Alternative – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Jam – Worlds Apart

I first heard about The Jam in the 80s, around the same time I found Big Star, The Replacements, The Clash, and REM. When I listen to The Jam, I think of the Kinks and The Who right away, and that is always a good thing.

When people talk about the British punk explosion of the late ’70s, The Jam always stand a little apart. While others were known for being abrasive and loud, The Jam drew influence from 1960s Mod culture. Paul Weller had a knack for crafting sharp, pop-infused songwriting about everyday British life. They were formed in Woking in the early ’70s by Paul Weller, bassist Bruce Foxton, and drummer Rick Buckler. The band was a trio that was tight and direct.

They went from pub stages to one of the biggest bands in Britain, leaving behind a catalog that is very strong. There is not much information on this song out there. It wasn’t on a studio album, nor was it a B-side. It was released in 1997 for the first time on their Direction Reaction Creation album, which covered all the studio albums, non-album singles, and demos. They broke up in 1982 after releasing 6 albums in all.

From what I found, it was recorded around 1978 for the album All Mod Cons, but never made the album. I’m sure that is the case because it was also included on the All Mod Cons (Deluxe Edition) that was released in 2002. They were an incredible band, being a tight full trio. Direction Reaction Creation peaked at #8, fifteen years after they broke up in 1997.

Worlds Apart

Worlds apart, you and I, we’re worlds apart

The difference between every day
I can’t think of the words to say

Worlds apart, you and I, we’re worlds apart

I’ve been in some clubs where the music’s loud
‘cos I see your face in every crowd
But it’s not really you

It’s like having a cold on a summers day
Something ain’t right and I want you to stay
You must know that

Worlds apart, you and I, we’re worlds apart

Peter Case – I Shook His Hand

Each tongue is a world, each eye is an ocean
Of every child, woman, man here in living motion
Now who’ll protect us, who’ll pеrfect us
Who’ll live to see the day whеn love connects us

I just started to listen to Peter Case recently, although I like the Plimsouls, I never knew much about Case. This song and its history intrigued me. First of all, it’s a great song, but Case started this song by reminiscing about when he was a kid and shook hands with John Kennedy at a county fair that Kennedy had appeared at. So by total coincidence, this again fits into the book I’m reading. I had a playlist of his songs, and I heard this one, and I thought…what hand did he shake? I then read his quote about shaking hands with JFK.

He first broke out with The Nerves, a tight power pop band that was popular on the early LA power-pop scene. Though they never found major commercial success, they did have the song Hanging on the Telephone, later covered by Blondie. The Nerves showed Case’s gift for melodic songwriting and short three-minute power pop songs.

After that came The Plimsouls, who blended power pop with roots rock and harder edges. Tracks like A Million Miles Away made them cult favorites and briefly pushed them into the mainstream. The band toured constantly, but music industry pressure and burnout pulled them apart just as they were gaining traction.

This song is off of Peter’s self-titled debut album, released in 1986. The musicians he gathered, I’m a huge fan of. Roger McGuinn on his 12-string Rickenbacker, Jim Keltner on drums, Van Dyke Parks on keyboards, T-Bone Burnett producing, and acoustic guitar and more. He was on Geffen Records at the time and also released a UK EP called Steel Strings that contained many of these songs. He also released another EP called Selections from Peter Case. That one had two different versions of the song Steel Strings on it.

The album was largely recorded live in the room, with players reacting to each other instead of building tracks layer by layer. I say this a lot in my reviews, but it’s true in this case as well. The band played to each other, and there were minimal overdubs. He kept small imperfections that made the performances feel real. The goal wasn’t to overproduce the album; it was to capture the way these songs worked when he played them alone or in small rooms.

He has been productive as a solo artist. 14 studio albums, 4 EPs, 3 compilations, and 11 singles. A tribute album was also released in 2006, A Case for Case, with various artists.

Peter Case: I wrote this one in 1984, on the Amtrak train down to San Antonio, where I was meeting the rest of the Plimsouls to start a tour. It’s about meeting JFK on his trip to the Erie County Fair, when I was five, though I was also thinking about MLK and RFK.

I Shook His Hand

I was a kid out behind the fair
His words were like lightning in the summer air
His eyes were wild with the truth he told
Holding back the rain while the thunder rolled

I was too young to understand
I was proud to say I shook his hand

He took command on a winter’s day
All across the land, spring was on its way
He struck fear into the hearts of fools
Breaking up the gangs, breaking all their rules

Too young not to understand
I was proud to say I shook his hand

Each tongue is a world, each eye is an ocean
Of every child, woman, man here in living motion
Now who’ll protect us, who’ll pеrfect us
Who’ll live to see the day whеn love connects us
Who’ll take a step out in this land
I’ll be proud to say I shook his hand
I shook his hand, well I shook his hand

For years they tried to kill him, he finally died
I still remember how I felt when my mama cried
I grew up with a bullet in my breast
If you knew it or not, so did all the rest

Doug Sahm – Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone

I’ve posted a few of Sahm’s tracks in the past 4-5 months. I was inspired this time to post again. I have been reading 11.22.63 by Stephen King, and it’s about a man who was told about a time portal that takes you to September 9, 1958. He walked through and was going back to stop Oswald from killing JFK if Oswald was the one. The book is interesting because of the time he has to kill between 1958 and 1963, and the side trips he takes.

One of them is in Texas in a fictional town called Jodie. He is at a picnic, and this is the paragraph that caught my attention: I got my beer in a paper cup and walked closer to the bandstand. The kid’s voice was familiar. So was the keyboard, which sounded like it desperately wanted to be an accordion. And suddenly it clicked. The kid was Doug Sahm, and not so many years from now he would have hits of his own: “She’s About a Mover” for one, “Mendocino” for another. That would be during the British Invasion, so the band, which basically played Tejano rock, would take a pseudo-British name: The Sir Douglas Quintet.

Hey, inspiration may come from anywhere for a post. After reading that…I’ve been in a Doug Sahm mood. The recording blends country, soul, and Texas rhythm in a way that was natural for Sahm. The groove leans on a steady beat, light horns, and a melody that sticks without trying too hard. It came out during a period when he was working under his own name after years with Sir Douglas Quintet, and it showed how easily he could move between styles. The song had crossed over to country charts and pop audiences, which wasn’t common at the time.

You may remember the version by Charley Pride that peaked at #1 on the Country Charts in 1970. Sahm recorded this for his 1973 album Doug Sahm and Band. Something about Sahm’s version just sounds so authentic that I had to post his version. That is something about Sahm I’ve realized, everything he does sounds authentic. It was written by Glenn Martin and Dave Kirby. The first version was by Bake Turner in 1970.

Doug Sahm and Band peaked at #125 on the Billboard Album Charts and #54 in Canada in 1973. This is another artist where the charts don’t tell the story. His albums are accessible and are full of good songs.

Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone

Rain drippin’ off the brim of my hatIt sure is cold todayHere I am walkin’ down 66Wish she hadn’t done me that way

Sleepin’ under a table in a roadside parkA man could wake up deadBut it sure seems warmer than it didSleepin’ in our king-sized bed

Is anybody goin’ to San AntoneOr Phoenix, Arizona?Any place is alright as long as ICan forget I’ve ever known her

Wind whippin’ down the neck of my shirtLike I ain’t got nothin’ onBut I’d rather fight the wind and rainThan what I’ve been fightin’ at home

Yonder comes a truck with the U.S. MailPeople writin’ letters back homeTomorrow, she’ll probably want me backBut I’ll still be just as gone

Is anybody goin’ to San AntoneOr Phoenix, Arizona?Any place is alright as long as ICan forget I’ve ever known her

Flatlanders – Long Time Gone

I truly love this band, but I try to limit posting them around once a year. I try that with everyone, but it gets hard at times. The last time I posted them was back in February of this fading year, so I thought it was time for another. I respect them so much because of what they came up with. Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock were inventing a whole new kind of Texas country while nobody in Nashville was bothering to look. Their loss!

The song selections and the harmonies hooked me long ago. Their songs are simple and straight to the point, and really catchy. This song was written by Leslie York, and the York Brothers were the first to record it. It’s been covered by The Everly Brothers, Sweethearts of the Rodeo, and The Gibson Brothers. There are other songs by that name by Tex Ritter and a different one by CSN.

They were formed in 1972 by three singer-songwriters: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock. The band was born out of the music scene in Lubbock, Texas, where all three members grew up. They recorded their debut album in Nashville. Initially, the album was released only as an 8-track tape by Plantation Records, with the title “Jimmie Dale and the Flatlanders.” This limited release received little attention at the time, and the band members soon went their separate ways to pursue solo careers, but would reunite to release a total of 10 albums of studio and live.

This song was on the 2021 album Treasure of Love. All three members were songwriters, and all had unique voices that blended so well with each other. Treasure of Love was never intended to be an album, at least not at first. So when Joe Ely started gathering the trio in his home studio in Austin during the early and mid-2000s, it was not for some grand comeback. It was more like old friends swapping songs and capturing whatever happened to be good.

Long Time Gone

You cheated me and left me lonelyI tried to be your very ownThere’ll be a day you’ll want me onlyBut when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneBe a long time goneBe a long time goneYes, when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneYou’re gonna be sad, you’re gonna be weepin’You’re gonna be blue and all aloneYou’ll regret the day you seen me weepin’‘Cause when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneBe a long time goneBe a long time goneYes, when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneYou’ll see my face through tears and sorrowYou’ll miss the love you called your ownBaby, there’ll be no tomorrow‘Cause when I leave, I’ll be a long time goneBe a long time goneBe a long time goneYes, when I leave, I’ll be a long time gone

Jayhawks – Blue

After I found out about this band in 2000, I had to know more. This song would rank high on the list of my favorite songs of all time. When Olson and Louris lock in on “Why don’t you stay behind? So blue.” they hit that sweet spot that gives me chills. This is the kind of sadness you can hum along to. To me, they are a modern version of Big Star in many ways. They never could buy a hit, but released some excellent music.

The Jayhawks are an American alternative country and country rock band that emerged from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul music scene in the mid-80s. Minneapolis had a strong scene for bands in the 1980s. Gary Louris and Mark Olson built the early band around harmony singing, country roots, and the spirit of the Flying Burrito Brothers, which was not exactly the fashionable choice in a town dominated by Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, and Prince. The Jayhawks went more for warmth and melody instead of loudness. They have a little of The Flying Burrito Brothers mixed with Big Star in them.

Olson eventually left the band to focus on family and a quieter life, leaving Louris to carry on with the Jayhawks. Still, whenever the two reunited, even briefly, the chemistry returned. Their 2008 duo album (Ready For The Flood) and subsequent tours proved the bond still worked.

The song was on the album Tomorrow the Green Grass, an album many fans still consider their masterpiece. They recorded the album between Los Angeles and Nashville, a setup that gave it an open feel. Producer George Drakoulias understood that the Jayhawks’ feel wasn’t in piling on big sounds, it was in letting the songs breathe…and breathe they did. This song was written by Mark Olson and Gary Louris.

The album peaked at #92 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1995. The song peaked at #33 in Canada. They recently backed Ray Davies on his albums Americana and Our Country – Americana Act II. Their 2016 album, Paging Mr. Proust, was produced by Peter Buck of REM.

They combine country, folk, rock, and pop with good harmonies.

Gary Lourist: Mark was tired of the grind of playing the game, going to the radio stations and being a low- to mid-level success. I think it just wore him out. He was always frustrated by all the waiting. The Jayhawks made just seven records in 20 years, so there was a lot of it. The Creekdippers did it very organically and made lots of records. But the main thing was that he wanted to be with his wife.

Gary Lourist: What brought Mark and me back together? It started way back with The Rookie, a mediocre Dennis Quaid movie about an older pitcher who makes the big leagues. The producer or the director was a Jayhawks fan, and they wanted a new Olson/Louris song. Olson’s manager called my manager, and the next thing you know, I’m driving out to Joshua Tree. We talked through our old issues. We wrote a couple of songs that day. They didn’t make it in the movie, but it got us thinking that we still really had something when we got together. So we started doing some tours, but we didn’t have any new material, so that lead us to Ready For The Flood, and that led us to the new Jayhawks record.

Blue

Where have all my friends gone?
They’ve all disappeared.
Turned around maybe one day, you’re all that was there.
Stood by on believing, stood by on my own.
Always thought I was someone, turned out I was wrong.
And you brought me through and you made me feel so blue,
Why don’t you stay behind?
So blue. Why don’t you stop, and look at what’s going down.

If I had an old woman she’d never sell me a lie
It’s hard to sing with someone who won’t sing with you.
Give all of my mercy, give all of my heart.
Never thought that I’d miss you, that I’d miss you so much.
And you brought me through and you made me feel so blue.
Why don’t you stay behind?
So blue.
Why don’t you stop and look at what’s going down.

All my life (staying while) I’m waiting for (staying while)
Someone I could (waiting around) show the door
(now that I’m blue) but nothing seems to change (that I’m blue from now on)
You come back that month so blue.
Why don’t you stay behind?
So blue.
Why don’t you, why don’t you stay behind?
So blue.
Why don’t you, why don’t you stay behind?
So blue
Why don’t you stop and look at what’s down

Rank and File – Amanda Ruth

I first heard this song by the Everly Brothers in their comeback in the 1980s. It fit their style perfectly. I had assumed they wrote it, but I recently found out that Chip and Tony Kinman wrote it for their band, Rank and File. Two Brothers who started a punk band and then moved to Austin, where they transitioned to country-punk. Another performer who was a member of this band at one time was Alejandro Escovedo.

Rank and File were one of those bands that always felt born a decade too early. When most early 1980s acts were into synths, drum machines, and big production, the Kinman brothers were rewiring country music with punk and some power pop.

Chip and Tony Kinman first made music in the late 1970s with The Dils, a sharp-edged California punk band known for political lyrics, ragged guitars, and a take-no-prisoners attitude. When The Dils ran their course, the Kinmans stepped back and started exploring American roots music. They headed toward warmer tones and harmony.

In 1981, the brothers moved from California to Austin, Texas, a shift that changed everything. Austin was the hub of outlaw country, rockabilly revival, blues bars, and indie experimentation. The perfect place for musicians who did not fit neatly into one box. They found guitarist Alejandro Escovedo, fresh out of The Nuns, another West Coast punk band. The three of them shared a love for classic country songwriting like Hank Williams, The Burrito Brothers, and the raw honesty of punk.

The band officially formed as Rank and File, a name that reflected their working-class roots and their desire to keep things grounded. They blended Telecaster twang, tight harmonies, and a pinch of punk to keep them honest.

What I love about this song is how free it feels. Listening to it today, you can hear the origins of what would become Uncle Tupelo, The Jayhawks, Old 97s, and the whole alt-country wave that swept in during the 90s. Rank and File never got the widespread attention they deserved, but Amanda Ruth remains a cool little gem.

This song was on their debut album Sundown, released in 1982.

Tony Kinman – “We’re brave, we’re not afraid to do stuff, most people are. They’re deathly afraid to do anything different. … [W]hen everybody else was talking about how stupid country music was, country music was the last thing to like, if you wore a cowboy hat you were a redneck, you know, we decided go say, ‘Yeah, we play country music, it’s fun.’

“Up in San Francisco, KUSF Wave, their magazine, did the first review Rank and File ever got, live review. They said we sucked, and then they said, ‘What are these guys trying to do, start a trend?’ Well, that’s the way it worked out, but only because we were brave enough and smart enough to do it first. That’s how you get to be influential—if you’re brave enough to do something different and you’re smart enough to do it right. Otherwise you’re just another dumb-ass band.”

Amanda Ruth

Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth

We read the paper and we pick the show,
I’d meet her there but my watch was slow
She came early and I came late
We never met
It was a hell of a date

Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth

The way we met, she was a friend of a friend,
They needed money and I had it to lend
She had five; she wanted ten.
I gave her all my money
So I got none to spend

Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth

She burns her biscuits and her gravy is strange,
Can’t fry a chicken in a microwave range.
Her salt’s tasty, her sugar’s sweet
No she can’t cook
But she’s got something to eat

Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth
Amanda, Amanda Ruth

…

Daniel Johnston – True Love Will Find You in the End

This post is a little longer than usual, but this was a unique artist, to say the least. Many musicians like Jeff Tweedy, Kurt Cobain, Chris Cornell, Tom Waits, Beck, Lana Del Rey, Eddie Vedder, and countless others were huge fans. Eddie Vedder spent some time with Chris Cornell listening to Johnston’s music. Eddie Vedder: “We listened for two hours straight, it turned into four hours, and then into six hours, until it was six in the morning, laughing and crying and then smiling so hard that tears were squeezed out of our eyes, and then looking at each other and going, I’ll never forget, we said, ‘He is better than both of us.’”

My friend Ron (Hanspostcard) grew up with this guy, as they met in high school. Ron and he hung out with each other and would visit, and Ron would listen to what Daniel recorded. Johnston was very socially awkward and not really connected to the world as much. He recorded on cassette tapes, very lo-fi. He was a musician and a very good painter as well. It was hard for him to perform in front of people. You can see it on his face when he did live performances. He suffered from different mental issues.

The most powerful songs don’t always come from stacks of amplifiers or a room full of seasoned players. This is one of those songs. At just over two minutes, it’s as unvarnished as a song can be and so vulnerable. It was recorded with the kind of lo-fi immediacy that feels more like he was confessing this to a person, and it wasn’t meant to be heard. It was on his 1984 cassette album Retired Boxer. Underneath the out-of-tune singing and guitars, there are some pure gems. Most people compose songs self-consciously, hence why it is sometimes not very original or good. This guy writes songs so naively, like a child, that it sometimes creates incredibly beautiful songs

He was born in Sacramento in 1961 but raised in West Virginia. He didn’t look like your typical future rock icon. He sketched comic book heroes, taped Beatles songs off the TV, and played on a chord organ in his parents’ basement. When he later moved to Austin, Texas, he began recording homemade cassette tapes, cassette albums like Hi, How Are You, Songs of Pain, and Don’t Be Scared. These weren’t studio-polished records. These were hissing-filled songs, often off-key, but full of heart. He would dub them by hand and pass them out on the streets. Austin didn’t just shrug him off…they embraced him.

In the mid-1980s, Johnston was the local eccentric in the Austin music scene, passing out tapes at gigs and working at McDonald’s, where he’d draw cartoons for customers along with their fries. His break nationally came almost by accident: MTV aired a special on Austin’s underground in 1985, and there was Daniel playing a song called Walking The Cow. Suddenly, he wasn’t just the quirky guy on the street; he was a known musician.

Everything changed when Kurt Cobain started wearing a Hi, How Are You t-shirt in the early ’90s. At the height of Nirvana’s fame, Cobain’s endorsement turned Johnston into a name everyone knew, even if they hadn’t actually heard a single song. Labels arrived, and a bidding war began. But signing Daniel wasn’t like signing Pearl Jam. He was battling severe manic depression and schizophrenia, and his health often made recording and touring a near impossibility. He did sign with Atlantic Records briefly.

As the years went on, Johnston’s health declined, and he lived with his parents in Waller, Texas. He was the subject of the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston, which told his story. Artists wore his shirts, fans tattooed his drawings, and a mural of his alien frog (“Hi, How Are You”) became a landmark in Austin.

When Daniel Johnston died in 2019 at age 58, the tributes poured in from artists all over the world.

I would highly recommend this documentary.

Here is Wilco doing this song.

True Love Will Find You In The End

True love will find you in the endYou’ll find out just who was your friendDon’t be sad, I know you willBut don’t give up until

True love will find you in the endThis is a promise with a catchOnly if you’re looking can it find you‘Cause true love is searching too

But how can it recognize youIf you don’t step out into the light, the lightDon’t be sad I know you willDon’t give up untilTrue love will find you in the end

…

Chuck Prophet – Ford Econoline

I started to go through his songs and found quality throughout. I went with this one because the car/van song fan in me had to pick it. Here is a 1985 Econoline. Let’s take a ride.

Certain songs feel like they were written for the open highway. Not really to a set destination, but through unnamed towns and roadside attractions. This is that type of song. In this song, every mile matters, and the road is always calling.

Prophet first broke onto the music scene in the mid-1980s with Green on Red, a band in the Paisley Underground in Los Angeles. Prophet joined as guitarist in 1985, just in time to inject his rootsy edge into their sound. He was barely out of his teens, suddenly on the road in Europe, and finding out fast what life in a rock band really meant: cheap motels, crooked promoters, and that you kept going, no matter what.

When Green on Red broke up in the early 1990s, Prophet made a solo album called Brother Aldo, which showcased his knack for blending storytelling with rootsy music. He has released 17 solo albums since then and was on 10 of Green on Red albums. While some of his peers have retired, he is still showing up in clubs playing his Telecaster.

After listening to some of his catalog, he comes from everywhere. He has something for almost everyone, from pop, soul, rock, and Americana. I’ve mostly listened to Night Surfer, but I started to explore other albums. His songwriting really stands out, and his songs are catchy and stick with you. This song came out in 2014 on his Night Surfer album. Peter Buck worked on this album with Chuck, playing guitar.

Ford Econoline

She pulled over said, “Climb on in”I did what she saidShe turned the music up real loudIt was The Talking HeadsDidn’t matter where we were goingMade no difference to me at the timeIt takes me back when I hear that songMakes me feel warm insideFord Econoline!Ever since the beginning of the worldThe beginning of timeSomebody said that the road was hisSomebody said, “No, it’s mine”Some folks are born ‘neath a sign on the roadClose enough to turn and leave it all behindFall together like the Rock Of GibraltarGuitars and drums insideFord Econoline! Ford Econoline Ford EconolineChris-crossed the country in two tone jobIt was a 1985Mile after mile we was burning oilWe couldn’t keep it aliveLaid out flatter than a Chinese rugWhen she went her way I went mineAll these memories like dirty platesStacked up in the sink of timeFord Econoline! Ford Econoline

…

Green On Red – Cheap Wine

When I was recommended this band years ago ,it led me to a much bigger picture. They came from the Paisley Underground Scene of the 1980s, which caught my attention. The more I hear them, the more they interest me.

What makes this band so appealing is that they were not trying to write top 40 hits; it’s just natural music. They were not trying to force a style in this to make it fit the status quo on the radio at the time. The guitars are raw but melodic, with a raw sound; no overproduction on this. This song has been covered by The Bo-Weevils and Rain Parade.

Green on Red started in Tucson, Arizona, as The Serfers, a teenage garage band that was influenced by the Stones. Dan Stuart (vocals/guitar) had the charisma, while Chris Cacavas (keys) brought that carnival-organ swirl that would become a trademark. They eventually packed up and headed for Los Angeles, where the Paisley Underground scene was starting around bands like The Dream Syndicate, The Bangs (pre-Bangles), and The Rain Parade.

They changed their name to Green on Red (TV test patterns), they became the scene’s ragged outsiders, more Neil Young & Crazy Horse grit than chiming ’60s Rickenbackers, more bar than ballroom. They were never the most famous band of the scene, but probably the most unpredictable, which is a plus in my book. What set them apart was Dan Stuart’s writing and singing.

This song was on their 1983 debut album, Gravity Talks, released in 1983. Green On Red has been described as Desert Rock, Paisley Underground, Alternative Country-Rock, Garage-Country, and Country-Punk. They made their mark in the 80s, touring college towns on the circuit with REM, the Replacements, and other alternative bands.

They never pigeonhole themselves into one style. They would be produced by some great producers such as Jim Dickinson, Glyn Johns, and Al Kooper, but could not connect with the masses; however, they connected with people like me who wanted something more than the top 40.

Here is the band live in 2006, and they open up with Cheap Wine.

Cheap Wine

I can’t seem to clear my mind
Foreign seeds and cheap wine
I’m drifting back in an awful way
The cartoon is real this is what it says

I’m just a man who doesn’t know
Right from wrong who can tell
I’m just a man who cannot see
Just dissed so easily, as you

It’s late at night
All the booze is gone
I see the light through my window at home
I stare right in, to the rising sun
My God what kind of pain, what have I done?

I’m just a man who doesn’t know
Right from wrong who can tell
I’m just a man who cannot see
Just dissed … so easily

If i had a boat, man I would sail
away from this town
To save my soul
All the trees are dying
All the faces are glowing
With the pain of life
Man it keeps flowing

I’m just a man who doesn’t know
right from wrong who can tell
I’m just a man who cannot see
Just missed so easily as you

Long Ryders – I Had A Dream

When I was discovering the Paisley Underground Scene from the 1980s, this was one of the bands that jumped out at me. I did a post on them a few years ago with a song called Looking for Lewis and Clark. I still can’t believe this was released in the 1980s because it lacked big production and a Casio-sounding keyboard. To me, this sounds like grounded roots music, and reminiscent of the Byrds, and I love the sound. It’s both country twang and chiming power chords.

If you’re going to kick off your first proper album, you may as well come out swinging, and the Long Ryders do just that here. This song wastes no time; the guitar riff is a jangle straight out of the Byrds’ Rickenbacker playbook, but it’s dirtied up with a garage-band growl that says these guys were listening to as much Crazy Horse as Mr. Tambourine Man.

The Long Ryders cut their debut album Native Sons in early 1984 at A&M Studios in Hollywood, with Henry Lewy, Joni Mitchell’s longtime collaborator, behind the board. He understood space and warmth, two qualities the Ryders wanted in spades. The sessions were quick; they were on an indie budget, so this song went down live in the studio, the band feeding off each other’s energy.

The album was praised by critics, Melody Maker saying ” “a modern American classic” and Allmusic has praised the album, writing that it “established their eclectic mixture of Byrds/Clash/Flying Burrito Brothers’ influences … while turning in an original sound that became the banner for both the paisley underground and cowpunk styles in the mid-’80s.”

The album peaked at #1 on the UK Indie Chart in 1984.

I Had A Dream

Tried so hard to explain
The way things are and how quick they can change
But you never listened you just turned your head
Never even heard a single word that he said
While it’s true now that I’m not a saint
I felt pain when you live to hate
Said it before and I’ll say it again
Leave me alone man or treat me like a friend

I had a dream last night
Everybody’s laughing and everything was alright
Still some hope in sight, that was last night

I had a dream last night
Nobody’s crying, nobody’s frightened
Still some hope in sight, that was last night

Well if it seems like I sound like the rest
We’re trying hard not to be too depressed
Once they take everything I’ve left, it’s so easy
So if you’re dreaming I hhope that you do
Wish for the best and hope that it comes true
Who knows what they’ll leave when they’re through

I had a dream last night
Everybody’s laughing and everything was alright
Still some hope in sight, that was last night

I had a dream last night
Nobody’s crying, nobody’s frightened
Still some hope in sight, that was last night

Creeps – Just What I Need

Four years ago, I posted a song by this band that I have loved ever since. It’s called Down At The Nightclub (I’m including it as well at the bottom). It was during the mid-1980s, and I so wish I knew about them then. This would have been what I would have listened to rather than the Top 40 in 1986. This is one band I found that I keep coming back to.

They were fueled by Vox amps and a steady diet of Nuggets and Stax singles. This Swedish band is one of those rare bands you stumble across on a late-night college radio show. It’s the kind of band that never broke into the mainstream but somehow managed to bottle a sound so cutting that it demands rediscovery every few years.

In the mid-’80s, while the rest of the world was drowning in synths and drum machines, The Creeps doubled down on garage soul. It’s a reminder that sometimes, all you really need is a fuzz pedal, an organ, and a chorus you can shout at the top of your lungs.

This song is on their debut album, Enjoy The Creeps, and it was released in 1986. Critics have said that they never managed to translate the excitement of their live show to records, but this one is an exception. They released it on a small label named Tracks on Wax, which was a Swedish Garage Rock label in the 80s.

They formed in Sweden in 1985. They were influenced heavily by the Animals and Yardbirds, Robert Jelinek (vocals, guitar), Hans Ingemansson (Hammond organ), Anders Olsson (bass), and Patrick Olson (drums). Whenever I think of music from Sweden, I think of Abba… This is not Abba by any stretch of the imagination.

After a few years, the band dropped the dirty sound of their debut album and went more for an ’80s funk dance sound.

Here is the song I posted earlier…Down in the Nightclub which is one of my favorite 1980s songs.

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Blue Shadows – Don’t Expect A Reply (Runaway Train)

This isn’t the same Runaway Train that brought Soul Asylum into heavy MTV rotation a year earlier (or Blue Rodeo’s song). No, this one’s more haunted, more twangy, and more soaked in country rock. It might be better, at least to me. Since I heard this band a few months ago, I cannot shake them, nor do I want to. I feel a Big Star love for them.

The Blue Shadows never got their due. They existed in that strange space between country and power pop, never quite fitting into either scene completely. But that’s exactly what made them special. This song stands as a testament to what happens when talented musicians follow their instincts rather than market trends or what’s hot today. This song was released in 1995 on the album Lucky To Me, their last studio album.

Led by Billy Cowsill, the Blue Shadows carved out a very different space in early ’90s Canada. The song was written by Jeffrey Hatcher and Billy Cowsill. Cowsill had the kind of voice that was country tinged with an edge. Hatcher was equal parts Buddy Holly with a touch of Chris Hillman cool, which makes for a killer songwriting partner.

There’s an alternate timeline in a perfect world where the Blue Shadows catch fire, tour with Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, or The Jayhawks, and end up as alt-country royalty. Instead, their last album, Lucky To Me, went quietly out into the world, loved by those lucky enough to hear it, and this song remains one of the most gorgeous things to ever slip through the cracks of the 1990s.

Billy Cowsill’s last interview, he was asked what he was most proud of in his career, and he answered with The Blue Shadows’ first album On The Floor of Heaven. “To my mind, that is the finest piece of work I ever did. It is just so good. The writing is so good. The production is so good. It is a nice little piece de resistance.”

Runaway Train

There ain’t a ball and chain
That can tie me down
There ain’t a jail been made
That can hold me now
I heard some fool say
He’s got to be insane
Well it kind of looks that way

From a runaway train that’s out of control
No matter what I do
No matter where I go
You can say goodbye
I won’t be back again
But don’t expect a reply
Not from a runaway train

Oh no they can’t catch me
Because they move too slow
And they’re new at this game
I started long ago
I tell you I was here
Before the track was laid
I was the first to ride

On that runaway train that’s out of control
No matter what I do
No matter where I go
You can say goodbye
I won’t be back again
But don’t expect a reply
Not from a runaway train

I used to roll on through
When it was countryside
Then the cities they grew
Until they reached the sky
I’m going to hit the coast
Then roll right on through
Wish you could see the view

From that runaway train that’s out of control
No matter what I do
No matter where I go
You can say goodbye
I won’t be back again
But don’t expect a reply
Not from a runaway train

From that runaway train that’s out of control
No matter what I do
No matter where I go
You can say goodbye
I won’t be back again
But don’t expect a reply
Don’t expect a reply
Don’t expect a reply

No, no don’t expect a reply

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Camper Van Beethoven – Eye Of Fatima (Pt. 1)

I want to thank obbverse’s brother for recommending this song to him and then him to me. Love the bass in this one and the guitar licks that complement the bass. I hear a little bit of Bakersfield in this one as well, with some twang. The song feels like the first part of a bigger story, which it is. The second part song follows as a kind of comedown, but this first part is where the hooks are. Also, it’s even kind of radio-friendly.

Back in the late eighties, I was working while going to college. A co-worker of mine kept playing this band, and it drove me up the wall. My first reaction was to ask…”what the hell is this and why are you playing it?” By the end of the week, I wanted a copy of it, so she taped it and gave it to me on cassette. The song was Take The Skinheads Bowling and it was heavily played on college radio in the late 80s. That’s how I started to know about this band.

This song was a few years later than that one. This one was on their 1988 album called Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart. The first Camper Van Beethoven record for a major label, Virgin, no less, and it’s as if the band decided to storm the gates of MTV with fiddles and surrealism. With this band, you know you’re in for something strange, but also something oddly familiar.

With all that is going on, there is something subversively pop about this song. It grooves. It twangs. It rambles with purpose. And you can sing along to it even if you’re not quite sure what it’s about.

Just so we cover this sufficiently, here is Eye of Fatima (Part 2)

Eye of Fatima (Pt. 1)

He’s got the Eye of Fatima on the wall of his room
Two bottles of tequila, three cats and a broom
He’s got an 18-year-old angel and she’s all dressed in black
He’s got 15 bindles of cocaine tied up in a sack

And this here’s a government experiment and we’re driving like Hell
To give some cowboys some acid and to stay in motels
We’re going to eat up some wide open spaces like it was a cruise on the Nile
Take the hands off the clock, we’re going to be here a while

And I am the Eye of Fatima on the wall of the motel room
And cowboys on acid are like Egyptian cartoons
And no one ever conquered Wyoming from the left or from the right
But you can stay in motel rooms and stay up all night

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NRBQ – Stomp

The 1969 NRBQ self-titled debut album, released on Columbia Records, is a wonderfully scrappy introduction to a band that never played by the rules, even from the jump. This one caught my ear and never let go. I’m a newbie to the band, but I’ve listened to many of their albums and songs throughout their career in the past few months.

This is the beauty of blogs, everyone. When I first started, my foundation was the holy trinity of rock: the Beatles, the Who, and the Stones. I listened to more than them, of course, but now with all of your help, I’ve picked up on artists that I missed completely in real-time or the ones before I was aware or born. I love expanding my musical knowledge, and this band is part of that. It’s never too late to learn new/old music or movies for that matter.

I believe that some of NRBQ’s greatest assets, such as eclecticism, unwavering artistic values, and humor, are also the reasons they never sold the millions of records they deserved. They are incredible musicians who have no problem being silly and loose as well.

While other bands at the time were chasing hits, studio trickery, and long jams, NRBQ (short for New Rhythm and Blues Quartet) decided to follow Sun Records, Spike Jones, and Cecil Taylor, sometimes all in the same song. The album is a pre-punk, pre-power pop, pre-alt-country, pre-everything slab of glorious fun. There’s no single style to pin it down; it’s equal parts rockabilly, jazz, R&B, novelty, garage rock, and pure American musical mischief. One minute they’re playing jazz, the next they’re writing AM-radio pop that could’ve given Big Star a run for their money. In other words, if you want diverse music, NRBQ is the way to go.

They were formed by pianist Terry Adams, guitarist Steve Ferguson, and drummer Frank Gadler, with the addition of bassist Joey Spampinato (originally Joey Spampanato) and drummer Tom Staley completing the lineup.

The album NRBQ peaked at #162 on the Billboard album charts. Stomp peaked at #122 on the Billboard 100 in 1969. The band has 24 studio albums, 14 live albums, and 15 compilation albums. Terry Adams, who formed the band, is still with them… to this day.

Stomp

Everybody stomp, play it on the ground
Having lots of fun till the sun goes down
People got to know, miles and miles around
About the hidden secret of the stoppin’ so sound

Everybody stomp, play it on the ground
Having lots of fun till the sun goes down
Go and tell your friends, all about to stomp
They can tell there cousins and there mama and pa

And if you do refuse the rhythm my friend
Then you will have to miss the boat in the end
The biggest generation yet has come
But we got something for the old and young
And if you do refuse a+rhytum my friend
Then you will have to miss the boat in the end
You just might stop and stare and wonder why
But you’re just wasting time so come on try
(make it quick)

And if you do refuse a+rhytum my friend
Then you will have to miss the boat in the end
Everybody stomp, play it on the ground
Having lots of fun till the sun goes down
People got to know, miles and miles around
About the hidden secret of stoppin’ so sound
everybody stomp, everybody stomp
everybody stomp, everybody stomp
everybody stomp, everybody stomp
everybody stomp

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Marshall Crenshaw – Mary Anne

Marshall reminds me of Nick Lowe a little because they make every song sound like a potential hit in a good way. It’s a kind of song that makes everything feel alright for three minutes. It’s one of those perfect power pop songs.

He got his first break playing John Lennon in the off-Broadway touring company of the musical Beatlemania between 1978-1980. Crenshaw said: “In the beginning, I was bothered by it, as an egotistical young person, maybe because I had just gotten out of Beatlemania, and I was sick of any kind of heavy association with some other figure.”

He later played Buddy Holly in La Bamba in 1987. “I’ve been a Buddy Holly fan all my life. The joy still comes across in his music. It’s really got its own je ne sais quoi. It really stands apart from a lot of ’50s rock, because it conveys a sense of intimacy. I think it’s because it was made in this little building on the side of a highway late at night with this isolated group of people.”

Marshall Crenshaw’s 1982 self-titled debut is a rare bird in the rock canon, a flawless record that never seems to age. On the album with the jangle of Someday, Someway and the Buddy Holly bop of Cynical Girl, Mary Anne is the track that quietly steals the show. That chorus. It just opens up like sunshine bursting through the clouds. “Mary Anne, you’re not alone,” Crenshaw assures her, and suddenly you’re not alone either.

The arrangement is a masterclass in restraint. The chiming guitars are pure Rickenbacker, and the bassline has a McCartney-esque melody. No frills, no tricks, just three minutes of songcraft that feels like it could’ve been pulled from AM radio in 1966. In the endless search for a great pop song, Mary Anne is the kind of track that makes you stop searching for a while.

Marshall Crenshaw peaked at #50 on the Billboard album charts in 1982. As the old phrase goes…it’s got more hooks than a tackle box.

Mary Anne

It isn’t such a crimeIt isn’t such a shameIt happens all the timeYou shouldn’t take the blameGo on and have a laughGo have a laugh on meGo on and have a laughAt all your misery

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (don’t cry Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary AnneI’m thinking of youMary Anne, Mary Anne (don’t cry Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

You take a look aroundAnd all you seem to seeIs bringing you downAs down as you can beGo on and have a laughGo have a laugh on meGo on and have a laughAt how bad it can be

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (you’ll be all right)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary AnneI’m thinking of youMary Anne, Mary Anne (you’ll be all right)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

Mary Anne, Mary Anne (goodnight Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary AnneI’m thinking of you Mary Anne, Mary Anne (goodnight Mary Anne)I really wanna tell you Mary Anne, Mary Anne, Mary Anne

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