Tag: meme

Songs I remember from my childhood

I was appalled by the double negative

Farewell to the First Golden EraIf I were to list the songs I remember from my childhood, it would number about a half a jillion. Still, these stood out.

Twist and Shout – The Beatles, #2 for four weeks in 1964; #23 in 1986 upon reissue.
Not only is this the best cover version by the group, I consider this to be one of the greatest cover songs EVER. It was a revision of a song recorded by the Top Notes in 1961, and then a hit by the Isley Brothers in 1962. It was kept out of the #1 slot by Can’t Buy Me Love.

The story goes that when the group recorded the Please Please Me album, they saved this song for last because John Lennon’s voice had only one or two takes in him. They got it on take #1.

Summer in the City – Lovin’ Spoonful, #1 for three weeks pop.
I could play a VERY rudimentary version of this on my grandmother’s piano. At the time, the sound effects were revolutionary.

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – Rolling Stones, #1 for four weeks pop, #19 RB in 1965.
It seemed as though every other band would end their live version of other songs with the hook from this one. As a child, I was appalled by the double negative in the title, but I’ve gotten over it.

Uptight – Stevie Wonder, #3 for two weeks pop, #1 for five weeks RB in 1966.
I have a couple of Stevie compilation albums from the period. Most of the songs before this one sounded “old-fashioned”, but this was fresh and new.

Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart – the Supremes, #9 pop, #7 RB in 1966
This is my favorite Supremes song, and I don’t know why it did so relatively poorly on the pop charts when lesser songs – The Happening, for one – fared much better.

I Saw Her Again– Mamas and the Papas, #5 pop in 1966
There’s an album called Farewell To The First Golden Era which came out in 1967. It contained their hits from the first three albums, plus Twelve-Thirty (Young Girls Are Coming To The Canyon).

For some reason, when I played I Saw Her Again, and no other track, Denny Doherty’s lead vocal would often drop out, leaving the harmonies of Cass Elliot and Michele Phillips. You’d think this would be annoying. It was not. It was fascinating to hear the harmony vocals with the instrumentation. If I wanted to hear the song as it was intended, I’d just play their second album.

An artist whose voice you love

I’m leaving off the Beatles and Motown…

Judy Collins.Wildflowers
Judy Collins.Wildflowers
I’ve come up to the prompt, “A song by an artist whose voice you love.” This is intriguing.

What makes the human singing voice appealing? There are plenty of vocals by artists whose sounds are not “pretty,” yet I like to hear them sing. Bob Dylan falls into that category.

Somewhere – Tom Waits. I heard this song for the first time near the end of the 1997 movie Afterglow with Julie Christie and Nick Nolte. I saw it on the February 2018 holiday weekend. In the context of the movie, I wept.
Lay Down (Candles in the Rain) – Melanie with the Edwin Hawkins Singers. I think it’s the juxtaposition of her rough sound with the majesty of the choir.

I had an office mate some years back, and there were only two artists she wouldn’t allow me to play because she absolutely HATED their voices. Naturally, I need to link to them here:

Old Man – Neil Young
Always on My Mind – Willie Nelson

There are countless rockers and soul shouters who’d be on the list:

Black Dog – Led Zeppelin (Robert Plant)
Star – David Bowie
Respect – Otis Redding
I Got You – James Brown

I’m leaving off the Beatles and Motown and the Beach Boys…

The first songs I thought of, though, were these:

Stand by Me – Ben E. King, a great song written by him, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.
Maybe – Alison Krauss. I’m a sucker for the harmony vocals.
Dimming of the Day – Bonnie Raitt. There are LOTS of versions of this song, and I love most of them.
A Case of You – Joni Mitchell. From the great Blue album.
A Ballata Of Francesco Landini (ca. 1335-1397) Lasso! Di Donna – Judy Collins. When I think of my favorite Judy Collins album, it bounces between Wildflowers, from which this song comes, and Who Knows Where the Time Goes
Rolling in the Deep – Adele. I’m old; she the only artist whose first release was in the 21st century whose whole body of work (that’s more than one album) I own.

Songs: fall in love, break your heart

The first QoS song I ever owned

Here are some songs of romance and heartbreak. Finding the latter is FAR easier for me.

Songs that make you want to fall in love

I Only Have Eyes For You – the Flamingoes

That’s about it. Everything else seems more wistful and uncertain, such as:

God Only Knows – the Beach Boys, from Pet Sounds

and especially

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow – Carole King, from the Tapestry album

Songs that break your heart

heartbreak
Whereas the “melancholy quartet” of songs were pretty much codified by 1980, played in this specific order:

Sweet Bitter Love – Aretha Franklin. The first QoS song I ever owned. It appeared on some Columbia Records compilation in 1965 or 1966, before she was signed to Atlantic. This was eventually covered by Roberta Flack.
My First Night Alone Without You – Jane Olivor. My old friend Pam gave me the First Night album in error for Christmas; she mixed up a couple presents. This song was also performed by Bonnie Raitt.
Gone Away – Roberta Flack. From my sister Leslie’s copy of Chapter Two, which I eventually had to buy for myself. This song destroys me more than almost any other. T.I. sampled this on What You Know in 2006.
Stay With Me – Lorraine Ellison . I heard this on a Warner Brothers Loss Leader and was immediately blown away. It’s been covered a few times.

Sometimes, I’d add other break your heart songs, such as:
Remove This Doubt – The Supremes. This is from The Supremes Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland. It was covered by Elvis Costello.
Down so Low – Linda Ronstadt. From Hasten Down the Wind, this Tracy Nelson/Mother Earth song was also covered by numerous other artists, including Etta James, Maria Muldaur, John Lee Hooker, and Cyndi Lauper.

Hmm, I suppose I need a song by a guy.
Can We Still Be Friends – Todd Rundgren. In an interview, Todd said, “It’s really a song about the best possible way to end a relationship.” Ha, I don’t believe that they CAN stay friends.

Songs that make me think about life

Gloria Gaynor has a new album

gloria gaynor testimonyWith the prompt, “A song that makes you think about life.” I think, “Yowza – LOTS of songs fit into that category.” Such as these:

Until I Die – Beach Boys. It’s such a lovely song about mortality. Someone once suggested my church choir ought to sing it. The song’s theology doesn’t quite mesh for that to happen.
“I’m a cork on the ocean
Floating over the raging sea
How deep is the ocean?
I lost my way”

Cancer – Joe Jackson. It’s such a CHEERY song for such a terrible disease that has claimed the lives of several people I have known.
“No caffeine, No protein
No booze or Nicotine”

Church – Lyle Lovett. A rebellious song about Sunday morning service. And the damn thing makes me hungry to boot.
“And the preacher he kept preaching
He said now I’ll remind you if I may
You all better pay attention
Or I might decide to preach all day”

How Cruel – Joan Armatrading. I’ve referred to this song more than once on this blog.
“I heard somebody say once I was way too black
And someone answers she’s not black enough for me”

The Ostrich – Steppenwolf. From that first album.
“But there’s nothing you and I can do
You and I are only two”

Logical Song – Supertramp – I saw someone slagging it on Facebook recently; reason enough to include it.
“I said, watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical
Liberal, oh fanatical, criminal.”

I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor. Here’s a Rolling Stone article and a CBS News piece , both from June 2019, with her promoting her new gospel album, Testimony. She turns 70 on September 7, 2019.
“Weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
Do you think I’d crumble
Did you think I’d lay down and die?”

Fight the Power – Isley Brothers. Self-evident.
“Time is truly wastin’
There’s no guarantee
Smile’s in the makin’
You gotta fight the powers that be”

The Message – Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five
“It’s like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from goin’ under”

Some songs I like from the 1970s

I could link to the entire oeuvre of Stevie Wonder or Paul Simon from the decade.

Songs I like from the 1970sI’m going pick a few tunes from the 1970s, the decade far most represented in my record collection, the physical manifestation of which I still own.

The caveat is that I wrote nearly a dozen posts just about the music of 1971 not long ago. I’m trying to avoid folks I’ve written about relatively recently, such as Fleetwood Mac or David Bowie.

I could link to the entire oeuvre of Stevie Wonder or Paul Simon from the decade. It always makes me laugh to recall Paul thanking Stevie for not releasing an album that year in his Grammy acceptance speech for Still Crazy After All These Years.

Loves Me Like a Rock – Paul Simon (#2 in 1973). My favorite solo P Simon song.
As – Stevie Wonder (#36 pop AND soul, 1977). My favorite Stevie song
Tell Me Something Good – Rufus (#3 pop AND soul, 1974). Written by Stevie Wonder.
Staple Singers – Respect Yourself (#12 pop, #2 RB in 1972). “If you don’t respect yourself…”

Lucky Man – Emerson, Lake and Palmer (#48 in 1971 and #52 in 1973). When I was in college, I used to be able to do, just with my mouth, a fair representation of the synthesizer at the end of this song.
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – Genesis (1974). I heard this song on WQBK-FM in Albany a lot, six or seven years after it was released.

Dirty Work – Steely Dan (1972). David Palmer, lead vocal.
More Than a Feeling – Boston (#5 in 1976). Yes, I did buy that eponymous album.

Gloria – Patti Smith (1975). Lead song from the Horses album.
Uncontrollable Urge – DEVO (1978). The first cut on “Q. Are We Not Men…”
A Message to You, Rudy – The Specials (1979, #10 in the UK)

The final song from the 1970s is The Jungle Line -Joni Mitchell (1975). It’d be easy to pick something (or EVERYTHING) from Blue or Court and Spark. I opted for this cut from The Hissing of Summer Lawns. It was an album a Joni fan I knew did not particularly enjoy. I told her, “Well, then give the album to me!” She did not.

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