When I worked in midtown in the early 80s I’d visit the various discount record stores and buy cut out records for a buck or two based on a track or a name that I recognized from something I’d read or heard about on the radio.
That’s how I found the Dixie Cups Chapel of Love and Iko Iko. Two of the great cuts of the 60s.
Today I found on Google Music an album called the Dixie Cups versus the Shangri Las. Now, apart from the fact that this is a bogus contest, because of it I found a bunch of Dixie Cups songs I don’t think I’d ever heard before.
Are the Dixie Cups greater than the Shangri Las? Here’re two songs to go with their big hits that make me say, maybe!
Stuart Murdoch, the lead singer and songwriter for the excellent Scottish band Belle and Sebastian, wrote and directed a movie some years back. The movie is called God Help the Girl. And this clip is a song called God Help the Girl performed by the band in the movie called God Help the Girl.
God Help the Girl!
If you want to watch the movie on Kanopy, here’s the link: https://bklynlibrary.kanopy.com/video/god-help-girl.
I’m sure it’s available elsewhere, too.
Here’s a video that should give you all the information you need to decide if this movie is for you. I’m charmed by it all, this is the Scotland of Bill Forsythe and the Vaselines, but more mature now. And more innocent, too. Your mileage may vary, but I highly recommend it.
There are so many angles to Devo. I think the one that fits best is that this is a terrific rock ‘n’ roll band that plays terrific rock ‘n’ roll music always, even when the gimmick level is high. I never saw them live. My loss.
I found this album today on a list of bad album covers. It’s weird art for sure.
But what’s surprising is that the music on this elpee is pretty solid retro hip hop and soul, a throwback to 1980 in one way or another. But with lyrics that have some future knowledge.
In any case, well worth checking out.
I loved the Association. Such great harmonies. And Windy!
But this clip does a good job showing the musicianship of the band and presages Devo. Of all things.
I lost track of the Rascals with Freedom Suite. Which was big and political and didn’t end up on my shelf. But I listened to it last night while cooking and jeez. There is this:
So, I heard about this song by watching a long interview with a fairly obscure Georgia band called Let’s Active where they said they liked this one.
And it’s pretty good. Well worth a listen.
You can listen to Louis Jordan every day and discover amazing music. This was a hit, not obscure, obviously. Roots of rock and roll, roots of rhythm and blues. This is scratching the surface of what Jordan created. More to come.
