Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.
The name NERF actually comes from drag racing. In the late ‘60s, foam-covered bars sometimes called “nerf bars” were put on the front of the trucks that pushed racers to the starting line. This prevented damage to cars.
I had many Nerf Footballs and small Nerf basketballs growing up and they were always fun to bonk someone in the head.
In 1968 Reyn Guyer who invented Twister helped invent the Nerf Ball. He was testing a new caveman game with colleagues. The prototype included a bunch of foam-rubber rocks that, the men soon discovered, were more fun to throw at one another than use in the game. He then thought (and probably saved a lot of broken lamps…and spankings) they could be used as balls and played within a home.
In 1969 Reyn tried to sell the idea to Milton Bradley but they didn’t want it, but Parker Brothers did. The first Nerf product as a 4-inch polyurethane foam ball. They marketed it as “world’s first official indoor ball” and soon they had blasters, footballs (Fred Cox, kicker for the Vikings actually invented the Nerf Football), basketballs, living room baseball and a line of Nerf products.
Parker Brothers handed the company off to Kenner Products, a sister company, in 1991, when Hasbro acquired the Nerf line. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the Nerf brand served under the subsidiaries OddzOn and Larami before Hasbro took full control of the brand.
Paul Simon made a great comeback with the Graceland album. This was the first single off Graceland, which won a Grammy for Album of the Year in 1988. It was Simon’s first hit since 1980, when “Late In The Evening” went to #6 in the US. This song is strong on its own but I do remember the video really well.
When they recorded the tracks for this song in South Africa, Simon and his producers were sure they had a hit with this song. Even though the Graceland album did very well, this song was a slow starter. The single did well in the UK, where it made #4 in September 1986, but in America, it stalled at #44 in October. After the album and video gained momentum, the song was reissued with more promotion in March 1987, and this time it went to #23 in the Billboard 100. It was Simon’s last Top 40 hit in America.
From Songfacts
Simon started recorded this song in South Africa, where he worked with local musicians and experimented with their sounds. He recorded with many different musicians while he was there, and he loved the work of the guys from a local group called Stimela, whose guitarist Ray Phiri came up with the riff for this song during one of their jam sessions. These recordings were edited together in New York by Simon’s producer Roy Halee – a monumental task in the age of analog recording, since in South Africa, they rolled a lot of tape that Halee had to sort out with a series of splices.
The lyrics contain some intricate wordplay that Simon wrote very carefully around the track, and the character in the song symbolic of his South Africa experience. At the time, South Africa was divided by Apartheid, a policy that separated blacks and whites, and a cultural boycott was in place (check out the Songfacts on “Sun City”). Simon defied this boycott and went anyway, taking a lot of heat for his actions – even though his intentions were good, many black leaders in South Africa felt that any violation of the boycott hindered their cause. Because of the boycott, music from the area was secluded, and when Simon released Graceland, he brought the music of the country to the world. In the documentary Under African Skies, Simon explained: “‘You Can Call Me Al’ is really the story of somebody like me, who goes to Africa with no idea and ends up having an extraordinary spiritual experience.”
This song is about a self-obsessed person becoming aware of his surroundings. In a 1990 interview with SongTalk magazine, Simon explained: “‘You Can Call Me Al’ starts off very easily with sort of a joke: ‘Why am I soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?’ Very easy words. Then it has a chorus that you can’t understand. What is he talking about, you can call me Betty, and Betty, you can call me Al? You don’t know what I’m talking about. But I don’t think it’s bothersome. You don’t know what I’m talking about but neither do I. At that point.
The second verse is really a recapitulation: A man walks down the street, he says… another thing. And by the time you get to the third verse, and people have been into the song long enough, now you can start to throw abstract images. Because there’s been a structure, and those abstract images, they will come down and fall into one of the slots that the mind has already made up about the structure of the song.
So now you have this guy who’s no longer thinking about the mundane thoughts, about whether he’s getting too fat, whether he needs a photo opportunity, or whether he’s afraid of the dogs in the moonlight and the graveyard.”
So where did “Al” and “Betty” in this song come from? That stems from a 1970 party that Simon hosted with his wife, Peggy Harper. Simon’s friend, the composer Stanley Silverman, brought along another composer named Pierre Boulez, and when he made his exit, Boulez called Simon “Al” and his wife “Betty.” Boulez was French, and he wasn’t being rude – it was just his interpretation of what he heard: Paul=Al, Peggy=Betty.
Silverman’s son is Ben Silverman, a television mogul who was executive producer of the American version of The Office. In 2011, Ben commissioned a work composed by his dad called “Les Folies d’Al,” which includes variations of “You Can Call Me Al” and is a send-up of the incident.
The best we can tell, this is by far the biggest hit containing a penny whistle solo. It was played by Jy Morr (Morris) Goldberg, a white South African who was living in New York.
Simon arranged for some of the musicians who played on this song, including guitarist Ray Phiri, bass player Bakithi Kumalo and drummer Isaac Mtshali, to came to America, where they worked on some other tracks for the album and backed Simon when he appeared on Saturday Night Live, where he performed this song on May 10, 1986, a few months before the album was released. These musicians later accompanied Simon on his worldwide tour for Graceland.
The video featured Chevy Chase lip-synching the vocals while Simon pretended to play various instruments. Most videos at the time were “performance videos,” meaning the bands would pretend to be playing the song. This video did a great job mocking them. The clip was also notable for its simplicity – it was shot in a small, unadorned room using a single camera.
Al Gore used this while he was running for Vice President in 1992. Simon has played at various Democratic fund raisers.
This echoes a line from the folk song, “Brother, Can You Spare A Dime,” about a guy who has fallen on hard times: Say, don’t you remember?
They called me Al
It was Al all the time.
Say, don’t you remember?
I’m your pal.
Brother, can you spare a dime? >>
The University of Florida band plays the tune to “You Can Call Me Al” at every basketball game and has done so for a number of years. It serves at an unofficial theme for the basketball team. The student section at the O’Connell Center (where the basketball team plays) is called the Rowdy Reptiles and while the song plays students sing along with “Da da da da, da da da da…” waving their hands with the music.
You Can Call Me Al
A man walks down the street He says why am I soft in the middle now Why am I soft in the middle The rest of my life is so hard I need a photo-opportunity I want a shot at redemption Don’t want to end up a cartoon In a cartoon graveyard Bonedigger Bonedigger Dogs in the moonlight Far away my well-lit door Mr. Beerbelly Beerbelly Get these mutts away from me You know I don’t find this stuff amusing anymore
If you’ll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty And Betty when you call me You can call me Al
A man walks down the street He says why am I short of attention Got a short little span of attention And wo my nights are so long Where’s my wife and family What if I die here Who’ll be my role-model Now that my role-model is Gone Gone He ducked back down the alley With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl All along along There were incidents and accidents There were hints and allegations
If you’ll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty And Betty when you call me You can call me Al Call me Al
A man walks down the street It’s a street in a strange world Maybe it’s the Third World Maybe it’s his first time around He doesn’t speak the language He holds no currency He is a foreign man He is surrounded by the sound The sound Cattle in the marketplace Scatterlings and orphanages He looks around, around He sees angels in the architecture Spinning in infinity He says Amen! and Hallelujah!
If you’ll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty And Betty when you call me You can call me Al Call me Al
This was Duane Allman’s favorite song that his brother Gregg wrote….but it was also one of the first songs the band recorded without Duane Allman, who died in a motorcycle accident about four months before it was released. Eat A Peach was dedicated to Duane. At Duane Allman’s funeral in 1971, Gregg Allman played this song on one of Duane’s old guitars. At the service, Gregg said, “This was my brother’s favorite song that I ever wrote.”
The song peaked at #86 in the Billboard 100 in 1972. The song didn’t chart too well but it remains a staple of classic radio.
Gregg actually taught Duane how to play the guitar, who quickly became a virtuoso. They played together until 1969 when Duane assembled what would become the Allman Brothers Band. Gregg was reluctant to sign on having already been accepted into college to be a dental surgeon. He soon did and they played together until Duane’s death in 1971.
From Songfacts
Gregg Allman spoke at length about this song in an interview with the San Luis Obispo (California) Tribune on November 30, 2006: “I wrote that song in 1967 in a place called the Evergreen Hotel in Pensacola, Florida. By that time I got so sick of playing other people’s material that I just sat down and said, ‘OK, here we go. One, two, three – we’re going to try to write songs.’ And about 200 songs later – much garbage to take out – I wrote this song called ‘Melissa.’ And I had everything but the title. I thought (referring to lyrics): ‘But back home, we always run… to sweet Barbara’ – no. Diane…? We always run… to sweet Bertha.’ No, so I just kind of put it away for a while.
So one night I was in the grocery store – it was my turn to go get the tea, the coffee, the sugar and all that other s–t… and there was this Spanish lady there and she had this little toddler with her – this little girl. And I’m sitting there, getting a few things and what have you. And this little girl takes off, running down the aisle. And the lady yells, Oh, Melissa! Melissa, come back, Melissa!’ And I went, ‘Oh – that’s it.’ I forgot about half the stuff I went for, I went back home and, man, it was finished, only I couldn’t really tell if it was worth a damn or not because I’d written so many bad ones. So I didn’t really show it to anybody for about a year. And then I was the last one to get to Jacksonville – I was the last one to join the band that became the Allman Brothers. And my brother sometimes late at night after dinner, he’d say, ‘Man, go get your guitar and play me that song – that song about that girl.’ And I’d play it for him every now and then.
After my brother’s accident, we had three vinyl sides done of Peach, so I thought well we’ll do that, and then on the way down there I wrote “Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More.” I wrote that for my brother. We were all in pretty bad shape. I had just gotten back from Jamaica and I was weighing at about 156, 6-foot-1-and-a-half – I was pretty skinny. So we went back down there, got in the studio and finished the record. And the damn thing shipped gold.”
This was first recorded in 1968 by the 31st Of February, one of Gregg and Duane Allman’s first bands. Duane’s version of this with the 31st Of February is the first recording of him playing the bottleneck slide guitar, a technique he became famous for.
Steve Alaimo, who was operating the studio where The Allman Brothers recorded this song, received a songwriting credit on this track along with Gregg Allman. Alaimo had a few Hot 100 entries as a singer in the ’60s and early ’70s before moving into production work.
The part of the song that begins: “Crossroads, will you ever let him go” is probably a reference to Robert Johnson, a blues legend who supposedly went to a crossroads and sold his soul to the devil.
Gregg Allman told Esquire in 2013 that thanks to ready access to biphetamines, he had been awake for about two days when he wrote this song. He was working like crazy on another song, but when he played it for his brother, Duane said, “What you have here is a new set of lyrics to an obscure Rolling Stones song.” Said Gregg: “That’s discouraging as s–t, right there. And just as I was about to say f–k it, I wrote ‘Melissa.'”
The Allman Brothers performed this on the last episode of the syndicated Dennis Miller Show on July 25, 1992.
This was used in a commercial television advertisement campaign for Cingular/AT&T Wireless.
Melissa
Crossroads, seem to come and go, yeah The gypsy flies from coast to coast Knowing many, loving none Bearing sorrow, having fun But, back home he’ll always run To sweet Melissa Mmm, hmm
Freight train, each car looks the same, all the same And no one knows the gypsy’s name And no one hears his lonely sighs There are no blankets where he lies Lord, in his deepest dreams the gypsy flies With sweet Melissa Mm, hmm
Again, the mornin’s come Again, he’s on the run A sunbeam’s shinin’ through his hair Fear not to have a care Well, pick up your gear and gypsy roll on Roll on
Crossroads, will you ever let him go? Lord, Lord Or will you hide the dead man’s ghost? Or will he lie, beneath the clay? Or will his spirit float away? But, I know that he won’t stay Without Melissa Yes, I know that he won’t stay, yeah Without Melissa Lord, Lord, it’s all the same
Supposedly on February 1, 1976, Elvis Presley boarded his private jet (The Lisa Marie) from Graceland to Denver for one reason…a Fool’s Gold Loaf sandwich. He flew some buddies he was entertaining to the Colorado Mine Company restaurant who served these 50 dollar sandwichs. They actually only landed at the airport and were met by the owners of the restaurant with Nick Andurlakis the cook with 22 of these sandwiches to be consumed on the plane. Nick and the pilots were invited to stay and dine with Elvis…After the meal was finished…Elvis and his friends flew back to Graceland.
The Colorado Mine Company is now sadly closed but Nick Andurlakis now owns a restaurant called Nick’s Cafe and still sells these to anyone brave enough to try. … better have some cholesterol pills and a couple of defibrillators would not hurt.
Here are the ingredients and instructions if you dare. Nick has said…make these at your own risk. One should feed 8-10 people and a bite or two would not hurt… but again supposedly, Elvis could knock one down by himself…
2 T margarine 1 loaf French white bread 1 lb / 450 g bacon slices 1 jar of smooth peanut butter 1 jar of grape jelly
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Spread the margarine generously all over all sides of the loaf. Place it on a baking sheet in the oven.
Meanwhile, fry the bacon in a bit of oil until it is crisp and drain it thoroughly on paper towels.
Remove the loaf from the oven when it is evenly browned, after approximately 15 minutes. Slice the loaf lengthwise and hollow out the interior, leaving as much bread along the walls as desired. Slather a thick layer of peanut butter in the cavity of the loaf and follow with another thick layer of grape jelly. Use lots of both.
Arrange the bacon slices inside the cavity, or, if desired, layer the bacon slivers between the peanut butter and jelly. Close the loaf, slice and eat.
Here is much more about the event… “Thank You Very Much”
Holly recorded this on May 1957 with The Crickets at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, NM. It was written by Charles Hardin and Norman Petty, “Charles Hardin” being Buddy Holly, whose real name was Charles Hardin Holley.
One of my favorite songs that recycle the great Bo Diddley riff.
This song was credited to The Crickets. Until the end of his career, Holly recorded with his group, The Crickets, but he set up a deal with their record company, Decca Records, to release some songs under his name and have others credited to the group. This was credited to The Crickets and released on the Brunswick subsidiary. Songs credited to Buddy Holly came out on Coral Records.
The song was the B side to “Oh Boy.”
From Songfacts
This was one of the first pop songs to feature the “Bo Diddley” sound, a series of beats (da, da, da, da-da da) popularized by Diddley, who used it on his first single, the egotistically named “Bo Diddley.” The signature beat originated in West Africa and was adopted by Diddley in the US, where many artists have used it since. For more, check out the Songfacts on “Bo Diddley”.
The Grateful Dead covered this on their Rockin’ The Rhein album.
Florence and the Machine recorded a new version of the song for the Buddy Holly tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly, which was issued for the 75th anniversary of Holly’s birth. Florence Welch had a transformative moment when her grandmother took her to see the movie The Buddy Holly Story when she was a kid, and Welch was happy to contribute to the tribute, recording the song in New Orleans with local Cajun musicians.
Drummer Jerry Allison played a cardboard box for percussion on this. He’d heard Buddy Knox’ drummer do the same on “Party Doll.”
Not Fade Away
Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop
I’m gonna tell you how it’s gonna be ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop You’re gonna give your love to me Bop-bop-bop-bop I want to love you night and day ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop You know my loving not fade away Bop-bop-bop-bop Well you know my loving not fade away ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop
My love bigger than a Cadillac ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop I’ll try to show it when you’re driving me back ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Your love for me got to be real ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop For you to know just how I feel ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop A love for real not fade away ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop
I’m gonna tell you how it’s gonna be ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop You’re gonna give your love to me ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Love to last more than one day ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Love is loving and not fade away Bop-bop-bop-bop Love is loving and not fade away ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop ‘Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop Bop-bop-bop-bop
Smokey has one of the smoothest voices I ever heard. On top of that, he is one of the top songwriters of popular music. Bob Dylan called him “America’s greatest living poet.” and John Lennon was heavily influenced by him. The song peaked at #16 (only 16???) in the Billboard 100 and #9 in the UK in 1965.
Miracles members Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore, and Marv Tarplin wrote this song. Robinson penned the lyrics; Tarplin, The Miracles’ guitarist, came up with the riff. Tarplin got the idea for the music after listening to a calypso tune: Harry Belafonte’s “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O).”
From Songfacts
One of the most gut-wrenching songs on record, this one is about a man who tries to hide his pain, but cannot conceal the tracks made by his tears. He has come out of a relationship with the love of his life, and the song is his confession to her that his high spirits are just an act and she’s the only one for him, or perhaps what he wants to tell her but can’t.
Miracles leader Smokey Robinson came up with the concept when he was looking in the mirror one day, and thinking, What if a person would cry so much that you could see tracks of their tears in their face?
Robinson recalled: “‘Tracks of My Tears’ was actually started by Marv Tarplin, who is a young cat who plays guitar for our act. So he had this musical thing [sings melody], you know, and we worked around with it, and worked around, and it became ‘Tracks of My Tears.'”
Robinson had the music Tarplin wrote on a cassette, but it took him about six months to write the lyrics. The words started coming together when he came up with the line, “Take a good look at my face, you see my smile looks out of place.” From there, it was a few days before he got the lines, “If you look closer it’s easy to trace… my tears.”
What to do with those tears was a problem, as he wanted to say something no one has said about tears. In a 2006 interview with NPR, he explained that he finally came up with the image of tears leaving lasting marks, and the song came together. “One day I was listening, and it just came – the tracks of my tears,” said Robinson. “Like footprints on my face. So that was what I wrote about.”
Four different artists have charted with this song in America. Johnny Rivers had the biggest hit, taking it to #10 in 1967. Two of the most acclaimed female vocalists of their time, Aretha Franklin and Linda Ronstadt, also charted covers, Franklin’s making #71 in 1969 and Ronstadt’s going to #25 in 1976.
Other notable versions of this song include renditions by Go West in 1993 and Adam Lambert in 2009.
When he first recorded this song with The Miracles, Robinson left out the last chorus, fading it out on the “I need you, I need you” line. He was convinced to end on the chorus when he played the song at one of the famous Monday morning meetings at Motown, where songs were scrutinized by their team.
Robinson wrote a similar song a few weeks later called “My Girl Has Gone,” which was released as the next Miracles single.
Motown head Berry Gordy has said that this song represents Smokey Robinson’s best work.
The song was popular among American soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War, which is reflected in the 1986 Oliver Stone movie Platoon, where the song is used.
Other films to feature the song include The Big Chill (1983), The Walking Dead (1995) and Bobby (2006). TV series to used the song include The Wonder Years and Wife Swap.
Tracks Of My Tears
People say I’m the life of the party Because I tell a joke or two Although I might be laughing loud and hearty Deep inside I’m blue So take a good look at my face You’ll see my smile looks out of place
If you look closer, it’s easy to trace The tracks of my tears I need you, need you Since you left me if you see me with another girl Seeming like I’m having fun Although she may be cute
She’s just a substitute Because you’re the permanent one So take a good look at my face You’ll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer, it’s easy to trace The tracks of my tears
I need you, need you Outside I’m masquerading Inside my hope is fading Just a clown oh yeah Since you put me down My smile is my make up
I wear since my break up with you So take a good look at my face You’ll see my smile looks out of place If you look closer, it’s easy to trace The tracks of my tears
A great song with an R&B feel to it. Little Steven directed the horn section. Bruce sings it like it’s his last day on earth…like many of his other songs. Tenth Avenue runs through E Street in Belmar, New Jersey. The band got their name from the street, which is where they used to rehearse. Springsteen, however, has said that he has no idea what a “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out” is.
The song peaked at #83 in the Billboard 100 in 1976. It was off the Born To Run album that propelled him to stardom.
The “Big Man” in the third verse is Clarence Clemons…the saxophone player. Springsteen met him when Clemons came into a club in Asbury Park, N.J., where Bruce was playing. It was a stormy night, and the door flew off the hinges when Clemons opened it. Springsteen would talk about how he “Literally blew the door off the place.”
In Clemons’ autobiography Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales, he explained: “It was one of those nor’easters – cold, raining, lightning and thunder. Now, this is God’s honest truth. I open the door to the club and a gust of wind blew the door right out of my hand and down the street. So here I am, a big black guy, in Asbury Park, with lightning flashing behind me. I said to Bruce, ‘I want to sit in.’ He says, ‘Sure, anything you want.'”
From Songfacts
This tells the story of the E Street Band coming together. On Springsteen’s first album in 1973, he didn’t use a lot of backup musicians, but on his next one The E Street band was crucial to the sound. Later on, Springsteen released the albums Nebraska and The Ghost Of Tom Joad without the band, but they didn’t sell nearly as well as the ones they played on.
Clemons was working as a social worker at the time and playing in a Jersey Shore bar band when he got his big break with Bruce.
At many of their early shows, this was the first song in the set.
Springsteen used this to introduce the band on the 1999 E Street Band Reunion tour. He would explain what each member brought to the group (Roy Bittan – Foundation, Little Steven – Soul, etc.), ending with Clemons. Some nights the band members did short solos as they were introduced.
“Bad Scooter” in the opening line, “Teardrops on the city Bad Scooter searching for his groove” is Springsteen. Note the initials are the same.
While touring with “the other band” during his 1992/93 tour promoting the Human Touch and Lucky Town albums, Springsteen sometimes brought out Clarence “Big Man” Clemons to play his usual sax part in this song. When introduced, the crowd always gave the big man a huge ovation. >>
After imploring the audience to put down the guacamole dip and chicken fingers (we were actually eating chicken wings, but anyway…) Springsteen played this as the first song of his performance at halftime of the 2009 Super Bowl between the Cardinals and Steelers.
Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
Tear drops on the city, Bad Scooter searching for his groove Seem like the whole world walking pretty and you can’t find the room to move Well, everybody better move over, that’s all ‘Cause I’m running on the bad side and I got my back to the wall Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Well, I was stranded in the jungle trying to take in all the heat they was giving The night is dark but the sidewalk’s bright and lined with the light of the living From a tenement window a transistor blasts Turn around the corner, things got real quiet real fast I walked into a Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out
And I’m all alone, I’m all alone (And kid, you better get the picture) And I’m on my own, I’m on my own And I can’t go home
When the change was made uptown and the Big Man joined the band From the coastline to the city, all the little pretties raise their hands I’m gonna sit back right easy and laugh When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half With the Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze-out Tenth Avenue freeze I’m talking ’bout a Tenth Oh, nothing but a Tenth I’m talking ’bout a Tenth I’m talking bout a Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, Tenth, I’m talking ’bout a Tenth Avenue freeze-out…
I was watching this Night Gallery episode (Tell David) from 1971 a few months ago and was surprised at some things they showed. It was about a woman who got lost in the rain and ended up at a stranger’s home. She went in to use the phone and the house was in the future…Actually in the future. There is a twist but that doesn’t matter.
A few things caught my attention. I started to research it and Me-TV had a page dedicated to it. Almost looks like Rod Serling knew something…or the set designers did…
One was a video phone…reminded me of Skype.
Her dialing a number
Techno Music
GPS or Google Maps
Non-Tar Cigarettes… Current Vape?
From IMDB
“Tell David…” is an odd episode. A woman loses her way, trying to find her house, and ends up getting help from some odd people. They have technology beyond that which she is used to. David, the young man (who has the same name as her little boy) is a master at repairing devices she’s never seen. When she returns to her husband, he is dressed as a monster and nags at her and chases her. It is obvious that this is the way he sees her. She is monumentally jealous. She comes to realize that she has an opportunity to change her history, to prevent herself from doing a deadly thing. As it goes along, it becomes nonsensical. It also gets caught in the problems with the mutation of time.
This song is about an acid trip. According to David Byrne, it was written about a girl he knew who used to take LSD in a field next to the Yoo-Hoo drink factory. it took me a while to warm up to The Talking Heads but I ended up really liking them. They always made interesting videos.
The song peaked at #54 in the Billboard 100 and #17 in the UK in 1985. The song was off of the “Little Creatures” album that peaked at #20 in the Billboard Album Charts. Byrne is listed as the sole author of Little Creatures’ nine songs, with the band credited only with arrangements.
It is a very good… catchy pop song.
From Songfacts.
The video was the first created by Jim Blashfield, who pioneered a collage-animation style with his short film, Suspicious Circumstances. That got the attention of Talking Heads, which wanted a similar motif for their “And She Was” video. The resulting clip earned MTV Video Music Award nominations for Best Group Video and Best Concept Video. Blashfield was commissioned for more videos in this style; his work can be seen in “The Boy in the Bubble” (Paul Simon), “Sowing the Seeds of Love” (Tears For Fears) and “Leave Me Alone” (Michael Jackson).
And She Was
Hey!
And she was lying in the grass And she could hear the highway breathing And she could see a nearby factory She’s making sure she is not dreaming
See the lights of a neighbor’s house Now she’s starting to rise Take a minute to concentrate And she opens up her eyes
The world was moving she was right there with it and she was The world was moving she was floating above it and she was And she was
And she was drifting through the backyard And she was taking off her dress And she was moving very slowly Rising up above the earth
Moving into the universe and she’s Drifting this way and that Not touching the ground at all and she’s Up above the yard
The world was moving, she was right there with it and she was (Hey, hey) The world was moving, she was floating above it and she was (Hey, hey, hey)
She was proud about it, no doubt about it She isn’t sure about what she’s done No time to think about what to tell him No time to think about what she’s done and she was (Hey hey, hey hey, hey)
And she was looking at herself And things were looking like a movie She had a pleasant elevation She’s moving out in all directions oh, oh oh
Next to Duck Soup…Horse Feathers (1932) is my favorite Marx Brother movie. Their five movies for Paramount are great. When they moved to MGM their movies had more of a plot but were diluted and tame in comparison with the Paramount films.
They were the kings of being irrelevant or irrelephant as Groucho would say.
There are some 1930’s references in the movie and many double entendres. With the Marx Brothers, you either get them or not. They are chaos and anarchy all rolled into one. They were anti-establishment before the term was popular. In the 1970s their popularity soared again when college students would wait in lines around theaters to see their films that were 40 years old at the time.
Harpo has some of his best visual gags in this movie. Chico or Chicko gets lost sometimes when talking about the brothers but he plays a big part in the act. Zeppo was regulated as the straight man and Groucho…is Groucho.
In Horse Feathers, Groucho plays college president, Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff. Groucho runs the school and chaos reigns. He finds out the college cannot support the football program. The professors are kissing up to Groucho (Wagstaff) because he is a President. Here is an exchange.
Wagstaff: This college is a failure. The trouble is, we’re neglecting football for education.
The Professors: [in unison] Exactly, the professor is right.
Wagstaff: Oh, I’m right, am I? Well, I’m not right. I’m wrong. I just said that to test ya. Now I know where I’m at. I’m dealing with a couple of snakes. What I meant to say was that there’s too much football and not enough education
.The Professors: That’s what I think.
Wagstaff: Oh, you do, do you? Well, you’re wrong again. If there was a snake, you’d apologize. Where would this college be without football? Have we got a stadium?
The Professors: Yes.
Wagstaff: Have we got a college?
The Professors: Yes.
Wagstaff: Well, we can’t support both. Tomorrow we start tearing down the college.
This is the plot from Wiki…which for a Marx Brothers movie is not as important.
The film revolves around college football and a game between the fictional Darwin and Huxley Colleges.[a] Many of the jokes about the amateur status of collegiate football players and how eligibility rules are stretched by collegiate athletic departments remain remarkably current.[5]Groucho plays Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College, and Zeppo is his son Frank, a student at the school who convinces his father to recruit professional football players to help Huxley’s terrible football team. There are also many references to Prohibition. Baravelli (Chico) is an “iceman”, who delivers ice and bootleg liquor from a local speakeasy. Pinky (Harpo) is also an “iceman”, and a part-time dogcatcher. Through a series of misunderstandings, Baravelli and Pinky are accidentally recruited to play for Huxley instead of the actual professional players. This requires them to enroll as students, which creates chaos throughout the school.
The Cast
Groucho Marx – Professor Quincy Adams Wagstaff
Harpo Marx – Pinky
Chico Marx – Baravelli
Zeppo Marx – Frank Wagstaff
Thelma Todd – Connie Bailey
David Landau – Jennings
Robert Greig – Biology professor Hornsvogel
Reginald Barlow – Retiring President
E. H. Calvert – Professor in Wagstaff’s office
Nat Pendleton – Darwin football player MacHardie
James Pierce – Darwin football player Mullen
Theresa Harris – Laura, Connie’s maid
Walter Brennan – Football commentator (uncredited)
One of the many songs on the greatest hits album. If I remember right it closed out the second side on the album. The main thing I remember about this song is the rhythm track. Cecilia was originally on the Bridge Over Troubled Water album. The song peaked at #4 in the Billboard 100 and #2 in Canada in 1970.
The greatest hits came out in 1972 and in 2003, the album was ranked number 293 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
From Songfacts
This song is about a guy who had a girlfriend, but then she broke up with him. Like it says in one of the verses, “I got up to wash my face, when I come back to bed someone’s taken my place.” But later on they get back together – “Jubilation, she loves me again.”
No too much should be read into the lyrics of this song. As Paul Simon explained in an interview with Rolling Stone: “Every day I’d come back from the studio, working on whatever we were working on, and I’d play this pounding thing. So then I said, ‘Let’s make a record out of that.’ So we copied it over and extended it double the amount, so now we have three minutes of track, and the track is great. So now I pick up the guitar and I start to go, ‘Well, this will be like the guitar part’ – dung chicka dung chicka dung, and lyrics were virtually the first lines I said: ‘You’re breakin’ my heart, I’m down on my knees.’ They’re not lines at all, but it was right for that song, and I like that. It was like a little piece of magical fluff, but it works.” >>
In the Catholic church, Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians. In this context, the song can be interpreted as the singer asking for musical guidance, possibly to help writing a song. Paul Simon says he can’t remember the specific inspiration when he was writing the song, but he knew Cecilia is the goddess of music. >>
According to the liner notes to Paul Simon’s Anthology album, the strange sounding rhythm to this particular track was Paul and Art slapping their thighs, while Paul’s brother Eddie thumped a piano bench and a friend named Stewie Scharff strummed a guitar with its strings slackened to the point of atonality. This all happened at a house Paul and Art were living in on Blue Jay Way in the summer of 1969, not long after the Charles Manson murders took place at the nearby home of the actress Sharon Tate. After they started the pounding and came up with the rhythm, they got out their Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder and made the recording. There was a 1:15 section that Simon thought was great, so they looped it in the studio, which wasn’t easy in 1969 – you had to actually cut out the tape and put it on the recorder in a loop. Their producer Roy Halee added some reverb, and they had their basic backing track from this home recording.
Worked into the mix is the sound of drumsticks falling on the parquet floor of the Columbia Records studio in Los Angeles. Simon also played a bit of xylophone that was heavily processed and added to the track. They had a lot of fun recording it and were enjoying various experiments in sound.
When the Bridge Over Troubled Water album was finished, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee all thought this would be the first single, as catchy, upbeat songs were typically chosen to introduce a new album. Columbia Records president Clive Davis decided that the powerful, plaintive title track needed to be the album’s calling card, so he bucked convention and released that one as the first single instead. It was a shrewd move: “Bridge Over Troubled Water” went to #1 for six weeks a propelled the album to the top as well – it spent a total of 10 weeks at #1. “Cecilia” was issued as the second single.
In 1996 Suggs, the lead singer for Madness, teamed up with vocal duo Louchie Lou and Michie One to record a cover that peaked at #4 in the UK. This is the only time the song reached the Top 75 in Britain as surprisingly Simon & Garfunkel’s original 1970 single failed to chart there.
The Swedish pop group Ace Of Base recorded a song called “Cecilia” on their 1998 album Flowers that was based on the character in this song.
Cecilia
Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart You’re shaking my confidence daily Oh, Cecilia, I’m down on my knees I’m begging you please to come home
Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart You’re shaking my confidence daily Oh, Cecilia, I’m down on my knees I’m begging you please to come home Come on home
Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia Up in my bedroom (making love) I got up to wash my face When I come back to bed someone’s taken my place
Cecilia, you’re breaking my heart You’re shaking my confidence daily Oh, Cecilia, I’m down on my knees I’m begging you please to come home Come on home
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba
Jubilation She loves me again I fall on the floor and I’m laughing
Jubilation She loves me again I fall on the floor and I’m laughing
I bought this book in the 1980s and in America was called “Full Moon” and in the UK it was called “Moon the Loon”. It was written by Chris Trengove and Dougal Butler, Dougal was Keith’s personal assistant. Dougal doesn’t try to justify Moon’s actions, he just tells the stories that are now legendary.
The book will have you physically burst out laughing at different parts of it. Keith left a trail of wrecked cars, wrecked drums, wrecked hotel rooms, wrecked nerves, wrecked bars, and many smiles.
Dougal doesn’t try to tell Moon’s life history. If you want Keith’s life get Dear Boy, a terrific and thorough bio on Keith by Tony Fletcher. Full Moon highlights the tales of Mr. Keith John Moon…Patent British Exploding Drummer. It is a very quick read at around 250 pages. The audio version is approximately 9 hours long.
Butler worked for Moon for ten years and was right there during much of the craziness. He was behind the wheel of Moon’s AC Frua 428 as it flipped end-over-end through a field off Chertsey Lane after Moon decided to grab the shifter and downshift at around 120 mph.
The book also touches on Moon’s long-suffering wife Kim who endured all the craziness she could and finally leaves Keith. He had the ability or curse of not being able to be embarrassed…this a fun book to read. It was originally published in 1981. It was a collector’s item for a long time but it was republished in 2012.
The audiobook format is read by British actor Karl Howman, a friend of both Moon and Butler, who features in some of the book’s stories and is thus well familiar with the subject matter. Karl reads it in a cockney voice and it fits perfectly.
This book will not give you a history of The Who…just some great stories of my favorite drummer.
It took a few listens to this song for me to fully appreciate it. It was not released as a single but it was on the Rubber Soul album in 1965. This song expressed desire and optimism for universal peace and love.
Multi-part vocals over a simple chord structure that sounds so different to what they did the year before. From I Want To Hold Your Hand to The Word shows The Beatles refusing to use a formula and continuing to move forward. They would stick to this pattern and lead the way until the end of the sixties.
Rubber Soul would peak at #1 in the Billboard album charts in 1966.
Paul McCartney said of the song:
“To write a good song with just one note in it – like ‘Long Tall Sally’ – is really very hard. It’s the kind of thing we’ve wanted to do for some time. We get near it in ‘The Word.’
John on the song:
“It sort of dawned on me that love was the answer, when I was younger, on the ‘Rubber Soul’ album. My first expression of it was a song called ‘The Word.’ The word is ‘love.’ ‘In the good and the bad books that I have read,’ whatever, wherever, the word is ‘love.’ It seems like the underlying theme to the universe. Everything that was worthwhile got down to this love, love, love thing. And it is the struggle to love, be loved and express that (just something about love) that’s fantastic. I think that whatever else love is – and it’s many, many things – it is constant. It’s been the same forever. I don’t think it will ever change. Even though I’m not always a loving person, I want to be that, I want to be as loving as possible.”
From Songfacts
This is another brilliant musical innovation from the Rubber Soul album, the first point at which The Beatles shrugged off the “mop tops” image and went for bolder artistic horizons. “The Word” sounds almost like evangelizing; as opposed to a standard boy-girl love song, the lyrics here embrace love as more of a concept, the way the Flower Power movement was thinking about it.
The lyrics of “The Word” also mark an important point at which The Beatles began to realize that they were, in fact, spokespeople for a new generation. Their songs started packing a stronger message, bridging their way to the future when John and George would make their lyrics more political.
Lead vocals on this song were shared by John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Beatles producer George Martin played the harmonium, an organ-like keyboard instrument.
Yoko Ono gave the sheet music of this song as a gift to the composer John Cage, who later published it in his book Notations. Ono studied under Cage, even sharing the occasional stage with him, before she met John Lennon.
Out of all the zillions of times that music fans claim that something was composed on drugs, this is one of the rare times when a performer actually states that they did drugs while creating it. Paul McCartney reported in interviews that they’d blazed some reefer before setting down to do the lyrics, and reports that far from enhancing their ability, it actually got in the way.
In 2002, Joan Jett covered this for the album, It’s All About Eve (Music For The Cure), a charity compilation to support breast cancer research. It was produced by Rob Stevens, who had worked with John Lennon.
Rubber Soul is often cited as the first album issued without the artist’s name on its cover, but that honor really goes to Elvis Presley for his 1959 album For LP Fans Only.
The Word
Say the word and you’ll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I’m thinking of Have you heard the word is love?
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
In the beginning I misunderstood But now I’ve got it, the word is good
Spread the word and you’ll be free Spread the word and be like me Spread the word I’m thinking of Have you heard the word is love?
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
Every where I go I hear it said In the good and bad books that I have read
Say the word and you’ll be free Say the word and be like me Say the word I’m thinking of Have you heard the word is love?
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
Now that I know what I feel must be right I’m here to show everybody the light
Give the word a chance to say That the word is just the way It’s the word I’m thinking of And the only word is love
It’s so fine, it’s sunshine It’s the word, love
Say the word love Say the word love Say the word love Say the word love
This track was produced by Sam Phillips of Sun Records, the man who signed Elvis Presley. It was recorded at Phillips Recording studio, a newly updated state-of-the-art studio in Memphis TN. Jeff Beck, who is a fan of early rockabilly, said that he introduced the song to the group: “They just heard me play the riff, and they loved it and made up their version of it”
I’ve always liked this version and Beck’s filthy sound he had on his guitar.
It was written by Tiny Bradshaw, Howard Kay, and Lois Mann, this song was originally performed by Tiny Bradshaw’s Big Band in 1951. Johnny Burnette recorded a rock version in 1956, and The Yardbirds popularized the song with their rendition in 1965.
Aerosmith covered it in 1974, often playing the song as their encore in their early years. In the ’60s, Aerosmith was on the same bill as The Yardbirds for some shows, and former Yardbird Jeff Beck opened some shows for them in the ’70s.
The song didn’t chart in Billboard but was included on the album “Having A Rave Up” in 1965 which peaked at #53.
From Songfacts
This song is about a guy who is blown away by a woman, but he has to act cool to make sure he doesn’t scare her away. The train rolling is in reference to sex.
In the beginning of the song, Jeff Beck used his guitar to create the train whistle sound.
There are two voices singing throughout the song. Both belong to lead singer Keith Relf. In the beginning, they sing different words, but by the end, both sing in unison.
When Jimmy Page joined the band and he was playing lead guitar with Jeff Beck, the Yardbirds appeared in the 1966 Michelangelo Antonioni film Blowup playing a new version of this song re-titled “Stroll On.” The Yardbirds appeared as a band in the film, which is about a London fashion photographer who may have witnessed a murder. It was one of the first major films with a full frontal nudity scene.
In an interview with Q Magazine January 2008, John Paul Jones recalls this was the first ever song he played with Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Bonham after joining Led Zeppelin: “I can remember the first song I played with Led Zeppelin in a tiny basement room in Soho in 1968, with wall-to-wall amps. That was ‘Train Kept A-Rollin’,’ the Yardbirds song, which I didn’t know at the time. But I knew immediately, ‘This is fun.”
Train Kept A-Rollin’
I caught the train, I met a dame, She was a hipster, well and a real cool dame, (She was handsome,) She was pretty, from New York City, Well and we trucked on down in that old Fairlane, (Goin’ on,) With a heave, and a ho,
Well, I just couldn’t let her go. (Yes I did,) Get along, sweet little woman, get along, Be on your way, Get along, sweet little woman, get along, Be on your way, With a heave, and a ho, (Love the way you walk,) I just couldn’t let her go. (Yes I do now.)
Well, the train kept a-rollin’, all night long, (Sweet little woman, get along,) The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, ([You’re my queen?]) The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, (Sweet little woman, get along,) The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, (You’re my queen?) With a heave, and a ho, (Love the way you walk,) Well I just couldn’t let her go, (Yes I do.)
We made a stop at Albuquerque, She must have thought I was a real gone jerk, We got out the train in El Paso, Lookin’ so good, Jack, I couldn’t let her go. Get along, sweet little woman, get along, (Oh, right,)
Well, the train kept a-rollin’, all night long, The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, The train kept a-rollin’, all night long, With a heave, and a ho, Well I just couldn’t let her go.
“Walking on Broken Glass” is a song written and performed by Scottish singer Annie Lennox, taken from her 1992 album, Diva. This song peaked at #14 in the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada and #8 in the UK in 1992.
The video was directed by Sophie Muller, the music video is based in part on the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons, and on period films dealing with the late 18th century, such as Amadeus. John Malkovich, who starred in the film.
A very well done pop song. For some reason, the song has always reminded me of something Squeeze would do.
From Songfacts
The video was based on the 1988 movie Dangerous Liaisons, with elaborate costumes inspired by film, which was set in France during the 1700s. John Malkovich, who starred in the movie, also appeared in the video, as does Hugh Laurie, who went on to star in the TV show House. With the string section and harpsichord sound, the music fit the theme.
Contrary to the lilting melody, the lyrics describe a woman who is anguished over a breakup.
The elaborate photography on the Diva album was done by Anton Corbijn, who also worked with U2 and Depeche Mode. >>
Annie Lennox recalled the song’s promo in a blog promoting her 2009 greatest hits album: “This was a wonderful video to create. There were some wonderful people involved – John Malkovich and Hugh Laurie (before he had an American accent)! That was tremendous fun. The idea of it being a period piece, like Les Liaisons Dangereux. The alternative title for ‘Broken Glass’ could easily have been ‘Hell hath no more fury than a woman scorned.’ The video is very wry and tongue-in-cheek. People can take me a little seriously sometimes, but I do actually have a rather radical sense of humor.”
The music video was helmed by prolific director Sophie Muller, a frequent collaborator of Annie Lennox who cut her teeth directing several Eurythmics clips, including “I Need A Man,” “You Have Placed A Chill In My Heart,” and “Angel.”
Walking on, walking on broken glass Walking on, walking on broken glass
You were the sweetest thing that I ever knew But I don’t care for sugar, honey, if I can’t have you Since you’ve abandoned me My whole life has crashed Won’t you pick the pieces up ‘Cause it feels just like I’m walking on broken glass
Walking on, walking on broken glass
The sun’s still shining in big blue sky But it don’t mean nothing to me Oh, let the rain come down Let the wind blow through me I’m living in an empty room With all the windows smashed And I’ve got so little left to lose That it feels just like I’m walking on broken glass
And if you’re trying to cut me down You know that I might bleed ‘Cause if you’re trying to cut me down I know that you’ll succeed And if you want to hurt me There’s nothing left to fear ‘Cause if you want to hurt me You’re doing really well, my dear
Now everyone of us was made to suffer Everyone of us was made to weep We’ve been hurting one another Now the pain has cut too deep So take me from the wreckage Save me from the blast Lift me up and take me back Don’t let me keep on walking I can’t keep on walking, keep on walking on broken glass
Walking on, walking on broken glass Walking on, walking on broken glass Walking on, walking on broken glass Walking on, walking on broken glass
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