|
When the Housemartins bit the dust not long after the release of The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death, many a fan of pale white British jangle-pop wept a tear or two. Thankfully, they were able to take solace in the band which rose from the ‘Martin’s ashes: The Beautiful South. Paul Heaton’s voice was still just as heavenly as ever, but the music was more mature, less about the three-minute pop song and more about musical exploration. Their debut album, Welcome to the Beautiful South, was the perfect introduction to the band’s sound, with epic tracks sitting alongside quick and simple pop numbers, plus a cover of Pebbles’ “Girlfriend” for no discernible reason. I’m not sure when this “Wogan” performance took place, but this song - “I’ll Sail This Ship Alone” - is definitely from the group’s debut. Be sure to hold onto your hat when the song reaches its final line; it’s a doozy.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
|
The Manic Street Preachers are kinda the alt-rock version of Status Quo, given that they’re an institution in the UK but barely cause Americans to raise an eyebrow, but as a dedicated reader of Q Magazine in the ’90s, I’ve followed them since the beginning of their career, back when Richie Edwards was carving slogans into his flesh and trying to be his generation’s Sid Vicious. As it turned out, he was a bit closer to being his generation’s Amelia Earhart, given that he vanished into thin and and is presumed dead, but that’s beside the point. The band’s music is arguably more powerful now than it was when Edwards was in the band, probably because they’re a decidedly less self-destructive unit without him in their ranks, but their debut album, 1992’s Generation Terrorists, nonetheless captured lightning in a bottle, combining the best bits of The Clash and Guns ‘N’ Roses and making them into one of the classic records of the decade. This performance of the epic “Motorcycle Emptiness” is actually from the ’00s, so it’s without Edwards, but a decade on, the song itself remains just as powerful.
Filed under: Rock and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
|
Take the lead singer from Toad the Wet Sprocket, get him to write a song with Jon Brion, and then let Toad-boy record it with some guys from Nickel Creek. Voila: you’ve got Mutual Admiration Society’s “Sake of the World.” This live version, however, gets bonus points for having John Paul Jones (late of Led Zeppelin) on bass and Pete Thomas from The Attractions on drums. If only MAS would do another album together… P.S. Yes, I know “Toad-boy” is actually named Glen Phillips. But it made me laugh to call him “Toad-boy.” Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
|
Paul Shaffer might play the part of the oft-befuddled but always fawning bandleader to perfection on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” but the guy’s a musical legend. He spent 1975 to 1980 as the musical director of “Saturday Night Live” band, did the same duty for The Blues Brothers, is regularly called upon to provide backing for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, and, of course, played Artie Fufkin in “This is Spinal Tap.” He’s also a songwriter (he co-wrote “It’s Raining Men,” you know) and, on rare occasions, he’s even stepped out and been a recording artist in his own right. In 1990, Shaffer released an all-star collaborative effort entitled Coast to Coast, where he attempted to take listeners on a cross-country musical expedition which blended different musical genres, often within a single song. The album’s first single was a little ditty called “When the Radio Is On,” and when Shaffer premiered the track on “Late Night with David Letterman,” I was watching in awe as the breathtaking harmonies washed over me. The first couple of minutes of this clip are strictly Shaffer introducing his crew for the song, so if you want to skip ahead to the 2:26 mark, I’ll save you the time by providing you with the roll call: Will Smith (then still known solely as The Fresh Prince), Daddy O (Stetsasonic), Jay Siegel (The Tokens), Johnny Maestro (The Crests, The Brooklyn Bridge), songwriter Ellie Greenwich, actress Carol Kane (filling in for Carole King, ho, ho), and the King of the New York Streets himself, Mr. Dion DiMucci. As Shaffer describes it, “It’s doo-wop, it’s hip-hop, it’s a nutty thing.” Me, I’m not saying the song’s perfection, mostly because Shaffer shouts his vocal contributions, but the overall enthusiasm is downright contagious…which, I suspect, is why I still have Coast to Coast in my record collection.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Hip Hop and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
|
“Pebble Mill” was a daytime chat show in Great Britain which regularly featured appearances from the current musical artists of the day, as well as a few who weren’t exactly top of the pops anymore, if you take my meaning. In the case of Dionne Warwick, she was and remained a huge worldwide superstar in 1982, a full two decades on from her first big hit, “Walk On By.” This was one of the many compositions from the brothers Gibb that was taken to the upper reaches of the charts by someone other than the Bee Gees themselves, but it’s got their trademark sound all over it.
|
|
All I’m saying is this: if you think you know of another talk-show performance that starts out in a more awesome manner than the Beastie Boys rapping their way up from the subway, down the streets of NYC, and into the Ed Sullivan Theater, I’d damned well like to see it. Until then, I’m gonna presume that there is no such animal and just tell you to sit your ass down and ch-check this shit out…
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Artists and Videos and External Music and Less Talk, More Music Comments: 3 Comments |
|
Sure, it reads as a novelty - Paul Anka does swing covers of mainstream and alt-rock hits - but if you’ve ever actually heard Rock Swings, you know it holds up for the long haul as an instant party in convenient CD form. Rather than take the easy way out, most of the tracks have been dramatically rearranged to work within Anka’s concept, but if you’re convinced that he couldn’t possibly accomplish it with one of the most anthemic songs of the 1990s (if not all of music history), take a listen and enjoy being proven wrong:
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Jazz and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
|
Despite several US releases, Deacon Blue ended up having their name added to that great list of bands who never managed to make the translation from the UK charts, but they’re a really great group. I think Americans just didn’t know what to make of a band who blended pop, rock, and folk like they did…and even if they’d started to, they were no doubt completely flummoxed when the group teamed up with Steve Osborne and Paul Oakenfold to produce their fourth album, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing. This performance of “Dignity” - a song which comes from the band’s 1987 debut, Raintown - was performed in 2006 for the BBC’s now-defunct “Heaven and Earth Show,” a Sunday morning religious program. I’m trying to come up with any American religious program short of a Billy Graham affair that would have someone so cool as a musical guest…and I’m failing miserably.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and External Music and Less Talk, More Music Comments: 1 Comment |
|
To remember when Peter Murphy still seemed as interested in writing a memorable hook as being a gloomy gus, you’d have to go back farther than 1995’s Cascade, because as you can see from this performance of the album’s first single, “The Scarlet Thing In You,” Murphy was downright cheerful during this era…well, at least by his standards, anyway. It was the least of his solo albums up to that point, but it turned out to be the best we’d get out of him ’til 2004’s Unshattered. (2002’s Dust wasn’t just dark; it was deadly dull.) By the way, if you’re a longtime Jon Stewart fan, you’ll know that this is from the syndicated version of his show rather than the old-school MTV version from 1993…not that it really matters one or the other.
|
|
Truth be told, the clip I really wanted to show from Pat Sajak’s short-lived late-night talk show was from when Squeeze appeared to promote their Frank album, but, alas, it’s nowhere to be found on YouTube. (I’ve actually got it on a VHS tape; maybe one of these days I’ll upload it myself.) Still, when I stumbled upon this performance from the great Webb Wilder…his first-ever on network television, if Pat’s intro can be trusted…I couldn’t resist posting it instead. It’s not my favorite of Webb’s tracks - that honor belongs to “Tough It Out” - but the guy’s got a powerful heap of energy in just about everything he’s ever recorded, so I have no complaints about “Hittin’ Where It Hurts” serving as an alternate.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
|
Continuing with the recurring theme of posting clips from shows I’m barely familiar with myself, we bring you Morrissey performing the underrated single, “Alma Matters” (from the equally-underrated album, Maladjusted), on something called “Not the Jack Docherty Show.” The most I know about Mr. Docherty and his program is that it served as a springboard for one Graham Norton to become a household name in Great Britain, but according to his Wikipedia entry, he also caused quite a star by hosting the 2000 BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards and opening the night by revealing the ending of “The Sixth Sense.” Nice one. Bet that went down like gangbusters.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
|
I came into the Prefab Sprout camp pretty late in the game, knowing precious little about them until they released their greatest-hits disc, A Life of Surprises, in 1992. Why did I finally take the plunge and pick up that collection? Because of my friends Brian Becknell and Jessie Oulahan, who drove up from Chesapeake, VA, to see me graduate from Averett College, and informed me that Prefab Sprout was the soundtrack to their entire drive. Both those kids have damned fine taste in music, and when they told me that, I knew I needed to give the band a chance. So I picked up the best-of, then began working my way backwards, starting with the group’s most recent album (at the time), Jordan: The Comeback, which opens with this song. Now, Prefab Sprout’s one of my favorite bands and, if you saw my list of my favorite music of 2007, you know that the recent reissue of their Steve McQueen album was one of the best CDs I heard last year. (Even if you already own it, trust me when I tell you that the new disc of acoustic re-recordings is worth the price of admission.) Paddy MacAloon, you rule. Now, c’mon, give us another album, eh…? Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and External Music and Less Talk, More Music Comments: 1 Comment |
|
In my heart of hearts, I know I should simply mock these old sods for continuing to haul their ancient carcasses onto concert stages around the world, but, dammit, Never Mind the Bollocks was too damned influential in my life for me to deny the thrill I get whenever I see Lydon, Jones, Cook, and Matlock side by side once more. I still haven’t seen them perform live; maybe this time around I finally will.
Filed under: Rock and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: None |
|
Thanks to this damned writer’s strike preventing Darlene Love from making her annual appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” it just doesn’t seem like Christmas. So allow ESDMusic to do its part to help things along… Merry Christmas, everybody! |
|
The former lead singer of Madness takes a stab at a song from the former lead singer of The Smiths. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s still a fun listen.
Filed under: Rock and Pop and Alternative and Songs and Artists and Videos and Less Talk, More Music Comments: 2 Comments |
| previous posts » |