips Are Getting Bigger" (1979)

Link


It's only just occurred to me, after not hearing it for ages, that the song sounds heavily influenced by early Elvis Costello. Maybe it's because they had a Farfisa organ (like pretty much every other New Wave band in the late 70's), and they couldn't help but sound like early Elvis Costello.

It's also occurred to me that the previous paragraph was particularly pointless. Sorry about that.

Mental As Anything official website
Mental As Anything on MySpace
Mental As Anything on Facebook

Song of the day: Honeybus - "Big Ship"

Today's song appears here courtesy of a chain of events leading up to one mistake made on a bass guitar.

I'll make this as quick as I can:

I'm a member of the Audities music newsgroup, and somebody there declared their love for an English band from the late 60's called Honeybus. The person mentioned one of Honeybus's unreleased-in-the-band's-lifetime songs, "Big Ship", as an example of how good the band was. The Audities person said something like "their unreleased stuff is way better than most other bands' officially released material! Check it out!" etc. It's the kind of thing that gets people like me interested in a hitherto unknown band.

Before I get to the bit about me listening to the song and then the song itself (i.e., the part of the post you might actually be interested in), I want to insert an explanatory paragraph:

I'm a big fan of mistakes on records – not to point and laugh at the musician who made the mistake, but to be pleasantly reminded that before the days of rampant flaw-eliminating technology came along, actual human beings were involved in making records. I can picture the mistake-making musician sitting in the recording studio, thinking to him- or herself, "Oops", and hoping no-one noticed as the rest of the band went for that perfect take. In other words, a mistake on a record is evidence of real people. Oh, the humanity!

Anyway, as I listened to that previously unreleased song I noticed a pretty glaring mistake made by the bass player. (It happens at 2:25 in the recording.) For a moment I wondered if that was the reason the song was never released by the band, but then I realised that was daft thinking (as in: "Don't talk wet, Peter – people aren't going to hold off releasing a record just because of one bass mistake. Pull yourself together man!"). And then I thought "Hey, that's a good enough song to put on the blog. Plus it has that bass mistake which can remind people of a time when human beings were involved in making music."

So here's a rather American-sounding song by an English band I didn't know about until a rabid Audities fan mentioned them:

Honeybus - "Big Ship" (2002)

Link

Song of the day: Christine Anu - "Party"

Ostensibly this is a dance track, but I think that underneath all those beats is a magnificent pop song. I love it. Plus it has some wild guitar sounds.

Despite its danciness, may I suggest you press "play" and turn it up up UP!

Christine Anu - "Party" (1995)

Link


Christine Anu official website

Musical coincidences # 125

For me, one of the disadvantages of watching tween television programs with the 15-year-old in the household (Hi, Natalie!) is having to endure the songs in them. However, some of those songs remind me of other songs, and that gives me an excuse to add to the list of musical coincidences on offer here.

For example, in one of those tween songs this...

Hannah Montana - "We Got The Party" (2008) (excerpt)

Link

...reminds me of this:

Kim Wilde - "Kids In America" (1981) (excerpt)

Link

And there, ladies and gentlemen, cats and kittens, gloves and mittens, is a Grade-A musical coincidence.

Here are the full versions:

Hannah Montana - "We Got The Party" (2008)

Link

Hannah Montana ft. Jonas Brothers - "We Got The Party" (2008)

Link


Kim Wilde - "Kids In America" (1981)

Link