Author: Will Harris (Page 9 of 61)

From Across the Pond: The Hoosiers, “Goodbye Mr. A”

February 9, 2008 / Will Harris

You’d be well within your rights to be skeptical about the quality of music put out by a band that releases their debut album in four different color schemes. (Collect ’em all, kids!) As it happens, however, The Hoosiers – a London-based trio that’s 2/3 British and 1/3 Swedish – are writing and releasing some awesome pop music. Someone suggested that their tunes approximate what The Feeling would sound like if they actually let loose once in awhile, and I can hear that. Dig their biggest UK hit to date: “Goodbye Mr. A.” Our good friend David Medsker will, within mere seconds after hitting “play,” understand exactly why I felt obligated to avoid the formalities and offer the song immediate inclusion in the WillPop 101 syllabus…yes, it’s just that damned poppy…and to go with a superhero-inspired video to boot? Well, that’s just an extra layer of sugar-sweet icing on the WillPop cake.

(FYI, the last time I embedded the video, it was deleted from YouTube, so if the same happens with this one, then this official non-embeddable version is right here.

Artists, From Across the Pond, Pop, Songs, Videos

Less Talk, More Music: Deacon Blue on “The Heaven and Earth Show”

February 5, 2008 / Will Harris

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.

Alternative, Artists, External Music, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos

Video Vault: Pineforest Crunch, “Cup Noodle Song”

January 30, 2008 / Will Harris

Yes, I know: it’s a ridiculous song title. I don’t even know what it means. But it’s a catchy-as-hell nugget which continues to add credence to the theory that the water in Sweden possesses a chemical which enables the residents of that kingdom to write brilliant pop hooks. Lead singer Asa Eklund – who runs the band’s website as well as a label called Exergy Music – has one of those great little-girl voices that’s sweetly emotional without sounding too ridiculously cutesy. (I’m thinking specifically of Frente at the moment.) Dunno what’s up with the band these days, but PineforestCrunch.com makes it sound like there’s not much; still, if you’re as smitten by this track on first listen as I was, head over to the band’s MySpace page to check out a few more of their songs.

Artists, Pop, Songs, Videos

Less Talk, More Music: Peter Murphy on “The Jon Stewart Show”

January 29, 2008 / Will Harris

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.

Artists, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs

Less Talk, More Music: Webb Wilder on “The Pat Sajak Show”

January 22, 2008 / Will Harris

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.

Alternative, Artists, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos