New 8 Track: Ticket To Oblivion


No theme this time around.

Just ten (TEN) tracks worth of DIY pop, freaked out psych, bizarro world dancefloor smashes and the like...



(Link.)

Labels: 8 Tracks, mixtapes

Deathblog:
Ellie Greenwich, 1940 - 2009

I seem to be a few days late with the news of Ellie Greenwich’s passing, but I was sad to read about it this morning on Everett True’s blog.

As is often the way with songwriters, I guess I’ve gotten to know Greenwich’s name just through reading it hundreds of times in brackets after song titles on record sleeves, and I don’t really know that much re: what she was all about beyond the realm of writing great songs. Her life, personality etc largely remain a mystery to me, so I will leave thoughts on that for other, more informed writers.

I did read a little bit about her last month though, in “Out of his Head”, Richard Williams’ book about Phil Spector. From that, I learned about her pivotal contribution to Spector’s oeuvre, not only through writing the lion’s share of the most iconic songs (usually in collaboration with her husband Jeff Barry and/or Spector), but also through co-producing sessions, vocal coaching and goodness knows what else, credited or otherwise.

In addition to the Spector records, Greenwich and Barry also wrote some of the best ever Shangri-las songs for Shadow Morton, and provided material for The Dixie Cups, The Shirelles and The Four Pennies, surely earning them a preeminent place amongst the architects of the girl group sound/aesthetic.

Ellie Greenwich also wrote hits for Manfred Mann, The Monkees and Tommy James & The Shondells, and pre-empted fellow Brill Building writer Carole King by cutting several albums of her own songs in the late ‘60s. She is also often credited with ‘discovering’ Neil Diamond, and provided Elkie Brooks with her biggest hit, but let’s not hold that against her.

Obituaries for songwriters are often a depressing business, framed as “hey, looks like the guy who wrote HIT SONG X just died”, with the implied tragedy being that they probably spent their whole life writing thousands of other songs that nobody much cared about, grinding their teeth as people walked past whistling HIT SONG X at them.

No such problems for Ms. Greenwich. Looking at her catalog of songs on the Songwriters Hall of Fame website, I put together the following list of songs I know/like that she gets a writing credit for (plus I few others that I just thought had cool titles). And I’m sure you’ll agree, the pile of capital letters below makes a stronger case for her legacy than any amount of supercilious blather:

(AND) THEN HE KISSED ME
ALL GROWN UP
ANOTHER BOY LIKE MINE
BABY I LOVE YOU
BE MY BABY
CHAPEL OF LOVE
CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME)
DA DOO RON RON
DO WAH DIDDY
GIRLS CAN TELL
GIVE US YOUR BLESSING
HANKY PANKY
HE AIN’T NO ANGEL
HE TELLS ME WITH HIS EYES
HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS
I CAN HEAR MUSIC
I DIDN’T MEAN TO HURT YOU
I WISH I NEVER SAW THE SUN SHINING
I WISH IT WOULD RAIN ALL SUMMER
LEADER OF THE PACK
MARVIN
MAYBE I KNOW
MY MAMA DON’T LIKE HIM
OUT IN THE STREETS
RIGHT TRACK, WRONG TRAIN
RIVER DEEP, MOUNTAIN HIGH
RUN RUN RUNAWAY
SHE HANGS OUT
SUNSHINE AFTER THE RAIN
THAT BOY IS MESSIN’ UP MY MIND
THINGS THAT YOU SAY
TODAY I MET (THE BOY I’M GONNA MARRY)
TRAIN FROM KANSAS CITY, THE
VALLEY OF DESPAIR, THE
WAIT TILL MY BOBBY GETS HOME
WALKING IN THE RAIN
WHAT'S A GIRL SUPPOSED TO DO
WHY DO LOVERS BREAK EACH OTHER’S HEARTS
WHY DON’T THEY LET US FALL IN LOVE

Goddamn, that woman could write a tune.

Mp3s:

The Crystals – Da Doo Run Run
Bob B. Sox & The Bluejeans – Why Do Lovers Break Each Others Hearts?
The Ronettes – Be My Baby
The Shangri-Las – Out in the Streets
The Shop Assistants – Train From Kansas City
The 5678s – Hanky Panky
Maureen Tucker – (And) Then He Kissed Me
The Ronettes – Walking in the Rain
The Ramones – Baby I Love You

Labels: 1960s, deathblog, Ellie Greenwich, girl groups, Phil Spector, pop, songwriters, The Shangri-Las

Cave Weddings, Again.

So I downloaded five songs by The Cave Weddings the other night. Dunno where they came from, what releases they’re sourced from – just saw a link next to the band’s name in some dark corner of some dark comment box in a dark corner of the interweb and hit ‘GO’. Two of the songs are home demos, so I don’t even know whether or not these tracks have been released into the world with the band’s consent. Either way, I will refrain from posting any mp3s or pointing the curious in the right direction.

Point is though: boy do I love The Cave Weddings! They really are just awesome piled upon awesome. Since these songs have been in my possession, I’ve listened to nothing else. I suppose grumblers and those of an anxious disposition may be apt to claim that bands like The Cave Weddings sound contrived and generic, that they’re just writing catchy pop songs to a formula, reducing lyrical/emotional signposts of unrequited (boo!) vs requited (yay!) love to a near abstract gesture. Well claim away dudes; that’s what Buddy Holly and The Ramones were doing, and when the formula is turning out a 100% hit rate to rival Buddy Holly and The Ramones, criticism is futile. These songs are SO GOOD.

How do they get it so right? Just a gallophing great rhythm guitar, a twangy, catchy lead line, some simple, enthusiastic drumming, a real likable wasn’t-made-for-singing voice straining to hit the right notes, some ba-ba-bas, tried & tested melodies of elephant-killing power…. it ain’t rocket science. But when all the elements are in alignment, when the band sound so damn happy to be here… you can’t beat it.

Drummer Nathan’s playing is pretty conventionally kick-ass, but just listen to the breakdown bit in ‘When The Lights Go Out’ where he lays down a series of fabulously WRONG fills (THUNKy THUNK-a THUNK?) that would make any drum-bore spit in despair, yet he and the rest of the band know he’s ten times more awesome than those squares are ever gonna be, and more capable of powering them through to the end of the song in style too…. man, it almost sounds like they’re laughing uproariously through that whole section – that’s rock n’ roll, right there.

It seems like other press about The Cave Weddings keeps mentioning Buddy Holly, just like I did. I dunno why really – it’s not like they really sound much like Buddy Holly. I guess it’s just…. a glimmer of the same attitude maybe? – yeah, that’s the key to it. That little, winsome Buddy Holly grin - the one he’s got in all the photos that let’s you know there’s nothing to worry about - that’s the feeling you get from The Cave Weddings. Like the way he was basically playing the most jagged, primitive, sexually charged rock n’ roll imaginable at the time, but somehow transmuting it via his own earnestness and good nature into something that sounded so wholesome and spiritually fulfilling and indisputably RIGHT that Mother Teresa probably could have tapped her toes in approval in a spare moment without thinking twice…? Same deal here, maybe.

Not that I’d ever try to score cheap points from the fact that two thirds of the band are married, or draw a lame journo-link from the fact they’ve got ‘wedding’ in their name, but The Cave Weddings really do sound like different musical elements coming together in a joyous union, spreading happiness wherever they turn through the realisation that they all fit together so damn perfectly – the garage/punk/pop equivalent of domestic bliss.

UPDATE: It turns out that the songs I downloaded make up the band’s tour EP, previously out of print but repressed this very week and now available from their myspace for $7. It’s hard to imagine $7 or nearest local equivalent better spent: http://www.myspace.com/thecaveweddings

Labels: I like, pop, punk, The Cave Weddings

Placeholding Video Awesomeness

Apologies as usual for the recent lack of blogging action – I got back from Copenhagen a few days ago (had a smashing time), and now I’m down in Wales preparing for a weekend’s camping, whilst the USB stick with all my half-finished bits of writing on it remains in London.

So as much as I hate to do another placeholding post comprising some videos blatantly picked up from other blogs, here it is, and damn, do I ever love the videos.

First, via WFMU, here’s The Bendaly Family; awesome Kuwaiti pop from 1978. I don’t know *what* to make of these guys – they look like the kind of mixed up family unit that Wes Anderson would probably make a film about, with the single-minded patriarch/singer coercing his children and loved ones into joining his quest for pop stardom, his relentless optimism blinding him to the strange effects this lifestyle may be having on them all, etc. etc. Or maybe not. I dunno. I mean, it’s not like I’ve actually bothered to do any research into who they are or how their career progressed. I also like how they somehow manage to rock a contemporary ‘indie pop’ kinda visual style, twenty plus years too early on the wrong side of the planet. Go figure.

I love how the song sort of opens with a darkly mournful, vaguely political lament, then veers into a kinda cheesy Middle Eastern radio hit ballad bit, and hits a huge ‘altogether now’ DIY pop chorus at about the two minute mark. It makes me sad to note that most of the comments following this video, both on Youtube and WFMU, lean toward mockery – I think it’s just ace. Totally beautiful.



Next, courtesy of Honey is Funny, here’s John Lee Hooker playing on the BBC in 1964, backed by an early line-up of The Groundhogs. Man, I LOVE John Lee Hooker – his stuff’s so minimal, so razorsharp, so… punk, like a big fuck-you to anyone who’d wish to reduce the blues to some morass of sloppy, meandering crap that you can’t dance to. And he is ON here. Wonderful footage of the early ‘60s BBC’s idea of a hip crowd getting their groove on too – dig the chef! (More of the good stuff, with the band really giving it some on 'Boom Boom Boom', to be found here.)



Los Shakers were Uruguay’s answer to The Beatles – and WHAT an answer! This promo clip for their (totally bloody fantastic) hit song “Break It All” was posted on WFMU a while back as “the greatest pop video of all-time”, and having tried my best to watch it at least once a day since then, I’m not going to disagree. The editing alone marks it out as a work of genius, the “let’s just film as much cool stuff as we possibly can and cram it all into two minutes” conceit even more so. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and Richard Lester, but Los Shakers WIN. You’ll be aware that I often stand in awe of ill-defined ‘awesomeness’ on this blog – so, in case you were wondering, this is two minutes and twenty seconds of pure, unadulterated awesomeness for you to refer back to at any point: “and when the music starts, don’t stand there like a fool..”



Oh, and finally, here’s a brief movie from The Sock Puppets set last Friday. A great band, righteous people, tons of killer three chord songs - here’s hoping we get the chance to see them playing more gigs, releasing great records etc. in the near future!

Labels: awesomeness, John Lee Hooker, lameness, Los Shakers, The Bendaly Family, The Sock Puppets, videos

Cambodian Rocks on the BBC

Hey, remember all that great Cambodian Rocks stuff? Well it was brought to my attention today that last week the ever-reliable Radio 4 broadcast a quick documentary on the '60s Cambodian rock scene that produced those amazing sounds, and the predictably terrible fate that befell its participants after the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975.

Obviously that's a LOT of context and history and explanation to try to fit into thirty minutes, so it's not the in-depth account that the subject probably merits, but it's great that the BBC took the time to make a program about such a marginal area of culture in the first place. God bless public service broadcasting.

It's particularly nice to get a bit of background on Ros Sereysothea, the absolutely extraordinary vocalist who fronts most of my favourite Cambodian Rocks tunes, and the ubiquitous Sinn Sisamouth, a guy who is described at one point as "Cambodia's Dylan", presumably because the appeal of his music makes more sense if you can follow the lyrics. A guy who played some of the kick-ass lead guitar on the songs, and managed to survive, is also briefly interviewed. No word though sadly on the identity of the still anonymous howling, cookie monster-voiced James Brown dude who turns up on some of the wilder cuts on the original compilation.

Although the documentary doesn't dwell on it, it is inevitably chilling and very upsetting to hear rumours about what happened to some of these musicians in the "work camps" post-'75. Whatever instances of ignorance and obscenity we may have to address in our lives on a daily basis, let's at least be thankful that the idea of people being tortured to death for the crime of making cool pop music is rarely one of them.

On the BBC iPlayer until next Tuesday.

STILL one of the best songs ever recorded:

Ros Sereysothea - I'm Sixteen

And here's a little something from the aforementioned anonymous howling dude:

Cambodian Rocks Track 8

Labels: 1960s, BBC, Cambodian Rocks, radio, Ros Sereysothea