After changing their name (from Caesar’s Palace) and releasing the iPod commercial single “Jerk It Out” on three consecutive albums, one must admire the Caesars’ persistence. Released on their third album, Paper Tigers, the up-tempo “Soul Chaser” features an addictive organ riff and a catchy chorus, making it one of my 5-star songs from 2005.
Listen to a song clip here.
Found on the Red Tandy EP this track is reminicent of David Bowie’s more pop-oriented work. A solid classic rock guitar and California harmonies make the song rather addictive. This is my first exposure to the Mother Hips and I’m now determined to dive into the group’s back catalog.
Listen to a song clip here.
…this will probably do nicely.
(Actually, it’s more of a reason to hate Virgin Records…but what the hell.)
Okay, so seven or eight years ago I’m standing in the J. Crew store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, doing a little Christmas shopping, when I hear a fantastic cover version of “Deck the Halls” over the in-store sound system. I’m a sucker for a great Christmas cover, so naturally I walk up to the front counter to ask the cashier about the song.
“Is this Book of Love?” I ask, thinking it a rhetorical question. What other band has a female lead singer with such a beautifully bored delivery?
The guy behind the counter shrugs. “I have no idea. We use a music service. They just send us the CDs, and we play ‘em.” He looks behind me, at the long line of busy holiday shoppers. He doesn’t offer to go around back and check the CD’s case to confirm the artist for me. I can’t really blame him for that. Much.
So I leave the store, the syncopated fa la la’s echoing in my head, certain that it had to be Book of Love, and that a little searching on the Muze system will help me track it down.
Fast-forward seven or eight years…and I still don’t have the song. Muze had no record of it. iTunes doesn’t either. Neither do any of the dozens of Christmas music compilations I’ve checked. They have versions by SheDaisy, and Whitney Houston, and any number of other artists…none of whom sounds remotely like Book of Love.
My greatest Christmas wish is that someone out there can help me find this song. The song might be by Book of Love…or it might not. The vocal is a dead ringer for BOL’s Susan Ottaviano, but maybe it’s just someone doing a great impression of her. The lyrics are standard “Deck the Halls”, but the arrangement tweaks the melody a bit–particularly on the fa la las. Instead of “fa la la la LAAA, la la la LAAA”, it’s more like “FA la la la, la LALA la la.” Got it?
So, how about it? Have you heard it? Can you find it? Will you help make a young(ish) girl’s long-held Christmas dream come true?
The Hives took a circuitous route to fame, recording a couple albums and EPs in the 1990s and getting the greatest hits packaged all together in one magic hit CD, Your New Favourite Band, a couple years ago. Last year the Swedish punks came back with the all-new Tyrannosaurus Hives, a clean, punchy set that clears the sinuses of music fans who’ve just about had it up to here with wussy stuff from the likes of Dave Matthews and Sheryl Crow. The band’s new concert DVD “Tussles in Brussels,” released in time for the Christmas shopping season, gets the Hives phenomenon down for the record: The hard licks, the black-and-white outfits the band wears, and of course, the singular sound of lead vocalist Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, with whom we sat down for the following chat:
Bullz-Eye: Describe a Hives concert for those in our reading audience who haven’t been.
Pelle Almqvist: If you’ve been to a rock concert–I’ll assume that much–if you take what you’ve seen there and multiply it by ten, that’s pretty much it. It’s like a rock concert except there’s more of everything else. Except color, because we’re dressed in black and white. It’s a bid louder, more intense, a bit more energetic. The only thing it isn’t a bit more of is…calmer.
BE: I’m sure you’ve been asked this about 5,000 times, but here’s 5,001: why do you dress that way, anyway?
PA: It looks good, but also, we’re convinced it makes us sound better. Like some hippie bands had some statues on their amps and stuff because it made them sound better? This makes us sound better. The treble’s a bit clearer.
BE: I’ve been listening to your stuff for a couple years now….but describe your music for those who haven’t heard it.
PA: Well, it’s rock music, that’s what it is, I’ll tell you that much. Very very very energetic rock music. If you like the classic values of rock – first it has to be entertaining and exciting, and after that you can do different things with it – it’s fast and loud and fun.
BE: Does the DVD cover one show or a series of shows?
PA: We just recorded one show and we had to just trust that we’d be good enough to put it out, otherwise we’d have to record another show. It’s one show straight through, not edited. It turned out really well. We spent a lot of time cutting between cameras and making sure the sound was as good as it could be.
BE: What do you remember about the gig?
PA: I was going into the crowd and this guy was pulling on my leg and I fell and did a jump and I landed with my shins on the barrier. I think you can maybe see where it happens. My leg was bleeding and swelling up halfway through the show, and I keep getting stiffer and stiffer. But the good thing is that I was wearing black pants, so you can’t see the blood.
To read the read of the interview, click here.
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