Alternative – Page 4 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Art Bergmann – Bound for Vegas

I’m learning more about Canadian musicians as the years go by and I love what I’m finding. I have some Canadian followers and I appreciate all of your insights. CB suggested Bergmann and I’ve been listening to him this week. He is all over the map and gives you a great variety and he rocks. The more I heard the more I think of Paul Westerberg.

He has some quirky and deep lyrics throughout his songs. He also doesn’t always play by the music business rules. One band he formed was called the f**k band which turned into Los Popularos for a short time.

Art Bergmann is a Canadian singer/songwriter and a pioneer of punk rock in the country. Born in Vancouver…he was in the punk scene in the late ’70s, playing with bands like the Young Canadians (originally The K-Tels). Their track “Hawaii” (I love this surf punk song) became locally popular and set the stage for Bergmann’s career.

In the 1980s, Bergmann went solo, and his music started to change, blending his punk roots with elements of rock, folk, rockabilly, and even country. His debut solo album, “Crawl with Me” (1988), produced by none other than John Cale of The Velvet Underground, put him on the map. His songwriting kept getting edgier with albums like “Sexual Roulette” and “Art Bergmann” in the early ’90s. He has recorded a total of 12 albums with his last one coming in 2023 with the name of ShadowWalk: Legacy of Love.

Bound for Vegas is off the 1990 album Sexual Roulette. One critic wrote that the album is“Art Bergmann in Paul Westerbergish form” and then he described The Replacement’s new album All Shook Down as “Paul Westerberg in Art Bergmannish form.” I do get a heavy Paul Westerberg vibe or is it the other way around? Either way, he is good…listen.

Bergmann was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2021. He said this about it: I just thought it was a joke by maybe some friends that have grown up through the years and now work … at the Governor General’s office. I have been toiling in the underground for years, and awards like this are kind of anathema. So, you know, this would be the ultimate leg-pulling, I would think.

Art Bergmann: “People always say, ‘You’re so angry, and your words are so dangerous.’ And I say, ‘Does everybody forget Jimi Hendrix and the Stones and the Who and all the great rock and roll stuff?’ Everybody forgets what it is, you know.”

Art Bergmann: “I sort of grew up with music all around, my parents were heavy into classical —my dad thinks music died after Beethoven, so there was a lot of that around the house. And I had to sing in church; that’s where I got to know harmony from, I guess, and melody. And then my older brothers were greaseballs, and they had all the great stuff like Eddie Cochran and Elvis and Buddy Holly.”

Below is another song I was going to pick…Unfaithfully Yours.

Bound For Vegas

Load up the trucks
Don’t forget the make-up
We’ve got the six semis
For the money
None for the show
We’ve got our costumes ready
Got to go go go

Bound for Vegas
Bound for Vegas

Who’s got the map
Who’s gonna navigate
We’ve got six shows
On the strip
It’s a sellout
Wayne Newton doesn’t
Want us to be late

It’s in my heart
I’m making a financial start

They call me the performer
I guess they always will
Call me the entertainer
Don’t retire me yet
I ain’t over the hill
I ain’t had my fill

It’s in my heart
I’m making a financial start
I’m a never was
Trying to be a has-been
A has-been on the come-back trail
Come-back to me
On the Vegas scene
By the age of fifty

Good-bye Vancouver, Good-bye Toronto
Good-bye New York
Even the St. Louis blues
I said buy Detroit, buy New York
Ain’t going Route 66
Give me I-85

Bound for Vegas
Bound for Vegas

…

Big Star – You Get What You Deserve

This song was on Radio City, their second album. Some say it is a response to the Chris Bell song off the first album called My Life Is Right…or a message to his girlfriend Diane that he was leaving her at the time. The chorus is perfect to me by the way he sings it.

Big Star was formed out of a shared love for British Invasion bands like The Beatles, The Kinks, and The Byrds. Alex Chilton had already been successful as the teenage lead singer of the Box Tops, while Chris Bell had been active in local Memphis bands. They wanted to become the next Lennon-McCartney and for this fan…they were in song quality. The Ballad of El Goodo and Thirteen were as about as top shelf as you can get.

After the failure of their first album, singer/songwriter guitar player Chris Bell quit Big Star. Alex Chilton didn’t know if Big Star was going to make another album. He continued making demos because he could always do a solo album. The two other members, drummer Jody Stephens and bass player Andy Hummel weren’t sure either what was going to happen. They had talked about ending the band.

Their record company Ardent was under the Stax umbrella. They sent out invitations to all of the major rock journalists of the day in 1973. They invited them to Memphis to see Ardent’s roster of bands but most of all Big Star. The rock writers loved Big Star. Many legendary writers were there including Lester Bangs. The critics loved them but when your records don’t get to the record store because of distribution and promotional problems…nothing is going to happen. September Gurls should have got a nationwide audience.

You Get What You Deserve

Try to understand what I’m going through
Don’t blame me for what folks will do
For some of us it’s not a good time
But you’ve gotta to get used to it
And you’d better resign yourself

You get what you deserve
You ought to find out what it’s worth
And you’ve gotta have a lot of nerve

You just do what pleases you
Go on and sigh out every move
You’re gonna get a place in the scene
All God’s orphans get face in the dream

You get what you deserve
You ought to find out what it’s worth
And you’ve gotta have a lot of nerve

Too bad
Such a drag
So much pain
Down the drain
A lot of us ain’t got many friends

Try to understand what I’m going through
Don’t blame me for what folks will do
For some of us it’s not a good time
But you’ve gotta to get used to it
And you’d better resign yourself

You get what you deserve
You ought to find out what it’s worth
And you’ve gotta have a lot of nerve
You get what you deserve

Del Amitri – Not Where It’s At

I first heard Del Amitri in the 90s. I remember hanging out in West End of Nashville at that time. It’s near Vanderbilt University and was a really hip place to be. I was looking for some Roger McGuinn glasses. Those small rectangle glasses that were very popular in the ’60s. I searched shop after shop and could not find them. I finally found them around closing time. Anyway…boy that was a long story but I remember that is when I heard Del Amitri for the first time…hey it stuck with me!

Some songs I hear and I think…I wish so much I would have written this song. This is one of those songs because it’s catchy without being too sweet. Not a profound lyric (teenage angst) in this one but clever and it’s the overall sound…right up my cobbled power pop alley. The crunchy and jangly guitars mesh with each other. This wasn’t as big as their other song Roll To Me but I always favored this one by a long shot.

I would have never guessed this wasn’t an American band. They formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1980. The band was larger in the UK than here. This song is from the album Some Other Sucker’s Parade which peaked at #6 in the UK and #160 on the Billboard 100 in 1997. This song was played on our main rock station and got quite a bit of alternative play…if it came out today I would buy it.

The band was started by Justin Currie (vocals, bass) and a group of schoolmates. Currie became the constant band member over time. When they started they were influenced by Joy Division and The Cure. They switched to power pop and released their self-titled debut album in 1985. Waking Hours (1989) was their commercial breakthrough, featuring the hit single “Nothing Ever Happens”, which became a chart success and fan favorite. They have had 5 top-ten albums in the UK. They also had an astounding 15 top 40 hits in the UK. A shout out to CB who sent me a few of their songs and I’ve been happily getting reacquainted with this band.

It’s funny how some bands can get back on your radar. The Replacements are one of those bands that I rediscovered because of blogs. When I hear Del Amitri I think of a modern Badfinger because of the crunch and jangle of the guitar that feeds my inner power pop soul.

They took a break in 2002 but reunited in 2014 for a series of live shows. They continued to tour periodically in the following years. In 2021, they released Fatal Mistakes, their first studio album in nearly two decades, which was well-received by critics and fans alike.

Justin Currie: We’ve never pretended we didn’t want to be in the mainstream. I don’t mean in terms of sales, but in terms of everybody should be able to get our music. To me, that’s one of the functions of pop music. You bring everybody together in a room to sing along to a catchy tune.

Rhythm Guitar player Iain Harvie: “Probably about 80 per cent of the songs on this record don’t have overdubs, apart from the vocals obviously, with all the harmonies, and maybe the guitar solo if there was a really dreadful mistake in the middle that we just couldn’t live with. Wherever possible, we recorded with our live format of bass, drums, two guitars and keyboards for most of the songs.”

Not Where I’m At

With some girls it don’t matter who you hang withWith some girls it don’t matter how you talkAnd some girls they are easy to be yourself withBut the one girl that I wantAin’t easy to please with what I’ve got

With some girls it don’t matter where you’re aimingWith some girls it don’t matter how you actAnd some girls they don’t care what car you came inBut the one girl that I wantShe wants that one bit of geography I lack

Yeah, she don’t want me‘Cause I’m not where it’s atYeah I’m not where it’s at

And some girls they will worry about reactionsAnd some girls they don’t give a damn for thatBut somehow I ain’t ever in on the action‘Cause the one girl that I wantShe wants that one little quality I lack

Yeah she don’t want me‘Cause I’m not where it’s atYeah I’m not where it’s at

I don’t have my finger on the pulse of my generationI just got my hand on my heart I know no better location

Yeah she don’t want me‘Cause I’m not where it’sI’m not where it’sI’m not where it’s atYeah I’m not where it’s at

…

Sloan – Keep Your Name Alive

Sometimes I forget that my blogs name is powerpop…well today I’m picking two excellent Power Pop songs.

I want to thank Christian for including this in his Chris & Max picks from 2022. I listened to this album when it was released and I loved it. Deke is the first person to get me into them. Between Deke, Dave, Randy, and CB… my Canadian music love has spread. They are a modern-day power pop band that started out as grunge. In my humble opinion, they made the right choice of switching.

They do put the power into their pop. Melodic but loud guitars along with catchy harmonies and a throwback band presence. Bands like Sloan, Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, and others just couldn’t get traction in America for some reason.

Sloan got its start in Halifax during the early ‘90s. The band played around the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design before moving to Toronto. They got their name from a pot-smoking musician they knew in Halifax. He worked in a restaurant as a busboy and used to be known as “the slow one.”

The band made their recording debut on the Halifax, Canada CD compilation “Hear & Now” with the song “Underwhelmed” before releasing their debut EP “Peppermint” in 1991 on their own label Murderecords. In 1992 Sloan signed with Geffen Records and released their full-length debut “Smeared”. The album had somewhat of a grunge style. They soon switched to power pop and they have some fantastic songs.

This song is on their album Steady released on October 21, 2022. This song was written by Jay Ferguson plays rhythm guitar but like his band mates…can play bass and drums as well.

Keep Your Name Alive

I cannot lieI should have thought it overThere was a timeI opened with a closerI flew away, away, awayKept my composureAs she wavedDid I become another castaway?

If I simply turned aroundOr counted one to fiveDo you have to leave your homeTo keep your name alive?

Well, I guess I had to find out for myselfThe house remained dividedLocked the doorAre mirrors all one-sided?But the day went after dayAnd still no furtherBreaking wavesRendered me another castaway

If I simply turned aroundOr counted one to fiveDo you have to leave your homeTo keep your name alive?Whether you float far awayWhere it’s too deep to diveFailing further mention ofKeep your name aliveKeep your name alive

La-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la(I flew away, away, away)La-la-la, la-la-la, la-la-la

If I simply turned aroundOr counted one to fiveIs there need to travel farIn order to arrive?Whether you float far awayWhere it’s too deep to dive(It’s too deep to dive)You don’t have to leave your homeTo keep your name alive

Keep your name aliveKeep your name alive (keep your name alive)Keep your name alive

…

Matthew Sweet – Girlfriend

When I first heard this song I thought of Jimi Hendrix a little with the intro and then it dissolved into one of the best power pop songs of the 1990s. The song has a little of everything… noisy guitar, loud drums but with a pop melody. Just like I thought with Lone Justice and some others…I just knew he would be cranking out hits for the rest of his career. He has cranked out some great songs but not many hits…but that is ok.

Great power pop song by Matthew Sweet. The song reached #4 on the US Alternative Chart in 1991. This was the title cut-off of his 3rd album…it was Sweet’s breakthrough album.

The song and the album were written during a bad period in Sweet’s life, following his divorce. The themes of longing, heartache, and new beginnings pervade the lyrics, reflecting his personal struggles and growth.

The video featured scenes from the 1980s anime Space Adventure Cobra, which caught viewers’ attention and became famous in its own right. The success of Girlfriend helped establish Matthew Sweet as a power pop alternative figure in the 1990s.

A trivia question…who is that girl on the album cover? I know it because I watched a certain older show recently.

Here is some sad news about Sweet right now from https://variety.com/2024/music/news/matthew-sweet-stroke-tour-gofundme-1236187225/

Singer-songwriter Matthew Sweet suffered a debilitating stroke while on tour in mid-October, it was revealed on Tuesday, when a representative for his management company posted a fundraising appeal on GoFundMe to support his recovery.

Sweet had been out on tour opening for the group Hanson when he was stricken in Toronto Oct. 12, in advance of a date that was to have taken place there the following night.

Catherine Lyons, who represents Sweet at Russell Carter Artist Management, posted the GoFundMe on Tuesday afternoon, with a stated goal of raising $250,000 for the rocker’s medical care. The effort got off to a good start. As of 6 p.m. PT Tuesday, about 770 individuals had contributed almost $50,000, and by 8 p.m., it was up to $85,000 from 1,400 donors.

Girlfriend

I wanna love somebody
I hear you need somebody to love
Oh, I wanna love somebody
I hear you’re looking for someone to love

‘Cause you need to
Be back in the arms of a good friend
And I need to
Be back in the arms of a girlfriend

I didn’t know nobody
And then I saw you coming my way
Oh, I didn’t know nobody
And then I saw you coming my way

Don’t you need to
Be back in the arms of a good friend?
Oh, ’cause, honey, believe me
I’d sure love to call you my girlfriend

Alright

Don’t you need to
Be back in the arms of a good friend?
Oh, ’cause, honey, believe me
I’d sure love to call you my girlfriend

‘Cause you got a good thing going, baby
You only need somebody to love
Oh, you got a good thing going
You’re only looking for someone to love

‘Cause you need to
Get back in the arms of a good friend

And I’m never gonna set you free
No, I’m never gonna set you free

Nick Lowe – So It Goes

I always liked Nick Lowe and his brand of power pop. I first heard of him with Cruel To Be Kind and then Rockpile who I wish would have made more albums as Rockpile. When I started to blog, Brinsley Schwarz came on my radar and I really then realized how talented this guy is.

This was Lowe’s first solo single following the split of the pub rock band, Brinsley Schwarz. It was also the first single released on Stiff Records, a label formed by the music managers, Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman. The single bore the catalog number BUY 1, establishing Stiff Records as a pioneering label in the UK punk and new wave scenes.

Although So It Goes failed to chart, it still earned a profit for the young Stiff Records. It was on the American album Pure Pop For Now People. The album in the UK was called Jesus of Cool. It peaked at #127 on the Billboard 100 in 1978.

Lowe got the title from a recurring line (So It Goes) in Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 novel, The Slaughterhouse-Five. It is used every time a death occurs in the book. Steve Goulding (drums) and Nick Lowe were the only two musicians on this song. Lowe and Jake Riviera produced the album.

Nick Lowe: “It’s not my favorite, it’s a bit too much like Steely Dan. I think I must have got it from something they’d done.”

So It Goes

Remember on night the kid cut off his right arm
In a fit to save a bit of power
He got fifty thousand watts
In a big acoustic tower
Security’s so tight tonight
Oh they’re ready for a tussle
Gotta keep your backstage passes
‘Cause your promoter had the muscle

And so it goes and so it goes
And so it goes and so it goes
But where it’s goin’ no one knows
And so it goes and so it goes
And so it goes and so it goes
But where it’s goin’ no one knows

In the tall buildings
Sit the head of our nations
Worthy men from Spain and Siam
All day discussions with the Russians
But they still went ahead
And vetoed the plan
Now up jumped the U.S. representative
He’s the one with the tired eyes
747 for the midnight condition
Flyin’ back from a peace keepin’ mission

And so it goes and so it goes
And so it goes and so it goes
But where it’s goin’ no one knows
And so it goes and so it goes
And so it goes and so it goes
But where it’s goin’ no one knows

In the air there’s absolution
In the wake of a snaky Persian
On his arm there’s a skin tight vision
Wonder why she admires she is hissin’

And so it goes and so it goes
And so it goes and so it goes
But where it’s goin’ no one knows
And so it goes and so it goes
And so it goes and so it goes
But where it’s goin’ no one knows

But where it’s goin’ no one knows
But where it’s goin’ no one knows
But where it’s goin’ no one knows

…

Detroit Cobras – Ain’t It A Shame

CB sent this band to me and they are raw and powerful with a unique singer. I really love garage type bands. Bands like this were big in the sixties and turned toward punk in the 70s. They made a comeback in the 80s against the synth based mainstream at the time. The alternative rock scene was born which I liked more than the then top 40 with The Replacements, REM, The Dead Kennedys, and more.

The hardest part about this post was picking out which song to highlight. The album I’ve listened to is The Detroit Cobras: The Original Recordings which rocks. All of their covers are loud raw and catchy like garage rock is. I loved how they picked the songs they covered. Songs that went under the radar when they were originally released.

This song…not to be confused with Ain’t That A Shame was originally recorded by Question Mark and The Mysterians. The song was written by their drummer Robert Martinez and released in 1969.

The Detroit Cobras were known for their reinterpretations of classic R&B, rock, and soul songs. Guess where they are from? They emerged in the mid-1990s and added to the garage rock revival movement of that era. They came out of the same Detroit scene as the White Stripes did.

The band was formed in 1994 by guitarist Steve Shaw and drummer Jeff Meier but lead vocalist Rachel Nagy and guitarist Mary Ramirez would become the core of the band. The Cobras set themselves apart by reimagining lesser-known songs from the 1950s and 1960s rather than writing their own original material.

…

Jayhawks – Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces

I first found out about The Jayhawks in 2000 or so with a song called I’m Gonna Make You Love Me and the song Blue.

The Jayhawks formed in Minneapolis–Saint Paul in 1985 and played alternative country rock. They have released 11 studio albums and are worth checking out. The band went on hiatus in the early 2000s but soon reformed and returned in 2003 with a highly regarded album Rainy Day Music and has stayed together ever since.

This song was written by Gary Louris. The song did reasonably well when released. I would hear it on our alternative channel in Nashville. They are one of those bands that never could get over the hump to a mass audience. I always think of them, Wilco, and Big Star coming from some of the same musical territory. The Jayhawks have had a few successful albums but never became household names.

The album peaked at #75 on the Billboard Album Charts and #51 in the UK in 2016. The single peaked at #26 on the Alternative Album Charts.

Since our Kinks Weeks are coming up I thought I would mention this. They have a Kinks tie… They backed Ray Davies on his albums Americana and Our Country – Americana Act II. T

Gary Louris: Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces” started with the idea that I wanted to write a big, soaring, old-school pop song. With lyrics, I either tend to do a stream-of-consciousness or a cut-and-paste kind of thing. This one was something out of a newspaper that I cut out. I just have piles of stuff.

For me, it’s a spark to kind of throw some things together, along with other methods, like mumbling. A lot of times, when I’m writing, I sing and play and whatever comes out comes out, and these words are inferred by sounds and half-words. Then I come around and get the meaning out of that, and it’s usually coming from some place inside that is kind of revelatory in a way. It’s almost like therapy.

So, from there, I wrote a song about running away from certain things. Again, in a Proust kind of way, finding a spot where you can be introspective, away from the noise, and get your head together.

Quiet Corners & Empty Spaces

Aside the wandering eye has openedA stare all the way bare and brokenThe start of a brand new adventure

Hey nowCatch me quick before I walk awayTell me if there’s something I should sayI’ll find the quiet corners and the empty spaces

Not far a blue guitar is playingIt drew me like it knewAnd it’s saying

Hey nowCatch me quick before I walk awayTell me if there’s something I should sayI’ll find the quiet corners and the empty spaces

We drown in ups and downsNeglectingThe beauty of my sun is setting

In the end there’s no way in redemptionHey nowCatch me quick before I walk awayTell me if there’s something I should sayI’ll find the quiet corners and the empty spacesHey nowCatch me quick before I walk awayTell me if there’s something I should say

…

That Petrol Emotion – It’s a Good Thing

This song was released in 1986…it sounds more like 1966. This intro reminds me of the intro to CCR’s Up Around The Bend with that searing guitar riff. I missed a lot of this music in the 1980s and I regret it but I’m making up for lost time now.

That Petrol Emotion was formed in Derry, Northern Ireland, after the disbandment of The Undertones. Damian and John O’Neill left the Undertones to form That Petrol Emotion. The band was formed in 1984 and consisted of Steve Mack (vocals), John O’Neill (guitar, vocals), Raymond O’Gorman (guitar), Damian O’Neill (bass), and Ciaran McLaughlin (drums).

It was featured on their debut album Manic Pop Thrill, which was released the same year. It’s a Good Thing received positive reviews from critics and helped establish the band’s reputation in the Indie college rock scene. The song was praised for its catchy hooks and jangly guitars.

The band continued to release albums throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, including End of the Millennium Psychosis Blues (1988), Chemicrazy (1990), and Fireproof (1993). They called it quits in 1994.

The band has reunited several times for live performances, including a notable reunion in 2008 where they did a short tour and some festivals.

It’s A Good Thing

Senses fail
And we know why
Indifference slides
From every corner
But I just want
To be with you
The silent screams
Above each other

It`s a good thing
Such a good thing
To do
To do

While governments gain
All money can buy
Trash means cash
In any country
But I just want
To be with you
Our flesh feels fresh
And that`s the beauty

It`s a good thing
Such a good thing
We do
We do

It`s a good thing
Such a good thing
We do

…

Frank Zappa – Catholic Girls

I grew up listening to Zappa on the American Top 40 show with Casey Kasem. Uh…scratch that. No, I only heard Zappa when I was over at a friend’s house with an older brother’s record collection. This was the first song I ever heard by him and it sticks with me after listening to it. The second song was Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow but I always favored this one.

This song reflects Zappa’s typical satirical style, poking fun at religion and society. I could only guess how many people were offended by this one. His songs still feel vibrant and new.

It was on the album Joe’s Garage which was released in two parts. “Act I” came out in September 1979, while “Acts II & III” followed in November 1979. The entire album was later released as a triple LP. He came up with the idea for Joe’s Garage as a satire on the music industry, government censorship, and society in general.

The album was about Joe, a young guitarist who started a garage band. The band gains popularity, but Joe soon faces disillusionment with the music industry. He gets involved with a groupie named Lucille, contracts a venereal disease, and ends up in trouble with the law.

I thought just maybe this would have been released as a single. Hell, he released the song Bobby Brown but not this one.

One thing the man didn’t get as much credit for as he deserved…his guitar playing was phenomenal.

Catholic Girls

Catholic GirlsWith a tiny little mustacheCatholic GirlsDo you know how they go?Catholic GirlsIn the Rectory BasementFather Riley’s a fairyBut it don’t bother Mary

Catholic GirlsAt the CYOCatholic GirlsDo you know how they go?Catholic GirlsThere can be no replacementHow do they go, after the show?

All the way(That’s right, all the way!)That’s the way they goEvery day(That’s right!)And none of their mamas ever seem to knowHip-Hip-HoorayFor all the class they showThere’s nothing like a Catholic GirlAt the CYOWhen they learn to blow

They’re learning to blowAll the Catholic Boys!Warren CuccurulloCatholic Boys!Kinda young, kinda WOW!Catholic Boys!Vinnie Colaiuta . . .

Where are they now?Did they all take The Vow?

Catholic Girls!Carmenita Scarfone!Catholic Girls!Hey! She gave me VD!Catholic Girls!Toni Carbone!

With a tongue like a cowShe could make you go WOW!

VD Vowdy vootieRight awayThat’s the way they goEvery dayWhenever their mamas take them to a showMatineePass the popcorn pleaseThere’s nothing like a Catholic GirlWith her hand in the boxWhen she’s on her knees

She was on her kneesMy little Catholic GirlChorus:In a little white dressCatholic GirlsThey never confessCatholic GirlsI got one for a cousinI love how they goSo send me a dozenCatholic GirlsOOOOOOH!(Well well now)Catholic Girls(Ma-ma-mum ma-ma-mum)Yai-ee-ahhh!Catholic GirlsOOOOOOH!(Well well now)Catholic Girls(Ma-ma-mum ma-ma-ma-ma-mum)Yai-ee-ahhh!

Joe had a girl friend named Mary.They would meet each other at the Social Club.Hold handsAnd think Pure ThoughtsBut one night, at the Social Club meeting…

…

Bats – North By North

This New Zealand band came out in the 80s. I learned about this band through Graham on his Aphoristic Album Reviews site. I love the jangle and their power pop ways. It’s too bad they didn’t get heard more. They did tour the US a few times opening for Radiohead.

The Bats were formed in Christchurch, New Zealand. The original lineup included Robert Scott (vocals, guitar), Kaye Woodward (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Paul Kean (bass), and Malcolm Grant (drums).

This song was from their debut album Daddy’s Highway released in 1987. They would go on to release 10 albums and 8 EPs. This song was used as the theme song for a television show called The Hollowmen. It was also used in the movie: Topless Women Talk About Their Lives.

The band released Foothills, their tenth studio album in 2020. They are a band worth checking out. Daddy’s Highway was recorded at Mascot Studios in Christchurch, New Zealand. The recording sessions took place in late 1986 and early 1987.

They were on an interesting New Zealand indie label called Flying Nun.

North by North

Some people are happy most of the time
But they don’t know they’re in line
I don’t know what to do with you
I don’t know how to deal with you

North by north
I’m still following home
North by north
I know your name
North by north
I’m still wondering why

I find out what you’re meaning now
Your term is darkness anyhow
I can’t find out what it is with you
If there is one thing I can’t get through

North by north
I’m still following home
North by north
I know your name
North by north
I’m still wondering why

Absolve the waiting that you’ve done
Take away those moments of fun
There won’t be much left there for you
I’m taught we’ve a choice in what we do

North by north
I’m still following home
North by north
I know your name
North by north
I’m still wondering why (why, why)

Bodeans – Closer to Free

Take a little Americana and mix it with a little jangle and you get this song. The Bodeans were a great band in the 80s and 90s but never got to the masses consistently. However, this song did reach a big audience.

In 1977 Sophomores Sam Llanas and Kurt Neumann meet in study hall at Waukesha South High School and bond over a shared love of music. The two later end up playing music together. In 1980 At Neumann’s urging, Llanas dropped out of college to pursue music full-time. The group pursues gigs at small bars, clubs, dances, and events. Llanas comes up with the name, Da BoDeans.

Llanas and Neumann added drummer Guy Hoffman (Oil Tasters, Confidentials, later the Violent Femmes) and bass player Bob Griffin (The Agents) to fill out their sound in 1983.

Upon its release, “Closer to Free” did not achieve huge chart success. However, its fortunes changed when it was selected as the theme song for the Fox television drama Party of Five, which premiered in 1994.

The song was on their 5th studio album called Go Slow Down. It was produced by the legendary T-Bone Burnett in 1993. The album peaked at #127 on the Billboard Album Chart.

The song peaked at #16 on the Billboard 100 and #1 in Canada in 1993.

Closer To Free

Everybody wants to live how they wanna live and
Everybody wants to love how they wanna love and
Everybody wants to be closer to free

Everybody wants respect, just a little bit
And everybody needs a chance once in a while
Everybody wants to be closer to free

Everybody one, everybody two, everybody free
Everybody needs to touch, you know now and then and
Everybody wants a good good friend
Everybody wants to be closer to free

I said everybody one, everybody two, everybody free
Everybody wants to live like they wanna live
And everybody wants to love like they wanna love
And everybody wants to be closer to free

Closer to free
Closer to free
Closer to free

…

Butch Hancock – To Each His Own

After listening to the Flatlanders…I’ve listened to Joe Ely and Johnnie Dale Gilmore but never Butch Hancock. I was struck by his voice and was reminded a little of Dylan, Prine, Buddy Holly, and a little of Steve Earle at times.

In the early 1970s, Hancock co-founded The Flatlanders with fellow Lubbock musicians Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The group initially struggled to find commercial success but later became famous within the Americana and alternative country scenes. Hancock has been a very good songwriter. Artists who covered him include Willie Nelson, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, The Texas Tornados, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Jeff Walker, and more.

This song was on the album Eat Away The Night which was released in 1994. He has released 12 albums since 1978. This man is worth checking out. He will never make the top 40 but he has some quality songs that are worth hearing. This song has his voice and also a twangy guitar that sold it for me.

As I’ve been perusing his catalog…I’ve noticed a lot of storytelling, a sense of humor, good lyrics plus that voice. The album’s sound is powered by a classic rock ‘n’ roll combination of a Hammond B-3 organ, electric guitars, an acoustic, harmonica, and steel guitar at the edges for country and folk flavorings.

The title song closes the album, and I will include that above To Each His Own. Eats Away the Night sounds like something a musician would play at four in the morning after a six-hour gig. A quiet, restrained, and thoughtful tune to settle down with. A good way to end a night of music-making and an album. It’s almost a solo performance, with only a slide guitar accompanying Hancock’s voice and guitar.

Here is a link to the complete album.

To Each His Own

Down in the pit of my stomach
I knew it couldn’t last…
It left me just as fast…
I tried to blame it on the moon above…
As I walked the beach alone
But all I heard were these few words…
To each his own

Down in the heart of the matter…
I first lost touch with you…
But for rosy and her constant chatter…
There was not much i could do
The world I tried to reach with her…
You can only reach alone
I even heard rose say to herself…
To each his own…

I’ve seen survival’s violent side…
I’ve seen some beast of prey…
Bring down some beasts of burden…
That just got in their way…
Some tore the hide…some chewed the
Flesh…right down to the bone
Some stopped there but some kept going…
To each his own…

I’ve run these things around my mind…
I’ve run ’em through my heart
In the mighty dream of life, i seem…
To play the strangest part
If I’m buried when I die…
Carve this on my stone…
Take a little here and leave a little there but
give…to each his own…

…

Flatlanders – Dallas

Well Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes

What a find this was for me. When CB recommended Joe Ely a while back, I found that he played in this band from 1972 until now. Their music is not the tears in my beer Nashville country music that you heard at the time and sometimes now. I would call it Americana…they have developed a big following following over the years. Comparing their music to country music at the time…this sounds like it came from a different planet.

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 first album, All American Music 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.

They then released an album in 1980 called One More Road. Their debut album was re-released in 1990 as More a Legend Than A Band after all of them had some success during their solo careers. They have released 9 albums including a live album in 2004 from 1972 to 2021. Their last album was released in 2021 called Treasure Of Love. They started to chart in the music charts in the 2000s.

Dallas was on their debut album All American Music released in 1972. This song was written by Jimmie Dale Gilmore. The track has a cool tool/instrument on it that always interested me…Steve Wesson is playing a saw on this. Take a listen to this and I included a much more recent live cut from Austin City Limits.

In 2016 The Flatlanders were voted into the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore: “The hook line of the song occurred to me while I was actually flying into Dallas, the line just presented itself to me. I had all those mixed feelings about the city and the song just came gradually. I’ve never felt that I’ve got it down right though. I’ve always been a perfectionist about that song. Joe also recorded it several times before he got the version that they put on the Musta Notta Gotta Lotta album. I’ve had a strange relationship with the song. I’ve had periods when I wish I’d never written it, then I’ve rediscovered it, looking at it through different eyes.”

Jimmie Dale Gilmore: “It so happened that in 1970 we all happened to be back in Lubbock, I had been in Austin working with a band called the Hub City Movers. Joe had been traveling in Europe and Butch had been in San Francisco. We just coincidentally moved back to Lubbock at the same time and started playing together. There was no design to put a band together as such but the chemistry was so great that it just took on a life of its own. We all had a common love of folk music, country and country blues-but then we also loved the Beatles. We had very eclectic taste. There was great radio in Lubbock at that time especially the border stations at night. We listened to it all.”

Joe Ely on the album: “It’s pretty crude but there’s a certain flavor about the record. It had an eerie, lonesome sound which reflected our roots in Lubbock and the wind, the dust and the environment.”

Music Critic Robert Christgau: In 1972, Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, and leader Jimmie Dale Gilmore–drumless psychedelic cowboys returned to Lubbock from Europe and San Francisco and Austin–recorded in Nashville for Shelby Singleton, and even an eccentric like the owner of the Sun catalogue and “Harper Valley P.T.A.” must have considered them weird. With a musical saw for theremin effects, their wide-open spaceyness was released eight-track only, and soon a subway troubadour and an architect and a disciple of Guru Mararaji had disappeared back into the diaspora. In cowpunk/neofolk/psychedelic-revival retrospect, they’re neotraditionalists who find small comfort in the past, responding guilelessly and unnostalgically to the facts of displacement in a global village that includes among its precincts the high Texas plains. They’re at home. And they’re lost anyway. A-

Dallas

Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?
Well Dallas is a jewel, oh yeah, Dallas is a beautiful sight
And Dallas is a jungle but Dallas gives a beautiful light
Did you ever see Dallas from a DC-9 at night?

Well, Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you’re down
But when you are up, she’s the kind you want to take around
But Dallas ain’t a woman to help you get your feet on the ground
And Dallas is a woman who will walk on you when you’re down

Well, I came into Dallas with the bright lights on my mind,
But I came into Dallas with a dollar and a dime

Well Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes
A steel and concrete soul with a warm hearted love disguise
A rich man who tends to believe in his own lies
Yeah Dallas is a rich man with a death wish in his eyes

Well, I came into Dallas with the bright lights on my mind,
But I came into Dallas with a dollar and a dime

…

Guadalcanal Diary – Always Saturday

I found this band in 2019 when I was covering alternative bands from the 80s. So many great bands from that era that never made it to the mainstream. It is a shame that these bands didn’t have a larger audience. They had many songs that were better than what the mainstream was providing. Some of the alternative bands of 2024 sound like their 1980s predecessors.

These bands didn’t get the 1980s production memos. They sounded different from their mainstream counterparts and added a sixties jangle with a much smaller production. It’s not as easy to date them…the music was a little more timeless.

This band came from Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, but they were often billed as being from Athens, Georgia, and were lumped in with the other Athens acts like REM. They were a college Alternative Band.

I blogged about this band years back. Watusi Rodeo and Trail Of Tears off their debut album Walking In The Shadow of the Big Man. I would recommend that album to anyone for catchy songs and good lyrics. It is one of the best debut albums I’ve listened to.

Still in high school, singer/guitarists Murray Attaway and Jeff Walls became musical partners when they joined the punk band Strictly American. Electing to strike out on their own, they formed the Emergency Broadcast System (I love that name!). Walls was teaching Rhett Crowe bass at the time and she was asked to join the band. Crowe accepted the offer and quickly suggested a name change to Guadalcanal Diary (based on the 1940s movie).

The band formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1989. They reformed in 1997 but never recorded any new material. After going on hiatus in 2000, Guadalcanal Diary temporarily reunited for a second time in 2011 for Athfest, where they celebrated their 30th anniversary.

They released this song in 1989. It was on the album Flip Flop. The song was written by Murray Attaway & Jeff Walls. The song charted at #7 on the Billboard Alternative Chart in 1989. It stayed around for 10 weeks on the chart. It was their most successful and remembered song.

Though Guadalcanal Diary never achieved the same level of commercial success as some of their peers, they left a lasting impact on the alternative rock scene of the 1980s.

The Chicago Tribune on the album Flip Flop – Terrific mainstream rock, a shade quirkier than John Mellencamp or Tom Petty but no less deserving of Top 40 status.

The Los Angeles Times: “One of the most underrated, overlooked and inaccurately compared to R.E.M. bands around doesn’t offer much to change that on its fourth album.”

The Northwest Florida Daily News: Artsy rock ‘n’ roll that doesn’t stray too far from homespun melodies and twangy guitars.

Always Saturday

Waterfall pavement shimmering
Sunshine washes everything
A basket of light, I am trusting
To water the lawn is a wondrous thing

If I could have it this way I know I’d
I’d wanna live where it’s like today
I’d wanna live where it’s always this way
I wanna live where it’s always Saturday

A chorus of laughter fills the air
Everyone’s going everywhere
So many choices it’s not fair
I hop in the car and I just sit there

I don’t need, need to think about how much I
I wanna live where it’s all the same
I wanna live where it’s all just like today
I wanna live where it’s always Saturday
In the shops are shining things

I can I can see them glittering
I wish that I could buy them all
I wish I lived in a shopping mall

Shady back yard afternoon
Summer clothes and tennis shoes
When the light begins to fade
A porch swing creaks with lemonade

A shower of whispers glow and bloom
Late night movie fills the room
Streetlights twinkling like dew
I close my eyes, it ends too soon

All in dreams, I can dream now oh how I
I wanna live where it’s like today
I wanna live where it’s always this way
I wanna live where it’s always Saturday

…