Song of the Week 11/24/06

Big Star - "Thirteen"

One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums of all time, I discovered this week that "Thirteen" can be quite, well, how do I put it...intoxicating on many levels. Yeah, that's all I'll say about that.

I did a quick search today, and discovered there are at least 10 covers of this song, including this cover by Jon and Ken from the Posies, who are in the current edition of Big Star:



But nothing tops the original, which has such simple and effective lyrics:

"Won't you let me walk you home from school
Won't you let me meet you at the pool
Maybe Friday I can
Get tickets for the dance
And I'll take you, ooo ooo ooo

Won't you tell your dad, 'Get off my back'
Tell him what we said 'bout 'Paint It Black'
Rock 'n Roll is here to stay
Come inside where it's okay
And I'll shake you, ooo ooo ooo.

Won't you tell me what you're thinking of
Would you be an outlaw for my love
If it's so, well, let me know
If it's 'no,' well, I can go
I won't make you ooo ooo ooo."

Perfect. Just perfect. It made my favorite holiday of the year even better.

Song of the Week 11/17/06

Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - "Madonna of the Wasps"

I spent a good deal of this week listening to Robyn Hitchcock in anticipation of his show with the Venus 3 (a.k.a. 3/4 of the Minus 5 -- Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Bill Reiflin) at the Hiro Ballroom. The show did not disappoint. Hitchcock was his usual talkative self in between songs, spinning tales about Mick Jagger, elephants, God, Jesus and what seemed to be hundreds of other topics. This show also featured a guest appearance by Soft Boys/Egyptians drummer Morris Windsor, who added some fine backing vocals to the last third of Hitchcock's set. Included in that portion was "Madonna of the Wasps," which I have loved from the first moment I heard it on WICB back in college.

I was looking for Hitchcock clips on YouTube this week, and stumbled across the original video:

Somehow the song has a completely different (and longer) intro than the album version. I have no idea why, and can't seem to find any explanation about it on this here world wide web. And then I happened upon this performance from Letterman in 1989:

Now THAT's a weird intro. I can only imagine the look on Dave's face.

And just for kicks, here's the title track to Hitchcock's new album, Ole! Tarantula:

Song of the Week 11/10/06

Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'"

Sometimes corporate rock is fun. Especially after a few drinks. After seeing someone sing this song with the band, then a bunch of people sing along to the original at a great party, and then a couple of folks duetting on it at a bar in my neighborhood, how could I pick anything else?

Wow, check out how short those shorts are on the drummer:

Song of the Week 11/3/06

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - "I Don't Want to Go Home"

As I've written many times in the past, thank you WFUV. I randomly decided to listen to their stream at the office yesterday, and this track came up in the mid-afternoon. And my, it sounded so good. Myself and my co-worker Dave both started bobbing our heads along. I quickly downloaded it, and then listened to it once again just before we left for the day. And today the song inspired me to make a mix of songs with "home" in the title. And I do believe I will have to listen to that mix on the way home before I drop it off at one of my favorite haunts, Sample.

This evening I was trying to recall when I first heard this song, and I think I never heard it until I moved to New York. That seems kind of odd, since Albany definitely was open to Springsteen's fellow Jersey-ities. But I'm positive I heard it first on WNEW. (Ah, I remember those old call letters.) I also had no idea until Dennis Elsas back sold the song that Steve Van Zandt wrote it.

(Please don't tell the Springsteen fraternity I didn't know that--they'll throw me out in a heartbeat.)