Arguably the most famous duet of the 60s, given a whole new lease of life again... and again... and again... in the soundtrack of Groundhog Day, Sonny & Cher's greatest moment is a stone cold classic. Echoing Bill Murray's Groundhog Day moment, Sonny apparently wrote the song late at night and, according to iffypedia, "When Cher was woken up to sing the lyrics, she hated the song and didn't think it would soon be a hit [so] immediately went back to bed".
Laid-back Canadian groover and full-time Prince afficionado, Bahamas, released a collection of "Live To Tape" tracks recorded during Lockdown last year, having roped in Jason Isbell's band The 400 Unit to perform with him remotely from their home in Athens, Georgia. (Other artists also joined him from their hometowns via the internet's version of a can on a string.)
One of the 400 Unit tracks shares its title with the Sonny & Cher hit. It's not quite as iconic, but it's still a great tune...
Not just a Grumpy Old Man Song today, but the first legitimate 2022 contender: the new album from John Mellencamp ticks a number of boxes. Over the past few records, Mellencamp has slowly been morphing into Tom Waits, as his voice grows older and croakier, and on Strictly A One-Eyed Jack, that transformation appears complete. I'm not entirely sure why he's taken to dressing like a pirate, eye patch and all, but it's a welcome turn in a career I've followed almost from its outset.
There's no shortage of contenders when it comes to selecting a Grumpy Old Man Song either, from the opener I Always Lie To Strangers...
I always lie to strangers
I am a man of low degree
This world is run by men
Much more crooked than me
And as far as I can see
I don't trust you
And you shouldn't trust me
...to the stompy Waits-meets-Eels grouch-fest I Am A Man That Worries...
JM even ropes in a Grumpy Old Contemporary who's no stranger to these parts to help him out on a couple of tunes. They have worked together briefly in the past, but this feels like a fully-fledged collaboration, and the two aging heartland rockers fit together better now than they would have done at any earlier point in either of their illustrious careers. Hard to believe either of them could ever be accused of having Wasted Days though...
There's been plenty of moaning and misery on this blog over the last few years. In an effort to turn that around, here's a new occasional feature wherein I post three things that cheer me up, along with related tunes. If this blog were a radio show, I'd introduce this feature with a short burst of Ian Dury.
Might be extremely occasional, depending on how things go...
1. That first sip of coffee in a morning
I make myself a coffee before I leave the house and take it in the car with me in a travel mug. It takes it a while to cool to a temperature that's drinkable (bearing in mind that good coffee should always be on the verge of burning your mouth), and I usually take my first sip just as I hit the traffic jams on the outskirts of Leeds. That first sip is always amazing.
Here's someone else who likes his coffee hot. Useful when you're driving through the snow to the Overlook Hotel...
2. Sunrise
My commute is an hour on a good day. Half an hour to the motorway, half an hour on the motorway and into the city centre. After driving most of that in the darkness for the past few weeks, I'm starting to see daybreak along the way. Last week, the sun was fully out by the time I hit the motorway. Even before I took that first sip of coffee, I was feeling good.
No question which song I was going to choose here...
3. The new job.
'Nuff said, really. Everything I hear from The Bad Place confirm that things have got even worse since I left. (My replacement went off on long term sick after a few months. Two other English teachers left, and they can't replace them because nobody is applying for the money they're offering. Etc. Etc. Etc.)
It still feels weird to not spend most of my weekend dreading Monday morning, to actually look forward to going back into work...
The late Mark Sandman (that appears to be his real name, which is amazing) was the lead singer of Morphine. Treat Her Right was another band he played in. Their rule was: "Keep it simple at all costs. Resist the temptation to add. If you're going to do something to a song, subtract."
I was convinced I'd done a Valentine's Day Top Ten at some point in this blog's history, but it turns out that it was back in the days of the old blog. So here's another go at it.
There were too many great Valentines songs to choose from, so I restricted myself this time to ones that mention Valentine's Day (rather than just Valentines) in the title...
