A top notch - and very tricky - edition of Snapshots this weekend. Many thanks to C from Sun Dried Sparrows for her hard work. C, of course, is an artist (as is Ron Wood and today's header image, multi-disciplinary artist Yayoi Kusama). Perhaps that was the best clue to this week's link...
Extra kudos to C for finding a picture of the Ramones where they don't immediately look like the Ramones. From past experience, I know that's a tough one!
12. A rabbit follows an Ant.
Harvey the rabbit (from the film) comes after Ant (McPartlin) who was P J in P J & Duncan / Byker Grove.
When Sam was very small, I started making compilation CDs to play in the car whenever we were out and about, with the aim of giving him a solid introduction to the wonderful world of pop music in all most of its many varieties. I don't have a date for when I made that first CD, but he must have been about one, so it was a good 9 years ago. These were the first three tracks on CD 1...
It wasn't about choosing my favourite songs, but what I thought he'd like as a one year old. He was obsessed with cars from a very young age, so the Beatles' "beep beep yeahs" seemed like an obvious opener. I'm not sure why I chose Jet Plane next, other than that it has a similar travelling message and a soaring melody that was good to sing along to. Daydream Believer, on the other hand, is just one of the greatest and most joyful pop songs ever written. It had to be there.
That first CD included other singalong greats like Sweet Caroline, Build Me Up, Buttercup and a Motown double-whammy of I Can't Help Myself and You Can't Hurry Love. Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al was on there because we used to listen to Graceland a lot at bath / bedtime back then. Although many of the favourite artists of my youth were present (REM, Billy Joel, Freddie Mercury), there was no Bruce or Huey, Johnny, Jarvis or anything by The Smiths. And though Glen Campbell made the final cut, he was wearing rhinestones, not searching in the sun for another overload. I rip to 80 minute CDs, so I'm always limited to between 20 and 22 tracks. That said, there were a couple of leftfield choices...
A good nah-nah-nah-nah chorus was bound to appeal to a one year old.
Anyway, I've kept making these CDs over the years and gradually broadening Sam's knowledge of popular music, though the song choices have become less obvious and more eclectic as time's gone by. Last week, I put together SAM 150, a compilation which ranged from The Staple Singers to Leo Sayer, Pete Townsend to Modern English, Joni Mitchell to Ash, The Climax Blues Band to The Trammps to The Shangri-Las. It also included the following, even less obvious choices...
Top power pop tune - one listen, and Sam was singing along.
And then there's this... a new discovery, but one that had me hooked as soon as Diamante Azzura Bovelli started belting out her tribute to the year I turned 15, like Pat Benatar or Bonnie Tyler at their best. Again, Sam was soon singing along. Which, considering he was born in 2013, is kind of like me singing about 1936 when I was a kid. Imagine that.
Not that I'm trying to make you feel old. But Diamante, in case you fancy another nail in your coffin, was herself born in 1996, nine years later than the year she dreams of dancing in.
Still, 150 CDs. You can't say I've completely wasted my life...
At the end of my last Cynical Self-Help post, I'd just stumbled onto Cognitive Defusion. This is something I'd seen mentioned in a number of the books and websites I've been cynically surveying, I just hadn't come across that exact name before.
Defusion is a skill or technique that is primarily used to detach, separate, or get some distance from our thoughts and emotions.
Basically, it means if one day you wake up thinking, "I'm a bit rubbish at this thing called life, aren't I?", the way to address is is by recognising that what you're thinking is just a thought. It's not about arguing with the thought, "hey, don't be silly, you're great and you know it!" It's very important that I emphasise that right at the start, because we all know that when you're feeling crap, trying to tell yourself you're not really crap (or, even worse, having someone else tell you you're not really crap) is the worst thing you can do. Let's look at an example of what I'm talking about from the world of popular song...
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?
If I were Beck, I would use defusion like so...
"I see I'm having a thought about being a loser. Thanks for that, brain."
What I would not say is...
"Hey, don't be silly, Beck. You're not a loser. You've had hit records, you've got lovely hair... you even know some Spanish!"
Defusion isn't about arguing with your brain. It's about recognising that thoughts are just that, thereby giving yourself some distance from them.
Let's practice some defusion techniques with a few more insecure pop stars...
Never win first place, I don't support the team
I can't take direction, and my socks are never clean
Teachers dated me, my parents hated me
I was always in a fight, 'cause I can't do nothing right
Thank you, Thom. Your brain's contribution is most welcome.
Apparently it helps if we are sarcastic or take the piss out of our negative thoughts; again - not to argue with them, just to help us see them as little blobs of brain energy that are no more real than daydreaming about becoming an astronaut or marrying Kate Winslet.
Yeah, but you've only got yourself to blame for that, haven't you, Moz?
Sorry, that last one wasn't defusion. Just the truth. There's no helping some people.
Defusion as a technique isn't only suggested for tackling negative thoughts of the self-loathing variety, but any unpleasant thoughts, feelings or sensations that plague us.
That's it, David, you're noticing the sensation and you're questioning it. Good use of defusion right there.
Getselfhelp.co.uk suggests using metaphors to help you recognise that your thoughts are just thoughts. As an English teacher, I whole-heartedly approve. Here's a couple of examples...
Thoughts are just like trains that pass through our heads. We don't have to get on board any of those trains. We can just stand on the platform and watch them pass. Even trains that dawdle around the station, you know that eventually they'll move on. If a train approached the platform that looked unsafe or scary, or the driver looked like a complete and utter psycho, we wouldn't get on board if it were a real station. So we don't have to get on board any of these freaky, disturbing thought trains either. We can just wave at them and let them go.
We learned a long time ago that we can't control the weather. If it's chucking it down, we just have to wait for it to stop. Or if we know the rain's coming, we can prepare ourselves. Put on a big coat, grab an umbrella. And we can also have a good moan about it too. Actually, having a moan about the weather does really help, because when we do, other people generally agree with us and moan back, and we realise we're not alone and everybody gets pissed off by it. (And it's not just the rain - just wait for it to get too hot, then the whinging really starts!) It's actually much easier for us to talk about the weather than it is the thunderstorms and heatwaves in our brain... but the result is usually the same if we start talking about those as well.
Since I started writing this series, I've found it heartening that so many people have shared comments that show they think or feel the same way I do. Although (as I've said before), that's not why I'm doing this. I'm doing it because reading the books isn't enough for me to learn, I need to write it out in my own words, convert it into my own language, process it, understand it, know it well enough that I can put it into practice. But also to challenge it, from a lifelong cynic's perspective. Although I am finding it easier to not be so cynical, the more I do this. Those metaphors above, I might well have turned my nose up at them a couple of years back, or dismissed them with a haughty laugh. Now though, I actually find them useful. It's a slow process, but maybe I am finally starting to train my brain to think differently. We'll see...
Now that we are lonely
Life seems to get hard
Alone: what a word lonely
Alone: it makes me cry
Thought-train set in motion
Wheels in and around
Express our emotion
Tracks up then it cracks down
We've been running round in our present state
Hoping help will come from above
But even angels there make the same mistakes in love
Rather than me introducing Sam to songs from my record collection, he's introduced me to one from... well, not his own record collection, but one garnered from his circle of friends, at least.
Old Town Road by Lil Nas X really shouldn't work. Country and rap don't mix, surely? And getting Billy Ray Cyrus in to sing the verses...? I love country music, but Billy Ray? The Achy Breaky Heart guy? Father of Miley? Nooooooooo!
And yet, I like Old Town Road a lot. It's just a fun pop song.
(Or is it?)
Now, being that I am of an age where I really shouldn't be able to trust my own opinions on contemporary pop music, I figured I better ask another young person. Unfortunately, the youngest person I know to talk to, whose opinion I (occasionally) trust is Ben.
Apologies if this becomes another one of those conversations...
Little Nas. Billy Ray Cyrus. Old Town Road. Discuss.
Personally? It's OK. Technically? It does a lot for moving contemporary rap forward, showing that those SoundCloud and sadcore rappers can get a mainstream audience with a song with pop sensibilities but not "sell out" or lose artistic credibility.
Similarly, it's a move that shows where hip hop is currently as a social movement by accepting Lil Nas and his sexuality as a prominent member of the community, and not just as a critical darling but a minor person in the community (i.e. Frank Ocean).
That's OK then. I will let Sam keep listening to it.
I like country music, and a country/rap crossover sounds horrible on paper, but this makes it work... and even redeems Billy Ray in the process.
Yeah, the kid is probably one of the best role models the genre has had since Lupe Fiasco.
That's a great name. Like Clem Fandango.
Well, thank whatever god you want that Sam found Lil Nas X for country rap as opposed to Kid Rock.
Kid Rock rules!
The white supremacy? Or the pretending to not have grown up on a massive estate that his mummy and daddy owned?
I spent an hour last night trying to find a radio edit of an Eminem song (other than Lose Yourself) that I could play to Sam. But even the radio edits are too offensive for a 7 year old.
I don't think Eminem works that way, unfortunately. I had one of his CDs that was the edited version. It sounded like he was scatting.
Mos Def might be a better rapper to introduce Sam to. Or Ab Soul. Show him The Book of Soul. You may want to check it for language first but it is definitely good rap. Then you can lead into Kendrick who is one of the GOATS as they have a group together called Black Hippy...
I'm sure all those rappers are very good, but I'm trying to introduce him to music from my life, not find new stuff. He's done a good enough job of finding Lil Nas's Brokeback Mountain song.
But you can make memories listening to a genre of music neither of you are knowledgeable about together.
I'm sure that'll come later.
I just realised that Sam has been into that gay pirates song by Cosmo Jarvis for years.
Not sure he's ready for Man On Man yet. Then again, he's not ready for Arab Strap either... or half of Prince's catalogue.
Arab strap needs a 30+ warning.
Arab Strap have a new album out. I wonder how many c-words are in it...
Welcome back. You know the drill. Songs with 22 in it. Remember that the Lime Green Rule now applies. Titles only, no more lyrical mentions. Unless I really, really like them.
Martin was first up this week, with a right old list...
No, you should have stopped before you got to Sting. As should Shaggy.
Hang on, though, here's Rigid Digit to second your suggestion - with added info...
...the second song of the "Charlotte Saga" (Charlotte The Harlot / 22 Acacia Avenue / Hooks In You / From Here To Eternity). The first two are Charlotte songs, the last two are a bit tenuous but still considered part of the ongoing story.
Fair enough. If we're going metal this week... here's my contribution.
But the real pick of the lot would be my Can-Con contribution ("Canadian Content", for those outside my home country, a term coined decades ago by government regulators of our airwaves to protect our ears from over-Americanization). How about the obscure and experimental b-side by Martha and the Muffins called "22 in Cincinnati"? Very moody, that one.
That's just weird. Is that a purring cat in the middle? (Amazingly Jim in Dubai seconded that rather obscure choice.) Still, we like weird here. That's why we keep The Swede around. Here he is with this week's even weirder selections...
'Room Twenty Two', a dubwise selection from the marvellous 'Black Market Meets Mired & Wise Owl in the Twilight Zone'.
Oh, and if we're getting lax about the Lime Green Rule now, what about the iconic opening lines of Billy Bragg's "A New England". A Classic, that one, though I suspect Billy's a bit older than 22 now.
It's worth pointing out that Billy Bragg is the easy way round most rules and regulations, lime green or otherwise.
The irony, of course, is that as of last week, we do have a new England (and Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland). Sadly, not the one Billy wanted though.
Of course, if we're playing that, we also have to play this...
Times Like These, we all need a little something to take our mind off the worries of the world. Hopefully Saturday Snapshots does that without throwing a Monkey Wrench into your weekend.
Thanks for playing as always - I think Rigid Digit just managed to steal the win from Lynchie this week, although Lynchie did try for an extra point for identifying Janet Jackson... but that was hardly difficult, was it? I'll give you half a point for cheek, Lynchie - but RD still takes it. Well done to Charity Chic for being first out of bed, though he guessed the wrong Jackson Browne song and nobody corrected him (my fault for not saying he was wrong, but I was busy yesterday watching the Solo movie... which is the first Star Wars film since the original trilogy that I'd happily watch again). Special thanks to Alyson for swooping in at the end of the day and cleaning up the one nobody got... which I'm sure Martin would have got if he hadn't been off doing something more interesting.
Anyway - the answers...
10. A stone rook, doomed to share Mick's nervous breakdown.
In chess, a stone rook would be a Hard Castle.
Mick Jagger (and the Stones) had a 19th Nervous Breakdown.
Doctor, doctor, please Oh, the mess I'm in Doctor doctor, please oh, the mess I'm in She walked up to me and really stole my heart And then she started to take my body apart
Skeeter is looking for a doctor who'll help put her out of her misery...
Just like a little baby all night night I cry Now doctor if you can't cure me why I just as soon to die So give me something poison, doctor won't you please And then I'll sign a paper sayin' I died with heart disease Oh doctor, doctor, write me a prescription for the blues
Oh, Doctor, Doctor, soothe my aching knee. Higher, higher if you please I'm sure my temperature's running so low I could freeze. Have you got something to warm me?
It gets worse. (In a good way.)
And what was their doctor's phone number? 5705, obviously.
David Byrne: definitely someone in need of a check-up... from the neck up.
Doctor, doctor, tell me what I am Am I one of those human beings Well I can laugh or I can learn to think So help me now to find out what I feel...
You need a doctor of philosophy mate. Let's not even talk about the time you went to the docs because you were Making Flippy Floppy...
Doctor, Doctor We have nothing in our pockets We continue But we have nothing left to offer Faces pressed against the window Hey! they are just my friends Check this out don't be slick Break our backs it goes like this . . .
Today's life lesson from Harry... don't drink lime and coconut together.
"Doctor, ain't there nothin' I can take?" I said "doctor, to relieve this belly ache" I said "doctor, ain't there nothin' I can take?" I said "doctor, to relieve this belly ache"
Then there's the tragic case of Rick... so much in Bruce's shadow, he has to go to his doctor about it.
Doctor, doctor you gotta help me yeah You gotta make it right for me It seems this other man's name has been following me around And it just won't let me be You see I got this name and he's got this name too And you know they're kinda close only a blind crazy fool Would think I was him it's like saying green is blue But let me tell you brother it started being a bother When he made the cover of Time magazine
Never mind, Rick, you made a top tune out of your troubles! I'll always remember you for that.
In which Batley Bob falls badly for his beautiful (saw)bones.
Doctor, doctor, give me the news I've got a bad case of lovin' you No pill's gonna cure my ill I've got a bad case of lovin' you...
Restraining order.
1. The Young Rascals - Good Lovin'
Another one I owe to Bruce Willis, I'm afraid, who did a memorable performance of this track in one of my favourite episodes of Moonlighting. Another Bruce also had a crack at it. The original was never a hit in the UK, but it was a Number One on the other side of the Atlantic. Always loved it...
I was feelin' so bad, I asked my family doctor just what I had, I said, "Doctor, (Doctor ) Mr. M.D., (Doctor ) Now can you tell me, tell me, tell me, What's ailin' me?" (Doctor )
He said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, (Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah) Yes, indeed, all you really need (Is good lovin')
Not sure you can get that on prescription though. Believe me, I've tried.
This was Volume 1 because I could easily go another ten. Bunch of hypochondriacs, these pop stars. Any ideas for what might be in Volume 2...? (Other than The Thompson Twins, who were just too obvious, even for me.)
Whenever I write these lists, I end up talking a lot about
lyrics. I've always been a lyrics man, ever since I was a lonely
teenager sat with his headphones on studying the Steinbeckian stories of
Bruce Springsteen, trying to puzzle out the puns of vintage Elvis
Costello or wondering (in my 20s, sadly, as I came to him late) how
Morrissey could write so incisively about my life when he'd never even
met me.
But... there is an alternative. Those jubilant singalongs
where the lyrics don't matter - all you need is a good nananana! Don't even start me on the sha-la-las, lalalas, shooby
doos or woo-hoos...
Be warned, this Top Ten starts off scary... and then goes places you really won't want to believe.
Before they imploded and Gerard Way converted to pseudo-Britpop solo albums (!) and comic book writing, MCR became one of the more interesting pop bands of the 21st Century. Emo? What's emo?
John Warren Geils Jr (pictured above) died earlier this week at the age of '71. He was the lead guitarist of the band that took his name, although lead singer Peter Wolf co-wrote a lot of the bands biggest hits along with keyboardist Seth Justman. In the UK, they're really only known for one song... but what a song!
Na na nana na na. Na na na nana na na na.
Their harmonica player was called Magic Dick.That will be all.
This was a re-post (edited somewhat to act as a tribute to the late J. Geils) from my old blog (December 2010). The scary thing is, the original post was a Top 20. So be warned... I have a volume 2 on standby if you say anything too hurtful in the comments section...
I often feel misunderstood. I reckon this blog is very misunderstood. We try our best, but it's so easy to sow the seeds of misunderstanding wherever we go. This week - ten songs that feel the same.
Special mention to 60s psych-rockers The Misunderstood.
It all goes back to Madonna. If Lady Gaga is David Lynch Madonna, then Pink Alecia Beth Moore is Riot Grrrl Madonna. To be honest, this isn't one of P!nk's best - it's pretty average pop-filler material, although it was the title track of her second album. It does sum up her character quite well... but she'd record far better pop songs as time went by.
Yes! It's been far too long since I managed to find room for a decent slice of poodle rock on this blog. It's always good to piss off the musos (then again, maybe that's why I have so few readers... do they misunderstand me?)
This is pretty sedate and serious compared to the Crüe's usual excesses, perhaps because it comes from the era when regular lead singer Vince Neal had buggered off to go and play with race cars. His (as it turned out, temporary) replacement was John Corabi, a man who obviously took things a little more seriously. Or maybe the record company were just trying to reposition the band to capitalise on the success of Guns 'n' Roses at the time. I don't claim to be a poodle rock expert, but I don't mind a little mosh now and again.
2007
single from this extermely under-appreciated indie band ("psych pop", according
to iffypedia) made of up Brighton brothers Alex & Thomas White.
Sunshiny guitar music that's always worth a spin.
Here's an interesting one, as Jeff Tweedy takes on the perspective of a disgruntled fan, still bitter over the break-up of Tweedy's previous band, Uncle Tupelo. According to what I read on t'internet, anyway. It's all a bit vague to me, just what Jeff is whinging about. Good song though.
Before Roger McGuinn took over (with a little help from Bob Dylan), Gene Clark was the lead singer and songwriter of The Byrds. Later, he released a number of unsuccessful solo albums which would become far more influential and critically acclaimed after his death. Clark always claimed the album this song comes from, 1974's No Other, was his masterpiece. Forty years later, the likes of Fleet Foxes and Grizzly Bear would surely agree.
Great lost Motown nugget, co-written by Stevie Wonder (he also plays drums). The Contours are more well-known for their earlier smash Do You Love Me? (which, if you're my age, you'll probably have encountered first on the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing). The lead vocal is performed by Levi Stubbs' brother Joe, having replaced original singer Billy Gordon. He only lasted one song though before Dennis Edwards of the Temptations took over. Although Joe Stubbs' doesn't quite have his brother's pipes, I still think this sounds like prime Motown - it could well have been a Four Tops song.
I kind of cocked up my Best Albums of 2015 countdown by including Eric Church's The Outsiders, which it later turned out had been released the year before. This, however, is the title track from the album Eric actually did release last year (he's a prolific bugger)... and damn, if it isn't even better.
Mr. Misunderstood starts out as a song about not being into the same music as your mates... something I presume most of the regular readers of this blog have experienced at one point or other in their lives.
Now, your buddies get their rocks off on Top 40 radio
But you love your daddy's vinyl, old-time rock and roll
Elvis Costello, Ray Wylie Hubbard, and think Jeff Tweedy is one bad mother
Mr. Misunderstood, Mr. Misunderstood
(And now I have to go out and find me some Ray Wylie Hubbard.)
Typically for an Eric Church record, though, it then goes on to tell a much bigger story (which is probably why I like Church so much - he does love words, and he ain't afraid to use them).
I saw Richard Thompson play live a few years back and I was mesmerised: he may well be the greatest guitar player I've ever seen up-close. But it wasn't the fretwork that originally made me fall for him, it was the dark yet heartfelt lyrics, of which this is prime example. Here he misreads a polite brush-off as an encouraging come-on... and by god, if we haven't all been there.
She was laughing as she brushed my cheek "Why don't you call me, angel, maybe next week Promise now, cross your heart and hope to die".
But I misunderstood, but I misunderstood, but I misunderstood I thought she was saying good luck, she was saying good bye...
If the synthy 90s mix from the video doesn't quite push your buttons, try the rawer live version from a few years back. Shivers.
1. Elvis Costello - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Originally recorded by Nina Simone in 1964 (and you've got to go some to beat her version), then perhaps most memorably by The Animals a few years later. The disco version recorded by Santa Esmerelda & Leroy Gomez that Quentin Tarantino appropriated for one of the Kill Bill soundtracks is also pretty cool (as you'll see above, they win top prize in the record cover contest). Most recently recorded by Lana Del Rey, a contemporary artist I used to have a lot of time for (the Chris Isaak Madonna?)... until she revealed herself to be a one-trick pony.
So why does Elvis Costello's 1986 cover from King of America take the crown for me? It's the voice. And the conviction. I believe every word he sings. Plus, I was a teenage Elvis Costello fan, and the records of your youth stay with you to your grave...
Baby, do you understand me now?
Sometimes I feel a little mad.
But don't you know that no one alive can always be an angel?
When things go wrong, I seem to be bad.
But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good:
Oh Lord! Please don't let me be misunderstood...
Which is your most misunderstood record? No prizes for saying 'Born In The USA' or 'The One I Love' by REM... that's an entirely different Top Ten.
