I always like to indulge in a Halloween themed top ten at this time of year... and this time, it has really big teeth! (Bob Seger gave you an extra clue yesterday, with his Silver Bullet Band.)
I used to be a werewolf, you know. But I'm alright no-ooooooooooow!
Another month, another legend gone. Gordon Lightfoot may not be a household name in the UK, where his biggest hit barely scraped the Top 30, but he was loved and respected in his native Canada, in the US, and throughout the musical community, with everyone from Elvis to Dylan to Johnny Cash to Neil Young and Paul Weller singing his praises and covering his songs. My favourite Gordon Lightfoot composition is this one... though The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald comes a close second.
How does Gord (as he was billed on his earliest hits) fare on the jukebox? Well, unsurprisingly, he gets a lot of love from his fellow Canadians, starting with this guy...
She can wear high heels and flannel She can look sexy in a toque She likes snow storms and Gordon Lightfoot And if you're lucky she'll love you
Barrie is a city in Ontario, just north of Toronto. However, Barrie the band comes from Brooklyn, and here they are singing about Michigan.
You never change your clothes Cause denim fades so good Station wagon with the panel wood Gordon Lightfoot if I could Your summer love was all you knew There's nothing left to do But go crazy on you
Outside of Gordon's home country, we arrive first in L.A. where Rivers Cuomo of Weezer has written a terrific tune about some of his favourite artists... and Gordon is the first one he mentions.
Gordon Lightfoot Sang a song About a boat That sank in the lake
Mike Viola is a frequent collaborator of Panic! At The Disco, Jenny Lewis and Andrew Bird, among others. Here, he compiles a list of artists he'd "let in to a very secret club"...
Paul Kelly and the Messengers, Costello, Crowded House Squeeze before that Rolling Stone review that smoked them out The Clash, The Cars, The Who, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitch Graham Parker and the Figgs would definitely make the list
And, in an effort to make this blog more educational...
That's a Tres Leches cake. Looks like a heart attack waiting to happen.
Howe Gelb from Giant Sand always raises a smile when I hear his tunes... even if I haven't got a clue what he's singing about.
Feeling about the brotherhood has got me down and up To no good Feeling about the brotherhood has even got me sitting here Singing like Gordon Lightfoot
Plenty of songs mention the name Lightfoot in their title, not all of them are about the great man himself. I reckon these are though, one way or another...
It's back to Canada for today's final tune though, with a song that doesn't only pay tribute to Gordon Lightfoot... but also his backing band, including John Stockfish, Charlie McCoy and Red Shea...
And Lightfoot
Edwardian, suddenly striped
His hair blondish and poetic
He is less than vinyl perfect
His foot is a precise anchor for the husk and vibrance of his voice
He is the image of Alberta
The side street near Chicago
The grim beauty of Toronto
He is an artist
He is an artist
He is an artist painting Sistine masterpieces of pine and fur and backwoods
Still echoes long ago the winter night of black July and then the outcome
A quieter week on the countdown than last week, thankfully, and the only band I could find with 15 in the name was the one above. I'm guessing they're Spanish, but beyond that.... no idea. Here's a tune from them anyway...
Inspiral Carpets - 8:15 From Manchester (the theme to a 90s Saturday Morning kids show - it's actually a re-recording of Find Out Why. But it does evoke a memory of late teenage/early 20s hangovers.)
Alyson was up next, with two very fine... if distinctly un-Alyson... suggestions...
Oh, wait... I've forgotten to pick a winner, haven't I? Tough one this week as I don't have a clear favourite, although the two that got the most votes are clearly leading the field.
You can choose your own favourite, but for me... although in most matches, Roger Daltrey would defeat Robert Smith... in this one, Bob just edges it. Maybe it's because this song reminds me so much of Saturday nights in my 20s... although I don't remember ever sitting in the kitchen sink.
The charity shop well has been drying up a little lately: I don't know what people are doing with their old CDs at the moment, but they're not giving them to me via charity. Still, I did have a few good hauls earlier in the year, which I'm still picking my way through, and one of these included The Best of The Guess Who, a Canadian band I previously knew very little about other than their big hit, American Woman.
There's an amusing story behind the band's monicker. Originally formed in the late 50s, they went through a couple of names before settling on Chad Allan & The Reflections. When a US band had a hit with The Reflections name, Chad & co. changed theirs to The Expressions... but then tried an interesting tactic with their next single, a cover of Johnny & The Pirates' Shaking All Over. Apparently the record company wanted to fool DJs (and the public) into thinking the song had been recorded by a much more famous band (perhaps even The Beatles), under a pseudonym. The gambit worked: Shaking All Over was a hit (#1 in Canada; #22 in the USA... but back then, #22 was a hit)... except The Guess Who? stuck with DJs who refused to start crediting it to Chad Allan & The Expressions, even after their true identity was revealed.
Chad quit the following year, but The Guess Who have been around (on and off, in one form or another) ever since. Although their last album was released in 1995, they're still touring today. Albert Flasher was a single released around the height of their success in 1971. The lyrics are largely 60s stoner nonsense, but I was slightly disappointed to discover that the opening line is...
I was a workshop owner
...because I've been singing...
I was a workshy boner
...for the last few months, and that seemed far more appropriate.
