23 August 2013 (Day 235) – The Battle Of The Divas

For rock pigs like myself, practically the musical term I despise most is diva.  It seems to me that the media today uses this term to describe any full voiced female vocalist who happens to court massive popularity and record sales.   But it also seems, at least to me, that these vocalists seem to misuse what are often God-given gifts in order to obtain this popularity.  For some reason it seems as though the (male dominated) record industry simply doesn’t know how to take these tools and use them to produce true works of art, settling instead on producing populist mush that is lapped up by the masses as though they’re some form of tranquiliser.

This seems to be a trend that goes all the way back to the greatest – and most listenable - diva of all, Aretha Franklin.  Her first real record label, Columbia Records, just didn’t seem to know what to do with this force of nature, seemingly attempting to mould her into a black version of Barbara Streisand.  It was only after she moved to Atlantic Records that her career took off.  Atlantic’s ploy was staggeringly simple; they ensured she had access to songs with which she felt some true empathy and then made sure sufficient control and musical accompaniment was imposed that allowed her to give true voice to her emotions whilst harnessing that power in the interest of the song.

It was a staggeringly successful approach.  But so has the approach of the last 20 years of so that gave rise to Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Don among others.  All have (or in Houston’s case, had) magnificent voices that the public wanted to hear.  Yet they’ve been terribly easy to please.  Whilst Aretha’s audience refused to jump on board until the necessary adjustments were made, all the present day divas had to do was to thrill about at the upper ranges of their voices to impress.  It’s no coincidence that each of these women’s biggest hits, Whitney’s I Will Always Love You, that Titanic song of Celine’s and Carey’s impressive rendition of I’ll Be There are all numbers where their vocals were not allowed to show off and concentrated on the actual song.

From what I could hear, the failure to reign in these singers and the wannabees that have trailed in their wake, has had a number of major consequences.  First, many of the songs have been demolished by these voices.  The early Mariah Carey hits and most of Celine Dion’s are, in my view unlistenable today, owing to the songs falling apart under the eventual weight of all the vocal swoopings.  This, in turn, left the artists with precious little room to manoeuvre as they tried to stay relevant after their glory years and the audience tired of these vocal gymnastics.  Dion, for example, has effectively become a prisoner of Las Vegas; I suspect she knows she can maintain an audience there for past glories by putting on an elaborate floor show that disguises that changes that must be occurring to her voice.  It also prevents her facing the laws of diminishing returns if she were to continually release new studio albums or undertake world tours.  Whitney Houston attempted to do this and learnt the hard way.  Her live audience, seemingly with little or no knowledge about her private life or the gradual loss of power in her voice, arrived at her shows expecting the same vocal sounds of her younger days and generally did hold back on expressing their disapproval.  At least Mariah Carey had the good sense to change musical direction and attempt diversification into reality show judging, acting and motherhood.

Consequently, it should not come as any surprise that any of the present day divas figure in my collection or today’s listening.  I fitted in albums by three divas from the same era, each of whose careers have gone off into different directions.

(# 553) Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (1998)

Lauryn has not released an album since this and, as far as I’m concerned, doesn’t need to release another so securely is her place in music history due to it and her work in The Fugees.  Starting with a school roll call that establishes her absence, Hill produced a seamless album that, by rapping and singing about themes that are important to her, effectively tell her life story without having to give too much specific detail away.  This is a towering achievement by any measure blending most forms of black music along the way.  Even now, after owing the album for over a dozen years, I still cannot individualise its tracks.  Just put it on, let it wash around you and you’ll feel what I mean.

(#554) Macy Gray – Oh How Life Is (1999)

How times have changed.  When this album was released, it looked as though Hill had a major challenger for the crown.  And yet, despite a number of albums since, Gray hasn’t come close to matching this.  Indeed her last Melbourne performance a year or two ago was so roundly panned, that I doubt she’ll ever return.  That’s a shame because this album just had so much promise.  Caligula, the wonderful I Try, the crazed Sex-o-matic Venus Freak and the epic I Can’t Wait To Meetchu are showed different sides to someone who threatened to re define soul in her own image.

(#555) Queen Latifah – All Hail the Queen (1989)

The cover shows Queen Latifah at 19 years of age looking confident and all knowing. This, her debut album is so assured that I swore it was the work of someone much older.  No wonder she has since branched out into so many areas of the entertainment industry.  On this catchy album she makes the most of a number of collaborations.  Dance For Me is a memorable opener, deftly utilising her samples of Sly Stone’s Dance To The Music.  Mama Gave Birth To The Children sees her provide a female voice to what is otherwise a typical De La Soul track and Evil That Man Do is a socially aware number with Boogie Down Productions’ KRS-One. 

22 August 2013 (Day 234) – Two Albums With Cinematic Links

It was another busy day at work, with only enough time to play a couple of albums.  Both have links to the cinema without actually being movie soundtracks.  The first is by a Northern Irish DJ turned musician who, in addition to his own albums, has produced a number of movie soundtracks;

(# 551) David Holmes – Dow Down To The Exit Sign (2000)

Best known for composing the soundtracks for the Ocean’s Eleven films, David Holmes has also put together a number of great albums under his own name which mix rock, soul, blues, punk and other genres that sound like a ready made soundtrack.  Indeed, he subsequently lifted the wonderful instrumental 69 Police (with it’s “woo-hoo” Sympathy For The Devil inspired shouts) from this album and directly placed it into the Ocean’s Eleven soundtrack.  He also collaborates with a number of established artists.  Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie contributes and sings on Sick City (later released by the Scream on the Live In Japan album) and Jon Spencer provides Bad Thing which wouldn’t sound out of place on any of his albums with the Blues Explosion.   Gillespie and Martine Topley-Bird also lend their voices to Slip Your Skin, a track that sounds like an ambient form of punk. But picking out tracks is really a futile task as this is an album that is meant to be listened in a single session.

(# 552) The Propellerheads – Decksanddrumsandrockandroll (1998)

The Propellerheads was the name (apparently a slang term for the word nerd) chosen by electronic duo Will White and Alex Gifford.  This album attracted attention immediately upon release for their inspired reworking incorptaing beats and strings courtesy of future James Bond composer David Arnold, on the theme music for the Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.  This near 10 minute track provides the spine of the album and works well with the non related Bond tracks either side, practically forming a mini suite.  One of these tracks, Bang On, was also used in the movie version of Lost In Space.  The Bond connection is also maintained by Shirley Bassey’s vocals on the hit History Repeating and the superb closing track, Spybreak!, was subsequently used in The Matrix.

 

21 August 2013 (Day 233) – A Very Mixed Bag

I thought, like yesterday, I’d use the day to catch up on some of my recent purchases.  Almost everything played yesterday and today was purchased over the weekend just passed when I stumbled out of bed post wedding for an early morning drive into inner city Carlton.  My target was the warehouse sale for the Readings Bookstore.   Readings is a fine general bookstore and stocks a great selection of music books.  Unfortunately, the cost of books in Australia is insanely high, seemingly out of proportion compared to other countries.  Thus any activity with the prospect of cheaper books is something to take quite seriously. 

Most of my recreational reading focuses on music related themes, although over the course of the last 12 months, I had developed quite an interest in developing my knowledge about the holocaust and its aftermath.  But that hasn’t stopped me increasing my music collection.  Over the last couple of years a firm called Books 4 Less started operating, selling books including hard covers for $AUD 5 -10 with a small number of more expensive items.  It appears as though it sourced its stock from unsold remainders overseas meaning that I really didn’t need to go to the internet to find items.  Alas, all good things come to an end, and the firm and all stores were closed recently and stock liquated.   Therefore the Readings sale was a welcome opportunity to hopefully stock up and I got a couple of good items including a book about the music in James Bond flicks and a coffee table item about fan mail received by the Grateful Dead.  Many of the Deadheads sent letters in envelopes reproduced in the book that are more insanely psychedelic than any tie dye shirt could hope to achieve.

But in my eagerness to find books I had forgotten that Readings also stocks a fine selection of soul, blues, roots, jazz and world music CDs and the items on sale were even cheaper in comparison to the book savings.  In the end I bought about a dozen items, including some prime reggae releases that are ordinarily difficult to find here and quite expensive.  And there was also:

(# 548) Prince Buster – Sings His Hit Song Ten Commandments (2009 reissue of 1967 album)

Prince Buster is regarded as one of the fathers of ska and his single Ten Commandments was one of the music’s first hits.  The song itself has an infectious tune that would be instantly recognisable by fans of The Specials and The Selecter but it is arguable whether many people today would agree with the lyrics which would probably be regarded as sexist.  The original album was thrown together for the US market and contains some great material.  Wings Of A Dove has a nice calypso feel  and Is Life Worth Living is based on what could be described as an emergent reggae rhythm.  The other outstanding item is the sole additional bonus track on the CD release.  Ten Commandments From Woman To Man is an answer song to the original hit and his sung (or rather read) by a woman identified as Princess Buster. The album is a short, though intriguing slice of Jamaican music history.

(#549) Joy Division – University Of London Union Live, 8 February 1980 (bonus disc with 2007 reissue of Closer)

A lot of Joy Division live material has been released after the demise of the band in 1980 including standalone albums, box sets and the 2007 reissued versions of the band’s albums.  This might very well be the best of all of them.  Although it appears to be an audience tape (one audience member’s voice is way too loud in the mix during the early tracks) the sound is quite magnificent and the band’s performance is simply sensation.  No doubt this show was selected for inclusion as it consists exclusively of Closer tracks and tracks not associated with its predecessor Unknown Pleasures.  It’s a brilliantly sequenced show that continually builds in power.  The closing quartet of Love Will Tear Us Apart, Isolation, The Eternal and Digital is simply astonishing and Ian Curtis’ vocals are strong and confident.

(#550) Collard Greens & Gravy – Juke Joint Boogie! (2010)

One of the great things associated with Melbourne’s music scene is its undoubted love of gritty, primal 50’s country blues.  It’s seen in the way that so many acts such as The Parmount Trio and Chris Wilson have been able to maintain long careers through regular gigging and residencies in our pubs.  Another such act is Collard Greens & Gravy, a three piece that’s been playing now since 1995.    This album is a collection of mostly self penned tunes that could easily be mistaken for covers of long lost blues classics.  It’s great stuff and if you check their website you can sample the album and download it for an incredibly reasonable price.

20 August 2013 (Day 232) – Two Prolific Acts

It was just an ordinary day at work with sufficient time at my desk to play through two double desk sets. 

A two desk set usually means the release is either a compilation or some form of retrospective, a live album or an album resulting from a prolific fertile recording session.  The latter is usually a sign that quality control is gone to the wind and the acts concerned experienced difficulty is telling between the good stuff and the not so good.  Today’s albums, thankfully, do not fall into this latter category.  Instead we have examples of the other types brought out in 2011 to showcase  acts that otherwise have absolutely nothing else in common.

The first album is a relatively recent release by any artist whose record company has flooded the market with new material since his death.  Fortunately, he is one of my all time favourite acts.

(# 546) Johnny Cash – From Memphis To Hollywood Bootleg Vol. II (2011)

The Johnny Cash Bootleg series now runs to four volumes.  It does not appear to have been originally conceived along the lines of the labels acclaimed Bob Dylan series.  Indeed, the first volume a brilliant two disc set of home recordings titled Personal File, wasn’t even given designated as Bootleg Vol. I until a year or two after its original release.  So, in some ways, Vol. II is really the first volume in this series. 

And it probably would have made the ideal introduction.   This release is divided into two discs designated, “The 1950’s” (or as I suspect, "From Memphis") and “The 1960’s” (or, "Hollywood").  Disc 1 is absolutely sensational.  The opening 11 tracks is a complete recording of Cash’s first radio performance on Memphis’ KWEM studio in the afternoon of 21 May 1955.  It is also arguably his earliest live recording. This 15 minute show comes complete with theme music, Cash’s between track patter and advertisements.  Judging from the number of times he asks his audience to write in with suggestions of songs for him to perform, it is tempting to think that at the time, this was the height of his musical ambition.  But the compilers have cannily followed this with 14 demos, including classics such as I Walk The Line and Get Rhythm, that proves why the radio gig was to be simply a short stop in his career.  Some rarities from Sun records, including Goodnight Irene, complete the disc.

The second disc brings together 25 tracks from the Columbia vaults.  Now there is nothing wrong with most of the songs or Cash’s performances here especially when you’re dealing with material as strong as I’ll Remember You, The Johnny Yuma Theme and Dylan’s One Too Many Mornings.  The problem is that so many of the tracks are swamped by hideous Jordanaires or Ray Coniff Singers harmonies that simply make me want to hurl the disc out the window.  Why hide one of the great voices of the 20^th Century?

(# 547) Omar Rodriguez Lopez – Telesterion (2011)

A sticker on my jewel box case says it all.  “A crash course in the recordings of Omar Rodriguez Lopez – 37 standout tracks from 17 different albums on two CD’s”.  All of these albums were originally released between 2004 – 2010 and, incredibly, do not include any tracks from the albums he’s released as a member of At The Drive In and The Mars Volta.  There isn’t much that reminds you here of the former band but plenty of the latter.  It is, more or less, divided into different discs.  Disc 1 consists solely of ripping guitar based instrumentals which continue into the first few tracks of the second disc.  The remaining tracks all contain vocals, usually female and often in Spanish.  If you are a fan of The Mars Volta, don’t hesitate to dive in.   If not, this could be hard going.  Commercial it is not. 

19 August 2013 (Day 231) – The First Album I Ever Bought

Back to work today but with a couple of commitments and an offsite meeting to attend, music opportunities are limited.  Scrolling through my iPod, I came across the CD which most closely approximates the first album I bought with my own money. 

The question of the first album you ever bought is a popular question asked of anyone with a remote interest in listening to or creating music.  For example, it is one of two questions (the other being, What Was The First Gig You Attended?) asked of the music fans on the panel of TVs RockWiz.  Three people associated with industry, usually musicians, are also asked this question each month in Mojo Magazine with additional information required to describe where and the circumstances of the purchase.

Why do we have such an interest in this question?   I suspect this is the type of question, or more accurately the response to the question, that can often reveal much more about an individual and their background than any standard privacy invasive probing.  Detail such as whether you bought a vinyl album, cassette or CD, the price paid and where it was bought can just as easily serve to pinpoint aspects about someone as accurately as the album or the act in question. 

If you know something about a person’s musical taste, the question also provides a point of speculative intrigue.  Say, you know someone with a deep love of hard rock and heavy metal and the first album they bought was a Led Zeppelin album, you’ll probably think that person has spent his musical life exposed to a reasonably small range of influences.  Does this equate with your knowledge of that person's tendencies or personality in general?  What about a person whose musical taste is a mirror image of their parents or older sibling? Someone whose taste has gone from the ultra-commercial to hard core indie or from folkie musings to Norwegian death metal? And then there are people like yours truly whose musical taste starts from just one single record to all over the musical map.  What does that reveal?  Now let’s just see what can be gleaned by my answer to the question.

The first album I ever bough was by British glam merchants The Sweet.  It was an Australian only compilation called The Sweet Singles album, essentially containing the highlights from their first four albums.  If memory serves me well, it was released to tie in with an Australian tour but was almost immediately made redundant by the release of the band’s next single, and biggest hit, Fox On The Run.

I purchased the album from a music shop that was located in the shopping strip in my home suburb in Melbourne. It was a music shop because it sold more than records and tapes; musical instruments, sheet music, radios, record players and the like.  Actually, it wasn’t all that different to the music shop ran by Pam Dawber’s father in the first year of the Robin Williams sitcom Mork And Mindy.  For the record, it closed a couple of decades ago, but I suspect anyone reading this would probably have guessed that already. 

The shop wasn’t very large but space was brilliantly managed.  Vinyl albums were stored in back to back racks in the middle of the floor which also ran along the right hand side. To the left of the racks were the permanent glass counters, sort of like present day jewellery shops which inside contain some of the more expensive non album stock.   Instruments and other devices were stored away from the reach of the public behind the counters.  The main counter was at the rear of the shop.  Most of the current top 40 singles were held in box on the right of that counter and next to that was that week’s 3XY Top 40 Chart for the week.  Behind the counter were all of the racks containing multiple copies of albums for sale and the vinyl  albums for the single copy stock.

The entire operation was set up to facilitate the sale of albums not singles.  Two racks were set up in front of the back to back racks so that these faced you as you entered.  These two particular racks held the top 25 albums as well as new releases.  All you needed to do was walk in, flick through the these two racks and everything you wanted to know was there.  If you wanted to purchase an album, you simply took the cover to the rear counter, where the owner would pull out a brand new copy, sell it to you and then politely ask you to return the rack copy to its place.  You didn’t need to pester the shop keeper  about whether a particular album had been released.  If the cover wasn’t there it meant that it wasn’t released or the shop had sold out.

For me, these two racks were just as important as Countdown and the radio for finding out about the release of new albums.  It was here, for example, that I saw the cover of Springsteen’s Born To Run album for the first time.   I paid special attention to them on Fridays which was when expected big albums were released.  By the late 1970s, having a steady stream of income owing to an after school job, I was able to treat myself to the occasional album there. And it was from there and through this technique that I became one of the first people on the planet to purchase AC/DC’s Back In Black and Pink Floyd’s The Wall on the day of their respective releases.

It was also where and how I bought The Sweet Singles album a few years earlier.  In those days, the cost of a vinyl album was reasonably expensive, about $AUD 5.95 or $AUD 6.95 depending on the record label.  I  entered the shop not knowing what album I was going to purchase; it was a toss up between The Sweet album, AC/DC’s High Voltage and a couple of others.  As was the case for many people at the time, and after much time agonising over my choice, I plumped for The Sweet album for the very simple reason that it had more hits on it than the others.  Let’s face it, if you were spend that amount of money (a $6.95 album equalled half of my weekly after school pay), you wanted something you would constantly play.

But as I’ve said, that album was never to be released on CD.  The album that come closet to replicating its contents was;

(# 544) The Sweet – The Sweet Greatest Hits (2001)

This is almost the definitive Sweet compilation lacking only their final hit, Love Is Like Oxygen.  But everything else you’d want is there including irresistible singles Hellraiser, Blockbuster, Ballroom Blitz and Teenage Rampage as well as a couple of other tracks from The Sweet Singles Album such as New York Connection.  The latter day hits, Peppermint Twist (I assume it was a latter day hit because it’s not on Singles), Action, Lies In Your Eyes and, of course, Fox On The Run have all been added to the fun.  If I have a complaint with this particular compilation, it lies with the track sequencing.  Ballroom Blitz, starting with the Brian Connelly's introduction of the other band members, (Are you ready Steve?  Uh ha. Andy? Yeah! Mick? OK Alright now. Let's Goooooo) is an obvious starting track and Hellraiser with the track ending explosion is the obvious end point as they were on the Single album.  Here, the impact of both tracks is slightly diluted.

(#545) The Eagles – Hotel California (1976)

This was another album which I purchased from the same record store and, like the Sweet Singles Album, I still own in its original vinyl form.  The passing of time, or more accurately, the incredible over exposure on commercial radio this band received until … well…  ever  has resulted in me loathing the band today.  However, nothing stops me from playing this particular album at least once a year.  The title track is an acknowledged masterpiece complete with intriguing lyric and brilliant guitar playing in its outro.  Whilst Victim Of love and Life In The Fast Lane can be appreciated as a great examples of 70s LA rock, it’s the ballads that really impress.  New Kid In Town, Wasted Town and The Last Resort are all wonderful examples of LA’s peace easy feeling but it’s the barbed, cynical  nature of  some of the lyrics that often take you by surprise.  But for full appreciation, just stay away from commercial radio.

17/18 August 2013 (Days 229/230) – Everyone Wants To Be The (Wedding) DJ

Ever attended a Winter Friday night wedding?  “M” and I did so leading into this weekend.  And we paid the price.  Saturday was a complete wipeout and Sunday wasn’t much better.  It also meant that I didn’t listen to anything.  For once, I’m grateful to the AFL for scheduling the Bulldogs for a twilight Sunday match.  Given the maximum time to renew my strength, I recover sufficiently to see the Doggies best win for the season to date, an 18 point victory over Adelaide. 

At half time I realised that I haven’t noted down the play list for the tracks played over the stadium PA. Not that I would have been able to do so if I was alert to the task, the songs seemingly being current or recent pop hits, presumably by pretty young things destined to be forgotten by the end of this posting. I’m not sure who selects the tracks, but I’m reasonably aware that a certain tension must go into this.  To which part of the crowd’s “demographic” do you aim your selection?  Personally, I don’t care.  In fact, I’d rather there is no music.  Sport, true sport like football shouldn’t rely on music to create atmosphere.  This is something that is created by the combination of the players on the field and the fans in the stands. One is a true reflection of the other; the crowd, for example, will not be at fever pitch during a one sided match and no amount of music played pre or post game is going to influence the overall mood.  In fact, this is when people are most likely to complain about the presence of music, especially if played at maximum volume.

But a wedding and the attendant reception are different beasts.  Let’s take the wedding ceremony first.  Have you ever been to a memorable wedding where music didn’t play a role?  I struggle to think of one I’ve attended where this was the case.  Weddings or commitment ceremonies are supposed to be celebrations of a couple’s mutual love in front of a selection of family, friends and the occasional hangers on.  Music should fit right on in.  Taped music has been played at every non-religious or Registry ceremony I’ve ever attended.  And so it was on Friday night, when the wedding was held in a marquee at the reception venue.  The bride entered the marquee to the strains of Guy Sebastian’s first hit Angels Brought Me Here.   It’s a bit of a schmaltzy tune to be tune, but a wedding is the one time I’m prepared to put my critical facilities behind me, unless a really inappropriate track has been chosen.  Mind you, if you’re planning to do this (especially if that tune were to be, say, Sepultura’s Roots Bloody Roots), I’d love an invite or to see the vision.  But, I digress.   By the time the Sebastian tune has finished, I find myself marvelling at just how well the lyrics seemed to fit the occasion.

Of course taped music wasn’t used at my wedding to “M”.  We engaged a female singer who was able to play the church’s organ.  We met with her and selected a nice program, or rather “M” did.  My only contribution to this process was to automatically veto anything written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.  Well, there are some things that are too schmaltz, even for weddings at least in my mind.  On the day, the music was just about the highlight of the ceremony.  It was the one extravagance we permitted and it was money well spent.

But where our Wedding and Friday’s were identical was in relation to the reception. At both we engaged a DJ to spin records (alright, program mp3’s) to tempt people onto the dance floor.  In both instances, the DJ was someone employed by the wedding venue.  And in both instances we put our faith in the DJ figuring that they will know what works through their personal experience.  This was a lesson I learnt from our reception DJ.  I spoke to her whilst finalising terms for her engagement and the only time I queried her was when she indicated that the first track she’d play after the bridal waltz was A Hooked On Classics mix of early 50’s/60’s rock hits.  She told me to trust her as it always worked and, incredible as it may seem, she was right on the money.  The dance floor went from just the six of us (that’s is “M” and I and our parents) to jam packed!

The only music which the DJ didn’t select was the bridal waltz.  On Friday, that tune was the Bryan Adams and Barbara Streisand duet I Finally Found Someone.  Lyrically it’s a fine choice but was it really appropriate given the couple was together for 10 years previously?  At our wedding, “M” talked me out of my original choice, Bruce Springsteen’s beautiful If I Should Behind. In this song the singer declares his eternal love to his wife, urging her that “if I should fall behind, wait me for me”.   I figured the lyric would apply to both sides in times of trouble but “M” vetoed it, pointing out that it could be interpreted that  I was expecting to fail.  I think she also sensed I put it up because I wanted to fit Bruce into the day, and in this respect, she was correct.  In the end I selected an instrumental  (Love Me With All Your Heart by Chet Baker And The Mariachi Brass) for the actual  waltz so no one could read anything  into the lyrics and followed this with Van Morrison’s original version of Have I Told You Lately? for when we invited our parents to the floor.

As for dancing selections, it would appear that unorthodoxy rules.  I’ve already indicated how our DJ started her set.  Friday’s DJ started with Marvin Gaye/Tammi Temmell’s Ain’t No Mountain High Enough followed by Ray Charles’ Hit The Road Jack.  Very effective indeed.  He also pulled off some interesting segues, the best of which was taking perennial dance floor favourite, The B-52’S Love Shack and mutating it into The Jackson’s Can You Feel It by marrying Keith Stickland’s inspired guitar work on the former to a lone guitar scratching you can pick up at key points of the latter.   But of course there are songs which must be played at all costs as they appeared at both receptions such as Love Shack, Nutbush City Limits (where did that dance come from?), The Macarena (will this track ever die!), Lionel Richie’s All Night Long and many many more.  The only difference seemed to be that our DJ managed to keep large numbers on the floor.  In fairness, this might be due to the other reception being on a Friday night.  As I overhead one of the guests say, it’s difficult to go flat out on a Friday night when you know you’ve got to get up early the following morning to do shopping, get kids off to sport, etc.  Having said that, Friday’s DJ did attempt to incorporate the hits of the day all of which flopped and one – Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines – managed to empty it completely......

..... all of which proves absolutely nothing other than demonstrating whilst everyone would like to be the DJ, the task would appear to be a thankless and difficult one.  Sort of like trying to select music to play at a stadium.

16 August 2013 (Day 228) – The Return Of The Boss And The Death Of The King

I awoke this morning thinking today would be the last day of my massive multi day shuffle session on my iPod.  That plan ended when I turned on my television and received a brilliant surprise; that Bruce Springsteen And The E Street will return to Australia for an encore tour in February next year.  Not surprisingly, the venue has moved within Melbourne’s Olympic Precinct to the larger 35,000 capacity AAMI Park, but it is a reasonably compact one.  This time, there will be no excuses; whilst Mulder and I will be taking Scully and “M” to one gig, we’ll be attending every other Melbourne gig.

Considering that the first E Street Band tour was in 1985, the second in 2003 and the latest one a mere five months ago, this announcement was totally unexpected.   If fact this appears to be the reason for the tour.  An article in this morning’s edition of The Age stated that Bruce and the band were staggered by the response of the Australian audiences during this year’s tour and this provoked the realisation that Australia hadn’t been treated especially well during the band’s history.  

It was this aspect of the announcement that did not surprise me in the slightest.  As I noted in my posting for 26 March, Bruce had visited Australia at awkward times in the E Street Band’s history.  The 1985 tour in support of Born In The U.S.A. marked the zenith of his popularity here and the 2003 tour in support of The Rising was noticeable for the promoter’s over estimation of the size of his fan base.  Both meant that long term long core fans felt slighted with tours being organised seemingly to favour theatre going/occasional fans in preference to them.  The scaling down of venues for this year’s tour, particularly in Melbourne, was for many Bruce diehards the opportunity to see the band in the manner they’d always aspired towards.  The result was a continuous expression of “Bruce love” throughout the tour which had been building, more or less, without an appropriate release valve since 1975. For me, the show I saw at Rod Laver Arena, was exactly the type of show I had expected but never seen here.  As satisfying as it was, it was nevertheless a shame it took so long to occur.

But that was the past and it would appear that The Boss, bless him, is hell bent on putting things right.  No doubt, the greatest winners are the good folk of Perth and Adelaide who’ll get to see the real thing for the very first time.  And Miami Steve will be with the band this time.  But for us in Melbourne there’s the additional good news that there will be a support act in the guise of the mighty Hunters And Collectors.  This band has barely performed live since breaking up over a decade ago and on the last occasion in which they did reform (the Sound Relief charity gig at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the victims of Victoria’s bush fires a few years back), lead singer Mark Seymour indicated that he couldn’t foresee a situation where the band would reform again. Given that the composition of Bruce’s current version of The E Street Band is similar to that of the Hunna’s, odds are great for a massive inter-band jam during the show.  And will Bruce be covering Throw Your Arms Around Me?

And so to celebrate, I ditched the shuffle and headed for an early album by the boss:

(#542) Bruce Springsteen – The Wild, The Innocent And The E Street Shuffle (1973)

This was Bruce’s second album and the last before the band’s sound solidified with the addition of Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg.  It is unquestionably his most musically diverse album and contains a number of tracks in areas that remain largely unexplored to the present day.  Opening cut, The E Street Shuffle has a nice funky feel (a note to Bruce: this is the number to do with H&C), Wild Billy’s Circus Story (not surprisingly) is set against the New Jersey fairgrounds and Kitty’s Back is the closest thing the band has come to recording to a studio jam.  (Anyone who’s heard bootlegs of live shows from this era will be able to tell you just how long this could be stretched out; the version on the Hammersmith Odeon live album is a sprint in comparison.) The ballads are all top notch and in Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) Bruce produced the most memorable and enjoyable version of a rock n roll Romero & Juliet  ever committed to tape.

I wasn’t able to play more Bruce albums today as I had an off-site meeting to attend and an early departure from work owing to a late afternoon wedding.  In any case, I also needed to play homage to The King, today marking 36 years since the death of Elvis Presley. 

It took me a long time to fully appreciate Elvis.  My father loved him, but, as I was growing up couldn’t find much evidence to justify it.  My only knowledge of him come from those god awful movies that were a staple on afternoon commercial TV as early as the 1970s.  The only live footage I saw was his Aloha From Hawaii special which I remember seeing as it occurred.  My father taped the show on a reel to reel audio tape and, even on repeat, I couldn’t hear what the fuss was about. 

All of this explains my immediate reaction when I heard the news of his death.  I was going to school on a bus which was piping the radio through its PA.  As the bus was turning from one street into another, his death was reported during the 8am news.  The first words out of my mouth was a single word; “Good!”.  

Of course that wouldn’t have been the case had it occurred today.  Since his death I’ve had the opportunity to hear the highlights of his entire career – most of his 50s stuff (especially those tracks that do not feature The Jordanaires), his sublime gospel recordings, some fiery live material from the early 70s and the rather good job RCA did in filleting his 60’s and 70’s studio work and soundtrack material in their Essential Masters sets.  But when I want to celebrate the man through a single album it’s either The Sun Sessions, or

(#543) Elvis Presley – NBC TV Special (1968)

This is the soundtrack (since reissued in expanded form) of his comeback special that, more or less, marked the end of his Hollywood career.  It provides a wonderful overview of his entire career.  There’s gospel, the brilliant nod to his early days with Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana and hints to his future in Las Vegas in the guise of Memories and the final medley.  But, in the end, there is only one reason to own this album.  It is the awesome closing track If I Can Dream, the number he performed in the white suit in front of the huge ELVIS sign.  For one of the few times in his career, Elvis was presented with a non gospel tune that highlighted real world concerns which reflected his own personal feelings.  The result is a vocal tour de force, a highpoint not just in Elvis’ career but in the history of 20^th Century Popular music.  And if you don’t believe me just listen to the last six lines of the song (starting with “And while I can think, while I can talk”) and prepare to be swept away.

The thought of Elvis singing these lyrics does bring home the tragedy of his career and what could have been.  Just think, an album of Springsteen songs – The King Sings The Boss – now THAT would have been something.  If I can dream, indeed.

But at least I’ll be meeting up with The Boss on the road again.  

15 August 2013 (Day 227) – Shuffle Session 4, Tracks 550 – 624

The second last day of my shuffle session resulted in a 75 track haul complete with the usual bizarre combination of tracks as determined by my iPod devoid of track detail.

550.        Five O Ford - The Reverend Horton Heat (Liquor In The Front)

551.        Hero – Ministry (Just Another Fix)
552.        Penguins (live) – Lyle Lovett (Live In Texas)
553.        Barhopper 1 – Kid Koala (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome)
554.        Banned In D.C. (live) – Bad Brains (The Youth Are Getting Restless)
555.        Cinnamon Girl (live) – Neil Young And Crazy Horse (Live Rust)
556.        Darkside – Kev Carmody (Cannot Buy My Soul)
557.        Too Hip Gotta Go – The Stray Cats (The Best Of The Stray Cats)
558.        Baby (1968) – Os Mutantes (Everything Is Possible. The Best Of Os Mutantes)
559.        Peace Perfect Peace – Toots And The Maytals (Reggae Greats)
560.        I Love Marie – The Easybeats (The Definitive Anthology)
561.        I Cry For You – Willie Dixon (Hidden Charms)
562.        Beautiful World – Underground Lovers (Dream It Down)
563.        Run On Down The Line – Harem Scarem [Aust.] (Pilgrim’s Progress)
564.        Insider – Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers (Hard Promises)
565.        Obviously 5 Believers – Bob Dylan (Blonde On Blonde)
566.        The Devil’s Coachman – Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians (Queen Elvis)
567.        The Reason – Thunderclap Newman (Hollywood Dream)
568.        The Ballad Of Queen Bee And Baby Luck – Eagles Of Death Metal (Death By Sexy)
569.        Get It While You Can – Janis Joplin (Pearl)
570.        Buck Is Red – Pixies (Come On Pilgrim)
571.        Rosebud – The Stems (At First Sight….)
572.        Weep No More – Bad Company (Straight Shooter)
573.        Just To See You – Alex Chilton (1970)
574.        Hot Burrito #1 – The Flying Burrito Brothers (The Gilded Palace Of Sin)
575.        Automatic – The Red Devils (King King)
576.        The Train – The Staple Singers (Freedom Highway)
577.        Baby Please Don’t Go – Al Kooper (The Best Of Al Kooper)
578.        Is It Luck? – Primus (Sailing The Seas Of Cheese)
579.        I’ve Got You In The Palm Of My Hand – Michael Bloomfield (Don’t Say That I Ain’t Your Man. Essential Blues  1964-1969)
580.        Battle Hymns – The Nightwatchman (One Man Revolution)
581.        Every Hour God Sends – Jack Frost (Jack Frost)
582.        Boston Not L.A. – Freeze (American Hardcore. The History Of American Punk Rock 1980-1986*)
583.        Jilted John – Jilted John (Punk & New Wave 1977-1979*)
584.        1977 – The Clash (Super Black Market Clash)
585.        Running To Stand Still – US (The Joshua Tree)
586.        And More Again – Love (Forever Changes)
587.        My Time – Big Youth (Natty Universal Dread)
588.        Charlie – Split Enz (Dizrythmia)
589.        Another The Letter – Wire (Chairs Missing)
590.        If You Take Me Back – Big Joe & His Washboard Band (Let Me Tell You About  The Blues Chicago*)
591.        Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House (Recurring Dream.  The Very Best Of Crowded House)
592.        Theme From Blinking Lights – Eels (Blinking Lights And Other Revelations)
593.        Harder – Kosheen (Resist)
594.        I’ll Remember April (live) – Sonny Rollins (A Night At The Village Vanguard)
595.        Can’t Hardly Wait – Justin Townes Earle (Midnight At The Movies)
596.        No More Beatlemania – Half Japanese (Greates Hits Vol. 2)
597.        5^th Season – Paul Weller (Wild Wood)
598.        Made Of Stone – The Stone Roses (The Stones Roses)
599.        Break You Off – The Roots (Phrenology)
600.        Oh To Be In Love – Kate Bush (The Kick Inside)
601.        A Pox On You – Silver Apples (Contact)
602.        I Knew The Bride (live) – Rockpile (Live At Monteux 1980)
603.        Through The Looking Glass – Mott The Hoople (Roll Away The Stone. The Best Of Mott The Hoople)
604.        Pink Steps – Latin Playboys (Latin Playboys)
605.        Let’s Take It To The Stage/Mothership Connection (live) – P-Funk All-Stars (Live!)
606.        New Dress – Rancid (Life Won’t Wait)
607.        She’s Dangerous – The Red Devils (King King)
608.        Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho – Mahalia Jackson (Gospels, Spirituals & Hymns)
609.        Citi Soleil – The Afghan Whigs (1965)
610.        Thank You For A Life – Kris Kristofferson (This Old Road)
611.        The Girl With No Name – The Byrds (The Byrds Box)
612.        Hot Happy – Pere Ubu (Terminal Tower)
613.        City Of Bugs – The Cribs (Ignore The Ignorant)
614.        Train Fare Home Blues – Muddy Waters (The Chess Box)
615.        I Hate Danger – Bikini Kill (The Singles)
616.        Looking Forward To Seeing You – Golden Smog (Weird Tales)
617.        Hard Times – Buddy Moss (Let Me Tell You About The Blues Atlanta*)
618.        Everyone Moves Away – The Poises (Dear 23)
619.        Psycho (live) – The Sonics (Psycho-Sonic)
620.        Science Fiction – Diyinyls (Desperate)
621.        Sea Of Cortez – Green On Red (Gas Food Lodging)
622.        Is It My Body – Alice Cooper (The Beast Of Alice Cooper)
623.        Headful  Of Something/The Devil In Me (live) – John Wesley Harding (It Happened One Night)
624.        Master Of Puppets – Metallica (Master Of Puppets)
 
To be concluded tomorrow....

14 August 2013 (Day 226) – Shuffle Session 4, Tracks 503 – 549

This is the third last day of this marathon shuffle session.  It really has seemed as though I’ve been listening to my own private radio station.  But really, how many stations could possibly mix these opening tracks?

503.        Night Train – Jimmy Smith And Wes Montgomery (from Jimmy & Wes.  The Dynamic Duo)

504.        Soup – Melvins (Stag)
505.        Bluesnote – Sonny Rollins (Volume One)
506.        Heavenly – The Dandy Warhols (Welcome To The Monkey House)
507.        Stay Hungry (live) – Talking Heads (The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads)
508.        I Want You (She’s So Heavy) – The Beatles (Abbey Road)
509.        Use Your Head – Money Mark (Change Is Coming)
510.        Judy Is A Punk (live) – Ramones (Loco Live)
511.        Where’d You Go? (live) – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (Live From The Middle East)
512.        Shine So Bright – Teddy Thompson (Separate Ways)
513.        You Must Be A Witch – The Lollipop Shoppe (Nuggets. Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968*)
514.        You Had Time (live) – Ani DiFranco (So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter)
515.        So Long – Jr. Byles/U Brown (129 Beat Street. Ja-Man Special*)
516.        I Got You Babe – Etta James (The Fame Studios Story)
517.        Psalm 2 – Prince Far I (Pslams For I)
518.        A Night At The Nutonia – Kid Koala (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome)
519.        Springenfall – Died Pretty (Lost)
520.        Where The Flavor Is – Mudhoney (Since We Became Translucent)
521.        Someone To Die For – Belly (Star)
522.        Blues At Midnight – B.B. King (King Of The Blues)
523.        Live Your Life – Steppenwolf (The Collection)
524.        Waterloo Sunset – The Kinks (Picture Book)
525.        Icarus Smicarus – Mclusky (The Difference Between You And Me Is That I’m Not On Fire)
526.        Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End (live) – Cheap Trick (Sgt. Pepper Live)
527.        Who Knows Where The Time Goes – Fairport Convention (The History Of Fairport Convention)
528.        The Writing On My Father’s Hand – Dead Can Dance (The Serpent’s Egg)
529.        Somewhere In Ohio – The Jayhawks (Smile)
530.        Untrustable/Part 2 (About Someone Else) – Built To Spill (Perfect From Now On)
531.        I’m On My Way – Christine Perfect (Christine Perfect)
532.        Jokerman – Bob Dylan (Infidels)
533.        Letterbox – They Might Be Giants (Flood)
534.        The Enemy – D.O.A. (War And Peace)
535.        Roosevelt Blues – Roosevelt Sykes (Roots N’ Blues. The Retrospective*)
536.        Tezeta – Menelik Wesnatchew (The Very Best Of Ethiopiques*)
537.        Temptation – Cold Chisel (Twentieth Century)
538.        Catch And Release – Silversun Pickups (Swoon)
539.        Big Sky – The Reverend Horton Heat (Liquor In The Front)
540.        Race Riot - D.O.A. (War And Peace)
541.        Conspiracy – Steve Earle (Jerusalem)
542.        Wowie Zowie – The Mothers Of Invention (Freak Out!)
543.        Dimples – The Animals (The Complete Animals)
544.        The Wait – Built To Spill (You In Reverse)
545.        Whorehoppin’ (Shit, Goddam) – Eagles Of Death Metal  (Peace Love Death Metal)
546.        Mr Pharmacist – The Other Half (Nuggets. Original Artyfacts From The First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968*)
547.        For You (I’d Do Anything) – Roky Erickson (I Have Always Been Here Before)
548.        What Goes On (live) – The Dictators (New York New York)
549.        I Can Tell – Bo Diddley (The Chess Box)
 
(* = tracks from various artist compilations).

To be continued…..

 

13 August 2013 (Day 225) – Shuffle Session # 4, Tracks 434 – 502

The shuffle continues onto its fourth last day.  Fewer commitments at work result in a longer playlist today starting with a nice low key opening;

434.        49 Bye-Byes/American Children (live) – Crosby Stills Nash & Young (4 Way Street)

435.        Stupidly Happy – XTC (Wasp Star. Apple Venus Vol. 2)
436.        Energy Sucker – Luscious Jackson (Natural Ingredients)
437.        Let It Dive - ….And You Will Know As By The Trail Of Dead (Worlds Apart)
438.        I’m Only Dreaming – The Small Faces (The Definitive Collection)
439.        Lost Cause – The Cosmic Psychos (Tales From The Australian Underground. Singles 1976-1989*)
440.        She’s Leaving Because She Really Wants To – Lyle Lovett (Joshua Judges Ruth)
441.        What’s It All About – RUN-D.M.C. (Together Forever. Greatest Hits)
442.        Bad Time – The Vibrators (Pure Mania)
443.        Capital Letters – Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (God Fodder)
444.        You Know You’re Looking Good – Jimmy Reed (The Essential Boss Man. The Best Of The Vee-Jay Years 1953-1966)
445.        I Can’t Quit You Baby – Otis Rush (Double Trouble)
446.        Blind Willie McTell – Bob Dylan (The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare And Unreleased) 1961-1991)
447.        Night Train – Let’s Active (Every Dog Has His Day)
448.        Lonesome Day Blues (live) – Bob Dylan (Tell Tale Sounds.  Rare And Unreleased 1989-2006)
449.        Ramblin’ Man – Hank Williams (Gold)
450.        Who You Know – Mclusky (Do Dallas)
451.        That’s My Girl – The Monks (Black Monk Time)
452.        Judgement – Jah Stitch (Original Ragga Muffin)
453.        Sweet Sixteen – Walter Davis (Let Me Tell You About The Blues Chicago)
454.        You Need Love – Muddy Waters (The Chess Box)
455.        Time On My Hands (live) – Django Reinhardt (Swing 39)
456.        Samson The Strongest Man – Trinty (Shanty Town Determination)
457.        All Shook Up – Elvis Presley (The King Of Rock ‘N’ Roll The Complete 50’s Masters)
458.        AB/7A – Throbbing Gristle (D.o.A. The Third And Final Annual Report)
459.        Wonderful Wino – Frank Zappa (Zoot Allures)
460.        Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On (live) – Jerry Lee Lewis (Live At The Hamburg Star Club)
461.        Teenage FBI (live) – Guided By Voices (Live From Austin Tx.)
462.        Where Is Yesterday – The United States Of America (The United States Of America)
463.        Vast Halos – Hex (Vast Halos)
464.        Fruit And Icebergs – Blue Cheer (Good Times Are So Hard To Fine. The History Of Blue Cheer)
465.        I Nearly Married a Human – Tubeway Army (Replicas)
466.        Daughter – Pearl Jam (Vs)
467.        Caroline – The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (Jukebox Explosion)
468.        King Tubby’s Special (Reprise) – King Tubby/U Roy (King Tubby’s Special 1973-1976)
469.        Pink Thunderbird – Gene Vincent (The Very Best Of Gene Vincent)
470.        Your Ace From Space – U Roy/Tommy McCook (Version Galore*)
471.        Tide Is High – U Roy/Paragons (Version Galore*)
472.        Chick A Boom – The Pazant Bros. (Super Breaks. Essential Funk, Soul & Jazz Samples And Breakbeats*)
473.        Town Cryer – Elvis Costello And The Attractions (Imperial Bedroom)
474.        Daddy Will Be Home One Day – Lightnin’ Hopkins (The Complete Aladdin Recordings)
475.        5.10 Man – The Masters Apprentices (Fully Qualified. The Choicest Cuts)
476.        Maybe I Will – Buckwheat Zydeco (Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire)
477.        East St. Louis Blues (Fare You Well) – Blind Willie McTell (The Definitive Blind Willie McTell)
478.        Links 234 (live) – Rammstein (Volkerball)
479.        No Direct Line – Half Japanese (Greatest Hits Vol. 2)
480.        B.P.R. – Coloured Balls (Ball Power)
481.        Babycakes – Magic Dirt (Young And Full Of The Devil)
482.        O Leaozinho – Caetano Veloso (Brazil Classics I Beleza Tropical*)
483.        Seed – Crystal Castles (Crystal Castles II bonus disc)
484.        I Trim The Barber – King Tubby (King Tubby’s Special 1973-1976)
485.        Hiebe Lippen – Cluster (Zuckerzeit)
486.        Red Eyes And Tears – Black Rebel Motorcyle Club (B.R.M.C.)
487.        Cryin In The Beer Of A Drunk Man – New Bomb Turks (Pissing Out The Poison)
488.        Let’s Burn Down The Cornfield – Randy Newman (12 Songs)
489.        Paint – Soul Coughing (Irresistible Bliss)
490.        Bouncing With Bud – Bud Powell (The Amazing Bud Powell Vol. 1)
491.        Hackensack – Fountains Of Wayne (Welcome Interstate Managers)
492.        The Ground Beneath Her Feet – U2 (All That You Can’t Leave Behind)
493.        Breaking Into Heaven – The Stone Roses (Second Coming)
494.        Peter Piper - RUN-D.M.C. (Together Forever. Greatest Hits)
495.        Dream All Day – The Posies (Frosting On The Beater)
496.        The Gardens Of Gethsemane – The Nightwatchman (One Man Revolution)
497.        Cradle Rock (live) – Rory Gallagher (Irish Tour)
498.        You Are In My Vision – Tubeway Army (Replicas)
499.        Rainbirds – Tom Waits (Swordfishtrombones)
500.        Don’t Put Me On – The Flamin’ Groovies (Groovies’ Greatest Grooves)
501.        Battleship Chains – Georgia Satellites (Georgia Satellites)
502.        The Asphalt World – Suede (Dog Man Star)

To be continued……