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: