Author Archives: Lawr Michaels

Breakfast Blend: The Move, “Do Ya”

by

I was a big ELO fan, at least till they became sort of redundant in the Moody Blues sense, and punk exploded and I abandoned all things progressive and over-produced.

facethemusicThat said, El Dorado still is a pretty good listen depending upon my mood, as is Face the Music which does have one of the best album jackets ever.

But, the first time I heard Do Ya, it was a cover by Todd Rundgren. I loved it at first listen, but as I tried to track it down, I discovered the song was originally written by Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood. Wood was the genius behind The Move, and dragged Bev Bevan and Jeff Lynne to that band, which eventually morphed into ELO.

ELO did recreate Do Ya, with strings, and though I had not yet completely “a-band-doned” them (I think it was on A New World Record) that version does not even come close to the kick-ass original by The Move.

I don’t do coffee much anymore in the mornings (green tea, please), but this does get my adrenalin going.

 

 

Lunch Break: Frank Patterson, “Danny Boy”

by

WTF?  Frank Patterson? Danny Boy?

Yeah, fucking Danny Boy.

I had the Coen’s great Miller’s Crossing film on in the background while working.

I do love the Coen’s, and while I think Fargo and Lebowski and A Serious Man might be my favorites, then I remember Miller’s Crossing and that it pretty much blows away anything else the boys have done as a whole piece of filmaking.

I am not really a big fan of the song Danny Boy, and my understanding is that Patterson recorded this version especially for the film, but, the sweet tenor, juxtaposed with the ballet of cause and effect and subsequent violence as one mob gang tries to exterminate rival boss Leo (Albert Finney) does so much to define his character within the movie.

So, the music might not be rock and roll, but the sequence surely is.

 

Afternoon Snack: Neil Diamond, “You Got to Me”

by

Again, I am minding my own business, working and steaming KTKE. when this Neil Diamond nugget from 1967 came blasting out.

I do remember liking it at the time, but don’t remember the terrific blues harp at all.

Weird with Diamond. I liked some of his earlier songs, but for sure, once my mother announced how much she loved the guy, that was it for me.

I hate to lump him with Billy Joel (ugh), and even Elvis, though the glitter parallel is kind of scary.

But, just like early Elvis, this early Neil is really pretty good (and, Neil should thank his stars that Chuck Berry gave him the form).

 

Lunch Break: The Black Keys, “Little Black Submarines”

by

The Black Keys are another band that has generated very little attention here, so I want to fix that.

I really love the band, who in so many ways seem so unlikely (they certainly don’t look like rock stars, yet they totally rock).

One trouble I have with them is though I own three of the bands albums, I have no clue what any of the songs are called. Of course, I never knew the name of Steely Dan’s tunes either, and I still like them a lot, so apparently that does not account for much.

I know Lindsay saw the Keys with Jake Bugg last week, and she said it was a great show. So, I am hoping she posts about it.

In the interim, here is a fix.

Night Music: Dire Straits, “Solid Rock”

by

I couldn’t watch the political news today. Too depressing.

So I streamed KTKE and on came the Straits, a band I had not heard for a while.

During the new wave rush, Dire Straits were a serious fave of mine, and Mark Knopfler was similarly both a fave guitar play, and songwriter too.

With riffs (dude fingerpicks, which makes me totally wonder how he gets such a throaty sound out of his leads sometimes) influenced by Richard Thompson (Knopfler once said he learned the most from listening to Thompson) and Dylan-esque words and vocals, Dire Straits were just different enough, just edgy enough, and way good enough to survive.

Somehow they seemed way smart enough too, which may sound snotty, but I mean it in the sense that the band played challenging music. But, I think if we all look at the bands we really loved the most–The Velvets, Replacements, The Stones, Dylan, Iggy, etc.–all dared us to ride along on their artistic and musical journey.

Dire Straits third album, Making Movies made my essentials list. Making Movies jumped the band ahead from their early sound to what sounded like new territory at the time. The entire album is fabulous, and since I was jonesing for a little crunch from Mark and his axe, here you go.

Sleep tight.

Night Music: Sonic Youth, “Incinerate”

by

Peter’s post of Legs by ZZ Top prompted me to comment that if we, as humans, keep at a talent long enough, eventually the work and experience will coalesce into a representative work.

I suppose this harkens to the old give a typewriter to a monkey and eventually the ape will give you back a novel.

I don’t mean it that way, especially in the context of Sonic Youth, who have always worked to produce challenging music that pushes the bounds of art as rock.

Still, when they released their album Rather Ripped in 2006 (the band’s 14th) as the closest thing to a collection of pop tunes, the Youth finally scored a hit a la the Top with Eliminator.

I have seen the band a couple of times and while they were interesting, they were never as accessible as this. With a pair of guitar players, and a pair of bass players, no less.

Night Music: The Cars, “It’s All I Can Do”

by

It ‘s after 1 AM in Phoneix, and Shnalderfest, as Steve calls it, is nearly done.

Three days of baseball and jokes and music, spending time with my terrific mates in the baseball industry.

There are too many wonderful moments to recount, and I am ready for sleep, so I will lull off with Cars in a dreamy way.

Lunch Break: Lawr channelling Joe Walsh, “All Night Long”

by

Since the Remnants brought up Joe Walsh free of any self aggrandizing by moi, here are the Biletones in action at a dive bar.

We had a great set, and my wife Diane filmed this with iPhone, yet it is still pretty good (though if you can listen on headphones, the sound is soooo much better and you can really hear the bass).

Breakfast Blend: ? and the Mysterians, “96 Tears”

by

In the same vein as Hey Little Girl and the Music Machine posts of late, 96 Tears came bopping out of the KTKE stream the other day, and as much as I love that the station drops gems from the past into their mix without warning, I never understood why this song was such a big hit.

Like Incense and Peppermints or Spirit in the Sky, or (double gag) MacArthur Park, this song did and still does little for me. But, all those songs were big hits somehow.

OK, if you turn the volume up while streaming the vid below, it is not horrible, but certainly not any kind of a break through classic song. And, as a garage song, it does not compare with Talk Talk, or even Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye) in my meager view.

I am sure this will rankle many, and I am sorry if you love it. Give me Jackie Wilson’s Higher and Higher over it any minute of any day of the week.

Lunch Break: Cream, “Deserted Cities of the Heart”

by

I was lucky enough to see Cream in 1968, during their first big American tour. I was just 15, but they knocked me out. Oddly, the opening act was the Grateful Dead, who played Alligator for an hour, and that was it, making it really hard for me to warm up to the band for a number of years (Workingman’s Dead started the change).

They were great, and I do indeed love Fresh Cream, though curiously, nothing by the band made my essentials list.

Still, NSU, I Feel Free, and I’m So Glad are serious faves.

However, in deference to Lindsay’s “what I like to listen to when I am sad,” I grabbed my favorite Cream cut, Deserted Cities of the Heart, penned by Monsieur Bruce, and in honor of his passing.

From Wheels of Fire, which was produced by said Felix Papplardi (whom I believe played cello on the cut), this song rocks, is dreamy, and takes some unexpected form twists (I LOVE the doorbell/glockenspiel/whatever is channeled into the background as Clapton starts his solo).

Miss you Jack! You were great (and somehow, I cannot believe Ginger Baker outlived you).

I included both the haunting studio version with said strings and treatments, and a fairly blistering live take as well.