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 |   The catch-all for items related to and/or inspired by the music that shaped me. |
Music has played a role in nearly every situation of my life. This is where I'll be collecting items inspired by those moments- poems, lyrics, blog entries- the soundtrack of me.  I may also contribute blog-style entries here from time to time:
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** Image ID #2070351 Unavailable ** This week's theme: Guilty Pleasures Ok...so I'm not the type of guy who gets celebrity crushes, nor am I one to listen to songs because "the singer is hot" (one of my best friends, who shall remain nameless, has long been an Emo fan but has a near-unhealthy Britney Spears obsession). But...if I were to make an exception for either point listed in the previous sentence, I'm pretty sure it would have to be for Kylie Minogue. And it all started in the late 80's, when she was just a One Hit Wonder pop star in America with her cover of "The Loco-motion"  , which also coincided with my crash into full-blown puberty. Of course at the time I had no idea she was a big star of whatever magnitude in Australia...I just knew that she was beautiful, and smiley, and fun, and cute with the big curly hair, and I wanted dat caboose backed up into me. Hey, I was like 12. What did I know about ladies?Like most things associated with me from that point in my life, I'd eventually forgotten about her. Sure, her version of "The Loco-motion" had replaced Grand Funk Railroad's at most weddings and social events where dancing was acceptable and encouraged, but I'd outgrown the notion that she would someday become my wife...mainly because she was now nearly anonymous to me, but mostly because women stopped wearing their hair teased up big with loopy spiral curls. Then something weird happened in my adult life. She released a song that became popular in the US, the so obviously titled "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" (which for the longest time I only knew as the "Na Na Na" song because who needs words when you're watching Kylie Minogue's face while she dances?). And then she came up in random conversation among coworkers, one of whom had mentioned she had done a song with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and that it was nothing like dance-pop. A couple days later he slipped me a copy of Murder Ballads , which was the musical equivalent of having my preteen mind blown after doing some research and discovering that Kylie Minogue was, in fact, associated with not one, but two songs on that record (the other being the cover of Bob Dylan's "Death Is Not The End", which has shown up once or twice in previous blog entries). It was my first taste of any Nick Cave music, which wasn't really close stylistically to anything from the time it was released or of my own preferences, but lyrically it was dark yet romantic (which makes sense, because it's called Murder Ballads, duh). I took to the album well. And if I would've been a Nick Cave fan prior to that, and you would've told me he was planning a duet with an international pop star, I probably would've laughed before chokeslamming your stupid ideas back into middle school where they belonged. But as far as these types of collaborations go, it's perfect. Cave's deep voice meshes with the surprisingly lush yet light tones of Minogue's, and the story told in the lyrics is beautifully sad (sort of in the difference between how young boys and young girls fall in love). I absolutely enjoy this song; whereas many of the other songs on Murder Ballads are more blunt with the death and violence, here it is more implied; it's not a schoolyard tale of a beatdown, or a barroom brawl, but it's more like something out of a romance novel for the emotionally- and existence-challenged. "And the last thing I heard was a muttered word, as he knelt above me with a rock in his fist." "As I kissed her goodbye, I said, 'All beauty must die' and lent down and planted a rose between her teeth." Lyrics. Oh, and Kylie Minogue is still so super hot, just so you know ...even though I'm wondering if Cave's gold sparkly shirt isn't trying to give her a run for her charm. |
** Image ID #2070351 Unavailable ** This week's theme: Guilty Pleasures I guess maybe I can add this point to my loose definitions from yesterday regarding how to approach guilty pleasures: If you haven't bought a record from a musician or band in at least twenty years and they're still currently making music or touring or what have you, then they are probably no longer a favorite artist of yours. Case in point: Oakland, California rapper Too $hort. The last time he put out anything that I bought was nearly 25 years ago. Had his first three tapes, and haven't picked up a thing since (besides getting those same albums off iTunes). Why? I dunno...every time he's come out with something new, I haven't been into it...but I will rock the shit out of those old records any time they come on. Like, today. Last night I started another list of songs I might wanna use this week...and settled on one for today. Cued up a video and the lyrics, and thought I was good to go. And this morning, instead of actually writing the damn entry, I thought I'd wait until after the appointment I had this afternoon...so I looked up a few other videos by the original artist I'd intended to go with today (because there are a number of directions I could go with an entry related to that particular band). I got ready for my appointment and grabbed my iPod before leaving the house, even though this doctor's office is probably no more than a one minute walk away, tops. So of course, Too $hort comes on...and suddenly I'm like "I will always love this, even if I will never feel compelled to add anything else of his to my collection." Yet I don't feel guilty about this. In fact, this is one of the few Too $hort songs that's not about bitches or pimpin'...it actually has a positive message. Well, sorta. It was written in response to the burgeoning crack epidemic and the need for something to be done about it, but what that is really isn't clear. It's more like someone saying "Do as I say, not as I do!" and you just sorta nod along...you almost wanna buy in during the A-side of the tape, but then the B-side comes on and it's "Punk Bitch", "Ain't Nothin' But A Word To Me", "Hard On The Boulevard", Pimpology", and "Paula & Janet" (all NSFW; YouTube at your own risk), and all the sudden you wanna be a rich playa covered in nasty hoes. Perhaps it's the realization that that's something I'll never be that makes me wanna almost consider this a guilty pleasure...a short term, free from conscience lifestyle, with lotsa money and cars and rhymes and sex. Like, I'll settle for the part just before the really, really good part of all that if it means I never hafta deal with any of the fallout from that  . Oh...and this song also showed up on the soundtrack to one of the greatest movies of that era, Boyz N The Hood ...an all-time classic. And it features a key sample from what might be considered a guilty pleasure of many others, Parliament's "Dr. Funkenstein" ...that's what I worry about with calling things that...what if someone really loved a certain song through and through and took offense to you liking it only in part because you think people would/should be ashamed of you for it? And that's totally not what I mean but that's how it came out and that's how it's gonna stay. Like, what if that "how to save a life" song came on and it really saved your life but then Joe Sixpack comes along and bros out about it yet later quietly admits he watches Grey's Anatomy to get chicks and it makes him teary a little at the end of every episode, which does get him chicks...he's a serial datist gettin' laid off his guilty pleasure that saved your life and you feel totally indebted to, ya know? Weird how life works like that. And yes, I have thought about this way, way, way too much already this week.So anyway, here it is. Side notes regarding this song:  I once drew a near spot-on rendition of the dog holding up the peace sign on the album cover , just using markers. I wish I still had it, actually...that's how good I thought it was. Well...I might still have it...if it's in the folder I think it's in buried among all my notebooks. But I'm not going through that stack again anytime soon.  Somewhere in the back of that pile is a yellow two-pocket folder, perhaps with a manila folder in it. It may have drawings. And very old pictures.  Anyone heard from skeason  lately? I sent her an email a few months ago because her blog entries were showing as "Invalid Item" and I wanted to see if she was alright. I don't think I ever heard back. She was one of my favorites...and I remember being in some kind of awe of her once for (among many reasons) using a Too $hort song in one of her "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" posts. I think I even told her something like "I don't read enough entries that reference Too $hort." And it's true. I read a lot of blogs each month...and I'll be damned that he doesn't come up very often. We need to work on this, y'all! |
** Image ID #2070351 Unavailable ** This week's theme: Guilty Pleasures Just when I think we were all starting to tire a bit from the One Hit Wonders, this week in "The Soundtrack of Your Life" we get to talk about what is arguably one step up from the 1HW: the Guilty Pleasure . And I think there are a couple of ways this can be approached: It's something you generally listen to in private...no one would ever imagine you're in to something like it. (The problem with that theory is that I've done so many Soundtrackers activities and have shared hundreds of videos in all types of blog entries, so my music library is literally an open book now .) The biggest different between a One Hit Wonder and a Guilty Pleasure? The artist associated with the Guilty Pleasure doesn't just have to be one-and-done. It could be a multi-platinum, world renowned megastar who has been around for five decades and has more #1s than the unabridged history of every Veterans' Day ever. I think I asked something similar once in a "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" prompt over the summer about "guilty pleasures", and received some interesting responses. One that really stuck with me is that there are no such things as "guilty pleasures"...I listen to what I listen to and I'm not ashamed at all because of it. Word. And that third point is the one I'm probably stickin' with the most throughout this week. These are my songs, right? And IDGAF. Besides, we're all friends here . I know you won't judge me (too harshly  ). So, ok then. I'm gonna piggyback on ♥Hooves♥  's entry from earlier today, "Soundtrackers Day 8 - Dean Martin" . She went with a Dean Martin song, and perhaps some of you may not be aware that I am a fan of The Rat Pack in general (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., et al.). I last wrote about Martin in October's "Resurrection Jukebox" ("This one's about the Rez Juke catch-up (9 of 9)." ), and I'm sure I've mentioned him once or twice before, but today I'm goin' with what is probably my all-time Rat Pack favorite. And the funny thing about this is I don't have a good story associated with it. I just like the song. If that makes me guilty of anything, then I don't wanna be innocent.   Unrelated, Shameless Plug Time! Speaking of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" , today is the first drawing in "The 30DBC Mega-Raffle Extravaganza!" (benefiting the "30-Day Bloggers Group" )...the package today includes a slew of Merit Badges and other assorted goodies, and tickets are super cheap compared to everything you could possibly win! And take a look at the other packages up for grabs later this month...reviews, awardicons, MBs, and upgrades! It's silly how easy it is to be a mega-winner!! Today's draw will happen at around 8pm WDC time, so go on and get some tickets for you and your friends soon! 
Ok...time to concentrate on the poem for "Give It 100!" (for once I kinda already have an idea that's more than just a couple random lines scrawled out )- that'll show up later today in "100" ...and then I got a review request (??  ) for the final chapter of what appears to be a memoir ( )...I haven't read any of the other chapters, so I guess I'll know how it turns out before I know anything else, and that should save me a whole lotta time . Anything to keep me off the corner, I guess... . |
** Image ID #2070351 Unavailable ** This week's theme: One Hit Wonders I don't normally care for fan-made videos...usually they seem to run counter to my personal expectations or interpretations of the subject matter. But every once in awhile one will come along and it just blows me away, without explanation. When someone uses their creative genius in a way that tops the original, artist-backed submission, it's a beautiful thing. And I don't remember how I first came across "Handlebars" by Flobots. It was fairly popular right around the time I first started blogging, so maybe eight years ago? I know it's showed up in some of my earliest entries, perhaps in the first year or so? I'm not going to try and look it up...that was before embedding videos was the way to go, and there is no way I'm gonna sift through that mess and click on blind links  . But anyway, the song itself is unique and starts off harmless before building into an impassioned dystopian view that unchecked power will destroy the world. The point is something like this: We have all this technology and intelligence, but we use it more for evil instead of good. From the song's Wikipedia page : "And it's tragic to me that the appetite for military innovation is endless, but when it comes to taking on a project like ending world hunger, it's seen as outlandish." It's like the powers that be have given up on the idea that peace and goodwill can be profitable, and instead have turned their efforts toward bigger armies that fuel the war industry. There is more money in death and destruction than true prosperity. You could also look at it from the original video's perspective that there is a war going on against the middle class of society. Everything is run by giant corporations and CEOs making decisions for us that often have little at stake other than their giant bonuses and profit margins. When the workers don't meet certain expectations and are doing a job they may not believe in because they're just trying to provide for a family, they are the first ones to feel the pinch of the corporate purse strings tightening. And when the employees begin to fight back, on a good day they'll be replaced by someone willing to keep their mouth shut and do the same job for less pay...best-case scenario. When that corporation is a government and the worst-case scenario is an uprising, well, you don't need me to tell you what that means...to say that "everyone loses" would be putting it mildly.I guess what I'm trying to say is that governments have let certain industries get too big and too out of control to consider that they're failing people everywhere. The banking industry and Wall St., the automobile companies and their bail-outs, the water crisis in Flint, MI that has been poisoning citizens for a couple years now...rather than take creative approaches to solving these problems, the easy answer seems to be "Let's just throw some money at it and it'll go away." But it doesn't. The affects suffered by those who have lost the most will be lifelong, while the people in charge can bathe in their personally-appointed salaries and escape in golden parachutes. It's disgusting, and those who run things should be above that as decent human beings first...but they're not. Anyway, that's enough of my ranting on the state of the world's affairs. I know I picked up the cd Fight With Tools shortly after it came out, and I'm bummed I no longer own it. "Handlebars" hit #3 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart, and was one of the quickest singles at the time to reach the Top Ten. At some point I got their second album from iTunes, but I wasn't as into it. The biggest reason I went with "Handlebars" today was because a Flobots song shuffled up while I was doing some other random stuff last night, and whenever that happens I'm like "Damn...I wish I still had that first disc." I guess that's the nature of 1HWs. "I can hand out a million vaccinations, or let 'em all die in exasperation... have all healed from their lacerations, or have 'em all killed by assassinations." Lyrics. |
** Image ID #2070351 Unavailable ** This week's theme: One Hit Wonders} It's inescapable. Virtually unavoidable. No, I'm not describing "The Soundtrack of Your Life" , but it's close enough...what I'm really here for today is The Rick Astley Phenomenon. There is no denying it; you often have no choice but to just watch it happen. One of the hidden joys of any Soundtrackers challenge is the inevitable Rickroll; it happens like an undercard fight at a premier boxing match that draws some attention away from the main event. And you know this song. You probably know it all too well (and not because of some mobile phone commercial ). Ahhh, to be young again. To discover that teenage girls who idolize boyish-looking men like boys who can write poetry in their little love letter correspondences. I don't know if kids today can fully appreciate what we had to go through, passing notes in the hallways in perfectly-folded squares or triangles so as to avoid nosy friends or teachers. And to appeal to the girl, you had to think like a girl (sorta like the whole "to catch a criminal, think like a criminal" thing ). If that meant turning a sheet of notebook paper into a quarter of the size of your palm for stealth delivery and drawing some hearts on it, that's what you did. That was social networking in the early 90's. I don't know if I would've survived high school with AOL Instant Messenger or Facebook. It's weird to see that one of my doctors' offices still uses AIM to communicate back and forth about things. Is this common? Is there some hidden flaw in Microsoft Office that makes you not check important emails? I just...I don't get it. But back to the song...it encapsulates a lot of the cheesiness of that era what lovelorn boys surely meant with good intentions when trying to impress young ladies. "Be the person she has pictures of up on her wall." How can that go wrong? It does. 1) You're not Rick Astley. 2) You will, in fact, let her down...and also give her up. And make her cry. Maybe even tell lies. And certainly, you'll desert her; especially when things get weird because high school and everything after. 3) You're still not Rick Astley, and absolutely the hardest demographic on the planet to please has always been teenage girls, because what they love most one day is what they loathe the next. Learning, as a guy, that you'll never win, isn't something they teach in marriage school...there is only one way you find this out: the hard way. For every successful man who is a dick to women, there is an ex-girlfriend (or several) behind him that he tried his damnedest to please and still failed. And the ultimate kick in the junk comes from realizing that switching up your game never works, because everyone has different expectations and soft spots. And all it does is bring you back to the beginning, where you fell in love with the idea of being in love. Not a person, not a place, but a thing. A goddamn idea. "What is this magical 'love' that you speak of, and how can I get me some of that for myself?" This is how pop music has been warping our senses for years and years and years. And this totally wasn't the entry I planned on writing last night . I was gonna go in an entirely different direction until I came across an article about the Karmic Retribution of Rickrolling . The truth is palpable and universal: The world does you a good deed, and then it shits on you for acknowledging it...so then you must haunt everyone and everything in your way to make up for the best thing in your life not getting the true praise it deserves. I get it. I can get behind it.   |
** Image ID #2070351 Unavailable ** This week's theme: One Hit Wonders Is this week almost over? I haven't read each and every single entry for "The Soundtrack of Your Life" , but I've read most of 'em, and I'm surprised my choice for today hasn't shown up yet (but I could be wrong). Allow me first to interpret today's selection for the overly smart people out there who aren't influenced whatsoever by pop culture:  Glad we could get that outta the way. Now, I don't happen to have any fantastic stories (that I can recall at least) surrounding the inclusion of Men Without Hats...although in high school I was frequently told "It is impolite to wear your hat inside a building!" or some other bureaucratic bullshit (and if wearing a hat indoors makes me impolite, then I'm the rudest mofo this side of Mike Nesmith ). What I do remember is this song being popular when I was really young (Wikipedia says it was released in January of '83, which would've made me all of seven years old at the time). Exact details escape me, but I think I had received as a Christmas gift my own personal radio by then, and I would bring it into the dining room (where my bedroom was off of) while I was putting together jigsaw puzzles, or drawing up my own personal collection of football cards with me as the star quarterback, or building concert stages out of Legos. That "New Wave" sound was appealing to me...it was funner and fresher than the "classic oldies" from the 60's I was almost always hearing. I also don't know if I knew this before or not, but Men Without Hats was a Canadian band. I think I just assumed they were British or Australian, and for no good reason I'm sure. Not that that detail matters much...I was 7. I don't think I even learned how to spell "Australia" until I was 9, and "Britain" until I was 19. (Seriously...why can't we just call it "Britin" like we describe people as "British"? Also, I never spelled it like "Britin"...my problem was transposing the "a" and the "i". How would you even pronounce that? Brit-AYNE? BRI-shan? Words are stupid.) And somehow I think I managed to not hear and totally forget about this song between the mid-80's and early 2000's. I was in my sister's truck after a night out and she had some 80's compilation cd playing...I'm pretty sure I lost my shit when it came on, thinking about the two decades I did not have "The Safety Dance" in my life more often. I had to have been the friend no one wanted apparently because I wasn't dancing. "We can dance if we want to. We can leave your friends behind. Cuz your friends don't dance, and if they don't dance, well they're no friends of mine." Lyrics. I also never realized how many people were in Men Without Hats throughout their history, including members of iconic grunge bands Mudhoney and Alice In Chains, and that chick from Will & Grace . |
** Image ID #2070351 Unavailable ** This week's theme: One Hit Wonders It's almost funny to me in the course of thinking about One Hit Wonders for "The Soundtrack of Your Life" how many great songs I've sorta forgotten about...and today I'm gonna stretch the definition of a 1HW to include a song that wasn't a commercial success, but it's still noteworthy nonetheless. And what makes it difficult to illustrate my point is that there isn't an official YouTube video available for some reason (I'm guessing copyright violations and licensing have something to do with that). UNKLE was pretty much a collaboration project headed up by DJ Shadow and featured guest appearances by Mike D of the Beastie Boys and Richard Ashcroft from The Verve. Radiohead's Thom Yorke performed on "Rabbit In Your Headlights"...a bleak, moody piece that included movie samples and lyrics that suggested a coming to grips with the decline associated with mental illness and the alienation that unfortunately all too often comes with it. I say that because it's a repressed fear of mine...that someday I will succumb completely to brain degradation as my own diagnoses take over. Perhaps without even knowing it, I'll slowly begin to lose control over my faculties...Alzheimer's, dementia, etc., combined with what I already know (severe depressive disorder, generalized anxiety) on top of several known and unreported concussions. And usually the only way to know a lot of this is when it's too late to do anything about it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about what all of that could lead to eventually and that it's not scary...it's in the back of my mind but quite often does it bubble up into my front conscience. And that's where the original video for this song comes in. It depicts a mentally unstable man walking in traffic through a London tunnel. To my knowledge, I believe it won an MTV Video Music Award for "Breakthrough Video"...while also managing to get banned from airplay by the same channel for its graphic, violent, and disturbing imagery. The man is struck several times by cars, only to get up and carry on each time, becoming more and more agitated until the song's climax...which is by far the most powerful bit of cinematography I have personally witnessed in any music video. Luckily, there is an unedited version still in circulation on Vimeo, which you can watch here ...but I'm warning you: it could be construed as very unsettling, especially if you're, ya know, not into watching a clearly disturbed and ill man get hit and run over by vehicles multiple times. I swear though, the ending...there really are almost no words to describe it other than powerful and amazing. For the sake of our Soundtracker Playlist , I'll include the best version I could come up with on YouTube...I also came across this, which is a beautiful live rehearsal version by Thom Yorke for his Atoms For Peace supergroup side project (you can see Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers walking around in the background...you'll know it's him because I don't think he knows how to do anything music-related unless he's shirtless). The only drawback to this clip is Yorke constantly rubbing his face near the end...I'm watching this, thinking how wonderful an alternative it is to the original, and then I'm like "Gawd, stop picking at your nose! This is on YouTube! It's got over 70k views! Couldn't you just do it over again after you've had a good sneeze or something?!" But seriously, I do love this song...as dreary and detached as it is and in spite of the looming scariness in my head (for my head) accompanying the original video. It's worth the look. |
** Image ID #2070351 Unavailable ** This week's theme: One Hit Wonders Hey guys...I'm switching it up a little today and going off-list for the third day of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" . One of the first things I saw this morning on Facebook were posts about today being the anniversary of The Day The Music Died. Obviously, it happened long before I was born, but being a bit of a music geek it's hard not to acknowledge what this day has meant. Few events in history leave a lasting impression...an "I remember exactly where I was/what I was doing" bit of remembrance: The JFK assassination; 9/11; etc. The closest musical memory that I can relate to would be Kurt Cobain's suicide...it seems like every generation has a genius talent or megastar taken from them way too early. Those of you more familiar with musicians like Buddy Holly and those from that particular era may not agree, but we're entitled to our own feelings and interpretations of history as we experienced it.On February 3rd, 1959, a plane crash claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and Jiles Perry "J. P." Richardson, Jr., more commonly known as "The Big Bopper". Holly of course was the big star, and Valens had already had a couple of hits under his belt. The Big Bopper was primarily known for his radio work and was a budding songwriter, who broke through with "Chantilly Lace" and was invited to tour with Holly and Valens. As far back as I can remember, before I started finding music on my own, the radio in our kitchen was almost always on and tuned into the oldies station. It was my mom's music, which I guess by virtue of association became the music I grew up with too. The oldies are my roots; my gateway into sound. I may consider myself primarily a hip hop and grunge fan, but I can't forget the era that truly got me started and ignited my passion. If Elvis Presley was "The King", and Buddy Holly was getting close to that status in the pioneering days of Rock And Roll, The Big Bopper was an accomplice to greatness by being on the same plane of ill destiny. When we look back on this day, those names become no bigger or smaller than any of the others. Tragedy allows no one the backseat. I know there have been posts about "what constitutes a One Hit Wonder" and all that, and I'm joining in by saying that if this isn't considered one, it likely should be. Maybe it is and wouldn't have been if their plane landed safely...to me, it's close enough. When I searched The Big Bopper on YouTube, this was the first song that popped up, and it's the one most familiar to me. |
Elle - on hiatus  recently posted her 2015 playlist ("My 2015 Playlist" ) and has challenged everyone (specifically me, lizco252, Charlie ~  , and Cinn  by name) to do the same. You guys know my tastes vary wildly, and I have a pretty decent-sized library...so in order to make this easy, I'm gonna go through my main blog ("Still Figurin' Out Who I Think I Am" ) and pick out the songs that have showed up in my 2015 entries (either as embedded videos or randomly inserted links). Feel free to share your thoughts on this list below. *Listed alphabetically by artist. Alice In Chains, "God Am" Atmosphere, "Gotta Lotta Walls" Atmosphere, "Guarantees" Atmosphere, "Puppets" Atmosphere, "Smart Went Crazy" Bad Religion, "O Come All Ye Faithful" Barenaked Ladies, "Deck The Stills" Beastie Boys, "In 3's" Beastie Boys, "The Maestro" Beastie Boys, "Pass The Mic" Beastie Boys, "Remote Control (Live)" Beastie Boys, "Slow And Low" Beastie Boys, "Slow Ride" Beastie Boys, "So What Cha Want" The Beatles, "Don't Let Me Down" Belly, "Feed The Tree" Billy Preston, "All Things Must Pass (George Harrison cover)" Billy Preston, "My Sweet Lord (George Harrison cover)" Blink-182, "First Date" Bloodhound Gang, "Fire Water Burn" Blur, "Beetlebum" Blur, "On Your Own" Blur, "Song 2" Boogie Down Productions, "Why Is That?" Brand New, "I Will Play My Game Beneath The Spin Light" Brand New, "Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't" Bright Eyes, "Lover I Don't Have To Love" Buck 65, "1957" Cake, "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" Chicago, "Old Days (Live)" Chris Cornell, "Sunshower" Cilla Black, "The Air That I Breathe (The Hollies cover)" Dean Martin, "Everybody Loves Somebody Sometimes" Death Grips, "You Might Think He Loves You For Your Money But I Know What He Really Loves You For It's Your Brand New Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" Deftones, "El Scorcho (Live Weezer Cover)" Deftones, "Say It Ain't So (Live Weezer cover)" Deftones, "Tired Of Sex/Keep On Lovin' You (Live Weezer and REO Speedwagon covers)" DJ Dave and Murs, "Thass Kombucha" Faith No More, "Edge Of The World (Live)" Felt, "Employees Of The Year" Fleetwood Mac, "Don't Stop" The Frames, "Monument" The Get Up Kids, "A Newfound Interest In Massachusetts" The Get Up Kids, "No Love" The GO! Team, "We Just Won't Be Defeated" Gord Downie and The Country Of Miracles, "Figment (Live)" Grateful Dead, "The Weight (Live cover of The Band)" Hawksley Workman, "Autumn's Here" Hawksley Workman, "Paper Shoes (Live)" Hawksley Workman, "Tarantulove" Hawksley Workman, "Your Naked Body On The Beach" Hey Mercedes, "Eleven To Your Seven" Hues Corporation, "Rock The Boat" Hum, "Stars" The J. Geils Band, "Centerfold" J Mascis and The Fog, "Fade Into You" (Mazzy Star cover) J Mascis and The Fog, "Where'd You Go?" The Jim Carroll Band, "It's Too Late" Jimmy Eat World, "The Authority Song (Live)" Jimmy Eat World, "Blister" Jimmy Eat World, "Goodbye Sky Harbour (Live)" Joe Walsh, "Rocky Mountain Way" Journey, "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" La Dispute, "Such Small Hands" Letterset, "Little Drummer Boy (Live)" The Lonely Island, "I'm On A Boat (Feat. T-Pain)" Longwave, "Crushed Down And Faded" Loverboy, "Working For The Weekend" Metallica, "Battery" Moby, "We Are All Made Of Stars" Modest Mouse, "3rd Planet" Modest Mouse, "Freebird Rant" (from "Paper Thin Walls [Live]") Modest Mouse, "Little Motel" Modest Mouse, "Satin In A Coffin " Moneen, "Wrath Of The Donkey Remix" The Monkees, "Words" Monty Python, "Lumberjack Song" Mother Love Bone, "Hold Your Head Up (Live Argent cover)" My Morning Jacket w/Wilco, "Don't Fear The Reaper (Live Blue Oyster Cult cover)" Neil Young, "Keep On Rockin' In The Free World" The New Amsterdams, "Today (Smashing Pumpkins cover)" New Kids On The Block, "Funky Funky Xmas" Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" Nickelback, "Leader Of Men" Nirvana, "My Best Friend's Girl (Live cover of The Cars)" Nirvana, "Serve The Servants" Nirvana, "Something In The Way (Unplugged)" NWA, "Straight Outta Compton" Ol' Dirty Bastard, "Shimmy Shimmy Ya (Muppets Version)" Parliament, "Mothership Connection (Star Child) [Live]" Pearl Jam, "Smile (Live)" The Police, "King Of Pain (Live)" Primus, "DMV (Beavis And Butthead Clip)" Primus, "My Name Is Mud" Public Enemy, "Fight The Power" Public Enemy, "Welcome To The Terrordome" Radiohead, "The Bends" Radiohead, "Bones (Live)" Radiohead, "Climbing Up The Walls" Radiohead, "Climbing Up The Walls (Zero 7 Remix)" Radiohead, "Go To Sleep" Radiohead, "Lucky (Live, featuring Michael Stipe)" Radiohead, "Pyramid Song" Radiohead, "Scatterbrain (Live)" Radiohead, "True Love Waits (Live)" Rage Against The Machine, "Bulls On Parade (Live)" Rage Against The Machine, "Kick Out The Jams (Live MC5 Cover)" The Ramones, "Somebody Put Something In My Drink" Red Hot Chili Peppers, "Soul To Squeeze" Redman, "Whateva Man" Reggie And The Full Effect, "Food (Live)" Reggie And The Full Effect, "Happy Chickens" Regina Spektor, "Your Honor (Live)" REM, "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" The Roots, "Rock You" Rufus Wainwright, "April Fools" Run DMC, "Slow And Low (Demo)" Run DMC, "Walk This Way" RZA, "B.O.B.B.Y." Sarah McLachlan, "Building A Mystery" Sarah McLachlan, "O Little Town Of Bethlehem" Shakespeare's Sister, "Stay" Simple Minds, "Don't You (Forget About Me)" Smashing Pumpkins, "Quiet" Smashing Pumpkins, "Soma" The Smiths, "That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" Soul Coughing, "4 Out Of 5" Soundgarden, "Blow Up The Outside World" Spoon, "The Mystery Zone" Steve Martin, "King Tut" Sunny Day Real Estate, "Pillars" Survivor, "Eye Of The Tiger" Texas Is The Reason, "A Jack With One Eye" Third Eye Blind, "Wounded (Live)" Three Dog Night, "Joy To The World" The Toadies, "Heart Of Glass (Live Blondie cover)" The Toadies, "Possum Kingdom" Too $hort, "Life Is Too $hort" The Tragically Hip, "At The Hundredth Meridian (Live)" The Tragically Hip, "Courage (For HUgh Maclennan)" The Tragically Hip, "New Orleans Is Sinking (Live- Killer Whale Tank Rant)" The Tragically Hip, "New Orleans Is Sinking/Nautical Disaster (Live)" The Tragically Hip, "Now The Struggle Has A Name" Uncle Tupelo, "Effigy (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)" Van Morrison, "Brown Eyed Girl" The Village People, "YMCA" Wax, "California (Beavis And Butthead Clip)" The White Stripes, "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself (cover)" Wilco, "I'm Always In Love" Wilco, "Kingpin" Wu-Tang Clan, "C.R.E.A.M." Wu-Tang Clan, "Impossible" Yearling, "Away In A Manger" 7 Year Bitch, "It's Too Late (The Jim Carroll Band cover)" Also: 4 Mysterious Song Titles With Perfectly Stupid Explanations 10 Strange Christmas Songs 10 Songs About Writing The 10 Worst Songs of 2015 "Banned" songs after 9/11 Love Songs Everyone Should Love Soviets Create A List Of "Dangerous" Rock Bands "Invalid Item" playlist entries:"This one's about the house party jams." "This one's about to blast off into space." "This one's about to get me deported if I were in Britain." "This one's about the Halloween party soundtrack." "This one's about the ten song wedding." "This one's about karaoke night." "This one's about sayin' see ya later." Random playlist entry: "This one's about spirit, a happy playlist, and Tannenbaum!" |
** Image ID #2070351 Unavailable ** This week's theme: One Hit Wonders Alright...Day Two of "The Soundtrack of Your Life" ! Everyone's off to a good start...Team Fivesixer had 100% participation, so go us! Yesterday afternoon I started making a list (because I'm a list person) of 1HWs off the top of my head...and realized that most of them were gonna show up in other playlists as well. And someone (I forget who) made a good point on someone else's entry that even though we might pick the same songs, we all have different experiences with them...but being me, I'm more a fan of non-duplication. If that means I have to work a little harder to come up with songs no one else chooses, I'm cool with that. The more music- the more different music- the better! See, as a teen in the late 80's- early 90's, it wasn't as easy as it is now to seek out and find new music experiences. At least for me it wasn't. There was the radio, and MTV, and whatever else your friends found...probably from their friends, or older siblings, or however they found it. And being a huge hip hop fan, my options were limited. I didn't want to sit through hours of pop radio to hear maybe one song I really wanted to hear, and I didn't have cable growing up, so besides going to my grandmother's house to watch Yo! MTV Raps and taping my favorite videos on VHS, I had to rely on magazines to learn about new music. And I'm not just talking Rolling Stone or Spin either...I would pick up copies of Word Up and Rapmasters (I was most likely the only white dude in my neighborhood with Public Enemy and Geto Boys posters on my wall from those mags). I would read reviews, check out ads and articles, and then hit the mall to see if they had the tapes I was lookin' for (back then there was still a local chain that had stores in the malls before everything went corporate, and usually all the cool indie shops were downtown and weren't easy for a kid to get to on his own). Das EFX were one of those groups for me. Lots of MTV play, decent write-ups and shout-outs from other rappers I was listening to...if you weren't familiar with them, you still might've heard them on the remix of Ice Cube's "Check Yo Self" . But before that, they had a Top 10 Billboard hit with their debut single "They Want EFX" (and followed it up with my personal favorite, "Mic Checka" , which didn't chart as high but still reached #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart). They may have also appeared on shows like In Living Color, which was another mainstream outlet for hip hop back in the day, but I don't remember and I couldn't find anything on YouTube (although I do remember Kriss Kross and Redman definitely being on ILC). And if you still don't remember them, their choppy, herky-jerky style and flow influenced hip hip for awhile...ending words with "-iggedy"? That was Das EFX. You could hear it right up front a few years later in Blackstreet's "No Diggity" (probably another great One Hit Wonder itself, but I wasn't as big into the R&B side so I wouldn't know for sure without looking them up, although I had that single too). I wouldn't call them a direct influence on me, but listening to Dead Serious did teach me how to become a little better with meter and timing, and that sometimes breaks as tiny as a gasp in a line could still happen and fit (even without the addition of -iggedy)...I could use syllables and pronunciation to my advantage, or just expand my vocabulary a little and retool words to make them fit in my own poems. Influence and inspiration all over the place y'all...you just have to know where to find it. |
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But, with extreme shit hitting me I bury under ground and neither internet nor real life can find me then.
