Songs I Didn't Skip (Part 24)

"Quiche Lorraine" by The B-52s (1980)

This is quite the dog-walking song though it's a wee bit unfair to Great Danes.

"Patch My Heart" by The Mad Lads (1966)

A really good old R&B song I don't remember hearing, complete with an old-time salon sounding piano. And if I didn't know better, I would never have guessed this band was called The Mad Lads.

"Carolina in My Mind" by James Taylor (1976)

I had no idea this classic recording was a re-do from his debut LP in 1968, made for the Beatles'-owned Apple Records. Still, despite its familiarity I still dig this song. Another bass fact: Lee Sklar played on this song (the redo). Sklar is one of my favorite electric bassists. Go check him out. He has a hell of a beard, too.

"Cities" by Talking Heads (1979)

One of Tina Weymouth's better bass lines. The song fades IN and OUT. Does this mean David Byrne never stops deliberating on where to live? I don't know, but a dry ice factory is a good place to get some thinking done. 

"The Big Sky" by Kate Bush (1985)

I like seeing Kate get some contemporary appreciation, thanks to a certain Netflix show. There's supposedly a didgeridoo on the song but it's pretty buried in the mix. 

"Kind Hearted Woman Blues by Robert Johnson (1937)

It's pretty easy to forgot how influential this guy was. There's just something about those old cuts that really hits you. Choice lyric:  "She's a kind-hearted woman. She studies evil all the time." Yowza. 

"I Want Your Love" by Chris Issak (1993)

There's a pretty clear through-line from the previous song on this list to this one. It was interesting to hear these back to back.

"Surfin' Bird" by The Trashmen (1963)

I first heard this song on the "Full Metal Jacket" soundtrack and found it pretty fun and kinda strange. It's one of those odd little one-off songs that sounds pretty unique, considering it's really just a basic 60s surf tune (it's actually two songs or quotes another song at the end). The band was a Minneapolis-based surf-rock (!) band that broke out of its regional status with this song. I love how the sound of the recording just washes over you in waves, intentional or not. The track sounds like it was recorded with distortion in mind and sounds like those old analog electronics are just being pounded. 

Fun fact:  this was recorded at a studio in Minneapolis that a group I play in also recorded in.

Alternate fun fact:  This song was NOT a favorite of my old friend Eric S. Back in 1987/88 or so, a few of us stopped at Eric's house to pick him up and as soon as he opened the car door, we blasted this song on the stereo. It was kind of a dick move, but I think we all laugh about it now. If not, sorry Eric.

"The Beast and the Dragon, Adored" by Spoon (2005)

It's been fun revisiting all of this almost 20 year old alt-rock stuff.

"Sweetheart" by Franke & The Knockouts (1981)

I was surprised to hear this wasn't released in 1978. It really has that Ambrosia thing going on.

"Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder (1985)

Even a middling SW song is still good, even one like this that sounds pretty dated and overproduced. 

"Black Dog" by Led Zeppelin (1971)

I'm not going to have anything new to say about this classic but come on, it's named for a black dog!

"Stuck in the Middle With You" by Stealers Wheel (1971)

More Scots! This Bob Dylan-esque song was apparently mocking the record business and, I didn't realize this was produced by Leiber and Stoller. 

"Blue Ridge Mountains" by Fleet Foxes (2008)

This record has such a great reverb-drenched folky/melancholy vibe.

"Please Mr. Please" by Olivia Newton-John (1975)

I have often been mellow. And hey, the original UK B Side to this was "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". That's pretty goofy.

"Storms in Africa" by Enya (1988)

I somehow got even MORE mellow! If this wasn't used for an IMAX movie at a science museum, someone was asleep at the wheel...from listening to too much Enya. That doesn't make much sense, does it.

"Stay Up Late" by Talking Heads (1985)

There ended up being a lot of songs by this band on here but they come up a lot and songs like this are just too damn fun to pass up.

Songs I Didn't Skip (Part 23)

 What, no pithy remark for this one?

The Spotify version of this was getting out of hand so I started a "part 2"

"Land of Confusion" by Genesis (1986)

I'll get the bass player observation out of the way first. The synth bass on this one sounds like a "pew pew" laser sound that's been lowered in pitch. I wonder what Mark King from Level 42 would have done with this track. However, I forgot/never noticed that the bridge of this song changes to a conventional electric bass (I avoid the use of the term, "bass guitar" thanks to my Dad...long story). Keen. The song is likely my favorite from this album, even if it was overshadowed by its music video. Also, I never noticed the cover for the single. Clever. 

The song is of course referring to the Cold War but is just vague enough to still feel relevant as I listen to it, the day of the first public January 6 Committee hearing. Too many people, causing too many problems. And guys, your generation most certainly did not "get it right".  Is this laying it on a bit thick for a song like this? Most certainly. 

This album was also one of the earlier CDs I bought, but this one was from good old Columbia House! We did what we could in those days. I've gone on way too long about this but I also remember the CD being the first one I encountered that had this coding on the disc called an INDEX that was basically a track within a track. This album had one to break up the longer song into two pieces or something. This was a pretty short-lived feature from the early days of the audio CD but my first player had buttons for them and this CD had one. Aren't you glad you know this?

"Love is a Battlefield" by Pat Benatar (1983)

After the relative angst of the previous 80s song, this one is a palate cleanser, despite its overwrought title. 

"Starting Five" by Dios (2004)

Another one of those, "where did I get this song?" tracks. It was probably from some random CD sampler I've long since lost or was on a TV show like 'The OC".  Not bad though, I don't get the "kids playing on a playground" background sounds thing. But sometimes, all you need is a catchy chorus where you just sing, "hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo...".

"Only When You Leave" by Spandau Ballet (1984)

I totally forgot that this was one of this group's hits. 

"Lodi" by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)

I was tempted to make some kind of funny Big Lebowski comment but I'll just note instead that this song really doesn't glamorize the life of a musician on the road. But hey, at least it isn't about Vietnam...or IS IT???

"Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring (1982)

This is of course an 80s classic but..."feels like being cloned"???

"Joy" by Apollo 100 (1972)

A fun rock-like arrangement of the JS Bach classical piece that screams "early 1970s" which is why it's fodder for period movie soundtracks.

"The Hidden Track" by Earlimart (2004)

Good early 2000s alt-pop with an Elliot Smith-like vocal. Thank you for shopping at Earlimart! 

Why is the song called "The Hidden Track"? Did the CD of it have an actual hidden track? Did you know CDs had these? This was when there would be an extra song or bit of music at the end of a noted track that would play if you didn't skip to the next song. The only way to know it was there, besides waiting for it to play, was to have your CD player (OK, fine, software does this too!) display remaining time and note that it didn't match the length listed on the CD box or booklet. So clever (not that it matters now but those engineers sure knew how to keep us all guessing). 

"Me and My Arrow" by Harry Nilsson (1971)

Another weird little song by Mr. Nilsson about "Oblio, the pointless boy".

"Another Day" by Air (2003)

These cool, Euro-electronica tunes can really hit the spot sometimes.

"Pick Up the Pieces" by Average White Band (1975)

This band was Scottish? Another 70s instrumental, sax-heavy hit and if it ain't Scottish, it's CRAP!

"Baby's in Black" by The Beatles (1964)

This sounds like one of those early Beatles songs that was a cover of an R&B song but it's a Lennon original. How many Beatles songs are in 6/8 time? I can't think of any others off the top of me head.

"It's a Man's Man's Man's World by James Brown (1966)

Another tune in 6/8...and according to Wikipedia (again, the source of all knowledge), Rolling Stone called this song, "biblically chauvinistic" but hey, it's James Brown WITH STRINGS!

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Gordon Lightfoot (1976)

If you live in Minnesota, you're not really allowed to skip this song. One of the great lyrics:  "Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?" Observation:  he really imparts a lot of information in this song!

"Short Side of Nothing" by Los Lobos (1992)

And good track from the "Kiko" album...and it doesn't resolve. 

"I Wanna Be Sedated" by The Ramones (1978)

This one kinda cracks me up.

Songs I Didn't Skip (Part 22)

 "Welcome to the Occupation" by REM (1987)

Apparently written about the US Government's "activities" in Central America in the 80s, the song could pretty easily be adapted to today's situations.

"Hold On, Hold On" by Neko Case (2006)

A really good song from what is likely her best solo record.

"World Leader Pretend" by REM (1988)

OK, so this did in fact pop up shortly after the last REM song and if I were trying to be more even-handed, I'd have omitted this one but it's a song I like well and I did in fact let it play so here we are with an REM-heavy list. Like I've said before, this whole exercise is about re-hearing things I wouldn't always pick out of my music library to listen to. I suspect that the song isn't in fact about war or politics but more personal isolation but with this band, who the hell knows.

"It Ought to Be Easier" by Lyle Lovett (1996)

There's a lot of truth in this song about breakups.

"Let Me Roll It" by Paul McCartney and Wings (1973)

This was only a B side but it's one of the best tracks from "Band on the Run" if you ask me. 

"Tombstone Blues" by Bob Dylan (1965)

In which Bob rambles on for six minutes about being out of frozen pizza. A seriously funny song, really (much funnier than my joke here) with a lot of great BD turns 'o phrase. 

"The Heart of Rock & Roll" by Huey Lewis and The News (1983)

Classic 80s retro-pop. From one of the first albums I bought when I got a CD player in 1985. It's good but there weren't exactly a ton of choices on CD at the local Musicland store that year. Someone described Huey Lewis and The News as the world's greatest bar band. I've got to agree.

"Stomp!" by The Brothers Johnson (1980)

Another hit that landed near the end of the reign of Disco. I sometimes wonder when I hear songs like this if the Disco era was a golden age for string players. So many of these hits have strings (and other 70s pop) so life must have been good if you did that kind of work. Also notable, the bass playing on this song by Louis Johnson who was one of the earlier bassists who really nailed slap playing on electric bass. Funky!

"Jigsaw Falling Into Place" by Radiohead (2007)

A good track from one of their better LPs which I mainly remember for the way in which it was initially released. You could go on their website and "name your price" to get an mp3 download which was a big deal at the time and served mostly as a Fuck You to their record label. 

"The Pope" by The Men of the Robert Shaw Chorale (1962)

This is such a goofy little song that I need to link to a YouTube video of it since it's unsurprisingly not on Spotify. "Oh no, I would not be the Pope!"

"The Penguin" by Dave Harris and The Powerhouse Five (1960)

A cool little instrumental tune that came from one of those "bachelor lounge" compilation CDs from that brief time in the 90s when this music became hipster bait. 

"Lazy Flies" by Beck (1998)

As a friend of mine once said, "you can't make love to no Beck!"  

"Too Hot" by Kool & The Gang (1980)

Sounds a bit more 80s than 70s and hats off to Kool and his "Gang" for adapting to the times between the decades. 

"I Love Her All the Time" by Camper Van Beethoven (1986)

The song doesn't quite match the title. And apparently I needed more Camper Van Beethoven in my rotation.

"While My Heart Is Still Beating" by Roxy Music (1982)

A good slow-burn track from the band's final (best?) album.

"The End" by The Beatles (1969)

There's so much to say about anything from this album but nearly nothing that hasn't been said before, better put, by others, but I will add two things. I still find it amazing that this band did an album this good at time where they were right on the edge of breaking up. The chaos and unevenness of "Let It Be" (so well illustrated in the recent Peter Jackson documentary) just reinforces what they could do if they pulled it together for one last hurrah in the studio. Also, it's a little weird to hear this song by itself without the rest of the bits that flow together in the final 15 or so minutes of the LP. So much that long ago, I made an edit of the whole thing so it would play on my (likely iPod at the time) in its entirety. And:  RINGO!!!

"Knock on Wood" by Eddie Floyd (1966)

Another classic R&B song that I became familiar with, not by the original version, but with a later cover. The 1979 Amii Stewart disco version was probably the first one I heard. This one is of course better.

"Heart of Gold" by Neil Young (1972)

This one gets a pass for its use of harmonica as it's such a good song (well recorded, too) and yes, I'm sure Neil got tired of playing it since it got so mainstream but I still like it. It's one of those songs that sounds good in the grocery aisles as well as the headphones. 

"Porcelain" by Moby (2000)

Speaking of grocery store music, this one was all over the place back in the early aughts (man, that sounds dumb). Even NPR used it on their music breaks, FFS. However, years later I find this to be a good listen if the mood strikes. I guess it did here where it made picking up some dog poo go very smooooooothely. 

"So Nice to Be with You" by Gallery (1972)

Ok, so this band's name has to be in the running with Bread for having the world's most generic rock band name. There had to have been a better name for a band than something a line of home appliances was called, guys. 

"I Don't Wanna Go Home" by The Alan Parsons Project (1980)

From a concept album about gambling that is one their better ones. I still can't hear the name of this group without hearing Mike Myers, as Dr. Evil, saying "I'm calling it The Alan Parsons Project".

"Human Touch" by Bruce Springsteen (1992)

From Bruce's solo years, it sounds more like an 80s song but whatever, Boss.

"Same Old Saturday Night" by Frank Sinatra (1955)

It sounds like a sequel/companion piece to "Saturday Night is the Loneliest Night of the Week". Typical 50s Sinatra/Capitol sound. It's all good.

"Haitian Divorce" by Steely Dan (1976)

I was once at a 'Dan concert where the drunk person sitting near me yelled out, several times, "PLAY HAITIAN DIVORCE!"  Who the hell has this song as their favorite Steely Dan song? Personal meaning, I guess.

"Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" by Lucinda Williams (1998)

Another good alt-Country song I hadn't heard in a long time.

"I'm a Loser" by The Beatles (1964)

 I love the way Lennon just barely gets down to that low note at the end of the verses. 

"Out of Time" by The Rolling Stones (1966)

Beatles followed by Stones. Yep, that's the order! Tell me I'm wrong here.

"Message in a Bottle" by The Police (1979)

This remains one of my favorite Police songs and it really doesn't sound like something from 1979.