Category: Songs (Page 66 of 96)

Come Dancing! (Seona Dancing, that is…)

February 18, 2007 / Will Harris

Fans of “The Office” will no doubt recall David Brent’s settlement-financed single – a cover of “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” – but were you aware that Ricky Gervais himself was actually a member of synth-pop duo in the ’80s? True story…and God only knows how it’s taken this long to appear on my radar, given that I’m such a massive fan of ’80s synth-pop to begin with.

The band was called Seona Dancing…that’s pronounced Shawna Dancing, ta very much…and since you’re probably still wondering, no, this isn’t a joke. You can go to Gemm.com and find the band’s two singles available from several different vendors…or check out this photo here, from their unofficial MySpace page:

(That’s Ricky on the right.)

And even more oddly, the songs – which can all be downloaded at no charge here – are rather good. Personally, they remind me a bit of B-Movie. But for a few twist of fates here and there, we might well be listening to “More to Lose” or “Bitter Heart” on Flashback Lunches today.

Don’t hold your breath for a reunion tour, though. It’s clear from that this clip that Gervais can’t look back on these days without cringing.

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Mix Disc Monday: When the postman don’t call on Valentine’s Day

February 12, 2007 / David Medsker

Quick show of hands: does anyone really like Valentine’s Day? For single people, it’s an unpleasant reminder that you’re single (and therefore, in the eyes of the good people at Hallmark Cards, a loser). For couples, it’s yet another obligation to go out and do something special for your sweetie, despite the fact that you’ve already done that at Christmas, your anniversary, Mother’s/Father’s Day, his or her birthday and, if you really go overboard, your date-iversary as well. Enough already.

While everyone at Bullz-Eye is either happily married or happily involved (except for our fearless leader, who is happily neither), we see both sides of this dilemma, and have assembled a mix disc for the lovers and another for the fighters. There’s plenty of joy and pain (but not sunshine and rain) to go around. Dig in.

Mix One: Ain’t Love Grand

Ah, love. Love rules. It’s a scientific fact that when you’re in love, the sun shines a little bit brighter, people are nicer, and your car gets better gas mileage. People in love, according to a song by the Feeling, get special treatment. They know of what they speak. And yet, so few truly great songs have been written about the subject. For every “We’ve Only Just Begun,” there are ten songs like “Everything I Do (I Do It for You).” Because of that, this is officially declared a Bryan Adams-free zone. Feel better already, don’t you?

“You’re the Best Thing,” The Style Council (My Ever Changing Moods)
Shameless homer pick, this one. My wife and I danced to this at our wedding.

“La La Love You,” The Pixies (Doolittle)
Because there aren’t enough love songs with monster drum tracks that have someone shouting “Shake your butt!” in the background.

“(They Long to Be) Close to You,” The Carpenters (Close to You)
Okay, so the bit about sprinkling moon dust is pretty silly. But this is one of the greatest melodies in the history of pop. Period.

“Here, There and Everywhere,” The Beatles (Revolver)
Picking one Beatles love song is like choosing to keep only three toes on each foot. My apologies to “Michelle,” “Something” and “And I Love Her,” among others.

To see the rest of Mix One, click here.

Mix Two: Love Bites

If love is supposedly the most wonderful thing in the world, then why the hell does it hurt so much? There’s an old saying that it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Try telling that to someone who has just loved and lost. From invincible to unlovable in seconds flat, nothing will make you feel as unworthy as a failed relationship, especially when it’s capped with a crushing one-liner like “I like everything about my life except my relationship with you.” My college girlfriend actually said that to me, no joke. And in return, I sang a number of these songs to her.

“House of Love,” Squeeze (Play)
I nearly put “Wicked and Cruel” in here instead – indeed, Play is pretty much one giant Dear Jane letter – but this song wins out for a laundry list of one-liners. “She was full of lies and boredom, it came as no surprise that she would cheat,” “I wasn’t Shakespeare, it’s simple / Did she expect me to kiss her feet,” and then the chorus hits: “We seemed the best of friends, life had just begun / But on the roof, a tile began to slip / The house of love caved in, and that was it.”

“I Believe She’s Lying,” Jon Brion (Meaningless)
Like Play, Meaningless has several candidates for this list, but I’m choosing “I Believe She’s Lying” for delivering the killer lyric with an even more killer drum track. “As soon as we’re committing, we’re admitting our mistake / So of course it’s only fitting, that the course we’re going to take is drawn / And whereupon, I’m slamming on the brakes.” You’ve all done it, and you can’t undo it. It’s the only way you learn.

“Say Anything,” Aimee Mann (Whatever)
It makes sense to put Brion and Mann back to back, since they used to date and he produced her first three solo records (plus she co-wrote the lyrics to “I Believe She’s Lying”). Was she talking about him when she said, “If you were everything you say, things would be different today / I would be happy to believe / But I’d have to be much more naive”?

“Good Luck,” Basement Jaxx w/ Lisa Kekaula (Kish Kash)
The flip side to “Ice Cream.” It’s angry, defiant, and there isn’t a woman alive who doesn’t love this song. “Good luck in your new bed / Enjoy your nightmares, honey, while you’re resting your head.” And hot DAMN, can Kekaula sing.

To see the rest of Mix Two, click here.

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The Grammys

February 12, 2007 / Will Harris

I’m not even going to pretend that I watched the whole thing; it’s not an elitist thing, but the reality is that I don’t really tend to listen to a lot of albums that end up being nominated for Grammys, which means that I mostly watch to see older artists popping up. That’s why the highlights of what I saw were threefold:

1. The Police doing a quite acceptable job on “Roxanne.” C’mon, baby, let the world tour stop in Hampton Roads!
2. Smokey Robinson knocking “The Tracks of My Tears” out of the park. Dude’ll be 66 years old next week, but you couldn’t prove it by looking at him OR listening to him.
3. Lionel Richie singing “Hello” and making me feel like I was a teenager again.

Yeah, that’s pretty much all I can say I full-on loved…but something I legitimately disliked was the fact that when Tony Bennett won his award for Best Pop Collaboration (with Stevie Wonder), he thanked Target for being the best sponsor he’s ever had…and you could hear people booing him! Are you kidding me? The guy’s 80 years old, he’s a legend, and thanks to the sponsorship of Target, he got major publicity for his album of duets AND a prime-time special to celebrate his 80th birthday. So what if he thanked them?

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Does this mean we can buy “Mean Mr. Mustard” on iTunes?

February 6, 2007 / John Paulsen

Apple Inc. (the guys who invented the iPod) and Apple Corps (the guys who invented Revolver) announced Monday that they’ve agreed to settle out of court. The two companies have been at odds for years over Apple Inc.’s use of an apple as its logo. Apple Corps was founded in 1968 by the Fab Four to oversee their business interests, using a green apple as its logo.

While financial terms were not disclosed, the new deal give Apple Inc. ownership of all of the trademarks concerning “Apple,” including the logo for iTunes. In return, the computer maker agreed to license certain trademarks—the ones pertaining to specific music—back to Apple Corps. Both sides also agreed to end litigation and pay their own legal costs.

A deal seemed imminent for several weeks. In January, when trumpeting the new iPhone, [Apple Inc. CEO Steve] Jobs proclaimed the company was changing its name to Apple Inc. and expanding its business to include more high-tech gizmos in addition to Macintosh computers.

[Apple Corps] confirmed months ago that the Beatles were in the process of remastering their entire catalog for online sales. Industry analysts and fans alike point to the just-announced deal as a precursor for the band’s iconic songs and albums to finally be sold via iTunes. Some rumor sites have gone so far to predict Jobs unveiling a Beatles-themed iPod.

Now if we can just get that AC/DC catalog on iTunes, we’ll be good to go.

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Mix Disc Monday: Beat drums! Beat drums!

February 5, 2007 / David Medsker

Q: What do you call a guy that hangs out with a bunch of musicians?
A: A drummer.

Guitarists love this joke, but the secret truth is that a band is only as good as its drummer. Look at all of the truly great bands, from the Beatles (I will fight anyone who says Ringo sucks), the Stones, the Who and Zeppelin to U2, the Police, Green Day and Dave Matthews Band. They all had/have great drummers. REM had a great drummer, and when he left the band, they went into a tailspin. Coincidence? I think not.

Below you will find the songs that cause me to break out the air drums wherever I am, even if it’s behind the wheel of an automobile (you’ve been warned, residents of Columbus, Ohio). They’re not exactly the most difficult drum tracks ever put to tape; they’re just songs that made me wish I could play drums better than, say, Lenny Kravitz.

“Rain,” The Beatles (Past Masters, Volume II)
Ringo said it himself: there are all of his other performances in his career, and then there is “Rain.” To listen to “Rain” is to listen to the future.

“Stockholm Syndrome,” Muse (Absolution)
I am on a campaign to get Rush to cover this song, and I will not stop until my demands are met. Of course, Neil Peart could probably play this with one hand.

“Double Agent,” Rush (Counterparts)
While we’re at it, I’d love to hear Muse cover this song. Peart has put flashier drum tracks to tape, but what I love about “Double Agent” is its unusual time signature and the back-and-forth from crash cymbal to splash cymbal during the verses.

“D’Yer Ma’ker,” Led Zeppelin (Houses of the Holy)
If you were ever unsure of what made “Jer’maker” such a popular song, I’ll settle it for you right here: Bonzo’s fills. My personal favorite comes at the end of the last bridge, where he does a big snare run and then, when you least expect it, he pounds his hi-hat, stalls for a beat, then hits his snare and goes back into the song. Sweeeeet.

“Territorial Pissings,” Nirvana (Nevermind)
I once heard Kurt and Krist say that if they had their choice of any drummer in history, living or dead, they’d take Dave Grohl over anyone, even Bonzo. That’s probably because, while Bonzo could certainly hit the skins as hard as Grohl, he couldn’t play anywhere near this fast.

“Angel of Death,” Slayer (Reign in Blood)
While we’re talking about Nirvana, Kurt Cobain chose Andy Wallace to engineer Nevermind based on his work on this song and album. Combine that with the fact that Public Enemy found this song both hard enough and funky enough to sample for the fabtabulous It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, and you have a song with one hell of an awesomeness problem.

“One World (Not Three),” The Police (Ghost in the Machine)
I actually had “Demolition Man” in this spot, but while I was writing it up, “One World” started playing, and I realized I was about to make a fatal mistake. Stewart Copeland is off da hook on this one.

“Happy Jack,” The Who (A Quick One (Happy Jack))
Keith Moon’s drumming is like watching “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” You just never know what he’s going to do next, and you get the sense that Keith doesn’t know, either.

“Up on the Catwalk,” Simple Minds (Sparkle in the Rain)
Steve Lillywhite Production #1. Arguably the simplest of the drums riffs included in this list, that doesn’t make it any less cool. The eight-count is just a teaser, and when that first double-snare drops, just try not drumming along. I will be there, I will be there, I will be there, indeed.

“Block Rockin’ Beats,” Chemical Brothers (Dig Your Own Hole)
Not a fucking word about the fact that these drums are completely synthetic. This song won a Grammy for its badass drumosity, okay? If I had a band, and we just lost our drummer, the first call I’d place would be to the Chemical Brothers. And the thing is, I bet they’d be up for the job.

“Drive In, Drive Out,” Dave Matthews Band (Crash)
Steve Lillywhite Production #2. Carter Beauford is an octopus. You’ll hear him hit a drum and think, “How the hell did he have a free hand to do that?” Don’t be fooled by the song’s Rush-like, descending chord progression in the finale: when Carter is finally allowed to let loose, the song doesn’t descend. It explodes into outer space.

“Pledge Pin,” Robert Plant (Pictures at Eleven)
Don’t think of it as Led Zeppelin Moment #2 as much as Phil Collins Moment #1. Collins’ work with Genesis was fine but generally confined to within the limitations of what made for acceptable pop music. However, when he’s backing up Plant, Phil lets his jam flag fly, and it’s a glorious thing. “In the Air Tonight” and “I Don’t Care Anymore” had their moments, but for my money, this is his finest hour behind the drums.

“The Bleeding Heart Show,” New Pornographers (Twin Cinema)
This is one where patience is a virtue. Kurt Dahle barely lifts a finger for the first three minutes, but when the bridge hits…well, even then he’s just biding his time for the massive hey-la-hey-la finale. Once the hey-la’s arrive, you’d be wise to just get the hell out of the way.

“The Last Polka,” Ben Folds Five (Ben Folds Five)
You can blame me for the breakup of Ben Folds Five, and it was because I looked over at my buddy Tim while watching the band in concert in 1997 and said, “You know, Ben Folds is never going to break up this band. He has the best drummer and the best bass player he could possibly ask for. Why would he want to play with anyone else?” My bad.

“Like a Song,” U2 (War)
Steve Lillywhite Production #3. Had to finish the list with this one, given the thunderous drum outro that the song boasts. Again, it’s not particularly hard to play, but damn, it sounds cool when the right people are behind the boards. I bet dollars to donuts that few things give Larry Mullen Jr. greater pleasure than the ending to this song.

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