There Is A Light That Never Goes Out - The Smiths (1986)
Morrissey is a depressed literati. Johnny Marr bows at the altar of the Byrds and the Paisley Underground's jangly pop. Put them together and you have the best band of the 1980's. While they broke up in 1987, their influence still looms large. It seems every successive teenage generation finds power in Moz's lyrics of love lost and, um...lost. Their finest effort is The Queen Is Dead and this single comes near the end of that platter. You know a love is strong that even dying beside the one you love sounds like a romantic peak. The synthesized strings bring the proceedings extra brevity, and the band sounds just as airy and tight as they ever did. But Morrissey's words are what take us to a higher place, and has enabled this song to become a stadium anthem on his recent solo tours. Death is not the end, indeed.
And this version, using clips from (500) Days of Summer, is just as good!
Monday, June 7, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
JDIZZY's 365 # 28: Rhythm Nation
Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson (1989)
Some songs from your childhood stand out more than others. For example, I will never forget watching the Batdance video by Prince and thinking that music could never get any cooler( Maybe I was right?!?). In 1989 I was in fourth grade, and once a week we had music class. Once every month in said classroom, our teacher would hand out copies of a music education magazine called Music Alive. It was the highlight of middle school for me. Inside you found articles about pop stars, classical music and jazz. The best attribute though was that every issue had sheet music of a popular song of the day. The teacher was provided with an audio cassette that had cover versions of the hit recording. In this way the student could sight read the music, hear the tune and sing along. During those pre-music blog days, it was one of the best ways to hear these hits right as they were coming out, even though the covers were usually awful, akin to those on 80's budget albums. This was how I first heard "Rhythm Nation". Even with an in-studio singer, I could tell that Miss Janet was changing the game with this one. The production, by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis was unlike anything else on the radio in 1989, almost experimental in its melding of synthesized and sampled live instrumentation. Janet's words recalled John Lennon's message in Come Together , that all the world needed to be one was to dance like your life depended on it. The video made this song a classic, but listening to it today sans visual aid, it still holds up as a tour de force performance and one of the best singles the 80's ever produced.
Few people remember that the original video for the song was 30 minutes long. Amazingly, the internet does not disappoint!
Some songs from your childhood stand out more than others. For example, I will never forget watching the Batdance video by Prince and thinking that music could never get any cooler( Maybe I was right?!?). In 1989 I was in fourth grade, and once a week we had music class. Once every month in said classroom, our teacher would hand out copies of a music education magazine called Music Alive. It was the highlight of middle school for me. Inside you found articles about pop stars, classical music and jazz. The best attribute though was that every issue had sheet music of a popular song of the day. The teacher was provided with an audio cassette that had cover versions of the hit recording. In this way the student could sight read the music, hear the tune and sing along. During those pre-music blog days, it was one of the best ways to hear these hits right as they were coming out, even though the covers were usually awful, akin to those on 80's budget albums. This was how I first heard "Rhythm Nation". Even with an in-studio singer, I could tell that Miss Janet was changing the game with this one. The production, by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis was unlike anything else on the radio in 1989, almost experimental in its melding of synthesized and sampled live instrumentation. Janet's words recalled John Lennon's message in Come Together , that all the world needed to be one was to dance like your life depended on it. The video made this song a classic, but listening to it today sans visual aid, it still holds up as a tour de force performance and one of the best singles the 80's ever produced.
Few people remember that the original video for the song was 30 minutes long. Amazingly, the internet does not disappoint!
Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation [Complete Movie] - kewego
CaptainFunkOnTheRADIO!*
SATURDAY NIGHT. www.radiobeton.com
http://www.myspace.com/captainffonk
CaptainFunkOnTheRADIO!*
SATURDAY NIGHT. www.radiobeton.com
http://www.myspace.com/captainffonk
Video from captainfunk
Saturday, June 5, 2010
JDIZZY's 365 # 27 : Something I Can Never Have
Something I Can Never Have - Nine Inch Nails (1989)
Trent Reznor feels pain louder than anyone else. Over the last 20 years, he has given the world some of the hardest, spite-filled and fragile music it has ever known. All three of these traits are on display in this achingly bitter ballad from his first LP, Pretty Hate Machine. It is "In The Air Tonight" for the industrial age. Beauty lurks in this cold steel, but the journey will take its toll on you. On a dark night, preferably with headphones, Trent will make you hurt.
Trent Reznor feels pain louder than anyone else. Over the last 20 years, he has given the world some of the hardest, spite-filled and fragile music it has ever known. All three of these traits are on display in this achingly bitter ballad from his first LP, Pretty Hate Machine. It is "In The Air Tonight" for the industrial age. Beauty lurks in this cold steel, but the journey will take its toll on you. On a dark night, preferably with headphones, Trent will make you hurt.
JDIZZY's 365 # 26: Furr
Furr - Blitzen Trapper (2008)
Transmogrification goes indie! On this, the best song Neil Young never wrote, our narrator becomes a wolf, and is quite happy with his circumstances. That is, until a beautiful girl comes along and steals his heart and makes him embrace his humanity. Harvest-era instrumentation blend with fantastical lyrics, making this one of the best ballads to come out of the 21st century. The boys of Blitzen are releasing a new album this year. If it can keep up with this gem, I believe their audience will continue to grow.
Transmogrification goes indie! On this, the best song Neil Young never wrote, our narrator becomes a wolf, and is quite happy with his circumstances. That is, until a beautiful girl comes along and steals his heart and makes him embrace his humanity. Harvest-era instrumentation blend with fantastical lyrics, making this one of the best ballads to come out of the 21st century. The boys of Blitzen are releasing a new album this year. If it can keep up with this gem, I believe their audience will continue to grow.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
JDIZZY's 365 # 25: Jolene
Jolene - Dolly Parton (1974)
Long before the theme parks, plastic surgeries and Hannah Montana appearances, Dolly Parton was simply the best female songwriter of her generation. Her streak of country chart hits in the 1970's were not just impressive because of their number (8 number 1's by 1976), but also because of their quality. She could be funny, heartbreaking and reflective, writing from her heart without her wallet on her mind. Of course that would come in time as she crossed over to pop and became an icon. Still, here on her first Country #1, we get a young woman begging another to leave her man alone. It is not an angry confrontation. It is one facilitated out of a simple need: She loves her man too much to lose him. She talks to Jolene as a friend, hoping to be treated the same way. A "woman scorned" ballad has never been this tender or honest. No wonder NPR did a piece on the origin of the real Jolene.
And The White Stripes just KILL with their version!
Long before the theme parks, plastic surgeries and Hannah Montana appearances, Dolly Parton was simply the best female songwriter of her generation. Her streak of country chart hits in the 1970's were not just impressive because of their number (8 number 1's by 1976), but also because of their quality. She could be funny, heartbreaking and reflective, writing from her heart without her wallet on her mind. Of course that would come in time as she crossed over to pop and became an icon. Still, here on her first Country #1, we get a young woman begging another to leave her man alone. It is not an angry confrontation. It is one facilitated out of a simple need: She loves her man too much to lose him. She talks to Jolene as a friend, hoping to be treated the same way. A "woman scorned" ballad has never been this tender or honest. No wonder NPR did a piece on the origin of the real Jolene.
And The White Stripes just KILL with their version!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
JDIZZY's 365 # 24: Mr. Blue Sky
Mr. Blue Sky - Electric Light Orchestra (1978)
Long before his days as a member of the Traveling Wilburys, Jeff Lynne made exquisite pop music with The Idle Race, The Move, and, in a cosmic fusion of rock and classical, ELO. While initially derided as lightweight prog, ELO has moved into the realm of Wings as two of the most perfect pop groups to ever come out of the 70's. Out Of The Blue was their 2LP Magnum Opus, and "Mr. Blue Sky" is the greatest single the band ever released. Riding a martial drum beat, anvil clangs, and those ELO strings, you can practically imagine what was going on in Panic At The Disco's head when they aped it almost verbatim for Nine In The Afternoon ("There's no way our emo kid fans have heard this fossil", they seem to say. But at least one had...ha ha!). It is the perfect end piece for the "Concerto For A Rainy Day", a side-long epic that, though having fallen out of vogue in 1978, was one of the best of its kind. It's so good in fact, that I believe I will go cue it up right now. Classical Pop Perfection!!!
Long before his days as a member of the Traveling Wilburys, Jeff Lynne made exquisite pop music with The Idle Race, The Move, and, in a cosmic fusion of rock and classical, ELO. While initially derided as lightweight prog, ELO has moved into the realm of Wings as two of the most perfect pop groups to ever come out of the 70's. Out Of The Blue was their 2LP Magnum Opus, and "Mr. Blue Sky" is the greatest single the band ever released. Riding a martial drum beat, anvil clangs, and those ELO strings, you can practically imagine what was going on in Panic At The Disco's head when they aped it almost verbatim for Nine In The Afternoon ("There's no way our emo kid fans have heard this fossil", they seem to say. But at least one had...ha ha!). It is the perfect end piece for the "Concerto For A Rainy Day", a side-long epic that, though having fallen out of vogue in 1978, was one of the best of its kind. It's so good in fact, that I believe I will go cue it up right now. Classical Pop Perfection!!!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
JDIZZY's 365 # 23: Trouble
Trouble - Cat Stevens (1970)
Cat Stevens was never supposed to be a Singer/Songwriter. Cat was a British pop star who, in the wake of the Beatles, rode the waves of masterfully orchestrated sketches about dogs, offices, and first cuts to the upper reaches of the British singles chart. Then, he contracted tuberculosis, took a much needed sabbatical, and announced his return with Mona Bone Jakon. No one could have guessed what would hit their ears when the needle touched vinyl. This was mature, personal songwriting that would spark an entire generation of singers to "keep it real", for lack of a better phrase. While littered with stellar tracks, this album also paved the way for Tea For The Tillerman and Teaser And The Firecat, which would both be released in quick succession. Ryan Adams fans take note: The fact that three albums worth of good material was released in just over a year is impressive, but Cat put out three stone classics, not only of his career, but of an entire genre.
And sitting there ever so quiet at the end of side 1 of MBJ is this sad but powerful song of lost love. What strikes me about it though is the narrator's acceptance of the end. He knows his lover's feelings have changed permanently so he resigns to make a quick end of it, stating "You have made me a wreck, now won't you leave me in my misery?". If all of us look back on a particular "bad ending" that a significant other has brought about, these words ring true not just as something similar we've experienced, but the exact thoughts we have had. Thus, Stevens taps into our collective psyches, and this song continues to hold its power after countless listens.
Harold and Maude, one of the best films ever made, has a soundtrack entirely made up of Cat Stevens songs.It uses all of "Trouble" during a very important part of the film. Here is that wonderful clip!
Sing it Eddie!!
Cat Stevens was never supposed to be a Singer/Songwriter. Cat was a British pop star who, in the wake of the Beatles, rode the waves of masterfully orchestrated sketches about dogs, offices, and first cuts to the upper reaches of the British singles chart. Then, he contracted tuberculosis, took a much needed sabbatical, and announced his return with Mona Bone Jakon. No one could have guessed what would hit their ears when the needle touched vinyl. This was mature, personal songwriting that would spark an entire generation of singers to "keep it real", for lack of a better phrase. While littered with stellar tracks, this album also paved the way for Tea For The Tillerman and Teaser And The Firecat, which would both be released in quick succession. Ryan Adams fans take note: The fact that three albums worth of good material was released in just over a year is impressive, but Cat put out three stone classics, not only of his career, but of an entire genre.
And sitting there ever so quiet at the end of side 1 of MBJ is this sad but powerful song of lost love. What strikes me about it though is the narrator's acceptance of the end. He knows his lover's feelings have changed permanently so he resigns to make a quick end of it, stating "You have made me a wreck, now won't you leave me in my misery?". If all of us look back on a particular "bad ending" that a significant other has brought about, these words ring true not just as something similar we've experienced, but the exact thoughts we have had. Thus, Stevens taps into our collective psyches, and this song continues to hold its power after countless listens.
Harold and Maude, one of the best films ever made, has a soundtrack entirely made up of Cat Stevens songs.It uses all of "Trouble" during a very important part of the film. Here is that wonderful clip!
Sing it Eddie!!
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