For Gene

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At Foley’s Saturday night, Gene remarked that it’s too bad no one ever did a rockin’ cover of Hippy Hippy Shake. I was shocked that he had somehow bypassed the Georgia Satellites doing that very thing in 1988.

Was gonna just send it to Gene but, what the heck, why not post it since we’re not exactly swimming in content lately (especially from me)?

Wiki tells me the song has also been covered by others, including The Beatles and Mud.

Here’s the video, which I now recall was a feature of that lame-o 80’s classic Cocktail. Lots of hot 80’s chicks in high-waisted jeans who are probably looking pretty rough these days.

Cool points for clocking in at less than two minutes.

Song of the Week – Dangerous Rhythm, Ultravox!

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IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

05d81eeca340635b3a868503a32d9e3f_fullUltravox! released their self-titled debut in 1977. They were extremely popular in the UK, having landed seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles there. But most of those hits were in the version of the band led by Midge Ure (dropping the ! from their name), not the original group led by John Foxx.

The original lineup straddled the turf between Roxy Music glam and late 70s British punk. An example of this is the Steve Lillywhite and Brian Eno produced, reggae influenced, “Dangerous Ryhthm.”

Upon its release as their first single, Sounds magazine opined “They might be rather like a younger early days Roxy Music but, oh my what a good model to copy. And their very youth bestows upon them a direct brashness missing in the recent Roxy. Rich emetic bass, precise Ringo drums, synthesiser cascades and Eno’s hand in the production make this the best and most confident debut single since ‘Anarchy’.”

The pulsating bass and staccato guitar (which is reminiscent of Elvis Costello’s “I Don’t Want to Go to Chelsea”, by the way) complements the way the lyrics convey the demimonde of the British club scene.

Surging and merging
Urgent and urging
Soft as a footstep on the stair

The red light is on now
My gravity’s gone and how
I can feel something in the air

It’s not like anything I’ve ever known before
And I don’t care

This number really captures the pulse of its time.

Enjoy… until next week.

Peter Perrett, Woke Up Sticky

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This is a fantastic tune by Peter Perrett, the singer songwriter at the heart of the Only Ones. This is by his 1996 band, the One, and was released on an elpee also called Woke Up Sticky.

It makes total sense that between their like (love?) of drugs, their romantic perspectives (cut by jaundice), mastery of classic rock tropes, and ability to twist them to their visions, Perrett and Johnny Thunder would bond.

The Only Ones, City of Fun

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Another great Only Ones tune.

Covered by Come, perhaps unnecessarily but effectively, in a Peel Sessions show in 1993.

What’s striking about the difference between these two versions is first, Peter Perrett’s voice, which is distinctive, assertive, brash.

But also, while Come rock it hard, the original is full of production tricks. Shifts of focus, subtle volume emphases, this is record making, while Come are playing live. The only known cover of this excellently energetic and melancholy tune.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer, In The Beginning

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By Surka - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8345595

By Surka – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8345595

They keep dying, and they will keep dying. We will keep dying, I hope not too fast.

Keith Emerson was one third of a supergroup power trio that was huge in the early 70s, riding a crest of progressive pseudo-classical rock (along with Yes, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, the Moody Blues, King Crimson and many others) in the maw of punk. And then they were over, for a while.

ELP were notable for some very good songs, like this one, which includes a striking acoustic guitar part by Greg Lake, and also monstrous bombast at times, which was all part of the fun. These guys were rock stars at the height of rock stardom as an unalloyed privilege, which only makes them figuratively immortal.

Song of the Week – Turn to Me, Plastic Penny; Lady Samantha, Three Dog Night; Bad Side of the Moon, Toe Fat; Rock Me When He’s Gone, Long John Baldry

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IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED

elton_john-bernie_taupin

Elton John and Bernie Taupin began writing songs together in the late 60s. Many bands recognized their talent and recorded their songs before Elton John became a worldwide, cementing their songs in rock history. Today’s post recognizes a few of them.

Plastic Penny was a psychedelic pop band from England and included drummer Nigel Olsson who later became a key member of John’s recording and touring band. “Turn to Me” was on their 1969 UK released album, Currency. To the best of my knowledge “Turn to Me” never received a proper recording by John although a demo version does exist and can be found on YouTube.

“Lady Samantha” was recorded during the sessions for John’s first album, Empty Sky but wasn’t included on the original album. Instead it was released as a single in January 1969. Three Dog Night found the song and recorded a version for their second album Suitable for Framing, released in June 1969, more than a year before John would gain stardom in the US with his first hit “Your Song”, released in October 1970 and peaked in the charts at #8 in January 1971.

Toe Fat’s recording of “Bad Side of the Moon” was on an album released in May 1970. The song came from the Elton John sessions but wasn’t on that 2nd album. It was the B-side to the single release of “The Border Song”, another cut from Elton John. It also came out on the live 11/17/70, a radio broadcast from WABC (later WPLJ) in NYC, that was released in the US in April 1971. Toe Fat featured multi-instrumentalist Ken Hensley who left the band to start the hard rock band Uriah Heep.

Long John Baldry recorded two albums with an interesting concept. Each had one side produced by Rod Stewart and the other by Elton John. His 1971 album It Ain’t Easy included a John/Taupin song called “Rock Me When He’s Gone.” This song was written during John’s Madman Across the Water sessions but didn’t make it onto the album. John’s version didn’t see the light of day until the 1992 release of his set of unreleased recordings, Rare Masters.

Enjoy… until next week.

Night Music: Jefferson Airplane, “Volunteers”

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Since Paul Kantner passed away recently, I have been seriously into listening more and more and deeper and deeper into the catalog of his fantastic band.

Last weekend I was in Phoenix for LABR, and I wound up having a great discussion about music with Sirius/XM’s Kyle Elfrink.

We talked about a lot of stuff, however, Kyle asked me who my favorite bass player was and I said Jack Cassady. “Who,” asked Kyle? Kyle is in his early 30’s meaning he was born long after the Airplane split up, so he certainly can be forgiven this oversight which I promptly corrected by sending the link to The Other Side of This Life from Bless its Pointed Little Head.

However, while checking that video out I first stumbled onto this version of Volunteers the band played when inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Of course the retired Grace Slick was absent, but the rest of the band was there full force. I think what I love–what being an old guy who is proud to call #iambecomingabesimpson my very own hash tag–is the band core of Jorma Kaukonen, Marty Balin, and Cassady, look so neat and trim and nattily attired, yet they still kick the shit out of the song.

The bonus was I stumbled onto this fantastic interview with Kantner and Slick who reminisce about touring with The Doors and Jim Morrison, the first time both bands were in Europe. Its awesome.