Are there stars in the sky? I don’t know if it’s cloudy or bright. I only have eyes for you...

“I Only Have Eyes for You” by the Flamingoos (1959)

“Why Do Fools Fall in Love” by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers  (1956)

Doo-Wop: The influence from the street corners

An original corner-stone of pop music that we cannot ignore is what we call ‘Doo-Wop’. It was an urban ghetto post-WWII phenomenon. My English teacher would have said that “Doo Wop” is an onomatopoeia I think – words that imitate sounds basically. Yes that was the magic of this genre – bom bom, doobie doobie, shaboom,  oowahoo, shangalang.  They were essentially trying to emulate the gospel/R&B sounds of groups such as the Ink Spots. In fact Bill Kenny of the Ink Spots is sometimes regarded as the ‘Father of Doo-Wop’.

Predominantly African- American vocal group harmony (paralleled somewhat by ‘barber shop quartet’ with its understandable lyrics) could happen anywhere and it did. Why you may ask?

Not everyone could afford to buy or even play instruments. You had your voice – it might be the only instrument you need. Get a bunch of voices together and voila – instant band – a cappella style. You also had hands and fingers, so why not clap and snap the fingers too. Hey it worked.

Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone 1978 Video HQ

I’m the phone booth it’s the one across the hall If you don’t answer I’ll just ring it off the wall

Songs Everybody Should Know

“Hanging on the Telephone Line” Blondie (1978)

Deborah Harry is a street-wise punk-wave icon. In the late seventies the MTV revolution found a camera-ready bad-Barbie, former Playboy bunny with natural sass and blonde hair.  The lyrics of Deborah Harry/Chris Stein songs were emotionally expressed, accessible and executed with a punker-in-the-know attitude. Not crass or hardcore; but more like art meets stylistic rock. This is probably the most observable example of where the cross-over between punk and new wave happened.

From the epicenter of the American punk movement came the surprisingly inspired, complex concoction of a beautiful punk-wave icon and as it turns out her brilliant band. It always helps to have a beautiful front person in the band, but the music has to stand on its own or the band becomes a flash in the pan. The Roxy Music/Bowie inspired experimentation would take us from garage rock, surf, 60’s pop influence, reggae, punk, and new wave to disco and even a precursor to rap from the streets of New York.

Simmering on a Sunday Afternoon...

Jan & Dean - Deadman's Curve

The Byrds - Sweethearts of the Rodeo

Santana - Caravanserai

Pretty Things - Silk Torpedo

Robert Palmer - Addicted To Love

Robert Palmer - Simply Irresistible

You can't sleep, you can't eat There's no doubt, you're in deep Your throat is tight, you can't breathe Another kiss is all you need

Double Hit: Robo-chicks

“Addicted to Love” by Robert Palmer (1986)

“Simply Irresistible” by Robert Palmer (1988)

I remember in 2003 when Robert Palmer passed away and Bill at work said, “He was in Emerson, Lake and Palmer too right?” I cringed inside and tried not to be a total music nerd. I simply said, “No that is Carl Palmer and he was the drummer. I don’t think he is dead. Carl was also in the group ‘Asia’, remember them?”

Robert Palmer, (also not to be confused with the music historian Robert Palmer) was an English singer-songwriter who combined many styles of music. He could take jazz, blues, rock and even reggae and create unforgettable rhythms.

You may recognize his voice from when he covered ‘Get It On (Bang A Gong’, the old T-Rex song when he was in PowerStation or maybe you remember when he did the Moon Martin penned ‘Bad Case of Loving’ You’. His voice was distinctive. His style was polished. He dressed well. He was always trying to find a new and interesting sound or lyric or idea.

Goin' up to the spirit in the sky That's where I'm gonna go when I die

Quick Hit

“Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum (1969)

In 1968 he had a hit with “The Eggplant That Ate Chicago” with his band ‘Dr. West’s Medicine Show and Junk Band”. I don’t remember it.

Born in Wisconsin and raised in a Jewish family, Greenbaum watched a lot of western movies and from those he got the idea for ‘Spirit in the Sky”. It was not really a Christian song according to Greenbaum. It has become one of the staples of the hippie generation and still sounds good – the sound was cutting edge at the time – a key example of ‘psychedelic” music for sure.

The 1949 the Gene Autry movie entitled “Riders in the Sky” became a huge song for Gene as well. It was originally written by Stan Jones in 1948. It got recorded by many artists and became ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky” for Johnny Cash in 1979.  There had been the instrumental “Apache” by the “Shadows” which was widely known and hugely popular in 1966. There was “Riders on the Storm” done by the Doors which was western influenced quite possibly by Gram Parsons of the Flying Burrito Brothers who I am sure crossed paths with Jim Morrison. Robbie Krieger says it was influenced by “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend”.

Sheena is a Punk Rocker...well, she was...

Sex PIstols - Never Mind the Bollocks

Ramones - Rocket to Russia

MC5 - Kick Out the Jams

New York Dolls - New York Dolls

Three Dog Night - Black & White

The ink is black, the page is white Together we learn to read and write

70's Pick of the Week

“Black and While” by Three Dog Night (1972)

 

It was the summer of ’72 and I recall a portable radio blaring on top of an old wooden picnic table in my friend’s back yard. The old brown table had seen better days but the songs were brand new. Every time we were in their yard that summer that radio would be snapped on. We would be done playing football for the day and having a slurpee or something; Bill would tell dirty jokes or we would just hang out. The songs sounded so new and alive – just like we were.

Three Dog Night

From the radio blasted “Black and White¹” by Three Dog Night. The sun felt good. The Surplee ‘brain- freeze’ not so much.

Suitable For Framing

“Black and White” had been done by Sammy Davis Jr. in ’59, so technically this was a ‘cover’. Almost all of their most successful songs, (and there were plenty of them) were covers.

Very Eclectic Sunday...on Vinyl...

Doc Watson - Southbound

American Stars & Bars - Neil Young

Cramps - Psychedelic Jungle

B.J. Thomas - Raindrops Keep Falling

Bryan Ferry/ Roxy Music - - - " Like A Hurricane "

You are like a hurricane. There's calm in your eyes. And I'm gettin' blown away...

Pick of the Week

“You are Like a Hurricane” by Roxy Music (1983)

I thought, and I still do think that Bryan Ferry is a bit of an odd cat. In fact when I first heard Roxy Music I thought it was odd. It does grow on you though. I remember chillin’ to “Avalon” with the T-bar off on my ’82 Capri. Ahhh...how times have changed.

The four track EP’ “The High Road” recorded in 1982 in Glasgow was released in 1983 and I remember playing it all summer that year. It was one of those albums I made any friend that came over listen to. The haunting “Jealous Guy” (John Lennon) and “Like a Hurricane” (Neil Young) were brilliantly interpreted by Ferry who was on the brink of breaking up Roxy Music for the second time. None of the recordings from this album have ever been released on CD to this day. Terrible shame really.

Jack Green - This is Japan

Shinto and rock and roll at the Buddakan

Pick of the Week

“This is Japan” by Jack Green (1980)

With its references to ‘Highway 2’¹ and ‘Indian Summer’² Jack Green’s “I Call No Answer” seemed like it was about Alberta. In fact Alberta seemed to have a profound affection for this English rocker in the early 1980’s – it was a regional anomaly which does not happen very often.

 In the early ‘80’s I recall driving this particular piece of highway (the #2) a bit and one of my favorite road soundtracks for the ride was ‘Humanesque” (of course vinyl recorded onto cassette tape – which always sounded better than the cassette tape format to me).

 I had a pair of white canvas Nikes that lent themselves to the style of the times which I would sometimes wear a dress jacket over a  tee-shirt and narrow leg jeans. It just was the style. If you look at the videos of the time, that is what they wore – the post-punk uniform if you will.

Jack Green seems to be underrated and somewhat forgotten except by his most ardent fans. Was he ahead of his time? Behind the times? Or was it a lot of things like life usually is?

The sound Jack Green made was derivative of a few experiences he had. He had been a member of the T-Rex and The Pretty Things (he was on the recording of ‘Silk Torpedo’ and “Savage Eye’). He had been writing songs professionally since he was 16 years old and had already had two hit singles in Holland and Germany. He was in the cast of ‘Hair’ and played with Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow. Not bad credentials!

The influence of punk and then more new wave opened the door for his more punchy power rock. The guitar was the thing and he played it well.  Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple) even came out to help out on “I Call No Answer” when Jack recorded it.

‘Humanesque’ still plays well from beginning to end (That is if you can get a hold of a copy – seems to be somewhat rare strangely).

There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell And I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or this could be hell

 Songs Everyone Should Know

“Hotel California” by the Eagles (1976)

The surfer boys were growing up and moving on by the late sixties. The beautiful sons and daughters of the migrants to this magnificent coast with its tinge of the Mexican influence were changing. California was not the same place as the fictitious Joad family sought out in “The Grapes of Wrath”. It wasn’t the California of real characters like Brian Wilson’s father’s family either – they had moved to California from Kansas when he was five and were so poor they tented on the beach.

No indeed California of the ‘60’s had become the dream. From  surrealistic places like the LA suburb called Laurel Canyon Joni Mitchell (remember “Ladies of the Canyon”) the Byrds, The Buffalo Springfield (with transplanted Neil Young) and others like a young Jackson Browne, had made a sound of their own – what loosely could be called the Southern California sound.

As the decade clicked off into the seventies a young DonHenley from Texas met Glen Frey from Michigan at the Troubadour club in Los Angeles. Both of them had their own bands and wanted to make it big in California. It was Linda Ronstadt who by instructing her manager John Boylan to recruit her some session musicians in spring of ’71 who set in motion the events that would ultimately produce one of the biggest bands of all time.

Maxi Priest - That Girl

She's the kind of woman who lets you know when she knows what she wants she won't let go

Pick of the Week

“That Girl” by Maxi Priest featuring Shaggy (1996)

You can hear the R&B influence – kind of like a green-onoionish Booker T and the MGs sound running behind this song which is not a surprise really. That was one of the influences underlying reggae in fact this style is often called ‘reggae fusion’.

Booker T. and the MGs

The island sound of reggae music is irresistible. In 4/4 time if you emphasize the third beat and not the first and put in a strong funky bass line that sometimes meanders you have the musical rhythm for reggae. Of course there was Mento, then Ska, Rocksteady and dub but reggae is the most well known universally. As I have often talked about, music is often influence by other music and evolves. No different with reggae: Traditional Jamaican folk music and then Mento was influenced by Jazz and then R&B to become Ska/Reggae toward the end of the 1960’s and into the 1970’s.

There is a spontaneity about reggae. It is soulful music that has its origins deep in folk music of sorts.

Christmas Albums that don't suck!

Beach Boys' Christmas

Vince Guaraldi - Charlie Brown Christmas

Phil Spector - Christmas Gift for You

Nat King Cole - Magic of Christmas