Name This Tune November 16, 2015!

When this record came out I was listening to a lot of this Hall of Fame band’s older tunes, which didn’t sound so much like this.

Can you name the band? Can you guess the year? Good luck!

ANSWERED: It’s Name That Tune Day! March 2, 2015

I think you’ll get the name of this one, easy. But who does it sound like? And who recorded it and when?

Well, that didn’t rustle up much action. This was a b-side by a group with a very special baseball pedigree, working in a style definitely not their own. Click to find out who!
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Naming the Tune No. 2

Yesterday’s Name That Tune turned on a simple peculiarity. The song, Rosalie, was from an obscure album by a soon-to-be famous songwriter, and was much better known when it was covered by Thin Lizzy a few years after the original.

Bob Seger’s album, Back in ’72, topped out at No. 188 on the US charts in 1972 and was never released on CD because Seger didn’t like the sound of his vocals. The album features the backing of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on a few tracks, though a dispute over their pay rate (they wanted $1500 per “side,” which Seger took to mean $3000 for a two-sided album, while they meant the more traditional “side” to mean song) caused them to leave the sessions early because Seger couldn’t afford them.

The song, Rosalie, was about Rosalie Trombley, who was the program director of CKLW, a Top 40 radio station that was very influential in making midwestern hits and determining what songs were played on the radio across the nation.

Some say the song is angry and lampoons Trombley’s taste and expertise, though to my ear it is pretty even handed, so much so that it’s hard to see why this was a good subject for a tune. What is sure is that Trombley didn’t like the song and it was never played on CKLW.

Name This Tune No. 2!

No prizes again, and this may not be that difficult, for obvious reasons. But even if you know the song, do you know the artist, and do you know the story? Discuss.

Name That Winner!: England’s Glory, “Shattered Illusions”

England’s Glory was Peter Perrett’s band before the Only Ones. This tune was recorded in 1971, but the band never signed and an album they recorded was not released until after the success of the Only Ones. The Hozac label is releasing the original disc. Shattered Illusions is the b-side of the first single, City of Fun.

Tom Muscarella identified Perrett’s distinctive voice and like a house of cards the mystery was solved. Congratulations, Tom! Thanks to those who played along! h/t to Aquarium Drunkard, where I found the tune.

Ps. All Music says this record was recorded in 1973, which would make it’s Transformer-like sound more of an imitation than a precursor.

 

 

Name That Tune No. 1: Can You Identify This?

I’ve stripped the metadata from this clip, and renamed it. Your mission, if you choose to accept it is identify, the year, the band, the song. Let me warn you, you may not be able to do it. This is tres obscure.

But I think there are also some things to talk about with this one. Please discuss! No prizes!

The answer will appear soon in the comments.