This post is a request from a musician named John (Hi, John!) who holds the distinction of being the very first musician to contact me via YouTube.
John sent me a message through the YouTubes (which was a surprise, because I didn't know YouTube users could send messages to each other) letting me know about one of his songs. It's called "Free", and John released it under the moniker of The Yellow Dazies. He thought I might enjoy it. He was right. I enjoyed it.
One of the reasons I enjoyed it is that it reminded me of two power pop songs I like enormously. I'll mention those other two songs after I play you John's song.
The Yellow Dazies - "Free" (2012)
OK, now for the (minor) coincidences:
1. The start of "Free" uses the same the chord progression as the chorus of Cheap Trick's "Surrender". Because "Free" starts without any vocals (0:00-0:17), you can cheerfully sing the chorus of "Surrender" over the top of it before John starts his singing. It's a heap o' fun:
Cheap Trick - "Surrender" (1978) (excerpt)
Link
2. The last part of "Free", from 3:40 onwards, reminds me of Rooney's "I'm A Terrible Person". It's not a huge coincidence, but it was "Free"'s melodic guitar lines that made me think of the Rooney song:
Rooney - "I'm A Terrible Person" (2003) (excerpt)
Link
But back to John and The Yellow Dazies.
John also suggested I have a listen to "Girl On A Train". I did. And that's all I'll say about that. (My mother's advice is ringing in my ears.)
But I do like "Free". ("Surrender, surrender, but don't give yourself away-ay-ay-ay...")
Oh, and here are the full versions of those non-Yellow Dazies songs:
Cheap Trick - "Surrender" (1978)
Link
Rooney - "I'm A Terrible Person" (2003)
Link
Well, it's not the kind of music that I'd be rushing out to purchase, but I actually didn't mind either of them. I thought they were the sorts of tracks that one plays when one can't make up the musical mood that he/she is in. When you don't want head banging stuff playing and you don't want anything too sugary melting its way into your head, this is the sort of thing I'd be looking for.
ReplyDeleteWell worth the listen Pierre - thanks for that.