There are times that you wish you had unlimited funds for record-buying. Last night was definitely one of those times. At Cheapo, someone had unloaded a huge collection (and I mean HUGE) collection of lady pop and country vocalists from the 1980's -- there was literally tons of Dolly Parton, Barbara Mandrell, Crystal Gale, Emmylou Harris, Juice Newton, Bernadette Peters... It was incredible. I really wanted them all. (Plus, adding to the sheer cheezeball factor, there was a copy of Now That's What I Call Music, Vol 1; aren't they in the 30s now?) I also took a turn by End of an Ear, where the used vinyl section is so, so dangerous. Need a copy of Bauhaus' "Bela Lugosi's Dead" 10" picture disc? Or almost all the early works of Tom Waits? Some John Cale? All in really good condition? It was painful not being able to buy everything, and impossible to get out of there without anything. I'd gone in to unload a few records I'd culled from my bins, and instead of leaving with cash, I took home gorgeous copies of Eno's Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy, The Pixies' Doolittle (which, oddly enough, I've never owned, even on CD), and The Innocence Mission's self-titled debut from 1989 (it was my favorite record when I was 14, and it's still pretty good!).
Ok, here's a bit of Friday amusement for you, both from Lost In The 80's -- a huge retrospective of Stars on 45, which really must be read (and heard) to be believed and an interesting musing on what song could take the title of the first New Wave song. He suggests Sparks' "In the Future," (1975), and I just might be inclined to agree, but I'd need to give it more thought (early Roxy Music and early/mid 70's Bowie are also some likely culprits). Then again, there was a lot going on in 1974 & 1975 that one could point at too, though.
Sometimes the Indie Rock Renaissance of the last few years makes me think of this time in rock history (1970-1976), though I'm sure some purists would take me to task for thinking so! It happens on a pretty regular cycle, though -- the kids in the underground marry the electronic and the rock and eventually that bubbles up to the mainstream, which leads to a backlash and a resurgence of guitar rock, and it all starts over again. Does that mean we're in the third iteration of this cycle? It would appear so, I think. Or possibly, I'm just making this up, or someone's said it more eloquently somewhere else already.
Of course, all of this is completely unrelated to the fact that I planned to post some Shangri La's tracks today. No, really. It seems like everyone knows "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember (Walking In The Sand)," and Neko Case recently reinvigorated "Train From Kansas City" on her live album Tigers Have Spoken, but here's three (in that classic melancholy epic narrative style that makes the Shangri-Las so great) that get less attention (and highly recommended for anyone suffering from Pipettes fatigue and/or annoyance):
The Shangri-Las -- Give Us Your Blessings
The Shangri-Las -- Long Live Our Love (...this one is sadly still very relevant)
The Shangri-Las -- Past, Present, and Future (this one has a great uh, "sample," I guess you would call it, of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata)
...and, the original version of Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'," which was written by culty and influential, but slightly forgotten, songwriter and folk singer Fred Neil, who had the most incredible deep, honey-dripping voice. As a bonus, his version of "Send Me Somebody To Love" -- which always gives me the chills, seriously -- is also included here.
Fred Neil -- Everybody's Talkin'
Fred Neil -- Everybody's Talkin' (live)
Fred Neil -- Send Me Somebody To Love
And, oh. Speaking of folky, coffee house singer-songwriters, I'm very picky when it comes to that kind of thing, but I seem to have a soft spot for UK-based Aussie M. Craft (not to be confused with you know, M. Ward, or anything). I guess it's possibly because he's got quite a jazzy bent (which some people have mentioned is a touch of the bossa nova) and the songs really move instead of meander. The Daily Growl has a clutch of Craft tracks here and here.
Okay, have a good weekend! No posts Monday and Tuesday of next week, but we'll be back Wednesday!
Ok, here's a bit of Friday amusement for you, both from Lost In The 80's -- a huge retrospective of Stars on 45, which really must be read (and heard) to be believed and an interesting musing on what song could take the title of the first New Wave song. He suggests Sparks' "In the Future," (1975), and I just might be inclined to agree, but I'd need to give it more thought (early Roxy Music and early/mid 70's Bowie are also some likely culprits). Then again, there was a lot going on in 1974 & 1975 that one could point at too, though.
Sometimes the Indie Rock Renaissance of the last few years makes me think of this time in rock history (1970-1976), though I'm sure some purists would take me to task for thinking so! It happens on a pretty regular cycle, though -- the kids in the underground marry the electronic and the rock and eventually that bubbles up to the mainstream, which leads to a backlash and a resurgence of guitar rock, and it all starts over again. Does that mean we're in the third iteration of this cycle? It would appear so, I think. Or possibly, I'm just making this up, or someone's said it more eloquently somewhere else already.
Of course, all of this is completely unrelated to the fact that I planned to post some Shangri La's tracks today. No, really. It seems like everyone knows "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember (Walking In The Sand)," and Neko Case recently reinvigorated "Train From Kansas City" on her live album Tigers Have Spoken, but here's three (in that classic melancholy epic narrative style that makes the Shangri-Las so great) that get less attention (and highly recommended for anyone suffering from Pipettes fatigue and/or annoyance):
The Shangri-Las -- Give Us Your Blessings
The Shangri-Las -- Long Live Our Love (...this one is sadly still very relevant)
The Shangri-Las -- Past, Present, and Future (this one has a great uh, "sample," I guess you would call it, of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata)
...and, the original version of Harry Nilsson's "Everybody's Talkin'," which was written by culty and influential, but slightly forgotten, songwriter and folk singer Fred Neil, who had the most incredible deep, honey-dripping voice. As a bonus, his version of "Send Me Somebody To Love" -- which always gives me the chills, seriously -- is also included here.
Fred Neil -- Everybody's Talkin'
Fred Neil -- Everybody's Talkin' (live)
Fred Neil -- Send Me Somebody To Love
And, oh. Speaking of folky, coffee house singer-songwriters, I'm very picky when it comes to that kind of thing, but I seem to have a soft spot for UK-based Aussie M. Craft (not to be confused with you know, M. Ward, or anything). I guess it's possibly because he's got quite a jazzy bent (which some people have mentioned is a touch of the bossa nova) and the songs really move instead of meander. The Daily Growl has a clutch of Craft tracks here and here.
Okay, have a good weekend! No posts Monday and Tuesday of next week, but we'll be back Wednesday!
posted by cindy hotpoint at 1:03:00 PM
4 Comments:
i so want those ladypop records to be dan's. that great big beautiful bear of a man totally rocking out to "queen of hearts." heh.
...i hope that wasn't mean. seriously, yo.
did you know superchunk used to do a cover of "train from kansas city"? yep.
Thanks for the Shangri-Las tracks, they have a great one called Maybe as well...
Now 1 - that's awesome, they're currently advertising Now 63 here in the UK!
Hello,
Any chance to reach cindy hotpoint about a post she made last year? It included links (which appear to be defunct) to some Fred Neil (R.I.P.) songs. One of the songs was Send Me Somebody To Love, always one of my favorites by Fred. An online buddy of mine has never heard of Fred, and was familiar with the original Percy Mayfield version. I have no current option to digitize my vinyl, and am seeking a way to allow him to hear this marvelous example of Fred's wondrous vocal abilities. If you can help, it would be appreciated.
TIA.
John Gurvitch
Holyoke, western MA
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