Song-a-Day

"Chicken Payback" - The Bees

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 03:15:00 +0000

I used to play this at work every Friday afternoon. It's just a Friday afternoon kind of song.

"The Blues are Still Blue" - Belle & Sebastian

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:54:00 +0000

Sorry for the absence. Let's set the wayback machine for 2006: A young Hannah Montana premiered on TV. America mourned the Crocodile Hunter. And Windows Vista was made available to a precious few.
Also, Belle & Sebastian released an album with a song I liked.

"Tornadoes" - Drive-By Truckers

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:19:00 +0000

Drive-By Truckers are writing some of the best songs being put out right now. This track (pun intended?) just blows me away.

"Timothy" - The Buoys

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:13:00 +0000

In the history of rock music (frankly, you can include classical music history in this statement) precious few songs about cannibalism actually cracked the Top 20. But in 1971, that's exactly where the Buoys would go. The guy who wrote the song - Rupert Holmes - ended up with a huge hit years later ("Escape (The Pina Colada Song)"), but it didn't involve eating people nearly as much.

"Send Me Down to Tucson" - Mel Tillis

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:49:00 +0000

Mel Tillis didn't exactly tear up the charts with this one, but the fact that he played in in the constantly repeated (on HBO and Prism) "Every Which Way But Loose" and the fact that it mentioned the town of my birth made it a song I had great interest in. Only decades later did I realize Mel was being pretty frisky in this one. I guess that chimpanzee from the movie probably isn't around anymore. How long do those things live?

"The Bends" - Radiohead

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 04:36:00 +0000

Here's the era of Radiohead I like the best. You might recognize it as the era Radiohead fans mostly ignore. Also, cassettes were cool.

"Streams of Whiskey" - The Shout Out Louds

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 04:29:00 +0000

Another facet of the Shout Out Louds. Nice singalong.

"You Can Make Him Like You" - The Hold Steady

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:25:00 +0000

One of my favorite songs by my favorite band. Just fantastic.

"Say Goodbye to Hollywood" - Billy Joel

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:30:00 +0000

For whatever reason I tend to like some of Billy Joel's less successful singles better than most of his huge hits. Case in point...

"Big Surrender" - Ghosty

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 03:26:00 +0000

Lawrence, Kansas's Ghosty just released a new CD, but I can't seem to find anywhere to get a copy. So to fill the void, here's a track of theirs from 2005. If the new album builds on the last one's promise, it could be sweet.

"Rock! Rock! Till You Drop" - Def Leppard

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:17:00 +0000

It wasn't one of the fantastic singles off of Pyromania, but this one led off the album, and kicked off in style. Plus I heard the final five seconds "Too Loud...too loud" every time I rewound my cassette to listen to "Photograph" again...

"Mother of God" - Close Lobsters

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:22:00 +0000

As a rule, I don't like long songs. Jam bands simply bore me and basically any cool musical idea generally bores me after 3:30 or 4 minutes. But not the Close Lobsters' album track "Mother of God". It actually is one of my all-time faves.

"Cha Cha Twist" - The Detroit Cobras

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:56:00 +0000

Here's a fun one. Tremendous song to play at a party. Loudly.

"Hot in Herre" - Jenny Owen Youngs

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 03:59:00 +0000

Jersey girl Jenny Owen Youngs turns the old rap standard (are we to the point where we have rap standards?) into something completely different.

"That's When I Think of You" - 1927

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:10:00 +0000

The story of this song begins 6 years before this song even came out. Well, actually 7...
Back in 1981, an Australian band called Moving Pictures topped the Aussie charts for weeks on end with a song called "What About Me?". It's a great track and I will tell its long twisty story someday down the road. But suffice to say the song was a minor hit - twice - in the United States, but that was it for Moving Pictures and major success in the USA.
Years later, the guitarist for Moving Pictures, Garry Frost, formed another band: 1927. Again in Australia these guys did just fine, with a bunch of hit singles. But only one even charted in the United States. "That's When I Think of You" peaked...at #100 on the Billboard chart. But, like Moving Pictures, 1927 was much better than their success stateside might indicate. Listen to this one and then try to figure why it wouldn't have done much better...

"Space Age Love Song" - A Flock of Seagulls

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:33:00 +0000

It seems like the trend now is to label each 80's artist with one song they performed. A Flock of Seagulls has clearly been tagged as a one-hit wonder when they are actually a three-hit wonder. The follow-up to their Top 10 hit "I Ran" (overplayed since then, if you ask me) was the vastly underrated "Space Age Love Song". Not a lot of lyrics in this one, but that's okay because AFOS really specialized in texturized music. In fact, one of their instrumental tracks, "D.N.A.", actually won a Grammy. But I digress. Enjoy.

"Send Me an Angel" - Dirty on Purpose

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 04:34:00 +0000

NYC's Dirty on Purpose has been turning out interesting stuff for a few years now; their new EP features this cover of the Real Life classic.

"The Lucky One" - Freedy Johnston

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:49:00 +0000

Another fantastic woulda-coulda-shoulda, Freedy Johnston came dangerously close to success. Rolling Stone named him Songwriter of the Year in 1994 in fact. But alas, major fame was going to elude him. I don't know why: check out the writing on this classic.

"Steppin' Out" - Joe Jackson

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 04:25:00 +0000

At its height of eclecticism, Top 40 radio had room for everything. Which is why the early 1980's was the only time that "Steppin' Out" could have hit big. Truly it is one of the best singles of all-time. I defy you to find another track it imitated. A true original. Make room for it in your heart.

"One Glass of Water" - The Bees

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:03:00 +0000

This track was released about 2 years ago and not - as you might wonder - in 1966.

"Time to Pretend" - MGMT

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:25:00 +0000

My friend Jeff J. told me about these guys the other day. They were on Letterman. They remind me a little of the Stone Roses. Not bad.

"Put This Love to the Test" - Jon Astley

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:46:00 +0000

Can you actually hear a man leer? I kind of think you can during Jon Astley's 1988 hit "Put This Love to the Test". Astley had a couple of minor hits, but this one really sounded like it was going to be a major one - I'm still not exactly sure why it didn't click. I also think this song should be played at more weddings...

"No Romance" - The Rainmakers

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 21:55:00 +0000

Missouri's Rainmakers are one of my all-time favorite bands that never quite made it. They certainly were positioned to: their albums always got fantastic reviews and their singles sounded radio-ready. I saw them twice, once when they played a college dance at Missouri Southern. But for whatever reason (playing college dances?) it just never clicked...here. In Norway they absolutely took off. Really. Here's one of my favorite tracks from them, from their best album Tornado.

"In Your Letter" - REO Speedwagon

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:29:00 +0000

The fourth single from REO Speedwagon's mega-juggernaut Hi Infidelity was this one. Other tracks are more remembered, but this one still gives me chills.

"The Man Trying to Outfox Us All" - We All Have Hooks For Hands

noreply@blogger.com (E) — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:15:00 +0000

Once more to Sioux Falls. These guys are not bad at all.