30 December 2022 - Soundgarden - Rusty Cage

This isn't the last post of 2022.  

It is a good completion of a grunge tribute week.

This was the 3rd single off the Soundgarden album Badmotorfinger and it was an instant hit.  Featuring an odd tuning (the E string on Kim Thayil's guitar was tuned down to B) and really erratic musical time signatures and tempo changes, it had a unique sound that's very difficult to replicate - but that's what Soundgarden did - create unique sounds that were difficult to replicate.  

It's a song that endures, too.

As Chris Cornell moved onto solo artistry, he still performed his songs.  This particular song, however, was famously covered in the interim by country music legend Johnny Cash.... who absolutely took the song and made it his own, so much so that Cornell used Johnny's version of his song when performing it live.

29 December 2022 - Temple Of The Dog - Hunger Strike

If you didn't see this coming, you aren't paying attention.

The Temple of the Dog self-titled debut album, their only release, was issues in April of 1991, a project featuring what would end up becoming Pearl Jam along with Chris Cornell of Soundgarden.  It would remain largely unnoticed until 1992, when Pearl Jam hit it big and their whole story, including how Eddie Vedder joined them, came to light.  

So, you could consider this to be Pearl Jam's debut album.

This was their best known song, written by Chris Cornell. 

I do, however, want to paint a picture for you.

Here's this gas station attendant from San Diego who happens to be a basketball buddy of a Red Hot Chili Pepper, who was recommended for this project by said Chili Pepper, just walking into a studio with some giants of grunge who knew each other pretty well.  Yes, at this point, Chris Cornell was well known.  Soundgarden was a hit band.  Mother Love Bone was iconic.  

This gas station attendant steps up to the mic and turns this song into a duet, which he was unaware Cornell was already looking to do, and constructed the duet you see here, and cemented his own career. 

None of this matters if  A&M Records don't wake up and see they have a collaboration between two of their biggest hit bands a year after this album's release.  None of this matters if this isn't an instant classic of a song.

The song and album were reissued in 2016, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the initial release.  A new video for this song was released, compiled from old footage of Cornell and Vedder.

28 December 2022 - Pearl Jam - Alive

Yesterday, we talked briefly about Mother Love Bone.  But what happened to the rest of Mother Love Bone after the death of Andrew Wood?

Many of you know the answer to this, at least partially.  Stone Gossard, guitarist for the band, started writing some hard-edged stuff in reaction, and started revisiting other stuff he had written as a member of MLB.  One of these songs was an instrumental named "Dollar Short".  He and Jeff Ament were taking part in a tribute project (to Wood) called Temple of the Dog with Chris Cornell from Soundgarden, and a San Diego vocalist who I'm sure you've never heard of named Eddie Vedder was recruited to do some vocals for this.  

Anyway, Vedder got his hands on "Dollar Short" and came up with lyrics.  Those lyrics were "Alive".  After Temple of the Dog, Vedder stuck with Ament and Gossard, along with other participant Mike McCready (who was already playing with Gossard and Ament with the goal of a new band) formed a new band, Pearl Jam, which would become one of the biggest and most influential bands in the Seattle scene.

This single, the band's first, was, believe it or not, only a minor hit - bubbling under the Hot 100 and getting some commercial airplay - but it set the table for their bigger follow-up songs.  And, clearly, the song (with the added McCready outro, considered one of the best guitar solos of all time) endures.

27 December 2022 - Alice In Chains - Would?

When everyone in the music business discovered Seattle and their "grunge" music scene, one of the first bands signed (after Soundgarden, who really opened that door) was Mother Love Bone.  Unfortunately, Mother Love Bone didn't get very far, as their lead vocalist, Andrew Wood, passed away in 1990 from a heroin overdose.  

The influence of Mother Love Bone was felt throughout the scene, even after Wood's death.  His friend, Jerry Cantrell, vocalist and guitarist for Alice in Chains, wrote "Would?" as a tribute to his friend.  Originally appearing on the soundtrack for the movie Singles (the band also appeared in the film), which also featured a Mother Love Bone song, it would go on to be one of AiC's best known songs

The unusual makeup of Alice in Chains allowed for some interesting harmonies.  Cantrell sings the verses on this song, and the late Layne Staley - lead vocalist - sings the chorus.  

As was commonplace in the 1990s, the band appeared on the TV show MTV Unplugged and did a version of the song that was.... well, Layne Staley gave this version a very different feel.

Staley himself passed away from a heroin and cocaine overdose in 2002, but the band eventually persevered, reforming a few years later.  In 2006, AiC got together to pay tribute to Staley and performed this song, with Phil Anselmo of Pantera (themselves also dealing with the tragic loss of Dimebag Darrell, to whom this performance is also tributed) taking his vocal role and Duff McKagan of Guns 'n' Roses joining in on guitar.  With the new tribute, this song becomes even more poignant.

24 December 2022 - Cœur de Pirate - Noël Blanc

I hope you are enjoying your Christmas Eve as much as we are here.   To celebrate, we have "Noël Blanc" - a French version of "White Christmas."   

And you know I'm posting this only because I have the œ on my clipboard..... 

22 December 2022 - Phantogram - As Far As I Can See

It's been a while since we featured Phanotgram.  We're featuring this because we had a draft of this post already written for such a time like this - when we were too lazy to go hunting for a new song and research it.

Nevertheless, here we are.  And, since we forgot to add that research piece, we saved almost nothing.

The band's third single from their great debut album, Eyelid Movies, it wasn't quite as well-known as the two previous singles - but it still got a video and a bit of label backing.   The song itself is a bit of a sonic experiment in this format, although it is one of the band's older songs.   

21 December 2022 - Shampoo - Delicious

Why does it seem like I'm getting all my music from perfume commercials lately?

Mostly because I am.

This song was covered by Miley Cyrus in a Gucci perfume ad, but it's really Shampoo who originally recorded the song.   Shampoo, a 90's girl duo who started off more riot grrrl and ended up more Cher Horowitz, had a few hits in the UK but never sit fire on this side of the pond.  

It's pretty standard 90's power pop, but it's catchy so I don't care.  Let's just enjoy it together.  

20 December 2022 - kenzie - 100 degrees

The only thing I am seeing more than ads for perfume on Hulu these days are ads for this song.

This isn't a joke.  There's been a pretty aggressive marketing campaign surrounding this particular song in the last month of the year.  I'm sure I'm going to see the ad 100 more times before it's done.

I'm not sure she needs it.  You see, "kenzie" is Mackenzie Ziegler, best known for the six years she spent on the Lifetime series Dance Moms with her older sister Maddie.  We've discussed Maddie before - but only in terms of Sia.  

Now, Sia didn't write this song (she has written for kenzie in the past),- the younger Ms. Ziegler did co-write this breakup song, which was loosely based off a text a friend of hers sent to her - a friend who hated the summer, but broke up with her boyfriend in the winter so she longed for the summer.

Despite the fact that this song made this blog solely off the power of a Hulu ad, it's pretty darned catchy.

19 December 2022 - Natalie Merchant - Carnival

I've been hesitant to post any Natalie Merchant music.  I found the work she did with 10,000 Maniacs to be more significant and more successful....

However, this, her debut single in 1995 after her split with 10,000 Maniacs, was a top 10 hit, and the accompanying album, Tigerlily, sold 5 million copies, more than any 10,000 Maniacs album.  This single made the top 10, which is higher than any 10,000 Maniacs song did (their cover of "Because The Night" fell just short).

So I was wrong about the successful.

And this song is a deep yet lighthearted look at city life, inspired by a trip Merchant took to New York City as a young child.  So, maybe this is also pretty significant. 

At any rate, it's a great song that established Natalie Mercahnt as a solo artist, and for that reason, I decided it was time.  

14 December 2022 - Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the Encanto Cast - We Don't Talk About Bruno

It's not rare that a song from a Disney movie makes the pop charts.  

You can count on one hand the number of songs from Disney movies that topped the pop charts for five weeks.

Actually, you can count them on one finger, and it is this critically-acclaimed densely layered traditional Latin pop song.  Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda - the guy who wrote Hamilton, yes - it is a complex and extremely well-constructed song that moves forward the story of Encanto, a movie that Miranda was integrally involved in the development of (and we wrote the entire soundtrack).  

So many people - a who's-who of Latin actors and musicians (we will revisit several of them soon) - performed on this dense track - and we listed a lot of them, but there were more.  This is probably the longest WGP title ever, but I ain't apologizing.

Of course, for a song called "We Don't Talk About Bruno", they sure do talk a lot about Bruno.  

Because I did list out all those cast members and represented them with animation, it's only right that I give you a live performance, with the cast performing the song live at Disney's D23 Expo.  Notice how Rhenzy Feliz sings ALL the male parts.  

The cast made another appearance at the 2022 Oscars (the song wasn't nominated but c'mon).  It was introduced by John Leguizamo, who literally played Bruno.  Pay attention at the 1:45 mark.  No, Megan Thee Stallion was not in Encanto.  

13 December 2022 - Bella Poarch - Build a Bitch

Remember yesterday when we talked about Bella Poarch lipsyncing to grime?

Turns out she has a music career herself.  This was her debut single, from 2021 - and it's really good.  That's not just me saying that.  That's critics, who praised its body positivity message.  

The video is some sort of a twisted take on Build-A-Bear workshop, where men could come and pick out the parts on women they might want - which, of course, is the point of the song (love yourself, you can't build a.... well, you can read the title). 

12 December 2022 - Millie B - Sophie Aspin Send | Soph Aspin - Are You Mad

So, a lot of you have seen this little viral TikTok video that came out a couple years ago.  I know a lot of you have seen it, because it is the most viewed video on TikTok.

@bellapoarch To the 🐝 🐝 🐝 #fyp ♬ M to the B - Millie B

Sixty million likes for a little head bobbing.  What did I do wrong in my life?

As it turns out, this was part of a series of lip sync videos released by TikTok star Bella Poarch, and this one just took off.  The story behind the song is a bit unexpected, though.

You see, Millie B was a 16 year old kid from Blackpool who inserted herself in the grime scene - which was (is) all about freestyle, with a focus on diss tracks.  That's right - this song is a complete and total diss track, and if you look at the title of this post - I used the original title and not what it's popularly called on TikTok - it's directed at the queen of the Blackpool grime scene, Sophie Aspin.  

You know, to get that information, I had to listen to a lot of grime.  Some of it is awful.  Some of these artists - including Millie B and, frankly, Sophie Aspin - are really really good. And, let's be clear - none of these children talking about "shitte head" are at all serious (Aspin and Millie B have collaborated on tracks after this was released).  

I felt it only fair to post Soph Aspin's reply.

9 December 2022 - Suicide - Cheree

It's the holiday season, which means it's time for a significant uptick in perfume ads.   So, how you you sell something that smells in a visual medium that doesn't have an odor component?

In the case of Marc Jacobs, when selling the perfume Daisy (as in "fresh as a"), this is what they chose (for a 2019 commercial that seems to be getting a lot of airplay this year).  .

Creepy, right?

However terrifying I found this commercial, I found the music underneath compelling.  So, I had to do some digging, and found that it was a remix of the the song "Cheree" by the band Suicide. From 1978, the synth-heavy oft-covered song is considered "important" and influential, but isn't necessarily a song that was a hit.  Still, we'll take interesting.

Here's the remix they used in the commercial, by the way:

6 December 2022 - Missy Elliott - Work It

"Call before you come.  I gotta shave my cha cha."

By 2002, it was starting to not be so taboo for a woman to talk about sex in such an explicit manner.... but it was still a big deal for this song to hit #2 on the POP charts (for 10 weeks, which is a record, by the way).... which means it was getting a lot of radio airplay for a sexually explicit song....which Missy Elliott hid with sound effects (the elephant trumpeting, for example), but everyone knew what she was saying.  

But this song isn't just a bold sexual triumph.  It features some old school samples ("Peter Piper", "Request Line") as well as other classic songs ("Heart of Glass").  

And, let's be honest - we know why you're here.  It's not for Missy's badonkadonk.  It's the line "Ti esrever dna ti pilf nwod gnaht ym tup i."  Guys, she's not talking backwards.  It's backmasked.  And it sounds really cool, doesn't it?  

Whereas a lot of artists wouldn't have the guts to perform such a heavily produced song live, Missy Elliott did... many times.  Of note is her 2003 American Music Awards appearance, which turned it into a call-and-answer and featured a male artist doing her backmasking for her.

30 November 2022 - The Cars - Drive

I know.

We've been deficient on posting.

We're going to get better, I promise.

For now, let's feature the 1984 Cars hit song, sung by bassist Benjamin Orr and written by Ric Ocasek.  The video was produced by Timothy Hutton (the actor) and features supermodel Paulina Porizkova, who would later become Ocasek's wife.

Orr sang the song beautifully, giving a heartfelt and moving rendition of the tune.  He was clearly the right choice, and the American public agreed, as this became a rather big hit for the band.

Perhaps the song is best known for its Live Aid performance - which is spectacular.

28 November 2022 - INXS - The Gift

How did INXS become an afterthought on the US charts?  The answer may surprise you.

This 1993 single, the lead one from their album Full Moon Dirty Hearts, featured a video that MTV would not air, because it had "controversial images" - specifically Gulf War images, something that was still pretty fresh in the American psyche.  

It was, and is, still a great and exciting song.  It is a true shame that it was ignored to the extent that it was.  

Even though Michael Hutchence passed away in 1997, he still have time to give spirited live performances of this song.  Here is the band, performing the song to an excited crowd in 1994.

2 November 2022 - Public Enemy - 911 Is A Joke

This joke, co-written by and primarily performed by reality show dating star Flavor Flav, is about the paramedic response in predominantly black neighborhoods.  It is not about police response - only paramedic/ambulance response.  

I think a lot of people look at Flavor Flav is a joke because, well, the clocks, Flavor of Love's three seasons.  Come on, man - just pick New York.  However, he wrote and performed poignant songs like this one - and delivered the hard messages with a side of humor.   It's somewhat brilliant, really.   

24 October 2022 - The Manhattans - Shining Star

Leo Graham and Paul Richmond, record producers, were nominated for a Grammy for this 1980 hit song, the biggest by The Manhattans for several years - their second and final trip to the Billboard top 5 (although they'd continue to be the R&B chart hitmakers they had been for more than a decade).

But hey, that's not the point of this post.  The point is to make sure you know it's The Manhattans, and not Earth, Wind, and Fire, who perform this song.  Yes, EWF has a song by the same name.  It's not this song.  

31 August 2022 - Ten Second Epic - Every Day

"You were simping for that French Canadian lady yesterday, so you're gonna post a Lights song now, just to prove you aren't simping for that French Canadian lady, aren't you?"

"Actually, today we're going to feature Ten Second Epic.  Yeah, they're Canadian.  Maybe I should have saved this for Maple Leaf March, but whatever.  They have other songs."

"OK, sir, I am impressed.  Good way to break the mold.  Or do they spell it mould?"

"Good question.  I'll have to ask all my favourite Canadians."

"Well, tell me about this song!"

"OK!  This song was off their 2009 album Hometown, This video, for the third single from that album, was directed by Sean Michael Turrell, and centers around a guy asking his lady to forgive him for some ambiguous wrongdoing."

"Oh, I love ladies in videos.  Anything else you need to tell me before I watch this?" 

"Nope.  Go ahead."

30 August 2022 - Cœur De Pirate - Off To Sleep

"So, it's been almost two weeks since we posted anything about Cœur de Pirate here.  Aren't we due?"

"Are you talking about that Arkells song with the iZombie chick and her sister?"

"We get it.  You watched iZombie.  Can we move on, please?"

"(sigh) Fine.  No, we're not due.  What else could you possibly post about that French lady?"

"She's French Canadian.  And she owns her own record label, so perhaps French-Canadian businesswoman would be more appropriate?"

"Wow.  I didn't know that!"

"How could you not know that?  Do you not read my blog?"

"My computer doesn't know what to do with the weird o-e thing and just drops it.  So the links just say Pirate Stray Dog or something."

"(facepalm) OK, well, she did a video game soundtrack.  The song you hear when you finish the game is really beautiful and quite possibly the most epic video game song ever written."

"What game was it?"

"Child of Light. By Ubisoft.  Critics loved it and it's been released for just about every major gaming platform."

"Wait - that's an old game and it's all childhood stories."

"I mean... 2014, but it's still being released for new platforms."

"OK, that's cool.  I suppose you're going to want to say something about the soundtrack and how Béatrice Martin wrote the whole soundtrack, not just for piano, but for symphony, and worked with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra to record a good portion of these tracks?"

"Um... yeah.  That's pretty much exactly what I was going to say."

"You know, I do pay attention.  Just don't post the whole album like you did with that other instrumental album she did."   

"How about I just post that finishing song?  Maybe a live version?"

"OK, that works."

29 August 2022 - Dua Lipa - Levitating

The old people reading this are wondering who Dua Lipa is.  So, let's set that up.  

Dua Lipa started her professional life as an alt-pop artist a la Charli XCX.  Somewhere along the way, she dropped the 'alt".  

There.  You know enough.

"Levitating" was a worldwide hit in 2021, peaking at #2 in the US and topping the charts elsewhere.  Despite peaking at #2, it spent a LONG time at #2 - long enough to end up being the year end #1 single, according to Billboard - onyl the fourth song to ever accomplish that and the first in two decades.   

It's also a damn catchy song, and a great disco throwback.  It was time.  This is version #3 of the song, a remix featuring DaBaby.

The first (original) and second (a remix by Missy Elliott and Madonna) were released on the same day, and they each got different official videos (as did that third version with DaBaby). Here is that original:

 

....and here is the Blessed Madonna remix. Yes, that's Missy Elliott in the video as well.  

26 August 2022 - that dog - He's Kissing Christian

For me, this song about a woman in love with a gay man was my first introduction to the Hayden Triplets.  

Even though the Haydens are widely associated with that dog, this song, as well as every other one from their 2nd album, Totally Crushed Out (which is amazing), was written by Anna Waronker, lead vocalist and frequent Beck backing band member.  

Why this band isn't as big as Weezer is a question that is often asked.  And I agree.  They should be.

that dog is a band that is still together.  Here they are, performing this song in 2019.

23 August 2022 - Hoodoo Gurus - Bittersweet

Hoodoo Gurus were one of my favorite bands growing up.  They never got super well-known in the States, but in their native Australia, this song, written by vocalist Dave Faulkner, was a Top 20 hit.

The travesty about this video is that it only has 157 views on YouTube as I write this.  I'm hoping to at least triple that and get this classic band some attention!

The great thing about this band is that they're still performing.  Here they are in 2008, playing for a crowd that knows all the words.

22 August 2022 - Tones and I - Dance Monkey

Sometimes, a song so absolutely ridiculous comes that captures the entire world.  That's not a negative - those songs are usually remembered fondly.

This is not a post about a song like that. 

Take "Dance Monkey", the 2019 single by Austrailian singer Toni Watson, who goes by the stage name Tones and I.  This song hit #1 in over 30 counties, and was a top 5 hit in the US - despite being called "Dance Monkey" and having what one could say were absurd lyrics.  The reality of the lyrics is that the inspiration came from Watson's time as a street dancer - where she would literally have to dance for money.  So, the absurity is actually rooted in reality.

And here I am, talking about it three years later, because it's a darned catchy song.  

I have to be honest - I thought this was going to be a quick little post with a viral video, given the song's short but strong chart showing.  

But no.  Tones and I absolutely performs this live.  And it's kind of spectacular.

It's also a song that predates its fame.  This performance is from four months before the single's release - before the record deal, before the hugeness, before everythung.

17 August 2022 - Aly & AJ - Potential Breakup Song

"So, I guess you're gonna want to post another song with that funny o-e combo woman today?  I mean, gotta keep a streak going or something?"

"Nah, But you make a point.  I should tie yesterday into today.  Didn't Aly & AJ have some huge autotuned hit breakup song a few years back?"

"Oh, that's right! They did!  Acutally, now that you mention it, they kinda disappeared after that."

"Well, as we said yesterday, iZombie and all that."  

"You know AJ is on The Goldbergs, right?"

"Oh, really?"

"Sorry that didn't fit into your Aly fetish, but yeah, AJ Michalka is at least as accomplished an actress as her sister."

"To be fair, I didn't mention Hellcats. They both appeared on there."

"That really wouldn't have helped your case."

"Can we PLEASE get back to the music."

"Sure, I guess so."

"I need to write something actually pertaining to this song."

"I suppose you're gonna want to say something technical about the song, like how their other stuff was actually guitar-based rock and this was synth-filled Radio Disney-targeted pop stuff, right?"

"Yeah, that sounds like me."

"Hey, I know you love posting live stuff in a second video.  Might I make a recommendation?"

"Sure, fire away."

"I seem to recall that Aly & AJ rerecorded the song with dirty words on some live performance on New Year's Eve in 2020.  That would be cool, right?"

"Actually, yes.  That would be cool."

16 August 2022 - Arkells ft. Cœur de Pirate & Aly & AJ - Dance With You

"Hey, WGP has been on kind of a long hiatus.   Don't you think it's time for a new post?"

"OK, but we've got to do something different and unusual that we don't usually post."

"Well, Arkells did a collaboration with Peyton from iZombie and her sister."

"Oh, I remember her from that Disney show - Phil of the Future, maybe?"

"Yeah, that's her!!!"

"Well, this sounds different.  There's nothing we typically post there!  Is there anything else I need to know about this?"

"Yeah, one of the verses is in French!"

"Wait, are you sure Cœur de Pirate isn't involved?"

"Oh, yeah, I think I saw that funny o-e thing in the title!  Who are they?"

"Not a "they" - a she, and we've posted about her once or twice."

"Well, the song still slaps!"

"Yeah, yeah it does.  OK, we'll do it."

28 July 2022 - Lush - Nothing Natural

You know how we like themes.

Let's keep up the shoegaze stuff with the band that literally defined the genre - Lush.  I think Miki Berenyi and Emma Anderson are literally gazing at their shoes in this video.  

At 2:13.  I don't just say stuff to be funny.

Written by Anderson, and produced by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, this song is one of the noisiest from their 1992 Spooky album - but even this noise doesn't cancel out the dreamlike music and beautiful harmonies of Anderson and Berenyi on dual lead vocal.

27 July 2022 - Ned's Atomic Dustbin - Kill Your Television

I know, I know.  We've been AWOL for a while.  It's been a busy summer.  But we're back.  And we aren't leaving for a long time.  

The opening track to the 1991 debut album (God Fodder) by Ned's Atomic Dustbin originally started life as a song that had nothing to do with television.... until Alex Griffin saw a sticker in Mystic, Connecticut.  Why he was in Mystic, I'm not sure - but that changed his album and his song for good.  

The shoegaze genre, which was so damned popular among the kids whose parents just didn't understand them, was set on its ear with this album, which took the genre and turned up the amps.  This song - and in fact the whole album - was somewhat groundbreaking.

By the way, they're still around, still touring, and still killing televisions.

1 July 2022 - A "Blame Canada" Special

Wishing all our Canadian readers a happy Canada Day with this South Park Oscar-nominated classic.

Don't worry, we're not really going to declare war on y'all.   And, to the American readers, they are a real country.

If you are so inclined, here is the Academy Awards show performance of this song, featuring Robin Williams.

30 June 2022 - Weird Al Yankovic - Amish Paradise

Are song parodies covers or originals?

In the case of Mr. Yankovic, it's elevated to an art form. This particular song did piss Coolio off, but it's biting and clever, like so much of his other music.  

It would not have been a novelty music week without including Weird Al, either, so I couldn't relegate him to the Covers blog.

29 June 2022 - Rick Dees - Disco Duck

In 1976, disco was everywhere.  So, Memphis, TN DJ Rick Dees wrote a parody of disco featuring a vaguely Donald-sounding duck.  

Surprisingly, and despite initial resistance from his bosses in Memphis, it became a Number One hit and set up Rick Dees for a career that ended up being a whole lot bigger than Memphis - he was quickly moved to the Los Angeles market soon after.  

28 June 2022 - Barnes & Barnes - Fish Heads

There are few songs I know all the lyrics to, without mistake, unprompted.  This is one of them.  

Released in 1978, it remains the most requested song on Dr. Demento's radio show to this day - but there's more to the story of this rather surreal tribute to a fish from the neck up.

The video was directed by and stars friend of Barnes & Barnes, Bill Paxton.  Yes.  THAT Bill Paxton.

27 June 2022 - Julie Brown - The Homecoming Queen's Got A Gun

In 2022, this song could never be made.  It's violent, in a school, and quite politically incorrect.

In 1983, it was the B-side to a song that didn't have the staying power of this one.  

Julie Brown is an actress, a comedian, a musician, a screenwriter (she wrote BOTH Camp Rock movies) and sometimes an MTV VJ.  Her songs - not just this one - still crack me up all these years later.  

But even in 1983, this song wasn't well-received by critics.  It was a novelty song, to be sure - but it wasn't like the cute and funny ones of the past like "Disco Duck",  It was dark, and graphic, and appealed to a different sense of humor.

The people loved it, though - and the song still endures as one of the best known novelty songs ever.

24 June 2022 - Kasey Chambers - Pony

Unlike yesterday's song, this one is actually about a pony.  And Ralph Stanley.   

I've long been a fan of Kasey Chambers - the undisputed queen of Australian country music - so I'm glad I got this opportunity to post one of my favorite songs by her.  

23 June 2022 - Ginuwine - Pony

The YouTube comments say everything you need to know about this song.

This song is not about a pony. 

Not in the least bit.

At all.

It is a 90's R&B classic - and by Donna Meagle's cousin.

So, just enjoy it.

6 May 2022 - The Darling Buds - Let's Go Round There

Our 11th trip to the Darling Buds well is a bit of a slower jam.

Damn.  We've been doing this for a decade now.  And we aren't done yet.  Enjoy your yearly dose of the Darling Buds.  

21 April 2022 - Tracy Bonham - The One

I own The Burdens of Being Upright, which was Tracy Bonham's debut album.  I know when and where I bought it.  

March 12, 1997, Circuit City, Henrietta NY.  

I still almost forgot this song existed, and that's a shame, because it's a great song. It opens with some manic VIOLIN playing by Bonham, and ping-pongs between noise-filled frenzy and quiet thoughtful verses.  It is a nearly perfect and criminally overlooked song.

20 April 2022 - Curve - Already Yours

One of the biggest absences from Spotify, in my opinion is Curve's debut album, Doppelgänger.  It is a brilliant, grungy album that was overshadowed by others in its time - but it was ahead of its time.  

Co-written by Toni Halliday and Dean Garcia, who were Curve, this was the lead track from that album - and it hits in the face with its combination of overwhelming power-pop and gothic undertones.  Unlike other bands in the "shoegaze" genre that was so popular in the early 1990s, Toni Halliday's vocal is right out front, not at all mumbled. 

19 April 2022 - Roky Erickson - Don't Slander Me

Roky Erickson was a pioneer of psychedelic music and founded a band called the 13th Floor Elevators, who were true pioneers.  

Then he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.  Which was probably a boon to his music and the lyrical imagery, but did cause a lot of personal problems for him.  

He did get treatment, and his musical career never stopped.  In 1982, he recorded a solo album called Don't Slander Me. This, the title song, is one of my favorites by him.  This performance is one he did with a reunited 13th Floor Elevators.  

18 April 2022 - Missy Higgins - Secret

Wicked Guilty Pleasures had been running at a breakneck pace for almost two years straight.  So we took a little break.

But we're back now.

And we're going to pull out this song, which was covered by both Billie Eilish and Maisy Stella.  If you are familiar with those covers (and they're on Totally Covered, so why aren't you?!), you'll notice that Higgins sings it in a different key - and the song is actually simpler than those two ladies made it.  There's only a few chords that make up this extremely sparse song (the original recording is only a little less sparse).  

Lyrically, it's so rich and powerful to hear it from the songwriter.

14 April 2022 - k-os - No Bucks

Since I'm doing a bad job at writing this blog, I have to dip into my #MapleLeafMarch candy bag.  So, here you go.

Do you get the feeling that k-os wants to say a different word than "bucks"?

Well, that's not really his style.  The Canadian rapper (born Kevin Brereton) would rather reference hockey pucks than swear.  And his knowledge of self (k-os - get it?) has served him well over his long career.  

So, enjoy Kevin's original sound (there's that k-os again).

6 April 2022 - Cœur de Pirate - Crier Tout Bas

I had this one song, "Crier Tout Bas", that I wrote a long time ago.  It talks about depression; it talks about opening up a conversation with somebody when you're feeling down and low and, I think, after the Paris attacks, that song took a different meaning to me.  I would see people at shows, because, you know, we toured right after that happened, and I would see people at shows comforting themselves in that song, even though it didn't really talk about that. So, I mean, that's the beauty of it, that's the beauty of feeling strongly about certain issues. You know, you get to actually navigate through them through your music without specifically talking about them. - Béatrice Martin

4 April 2022 - Fairground Attraction - Perfect

While writing a bunch of stuff for Maple Leaf March, I stumbled upon a cover of this song by The Stellas, and I went to link to my existing "Perfect" post.

Turns out, I had never posted this absolutely delightful song, ever.  It was a throwback in 1988 when it was originally released, and it has a timeless sound that endures today.  Eddi Reader's vocal is unique, and the band from a different era.

Fairground Attraction didn't last long, mostly because Eddi was just too big a talent to be contained.  That doesn't mean she turned her back on her old songs.... this is a performance from 2020.

1 April 2022 - GAYLE - abcdefu

I spent the last few weeks wishing GAYLE was Canadian.  I mean, it's a really really fun, angry song.  

But at least she spared the dog at the end, right?

Well, 17 year old singer-songwriter Taylor Gayle Rutherford knocked it the hell out of the park with her debut single.  And it all started when a fan asked her to write a song that incorporated the alphabet.  In this version of the alphabet, 21 comes after 6.  

That's all I can say about it.  Let the music speak for itself.

A personal pet peeve of mine is when people say there isn't still good music being made or performed - or that it's all fake.  Here, GAYLE performs an acoustic (clean) version of her hit song - just her and her guitar.

Yes, by the way, there's a "Forget You" version of the song.....

....and there's one that doesn't say fudge.  It says the word (even more).  The eff dash dash dash.

And a demo version.....

 

...and a chill version, which is.... well, it's different.