Song of the Week 5/26/06

Frank Zappa - "I'm the Slime (Live)"

My neverending project to listen to every song on my IPod is down to the last 300 or so tunes. This past week I have been ripping through the last of the "F" section, which is all Frank Zappa. When I came upon Zappa in New York, I wondered to myself why I had put this live album on here. Then "I'm the Slime" blasted into my ears on the train ride home, and I knew why. This version features Zappa doing the song normally, and then just before the bridge he yells, "Take it away Don Pardo!" Then Saturday Night Live announcer Pardo recites some of the song's best lines, in his over-the-top manner that can best be described as side splitting:

"You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't go for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold."

Then throughout the rest of the song when Zappa sings "I am the slime," Pardo yells, "No I'M THE SLIME! I'M THE SLIME!" It's priceless. Perhaps the funniest moment in my IPod.

Song of the Week 5/19/06

Harry Nilsson - "You're Breakin' My Heart"

I first heard this song on Howard Stern ages ago. Well, that's not correct--I only heard the biting chorus on Stern, and nothing else from the song until this week when Legacy sent out copies of the remastered Son of Schmilsson. It's hard not to love a song that's so incredibly catchy, but could never get airplay due to one of George Carlin's dirty words:

"You're breakin' my heart
You're tearin' it apart
So fuck you."

Just brilliant.

Song of the Week 5/12/06

Guns N' Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"

Friday afternoon I continued my draining effort to listen to everything in my ITunes by visiting the "G" section, and cranking up Appetite for Destruction. It seemed appropriate with the Axl Rose-led lineup in town for four shows. And then Friday night I was at one of my favorite Brooklyn places, Sample, and I was telling the bartender Adam how I had to work the next to write up a story about GNR's first show. And he was like, "GNR is in town? Who's in the band? And when can I get your Ipod so I can play Appetite?" After some whiskey, I gave in, and soon "Welcome" was blasting into my ears ago.

I suppose with a full moon and hearing "Jungle" twice, I should have known things would get weird Friday night. Let's just say that at one point I thought, "I need to run out of this bar..." and leave it at that.

Steve's Indie Scrapbook 5/6/06

Thanks to all that attended my first scrapbook at Magnetic Field. I have never gotten so many compliments in an hour of spinning as I did during the first hour Saturday night. Here's the playlist for those who can't remember the night.

Replacements - “Alex Chilton”
Dinosaur Jr. - “Start Choppin’”
Dead Milkmen - “Punk Rock Girl”
Spoon - “Sister Jack”
R.E.M. - “Begin the Begin”
Social Distortion - “Ball and Chain”
L7 - “Pretend We’re Dead”
Sugar - “Helpless”
Husker Du - “Could You Be the One”
Weezer - “Why Bother”
Julian Cope - “World Shut Your Mouth”
Guided By Voices - “Bulldog Skin”
Soul Asylum - “Sometime to Return”
The Cult - “Love Removal Machine”
Pixies - “Head On”
The Minus 5 - “Dear My Inspiration”
Lemonheads - “It’s a Shame About Ray”
Hoodoo Gurus - “Like Wow-Wipeout”
Public Image Limited - “Public Image”
The Smithereens - "A Girl Like You”
Buffalo Tom - “Soda Jerk”
Matthew Sweet - “Girlfriend”
The Pogues - “Sunnyside of the Street”
The Godfathers - “Birth, School, Work, death”
Scruffy the Cat - “Bus Named Desire”
The Zambonis - “Hockey Monkey”
Urge Overkill - “Sister Havana”
The White Stripes - “Pretty Good Looking (For a Girl)”
Big Audio Dynamite - “E=MC2”
Dead Kennedys - “California Uber Alles”
The Clash - “Know Your Rights”
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - “I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down”
Old 97’s - “Time Bomb”
Wilco - “Nothingeveregonnastandinmyway(again)”
????? - “?????????” (Can’t read my own handwriting, dammit)
The Figgs - “Wasted Pretty”
Eels - “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (Live)”
The Gentlemen - “Top Heavy”
Electric Six - “Gay Bar”
The Bears - “Fear Is Never Boring”
Brendan Benson - “Spit It Out”
The Waterboys - “The Whole of the Moon”
Guided By Voices - “Chasing Heather Crazy”
Oasis - “Rock n’ Roll Star”
The Replacements - “I’ll Be You”
Cracker - “Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)”
Ramones - “I Believe in Miracles”
Blur - “Parklife”
Elliott Smith - “Baby Britain”
Tahiti 80 - “Heartbeat”
Gnarls Barkley - “Crazy”
Talking Heads - “Nothing But Flowers”
Minutemen - “This Ain’t No Picnic”
Pavement - “Cut Your Hair”
Jenny Lewis - “Handle With Care”
Death Cab For Cutie - “Crooked Teeth”
The Decemberists - “July, July”
Ben Folds Five - “Alice Childress”
World Party - “She’s the One”
Fountains of Wayne - “Radiation Vibe”
Old 97s - “Rollerskate Skinny”
Radiohead - “The Bends”
The Shins - “Caring is Creepy”
Liz Phair - “Never Said”
Spoon - “Everything Hits at Once
The La’s - “There She Goes”
Morrissey - “Suedehead”
New Order - “Regret”
Peter Murphy - “Cuts You Up”
Charlatans UK - “The Only One I know”
Crowded House - “Something So Strong”
The Flaming Lips - “Race For the Prize”
Cake - “Satan Is My Motor”
Billy Bragg & Wilco - “California Stars”
Young Fresh Fellows - “No One Really Knows”
XTC - “Mayor of Simpleton”
The Figgs - “Said Enough”
Nada Surf - “Always Love”
Talking Heads - “Love > Building on Fire”
B-52’s - “Summer of Love”
db’s - “Love Is for Lovers”
Bright Eyes - “Lover I Don’t need to Love”
Madness - “It Must Be Love”
Calexico/Iron & Wine - “History of Lovers”
Josh Rouse - “Love Vibration”
Wilco - “I’m Always in Love”
Jeff Buckley - “Lover You Should Have Come Over”

Song of the Week 5/5/06

Pearl Jam - "World Wide Suicide"

I am finally warming up to the new self-titled Pearl Jam album. This song, I loved instantly. It's the best single the band has released since "Given to Fly," and it flat out rocks. And the fact that a song takes a jab at our current political leaders has gotten this much airplay is somewhat comforting.

But seriously, what's the deal with the avacado?

Song of the Week 4/28/06

Rihanna - "SOS"

Dear lord, will there be anything catchier than this song this year? Whoever decided to use Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" as the sample for the song is a pure production genius. I listen to it once, I want to listen to it again. As a co-worker said, "It sounds like a mash-up of two really good songs."

Of note--this is the youngest artist (18 as of February) to garner Song of the Week honors. I will now go bang my head against the wall next to my desk.

Song of the Week 4/21/06

George Harrison - "Cheer Down"

I have sold a lot of CDs over the years to a) pay for beer; b) pay for moving to New York; c) to pay for vodka; d) to clear space out of my tiny apartment and e) to pay off my credit card debt. The biggest regret I have in selling discs over the past 13 years is selling George Harrison's Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989. At the time I sold it to my co-worker Sal I had no idea it was out of print, and worth much more than the 7 bucks I sold it for. I kicked myself a few times (especially when Harrison passed away in 2001), but when we reported that his back catalog was being remastered I was happy. I became very upset when that remastering did not include the three new songs that were on Best of Dark Horse. "Poor Little Girl" and "Cockamamie Business" are good songs, considering they were recorded specifically for the compilation. And "Cheer Down," well, that's one of my favorite Harrison solo songs ever. It came out a few months before the compilation on the soundtrack to Lethal Weapon 2. That summer was my first away from home, as I worked at the college station in Ithaca. I listened to a lot of music that summer when I was not on the air, and I couldn't get enough of "Cheer Down."

Finally this week I asked Sal if he could bring Best of Dark Horse back in so I could burn it into my Itunes. He just so happened to have it in his desk, so I snatched it and walked briskly to my computer. A few minutes later I was never so happy to hear the slide guitar of George Harrison. Pardon the cliche, but cheering down never cheered me up so much.

Exposed! The Grandmother of Sammy Hagar and Rhea Perlman

She's not really, she's just an 87 year old granny who happened to be a convicted murderer who eluded police for THREE DECADES.

Brings a new meaning to "It's About Time." Turn your clocks back!

Song of the Week 4/14/06

Dio - "Rainbow in the Dark"

I wrote two stories last week that were about Ronnie James Dio. That's about two more stories than I write in a whole year about Ronnie James Dio. The metal midget (seriously, he's about 5' 2") had his wife put out a statement that he wasn't reuniting with Black Sabbath this year, and in fact, he was going to be out promoting his new Holy Diver Live album. Yes, it's that classic 1983 album, done live. Whew, talk about the well running dry.

In any case, I listened to the three Dio songs I have on my Ipod on the way back to Brooklyn Friday night and eventually found myself in Great Lakes. This was the first indie rock bar in Park Slope, so you expect to hear Death Cab for Cutie, Pixies, punk, etc. So I was a bit stunned when "Rainbow in the Dark" came blasting out of the jukebox. And what was even funnier is that some guy all the way at the front of the bar started singing along as loud as I did (well, as loud as I wanted to--that dude was loud). Raising up the devil horns (pictured above) never felt so good.

Song of the Week 4/7/06

Josh Rouse - "Winter in the Hamptons"

Moria the concert pal and I went to see Josh Rouse last night at Town Hall in Manhattan. It was a good show, yet kind of odd because Rouse made a big deal about having a string quartet tour with him, but he only used them on six or seven songs during a 95-minute set. It seemed as though he could have gotten more of his money's worth.

In any case, when he led the crowd into a sing-along of "Winter in the Hamptons," I started focusing on the lyrics, and a couple of lines really struck me as perfect for the way I feel right now:

"Here we go, singing our songs with our soul
The winter has gone, where do we belong
We have stayed too long"

It's been a long winter, indeed. (I"m not talking weather-wise.) And singing along with Rouse and the crowd at Town Hall felt good. Singing along with a song that has somehow mapped a direct link to your soul (or whatever it is inside us) makes some of the stress that life brings melt away.

Or maybe it was the six pints of Rolling Rock, whatever.

Co-Song of the Week 3/31

Young Fresh Fellows - "Hillbilly Drummer Girl"


Tina Turner - "Better Be Good to Me"


I've rarely had two such diverse songs dominate one week like this. The Tina story is easy--somehow my-coworker Doug brought up "Better Be Good to Me" in one of our stupid conversations that dominate our days. Of course, I immediately downloaded the track and cranked it up. And when Doug did his own Tina impression, I knew we had a winner. We listened to the song every day at work--and fruitlessly looked for the video where Tina just rips it up on stage somewhere. Damn, she was hot for a 60 (maybe older?) year old woman in 1984.

"Hillbilly Drummer Girl" is a bit of a longer tale. This week I saw two shows from The Minus 5, the group led by Young Fresh Fellows frontman Scott McCaughey. Scott started this band 13 years ago as a vehicle for his non-Fellows material and stocked it with a rotating cast of musicians. Within the past five years, he's solidified the lineup to an amazing four piece--Peter Buck on bass, John Ramberg on guitar and vocals and Bill Rieflin on drums. I've seen this lineup perform four times, and those shows are easily the best out of the nine Minus 5 gigs I've made it to.

Their two shows this week were two of the best concerts I imagine I'll attend this year. The second show at the Mercury Lounge was slightly better for one reason. (Well, two reasons if you count the smoking guest appearance by Lenny Kaye on guitar.) Scott walked up to the mic at one point and said, "This next song is a cover. It's by one of the best bands you'll ever see, and this song is probably one of the best you'll hear this year." Then McCaughey kicked off that killer riff that starts off "Hillbilly Drummer Girl." I started jumping up and down, screaming "yeah, YEAH!" All of the people around me at the front of the stage gave me some extra space for the rest of the show after that little display. And then two people came up and asked me, "Who does that song originally?" "Ugh," I thought, "How could these people not one of the best Fellows songs ever?" After the show was over I went up to Scott, gave him a hug and thanked him for breaking out that song, telling him he had no idea what it meant to me.

Now the Minus 5 have covered a Fellows song before--"I'm Not Bitter" from Down With Wilco was first on a rare Fellows LP--but I never expected this song to ever make a Minus 5 set. Hey, the Fellows have played New York three times in the past 12 years, so I'll take what I can get. And for it to be this song, well, it's almost too much.

I discovered the Fellows in college, really dug playing them throughout my time on 92 WICB and even played songs from them on my "alternative" show in Syracuse from 1992 to 1995. After moving to New York, I sort of forgot about them until I discovered my co-worker Jodie was a huge fan. One week we preceded to go on a Fellows spree, buying all the albums we didn't own, playing them at work, annoying our co-workers all the way. All these years later, whenever I hear "Hillbilly Drummer Girl," I think of her and the crazy, mixed-up and (once in a while) most perfect times in my life. (It also doesn't hurt that The Figgs recorded a cover of "Hillbilly Drummer Girl," making it even more appealing to my ears.)

The past few months I've been going through another emotional rollercoaster that makes me think back to those times almost a decade ago. So having the Minus 5 play this silly song about a female drummer going to Memphis on Tuesday night somehow how brought it all together. I'm not sure if it was relief, sadness over what could have been, sadness that what I hope for in the present day I know will never happen or just the extreme lack of sleep I've had all this year due to stress on all sorts of fronts, but during those three plus minutes Scott was singing and the band was rocking, it all melted away. I felt like that college kid again; I felt like that guy who had been in New York for a year and unexpectedly stumbled upon love; I felt like that guy from last summer who was cheerful to be around and truly enjoyed life for the first time in years. I felt good. I don't think I could adequately explain to Scott (who I feel lucky enough to be friendly with) how much his music has meant to me over the past decade, or how much that performance of "Hillbilly Drummer Girl" meant to the healthiness of my soul. But who knows, maybe that brief sweaty post-show hug said it all.

Song of the Week 3/24/06

Humble Pie - "30 Days in the Hole"

This track from Peter Frampton's first band has always been one of those classic rock staples that slips through the cracks for me. Like Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air" or Steve Forbert's "Romeo's Tune," "30 Days in the Hole" was one of those one-hit-classic-rock-wonders I discovered in 1984 when I first started listening to PYX 106 in Albany--and for all three tunes, it took me years to discover who sang them. (Ah, those sexy pre-Internet days.) I finally discovered it was Humble Pie when I started co-hosting WICB's Classic Rock Sunday. For some reason we had this track on CD, and I swear I must have played it once a month the year plus I hosted the show. But since then, I can't recall thinking about the song more than once in the past 15 years.

So this week I'm killing some time by exploring the ITunes store, and I stumble upon Kiefer Sutherland's celebrity playlist. Being the huge 24 fan that I am, I clicked on the link, and there it was, track 3, "30 days in the Hole." Sutherland describes the Humble Pie album Smokin' as "A bad-ass rock record from start to finish." I'm inclined to agree with him. I ended up downloading the song and listening to it three times in a row. The goofy acapella beginning where the Humble guys work on their harmonies made me feel like I was back at home circa 1985, having my cassette recorder on pause all the time, waiting for some great song to come on so I could capture it on tape.

Bless this Itunes thing and its ability to fulfill my crazy musical needs.

Song of the Week 3/17/06

Sugar - "Hoover Dam"

So during my vacation out West I went to the Hoover Dam for the first time. The morning before we drove there, I listened to this track from the most excellent Copper Blue. My entire visit I was humming the song. And as I posed for a picture with one foot in Nevada and one in Arizona, the opening lines never seemed so appropriate:

"Standing on the edge
Of the hoover dam
I'm on the centerline
Right between two states of mind"

Considering my messed up mental state of late, this Bob Mould metaphor worked quite well. Thankfully, the vacation did me a world of good, which will hopefully lead to goofier Songs of the Week for a bit.

Song of the Week 3/10/06

Yes - "Love Will Find a Way"

I doubt the truth of this song's title, but it has been stuck my head all week. The three-part harmonies from Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire and Jon Anderson on this track (and on most of the album) just sound so pure, like these guys were meant all their lives to sing together. When I saw "Love Will Find a Way" on the master list of songs I've been plowing through for my HD radio channel, I just had to hear it. And then hear it again. And again. Every trip this week on the subway, this Big Generator cut has kept me mezmerized. I love the Trevor Rabin edition of Yes--those two albums were as good as AOR got in the mid-to-late 80s. Too bad they couldn't keep it together.

Love will find a way. Yeah, right.

Song of the Week 3/3/06

Soul Coughing - "Screenwriter's Blues"

Perhaps the musical cosmos knows that I can't wait to visit L.A in two weeks. Maybe that's why I a) watched the video for this great track online today and b) soon disocovered it had a fuck in it, which means it can't really be played on my HD Radio channel called Radio Radio.

Dammit.

Nevertheless, it's one of the best songs ever about the film business, which seems appropirate with the Oscars on Sunday.

Is it vacation time yet?

Song of the Week 2/24/06

Skeeter Davis - "The End of the World"

This classic tearjerker of a song has popped up from time to time in my life. My first memory of it comes from my grandfather, who was big into country, especially the start of the Chet Atkins-era of "Countrypolitian" production in the early 60s. I vaguely recall hearing this in my house at some point growing up, alongside a wealth of great country albums that I am proud to say I stole for my own collection when I was in high school.

The second time was about six years ago when it was used (to rather excellent dramatic effect) in the Winona Ryder/Angelina Jolie insane asylum flick Girl, Interrupted. This time, I scored the soundtrack from a friend of mine at TVT, and I played the song a few times, soaking in its sadness.

The latest time I was able to make a "Skeeter" reference in public was last night when Mike Viola did a cover of the song during his show at Barbes in Brooklyn. Simply put, it was a stunning performance of a song that is pretty damn great to begin with. Viola has written his share of uptempo catchy numbers, but I swear he's at his best when he's doing a slow ballad about loss or heartbreak. This cover -- which also featured a stellar pedal steel solo by Bob Hoffnar -- was no exception, and fit perfectly amongst Viola's originals.

Let's face it, I like really sad songs. Heck, I even ended up making a mix called A Heartbreak Special for my friend's bar that led off with that song.

Yeah, I know, what a sap...

UPDATE 2/26: Just to add to the Song of the Week mystique, I decided to sing "The End of the World" at some birthday karaoke in Koreatown Friday night. Alas, I am no Skeeter Davis or Mike Viola, even though I certainly can pack a lot of depression into my voice. Nobody wanted to hear it, and I was cut off before the second verse.

Drunk on Sapporo bastards.

Song of the Week 2/17/06

Josh Rouse - "It Looks Like Love"

Mr. Rouse has done it again, creating another batch of 10 great songs about love, loneliness and...Spain? The first U.S. single from his upcoming album Subtitulo--a title influenced by Rouse's new Spanish home--was one of the highlights of his acoustic show a few weeks back. It's damn catchy, and it seems as though our Josh has gotten over his divorce and found a new squeeze. After listening (cough, illegally recording from the internet, cough) the album on Thursday, I had to listen to it again on the way home. And then when I was checking my email late that night, I saw I had gotten an email about a pre-sale of tix for Josh's Town Hall show on April 7th. As I was texting Moria the concert pal about this news, "It Looks Like Love" came on WFUV. Really, these folks (especially those at the World Cafe) seem to know my musical brain a little too well.

April 7th can't get here soon enough. (Same for March 21st, Subtitulo's proper release date.)

Song of the Week 2/10/06

Death Cab for Cutie - "Crooked Teeth"

This has long been my favorite song on Plans, and now the new "Sledgehammer" homage clip for it has been stuck in my brain all week.

Fuck, I'm gonna go watch it again now.

Trouser Press 100 2/4/06

Thanks again to those who came out to see myself and Ira spin at Magnetic Field last night. We hope to do it again soon. Check out what you heard (or missed) below...

Psychedelic Furs - “Into You Like a Train”
PIL - “Public Image”
Wire - “Mannequin”
XTC - “Life Begins at the Hop”
Lords of the New Church - “Russian Roulette”
Talk Talk - “Talk Talk”
Art of Noise - “Close (to the Edit)”
Cure - “Hello I Love You”
dBs - “Amplifier”
House of Freaks - “It’s a Fucked Up World”
OMD - “Souvenir”
Normal - “Warm Leatherette”
M - “Pop Muzik”
Grandmaster Flash - “White Lines”
Be-Bop Deluxe - “Cryin to the Sky”
Clash - “Time Is Tight”
Elvis Costello - “Lipstick Vogue”
Dave Edmunds - “Girls Talk”
Cheap Trick - "Heaven's Falling”
Status Quo - “Down Down”
Jason and the Scorchers - “My Kingdom for a Car’
Tom Robinson Band - “2-4-6-8 Motorway”
Dictators - “Minnesota Strip"
Plimsouls - “A Million Miles Away”
Foghat - “I Just Want to Make Love to You”
Stranglers - “Duchess”
Damned - “I Just Can’t Be Happy Today”
Sex Pistols - “Frigging in the Rigging”
Red Rockers - “China”
20/20 - “Yellow Pills”
John Cooper Clarke - “36 Hours”
Billy Idol - “Dancing With Myself”
T. Rex - "20th Century Boy"
T. Rex - "New York City"
The Cars - "All Mixed Up"
Joe Jackson - "Don't Wanna be Like That"
Split Enz - "History Never Repeats"
The Motors - "Airport"
The Pretenders - "Time the Avenger"
Talking Heads - "Slippery People"
Echo & the Bunnymen - "The Back of Love"
The Jam - "Start!"
Go-Go's - "Get Up and Go"
Blondie - "(I'm Always Touched by Your) Presence Dear"
Monroes - "What Do All the People Know"
Dukes of Stratosphere - "Vanishing Girl"
Spongetones - "(My Girl) Maryanne"
English Beat - "Best Friend"
Madness - "Wings Of a Dove"
Eurythmics - "Love Is a Stranger"
Patti Smith - "Redondo Beach"
David Bowie - "Panic in Detroit"
The Church - "The Unguarded Moment"
Graham Parker - "Stick to Me"
Smiths - "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out"
Ramones - "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World"
Replacements - "I Will Dare"
Sex Pistols - "Holidays in the Sun"
Smithereens - "Strangers When We Meet"
Descendants - "Suburban Home"
Hoodoo Gurus - "Like Wow--Wipeout"
Vapors - "Turning Japanese"
Sugar - "A Good Idea"
Replacements - "Bastards of Young"
KISS - "Hard Luck Woman
Alice Cooper - "Only Women Bleed"
The Kinks - "20th Century Man"
Rolling Stones - "Hand of Fate"
Rolling Stones - "Sweet Virginia"
Television - "Marquee Moon"
Elvis Costello - "Allison"
Graham Parker - "Wake Up (Next to You)"
Mott the Hoople - "I Wish I Was Your Mother"
Jazz Butcher - "D.R.I.N.K."
R.E.M. - "Perfect Circle"
Pretenders - "Thin Line Between Love and Hate"
Joe Jackson - "Breaking Us in Two"
Big Star - "Thirteen"

Song of the Week 2/3/06

Brandi Carlile - "Throw It All Away"

I've written in the past about albums that I missed the first time around, and Seattle youngster (and cutie, as you can see) Brandi Carlile's self-titled debut is no exception. I listened to once and dismissed it as another clone in the Sheryl Crow/Lucinda Williams vein. But over the past couple of months WFUV has been spinning various tracks, and one morning last week the morning jock Claudia Marshall played "Throw It All Away" and something just clicked. At that point I'd already put the album in the giveaway stack ages ago, so I had to go to Itunes that day and download it. Then I proceeded to listen to this tearjeaker of a song over and over. Something about Carlile's passioned delivery of the chorus slays me every time. Of course, this song isn't one of the two singles Carlile's label has released, so props to WFUV once again for playing another hidden gem.