28 September 2021 - Bonjour Brumaire - Brooklyn

Let's start with the obvious reason I'm posting this.  

It's a Quebec band writing about Brooklyn.  There is no other reason. 

Youri Zaragoza is an excellent and unusual vocalist who brings a pained tone to this interesting and deep song.  The song was co-written by the four gentlemen/band members, and it's not so much about one of the four best boroughs of New York City, but more of a love song.  

Oh, their keyboardist is pretty good, too.  

Here's the band performing the song live in 2008.  From what we can tell from social media and subsequent videos, the keyboardist left soon after to do other things.  

27 September 2021 - The Easybeats - Good Times

The Easybeats were the first Australian band to have a hit outside of Australia.  

This was not that hit, but it was a minor international hit for another band.  This version, featuring a guest vocal by Steve Marriott of the group Small Faces, hit #22 in Australia in 1968.  The song itself is a lot of fun and oft-covered for that very reason.

It's also one of my favorite songs from the 1960's, and not just because of INXS and Jimmy Barnes.  

24 September 2021 - Billy Joel - A Matter of Trust

Billy Joel followed up his huge HUGE hit album An Innocent Man with a greatest hits album, which, for someone supposedly in the prime of their career, is a lame move.  But, at that time, I considered Billy Joel to be pretty lame.   

When he followed that with 1986's The Bridge, I didn't consider him quite so lame.  You see, this song came out at a time when I was starting to branch out in musical taste - and discovering new artists that were outside the mainstream.  I had already rejected Billy Joel's music as pretty boring and bland.  When I first heard this song, however, it changed my perception a little.  It was a song with a little soul - a little emotion.  Perhaps it's the fact that it's a guitar-driven and not piano-driven song - but it resonated with me.  

I'm not a Billy Joel fan to this day.  This song, however, still hits.

23 September 2021 - Fine, It's Pink - Sailor

Last week, my favorite Romanian band, Fine, It's Pink, released a new single.   

Isn't it natural to have a favorite Romanian band?  It isn't?  Well, maybe we need to normalize that. 

Anyway, they're a terrific band no matter where they are from.  Ioana Lefter has a unique, rich voice unlike any other I've heard.  The song is deep and also accessible. I hope this is the song that is their bridge to acceptance outside of Romania, but if not, at least you can enjoy it.

22 September 2021 - Fugazi - Waiting Room

This is probably Fugazi's best known song.  The band's debut single is an absolute classic, still remembered fondly more than 30 years after its initial release.  

Written by Ian MacKaye about not making the same mistakes he made with his previous band, Embrace (you hear it now, don't you), it combines elements of punk, ska, and straight ahead rock.  Fugazi helped define the Washington DC hardcore scene of the 80s and 90s, with this song being a major reason for that.  

21 September 2021 - Foo Fighters - Big Me

Look, sometimes, the post is about the song - and this one, an early single by Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana band is certainly a gem in and of itself.  It's a lighthearted pop-rock song, and a top 20 hit in the US at that.

But c'mon.  This post is all about this video.  It's a huge Mentos commercial parody, and a damned near perfect one at that.  

To compare, here's the 2nd commerical they parody.

And here's the first.

The band certainly played this fun and happy song live, but they stopped for a while.  If you watched this live video, you can probably understand why, as many rolls of Mentos are thrown on stage.  I don't know if you've ever had a roll of Mentos thrown at you, but they hurt.

They do perform it now, probably because people don't get the reference anymore.

20 September 2021 - Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - Mama Help Me

In 1990, it was time for Edie Brickell & New Bohemians to release their second album, Ghost of a Dog. Their debut album, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, was a blockbuster, but also, that put a lot of pressure on the band to follow up that unexpectedly successful album.

Which, in my opinion, they did brilliantly. I personally think the 2nd album was better than the 1st.  Unfortunately, it didn't sell nearly as well, and ended up, at least temporarily, breaking up the band.     

This song was the lead single from the 2nd album, and while it got a fair bit of MTV airplay, it didn't lead to a whole lot more than that.  Still, the song is complex and interesting, grabbing your ears tightly and not letting go.  It remains one of my favorites to this day.  

Note:  This song had previously been posted in 2012 - as part of a larger post.  It's important enough that it deserves its own treatment.