Those of you who like watching celebrities dance on TV may well be horrified to have learned that the new Strictly host is Josh Widdecombe. Not a patch on the former host, old Wink' (Claudia Winkelman).
Before we get to the Top Ten, a brief round up of other noteworthy records I've been listening to this year that I couldn't shoehorn into previous posts.
Karine Polwart didn't have a new album out this year, otherwise she would have been in the Old Faithfuls category. She did, however, release an EP called Seek The Light, from which came one of my favourite tunes of 2023, Windblown. Folk Radio explains the song's background...
"...the story of the old Sabal bermudana palm that was the pride of Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Garden (RBGE), the oldest specimen in its living collection. Sadly, the plant’s desire to seek the light sealed its own fate. Its towering growth threatened to push through the dome of the garden’s iconic Victorian tropical glasshouse."
Staying in Edinburgh, we find local lad (although he was born in London), Dan Wilson, who released his latest Withered Hand record this year. He's hardly what you'd call prolific - this is only his third release since 2009 - but he's always worth a listen.
Our final Scottish offering comes from another perennial favourite, Daniel Meade, who describes his latest album, Your Madness Is My Medicine, as "a welcome return to the boogie woogie & rock n roll".
Andrew Blackaby comes from London where he became a Born Again Christian at age 13, and then had to fight to extract himself from the grip of his church. His latest record, Comeback Innocence, deals with the extra dollop of teenage angst that ensued...
And we're doing our best, we're doing our best I guess that much is true But like Travis Driftwood on The Man Who I'll drift away from you
Another Andrew, though far more Savage than the last, is the co-frontman of New York-via Texas band Parquet Courts. He also does his own thing, and I was rather taken by this single... not just because I like songs about Elvis. It reminds me of Stephen Malkmus.
The Gaslight Anthem came back this year, bringing their old pal / idol Bruce Springsteen along for the ride. Bruce appears to be filling his spare time by guesting on other people's records these days - he's popped up on songs by Bleachers, John Mellencamp, Jesse Malin, Lucinda Williams and probably a load more I haven't come across just yet. Anyway, I've only just started giving serious time to the latest Gaslight Anthem album, but it does appear to be something of a return to form.
The Sleaford Mods are a band I can only take in small doses, because they look and sound like the kind of dodgy geezers you'd steer well clear of if you saw them walking down your local high street on a Saturday night. Still, when they drafted in Florence Shaw from Dry Cleaning to start swearing along with them in her usual deadpan style, they got a sizable amount of plays from me. Extra marks for re-using the title of the 1978 sequel to The Guns of Navarone...
And while we're here, it's worth mentioning the Mods' "Christmas single", a cover of West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys which sounds exactly like one of the blokes described above grabbing the mic on Karaoke Night and giving it his "best"... with everybody in the audience too scared to snatch the mic back. All profits going to Shelter though, so you can't knock 'em for it.
Finally, the album that I would have placed at #11 in my Year End Countdown, if I could have been bothered to count past ten. Rare Birds: Hour of Song by ramshackle Welsh wonders The Bug Club is as good as most of my Top Ten, to be fair, but I was annoyed by all the spoken word between-song interludes... to the point that I edited them out to create a music more enjoyable record. A hugely enjoyable purchase, nevertheless...
Younger Younger 28's were a fine choice to illustrate this week's post. Imagine The Human League Meets Pulp Meets Shampoo. Thanks to Jim in Dubai for recalling them and suggesting their excellent b-side Karaoke Queen (linking to another blog for that one as I couldn't find it on youtube). I was always fond of We're Going Out as well. They should have been massive.
I've a feeling you may have suggested that 30 posts ago too.
Meanwhile, last week we had Lloyd Cole fretting over getting ready to turn 30. Martin also reminded us of this, which could well pop up again in 5 posts' time...
"And my personal favourite (even if it is atypical), from the pen of Ray Davies, Low Budget by The Kinks, which has this:
Even my trousers are giving me pain,
They were reduced in a sale so I shouldn't complain.
They squeeze me so tight so I can't take no more,
They're size 28 but I take 34."
Do you know what? I'm not sure I've ever heard that before. And if you hadn't told me it was the Kinks, I might have thought it was AC/DC. It's great though!
The Swede found slim pickings in his own record collection this week. His only offering was a bit of a surprise too...
"'Never Be the Same Again' by Puressence features the lines '...you're feeling lots of pain again, December 28 again, your famous boxing day again...' December 28th? Boxing Day? What's that all about? Great song though."
"Other than that," he adds, "I need to invoke the "50 Words For Snow" card again...
28: Robbers Veil
Yes, you can always rely on Kate Bush for redemption.
Meanwhile, Alyson was in an existential mood this week...
"Alicia Keys has a song called 28 Thousand Days which is apparently the average lifespan so we should pack as much in as we can. Scarily I've had nearly 22,000 days already so I'd better get a wiggle on."
Don't worry, Alyson, you don't look a day over 21,999.
"'22 Grand Job' by the Rakes, love that song and it's pure energy, and before it comes up again in 6 weeks' time for obvious reasons it could get a little preview here for the line
But he's only 28, no more 22
Shorter post than usual this week because Douglas was on holiday. Let's scrape the bottom of my barrel before we get onto the serious contenders...
French metal band 6:33 welcome us all to #33 in our Hot 100 countdown. I understand their cover of Silver Lady by David Soul is especially worth seeking out.
33 (and a third) is the number of revolutions per minute made by a long-player / vinyl album. Young people will probably need to consult iffypedia about this, unless they're a hipster, in which case they probably know more about it than I do.
Since I think it's fair to say that hipsters do not read this blog, what do all you old non-hipsters recommend?
The Swede kicked us off this week with a veritable plethora. (Well, a "ple4a", anyway.)
C popped up next with an offering that Charity Chic swiftly declared "the winner!" If only he was compiling these posts. (He's welcome to take over now that he's finished the already much-missed Double Letter Saturday feature. Save me the extra work as we get nearer to #1. Hint hint.)
How about when Grace Jones sounds a lot like Dusty Springfield in I've Done It Again from Nightclubbing?
I was there when Jenny Lind first sang First to feel the cold Alaskan white man First to take a trip on LSD First to vote for Roosevelt back in '33
Next up was Rigid Digit with three solid suggestions...
At the age of 33 and a third, the time that Christ spent on earth, I decided to cut all ties with showbiz. As the awards piled up in the bath, well I started to laugh At all those who died in the name of light entertainment.
That came very close to winning this week, for obvious reasons.
Then came Deano, who explained this week's selection thus...
Before he became outlaw country music's
resident eccentric that would do anything for a publicity stunt, his
debut album was actually some really good blues material, including this
song about a fragile prisoner that has just received some bad news.
Finally came Douglas, who decided to try playing the Canadian card again this week.
For
starters, I wish there were recordings available of any of Gordon
Lightfoot's renditions of "The 33rd of August" which he apparently
undertook in studio in 1969 as an attempt to put together a final
contractually obligated album of covers for UA, which sadly was aborted
and the decision was made to deliver with a live album instead. The
recordings are out there somewhere... anyway, for the record I prefer
the original Mickey Newbury version of this song to others out there.
(See above.)
But
for Canadian content, I am left suggesting Stars' song Personal, which
is a very sad short story of a song told back and forth through
his-and-hers personal columns responses which ends with the heartache of
being stood up. It starts thus:
28 and bored, grieving over loss, sorry to be heavy
But heavy is the cost, heavy is the cost...
Now that might not have won this week, but only because it's not yet in my collection and the winner must always exist in my own library. That said, it's a bloody good tune, so thanks for introducing it to me, Douglas... and it will come in very well on the Top Ten Lonely Hearts Column Songs I've been trying to compile for months now. (Note to everybody: I need another three good ones.)
Speaking of songs from my own library, here's what it threw up this week (along with many of the ones above)...
All of which brings us to this week's winner, which was a real toss-up with Luke Haines, but in the end Frank edged it with an equally biting open line that sums up the state of the world at the moment... and offers good advice for anyone who ever thinks of interviewing He Who Has Fallen From Grace again...
"Stop asking musicians what they think" He said softly as he poured himself a second drink And outside, the world slipped over the brink
We all thought we had nothing to lose That we could trust in crossed fingers and horseshoes That everything would work out, no matter what we choose
The first time it was a tragedy The second time is a farce Outside it's 1933 so I'm hitting the bar
Don't go mistaking your house burning down for the dawn!
45s. For most of us, our entry into record collecting. Long gone now, except as collector's items and special editions. But there was something very special about the 45. If you were going to go to the effort to put one song on the turntable, then you were damn well going to give that song your attention. That's something today's youth has lost, and I'd argue the songs they cherish might never mean as much to them because of that loss.
Alyson was the only one of you brave enough to mention former Golden Earring member Jaap Eggermont's Stars On 45 by name...
...although Charity Chic went one worse by reminding us of Rotherham's answer to Stars On 45... Jive Bunny! Let's hope that's the last time they ever get mentioned on this blog.
A slightly more worthy suggestion came from The Swede, in honour of Jez...
And then came Martin, who's obviously now using the same lyrics search engine I do, because he almost filled up the entire comment's box with this lot...
Gomez's "Bubble Gum Years" Whiskey bottle and a 45, my dear Fountains of Wayne: "Number 45 Sunblock"(I'm not sure if Martin actually listened to that one - but it's not a real song.) Neil Sedaka and "Our Last Song Together": Scratchy worn out 45's, an echo on the radio The Hollies, "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress": A pair of 45s made me open my eyes Blondie's "Bermuda Triangle Blues" begins Flight 45, last seen alive on the runway
Elbow's "Jesus is a Rochdale Girl" has Jesus is a Rochdale girl, and 45 CDs Meatloaf and "Rock and Roll Hero": Stacks of scratched up 45's and taught myself how to sing Barry bleedin' Manilow (!) and "The Old Songs" includes if all those plans I made don't melt the lady's heart, I'll put on the old 45's (Oy! Less of the 'bleeding'!)
Saint Etienne's "Home": Life seems so good, they're like the 45's when I dream I'm dreaming of you" (Can't find that anywhere on youtube.)
Bill Haley (and many others) and "Peppermint Twist": Well, meet me baby down at 45th Street, where the Peppermint Twisters meet" (Couldn't find that anywhere either so I linked to the version by Joey Dee & The Starliters.)
Repeat offenders Saint Etienne with "Teenage Winter": They'll never buy a Gibb Brothers record again, their old 45s gathering dust (Possibly my favourite SE song, that.)
Aussie proggers The Church and "The Time Being" includes I use a .45 to give them some stick
I'm going to stop there, I think. I'm getting obsessed.
Van Morrison - "Wild Children" opens with
"We were the War Children
Born 1945
When all the soldiers came marching home
Love looks in their eye..."
and FINALLY!
Mary Chapin Carpenter - "John Doe No. 24" (a beautiful song) starts with
"I was standing on this sidewalk
In 1945 in Jacksonville, Illinois
When asked what my name was there came no reply..."
Now, you may have noticed I've missed out some of your suggestions there. That's because, two years ago, on the event of my 45th birthday, I actually compiled My Top Ten 45 Songs. And here they are...
Last week, I said there were two obvious contenders for #59 in our countdown, and fortunately you all seemed to agree with me... although I was also reminded of a third which I should have remembered off the top of my head, pre-research.
There were some other fine suggestions too... over to you guys for those.
Lynchie wanted to add to his list of maudlin country songs, with John Anderson - 1959...
And Baby I'm yours I'll love you always I'm gonna stand by you until the end of time Remember all of the good things That we shared together Signed,
Love Betty,
1959
You can never have too many maudlin country songs!
I'm no really sure that last one qualifies as a 59 song, if only because feet and inches aren't decimal, but I'll let it pass.
The Swede, after reprising Lynchie's earlier suggestion of Johnny Cash - One Piece At A Time, which features every number from 49 to 70 (as well as number 1!), offered Sir Fab Macca's ditty entitled Summer of '59 tucked away on an old b-side. Hardly Bryan Adams though, is it?
Alternatively he also had the glorious Jaki Liebezeit tribal racket that is Smoke (E.F.S. No. 59) by Can. Can't link to that though as the record company appear to have blocked it on youtube. Can I hazard a guess and say it's hardly Bryan Adams though too?
All of which brings us to this week's Top 3, and first Rigid Digit supplies us with a song I'm ashamed to say I forgot, because it's a classic...
As for the two I did remember, I've been torn over which one to choose because I love them both in different ways. And you guys were no help, as an equal number of you voted for each. In the end then, I went for the underdogs, meaning this became the runner-up...
Paul and Art had many fine moments, of which that was just one. The Gaslight Anthem though... well, I don't think they've ever bettered this belter from 2008...
58 next week. Nothing quite so obvious. What do you reckon?
I've been very much enjoying the series Feud: Bette & Joan which ran on TV over Christmas. Great to see 60s America recreated so faithfully and the performances by Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange and Alfred Molina were terrific. Stanley Tucci was hilarious as Jack Warner too. Of the two, Sarandon's Bette Davis probably comes out best, being shown as both the better actress and the more sympathetic human being (most of the time).
Not done an Actory Top Ten for awhile, so here's ten songs about Bette and her films...
Well, we've got to start with this one, haven't we? As seen in Feud, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? was the film that cemented the rivalry between Bette and Joan.
Some debate on t'internet as to whether Rod's song has anything to do with the movie... and quite a lot of old Rod The Mod fans bemoaning his 80s ouvre, of which this is seen as a particularly irksome entry. You can have the Belle & Sebastian version if you prefer. Or perhaps a completely different Baby Jane from Dr. Feelgood.
There's an argument to be had that Brian Fallon hasn't had an original idea in his life, but everybody loves Noel Gallagher for the same crime, so cut The Gaslight Anthem a break...
Stay the same, don’t ever change 'Cause I’d miss your ways With your Bette Davis eyes And your mama's party dress
Not the first time Al has cropped up here name-dropping famous actresses. Probably won't be the last.
When you were just a kid you loved To go to movies in the afternoon And so you left the factory And got a job in the projection-room Bette Davis plays Ran away with the passing days You'll be a movie-star Next time
You're my Bette Davis I'm your Cary Grant Let's make love all night don't get up at the prohibition The big depression's over lets have a drink to them We'll stay young forever living in our silver screen romance
(It's gonna be harder to do my Cary Grant Top Ten now.)
Turns out Iggy was part of the whole #metoo movement almost 40 years before the rest of the world. This is from 1980!
I'm wondering fellas if you've heard the news The chicks are sick and tired of being abused Now I saw all this on the wide screen You know that chick Bette Davis split right out of the scene
Leave your Dire Straits prejudices at the door, please.
Sociologists invent words that mean 'Industrial Disease' Doctor Parkinson declared 'I'm not surprised to see you here You've got smokers cough from smoking, brewer's droop from drinking beer I don't know how you came to get the Bette Davis knees But worst of all young man you've got Industrial Disease
Nothing to do with the movie, more about the year Davd Gedge spent in South Africa as a child and his memories of Apartheid. Of course, All About Eve also gave its name to these guys. Bette's legacy lives on!
Cinderella, she seems so easy "It takes one to know one," she smiles And puts her hands in her back pockets Bette Davis style And in comes Romeo, he's moaning, "You belong to Me I Believe" And someone says, "You're in the wrong place, my friend.
You better leave" And the only sound that's left After the ambulances go Is Cinderella sweeping up On Desolation Row.
1. Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes
The obvious #1, though I'm sure it'll be shunned as "too 80s" by many. You may prefer Jackie DeShannon's original... though it's a VERY different song. For a hipper "indie" version, try the Sexton Blake cover or this rather over-produced version by My Gold Mask. I'm sure it's been covered by a dozen other people, but those are the only ones to make it into my collection.
Kim Carnes is worth another post sometime though. Known to most people in the UK as a one hit wonder, her career actually stretches from the late 60s through to the present day, and her Best Of collection shows a lot of interesting work over that time. Try Gypsy Honeymoon as a taster, it might change your idea of her.
Think I can't follow that with a Joan Crawford Top Ten. Go on, dare me!
Yes. But it is a number I have both dreaded and looked forward to. Dreaded for all the obvious reasons (I am drowning in mid-life crisis angst, but you don't want to know about that); looked forward to because I knew it would give me the chance to write this post. And also because, obviously, it's cool to have revolved around the sun as many times as a 7 inch single spins in a minute. Not that I own any 7 inch singles any more, nor a turntable to spin them on. Sigh...
A few years back, JC, The Vinyl Villain, one of my blogging heroes, marked his own 45th birthday with an epic selection of his 45 favourites 45s. I knew I couldn't compete with that. As should have become painfully obvious by now, I can only count to ten. And so, here are ten songs that focus on the number 45. Special thanks to John Medd for posting about the sleeve of the first Generation X single from 1977 (above). I'd never seen it before, but it was just the image I needed for this post.
Oh, and just for JC: here's Orange Juice with Blokes On 45 to start us off... (Sorry it didn't make the ten, JC - I love Edwyn, but this isn't one of his strongest efforts, despite the cool title.)
Well, that's a nice way to start, isn't it? Thanks for the kind words on my birthday, Babybird.
Still, as this song appears to be Stephen Jones' love song to C-O-C-A C-O-L-A, maybe if he didn't drink so much of that, he wouldn't have to worry about his weight. I mean, come on, Stephen - sugar is the hidden killer for men our age...*
(*Says the man who consumed a whole bag of Bitsa Wipsa with his coffee yesterday.)
Here's one that came from the blogosphere... I've no idea when or where, and google won't tell me anything else about the artist. Cool song though.
And while we're on the subject of 45s and books, I should drop a mention to Deacon Blue here... although they were only interested in paperbacks (with torn out pages).
Readers' Wives, on the other hand, are a band I do know something about. A few years back, at the height of my previous blog's popularity, the band sent me a copy of their album to review. I loved it and we got chatting. At the same time I was also writing a few comics so I sent them some copies of those. For a while, we talked about me writing a comic about their band. It never really got off the ground and the band have now split up, though lead singer Niall James Holohan is still recording and perfoming... I must check out what he's doing these days.
Another one that was gifted to me by the blogosphere many moons ago... so I'm gifting it back. A lovely little tune by a band stuck on my wants list for far too long now. I must track down some more of their stuff.
I've got two boxes Paved with rockets Where all my best friends sit When they smile, I take their jackets And give them a spin...
Oh. You split up. Never mind. It was good while it lasted.
You want to hang out Talk about music You play that record Over and over Judging by my tastes I would really like it And you would lend it to me
Tell me you met them Not in a fan way Said they were nice guys Not too pretentious You knew them for ages Before they were famous And how they hadn't changed...
But I don't care what you say I liked them first anyway...
Written and recorded in 2001 when Elvis was going through the same terrible thing I'm going through now. It's his autobiography in 7". Brilliant.
I could quote the whole song, but here's a few selected highlights...
Every scratch, every click, every heartbeat Every breath that I held for you Forty five
Bass and treble heal every hurt There's a rebel in a nylon shirt But the words are a mystery, I've heard 'Til you turn it down to thirty three and a third 'Cause it helps with the elocution Corporations turn revolutions Forty five
Bells are chiming and tears are falling It creeps up on you without a warning Forty five
I heard something peculiar said: "Perhaps he's got a shot and now he's dead" Forty five
Sorry, can't stick around to chat. Have to go and "celebrate" encroaching middle age...
Let's start with a bit of shamelessly contemporary country pop. We'll get to the more authentic stuff later...
9. Tony Rice - John Wilkes Booth
...like right about now. Written by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tony Rice's song digs deep into the tragic tale of the actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln in protest against the president's abolition of slavery, "in the name of God and Dixie".
The Nightfly is one of my favourite albums of the 80s, yet Maxine is probably my least favourite track on there. That's not to say it's a bad song - it fits the late night jazzy feel of the concept very well and tells a typically Fagen-esque tale of love and longing. There's a great sax solo too. But it's no New Frontier, I.G.Y. or Nightfly, is it?
Oh, and in case you were wondering...
While the world is sleeping We meet at Lincoln Mall Talk about life The meaning of it all Try to make sense of the suburban sprawl
Try to hang on, Maxine
If you're going to base your whole career on sounding like a tribute act... you can do much worse than choosing Bruce as your role model.
And I always dreamed of classic cars and movie screens
And tryin' to find some way to be redeemed
Bring a dollar with you, baby
In the cold, cold ground
Paddy McAloon would have something to say about that...
After the success of Death of a Clown and Susannah's Still Alive, Dave Davies' solo career (extracurricular to the Kinks) looked like it was taking off. Lincoln County sadly put an end to that when it failed to chart (except in Holland, where it made #15). A shame, because this also meant his proposed album, with the excellent title of A Hole in the Sock (of Dave Davies), was also shelved.
Some debate on t'internet about whether the song is told from the perspective of Jesse James or Billy The Kid. I have no idea.
What explodes like a fractal, pops like a light bulb
Looks really awful at four in the morning
Moves with a dead stare, coils around your ankles
Fangs long as neckties and strikes without warning?
Answers on a postcard.
All Is Dream was the album in which Mercury Rev came closest to disappearing up their own rabbit hole into wispy, dungeons and dragons fantasia. Lincoln's Eyes would be the prime suspect if it weren't so haunting and beautiful. Yet, despite being almost as impenetrable as Nick Kershaw's Riddle, it succeeds through a sly sense of humour in the last verse which makes it genuinely affecting.
What explodes like a fractal, pops like a light bulb
Strolls in like Joel Grey* at four in the morning
Armed with a big nose, fragile as a sea horse
Lives in your soul and loves you like I do?
*
3. Marvin Gaye - Abraham, Martin & John
I have no idea why Marvin's timeless tribute to Lincoln, King and the two Kennedies isn't on youtube, but I hardly need to link to it: you either know it like an old friend already or you need down purchase a copy immediately.
Written and originally recorded by Charlie Ryan back in 1955 - who actually was a hot rod racer (google it) at the time - but I have a definite preference for the 1971 cover by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Maybe it's the name, surely one of the greatest band names ever (not counting Kathleen Turner Overdrive). Question: can a cool name make you pre-disposed to like the band? I would have wanted to hear more of this band from their name alone... although my first exposure to them was through a late night radio play of this very song.
George Frayne IV, aka Commander Cody, did not always take lead vocals on his band's recordings. Indeed, on the album this track hails from (Lost In The Ozone), Billy C. Farlow is the lead vocalist on every track... except Hot Rod Lincoln.
Thus ends my limited knowledge of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.
1. Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska
I'm very much looking forward to seeing Bruce again this summer, revisiting The River with the E-Street Band (although it won't be the same without Clarence). But the dream would be to see him play Nebraska live the way it was recorded: just Bruce, his guitar, his harmonica and his cassette deck.
The title track starts out in Lincoln, Nebraska... before going full Badlands on us. One of the most powerful songs he ever recorded.
You want to know why I did what I did? Sir, I guess there's just a meanness in this world...
Surprisingly, despite making Number One in last week's Top Ten Jean Songs, Bruce doesn't make the Songs About Jeans chart at all... despite that iconic image above. (However, a band of his biggest fans do feature at #5.)
Here are ten songs about pulling your blue jeans on and getting that denim all dirty...
Special mentions to The Swinging Blue Jeans, Beth Jeans Houghton & The Hooves Of Destiny, Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans, Mr. Little Jeans, Pissed Jeans, and Jack Jeans (I had to link to that one).
Be-Bop-A-Lula is one of the defining records of rock 'n' roll, but Gene Vincent was never really able to bottle that lightning again. This is about as close as he got, a "minor" follow-up "hit"... although this was back in the days when "minor" hits still sold a million copies even if they only made number 49 in the charts.
Unfairly labeled a poor man's Arctic Monkeys, Little Man Tate called it a day in 2009. Which is a shame, because they wrote witty, spiky guitar pop songs... the sort of thing the radio is sorely missing these days.
The 70s was obviously a great decade for songs about jeans (see below) and this is the one that famously doubled up as an advert for Brutus Jeans. It seems Dundas was a member of British nobility - his full name and title is Lord David Paul Nicholas Dundas - as his dad was Lawrence Aldred Mervyn Dundas, 3rd Marquess of Zetland (also a famous tennis player in the 40s).
Well, I never knew that.
Of course, iffypedia might have made it all up... you never know.
The song was also covered a few years back by Chungking... but sadly, I can't find their version on youtube.
Scruffy Scottish indie kids - they've had the same jeans on for four days now - with their only Top Ten hit from 2007. It's rare I say this... but it seems longer ago than that.
As previously discussed on this site, Jimmy Webb is god. Although he's more famous as a songwriter than a performer, he's also released a succession of excellent solo albums over the last 40 years, five of which were recently reissued in an extremely affordable box set on the Rhino label. Considering how rare these albums were prior to the box set, it's pretty much an essential purchase for fans of quality songwriting. This is taken from the 4th album in the 5 disc set, 1974's Land's End. Gorgeous stuff.
The Gaslight Anthem always wear their New Jersey roots on their sleeves and this one describes perfectly Bruce's famous 80s dress sense... while also throwing in a sly reference to early Tom Waits.
This track's a bit of a rarity, from the 2008 EP Señor and the Queen, but it stands up as well as some of their better known songs.
Classic spunky & punky girl-pop from the California foursome led by the female Brett Anderson. In the Suede versus Denim battle, it's hard to call a winner. The other Brett never wrote anything as bitchy as this...
You look like you've only slept for an hour You smell like you haven't taken a shower And your hair is so dirty It makes you look like you're thirty
Your pants are slung way too low I see stuff I don't wanna know I wonder why you're so moody? Is it 'cause you've got no booty?
That second Lana Del Rey album - the one with Video Games on, the one that made her a star - is still an amazing piece of work, even if she's failed to live up to its potential since. The cognoscenti may have tried to expose her as a phoney or a poseur... but what do the cognoscenti know? She has a new album out this week - fingers crossed it's a return to form.
Lawrence (he has no second name... except he does, and it's Hayward) started life in fondly remembered 80s indie band Felt. Then sometime in the early 90s, he folded up the Felt and embraced Denim - with added glam stomp. Since then, he's gone ultra lo-fi with Go Kart Mozart... but if you ask me, Denim will always be his finest hour.
1. Neil Diamond - Forever In Blue Jeans
Listen - money talks, all right? Even if it don't sing or dance or walk...
There is a popular mondgreen associated with this tune, that Neil's actually singing "Reverend Blue Jeans". Which would be wonderful... if it were true.
What can I say, if you don't appreciate a bit of classic Neil... there's something missing in your life.
Next week (if I have time) - the final part of the trilogy. My Top Ten Gene Songs.
Meanwhile, don't put your jeans back in the wardrobe just yet. Which is your Nick Kamen?
Coming up on week three and this is proving the hardest (albeit most rewarding) thing I've ever done in my life. Fortunately, I'm still taking lessons in fatherhood from my record collection...
While I have a lot of time for a great deal of 70s chart guff... this hasn't aged particularly well. Yes, kids, there was a time when all pop stars dressed like Chicory Tip...
An off-cut from the legendary SMiLE sessions, finally released in 2004, made even more special by the fact that it serves here as an intro to Surf's Up, one of the greatest Brian Wilson / Van Dyke Parks songs ever.
Can you recall
How you took me to school
We couldn't talk much at all
It's been so many years
And now these tears
Guess I'm still your child
Out on the moors
We take a pause
See how far we have come
You're moving quite slow
How far can we go
Father and son
Maybe a little bit of a cheat but there's both a Father and a Son in the link above and this is just gorgeous. Not that my boy will ever have to worry about his old man being described in these terms...
Couldn't see his used up body at the funeral
By virtue of the flailing of his conquests
They tied down his casket with the garter belt
Each troubled heart was beating in a sequin dress
Someone must console these lonesome daughters
No written word or ballad will appease them
1. Johnny Cash - Father and Son
Written by Cat Stevens, ruined by Boyzone... resurrected and immortalised by JC (with a little help from Fiona Apple). I love the original, but this version just floors me...
