Power pop was well and alive during the 1990s. I remember this song in the early 90s but I never caught who did it. I heard it on our local alternate channel Lightning 100.
This band was from Scotland and they formed in Bellshill near Glasgow in 1989. They were influenced by Big Star, Badfinger, and the Byrds. They signed to the indie label Creation Records in Britain.
This song was off of their 3rd album Bandwagonesque and it was released in 1991. This was their breakthrough album in the US where it was distributed by Geffen Records. The album was voted album of the year by Spin magazine beating out Nevermind by Nirvana. Some critics called this album Big Star’s 4th because of the influence.
The album had several Top 20 hits on Billboard’s Modern Rock Tracks chart, including Star Sign, The Concept, and this song What You Do to Me. They played this song on Saturday Night Live on April 27, 1992.
Singer guitarist Norman Blake wrong this song.
The song peaked at #31 in the UK and #19 on the US Alternate Charts in 1991. The album peaked at #22 in the UK and #137 in the Billboard Album Charts. The album was #1 in the Billboard Heatseeker Album Charts.
From Wiki: The cover is designed by Sharon Fitzgerald. When Kiss member Gene Simmons, who had trademarked the logo of a moneybag with dollar symbol, was made aware of the record he sent a letter to Geffen Records, who in turn gave in and sent Simmons a cheque, according to Simmons’s book Sex Money Kiss.
The band is still together and has released a total of 11 studio albums.
What You Do To Me
What you do to me… I know, I can’t believe There’s something about you Got me down on my knees.
What you do to me… I know, I can’t believe There’s something about you Got me down on my knees.
What you do to me… What you do to me… What you do to me… What you do to me…
What you do to me… I know, I can’t believe There’s something about you Got me down on my knees.
What you do to me… I know, I can’t believe There’s something about you Got me down on my knees.
What you do to me… What you do to me… What you do to me… What you do to me…
What you do to me… What you do to me… What you do to me… What you do to me…
After hearing the song and seeing the video you would think 1965 NOT 1985. I would have loved to hear this in the eighties. This I could have gotten into a lot.
They debuted in March 1984 and released a series of independent records on Sydney’s Citadel Records. Each release made it to number one on the Australian alternative charts.
The Stems were a garage punk band formed in Perth, Western Australia in late 1983. They were hugely popular in Australia. They released this song in 1985 with a song “Cant Resist” as the B side. They would release 7 singles, 2 albums, and 2 EP’s between 1985-1987.
They broke up in 1987. Guitarist Dom Mariani explained: “I was not very happy with the way things were going towards the end of The Stems. We got quite big, and there are the usual problems that happen with that. People tend to drift apart, there are internal conflicts, egos going wild, and bad management was probably the major factor that contributed to The Stems breakup.”
The Stems regrouped in 2003 and played to packed houses across Australia and Europe. They disbanded again in 2009 and regrouped in 2013 and still play from time to time.
Tears Me In Two
All those things that you never said All those words going through my head Time after time I let her cry I laughed and I laughed And she waved goodbye
She waved goodbye She waved goodbye She waved goodbye She waved goodbye I said my prayers and shed my tears All my dreams have become my fears I wrote her letters that I could not send My memories are my only friend
She waved goodbye She waved goodbye She waved goodbye She waved goodbye Everyone thinks that I am crazy I can’t stand the things that they say Think that I’ve been oh-so-cruel Commit me with lies I did not do I didn’t do them You know I didn’t do them Don’t tell me that I did them You know I didn’t do them I didn’t do them
I couldn’t stand it for a second more I turn it down for, I want love for Why can’t my heart leave me be Tears me in two, can’t you see I can’t stand it for a second more I turn it down for, I want love for Why can’t my heart leave me be Tears me in two ways, can’t you see Tears me in two ways Come on baby Take an look down there Tears me in two ways
I posted a song called Watusi Rodeo by Guadalcanal Diary a while back and I got a great response. I’ve been listening to these guys and it gets better and better. This band had a sophisticated and spiritual bent to the band’s lyrics.
This song is off of the EP Watusi Rodeo released in 1983. The songwriting in this band was a step above many of their peers…clever lyrics with a mixture of jangle and country. When you start listening to this band later on you can see a lot of eclecticism as they could bounce from one style to another.
They did get picked up by a major label after this release. Their LP Jamboree released in 1986 was on Elektra. They unsuccessfully attempted a commercial breakthrough, adopting the style of a country-rock band with some religious sentiment.
Jeff Walls and singer Murray Attaway were friends in high school in Marietta, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. Along with bassist Rhett Crowe and drummer John Poe, they formed Guadalcanal Diary.
In 2011, Guadalcanal Diary briefly reunited to play Athfest, and celebrated their 30th anniversary there. Jeff Walls died, May 29, 2019, of a rare pulmonary disease.
Trail Of Tears
The Sun hangs low in the Western sky I bow my head and remember now Someone’s lips pressed close to mine Her cool hand upon my brow
Hell burns hot for a killer ‘s heart A shallow grave in an unmarked plot Crack of gunfire in the dark Hand in hand we’ll walk at daybreak
One wore black One wore black One wore black
The trail of tears is winding on Many pass along the road Dusty soldiers march along As they file one by one
One wore black One wore black One wore black
Trail of tears is winding on Frightened soldier run no more Arm and arm with lovers gone No one passes on the road
Two girls wait at the railroad track For their soldiers to come back Knowing this will be their last One wore blue and one wore black
This is a perfect song to remember alternative radio with today. This is Paul Westerberg’s tribute to college radio in the 1980s. Of all the bands I’ve covered on Mondays…this band is my favorite of them all. They were more straight rock and roll with some quirks thrown in for good measure.
Left of the Dial celebrates the spirit of the eighties American indie rock scene and was a tribute to the tiny watt college stations populating the far end of the FM radio band—many let the Replacements crash after shows at campuses. Westerberg had said that is where they got most of their airtime…“We ended up going to college in an odd kind of way.”
The song is also about Westerberg’s infatuation with Lynn Blakey, singer-guitarist for North Carolina’s Let’s Active. They’d met when the bands shared a bill at San Francisco’s I-Beam in the fall of 1983. “He followed me around and bummed cigarettes off me,” recalled Blakey. The following night, after a show in Berkeley, the two spent hours walking together. They would exchange calls and letters as Blakey moved to Athens, Georgia, where she joined Michael Stipe’s sister Lynda in the band Oh-OK.
“I figured the only way I’d hear her voice was with her band on the radio . . . on a college station,” said Westerberg. “And one night we were passing through a town somewhere, and she was doing an interview on the radio. I heard her voice for the first time in six months for about a minute. Then the station faded out.” The moment provided the song’s lyric “If I don’t see ya, in a long, long while / I’ll try to find you / Left of the dial.”
The song was on the album Tim and it was released in 1985.
Left of the Dial
Read about your band in some local page Didn’t mention your name, didn’t mention your name The sweet Georgia breezes, safe, cool and warm I headed up north, you headed north
On and on and on and on What side are you on? On and on and on and on What side are you on?
Weary voice that’s laughin’, on the radio once We sounded drunk, never made it on Passin’ through and it’s late, the station started to fade Picked another one up in the very next state
On and on and on and on What side are you on? On and on and on and on and
Pretty girl keep growin’ up, playin’ make-up, wearin’ guitar Growin’ old in a bar, ya grow old in a bar Headed out to San Francisco, definitely not L.A. Didn’t mention your name, didn’t mention your name
And if I don’t see ya, in a long, long while I’ll try to find you Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial
I never get tired of the Kinks. In July 1965, The Kinks released Who’ll Be The Next In Line as a single. This one is a very rocky song with a Kinks riff.
It was first released as the B-side to “Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy” in Britain. The single only made to #17 in the UK. Reprise in America thought Who’ll Be The Next In Line was the best song and released it as the A side with Evrybody’s Gonna Be Happy” as the B.
The song peaked at #34 in the Billboard 100 and #25 in Canada in 1965.
Running to just under two minutes, the song title has no question mark, although its authorship does. Released on the Reprise label, the B-side of “Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy” is credited on the record itself to R. Davies (Ray Davies) and on another pressing as R. Davies/Kassner. This latter appears to be a misprint; Edward Kassner was the man who launched the band’s career, and his name should have appeared below the songwriter credit rather than as part of it.
Here is the B side Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy
Who’ll Be The Next In Line
Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line for heartache? Who’ll make the same mistakes I made over you? Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line? For you? Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next to watch your love fade? All your affections finally fade away. There’ll be no use in sighing. Who’ll be the next in line? For you? One day you’ll find out when I’m gone, I was the best one you had, I was the one who gave you love. Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line for heartaches? Who’ll make the same mistakes I made over you? There’ll be no use in sighing. Who’ll be the next in line? For you? One day you’ll find out when I’m gone, I was the best one you had, I was the one who gave you love. Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line for heartaches? Who’ll make the same mistakes I made over you? Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line? For you? For you?
The Creeps sound like they came from the garages in the sixties but it was the 1980s. I love the sound they got on this record.
This song is off of their debut album “Enjoy The Creeps” and it was released in 1986. Critics have said that they never did translate the excitement of their live show to records but this one is good. 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.
Their third album, Blue Tomato, was released in 1990. It contained their most popular song, ‘Ooh I Like It’, and it became a major Swedish hit and was eventually voted Best Song Of The Year by MTV viewers in 1990.
Down at the Nightclub was written by guitarist Robert Jelinek.
After a few years the band dropped the dirty sound of their debut album and went more for an 80s funk dance sound.
The band broke up in 1997.
Down At The Nightclub
All right We’re going down to the nightclub baby Where the fashion lights are all so gay And the music’s so loud I tell you we’re the in-crowd We’re the grooviest gang around
I got a battering ram in my head The room is turning in a blue green red And the lights sure blows my mind and I might get this time Down at the nightclub
That girl’s dancing in her miniskirt The way she moves now she gives me the hurt Gonna move up to her, let my backbone slip I’m gonna take her on a magic trip
I got a battering ram in my head The room is turning in a blue green red And the lights sure blows my mind and I might get this time Down at the nightclub
I got a battering ram in my head The room is turning in a blue green red And the lights sure blows my mind and I might get this time Down at the nightclub
First time I heard this song I loved it. I hear a strong Hollies and Beatles influence in this. This XTC spinoff band was a great idea and should have gotten airplay here. This is by far my favorite power pop song I’ve feature on Fridays in the past 5 months.
This album was released on April Fools Day 1985 through Virgin Records. It was publicized as a long-lost collection of recordings by a late 1960s group. Under the name The Dukes of Stratosphear, XTC members Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory, and and Dave’s brother Ian Gregory paid tribute to such acts as The Beatles, The Hollies, The Yardbirds, and The Beach Boys to name a few. They produced two albums: 1985’s album 25 O’Clock and 1987’s Psonic Psunspot.
Each musician adopted a pseudonym: “Sir John Johns” (Partridge) “Lord Cornelius Plum” (Dave), “The Red Curtain” (Colin Moulding) and “E.I.E.I. Owen” (Ian). The band dressed themselves in Paisley outfits for the sessions and lit scented candles.
Despite the great songs, the Dukes never made the charts. In the UK, the records outsold XTC’s then current albums The Big Express (1984) and Skylarking (1986).
It’s possible that XTC would not have survived beyond the ’80s without this fun side-project according to former XTC guitar player David Gregory as tensions were high recording The Big Express and Skylarking.
David Gregory:That so many others found it amusing and entertaining simply adds to the joy we derived from its creation.
Andy Partridge talking to producer Steve Nye: “Ooh, I’m a bit funny about how this came out, Steve, because it sounds a bit Beatles-esque to me, and I don’t want people to think I’m copying the Beatles.” He said, “Who gives a fuck? That’s how you’ve written it—just do it!’ … I realised that I should not be ashamed about digging them up, and getting them wrong, and using them as my template. … from that moment onward, I started to recognise that those songwriters—the Ray Davieses, the Lennons and McCartneys, the Brian Wilsons—had gone into my head really deeply
Vanishing Girl
Someone’s knocking in the Distance But I’m deaf and blind She’s not expected home this evening So I leave the world behind
for the Vanishing Girl The Vanishing Girl Yes she’d give you a twirl But she vanishes from my world
So burn my letters and you’d better leave Just one pint a day The whole street’s talking about my White shirts looking so grey
People gossip on the doorstep Think they know the score She’s giving him the runaround The man from number four
Has a Vanishing Girl a Vanishing Girl Yes she’d give you a twirl But she vanishes from my world
Yes the paint is peeling and my Garden is overgrown I got no enthusiasm to even answer the phone When she’s here it makes up for the time she’s
not and it’s all forgotten But when she goes I’m putting on the pose for the Vanishing Girl
If I ever met an alien and he/she/it wanted to know what rock and roll looked and sounded like…I would give them a picture of Keith Richards in 1972 and a copy of Brown Sugar. Next to Start Me Up…this song is probably the Stones most worn out song but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great song especially for those hearing it for the first time…or even the hundredth.
Mick Jagger wrote most of the music and lyrics to this song although as always it’s credited to Jagger/Richards. Keith taught Mick the 5 string G tuning and Mick came up with the great classic riff in this song.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #2 in the UK, #1 in Canada, and #11 in New Zealand in 1971.
Evidently China wasn’t a fan… This was one of four songs The Stones had to agree not to play when they were allowed to perform in China. After getting approval to play in China for the first time in 2003, they canceled because of SARS, a respiratory illness that was going around the country.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 495 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and at number five on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
From Songfacts
The lyric is about slaves from Africa who were sold in New Orleans and raped by their white masters. The subject matter is quite serious, but the way the song is structured, it comes off as a fun rocker about a white guy having sex with a black girl.
Mick Jagger wrote the lyric. According to Bill Wyman, it was partially inspired by a black backup singer named Claudia Lennear, who was one of Ike Turner’s Ikettes. She and Jagger met when The Stones toured with Turner in 1969. David Bowie also wrote his Aladdin Sane track “Lady Grinning Soul” about Lennear.
American-born singer Marsha Hunt is also sometimes cited as the inspiration for the song. She and Jagger met when she was a member of the cast in the London production of the musical Hair, and their relationship, a closely guarded secret until 1972, resulted in a daughter named Karis.
According to the book Up And Down With The Rolling Stones by Tony Sanchez, all the slavery and whipping is a double meaning for the perils of being “mastered” by Brown Heroin, or “Brown Sugar.” The drug cooks brown in a spoon.
The Rolling Stones recorded this in the musically rich but luxury deprived city of Sheffield, Alabama, where Jerry Wexler of the group’s label, Atlantic Records, often sent his acts. The Stones arrived in Sheffield on December 2, 1969, stayed until the 4th, then performed their fateful Altamont Speedway concert on December 6, where they performed this song live for the first time. At the show, a fan was stabbed to death by a Hells Angels security guard.
During their three days in Alabama, The Stones recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, which opened in May 1969 when four of the musicians from FAME Studios left to establish their own company. “Wild Horses” and “You Gotta Move” also came out of these sessions, making it a very productive stop. The engineer at the Muscle Shoals sessions was Jimmy Johnson, the producer/guitarist who was one of the studio’s founders. The Rolling Stones engineer Glyn Johns added overdubs in England (including horns), but he left Johnson’s mix intact. Johnson says that Johns called him from England to compliment him on the mix.
Even though this was recorded in December 1969, The Stones did not release it until April 1971 because of a legal dispute with their former manager, Allen Klein, over royalties. Recording technology had advanced by then, but they didn’t re-record it because the original version was such a powerful take.
Mick Jagger started writing this while he was filming the movie Ned Kelly in the Australian outback. He’s been in a few movies, including Performance, Freejack and The Man From Elysian Fields. Jagger recalled to Uncut in 2015: “I wrote it in the middle of a field, playing an electric guitar through headphones, which was a new thing then.”
In Keith Richards’ 2010 autobiography Life, it floats a theory as to what the lyrics “Scarred old slaver know he doin’ alright” are all about. Some poor guy at their publishing company probably came up with that transcription for the lyrics, but Jagger was most likely singing, “Skydog Slaver,” as “Skydog” was a nickname for Muscle Shoals regular Duane Allman, since he was high all the time.
A year after this was first recorded, The Stones cut another version at Olympic Studios in London with Eric Clapton on guitar and Al Kooper on keyboards. It was considered for release as the single, but was shelved until 2015 when it appeared the a Sticky Fingers reissue.
Originally, Mick Jagger wrote this as “Black Pussy.” He decided that was a little too direct and changed it to “Brown Sugar.”
This was the first song released on Rolling Stones Records, The Stones subsidiary label of Atlantic Records. They used the now-famous tongue for their logo.
The album cover was designed by Andy Warhol. It was a close-up photo of a man wearing tight jeans, and contained a real zipper. This caused considerable problems in shipping, but was the kind of added value that made the album much more desirable (you don’t get this kind of stuff with CDs or downloads).
Sticky Fingers also marked the first appearance of the famous tongue and lips logo, which was printed on the inner sleeve. The logo was designed by John Pasche, who was fresh out of art school (the Royal College of Art in London).
This was used in commercials for Kahlua and Pepsi. The Stones have made big bucks licensing their songs for ads.
The fortunate souls who got to see The Rolling Stones on their nine-date UK tour in 1971 got a preview of this song, since it was included on the setlist even though Sticky Fingers wouldn’t be released for another month.
Jimmy Johnson, who was a guitar player for the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (also known as “The Swampers”), engineered the sessions that produced this song as well as “Wild Horses” and “You Gotta Move.” Johnson worked with many artists, including Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Johnnie Taylor.
Artists to cover this song include Little Richard, Collin Raye and Alice Russell. Bob Dylan performed it on his 2002 US tour.
ZZ Top released a completely different song called “Brown Sugar” in 1971, and “D’Angelo” released his own song with that title in 1995. In 2002, a movie called Brown Sugar was released with a title song by Mos Def called “Brown Sugar (Extra Sweet).”
In 327BC Alexander the Great came across the cultivation of sugar cane in India. From this reed, a dark brown sugar was extracted from the cane by chewing and sucking. Some of this “sweet reed” was sent back to Athens. This was the first time a European had come across sugar. (From the book Food for Thought: Extraordinary Little Chronicles of the World by Ed Pearce)
The bootleg version which has Eric Clapton playing lead slide guitar was recorded at a birthday party for Keith Richards. It is widely considered to have been part of an informal audition by Clapton to become The Stones second guitarist. The bootleg version shows why Clapton likely did not get offered the job, or withdrew himself from consideration: While Clapton plays a million notes a minute, his lead has almost no interaction with the rest of the band. It is like a studio musician simply playing along with a CD that has already been recorded.
In many interviews, Richards has spoken admiringly of his good friend Clapton’s musicianship, but has always commented that the two-guitar sound he and Ron Wood have developed is not Eric’s cup of tea.
This features Bobby Keys on saxophone. A favorite of The Rolling Stones, having guested notably on Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street, he was also heard on John Lennon and Elton John’s hit “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” and on classic albums like George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On.
The year after this was released, Randy Newman released a much more earnest song dealing with slavery: “Sail Away.”
This song gets a mention in the 2002 episode of The Wire, “A Man Must Have A Code.” When a group of detectives are listening to a phone call they intercepted, one of them can figure out what’s being said while the others are baffled. Asked how he can decipher the mumble, he speaks the opening lines of “Brown Sugar” (“Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields, sold in a market down in New Orleans”) and says, “I bet you’ve heard that song 500 times but you never knew, right? I used to put my head to the stereo speaker and play that record over and over.”
Brown Sugar
Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields Sold in the market down in New Orleans Scarred old slaver knows he’s doin’ all right Hear him whip the women just around midnight
Brown sugar, how come you taste so good Brown sugar, just like a young girl should
Drums beatin’ cold, English blood runs hot Lady of the house wonderin’ when it’s gonna stop House boy knows that he’s doin’ all right You should have heard him just around midnight
Brown sugar, how come you taste so good Brown sugar, just like a young girl should
Brown sugar, how come you dance so good Brown sugar, just like a black girl should
I bet your mama was a Cajun Queen And all her boyfriends were sweet sixteen I’m no school boy but I know what I like You should have heard them just around midnight
Brown sugar, how come you taste so good Brown sugar, just like a black girl should
I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, woo How come you, how come you dance so good Yeah, yeah, yeah, woo Just like a, just like a black girl should Yeah, yeah, yeah, woo
The first single released from The Slider, and the third No.1 U.K. hit for T. Rex, “Telegram Sam”
The song peaked at #1 in the UK, #67 in the Billboard 100, #66 in Canada, and #19 in New Zealand in 1971. It’s surprising to me he didn’t do better in Canada and America. My only guess was that glam music never was as big in America as the UK. They did tour in America in the early seventies as a supporting act for bands such as Three Dog Night, Poco, and The Doobie Brothers. Opening up for those bands in America…it’s easy to see how they could not find their target audience.
T-Rex leader Marc Bolan wrote this as an ode to his manager, Tony Secunda. “Telegram Sam” was Bolan’s nickname for his Secunda. Other people who show up in the song were Jungle-face Jake who was Sid Walker, Secunda’s assistant, and “Bobby” is Bob Dylan.
Telegram Sam was the first single to be issued by Marc Bolan’s own T.Rex Wax Co. label, and was released on 21 January 1972.
The B-side featured two songs in the UK, “Cadilac” (as printed on the EMI label of the original single) and “Baby Strange”, the latter also included in the album The Slider.
From Songfacts
When Bolan referred to Secunda as his “Main Man,” it brought the phrase into popular culture.
The goth-rock group Bauhaus covered this song In 1980.
In 1977, on the “Dandy in the Underworld” tour, Marc Bolan sang “Third vision and the David Bowie blues” instead of “3D vision and the California blues” – hinting at David Bowie’s depressive tendencies.
Telegram Sam
Telegram Sam Telegram Sam You’re my main man
Golden Nose Slim Golden Nose Slim I know’s where you’ve been Purple Pie Pete Purple Pie Pete Your lips are like lightning Girls melt in the heat
Telegram Sam You’re my main man Telegram Sam You’re my main man
Bobby’s alright Bobby’s alright He’s a natural born poet He’s just outta sight Jungle faced Jake Jungle faced Jake I say make no mistake About Jungle faced Jake
Automatic shoes Automatic shoes Give me three D vision And the California blues Me I funk but I don’t care I ain’t no square with my corkscrew hair
I didn’t hear this song until I heard it on car commercial. It took me a while to track it down. This band was on the alternative club circuit in the early 80s. Their name was not inspired by William Faulkner’s 1935 novel of the same name as some believe. They were inspired by traffic cones… as simple as that. Bassist Michael Lachowski has said “we chose Pylon because it is severe, industrial, monolithic, functional.”
They were four art students at the University of Georgia in Athens in 1979. Guitarist Randall Bewley and bass guitarist Michael Lachowski began playing music and attempting to form a band in 1978. Neither one of them knew how to play but they started to learn. Drummer Curtis Crowe and vocalist Vanessa Briscoe soon joined.
This song was released in 1979 as a single with “Dub” on the B side.
Mills has said the REM song A Month of Sundays was inspired by them… “I was thinking Pylon when I wrote it, so it’s my tribute to Randy Bewley.” Richard Bewley was Pylon’s guitar player.
They would go on to open for bands like REM, U2, and the B-52s,
When Rolling Stone named R.E.M. “America’s Best Band” in December 1987, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry said, “We’re not the best rock ‘n’ roll band in America”, declaring that Pylon was instead the best.
The band broke up in 1983 deciding to end it while it was still fun.
Vanessa Briscoe on the breakup in 1983: Let’s just quit while we’re having fun.’ That was kind of the idea in the first place. We were just going to perform as long as it was fun. So we broke up and it was a decision we all made together. We accomplished what we set out to do… It’s not that we are miserable, it’s just that we’ve seen all we’re going to see and don’t want to put any more time into it”
They reformed in 1990 when a complication album came out of their music from 1979-1983.
Cool
Pure form Real gone Like wild Good vibes
Everything is cool
There are these forms I like to watch There are these shapes which talk to me
I love forms, and forms love me The more you look, the more you see
When I heard the organ in this song it hooked me. I haven’t posted much of Costello partly because like the Replacements…I got sidetracked in the late 80s away from him and since I started blogging I’m rediscovering him again.
I was 10 years old walking in our old drug store and I heard this artist I never heard before over the speakers…the song they were playing was Alison. The drug store sold records also and they had Elvis’s debut album propped up for viewing. The name threw me because this “Elvis” was a small skinny guy with glasses…that is when I found his music.
Radio Radio was made more famous by the Saturday Night Life performance.
Radio Radio was released as a single in 1978 and peaked at #29 in the UK. It was on the US version of the album This Year’s Model and it peaked at #30 in the Billboard Album Charts, #21 in Canada, and #4 in the UK.
Costello was slated to play his current UK single “Less Than Zero,” on Saturday Night Live in 1977. Costello launched into a few bars of “Less Than Zero,” but then turned to his band and told them to stop. He then apologized to the live audience, saying, “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but there’s no reason to do this song here,” and broke into a full rendition of “Radio Radio,” which had not yet been released.
Lorne Michaels…the God of Saturday Night Live was not pleased.
Costello was banned from Saturday Night Live. It has been said that the corporate brass at NBC (which owned radio properties) objected to the lyrics of “Radio Radio,” but others say it was because Costello went off-script, which was a no no to Lorne Michaels. That was one rule Michaels wanted the cast to know…they were not the Carol Burnett show and they were not to go off script or laugh.
Costello later claimed he was inspired by Jimi Hendrix, who in 1969 stopped a performance of “Hey Joe” on the show Happening for Lulu and launched into the Cream song “Sunshine Of Your Love,” earning him a ban from the BBC.
On Saturday Night Live’s 25th anniversary show in 1999, Costello parodied the incident when he interrupted the Beastie Boys while they were playing “Sabotage,” leading them in a full version of “Radio Radio.”
Elvis Costello:“Before I got into show business, I thought radio was great, So I wrote a song about celebrating it – the thrill of listening to it late at night. This was my imaginary song about radio before I found out how foul and twisted it was.”
From Songfacts
In this song, Costello is protesting the commercialization of late 1970s FM radio. Radio stations would become more and more consolidated over the years, and their playlists tightened up considerably. Eventually, deregulation led to a few companies owning the majority of American radio stations, which led to automated stations. Tom Petty sang about this on his 2002 track “The Last DJ.”
This song is a takedown of radio, but it started out as a loving tribute. Costello wrote the first version of the song as “Radio Soul” when he was in a band called Flip City. They recorded a demo in 1974, but the song was never released.
In “Radio Soul,” Costello sings lovingly about radio, without any trace of vitriol:
I could sail away to the songs that play upon that radio soul
Radio soul
It’s a sound salvation
When he reworked the song in 1977, he changed the title and completely flipped the meaning, reflecting his newfound take on the topic.
On December 17, 1977, Elvis Costello & the Attractions appeared on Saturday Night Live as last minute replacements for the Sex Pistols, whose various criminal records had made getting visas in time difficult.
Costello’s ban was lifted in 1989 when he returned as musical guest, performing “Veronica” and “Let Him Dangle” without incident. His 1977 act of defiance became part of Saturday Night Live lore, and is often recounted in retrospectives of the show’s history.
Bruce Springsteen was an influence on this song, musically and lyrically. The Springsteen ethos is more apparent in the “Radio Soul” version, with the theme of escaping to a better place through the power of music.
In the ’10s, Costello started performing the “Radio Soul” version of this song, explaining that it resonates with him far more than “Radio Radio.” He has clearly mellowed out.
Costello performed the early version of this song, “Radio Soul,” at the Apple iTunes Radio announcement event on September 10, 2013. Introducing the song, he explained that radio was very important to him, since his father was singer for a radio dance band.
The 1999 SNL return and parody of the original event.
The 1977 SNL infamous appearance
Radio Radio
I was tuning in the shine on the late night dial Doing anything my radio advised With every one of those late night stations Playing songs bringing tears to my eyes I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver When the switch broke ’cause it’s old They’re saying things that I can hardly believe They really think we’re getting out of control
Radio is a sound salvation Radio is cleaning up the nation They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don’t give you any choice ’cause they think that it’s treason So you had better do as you are told You better listen to the radio
I wanna bite the hand that feeds me I wanna bite that hand so badly I want to make them wish they’d never seen me
Some of my friends sit around every evening And they worry about the times ahead But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference And the promise of an early bed You either shut up or get cut up, they don’t wanna hear about it It’s only inches on the reel-to-reel And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools Tryin’ to anesthetize the way that you feel
Radio is a sound salvation Radio is cleaning up the nation They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don’t give you any choice ’cause they think that it’s treason So you had better do as you are told You better listen to the radio
Wonderful radio Marvelous radio Wonderful radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio
How can you not like a band who counts Gram Parsons and Punk Rock as their biggest influences? They have a great raw sound. This American band was very successful in the UK in the mid 80s. They had a chance to break big but broke up before they took an offer from one of their label mates.
The Long Ryders were formed Thanksgiving 1981 in west Los Angeles, California and fell in with the ’80s Paisley Underground scene (Red on Green, the Bangles, the Dream Syndicate, the Rain Parade), and widely considered as one of the forerunners of the alt-country genre.
They made their debut with the EP 10-5-60 in 1983, which had a strong garage folk-rock sound. After that they released 3 studio albums in the 80s and then they released Psychedelic Country Soul in 2019 after numerous reunions.
In 1986 they were in Spain headlining the Barcelona festival to over 100,000 which was broadcast live on national radio. In Canada, the Toronto Daily Mail called them “the best thing to happen to roots rock since The Band.” Then in Italy they played eighteenth century opera houses and the press and rock critics loved them.
They built a dedicated following…especially in Europe. However band members Tom Stevens and Stephen McCarthy left the band in 1987 despite the offer of an opening spot on tour with Island Records labelmates U2. The Long Ryders then broke up.
They released their second album State of Our Union in 1985 and Looking For Lewis and Clark became their signature song. It was written by guitarist Sid Griffin. Griffin also wrote books on Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, and Bluegrass music.
Looking for Lewis and Clark peaked at #2 in the UK Country Chart and #59 in the UK pop chart in 1985.
Looking For Lewis and Clark
I thought I saw some diplomat hawking secret plans in the park I thought I saw my President walking through Harlem late after dark In a world of love where they burn like Nero You write them a check and you then add zero In a world of love where they burn like Nero You write them a check and you then add zero Looking For Lewis And Clark
I was standing alone in Mabuhay Gardens (looking for Lewis and Clark!) I was thinking about the late Tim Hardin Well, when Tim get to heaven hope he told Gram About the Long Ryders and just who I am Yeah, no one gave Tim reason to believe So he just packed his bags to leave
Looking for Lewis and Clark Looking for Lewis and Clark Looking for Lewis and Clark
I thought I saw my government running away with my heart I thought I heard Mubute anthems in Johannesburg after dark You can find them in the yellow pages, baby That’s where you get your kickbacks from the Navy Looking for Lewis and Clark Looking for Lewis and Clark Looking for Lewis and Clark
I said a Louie-Louie Lou… Looking for Lewis and Clark Looking for Lewis and Clark Looking for Lewis and Clark
I got into XTC late into the game. I didn’t get to know them until they released I’m The Man Who Murdered Love. I liked this song right away because it has a nice power pop sound. The drums stand out on this song.
This song was XTC’s breakthrough single released in 1979. It was written by bassist Colin Moulding, who shared vocal and songwriting duties with guitarist Andy Partridge. It was on the third, breakthrough, album Drums And Wires.
The album peaked at #174 in the Billboard album charts, #15 in Canada, #34 in the UK, and #12 in New Zealand.
Making Plans For Nigel peaked at #12 in Canada, #17 in the UK, and #29 in New Zealand.
The lyrics are told from the point of view of parents who are certain that their son Nigel is happy in his work, affirming that his future in British Steel “is as good as sealed”, and that he “likes to speak and loves to be spoken to”. As a response to the song, British Steel reportedly gathered four Sheffield employees
named Nigel to talk about job satisfaction for the trade publication Steel News.
From Wiki: The first 20,000 pressings of the single came in a fold-out cover that created a fully playable gameboard of “Chutes and Ladders” adapted to details of Nigel’s “miserable life”, including the purchase of a scooter, job interviews, a holiday in Spain and an engagement to “a very nice girl.” There were two versions of the gameboard, one to be played by Nigel and the other to be played by his parents. As credited on the back cover, the illustrator was Steve Shotter and sleeve design was by Cooke Key.
Colin Moulding:
“Partly biographical, this one. My dad prompted me to write it. He wanted a university future for me and was very overpowering in trying to persuade me to get my hair cut and stay on at school. It got to the point where he almost tried to drag me down the barber’s shop by my hair. I know the song tells of a slightly different situation, but it all boils down to the same thing – parental domination.”
There were no Nigels at school. I wasn’t bullied, but I think I had a natural empathy for people that were. ‘Nigel’ was my song for the bullied, I suppose.
“British Steel was just a bit of naughtiness. What I hadn’t bargained on was the union boss later ringing me up and asking me to join the cause! I had the devil of a job to convince him it was an organization I chose at random.”
Andy Partridge:“Quite early on it had been decided that Making Plans For Nigel was going to be the single. We spent five times longer messing with that song than any of my tracks. At one point I was fuming because my songs were being ignored.”
From Songfacts
The Rembrandts, Primus and Robbie Williams all covered this.
This was covered by Nouvelle Vague, a bossa group, and included on a chillout compilation album known as Breakfast Club: Milan.
Andy Partridge told Uncut: “The things that sound like sheets of metal being struck, that’s a white noise patch on a monophonic Korg synth we had. We decided to do it with this industrial sound and glories, so it hinted that British Steel, which is where Nigel works.”
Making Plans For Nigel
We’re only making plans for Nigel We only want what’s best for him We’re only making plans for Nigel Nigel just needs this helping hand
And if young Nigel says he’s happy He must be happy He must be happy in his work We’re only making plans for Nigel
He has his future in a British steel We’re only making plans for Nigel Nigel’s whole future is as good as sealed And if young Nigel says he’s happy
He must be happy He must be happy in his work Nigel is not outspoken But he likes to speak
And loves to be spoken to Nigel is happy in his work We’re only making plans for Nigel
Lou Reed wrote this song for the album Loaded. This was the last Velvet Undergound album to feature Lou Reed.
Reed left the band right after the album Loaded was recorded. They were booked at Max’s Kansas City in New York City. August 23, 1970. Reed had played two sets when he simply left the stage, walked up to producer Sesnick, said, “I quit,” and walked out the back door, got into his parents’ car (they drove down from Long Island), and rode away. There was no drama or arguments.
Three months later the album was released and failed to chart. Other founding members Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker would leave in 1971 For this reason, it is often considered by fans to be the “last” Velvet Underground album.
In Reed’s 1971 interview with Lester Bangs for Creem magazine, Reed stated that the breakup wasn’t anybody’s fault, but just the way the music business is…he left because he wasn’t making any money, and felt that they’d never be successful.
The band also recorded this song in 1969, during their final weeks with the Verve label, but the well-known version appears on this album.
Lou Reed:“‘Rock and Roll’ is about me. If I hadn’t heard rock and roll on the radio, I would have had no idea there was life on this planet. Which would have been devastating – to think that everything, everywhere was like it was where I come from. That would have been profoundly discouraging. Movies didn’t do it for me. TV didn’t do it for me. It was the radio that did it.”
From Songfacts
Do remember that the album Loaded was supposed to have mainstream appeal. This song perhaps makes the definitive case that Lou Reed boxed in by executive meddling is not the same as Lou Reed given free rein to do whatever he wants by an avant-garde art house. Loaded is an album that divides fans.
Even though it is obviously tailored to mainstream appeal, Velvet Underground managed to slip a subversive edge around “Rock & Roll”: It inverts the standard three-chord progression and has five-bar verses with an especially laid-back approach to the lyrics. It’s done loose and lazy, perfect for the subject, but subtly averting it at the same time.
This looks like a good time to answer the question: What genre do The Velvet Underground belong in? Some say punk, some alternative, some experimental. It was all of those and none of those – Velvet Underground as it was originally formed would doubtless have had the same disdain of conventional labels as does Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead fame (by the way, Lemmy says he identifies more with punk than metal). The most correct identity that is widely accepted is “protopunk” or “inspiration for punk.” While not having a punk sound as it is understood today, they did bring characteristics to rock music (an aggressive attitude, a rebellious spirit, anti-establishment ideas, and a deliberately crude and minimalist sound) which have since become the hallmarks of the punk genre. Punk rock, when it came along in the early 1970s, was about yelling “You think too much and you don’t get it!” at establishment rock (and likely following with “It’s all about the money to you anyway!”). The Velvet Underground had that idea early on, even if they expressed it as John Cale smashing a whole stack of china dishes instead of Johnny Rotten snarling “Anarchy in the UK!” So, we’ll endorse protopunk, not punk.
Alice Cooper recorded a heavy version for his 2021 Detroit Stories album. Alice told Apple Music he loves the “New York heroin chic” vibe of the Velvet Underground original, but for his cover, he thought, “What happens if we take this song to Detroit and put a V8 engine, and soup it up?”
Alice recruited for his version guitarists “honorary Detroiter” Joe Bonamassa, and Steve Hunter, who played with both Alice and Lou Reed in the 1970s.
Rock and Roll
Jenny said When she was just five years old There was nothing happening at all Every time she puts on a radio There was a nothin’ goin’ down at all, Not at all Then one fine mornin’ She puts on a New York station You know, she couldn’t believe What she heard at all She started dancin’ To that fine fine music You know her life Was saved by rock ‘n’ roll Despite all the amputations You know you could just go out And dance to a rock ‘n’ roll station
It was alright It was allright Hey baby, You know it was all right
Jenny said When she was just by five years old You know why parents gonna be the death of us all Two TV sets and two Cadillac cars – Well you know it ain’t gonna help Me at all Then one fine mornin’ She turns on a New York station She doesn’t believe What she hears at all Ooh, She started dancin’ To that fine fine music You know her life Is saved by rock ‘n’ roll, Despite all the computations You could just dance To a rock ‘n’ roll station
And baby it was alright And it was alright Hey it was alright Hey here she comes now! Jump! Jump!
I’ve been listening to this band for the last few days…they combine country with jangle pop on a lot their songs. This band came from Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, but they were often billed as being from Athens, Georgia and was lumped in with the other Athens acts.
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.
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 Emergency Broadcast System. 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).
Though he had no experience on the instrument (having previously played bass), Walls friend John Poe was added as drummer.
The band quickly became staples on the Athens and Atlanta club circuit, signed by Danny Brown’s Atlanta-based dB Records.
Watusi Rodeo was on Guadalcanal Diary’s debut album called Walking In The Shadow of The Big Man released in 1984. They were constantly being overshadowed by the successes other mid-’80s alternative jangle rock bands.
Watusi Rodeo
Come along with me to the Congo land Got a zebra by the tail and a python in my hand Once my home was a Texas plain But now I swing a lasso on an alien terrain
Hottentots and pygmies know where to go Everybody’s heading for the Watusi Rodeo
Cowboys are putting up a big fence around A sacred elephant burial ground Native women stomping up a flurry in the mud Villagers are looking for some cowboy blood
I guess they didn’t like them hats we made ’em wear They don’t look right on the native hair Don’t they know that it’s all for show All for showing at the Watusi Rodeo
Monkeys in the trees just thumbing their nose At the bull riders riding on rhinos Warriors standing with spears in the hands Wondering what’s next from a crazy white man
Natives are restless under these Stetsons What are these cowboys doing in the Congo Look like cows but they’re water buffaloes Ropin and a ridin in the Watusi Rodeo
Oh they look like cows but they’re water buffaloes Everybody’s heading for the Watusi Rodeo
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