Category: Singles

Beach Boys – Don’t Worry Baby

This is my fourth song pick for Hanspostcard’s song draft. The Beach Boys Don’t Worry Baby.

Those who follow my blog and know me…know I like older music than my generation. I was once told by a co-worker that it’s “unnatural” to like music before you were born…which I think is hilarious and totally idiotic. I go through phases with music. When Hans and I talk about The Beatles I tend to listen to them and nothing else for a while…and the same with other bloggers.

I have done this my entire life…I get into something and I’m obsessed. I never really discard anything after my obsession dies down…it keeps coming back and in the case of the Beatles and others… never goes away.

In my senior year of high school I went through a surf music phase. I wore Hawaiian shirts and coco butter everywhere. I was  looking forward to the Florida trip my friends and I were planning in spring. I would roll in the high school parking lot with Jan and Dean, Dick Dale, or The Beach Boys blaring out of my Mustang. I had a hell of a stereo system in my car. When Jan and Dean’s “Surf City” can drown out The Scorpions coming from another car…the system is loud.

During this time surf music hit the musical spot in me. The musicians on those surf records were incredible. This song dug deeper…much deeper. I still listen to the song. Don’t Worry Baby is about a girl and a car…when you are an 18 year old boy…a girl and a car are the two most important topics…at least they were to me. It has always stuck with me and I’ll never forget that year. My first serious girlfriend, a 66 Mustang, and Don’t Worry Baby… 1985 was a good year.

We did go on that spring trip to Cocoa Beach Florida. A fifteen-hour drive one way in a Celica Sports Coupe with 4 guys packed in there. We picked the name (Cocoa Beach) because it sounded great…Yep pretty stupid because we could have driven 7 hours to Pensacola instead.

It was written by Brian Wilson and DJ Roger Christian. This was conceived as a follow-up to the Ronettes #2 hit “Be My Baby.” When Brian Wilson heard the Be My Baby on the radio, he wondered aloud if he could match it. Wilson’s wife Marilyn reassured him, saying, “Don’t Worry, Baby.”

This is pop perfection by the Beach Boys.

Don’t Worry Baby

Well it’s been building up inside of me
For oh I don’t know how long
I don’t know why
But I keep thinking
Something’s bound to go wrong

But she looks in my eyes
And makes me realize
And she says “don’t worry, baby”
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Everything will turn out alright

Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby

I guess I should’ve kept my mouth shut
When I started to brag about my car
But I can’t back down now because
I pushed the other guys too far

She makes me come alive
And makes me wanna drive
When she says “don’t worry, baby”
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Everything will turn out alright

Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby

She told me “Baby, when you race today
Just take along my love with you
And if you knew how much I loved you
Baby, nothing could go wrong with you”

Oh what she does to me
When she makes love to me
And she says “don’t worry, baby”
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Everything will turn out alright

Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby
Don’t worry, baby

Stems – Love Will Grow

I posted a song by the Stems earlier called Tears Me In Two and they recorded this song at the same session. They released their first EP Rosebud Volume 1 in 1985 and it included  Love Will Grow.

The EP reached #72 in the Australian charts in 1986.

The Stems were a garage punk band formed in Perth, Western Australia in late 1983. They were hugely popular in Australia. The band broke up in 1987 and reunited in 2003 and are still together. The still have three of the original members. Dom Mariani, Julian Matthews, and David Shaw.

They are very popular to this day in Australia. Their debut single “She’s a Monster/Make you Mine” reached the top of the independent charts and also sold 500 copies in England. The single was to be the 2nd highest selling independent single for Australia in 1985, second only to the Hoodoo Gurus.

They were one of the few indie bands that sometimes made it on the mainstream charts.

Love Will Grow

Feeling down and not so bright
Another lost and lonely night
I try so hard not to feel this way
I could not fight these blues away

Then you came along and you made me know
How it is our love will grow
How it is our love will grow

Yesterday I could not speak
My days were sad, confused, and weak
A cut was bleeding deep inside of me
Anxiety that I could not hide

Then you came along and you made me know
How it is our love will grow
How it is our love will grow
How it is our love will grow
How it is our love will grow

Then you came along and you made me know
How it is our love will grow
How it is our love will grow
How it is our love will grow
How it is our love will grow

Rolling Stones – Sister Morphine

A dark country blues song by the Stones with help from Marianne Faithfull.

Mick Jagger wrote the music in Rome in 1968. Marianne Faithfull wrote the lyrics, but The Stones did not give her an official songwriting credit until they released it on their 1998 live album No Security. The Stones were very protective about songwriting credits to say the least…they made sure most of their songs were credited to Jagger/Richards.

The Stones recorded this in 1968. Ry Cooder played the bottleneck guitar on this track. He was filling in for the Brian Jones, who died before this song was released. This was the only song on Sticky Fingers that Mick Taylor, who replaced Jones, didn’t play on.

A little trivia on Sticky Fingers… The Sticky Fingers album had an actual zipper on the cover. On many copies, this track was damaged because the zipper pressed into it. To solve the problem, the zipper was opened before the album shipped, this way it just dented the label.

Marianne Faithfull: “I just liked the name, and loved Lou Reed’s work, ‘Sister Ray and ‘Heroin.’ I liked the idea poetically. I thought it was like Baudelaire, but the song doesn’t glamorise anything. It was a really interesting vision.”

From Songfacts

Marianne Faithfull recorded this during The Stones’ Let It Bleed sessions (she was Mick Jagger’s girlfriend at the time). Her version was released in 1969 and tanked. Decca Records pulled it after 2 weeks.

The song is about a man who gets in a car accident and dies in the hospital while asking for morphine.

Faithfull was not a heavy drug user when she wrote the lyrics, but became an addict in 1971, at the same time The Stones’ version was released. She called this her “Frankenstein,” consuming her and leading her into an abyss of drugs. In later years, she was able to break the habit resume a successful career as both a singer and an actress.

Some of the lyrics were inspired by the time Anita Pallenberg, Keith’s girlfriend, was hospitalized and given morphine.

The Stones recorded this in 1968, but their version was not released until 1971.

This was left off the Spanish release of Sticky Fingers because of the explicit content. It was replaced with “Let It Rock.”

This was influenced by the Velvet Underground, who were writing dark songs about drugs, especially heroin.

Not long after writing the song, the lyrics came painfully true to Marianne Faithfull. She recalled to The Guardian: “The story is about a man in a car accident in hospital, who’s very damaged and wants to die. It isn’t exactly what happened to me, but my feelings about it are probably the same. I was hospitalized in Sydney after an attempted suicide after Brian Jones died. It was a terrible time.”

Sister Morphine

Here I lie in my hospital bed
Tell me, sister Morphine, when are you coming round again?
Oh, I don’t think I can wait that long
Oh, you see that I’m not that strong

The scream of the ambulance is sounding in my ears
Tell me, sister Morphine, how long have I been lying here?
What am I doing in this place?
Why does the doctor have no face?

Oh, I can’t crawl across the floor
Ah, can’t you see, Sister Morphine, I’m trying to score

Well it just goes to show
Things are not what they seem
Please, sister Morphine, turn my nightmares into dreams
Oh, can’t you see I’m fading fast?
And that this shot will be my last

Sweet cousin Cocaine, lay your cool cool hand on my head
Ah, come on, sister Morphine, you better make up my bed
‘Cause you know and I know in the morning I’ll be dead
Yeah, and you can sit around, yeah and you can watch all
The clean white sheets stained red

Guadalcanal Diary – Ghosts On The Road

Ghosts On The Road was on their first LP Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man released in 1984. So far this will be the third song I’ve posted from Guadalcanal Diary and all three have been on this album. I will be getting this album soon. My next post by them will be a selection from a different album…but I know of 2 more on this album that this album that I will post in the future.

Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man drew a huge response from college radio and critics and college radio programmers. That in turn got the attention of the big labels. In 1985 Elektra Records signed them and reissued the album. More touring followed, as did a cameo appearance in a comedy called Rockin’ Road Trip playing Ghosts Of The Road.

The band formed in the early eighties in  Marietta, Georgia. They broke up in 1989. They would reform in 1997 but didn’t release any more new material.

Give this band a listen…you may like them.

Ghosts On The Road

Phantom headlights, broken white line
Bloodstains on the highway, glowing power lines
Signal thirty whispers softly through the pine

He said that no one could take her away
None that could tear them apart
The song she was singing made a mans blood run cold
Like a moth in flames, torn from his heart

Ghost on the road, ah
Ghost on the road, ah
Ghost on the road, ah
Ghost on the road, ah

Flashing road signs misty red eyes
lost on the highway, not a soul in sight
endless black ribbon racing through the night

She said that nothing in the world would survive
lonely spirit float on the wind
No candles burned to light his way in this life
No one saw the veil of sorrow closing to an end

Ghost on the road, ah
Ghost on the road, ah
Ghost on the road, ah
Ghost on the road, ah

Four barrells roll, down a country road
Driver never sleeps, engine never slows
They say he’ll stop one day and look back to see
a girl who waits by the bend
Her silvery laugh will remind him of one past
by his side until the night must call her home again

Ghost on the road, ah

…

Church – The Unguarded Moment

This is another band I wish I would have known more about in the 80s.

This song’s main riff reminds me a little of Ticket To Ride after being juiced up a little. The Church was an Australian alternative band that released this song in 1981.  It was the second single from their 1981 debut album, Of Skins and Heart.

It was written by Steve Kilbey, lead singer and bassist and Mikela Uniacke, who was his wife at the time. The lyrics caught my attention in this song. They are well put together and clever

The song peaked at #22 in Australia and #19 in New Zealand in 1981. The band is still together but Steve Kilbey remains the only original member. They have released 25 albums in their career and have charted everywhere.

The album peaked at #7 in New Zealand, #22 in Australia, and #31 in Canada.

From Wiki: In January 2018, as part of Triple M’s “Ozzest 100”, the ‘most Australian’ songs of all time, “The Unguarded Moment” was ranked number 57.

The Unguarded Moment

So hard
Finding inspiration
I knew you’d find me crying
Tell those girls with rifles for minds
That their jokes don’t make me laugh
They only make me feel like dying
In an unguarded moment

So long
Long between mirages
I knew you’d find me drinking
Tell those men with horses for arms
That their jokes don’t make me bleed
They only make me feel like shrinking
In an unguarded moment

So deep
Deep without a meaning
I knew you’d find me leaving
Tell those friends with cameras for eyes
That their hands don’t make me hang
They only make me feel like breathing

In an unguarded moment
In an unguarded moment
In an unguarded moment
In an unguarded moment
In an unguarded moment
In an unguarded moment
In an unguarded moment
In an unguarded moment
(In an unguarded moment)
In an unguarded moment
(In an unguarded moment)
In an unguarded moment
(In an unguarded moment)

Replacements – Answering Machine

This is raw, raw, and more raw. It didn’t fit in with the 80s mainstream and is one of the reasons I like it so much.

There are not as many answering machines anymore…although we still have one that is connected to our VOIP phone. We live in the middle of the country where cell phones are iffy sometimes.

Paul is the only Replacement on this song. He did the guitars, percussion, and vocals.

Westerberg liked a girl in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and would court her long-distance. Sometimes he’d call to talk her and get her answering machine instead. He said at the time that he wasn’t a modern person and that technology irritated him. If technology did in the 80s I can’t imagine what he feels today.

He poured that frustration into “Answering Machine.” He considers it one of the best songs he did with the Replacements. The song was on the album Let It Be released in 1984 and is considered one of their best albums. It was ranked number 241 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

At the song’s conclusion, amid a wall of noise and effects, he would shout out Michigan’s 313 area code; he also threw out a couple others, including New York City’s 212, to cover his bases with a few other girls, just in case.

Paul Westerberg: “There was real passion, and there was a real person on the other end, and that made it all come to life.”

Answering Machine

Try and breathe some life into a letter
Losing hope, we’ll never be together
My courage is at its peak
You know what I mean
How do you say you’re okay
To an answering machine?
How do you say goodnight
To an answering machine?

Big time’s got its losers
Small town’s got its vices
A handful of friends
One needs a match, one needs some ice
Call-waiting phone in another time zone
How do you say I miss you
To an answering machine?
How do say good night
To an answering machine?

(If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again
If you need help, dial the number…)

I get enough of that

Try to free a slave of ignorance
Try and teach a whore about romance

How do you say I miss you
To an answering machine?
How do you say good night to
An answering machine?
How do you say I’m lonely to
An answering machine?
The message is very plain
Oh, I hate your answering machine
I hate your answering machine
I hate your answering machine…

(If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again…
If you need help…)

…

Connells – ’74-’75 ….80’s Underground Mondays

This is a very good acoustic pop song by the Connells.

The Connells were an alternative rock group formed in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1984 by David Connell (bass), his brother Mike Connell (guitar), Doug MacMillan (vocals) and John Shultz (drums), who was soon replaced by former Johnny Quest percussionist Peele Wimberley. In 1990 they added Steve Potak (keyboards) to their line up.

The band placed some songs in the alternative charts in the late 80s and 90s as they were played heavily on college radio The band released their 8th album in 2001 and since then haven’t done much. They never broke up but would get together and play various concerts… they are about to release their 9th album Steadman’s Wake on September 24, 2021.

This acoustic 1993 song became an unexpected smash hit in Europe, topping the pop charts in a couple of countries. The song peaked at #14 in the UK and was #1 in Sweden and Norway…It was on their Ring album.

The video is pretty cool. It was originally shot at Needham B. Broughton High School in the band’s hometown Raleigh, North Carolina in 1993, and features members of the Class of 1975 showing their yearbook pictures and them in 1993. In 2015 they remixed the song and updated the video to show the classmates they filmed in 1993 originally… and what they looked like now.

’74 – ’75

Got no reason for coming to me
And the rain running down
There’s no reason
And the same voice coming to me like it’s all slowin’ down
And believe me

I was the one who let you know
I was your sorry-ever-after seventy-four, seventy-five

It’s not easy
Nothin’ to say ’cause it’s already said
It’s never easy
When I look on in your eyes then I find that I’ll do fine
When I look on in your eyes then I’ll do better

I was the one who let you know
I was your sorry-ever-after ‘seventy-four, seventy-five
Giving me more and I’ll define
‘Cause you’re really only after seventy-four, seventy-five

Got no reason for coming to me
And the rain running down
There’s no reason
When I look on in your eyes then I find that I’ll do fine
When I look on in your eyes then I’ll do better

I was the one who let you know
I was sorry-ever-after seventy-four, seventy-five
Giving me more and I’ll define
‘Cause you’re really only after seventy-four, seventy-five

Seventy-four, seventy-five
Seventy-four, seventy-five
Seventy-four, seventy-five

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%2774%E2%80%93%2775

Lyres – Help You Ann

The guitar on this song hooked me…it has a tremolo effect that resembles The Smiths How Soon Is Now.

A band named DMZ broke up in 1979 and from that lead singer and organist Jeff “Monoman” Conolly formed Lyres in Boston. The original lineup of the band featured Conolly, Rick Coraccio (bass), Ricky Carmel (guitar), and Paul Murphy (drums). The nickname Monoman for Jeff Conolly came because of his love of monophonic recordings of the ’60s and in part because of his monomaniacal obsession with vintage rock & roll.

A four-song EP that came out in 1981 called AHS-1005. The EP won the group attention outside of Boston, and a single followed in 1983, “I Really Want You Right Now” with  the B side “Help You Ann.” Jeff Conolly wrote Help You Ann.

The band has released 8 studio and live albums and 3 EPs. The band is still together and playing.

The song was included on the On Fyre album released in 1984. From Wiki: Trouser Press called the album “simply the [garage-rock] genre’s apotheosis, an articulate explosion of colorful organ playing, surging guitars and precisely inexact singing. AllMusic gave it 4 out of 5 stars.

In 2018 Jeff Conolly announced that a new album by the Lyres was being recorded.

Help You Ann

There he go and he talk to you just like a fool
He’s got no use for you now and that’s why I feel the same way too

Well, he’s done putting you down and as cynical as he can be
He spending money on some things that you used to give to me for free

Sometimes I get so mad
And I wanna hurt you
But I did the best I can
And I wanna, I wanna help you, Ann

He’s so bad, he stole up all the money that you made
Yeah, he’s got a use for you now
An apartment on the choo choo train

Well, he’s no good for you Ann
When I kill him, I’ll snatch you one day
That’s right, I want you myself
Spend up all the money I could save

So I’m back here again
‘Cause I wanted you so
Said, I wanna be your man
And I wanna, I wanna help you, Ann

And I wanna help you, Ann
Said, I wanna help you, Ann
And I wanna help you, Ann
And I wanna, I wanna help you, Ann
Said I wanna, I wanna help you, Ann
Just as fast as I can
And I wanna help you, Ann
Just as fast as I can
And I wanna help you, Ann

And I wanna help
Said, I wanna help you, Ann
Just as fast as I can
And I wanna help you, Ann
And I wanna help
Said, I wanna help you, Ann
Just as fast as I can, right

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyres_(band)

Nomads – Where The Wolf Bane Blooms

When I see a title like that I just have to listen. I could not just sit by and not listen. I told John at 2loud2oldmusic that some songs and song titles are like big red giant buttons…that you just have push. With that title I had to listen…I’m I’m glad I did.

They have a huge sound. I have to wonder how many bands have gone by the name The Nomads in the history of garage bands? They are a Swedish Garage Punk band founded in 1981. The were founded by by Hans Östlund, Nick Vahlberg, Joakim Tärnström, and Ed Johnson.

They are still together with only Hans Östlund and Nick Vahlberg.

The Nomads released an album with this name in 1983. They released the single in 1987. They have never got big airplay on radio or much TV exposure but they still have a huge fanbase built on releasing albums and touring.

The Nomads have released 19 albums…the last being in 2015…add to that around 40 singles.

Where The Wolf Bane Blooms

I know a place, it seems really strange
Some things will never change
Thunder and lightning lining my eyes
Even though the bats fill up the skies
But in the pale light of the moon
You’ll maybe see the wolf bane bloom

Ancient voices will appear
Call the hunted don’t tread here
You may be pure of heart and pure of soul
But you’ll become a wolf when the moon is full
And in the pale light of the moon
You’re gonna see the wolf bane bloom

James Gang – Midnight Man

This is my third song pick for Hanspostcard’s song draft. The James Gang Midnight Man.

My next door neighbor while growing up was named Clint. He was a teenager my sister’s age. He would sometimes let me tag along with him and his friends. They  would play albums in his room and this James Gang album was one of the most popular. He only let me tag along because he liked my sister…being nice to me didn’t help him in that department but he was a good sport about it.

I knew better than to cause trouble with the guys….I just stayed quiet and listened to the music or I would be kicked out of the room. I was mesmerized by this song as a kid and still am. I was only 7 or 8 but hanging out with older kids was cool and listening to this new…to me…music stirred something in me.

This was about the time in my young life I realized…the Osmonds weren’t cool and I had to tell that to my Osmond obsessed sister…she didn’t give a flip what I thought and continued on with Puppy Love and with her Donny posters.

When I think of the James Gang I think of this simple slower song. Yes Funk #49, The Bomber, and Walk Away are more popular but this song stayed with me. I think Joe Walsh’s guitar tone and voice are absolutely perfect in this song.

In the third verse Joe steps aside and lets Mary Sterpka take it and it works well. When she sings “be mine” and then goes up high…it gives me chills. Joe plays some simple but creative guitar throughout the closing minute but doesn’t over play. I also like the Hawaiian guitar licks which makes the song  different than their other songs.

It peaked at #80 in 1971. Thirds was the last James Gang album made with Joe Walsh. It was never a big song but that doesn’t matter…it filled a musical need when I needed it. Walsh wrote the song.

Thank you Clint for letting a little kid tag along and hear this wonderful music…sorry my sister wasn’t interested.

I just realized I have picked two Cleveland picks in a row… The Raspberries and the James Gang both hail from Cleveland…hey Cleveland Rocks!

Midnight Man

I’m the midnight man
I do what I can
To make sure that I am
The midnight man
Midnight man’s on time
Everything is fine
All the words in rhyme
With everything

[solo]

Midnight man, you’re pretty
Midnight man, you’re fine
Midnight man, be careful
Midnight man
Midnight man, be mine

Cutting Crew – (I Just) Died In Your Arms ….Power Pop Friday

I hardly ever post #1 songs but when this song came out our radio station liked it. No they LOVED IT. I kid you not it was on every hour. It got to be a running joke with my friends on how many times we would hear this song in an afternoon.

It was either this song or the Outfield song “Your Love”…they were a year apart but they seemed joined at the hip on our rock radio station. The two songs had distinctive openings…Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight and Josie’s on a vacation far away…

Our band was playing in a bar at this time and we would just play the opening line and mock it… Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight It must have been something I ate… everyone applauded and laughed because they were as tired of it as we were. 

After a few years I hardly heard it anymore and then something  happened…I started to like it…a lot!  It is a fun 80s style power pop song that I probably liked when I first heard it but I heard it too many times back then. It was written by Cutting Crew lead singer Nick Van Eede.

They formed in London in 1985 and hit big with their first album Broadcast with two hit singles. 

The song was huge…it peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100,  #1 in Canada, #4 in Canada, and #50 in New Zealand. 

Nick Van Eede:“Yes, I cannot tell a lie. It’s a song written about my girlfriend (who is actually the mother of my daughter). We got back together for one night after a year apart and I guess there were some fireworks but all the time tinged with a feeling of ‘should I really be doing this?’ Hence the lyric, ‘I should have walked away.

I know it sounds corny but I awoke that morning and wrote the basic lyrics within an hour and wrote and recorded the demo completely within three days.”

From Songfacts

Richard Branson started Virgin Records in England in 1972, but it wasn’t until 1987 and the release of Cutting Crew’s Broadcast album that Virgin broke through in America. Nick Van Eede told us about his experience with the record company: “We were signed to Siren records which was part of Virgin so we were always a little bit on the outside but it was the ’80s and they certainly put their money where their mouth was. We were flown to New York for the initial recordings of the album and this is where we got a great recording of ‘I’ve Been In Love Before.’ Then we were flown to Australia to shoot videos… all a bit crazy really. We gave them their first US #1 with ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms’ but the company soon outgrew us as music stars were changing in the early ’90s. We wrote one slightly veiled song having a pop at US A&R antics in our ‘Between A Rock And A Hard Place’ from The Scattering (1989) album. I sang, ‘I got a brick but I can’t find a window,’ as they continually blocked our album’s release for months making us lose so much momentum.”

Mika used a great deal of this song on his 2007 track “Relax (Take It Easy).” Says Nick: “I know as well as any other song writer that these things can happen and its just the way of the composing world. I am completely confident Mika stumbled in to it accidentally and I am proud to be given the co write… Kerching!!!”

This song has been sampled or interpolated by a number of rap and R&B artists. Jay-Z did a remake of the song, and Amerie used it on her track “I Just Died.”

This was used in the Stranger Things episode “Suzie, Do You Copy?” (2019) and the Cold Case episode “Lonely Hearts” (2006). It also appears in these movies:

The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Hot Rod (2007)
Never Been Kissed (1999)

In a 2020 Planters commercial that aired during the Super Bowl in 2020, Matt Walsh and Wesley Snipes are riding the Peanutmobile, singing along as this song plays on the radio. Mr. Peanut is driving. When he swerves to avoid an armadillo, the vehicle goes off a cliff and the three are left hanging by a tree. To save the others, Mr. Peanut plunges to a fiery death. His elegy reads: “Mr. Peanut. 1916-2020.”

(I Just) Died In Your Arms

Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must have been something you said
I just died in your arms tonight

I keep lookin’ for somethin’ I can’t get
Broken hearts lie all around me
And I don’t see an easy way to get out of this
Her diary, it sits by the bedside table
The curtains are closed, the cats in the cradle
Who would’ve thought that a boy like me could come to this

Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must’ve been something you said
I just died in your arms tonight
Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must’ve been some kind of kiss
I should’ve walked away
I should’ve walked away

Is there any just cause for feelin’ like this?
On the surface, I’m a name on a list
I try to be discreet, but then blow it again
I’ve lost and found, it’s my final mistake
She’s loving by proxy, no give and all take
‘Cause I’ve been thrilled to fantasy one too many times

Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must’ve been something you said
I just died in your arms tonight
Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must’ve been some kind of kiss
I should’ve walked away
I should’ve walked away

It was a long hot night
She made it easy, she made it feel right
But now it’s over, the moment has gone
I followed my hands not my head, I know I was wrong

Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must’ve been something you said
I just died in your arms tonight
I, I just died in your arms tonight
It must’ve been some kind of kiss
I should’ve walked away
I should’ve walked away

…

Laika and The Cosmonauts – Psycko

I don’t feature many instrumentals but this one reminds me of the great Telstar. Laika and The Cosmonauts formed in 1987 and was a working band until 2008. The band was named after Laika, a Soviet space dog that died on board Sputnik 2 in 1957. This song came out in 1994 on the Instruments of Terror album…without a hint of the 90s….80s, or 70s for that matter. 

They are a Finnish band that take surf rock, ‘60s spy movie music and other twangy influences and give them a spacey feeling. 

The song on the album is listed as Psyko (Themes From “Psycho” And “Vertigo”) and they give you an early 60s feel. It seems they take Telstar as a base and go from there. 

Musicians who like this band? Del Rey, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench from the Heartbreakers, and Dick Dale just to name a few. 

They released 6 studio albums, 2 compilation albums, and a live album. If you have some time look them up on youtube. 

No Lyrics…just sit back and dig the groovy music

Primal Scream – Gentle Tuesday

I have heard mostly the 90s music from this band…I recently found this album from 1987 and love it. They formed in 1982 in Glasgow Scotland and are still together today. The only original member left is lead singer Bobby Gillespie. They have shifted in sound through the years. This song was during their power pop period.

This song was on the Sonic Flower Groove album released in 1987. It was met with mixed to bad reviews at the time.  The bad reviews caused internal strife within the band. Two members Jim Beattie and Gavin Skinner subsequently resigned. The band then changed directions and shifted to a more rock sound. In the mid-eighties a Byrds sound was not exactly the height of popularity but it would start taking off with bands like REM soon after.

I love the jangling guitar and the overall sound of the song and album. This song, Imperial, Treasure Trip, and many more make this a very good album to me.

Most reviewers now look back on the album with praise. It charted at #62 in the UK charts in 1987. Gentle Tuesday peaked at #87 in the UK charts in 1987.

Gentle Tuesday

Shadow masking matters
Can’t conceal the way you really feel
It doesn’t fit our souls exist
That of they asked me how it is

New morning dew for you
Sweet honey hips your lips
Hold spells when cast they dwell
Like magic in your kiss

Confusion colours cruel designs
Unhappy girl, you’re out of time

Gentle Tuesday
Sad and lonely eyes
Gentle tuesday
See yourself tonight

Memories as fat as bees
Presents a mess of poison tears
A word unkind that tricks our minds
We really warned before your time

Happiness, nothing less
A universal way
Bad seeds but fruit are sweet
You choke on empty days
Confusion colours cruel designs
Unhappy girl you’re out of time

Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – Too Cool To Dance

I have to thank Christian (Christian’s Music Musings) for introducing me to this band and to this song in particular. They resemble some of the roots revival bands I’ve been listening to from the 80s. This small band is a lot of fun.

The band is from  Brown County, Indiana. The band consists of The Reverend Peyton, “Washboard” Breezy Peyton, and Max Senteney the drummer. Peyton’s guitar playing is spot on. He uses finger picks to play and also holds the bottom end since they don’t have a bass player. When I saw this video on Christian’s site I went to youtube and got lost in their many songs. They are worth a trip down the youtube rabbit hole. The band can hold a groove and he is an excellent guitar player.

Josh “The Reverend” Peyton first influences were his dad’s records such as Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan. He eventually tried to learn the finger-picking style of artists like Charlie Patton. At the time Peyton was unable to master it, instead playing more pick-oriented blues.

Him and “Washboard” Breezy Peyton were married in 2003 and have been touring ever since. The band has had success…per Wiki: The band released The Front Porch Sessions on March 10, 2017 on the Thirty Tigers label, debuting at #1 on the iTunes Blues chart, and #2 on the Billboard Blues chart

Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band

They recorded this album on analog tape which I give a thumbs up to. Dance Songs For Hard Times, was released on April 9, 2021. This is their 10th album.

Dance Songs for Hard Times (CD) – Big Damn Band

Reverend Peyton: “I was thinking about all the times where I’ve been somewhere and felt too cool to dance,” “I didn’t want to be that way. Not being able to do anything last year, I had this feeling of, ‘Man, I’m not going to waste any moment like this in my life – ever.’ ”

Too Cool To Dance

I been dreaming about a night like this
I been dreaming about your sweet kiss
But it won’t happen if we ain’t on the floor
And it don’t matter what them folks say
They gonna talk some anyway
The time is right now
What are we waiting for?

We may not get another chance
Please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance
Our gift tonight is the circumstance
Please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance

The stars are high above so bright
And the song is hitting us just right
It may never be this good again
It’s rough outside but not in here
They’re all fake but we’re sincere
And pretty soon this old song will end

We may not get another chance
Please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance
Our gift tonight is the circumstance
Please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance

We may not get another chance
Please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance
Our gift tonight is the circumstance
Please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance

We may not get another chance
Oh, please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance
Our gift tonight is the circumstance
Please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance

Oh please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance
Please don’t tell me
You’re too cool to dance

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Reverend_Peyton%27s_Big_Damn_Band

 

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