ladyislingering

In the past week I've just been listening to some of my favorite music from the 60s and 70s, but there's been a few tracks that have popped into my head that I hadn't heard in years, but have been significant in my life, in some way or another.

Two songs that someone very close to me tried (and minimally succeeded) to learn on guitar because he knew how much I loved these songs. Summer of 2006. I still love these songs because of how they remind me of my innocent youth. Plus they're just super groovy.

Robin McNamara - "Lay A Little Lovin' On Me"



The Association - "Along Comes Mary"



A cover song I completely forgot about because for years, I was really into the Ronettes' original and the Ramones' lovely cover:

Andy Kim - "Baby, I Love You"



When I first started collecting, I was really in love with this single and played the life out of it on my phonograph. Don't ask me why. I was 16. I think the best part about this song is that I've heard it was a jab at disco itself and how drab and dumb a lot of people thought it was. Style pastiche done properly. (The instrumental is really cool, though.)

Rick Dees - "Disco Duck" (part 1&2)



Another song from the "questionable" mental archives. Loved this song when I was 14/15ish. Kitschy, but somehow not out of place at the time it was released. Here's some melodramatic nonsense for you all.

David Geddes - "Run, Joey, Run"



I have conflicting feelings about this next song. I've always really loved the opening lyrics. But the rest of the song is just... garbage. I get the shtick, but come on. There was potential there.

The Monkees - "Randy Scouse Git"



I forgot about this next one for years. Now I just feel riled up and angry about Vietnam all over again. I'm gonna say it once. I'm gonna say it again. I'm gonna say it until I die. FUCK. THE. VIETNAM. WAR. This is so important.

Country Joe & The Fish - "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die"



Another one of my favorite anti-war rags (this poor guy was being harassed b the government for years, and killed himself):

Phil Ochs - "Draft Dodger Rag"



I've heard this song on the radio a lot recently, which is weird, because I hadn't heard it in many years but wow, it's just stellar. The LP version might lose some of you, but here it is.

Be prepared to become entranced by the organ solo.

Argent - "Hold Your Head Up"



Also, I feel I should post this because it's mother's day and this is my mom's favorite song (and I'm also partial to it because nostalgia rules my heart).

Van Morrison - "Brown Eyed Girl"



That's all for now. Please feel free to check out my 60s & 70s channel on Grooveshark. I usually do a nightly broadcast at around 9 or 10pm Western time (US). Though if it's my day off, I'll do one in the daytime and another at night.

Stay groovy, everyone.

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ladyislingering

Hey guys.

So I know I haven't updated in like 400 years but I realized a few days ago (I guess on the 27th or 28th of August) that I don't think I've ever chronicled my time in Cincinnati (Dec 2007 - Aug 2008) and 6yrs have passed since I left but loads of music reminds me of those groovy old days.

This was on the radio during my first night in Cincy. It was windy and cold that night, but nowhere near as cold as it was where I'd come from (Minnesota). It was really a perfect song. I was on a night drive.

Led Zeppelin - "Immigrant Song"



I also had my first taste of MSI that year.

Mindless Self Indulgence - "Shut Me Up"



Night driving and grooving to this jam = fond memories of a youth well spent.

Gerry Rafferty - "Right Down the Line"



And all the vinyl I bought from the shops.

Seals & Crofts - "Summer Breeze"



Billy Idol - "Hot in the City"



The Cars - "Hello Again" (Dub version)



And that time I ripped the fender off my car backing out of a parking spot.

Simon & Garfunkel - "Homeward Bound"



..Or when I was rear-ended going to the record shop.

The Go-Go's - "Tonite"



And all the cassettes I picked up in the shops for that car.

ABBA - "Angel Eyes"



Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "Don't Come Around Here No More"



....And when the recession hit and I lost my car. On my birthday.

Pink Floyd - "Comfortably Numb"



The long drive back to my hometown after the drugs had ravaged my soul...

The Beatles - "Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End/Her Majesty"



Here's to 6 years since one of the most enthralling, wonderful, devastating, horrific things that ever happened to me.

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ladyislingering

I just heard this song for the first time in about five years, and I remember exactly where and when I was, and why it made me cry for hours.

Klaatu - "December Dream"



A year prior to hearing that song, I'd left in December to move to Cincinnati, where I lived with someone I loved so deeply it killed me inside. I envisioned so many wonderful things before I embarked on my journey. I had such strong aspirations in our romance; I looked forward to being married, to having the same sort of loving relationship as his parents did. To know what it meant to be loved completely. About 8 months later he decided he was bored with me and had me sent right back where I came from.

A few months later I heard "December dream". It was almost Christmas. It was a month after he called everything off for good (which happened on Thanksgiving that year - after I called him to tell him that despite everything, I was thankful for his love and looking forward to coming back "home" in the summertime). I was living in my father's basement because he was forced to make arrangements for me. I sat in an uncomfortable, creaking chair and sobbed for hours after hearing this song. It was then that I began to accept that everything I prepared for, everything I worked toward was absolutely gone and wouldn't return.

It was the most difficult winter of my life thus far.

Every night I'd take a handful of sleeping pills, sometimes washed down with cough syrup (it had a warming effect, which was nice in the chill of the basement).

Every day I'd take a few more so I couldn't feel anything. Then I'd go to work.

I tried to kill myself multiple times well into the springtime. If I'd applied myself a little better, I could have certainly achieved the eternal sleep, but something within me always held back just a little. Maybe today isn't the day, I'd say to myself. He'll come back. He'll come back. He'll know.


He didn't.

All the while I was being pursued by someone at work. He had vacant eyes but in a drug haze, everyone seems sincere when they smile. I didn't care much for him. But I let him in.

One night he asked me what type of music I like. I played this song for him.

Sparks - "Noisy Boys"



Ultimately, this song would stand to remind me of him, as he had some strange and inappropriate fetishes.

Oingo Boingo - "Little Girls"



7 months later we were engaged. It was December. On Christmas I'd fainted (we'd been awake for a couple days just driving everywhere - he really liked to show me off because I was young and pretty) in a spare bedroom of a place we'd visited. I woke up disheveled. (To the point where I knew he'd screwed with my unconscious body.)

8 months later it was over. He brought a male prostitute home while he was away receiving special treatment for mental illness. He tried and tried to talk me out of it, then told me I was a prude bitch when I refused to listen to him. He tried well into winter.

A close friend of mine (who rarely acknowledges my existence anymore) sent me a mixed disc with this song on it, because I'd really gone downhill with depression. I still feel a bit of residual guilt that I didn't have the capacity then to appreciate her kindness.

Dresden Dolls - "Delilah"



It seared through my soul. I cried, and cried...and cried.

Two years later I was set to go on holiday with an abusive piece of garbage. It was Christmas. One night he screamed at me for an hour, saying that I'd ruined his life. He swatted at me, threw things at me, pushed me against the wall.

I sat on the floor and curled up to myself as tightly as I could. I spent the next week perpetually drunk.

His behavior intensified after we returned home from our Christmas trip. The neighbors that lived upstairs in our apartment complex rarely spoke to me when we passed. I was ashamed of how much noise he'd make, screaming at me, breaking things, tossing me around so violently I was almost sure I'd break something on myself eventually. The neighbors knew what was going on. They didn't care to see that I was ok.

I hear this song at work once in a while and it makes me unbearably uncomfortable.

Suzanne Vega - "Luka"



3 years and two pleasant Christmases later, I'm still a tiny bit apprehensive about the shift in the weather, the chill of winter, the mention of Christmas.

I'm looking forward to another nice Christmas but I felt like telling my stories to help finally close the wounds left behind from so many unpleasant years of mistreatment. Nowadays, Christmas reminds me of everything I've survived. I am loved so much today.

I absolutely loathe Christmas music but my heart is filled with joy when I hear the pristine, tender, and flawless voice of Karen Carpenter.

Carpenters - "Winter Wonderland/Silver Bells/White Christmas [Medley]"

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ladyislingering

Tonight I'm going to chronicle my feelings while listening to Captain Beefheart's "Trout Mask Replica" for the first time in its entirety. I'm not going to edit anything in this post; everything I'm thinking and feeling while listening to the music will be freely expressed as it comes.

I've been meaning to understand why everyone with a liking for the strange and unusual has always praised this album as being some sort of groundbreaking work of wonder. I've read that this group had been in partnership with Frank Zappa, so I expect great things out of this experience.

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band - Trout Mask Replica (1969)

Track listing:

1. "Frownland"
2. "The Dust Blows Forward 'n the Dust Blows Back"
3. "Dachau Blues"
4. "Ella Guru"
5. "Hair Pie: Bake 1"
6. "Moonlight on Vermont"
7. "Pachuco Cadaver"
8. "Bills Corpse"
9. "Sweet Sweet Bulbs"
10. "Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish"
11. "China Pig"
12. "My Human Gets Me Blues"
13. "Dali's Car"
14. "Hair Pie: Bake 2"
15. "Pena"
16. "Well"
17. "When Big Joan Sets Up"
18. "Fallin' Ditch"
19. "Sugar 'n Spikes"
20. "Ant Man Bee"
21. "Orange Claw Hammer"
22. "Wild Life"
23. "She's Too Much for My Mirror"
24. "Hobo Chang Ba"
25. "The Blimp (mousetrapreplica)"
26. "Steal Softly thru Snow"
27. "Old Fart at Play"
28. "Veteran's Day Poppy"

To save on space I'll only be posting videos for the tracks I really, really dig.

Frownland

Lead vocalist's voice is a lot rougher than what I was expecting. There's a lot of clumsy percussive noises almost directly clashing with the lyrical content, which, in a different context would hold a little more weight (as they do sound very nice). The song ends abruptly.

The Dust Blows Forward n' The Dust Blows Back

I hear a needle drop on a record; the way I'm understanding this it sounds like a style pastiche of a blues/country record of days passed. There are no other sounds than constant white noise and a needle drop against some strange vocals with ridiculous, Zappa-esque (duh) lyrics. I'd almost say this was improvisational...

Dachau Blues



What the actual **** am I hearing right now? This isn't unpleasant or anything, just... strange, very strange. It's the first track with a slightly decent groove so far. The vocals are growing on me. Wasn't Dachau a concentration camp...?

Dyin' in the ovens...

Oh, yes... yes it was. Oh. Well this became just a little more disturbing. I actually think I can get into this. I can dig this. There's some speech at the end of the song. I wish I knew where it came from because it sounds pretty disturbing.

Ella Guru



I can dig this. It has a psychedelic bend to it. There's some kind of weird noise/vocals that remind me of early T. Rex recordings. There's a solid groove to this song that is actually rather enjoyable if you can stand the bizarre **** that's going on all around it.

Hair Pie: Bake 1



Saxophones. Just saxophones. Maybe an oboe? They sound like geese now. Maracas in the distance? Sort of Roxy Music-esque in a weird way (I don't think it'd be far fetched to say that Brian Eno was touched by Beefheart). Cymbals and bass. Oh, this is over 4 minutes long.

About 2 minutes in, this becomes slightly more interesting. There's a sort of groove that reminds me of a cross between Little Richard and Jimi Hendrix, though ultimately... experimental but not necessarily melodic enough to be psychedelic. I think I like this track best of all so far, actually.

There's a lull about 4 minutes in and I'm a little apprehensive. I think I hear Frank Zappa speaking. Ok, well, that was strange.

Moonlight on Vermont

It would take a few more listens before I could understand these lyrics; the way they're delivered is so unlike many others of the time. There's a lot going on, lyrically. I don't think I can take this in all at once but I'm really trying. There's a really simplistic bassline but I think that might just be the point of this whole thing. Simplicity delivered to the point of musical complexity. Pleasant percussion on this track. Not crazy about this one (yet).

Pachuco Cadaver

A squid eating dough in a polyethelene bag is fast and bulbous. Got me?

Uh... I... um. I ... I'm not sure if I do but I'm gonna try. Digging this groove so far. It's kind of funky but there is such a contrast between the vocals and the music. I'm picturing the lead vocalist as some sort of really chubby bearded guy who hasn't taken a shower in a couple weeks at the time of recording. It might just be me, but I don't think the lyrics make a lot of sense in some places. Where are these guys from? This doesn't sound like some kind of west coast thing.

Bills Corpse

How funny that this should follow a song about a cadaver. Ok, here comes the clumsy percussive noises, as uniform throughout the entire album thus far. I think this might be a song about a woman that killed someone and now she's at the gates of hell, but I can't tell. The delivery of the lyrics makes them difficult to understand. An ending that would seem abrupt but I don't think there's much more to go on beyond a minute and half.

Sweet Sweet Bulbs

I'm not drunk (yet) so I believe I'm thoroughly lost due to the sheer amount of elements a person has to embrace to enjoy this or begin to learn what it's all about. Another song about a strange woman. At least a third mentioning of something "bulb" related. I suspect this was an intelligent bunch of guys and a part of me sort of doubts the usage of drugs during the recording of this, but every part of me is saying "what the hell were these guys on?"

Neon Meate Dream of A Octafish



...A... a octafish? A? Oh god. No. This track is actually structurally similar to the 2nd track on the album. The lyrics definitely sound improvised, as if composed through word association or beat poetry. I'm rather enjoying this. There's a pretty solid groove of strange mellotronic stuff.

China Pig

Sounds like a lost basement tape so far. I'm hearing a typical guitar tune. And a typewriter? Is that a typewriter? Nice bluesy track, sort of reminds me of Janis Joplin's "Trouble in Mind" with that typewriter in the background. It's got a nice, soft feel to it. I'm not sure if this was intentional but it just seems to work (even with the strange cackling sounds at about the 2 minute mark). It all seems to work, just because you really don't know what you're expecting with Trout Mask Replica, but you're definitely not expecting anything you can actually imagine.

My Human Gets Me Blues

...So there's a dude staring down Jesus or some sort of ...

I'm not sure what's going on with this song. I'm trying. There's a few changes in dynamics throughout (that I can tell so far). About 2 and a half minutes in, there's a nice drum and bass groove that really pleases me.

Dali's Car



Digging this track so far. Sort of sounds like something you'd expect from Jefferson Airplane at the time. This song almost represents something similar to what any normal person would be used to. There isn't just one melody. There are many melodies. But they work. That ended more abruptly than I was prepared for. I actually wanted to hear more.

Hair Pie: Bake 2



I've heard this before. This track actually sounds a lot more psychedelic than the rest of the album, almost similar to 13th Floor Elevators. A nice instrumental so far. Several shifts in the song's dynamic keep it interesting without being too long. Love the end most of all. That's so weird.

4th mentioning of bulbous.

Pena

Here we go again with "fast and bulbous". Vocals in this song ... are... disturbing. Frantic.

"Made me vomit beautifully"...? Wh...at????

What the hell is going on?? This is weird, even for Zappa. This is inexplicably bizarre. This is beyond bizarre. I'm almost a little frightened.

Well

I suppose this is a nice palate cleanser. It's mainly just vocals for now. It sort of reminds me of something you'd hear from a homeless street musician. It's infinitely more pleasant than the track that came before (though honestly I sort of enjoyed it).

When Big Joan Sets Up



This track is actually somehow more pleasant than the one that came before. Again with the bizarre, frantic lyrics (though not as high-pitched as those heard in Pena) about 45 seconds in, it's just saxophone and drums. Ok. And the saxophone just goes ... on.... and on.... and on. It's not even melodic. Leads into a lot more noise. I guess this song is about a really large woman. I'm cracking up a little. I guess the narrator is too fat, too? But her "hands are too small". This is actually sort of funny. The main problem of Joan's is that her hands are too small.

...Is this groove going to go on for the remainder of the song?

...I guess it is?

Fallin' Ditch

Frank Zappa making weird noises. Ok, I can deal with this.

...Laser beans? What the hell are laser beans?

Never mind, more abrasive vocals. Again with the strangely pleasant changes of direction. What do these lyrics even mean?

Sugar n' Spikes



I think I'm liking this. The sound is fully digestible. Really love the drums in this track. Similar to what you'd hear in a popular garage rock tune. The sound is similar to what you'd expect from The Seeds. I think this ended sooner than I would have liked.

Ant Man Bee



Is that supposed to be an anagram of something?

No, I think it's just a song about ants. I don't think anything on this album is meant to be pulled apart and analyzed in any way at all. Ant...man...bee. Oh, boy, here comes the weird brass again. I actually really like this one.

Orange Claw Hammer

Sounds similar to China Pig in that it sounds like a basement tape of some sort, vocals only. Strange. Not hearing that typewriter sound, but I do think I hear a clicking sound (a reel to reel?). Seriously, where the hell are these guys from? I need to look this up.

Glendale, CA. Well. I'll be damned.

Wild Life

I like this one quite a bit better. I actually think my brain has completely shut down and caved to this sound, accepted it as one of my own. I'm on track 22/28 and I'm sort of feeling like this is going on a lot longer than it really needs to. Part of me is wondering what the point of this album is/was, and part of me is just really enjoying this bizarre barrage of sound.

She's Too Much For My Mirror



She howl like the wind...make my heart grow cold.


I'm actually enjoying this track. I don't understand the lyrical content just yet and I don't know why I'm so damn fixated on it, but this one's cool.

Hobo Chang Ba

Well, this is... sort of irritating, actually. And there's some sort of Christmas bells to be heard. Ugh. What is the purpose of this track? Seriously.

Just kind of waiting for this song to be over.

The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica)

The intro to this song is similar to what you'd almost expect out of the Mothers of Invention.

Distorted radio-esque vocals are enjoyable. Sounds like some dude freaking out about an alien invasion. Like they've come to take him to his home planet. It's actually kind of funny.

Steal Softly thru Snow

Sort of a pleasant melody. If you could call anything a melody in this madness.

Not terribly impressed or pleased, but not displeased. I like the bassline most of all. Does this band have die-hard fans? What kind of people are they?

Old Fart at Play

...Is that Frank Zappa? Another track that just sort of sounds like beat poetry (though more deliberate than Neon Meate Dream of a Octafish). This is actually beautiful in a way.

Veteran's Day Poppy



Last song. Remember earlier how I said the album just seemed to go on a lot longer than necessary? I take that back now. I sort of want to hear more. How is this already over? What a great song this is. This is brilliant. Some real rock music can be heard on this track. Heavy lyrics, too.

It's over now... well, that's disappointing.

Final thoughts: I need to listen to this again. It's weird, and confusing at face value but there's more to this album than what I know I'm hearing. There's always more to the things Frank Zappa has touched. I'll listen again soon. I almost feel like I have to, to fully appreciate whatever the hell I just listened to.

Overall rating: 6.5/10, would recommend to anyone who's fond of experimental/"different" sounds.

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ladyislingering

Produced by Tony Visconti (who has also worked with T. Rex, Queen, Sparks, Morrissey, and the Moody Blues - just to name a few), this is David Bowie's 9th studio album - in which he takes a stab at Philly soul.

Track listing:

1. Young Americans
2. Win
3. Fascination
4. Right
5. Somebody Up There Likes Me
6. Across the Universe
7. Can You Hear Me?
8. Fame

Young Americans is introduced with a song almost everyone in the world has heard: its title track.



This pop staple features solid vocals, brass, bass, and clever lyrics about young people figuring out the whole falling in love thing. It's easily the catchiest track from the album.

"Win" starts out with many of the same elements as the previous track, but the atmosphere is substantially moodier. David's vocals are sultry in some areas, weak in others, but the lyrics remain beautiful. This is definitely a perfect song to accompany a nighttime listening session.



"Fascination", co-written by Luther Vandross, has a funky, soulful vibe to it. It's one of my favorite tracks on the album. It's all about the brass. In my opinion, the song goes on about a minute too long, which sort of dilutes the quality of the groove. Take a listen.



"Right" is one of the better examples of Young Americans's funky style. While the lyrics are droll, repetitive, and essentially boring, the sound is smooth and bass-heavy.



"Somebody Up There Likes Me" kind of takes a break from the sound you've been hearing throughout the album, favoring similarity to the title track. Even the production quality is different - it's what I would call the classic Visconti touch.

The saxophone, delivered beautifully by David Sanborn (who has worked with a slew of famous faces, such as Elton John, Carly Simon, James Brown, Steely Dan, James Taylor, and Bryan Ferry) is perfect in this song.



David's rendition of the Beatles' "Across the Universe" is something I still have mixed feelings about. I love David dearly, but I don't have a strong like or dislike for his cover. Perhaps I'd always expected every cover of a Beatles song to feature a beautiful voice. David's vocals, while quirky and pleasant, aren't necessarily pretty enough for this song in particular. Even the melody is weak.



"Can You Hear Me" really has that 2am, slightly rippling cassette tape sound to it. That's really the best way I can describe this song. It's not the best part of the album but it's a necessary piece, and in the right setting it's just right.



Young Americans concludes itself with another song that just about everyone on earth has heard before: "Fame". It's very much unlike the rest of the album, even in terms of lyrical content. I've always loved this song, perhaps if only for my personal cynicism about people and appearances.



Young Americans isn't the best of Bowie's albums, but it's a good nighttime listen.

Final rating (as a Bowie album): 7/10

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Chula Vista

Nice review!

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“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

Frownland

Good review, you certainly took it better than I did when I first listened to it. One thing though, Zappa's only talking on the album is at the end of She's Too Much for My Mirror and The Blimp (Mousetrapreplica). He also says 'again, beginning' on Pena. The rest is Captain Beefheart speaking. Sorry for nitpicking.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

ladyislingering

Thank you! I'm just glad someone around here knows this album well enough to pass along that information. The two seem to have a very similar voice (and I wouldn't have been able to tell).

um anyway.

In my review of "Young Americans" I mentioned something that I'm not sure others would really understand, as I tend to hear, feel, and see music in much the same way a standard digital camera has a ton of different viewing modes (again I'm not sure how to explain this)

So I was thinking to myself "what else shares this atmosphere?"

This came to mind immediately:

Thompson Twins - "You Killed the Clown"



Then these followed:

[large haul enclosed]

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Frownland

No problem. And to ease your worries on the lyrics, fast 'n' bulbous is a dick joke.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

ladyislingering

No surprise there.

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