Monthly Archives: March 2016

Song of the Week – Was Dog a Doughnut?, Cat Stevens

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IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

I always have an ear open for a great, new (or old) tune I’ve never heard before. You can never tell where it will come from. Many times before I’ve told stories about the odd circumstances under which a cool song with an interesting backstory has come to my attention. Here’s another one.

A few weeks ago I was invited to a cocktail party in San Francisco’s Mission district by my cousin Emilia V. She’s the event planner for a lifestyle website (1stdibs.com).

While mingling at the party I met one of her colleagues and quickly learned we share a passion for music. He told me he’d heard about a Cat Stevens song that was based on nothing more than a “ping pong” effect and asked if I’d ever heard of it. He’d never heard it and didn’t know the title.

Now I’m quite familiar with Cat Stevens work and this didn’t sound even vaguely familiar to me. So I dug into my “still haven’t listened to” box of records and found two Cat Stevens’ albums – Foreigner and Izitso.

I put Izitso onto the turntable first because it had two instrumentals. When I heard “Was Dog a Doughnut?” on side two, I knew I found what I was looking for.

“Dog…” is an interesting electro pop instrumental that doesn’t sound like anything you would associate with Stevens. Not only is it different, it is funky, especially for its time.

I did a little internet research on the song and found this great article from May 2015 by Christine Kakaire for Red Bull Music Academy Daily. The back story on the record is fascinating. I’d hate to simply paraphrase the whole thing for you here, so I highly suggest you click through to learn all about the song, equipment used and its influence on contemporary electronic and hip hop music.

Christine Kakaire – Key Tracks Cat Steven’s “Was Dog a Doughnut?”

Enjoy… until next week.

Moody Blues, Go Now

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The various incarnations of the Moody Blues are legendary. They started as a R&B band, hit the charts and evolved into a progressive band who made hits. No bad choices, there.

This early cover of an awfully good original by the wife of the songwriter (which Tom M. posted on Saturday), doesn’t surpass the original, but it has its own merits.

Duly noted:

Gladys Knight and the Pips, Midnight Train to Georgia

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When I was in high school I could be an asshole. My friends could be assholes, too. We hated this song, which seemed like the ultimate in cheese. That is errant and random emotional expression without a regulator.

But children should not always be believed.

I spent yesterday in the car, driving many hundreds of miles, sometimes listening to my phone, and sometimes tuning in the radio. Sometime in mid afternoon, this giant hit came up.

It was a giant hit because of the melody and the Pips, but it is also a fabulously complex statement of ambiguous love and, ultimately, devotion. With awesome hooks and smart lyrics. Wow.