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- Thread starter Bluesville
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For any fans of Sublime and the reggae-rock groups they inspired, this 53 song album of Sublime songs is a fucking winner:
View: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjqwrRfXwK7T_va1ydcUNqqJ68ZeLa78a
View: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjqwrRfXwK7T_va1ydcUNqqJ68ZeLa78a
Dave's Song of the Day
Raspberry Beret – Hindu Love Gods
Friday song of the day: Todays song was an impromptu recording made when the singer finished his own album early.
Prince had a big hit in 1985 with Raspberry Beret, a song off his Around the World in a Day album. The song about a chance meeting with a girl in a store leading to a romantic encounter placed at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Two years later, Warren Zevon was working on his Sentimental Hygiene album, with three members of REM, guitarist Peter Buck, drummer Bill Berry, and bassist Mike Mills serving as backing musicians. The early 1987 sessions for the Zevon album went well, and when the work was completed, it turned out that he still had a day of studio time remaining. As a result, the musicians and Zevon decided that just for fun they would record a bunch of covers of songs they liked, and the session turned out to be sort of a drunken musical party. There was no intention of ever releasing the recordings, but eventually they did decide to put them out as an album, using the band name Hindu Love Gods.
Hindu Love Gods was released in October 1990, and while reviewed as a fun and interesting album, did not sell particularly well, placing only at #168 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Their cover of Raspberry Beret was released as a single and did get some airplay, peaking at #23 on the Modern Rock chart, but failing to place at all on the Hot 100.
Hindu Love Gods, 1990
View: https://youtu.be/jRMjSGBHz7E
Prince, 1985
View: https://youtu.be/l7vRSu_wsNc
Tomorrow: And anyway, I’ve got no place to go
Raspberry Beret – Hindu Love Gods
Friday song of the day: Todays song was an impromptu recording made when the singer finished his own album early.
Prince had a big hit in 1985 with Raspberry Beret, a song off his Around the World in a Day album. The song about a chance meeting with a girl in a store leading to a romantic encounter placed at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Two years later, Warren Zevon was working on his Sentimental Hygiene album, with three members of REM, guitarist Peter Buck, drummer Bill Berry, and bassist Mike Mills serving as backing musicians. The early 1987 sessions for the Zevon album went well, and when the work was completed, it turned out that he still had a day of studio time remaining. As a result, the musicians and Zevon decided that just for fun they would record a bunch of covers of songs they liked, and the session turned out to be sort of a drunken musical party. There was no intention of ever releasing the recordings, but eventually they did decide to put them out as an album, using the band name Hindu Love Gods.
Hindu Love Gods was released in October 1990, and while reviewed as a fun and interesting album, did not sell particularly well, placing only at #168 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Their cover of Raspberry Beret was released as a single and did get some airplay, peaking at #23 on the Modern Rock chart, but failing to place at all on the Hot 100.
Hindu Love Gods, 1990
View: https://youtu.be/jRMjSGBHz7E
Prince, 1985
View: https://youtu.be/l7vRSu_wsNc
Tomorrow: And anyway, I’ve got no place to go
Dave's Song of the Day
Hey Jealousy – Gin Blossoms
Saturday song of the day: It took a few tries before today’s song caught on.
Guitarist Doug Hopkins was having a hard time trying to reunite with an ex, and wrote a song about it for his band, Gin Blossoms. The band recorded the song, Hey Jealousy, for their first album, 1989’s Dusted. The character in the song comes across as pretty much of a screw-up, reflecting Hopkins’ real-life depression and alcoholism. In fact, the song originally included the line “And you can trust me not to drink”, but the band insisted on changing “drink” to “think.”
The album didn’t sell all that well, but when Gin Blossoms signed to a major label a few years later, they re-recorded Hey Jealousy for 1992’s New Miserable Experience. This version was smoother and not quite as fast-paced as the 1989 original, and is the one most people remember (although, personally, I prefer the rawer original recording). As the album was being completed, Hopkins’ drinking and mental health problems had gotten out of control, so he was fired from the band.
Hey Jealousy was released in 1992 and both it and the album didn’t do much. Then after about a year the band started getting more notice and Hey Jealousy was released as a single again in 1993. This time it hit, climbing to #4 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. This and later singles helped the New Miserable Experience album eventually go quadruple Platinum.
Unfortunately, seeing the band from which he had been fired now doing well with songs he had written didn’t help Doug Hopkins’ depression, and he committed suicide on December 5th, 1993.
Video 1993
View: https://youtu.be/ah5gAkna3jI
Audio, 1992
View: https://youtu.be/XDjbg-WDimc
Audio, 1989
View: https://youtu.be/OgY4YyQErmE
Tomorrow: Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
Hey Jealousy – Gin Blossoms
Saturday song of the day: It took a few tries before today’s song caught on.
Guitarist Doug Hopkins was having a hard time trying to reunite with an ex, and wrote a song about it for his band, Gin Blossoms. The band recorded the song, Hey Jealousy, for their first album, 1989’s Dusted. The character in the song comes across as pretty much of a screw-up, reflecting Hopkins’ real-life depression and alcoholism. In fact, the song originally included the line “And you can trust me not to drink”, but the band insisted on changing “drink” to “think.”
The album didn’t sell all that well, but when Gin Blossoms signed to a major label a few years later, they re-recorded Hey Jealousy for 1992’s New Miserable Experience. This version was smoother and not quite as fast-paced as the 1989 original, and is the one most people remember (although, personally, I prefer the rawer original recording). As the album was being completed, Hopkins’ drinking and mental health problems had gotten out of control, so he was fired from the band.
Hey Jealousy was released in 1992 and both it and the album didn’t do much. Then after about a year the band started getting more notice and Hey Jealousy was released as a single again in 1993. This time it hit, climbing to #4 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. This and later singles helped the New Miserable Experience album eventually go quadruple Platinum.
Unfortunately, seeing the band from which he had been fired now doing well with songs he had written didn’t help Doug Hopkins’ depression, and he committed suicide on December 5th, 1993.
Video 1993
View: https://youtu.be/ah5gAkna3jI
Audio, 1992
View: https://youtu.be/XDjbg-WDimc
Audio, 1989
View: https://youtu.be/OgY4YyQErmE
Tomorrow: Let’s break out the booze and have a ball
Dave's Song of the Day
Is That All There Is – Peggy Lee
Sunday song of the day: Today’s song is about the lack of meaning in life.
Peggy Lee was an iconic singer of the 1940s and 1950s, but with the rise of rock and roll, the hits had dried up for her. In 1969 she hadn’t had a top 40 hit in eleven years, with the most recent being the #8 Fever in 1958. She had continued recording for all those years, but the charts had little room for her style of music anymore. By 1969, there were hints that her label, Capitol Records, might drop her unless her next record sold better.
Then songwriter Jerry Lieber brought her a song called Is That All There Is, thinking it might be a good fit for her. Barbra Streisand – who was a big star but still only 27 years old at the time – had turned it down, and Lieber thought the 48-year-old Lee might do a good job with the world-weary song. Lieber and his partner Mike Stoller had written the song a few years prior, and it was pretty far from the rock and roll music of the day. The lyrics were very cynical, telling of someone who throughout their entire life expected there to be some sort of higher meaning but always finding nothing. In the end, the singer decides that there is no real meaning to life, so they might as well just try to have a good time. The verses of the song were meant to be spoken, although the chorus was sung. The accompanying music was inspired by the work of Kurt Weill, who had composed such songs as Mack the Knife and Alabama Song with Berthold Brecht in the 1920s and 1930s.
The first known performance of Is That All There Is was in May 1967 when Georgia Brown performed the song on a television program. Disk jockey Dan Daniels made the first recorded version in February 1968, where he spoke the lyrics over a musical track. It was an unauthorized recording that he played on his radio show, so it was never released as a record. The first authorized recording was by Leslie Uggams in August 1968 for her album What’s an Uggams? Her version was never released as a single in the United States.
A year later, Peggy Lee recorded her version, which used a more melancholy musical backing than the Leslie Uggams recording. The arrangement on the Peggy Lee record was composed by a young Randy Newman, who later went on to a successful recording career and after that wrote songs for numerous films, including all four Toy Story movies. It was released as a single in August 1969 and also appeared on an album of the same name. The single turned out to be an odd hit in late 1969. On November 8th, 1969 Is That All There Is reached its highest chart position at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, sharing the charts with such records as Come Together by The Beatles, Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Sugar, Sugar by The Archies.
While anachronistic, it was definitely popular, earning Lee a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and later a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame. It ended up being the final Top 40 hit in Peggy Lee’s career.
Peggy Lee, 1969
View: https://youtu.be/QPP6UgkmyM4
Leslie Uggams, 1968
View: https://youtu.be/WuFuQpfci7U
Tomorrow: Where does it go from here?
Is That All There Is – Peggy Lee
Sunday song of the day: Today’s song is about the lack of meaning in life.
Peggy Lee was an iconic singer of the 1940s and 1950s, but with the rise of rock and roll, the hits had dried up for her. In 1969 she hadn’t had a top 40 hit in eleven years, with the most recent being the #8 Fever in 1958. She had continued recording for all those years, but the charts had little room for her style of music anymore. By 1969, there were hints that her label, Capitol Records, might drop her unless her next record sold better.
Then songwriter Jerry Lieber brought her a song called Is That All There Is, thinking it might be a good fit for her. Barbra Streisand – who was a big star but still only 27 years old at the time – had turned it down, and Lieber thought the 48-year-old Lee might do a good job with the world-weary song. Lieber and his partner Mike Stoller had written the song a few years prior, and it was pretty far from the rock and roll music of the day. The lyrics were very cynical, telling of someone who throughout their entire life expected there to be some sort of higher meaning but always finding nothing. In the end, the singer decides that there is no real meaning to life, so they might as well just try to have a good time. The verses of the song were meant to be spoken, although the chorus was sung. The accompanying music was inspired by the work of Kurt Weill, who had composed such songs as Mack the Knife and Alabama Song with Berthold Brecht in the 1920s and 1930s.
The first known performance of Is That All There Is was in May 1967 when Georgia Brown performed the song on a television program. Disk jockey Dan Daniels made the first recorded version in February 1968, where he spoke the lyrics over a musical track. It was an unauthorized recording that he played on his radio show, so it was never released as a record. The first authorized recording was by Leslie Uggams in August 1968 for her album What’s an Uggams? Her version was never released as a single in the United States.
A year later, Peggy Lee recorded her version, which used a more melancholy musical backing than the Leslie Uggams recording. The arrangement on the Peggy Lee record was composed by a young Randy Newman, who later went on to a successful recording career and after that wrote songs for numerous films, including all four Toy Story movies. It was released as a single in August 1969 and also appeared on an album of the same name. The single turned out to be an odd hit in late 1969. On November 8th, 1969 Is That All There Is reached its highest chart position at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, sharing the charts with such records as Come Together by The Beatles, Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Sugar, Sugar by The Archies.
While anachronistic, it was definitely popular, earning Lee a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and later a place in the Grammy Hall of Fame. It ended up being the final Top 40 hit in Peggy Lee’s career.
Peggy Lee, 1969
View: https://youtu.be/QPP6UgkmyM4
Leslie Uggams, 1968
View: https://youtu.be/WuFuQpfci7U
Tomorrow: Where does it go from here?
Dave's Song of the Day
Love Plus One – Haircut One Hundred
Monday song of the day: Today’s song was the only US hit for this short-lived English band.
Twenty-year-old Nick Heyward was the singer and main songwriter for the band Haircut One Hundred. He and school friend Les Nemes had been in several bands together since 1977, with the fifth being Haircut One Hundred, which they formed in 1980. Soon they were signed to a record label and started recording. The band had four UK Top Ten hits in late 1981 and 1982, and their first album, Pelican West, went Platinum in the United Kingdom.
In the United States, however, Haircut One Hundred is remembered only for their sole Top 40 hit, Love Plus One. Written by Heyward, the song is ostensibly about love, but only in the vaguest terms. In truth, the lyrics are pretty much nonsense. The song has a catchy beat, though, and features bongos, steel drums, marimbas, and saxophone prominently. Released in January 1982, Love Plus One was their biggest hit in England, placing at #3 on the UK singles chart. In the United States, thanks to MTV often playing the video in the channel’s early days, it went to #8 on the Dance Club chart, #18 on the Modern Rock chart, and #37 on the overall Billboard Hot 100. After that, Haircut One Hundred never again cracked the Hot 100 in the US.
To be fair, though, the band really didn’t have much opportunity to try to expand their audience in the United States. After their successful first album, Nick Heyward left the band in January 1983 to pursue a solo career. The band continued for one more album, 1984’s Paint and Paint, but it didn’t do particularly well even in their native England, while causing barely a ripple in the United States. After the second album flopped, the band broke up.
Audio
View: https://youtu.be/r9KWcbzbKds
Video
View: https://youtu.be/5_msHpEa3_Y
Tomorrow: They called me up in Tennessee
Love Plus One – Haircut One Hundred
Monday song of the day: Today’s song was the only US hit for this short-lived English band.
Twenty-year-old Nick Heyward was the singer and main songwriter for the band Haircut One Hundred. He and school friend Les Nemes had been in several bands together since 1977, with the fifth being Haircut One Hundred, which they formed in 1980. Soon they were signed to a record label and started recording. The band had four UK Top Ten hits in late 1981 and 1982, and their first album, Pelican West, went Platinum in the United Kingdom.
In the United States, however, Haircut One Hundred is remembered only for their sole Top 40 hit, Love Plus One. Written by Heyward, the song is ostensibly about love, but only in the vaguest terms. In truth, the lyrics are pretty much nonsense. The song has a catchy beat, though, and features bongos, steel drums, marimbas, and saxophone prominently. Released in January 1982, Love Plus One was their biggest hit in England, placing at #3 on the UK singles chart. In the United States, thanks to MTV often playing the video in the channel’s early days, it went to #8 on the Dance Club chart, #18 on the Modern Rock chart, and #37 on the overall Billboard Hot 100. After that, Haircut One Hundred never again cracked the Hot 100 in the US.
To be fair, though, the band really didn’t have much opportunity to try to expand their audience in the United States. After their successful first album, Nick Heyward left the band in January 1983 to pursue a solo career. The band continued for one more album, 1984’s Paint and Paint, but it didn’t do particularly well even in their native England, while causing barely a ripple in the United States. After the second album flopped, the band broke up.
Audio
View: https://youtu.be/r9KWcbzbKds
Video
View: https://youtu.be/5_msHpEa3_Y
Tomorrow: They called me up in Tennessee
Dave's Song of the Day
Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMs) – The KLF
Tuesday song of the day: Today’s song is one of many different variations on the same theme.
The avant-garde techno band formed by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty has been known by several names, including The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, and The Timelords, but the most well-known incarnation is probably The KLF. The band started releasing music in 1987, and has created a mythology around itself, heavily influenced by the novels of The Iluminatus! Trilogy, with references to this fictional mythology present in many of their songs.
One of the key works that mentions and builds on the fictitious band history is Justified and Ancient, with the title referring to their early name as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. It was originally released in March 1991, although that recording borrows heavily from the track Hey Hey We Are Not The Monkees from their debut album as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, 1987: What the Fuck Is Going On? The version included on their KLF album The White Room in 1991 was known simply as Justified and Ancient, whereas later versions had parenthetical titles added. Each version had huge differences in instrumentation, feel, and vocals. The version on The White Room featured vocals by a singer known as Black Steel. Other versions, Justified and Ancient (All Bound for Mu Mu Land) and Justified and Ancient (Make Mine a “99”), had vocals by Maxine Harvey. Another, known as Justified and Ancient (Let Them Eat Ice Cream) was mostly instrumental. All except the version on The White Room featured rap vocals by Ricardo Da Force.
The most famous version, however, was a large-scale re-recording that was released in November 1991. This recording, known as Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMS), included vocals by country music legend Tammy Wynette. Her name was not credited on the record’s label but she was very much the star of this remake. The parenthetical “Stand by the JAMs” title was a reference to Wynette’s classic country song Stand by Your Man. Like the other recordings, the lyrics noted the Mu Mu mythology, the band driving an ice cream truck, and various other odd notions. Wynette really didn’t understand the references, but she played along and humored the band. At first, she thought the title was “Justified and Anxious” until the KLF’s Bill Drummond came to Nashville to supervise the recording of her vocal contributions. Wynette later said, “As it was, I didn’t understand what some of the words meant. I know about ice cream vans, but I’d never heard of a 99 before. [Note: It is a type of ice cream bar popular in England.] Bill explained it to me and now it makes perfectly good sense. I’m still not sure about Justified and Ancient though.”
The Tammy Wynette version of the song was a huge hit, making the Top 5 in most European countries – and #1 in many. In the United Kingdom it peaked at #2 on the singles chart, and in the United States was #2 on the Dance Clubs chart and #11 on the overall Billboard Hot 100. This was all helped along by a popular music video.
Justified and Ancient (Stand By The Jams), audio
View: https://youtu.be/iy-0mhjppTA
Justified and Ancient (Stand By The Jams), video
View: https://youtu.be/XP5oHL3zBDg
Justified and Ancient, album version
View: https://youtu.be/s-r_sPrXIbE
Tomorrow: Talk about celestial bodies
Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMs) – The KLF
Tuesday song of the day: Today’s song is one of many different variations on the same theme.
The avant-garde techno band formed by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty has been known by several names, including The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, and The Timelords, but the most well-known incarnation is probably The KLF. The band started releasing music in 1987, and has created a mythology around itself, heavily influenced by the novels of The Iluminatus! Trilogy, with references to this fictional mythology present in many of their songs.
One of the key works that mentions and builds on the fictitious band history is Justified and Ancient, with the title referring to their early name as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu. It was originally released in March 1991, although that recording borrows heavily from the track Hey Hey We Are Not The Monkees from their debut album as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, 1987: What the Fuck Is Going On? The version included on their KLF album The White Room in 1991 was known simply as Justified and Ancient, whereas later versions had parenthetical titles added. Each version had huge differences in instrumentation, feel, and vocals. The version on The White Room featured vocals by a singer known as Black Steel. Other versions, Justified and Ancient (All Bound for Mu Mu Land) and Justified and Ancient (Make Mine a “99”), had vocals by Maxine Harvey. Another, known as Justified and Ancient (Let Them Eat Ice Cream) was mostly instrumental. All except the version on The White Room featured rap vocals by Ricardo Da Force.
The most famous version, however, was a large-scale re-recording that was released in November 1991. This recording, known as Justified and Ancient (Stand by the JAMS), included vocals by country music legend Tammy Wynette. Her name was not credited on the record’s label but she was very much the star of this remake. The parenthetical “Stand by the JAMs” title was a reference to Wynette’s classic country song Stand by Your Man. Like the other recordings, the lyrics noted the Mu Mu mythology, the band driving an ice cream truck, and various other odd notions. Wynette really didn’t understand the references, but she played along and humored the band. At first, she thought the title was “Justified and Anxious” until the KLF’s Bill Drummond came to Nashville to supervise the recording of her vocal contributions. Wynette later said, “As it was, I didn’t understand what some of the words meant. I know about ice cream vans, but I’d never heard of a 99 before. [Note: It is a type of ice cream bar popular in England.] Bill explained it to me and now it makes perfectly good sense. I’m still not sure about Justified and Ancient though.”
The Tammy Wynette version of the song was a huge hit, making the Top 5 in most European countries – and #1 in many. In the United Kingdom it peaked at #2 on the singles chart, and in the United States was #2 on the Dance Clubs chart and #11 on the overall Billboard Hot 100. This was all helped along by a popular music video.
Justified and Ancient (Stand By The Jams), audio
View: https://youtu.be/iy-0mhjppTA
Justified and Ancient (Stand By The Jams), video
View: https://youtu.be/XP5oHL3zBDg
Justified and Ancient, album version
View: https://youtu.be/s-r_sPrXIbE
Tomorrow: Talk about celestial bodies
Dave's Song of the Day
That Girl Could Sing – Jackson Browne
Wednesday song of the day: Today’s song was written about a backup singer.
Jackson Browne had achieved stardom in the 1970s with hits such as Doctor My Eyes and Running on Empty. In 1980 he released his sixth studio album, Hold Out. The first single from the album was the #19 hit Boulevard. The second was released in September 1980, and told of a girl the singer admired, but who was ultimately too much of a free spirit to commit to a relationship with him.
The song was That Girl Could Sing, and over the years there was much speculation on just who the song referred to. Most assumed that it was a real person and not an invention, with theories put forward that the song was about singers Laura Nyro or Linda Ronstadt. Others felt the song referred to Valerie Carter, who often sang backup in Jackson Browne’s band. Over the years Browne hinted that That Girl Could Sing was about Carter, but never came out and confirmed it until after her death in March 2017.
While not one of his bigger hits, That Girl Could Sing placed at a respectable #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the time. Beyond its initial popularity, the song has been a fixture on classic rock radio for decades.
View: https://youtu.be/x47wRwdJfPQ
Tomorrow: Jazz on a summer’s day
That Girl Could Sing – Jackson Browne
Wednesday song of the day: Today’s song was written about a backup singer.
Jackson Browne had achieved stardom in the 1970s with hits such as Doctor My Eyes and Running on Empty. In 1980 he released his sixth studio album, Hold Out. The first single from the album was the #19 hit Boulevard. The second was released in September 1980, and told of a girl the singer admired, but who was ultimately too much of a free spirit to commit to a relationship with him.
The song was That Girl Could Sing, and over the years there was much speculation on just who the song referred to. Most assumed that it was a real person and not an invention, with theories put forward that the song was about singers Laura Nyro or Linda Ronstadt. Others felt the song referred to Valerie Carter, who often sang backup in Jackson Browne’s band. Over the years Browne hinted that That Girl Could Sing was about Carter, but never came out and confirmed it until after her death in March 2017.
While not one of his bigger hits, That Girl Could Sing placed at a respectable #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at the time. Beyond its initial popularity, the song has been a fixture on classic rock radio for decades.
View: https://youtu.be/x47wRwdJfPQ
Tomorrow: Jazz on a summer’s day
Dave's Song of the Day
Valerie – Steve Winwood
Thursday song of the day: Today’s song is reportedly about the same person as yesterday’s song.
Yesterday we looked at Jackson Browne’s 1980 hit That Girl Could Sing, which Browne later confirmed that he wrote about singer/songwriter Valerie Carter. Today’s song was also reportedly written about Valerie Carter.
The song was Valerie, which appeared on Steve Winwood’s 1982 album Talking Back to the Night. It was written by Winwood and Will Jennings. Steve Winwood mainly wrote the music, while Jennings was responsible for the lyrics, in which he told of a girl named Valerie that he had lost. Jennings has never confirmed that the song is about Valerie Carter, but he has stated “Valerie is a real person, whose identity I will not reveal. She was almost at the top of the world in her profession and let it slip away from her. She was a dear friend and this was my tribute to her.” The description fits Carter, who was a promising singer who never reached her potential due to drug abuse.
Valerie was released as a single in October 1982, and was not really a hit, placing at #51 on the UK singles chart and #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. In 1987, however, the song was remixed for inclusion on the Steve Winwood compilation album Chronicles and was again released as a single. This time it sold better, reaching #19 on the UK singles chart and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Audio
View: https://youtu.be/gUNOsiuSJ9w
Video
View: https://youtu.be/cbKNICg-REA
1987 Remix
View: https://youtu.be/V5BzRceo3ao
Tomorrow: She took all my money
Valerie – Steve Winwood
Thursday song of the day: Today’s song is reportedly about the same person as yesterday’s song.
Yesterday we looked at Jackson Browne’s 1980 hit That Girl Could Sing, which Browne later confirmed that he wrote about singer/songwriter Valerie Carter. Today’s song was also reportedly written about Valerie Carter.
The song was Valerie, which appeared on Steve Winwood’s 1982 album Talking Back to the Night. It was written by Winwood and Will Jennings. Steve Winwood mainly wrote the music, while Jennings was responsible for the lyrics, in which he told of a girl named Valerie that he had lost. Jennings has never confirmed that the song is about Valerie Carter, but he has stated “Valerie is a real person, whose identity I will not reveal. She was almost at the top of the world in her profession and let it slip away from her. She was a dear friend and this was my tribute to her.” The description fits Carter, who was a promising singer who never reached her potential due to drug abuse.
Valerie was released as a single in October 1982, and was not really a hit, placing at #51 on the UK singles chart and #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. In 1987, however, the song was remixed for inclusion on the Steve Winwood compilation album Chronicles and was again released as a single. This time it sold better, reaching #19 on the UK singles chart and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Audio
View: https://youtu.be/gUNOsiuSJ9w
Video
View: https://youtu.be/cbKNICg-REA
1987 Remix
View: https://youtu.be/V5BzRceo3ao
Tomorrow: She took all my money
Dave's Song of the Day
Whipping Post – The Allman Brothers Band
Friday song of the day: The writer of today’s song couldn’t find a pencil, so he wrote it down using burned matchsticks.
Keyboardist Gregg Allman was in Los Angeles in early 1969 trying to build a career in music and having limited success. He was on the verge of giving up when his guitarist brother Duane called and asked him to come back to Florida to become the lead singer in a band Duane was putting together. With Gregg joining, the band became known as The Allman Brothers Band.
Gregg ended up as the band’s main songwriter, and one of the songs he wrote for their first album, The Allman Brothers Band, was a number about a man whose woman had cheated on him. That song was Whipping Post, which compared his trials with an unfaithful girlfriend to literal torture. When Allman came up with the song, he was alone late at night when inspiration struck. He didn’t have a pen or paper handy, so he wrote it down on an ironing board cover using burned matches.
The Allman Brothers Band was recorded in August 1969, and released a few months later in November. Whipping Post was not released as a single at the time, although it became popular on album-oriented radio and was a centerpiece of Allman Brothers live shows. While the original recording clocked in at a bit over five minutes, in concert the song often ended up being an extended jam featuring Duane’s guitar playing. One such performance was recorded for the 1971 double live album At Filmore East, and it took an entire side of an album and ran for a bit under 23 minutes. This extended version became wildly popular on classic rock radio (in part because its length made it useful for DJs to play when they needed a bathroom break) and is considered the definitive recording of the song.
At Filmore East was recorded in March 1971 and released that July. Three months later Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The band continued after his death, with Gregg becoming the de facto leader.
Original studio recording, 1969
View: https://youtu.be/VZSNs6H-HDI
Live at Filmore East, 1971
View: https://youtu.be/YSuoW8MTbZY
Tomorrow: It’s only life after all
Whipping Post – The Allman Brothers Band
Friday song of the day: The writer of today’s song couldn’t find a pencil, so he wrote it down using burned matchsticks.
Keyboardist Gregg Allman was in Los Angeles in early 1969 trying to build a career in music and having limited success. He was on the verge of giving up when his guitarist brother Duane called and asked him to come back to Florida to become the lead singer in a band Duane was putting together. With Gregg joining, the band became known as The Allman Brothers Band.
Gregg ended up as the band’s main songwriter, and one of the songs he wrote for their first album, The Allman Brothers Band, was a number about a man whose woman had cheated on him. That song was Whipping Post, which compared his trials with an unfaithful girlfriend to literal torture. When Allman came up with the song, he was alone late at night when inspiration struck. He didn’t have a pen or paper handy, so he wrote it down on an ironing board cover using burned matches.
The Allman Brothers Band was recorded in August 1969, and released a few months later in November. Whipping Post was not released as a single at the time, although it became popular on album-oriented radio and was a centerpiece of Allman Brothers live shows. While the original recording clocked in at a bit over five minutes, in concert the song often ended up being an extended jam featuring Duane’s guitar playing. One such performance was recorded for the 1971 double live album At Filmore East, and it took an entire side of an album and ran for a bit under 23 minutes. This extended version became wildly popular on classic rock radio (in part because its length made it useful for DJs to play when they needed a bathroom break) and is considered the definitive recording of the song.
At Filmore East was recorded in March 1971 and released that July. Three months later Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The band continued after his death, with Gregg becoming the de facto leader.
Original studio recording, 1969
View: https://youtu.be/VZSNs6H-HDI
Live at Filmore East, 1971
View: https://youtu.be/YSuoW8MTbZY
Tomorrow: It’s only life after all
Dave's Song of the Day
Closer to Fine – Indigo Girls
Saturday song of the day: Today’s song is about life having no easy answers.
Indigo Girls are the duo of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, who have been performing together since high school. In 1985 they self-released an EP, followed by an album, Strange Fire, in 1987. This led to attention from major labels, and they signed to Epic Records in 1988. Their major-label debut was 1989’s Indigo Girls, and the first single from the album was Closer to Fine.
Ray and Saliers both write songs, but they each write separately rather than collaborating on songs. Closer to Fine was written by Emily Saliers while she was on vacation, and concerns trying to find some deeper meaning in life, but ultimately discovering that there is much that is unknowable, and just moving ahead with your life rather than obsessing over things. Saliers later explained, “I was with my family in Vermont, and we were sitting in this rustic cabin, and I was sitting on a front porch and looking out into the trees, which, you know, whenever you’re in such a bucolic setting, it can make you feel very philosophical. So that’s how I was feeling. And that song is about not beating yourself up too hard to get your answer from one place. There’s no panacea, that in order to be balanced or feel closer to fine it’s okay to draw from this or to draw from that, to draw from a bunch of different sources. So it’s about being confused but looking for the answers, and in the end knowing that you’re going to be fine. No seeking just one definitive answer.”
The duo recorded the song with the Irish band Hothouse Flowers providing musical backing. Closer to Fine was a minor hit, placing at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Indigo Girls album won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. That same year the duo was also nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy but lost to Milli Vanilli. (Milli Vanilli’s Grammy was later rescinded when it became known that they didn’t actually sing on their album, but it was not awarded to any of the other nominees.)
While it didn’t set the world on fire at the time, it has had an influence well beyond its initial chart placement. Over the years it has become Indigo Girls’ most well-known song, and is generally the closer for their live shows. While they have never had a single place above #40 on the Hot 100, the band has a dedicated following, and Indigo Girls attained double Platinum status, while three later albums went Platinum and three others were certified Gold.
View: https://youtu.be/atkVaKz9r5Y
Video
View: https://youtu.be/HUgwM1Ky228
Tomorrow: I was captured by your style
Closer to Fine – Indigo Girls
Saturday song of the day: Today’s song is about life having no easy answers.
Indigo Girls are the duo of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, who have been performing together since high school. In 1985 they self-released an EP, followed by an album, Strange Fire, in 1987. This led to attention from major labels, and they signed to Epic Records in 1988. Their major-label debut was 1989’s Indigo Girls, and the first single from the album was Closer to Fine.
Ray and Saliers both write songs, but they each write separately rather than collaborating on songs. Closer to Fine was written by Emily Saliers while she was on vacation, and concerns trying to find some deeper meaning in life, but ultimately discovering that there is much that is unknowable, and just moving ahead with your life rather than obsessing over things. Saliers later explained, “I was with my family in Vermont, and we were sitting in this rustic cabin, and I was sitting on a front porch and looking out into the trees, which, you know, whenever you’re in such a bucolic setting, it can make you feel very philosophical. So that’s how I was feeling. And that song is about not beating yourself up too hard to get your answer from one place. There’s no panacea, that in order to be balanced or feel closer to fine it’s okay to draw from this or to draw from that, to draw from a bunch of different sources. So it’s about being confused but looking for the answers, and in the end knowing that you’re going to be fine. No seeking just one definitive answer.”
The duo recorded the song with the Irish band Hothouse Flowers providing musical backing. Closer to Fine was a minor hit, placing at #52 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Indigo Girls album won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. That same year the duo was also nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy but lost to Milli Vanilli. (Milli Vanilli’s Grammy was later rescinded when it became known that they didn’t actually sing on their album, but it was not awarded to any of the other nominees.)
While it didn’t set the world on fire at the time, it has had an influence well beyond its initial chart placement. Over the years it has become Indigo Girls’ most well-known song, and is generally the closer for their live shows. While they have never had a single place above #40 on the Hot 100, the band has a dedicated following, and Indigo Girls attained double Platinum status, while three later albums went Platinum and three others were certified Gold.
View: https://youtu.be/atkVaKz9r5Y
Video
View: https://youtu.be/HUgwM1Ky228
Tomorrow: I was captured by your style
Dave's Song of the Day
So In To You – Atlanta Rhythm Section
Sunday song of the day: Today’s song is about love at first sight.
The Atlanta Rhythm Section had several minor hits in the early and mid 1970s, but had not yet managed to have a major hit. Then they released the song So In To You, in which the singer addressed a woman he had just met. As soon as he saw her he was stricken, and he hopes that they can develop a romance.
So In To You (occasionally spelled So Into You in some promotional materials) was released in January 1977 and became Atlanta Rhythm Section’s biggest hit, placing at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The record began a period where the band had five subsequent Top 40 hits over the next four years, along with two Gold albums and one Platinum album.
View: https://youtu.be/wzCdSJu5xqI
Tomorrow: Can anybody play
So In To You – Atlanta Rhythm Section
Sunday song of the day: Today’s song is about love at first sight.
The Atlanta Rhythm Section had several minor hits in the early and mid 1970s, but had not yet managed to have a major hit. Then they released the song So In To You, in which the singer addressed a woman he had just met. As soon as he saw her he was stricken, and he hopes that they can develop a romance.
So In To You (occasionally spelled So Into You in some promotional materials) was released in January 1977 and became Atlanta Rhythm Section’s biggest hit, placing at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The record began a period where the band had five subsequent Top 40 hits over the next four years, along with two Gold albums and one Platinum album.
View: https://youtu.be/wzCdSJu5xqI
Tomorrow: Can anybody play
Dave's Song of the Day
Carrie-Anne – The Hollies
Monday song of the day: Despite the title, today’s song was written about singer Marianne Faithful.
The Hollies had numerous hits throughout the 1960s and 1970s. [Their 1972 hit Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress) was song of the day for August 27th, 2020 here: Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress) – The Hollies ] In 1967 one of the members wrote a song about a former girlfriend. Lead singer Allan Clarke had earlier dated Marianne Faithful, who by late 1965 was famously involved with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. Along with Tony Hicks and Graham Nash, Clarke wrote a song about his old girlfriend, but he changed the name of the song’s subject from Marianne to Carrie-Anne to disguise who the song was about.
Carrie-Anne starts with the singer and Carrie-Anne in school and follows them until they are young adults, with the singer hoping that they can finally become more than friends. In the recording, three members of the Hollies took turns singing the lead, with Allan Clarke singing the first verse, Tony Hicks the second, and Graham Nash the third. The record was released as a single in late May, 1967 and was The Hollies’ third Top 10 hit in the United States, placing at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, Carrie-Anne placed at #3 on the Singles chart.
While some had long theorized that the song was about Marianne Faithful, it wasn’t admitted until 1995, when Graham Nash confirmed it in an interview.
View: https://youtu.be/akd2ivuc_mo
Tomorrow: Was feeling ‘bout half past dead
Carrie-Anne – The Hollies
Monday song of the day: Despite the title, today’s song was written about singer Marianne Faithful.
The Hollies had numerous hits throughout the 1960s and 1970s. [Their 1972 hit Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress) was song of the day for August 27th, 2020 here: Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress) – The Hollies ] In 1967 one of the members wrote a song about a former girlfriend. Lead singer Allan Clarke had earlier dated Marianne Faithful, who by late 1965 was famously involved with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. Along with Tony Hicks and Graham Nash, Clarke wrote a song about his old girlfriend, but he changed the name of the song’s subject from Marianne to Carrie-Anne to disguise who the song was about.
Carrie-Anne starts with the singer and Carrie-Anne in school and follows them until they are young adults, with the singer hoping that they can finally become more than friends. In the recording, three members of the Hollies took turns singing the lead, with Allan Clarke singing the first verse, Tony Hicks the second, and Graham Nash the third. The record was released as a single in late May, 1967 and was The Hollies’ third Top 10 hit in the United States, placing at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, Carrie-Anne placed at #3 on the Singles chart.
While some had long theorized that the song was about Marianne Faithful, it wasn’t admitted until 1995, when Graham Nash confirmed it in an interview.
View: https://youtu.be/akd2ivuc_mo
Tomorrow: Was feeling ‘bout half past dead
Dave's Song of the Day
The Weight – The Band
Tuesday song of the day: Some of the characters in the surreal lyrics of today’s song were based on real people.
From 1960 through 1964 a group of musicians known as The Hawks were the backing band for Canadian singer Ronnie Hawkins. Then in 1965 Bob Dylan was looking for a backing band for his move from acoustic folk into electric rock music. He hired The Hawks, and since the concerts on the tour were billed as Bob Dylan and the Band, eventually they renamed themselves from the Hawks to simply The Band.
In late July 1966, Dylan was injured in a motorcycle accident, which put his career on hold for several months while he recuperated. During that time he asked the band to move to West Saugerties, New York so that he could use the time to work on new music with them. The band moved into a house there that they called “Big Pink” because it was covered with distinctive pink siding. They played and recorded music in the basement of the house. With Dylan they played various covers and new material that he had written, while also working on songs for their own debut album. Dylan offered to sing on the album, but The Band wanted to make it their own project to succeed or fail without leaning on Dylan’s stardom (although he was writer or co-writer on three of the album’s songs and also painted the album’s cover).
The resulting album was Music from Big Pink, and it is considered a classic example of roots rock, combining elements of country, blues, folk, and other styles. The album was released in July 1968, and The Weight was the only single released from the album. The Weight was written by guitarist Robbie Robertson (although other band members later claimed that while Robertson wrote the bulk of the lyrics, they had collaborated as well) and told of various strange people in odd circumstances that the singer interacted with as he visited a new town. Drummer and singer Levon Helm later explained that some of the characters in the song were based on real people. “We had two or three tunes, or pieces of tunes, and ‘The Weight’ was one I would work on. Robbie had that bit about going down to Nazareth – Pennsylvania, where the Martin guitar factory is at. The song was full of our favorite characters. ‘Luke’ was Jimmy Ray Paulman. ‘Young Anna Lee’ was Anna Lee Williams from Turkey Scratch. ‘Crazy Chester’ was a guy we all knew from Fayetteville who came into town on Saturdays wearing a full set of cap guns on his hips and kinda walked around town to help keep the peace,if you follow me. He was like Hopalong Cassidy, and he was a friend of the Hawks. Ronnie would always check with Crazy Chester to make sure there wasn’t any trouble around town. And Chester would reassure him that everything was peaceable and not to worry, because he was on the case. Two big cap guns, he wore, plus a toupee! There were also ‘Carmen and the Devil’, ‘Miss Moses’ and ‘Fanny,’ a name that just seemed to fit the picture. I believe she looked a lot like Caladonia. We recorded the song maybe four times. We weren’t really sure it was going to be on the album, but people really liked it. Rick, Richard, and I would switch the verses around among us, and we all sang the chorus: Put the load right on me!”
The Weight was not a big hit, placing at only #63 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it has since been regarded as one of the great songs of the period, and is still heavily played on classic rock radio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed it as one of the “500 Songs that shaped Rock and Roll,” while in 2004 Rolling Stone magazine named it as #41 on their list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” When The Band performed their farewell concert on November 25th, 1976 (which was documented by Martin Scorsese in the 1978 film The Last Waltz) they were joined by The Staple Singers for The Weight.
View: https://youtu.be/QWu-f7HFFJE
From The Last Waltz, featuring the Staple Singers
View: https://youtu.be/TCSzL5-SPHM
Tomorrow: Refried confusion is making itself clear
The Weight – The Band
Tuesday song of the day: Some of the characters in the surreal lyrics of today’s song were based on real people.
From 1960 through 1964 a group of musicians known as The Hawks were the backing band for Canadian singer Ronnie Hawkins. Then in 1965 Bob Dylan was looking for a backing band for his move from acoustic folk into electric rock music. He hired The Hawks, and since the concerts on the tour were billed as Bob Dylan and the Band, eventually they renamed themselves from the Hawks to simply The Band.
In late July 1966, Dylan was injured in a motorcycle accident, which put his career on hold for several months while he recuperated. During that time he asked the band to move to West Saugerties, New York so that he could use the time to work on new music with them. The band moved into a house there that they called “Big Pink” because it was covered with distinctive pink siding. They played and recorded music in the basement of the house. With Dylan they played various covers and new material that he had written, while also working on songs for their own debut album. Dylan offered to sing on the album, but The Band wanted to make it their own project to succeed or fail without leaning on Dylan’s stardom (although he was writer or co-writer on three of the album’s songs and also painted the album’s cover).
The resulting album was Music from Big Pink, and it is considered a classic example of roots rock, combining elements of country, blues, folk, and other styles. The album was released in July 1968, and The Weight was the only single released from the album. The Weight was written by guitarist Robbie Robertson (although other band members later claimed that while Robertson wrote the bulk of the lyrics, they had collaborated as well) and told of various strange people in odd circumstances that the singer interacted with as he visited a new town. Drummer and singer Levon Helm later explained that some of the characters in the song were based on real people. “We had two or three tunes, or pieces of tunes, and ‘The Weight’ was one I would work on. Robbie had that bit about going down to Nazareth – Pennsylvania, where the Martin guitar factory is at. The song was full of our favorite characters. ‘Luke’ was Jimmy Ray Paulman. ‘Young Anna Lee’ was Anna Lee Williams from Turkey Scratch. ‘Crazy Chester’ was a guy we all knew from Fayetteville who came into town on Saturdays wearing a full set of cap guns on his hips and kinda walked around town to help keep the peace,if you follow me. He was like Hopalong Cassidy, and he was a friend of the Hawks. Ronnie would always check with Crazy Chester to make sure there wasn’t any trouble around town. And Chester would reassure him that everything was peaceable and not to worry, because he was on the case. Two big cap guns, he wore, plus a toupee! There were also ‘Carmen and the Devil’, ‘Miss Moses’ and ‘Fanny,’ a name that just seemed to fit the picture. I believe she looked a lot like Caladonia. We recorded the song maybe four times. We weren’t really sure it was going to be on the album, but people really liked it. Rick, Richard, and I would switch the verses around among us, and we all sang the chorus: Put the load right on me!”
The Weight was not a big hit, placing at only #63 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it has since been regarded as one of the great songs of the period, and is still heavily played on classic rock radio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed it as one of the “500 Songs that shaped Rock and Roll,” while in 2004 Rolling Stone magazine named it as #41 on their list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” When The Band performed their farewell concert on November 25th, 1976 (which was documented by Martin Scorsese in the 1978 film The Last Waltz) they were joined by The Staple Singers for The Weight.
View: https://youtu.be/QWu-f7HFFJE
From The Last Waltz, featuring the Staple Singers
View: https://youtu.be/TCSzL5-SPHM
Tomorrow: Refried confusion is making itself clear
Dave's Song of the Day
Right Place Wrong Time – Dr. John
Wednesday song of the day: Today’s song is about the singer’s bad luck.
Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., better known as Dr. John, had been a New Orleans session musician since the late 1950s but was not well known as a recording artist until later in his career. He originated the Dr. John character in the late 1960s and fashioned himself as a voodoo influenced rhythm and blues musician. His first album as Dr, John, 1968’s Gris Gris, was well received, but he didn’t become known to a wider pop audience until 1973, when he mixed his New Orleans R&B with funk for the album In the Right Place.
The album’s title comes from a song on the record, Right Place Wrong Time (the title sometimes is given with a comma added, as Right Place, Wrong Time). The song is mostly made of couplets telling how he tries to do something correctly but ultimate fails, such as “I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time” and “I been in the right trip but I must have used the wrong car.” It became the first single from the album and was a Top 10 hit, placing at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Right Place Wrong Time is Dr. John’s biggest hit and helped launch a mainstream career for a musician who was previously only a niche artist. Since then, Rebennack has won six Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dr. John passed away in June, 2019 at the age of seventy-seven.
Incidentally, a phrase from one of Right Place Wrong Time’s lines, “Just need a little brain salad surgery” was borrowed by the prog-rock group Emerson Lake and Palmer as the title of their fourth studio album, Brain Salad Surgery later in 1973.
View: https://youtu.be/W4PjWgiH-LQ
Tomorrow: I don’t want to do your sleepwalk dance anymore
Right Place Wrong Time – Dr. John
Wednesday song of the day: Today’s song is about the singer’s bad luck.
Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., better known as Dr. John, had been a New Orleans session musician since the late 1950s but was not well known as a recording artist until later in his career. He originated the Dr. John character in the late 1960s and fashioned himself as a voodoo influenced rhythm and blues musician. His first album as Dr, John, 1968’s Gris Gris, was well received, but he didn’t become known to a wider pop audience until 1973, when he mixed his New Orleans R&B with funk for the album In the Right Place.
The album’s title comes from a song on the record, Right Place Wrong Time (the title sometimes is given with a comma added, as Right Place, Wrong Time). The song is mostly made of couplets telling how he tries to do something correctly but ultimate fails, such as “I been in the right place but it must have been the wrong time” and “I been in the right trip but I must have used the wrong car.” It became the first single from the album and was a Top 10 hit, placing at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Right Place Wrong Time is Dr. John’s biggest hit and helped launch a mainstream career for a musician who was previously only a niche artist. Since then, Rebennack has won six Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dr. John passed away in June, 2019 at the age of seventy-seven.
Incidentally, a phrase from one of Right Place Wrong Time’s lines, “Just need a little brain salad surgery” was borrowed by the prog-rock group Emerson Lake and Palmer as the title of their fourth studio album, Brain Salad Surgery later in 1973.
View: https://youtu.be/W4PjWgiH-LQ
Tomorrow: I don’t want to do your sleepwalk dance anymore
Here’s a John Frusciante instrumental, but I’ve written my own lyrics.
Fart and Poop and
Fart and poop and then wipe.
View: https://youtu.be/oMGgi4VhfQo
Fart and Poop and
Fart and poop and then wipe.
View: https://youtu.be/oMGgi4VhfQo
Dave's Song of the Day
Santa Monica – Everclear
Thursday song of the day: Today’s song is about getting away from your troubles.
Art Alexakis from the band Everclear grew up in the beach town of Santa Monica. When he was writing songs for the band’s second album, 1995’s Sparkle and Fade, he used his hometown as a metaphor for a figurative place to relax and not obsess about the pressures of life. As he later explained, “I’ve lived in cold places and been in bad relationships, and I think everybody has a place in their mind that is like a safe haven. It’s also about getting away from bad times… the ending of something is also the beginning of something new, whether it’s with someone or getting out of a bad job, a bad way of life or an abusive relationship.”
“It’s about getting to a point where you can leave bad things behind and just be self-sufficient. There’s a sense of romance about it. I feel like that very much now, but I was just getting to where I understood that when I wrote that song.”
The Sparkle and Fade album was released in May 1995, and while the song Santa Monica was never released for sale as a single in the United States, it did receive considerable radio airplay and later in the year a single was released for use in jukeboxes. The song did well enough that it reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and #29 on the Radio Songs chart. Although not available for commercial sale as a single, the radio and MTV success of Santa Monica contributed to the album selling over a million copies to achieve Platinum status.
View: https://youtu.be/5Hhp2ca9WSc
Video
View: https://youtu.be/MW6E_TNgCsY
Tomorrow: Gotta get down on Friday
Santa Monica – Everclear
Thursday song of the day: Today’s song is about getting away from your troubles.
Art Alexakis from the band Everclear grew up in the beach town of Santa Monica. When he was writing songs for the band’s second album, 1995’s Sparkle and Fade, he used his hometown as a metaphor for a figurative place to relax and not obsess about the pressures of life. As he later explained, “I’ve lived in cold places and been in bad relationships, and I think everybody has a place in their mind that is like a safe haven. It’s also about getting away from bad times… the ending of something is also the beginning of something new, whether it’s with someone or getting out of a bad job, a bad way of life or an abusive relationship.”
“It’s about getting to a point where you can leave bad things behind and just be self-sufficient. There’s a sense of romance about it. I feel like that very much now, but I was just getting to where I understood that when I wrote that song.”
The Sparkle and Fade album was released in May 1995, and while the song Santa Monica was never released for sale as a single in the United States, it did receive considerable radio airplay and later in the year a single was released for use in jukeboxes. The song did well enough that it reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and #29 on the Radio Songs chart. Although not available for commercial sale as a single, the radio and MTV success of Santa Monica contributed to the album selling over a million copies to achieve Platinum status.
View: https://youtu.be/5Hhp2ca9WSc
Video
View: https://youtu.be/MW6E_TNgCsY
Tomorrow: Gotta get down on Friday
And it feels so good to be alive and on top
My reach, is global
My tower, secure
My cause, is noble
My power, is pure
I can hand out a million vaccinations
Or let 'em all die of exasperation
Have 'em all healed of their lacerations
Have 'em all killed by assassination
I can make anybody go to prison
Just because I don't like 'em
And I can do anything with no permission
I have it all under my command because
I can guide a missile by satellite
By satellite
By satellite
And I can hit a target through a telescope
Through a telescope
Through a telescope
And I can end the planet in a holocaust
In a holocaust
...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA
My reach, is global
My tower, secure
My cause, is noble
My power, is pure
I can hand out a million vaccinations
Or let 'em all die of exasperation
Have 'em all healed of their lacerations
Have 'em all killed by assassination
I can make anybody go to prison
Just because I don't like 'em
And I can do anything with no permission
I have it all under my command because
I can guide a missile by satellite
By satellite
By satellite
And I can hit a target through a telescope
Through a telescope
Through a telescope
And I can end the planet in a holocaust
In a holocaust
...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA