Pg. 40

Despite working a dead end job in a business that makes no money and working with such luminaries as Dick of the Liquorice Comfits, Rob is rather frustrated with the stagnation of his life, "Some days I'm afraid I'll go berserk, rip the Elvis Costello mobile down from the ceiling, throw the 'Country Artists (Male) A-K' rack out into the street, go off to work in a Virgin Megastore, and never come back." I don't know what his problem is. I rather like Elvis Costello.

Luckily to take his mind off of things Rob can always make coffee, do the daily crossword puzzle, read American import rock magazines, make some more coffee, and around noon he gets to greet the day's first "customer": an Irish drunk who comes in three times a week to steal records. Rob's part in this little ritual is to tell him to "Fuck off!" and then physically remove him from the premises. For some odd reason this involves the bum singing Dana's "All Kinds of Everything".

The Music

Only one song to do this week. Thank god. I'm fucking lazy after all.




Oh god no. I'm not some meathead who describes music as gay, but...

I guess I'd have to call this folk. Or pop. Or something. All I know is that this is one of the single most sappy pieces of crap I have ever heard. I think I just felt one of my testicles turn into an ovary. Her voice makes me cringe, the music is perfectly dull, and Shirley Temple just stole my lunch money for listening to this. Gag.

You found out then :laughing:

Unfortunately yes. And I don't even remember saying that BTW.

You're lucky you only had to endure one song by her.
I had to watch her on kids TV every Sunday morning singing bible bashing songs.

You are a truly strong man. I would have put a bullet in my brain by the age of seven.

Yeah well you only had to listen to her music! She went into politics you know: stood for election as president last time! Didn't get it thank god. Can you imagine? The Irish national anthem changed to "All kinds of everything?" Where's me gun?
:yikes:

Pg. 42 & 43

Sometime after lunch, in walks Rob's other crony, Barry. Barry is an asshole. A loudmouth asshole. A curiously lovable, loudmouth asshole. It was Barry apparently who got Rob into making lists. I suppose that Barry feels that if he talks loudly and long enough that nobody will notice that he has nothing much to say. Not that I would know anything about that.

Barry's first act upon entering the store is to mock Dick's taste in music and put his "Monday morning tape" into the stereo. First song: "Walking On Sunshine".

Rob has just been dumped by his girlfriend.

It is not sunny out.

Rob does not want to hear "Walking On Sunshine".

Next song: "Little Latin Lupe Lu" by the Righteous Brothers.

Rob does not want to hear "Little Latin Lupe Lu".

Dick then inquires if it the version by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

Barry has not heard the version by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

The ensuing nerd war is bitter and cruel. In order to save face, Barry must loudly impugn Dick's musical taste to draw attention from his own obvious ignorance, while all Dick must do is smile in quiet superiority, secure in the knowledge that though Barry might shout him down, everyone knows the truth.

This is Barry and Dick in a nutshell.

The Music

Only three songs today. My laziness is pleased. I've actually heard the Righteous Brothers' version of "Little Latin Lupe Lu" off a compilation album my mom bought when I was a kid. Of course, I sometimes skipped it to get to "Gimme Some Lovin'" by the Spencer Davis Group. Awesome song. And of course I've heard "Walking On Sunshine" at least five million times on some commercial or other, but I've never actually, you know, listened to the song. For all I knew it wasn't even a real song, but just the greatest marketing victory in the history of TV. The only truly new thing for me will be Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Time to act as referee in the Battle of Dick and Barry.

Katrina and the Waves "Walking On Sunshine"

Alright this is already far less shit than I was expecting. Sounds like they prefer to let Blondie do most of the work though. Still, with this amount of energy and fun I can only give so much of fuck. Perfect song to go on a sunny ride in a convertible, preferably while taking a roadtrip with Britney Spears and all of her generic, dull friends. And I assure you, despite the reference, that I have never seen that movie. But I would totally watch it if it came on on Sunday on UPN and I had nothing better to do but play with myself. Which is most Sundays.

P.S. Looking at the lyrics to the song I see how hilarious it is that Rob was assaulted with this the day he gets dumped. Bless you, Nick Hornby.

The Righteous Brothers "Little Latin Lupe Lu"

Yeah, I've heard this song about fifty million times ever since I stole my mom's CD (she didn't want it, so it doesn't count as theft, so there) and it's some quality 60's garage rock/frat rock. Nice energy, nice lazy vocals, and the saxophone is also rather sweet. Still not as good as "Gimme Some Lovin'" or "Nobody but Me" or "Louie Louie" (all on that album, so you see why I "stole" it), but quite good nonetheless.

Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels "Little Latin Lupe Lu"

Oh, this is better. I've only heard the first like ten seconds, but I can already tell. Dirtier, sloppier, and that openning drum beat is much more punk.

On second thought, I'm not so sure. The Righteous Brothers version has its merits over Mitch Ryder. First of all, the vocals have more of a cheesy charisma that makes it quite fun, whereas Mitch Ryder (I'm assuming he's the singer) doesn't really sound like anything particularly special. He goes along with the more stripped down music in his version, but still, I'm sure you can find plenty of singers like him in plenty of other garage bands.

The Righteous Brothers also has a much more warm production, whereas the Mitch Ryder version is again, much more stripped down, and has a live feel to it. Which is all good, and would probably be better live, but on record, the other version is more enjoyable.

So, I'm gonna have to give this one to Barry and assume that Dick is just being an obscurist snob.

Bill Medely was one of the Righteous Brothers, so their version already has something going for it being their original. Still, possibly going with my growing up with Ryder's version, I'm more with the cover that sounded more like going into some crazy Detroit club and catching the band in action with everyone drinking and going mad for the music. As much as I like the smooth LA polish of the "Brothers", Ryder's singing is more forceful - after subjecting myself to a lot of more obscure Garage Punk that features some seriously off key singing by teenagers trying to be Mick Jagger (nothing wrong with that, though), Ryder has some influential Soulful edge in his singing that reflects the Motown influences he had which stood out from most of the pack - influential in the way that it helped bring out more of an edge in a lot of vocalists in the area.

Still, snobs have a way of favoring version for the sake of just looking cool about it so I see your point.

Story on the song title of Rainy Day Women #12 & 35: During the recording of the song, a mother and daughter came into the studio to get out of the rain. Dylan correctly guessed their ages as 12 and 35. Dylan immediately decided to change the name of the song from Everybody Must Get Stoned to Rainy Day Women #12 & 35.

Dylan recruited the horn players for the song from the ranks of a local Salvation Army Band he heard playing on the street a couple days prior to recording the song.

I've enjoyed reading your song reviews here, especially your attack on All Kinds of Everything. After hearing that song, who isn't tempted to go out and commit an act of senseless random violence? I know I always was.

Anyway, Batlord, time for you to dig out High Fidelity again, turn to page 43, and start skimmin' !