One Woman Show

Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman

Ok, so shoot me. I went with the obvious Curtis track…but isn’t it the best?

Although sometimes what you think may be the obvious, may not be to someone else..

He almost always sang in falsetto…

He was also very active in the late 60’s black civil rights movement, along with James Brown and Sly Stone. Civil rights and blaxpoitation.. hehe. That’s ok, guys…don’t take everything seriously. I like that.

In 1990, a public address rig collapsed on top of him during a concert and it left him permanently paralyzed from the neck down.  Ahh!

In 1996 he recorded an album, New World Order, which was released to good reviews, but during the recording he had to lie, suspended in a harness on his front, in order to give his voice some gravitational power…

THEN, in 1998 he had his right leg amputated due to diabetes. He died in 1999, aged 55.

Musically, he was probably past his prime, but 55 is too young to die…

Play count: 165

Daft Punk - Technologic

I kinda love Daft Punk.

I don’t own any of their albums, but I have some of their music in my possession… and we shan’t comment on that. Mmkay?

Technologic is taken from the 2005 album, Human After All.

Interesting fact: The duo of Daft Punk took their name from a review in Melody Maker of their earlier, crappy rock incarntion, after a performance. The phrase tickled them.

Sometimes they can get a bit happy-house for me, but then I’m reminded of this track, which never fails to do my head in on some level…

Silly, yet really fucking good.

GIVE ME BASS.

Play count: 371

Donovan - Season of the Witch

With apparently only 2 chords, Season of the Witch [1966] is my favourite song by Donovan. It’s also deceptively groovy and addictive…

I own this album on vinyl.  I’m not sure where I got it from…I think it was one of my parents… I preferred Donovan’s music more after he got over his folk music stage, when he got all hippy dippy. He was a welcome alternative in a folk sense, to Dylan…but he’s always been held up as a Dylan clone. Fuck the media.

Donovan was quite influential in a behind the scenes kind of way: He was teaching both John Lennon and Paul McCartney his finger picking guitar style in 1968.

This is a song I used to sing regularly on stage and in the street…

Play count: 65

Turin Brakes - They Can’t Buy The Sunshine

I could go on about Turin Brakes for aeons.  I have a connection with this band more than any other [story for another day].  I just love them to pieces - although I do recommend their earlier stuff - Ether Song and The Optimist LP in particular.

They’re a duo from the UK, who’ve released 4 albums and this this song is from their third release: JackInABox.

Turin Brakes are a melodic, sonic, acoustic, harmonising, and sometimes lyrical wonder, depending on their mood. Light and dark…

I have spent so very much time lolling around the grass in my backyard listening to this song.

It’s cynical, yet hopeful…

…and if it’s sunny outside, turn it up.

Play count: 38

Supergrass - Moving

There are a bunch of Supergrass songs I could have chosen for this post - some more popular than others, but this is my favourite and I’m sticking with it.

The opening track from their third, self-titled album [2000],  Moving has just about everything I love in a song: spacey guitar and keyboard, dead funky bassline, a crunchy, bouncy chorus that won’t quit… oh, and hand claps.

Although it’s abundantly clear they ripped the guts out of Dogs by Pink Floyd, it matters not.

Call it a homage.

More here.

Play count: 56

The First Edition - Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)

The most unlikely song ever recorded by Kenny Rogers, Just Dropped In was a Top 10 hit for The First Edition in 1968. Psychedelic, not only in sound, but it’s also quite obviously about the LSD experience.  Not exactly The Gambler, you know.

According to Kenny, this was Jimi Hendrix’s favourite song, which possibly had a lot to do with the unusual mix of guitars for the time. Riffs in the intro are backwards and the solo played by Glen Campbell is heavy with reverb.

Interestingly, the track was first recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis, who ended up rejecting it. I’d be interested to hear how that would have sounded.

Hendrix should have done a version. Shame about that.

Play count: 192

The Beatles - Hey Bulldog

I’ve always been puzzled as to why this isn’t one of The Beatles’ better known songs. Possibly because it appears on the soundtrack to Yellow Sumbarine [1969], which isn’t exactly in the stratosphere of coolness when it comes to Beatles’ albums. Interestingly, this song didn’t make the final cut of the animated film, but the scene in which it was featured was later included in the film’s 1999 re-release.

Hey Bulldog is one of my favourite Beatles songs. It’s also one of the few Beatles recordings that revolves around a piano riff. And what a riff it is.

On a personal note, once upon a time I sang this song on the street for money. Good times.

John Lennon called this song, “a good sounding record that means nothing”.

That pretty much sums it up.

Play count: 51

The Stone Roses - Love Spreads

I could fill up some space by harping on about the wretched interpersonal and legal wranglings of this band, but I wouldn’t want to detract from the groove.

From their appropriately titled 1994 comeback album, ‘Second Coming’, Love Spreads is my favourite Stone Roses tune, ever.

John Squire is channelling Jimmy Page, the rhythm section is relentless and the chorus/refrain is anthemic.

What more could you ask?

Play count: 36

Jefferson Airplane - Lather

I’ve always had a soft spot for ‘60’s psychedelia. When I was in highschool, I had my own weekly radio show which played nothing but music of that genre from my own record collection, and Jefferson Airplane were one of my favourites.

Jefferson Airplane were one of the coolest and most successful San Francisco bands of the time. I still want to be Grace Slick. And it was she who wrote this track, Lather, for the bands drummer [Spencer Dryden] who was turning 30. ‘Lather’ being the brand of shaving cream he used.

I’ve always thought it was a rather sweet story of a mentally disabled man, but it turns out it’s really about how you can’t trust anyone over 30 [ahem] and also has something to do with various band members taking acid and being arrested for indecent exposure on the beach. Apparently it’s not appropriate to be doing that kind of thing any more after a certain age. Shame.

I also kinda wish I wasn’t privy to that information. I liked my interpretation better.

It has a whimsical, child-like quality; almost akin to a traditional celtic folk song. Lyrically, it’s quite humourous and evocative.

I hope you enjoy.

Play count: 37

Gotye - Heart’s A Mess

Gotye is Australian singer-songwriter from Belgium. Make sense? We get a lot of that here…

He has a tendency to play drums on stage and he likes mashing bits of vinyl together to make music. This track is from his second album, Like Drawing Blood which he recorded in his bedroom [!], and has been out for a couple of years. It’s only just now being released overseas, namely the UK.

It’s lovely; in a minor key, with slow build and a hypnotic Portishead-like groove. He’s got a pretty great voice, too.

You can listen to more here.

Oh, and he has a blog which is oddly tumblr-like…

Play count: 39

T-Rex - Life’s A Gas

I’ve been a fan of T-Rex since I shoplifted a video compilation of theirs when I was a teenager. Wait, did I just say that? Anyway, Marc Bolan is a legend, not just because his life was cut way short in a car crash aged 30 in 1977; he worked closely with seminal producer, Tony Visconti and the result was an enduring influence on some of my favourite musos, despite being dismissed as a novelty artist by most critics in his time. The ridiculous sequinned costumes and platform boots probably didn’t help.

Also, he was a folky before he turned into the Glam King of British rock. See above.

It was difficult to choose just one song to post, but I settled on Life’s A Gas because it’s a nice, mellow tune for a lazy Sunday.

Play count: 63

David Bowie - Breaking Glass

I don’t think Sir Bowie [when is that going to happen, Queeny? Hmm?] needs any introduction.

This song is from the album Low, which is one of my all time favourites.  I have a lot of favourites when it comes to Mr Bowie.

This comes close to being my all time favourite Bowie song.

I’m a sucker for a funky bassline. 

It’s only 1.52.  Give it a shot.

Play count: 41

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Got My Eye On You

Well, where does one start with BJM?

Led by the outrageously talented [the man plays over 80 instruments], slightly mad, and notoriously Machiavellian Anton Newcombe and subject to more lineup changes than I’ve had Vegemite sandwiches, The Brian Jonestown Massacre… Well, they just rock.

You may call them [proudly] derivative and amateurish, but they’re nothing if not prolific. Neo-psychedelic rock is a fairly apt description. I’ve always wanted to see them live, if not just for the possiblity of onstage inter-band violence, for which they are well known.

If you haven’t seen the rawkumentary DiG!, which chronicles the misadventures of the then promising bands The Dandy Warhols and BJM, you’re missing out.

It’s one of the best rock documentaries, ever. Trust me.

Play count: 38

Cat Stevens - If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out

I had the intention of posting another song altogether for my first tune in this here bloggy, but tonight I was reminded of this joyous little ditty which was written expressly for the 1971 Hal Ashby film, Harold and Maude.

Harold and Maude is on rotation in my top 3 movies of all time. Cat Stevens provided the perfect soundtrack to the film and it is amazing to me that this song was never publically released until the 1984 compilation, Footsteps in the Dark.

It’s a song that never fails to put me in a good mood.

Play count: 369