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.