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psychicdeath

Member
Jan 21, 2015
955
1,521
Dave's Song of the Day

Short Skirt/Long Jacket – Cake

Friday song of the day: Today’s song describes the singer’s ideal woman.




The band Cake formed in the early 1990s and had considerable alternative rock success, including two Platinum albums, Fashion Nugget in 1996 and Prolonging the Magic in 1998. They switched labels for their next album, Comfort Eagle, in 2001.

The first single off Comfort Eagle was Short Skirt/Long Jacket, a song where the singer describes his ideal woman in increasingly specific terms. Many of the descriptions have to do with business, praising the competence and efficiency of the dream girl. Short Skirt/Long Jacket rose to #7 on the Alternative Airplay chart and #31 on the Adult Top 40 chart. It failed to place on the Billboard Hot 100, as by 2001, alternative rock’s heyday had passed. Still, it is a fine example of the genre.

The music video for Short Skirt/Long Jacket was innovative, in that it consisted of various people on the streets of Southern California giving their impressions – both positive and negative – of the song. Since the technique was cheap to produce, the record company made three other versions using the same concept, one in New York, one in Canada, and one in Mexico.

A few years later, an instrumental portion of the song was used for the opening theme of the NBC series Chuck, which aired for five seasons from 2007 to 2012.

Audio


View: https://youtu.be/85zV1fpSJQ0


Video (original California version)


View: https://youtu.be/X5KmB8Laemg


Chuck opening credits


View: https://youtu.be/YG7XQBF8dVA


Tomorrow: If she asked me to I’d murder, I would gladly lose my soul.
 

psychicdeath

Member
Jan 21, 2015
955
1,521
Dave's Song of the Day

Behind the Wall of Sleep -Smithereens

Saturday song of the day: Today’s song is about a girl so perfect that the singer can only dream of her.




Like yesterday’s Short Skirt/Long Jacket, today’s song is about a dream girl. Smithereens released their first album, Especially for You, in 1986. The second single from the album was Behind the Wall of Sleep, a song about a beautiful and unattainable woman who happens to be a musician.

The song was inspired by a band that Smithereens had shared a bill with earlier in their careers. The group was The Bristols, and the bass player, Kim Ernst was especially striking, so Smithereens songwriter Pat DiNizio wrote Behind the Wall of Sleep about her.

The song placed at #23 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, but failed to make the overall Hot 100. While it wasn’t a big mainstream hit, long-term airplay helped it develop into an alt-rock classic.


View: https://youtu.be/Pu2qppByIY4


Video


View: https://youtu.be/UNZbP3ZVem4


Tomorrow: If I could I’d catch a falling star
 

psychicdeath

Member
Jan 21, 2015
955
1,521
Dave's Song of the Day

Betcha By Golly, Wow – The Stylistics

Sunday song of the day: Today’s song didn’t sell well under its original title, but a retitled cover version was a big hit.




The songwriting team of Thom Bell and Linda Creed, who were instrumental in establishing “The Philadelphia Sound” in soul music, wrote a song called Keep Growing Strong in 1970. It was then recorded by actress and singer Connie Stevens and released as a single in October 1970. This version failed to make an impact and did not chart at all.

The next year, Bell was producing the debut album for a group called The Stylistics, and they recorded Keep Growing Strong, but used a different title, based on another line repeated in the song: Betcha By Golly, Wow. The album, titled simply The Stylistics, was released in November 1971. Three songs included on the album were singles that preceded the album, with You’re a Big Girl Now, Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart), and You Are Everything placing at #73, #39, and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively. Thus, it was as established hitmakers that they released their first single from The Stylistics that had been recorded specifically for the album. That was Betcha By Golly, Wow.

It proved to be their biggest hit so far, topping out at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The Stylistics continued producing hits for the next several years, but eclipsed Betcha By Golly, Wow only once, with 1974’s You Make Me Feel Brand New, which placed at #2 on the Hot 100.

Since its first release the song has been covered over fifty times by various artists. Only the Connie Francis original used the Keep Growing Strong title. All the others used Betcha By Golly, Wow, with the exception of one version titled only Betcha By Golly, and one that added an exclamation point after the title. The version called Betcha By Golly, Wow! was released by Prince on his 1996 album Emancipation.

Betcha By Golly, Wow, The Stylistics, 1972


View: https://youtu.be/sGTqw4S1dXI


Keep Growing Strong, Connie Stevens, 1970


View: https://youtu.be/Jn7yN5NOiA4


Betcha By Golly, Wow!, Prince, 1996


View: https://youtu.be/2Cg_1OsabIc


Tomorrow: Lonely days are gone