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

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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.

Song of the Week – Go Now, Bessie Banks

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Most of you associate The Moody Blues with their late 60s/early 70s progressive rock classics like “Nights In White Satin”, “Ride My See-Saw”, “Tuesday Afternoon” and “Balance.” But before that, they were a British Invasion pop band, playing a mix of originals and covers of American R&B (like most of their peers).

This early version of the band included guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine (who went on to greater renown as a member of Paul McCartney’s Wings) and had a #10 hit in the US with the Laine sung “Go Now” in early 1965.

If you’re a Baby Boomer you probably remember this song. If you’re a Gen Xer or Millennial, maybe not so much (unless your dad weened you on oldies radio when you were a toddler).

Still, I’ll bet most of you don’t know that the Moody Blues version of “Go Now” was a cover of an original recording by Bessie Banks (1964). Banks’ “Go Now” is today’s SotW.

It was produced by none other than the great R&B team of Leiber and Stoller. Purists think Banks’ version is the superior one. I love it too and that’s why I’m sharing it with you today. But I also like the Moody’s version. I’m going to cop out and call this one a toss-up.

Enjoy… until next week.

Afternoon Snack: Cher/Nancy Sinatra, “Bang Bang”

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OK, so I am kind of into letting the Spotify do its thing. Mostly, on the 35-minute ride to the links, I have picked an artist and let the streaming rip, but this morning I was feeling nostalgic, so I dug around and found a 60’s hits stream.

There was a bunch of Dylan and Doors, and the Turtles along with the Isley Brothers and ultimately Stevie Wonder when Bang Bang, by Nancy Sinatra came on.

Let’s be clear. I hated These Boots Were Made for Walking (save the cool bass walkdown at the end) from the first time I heard it, as a 13-year old in 1966. I did not think Nancy Sinatra talented. Her singing wasn’t chanteuse-like a la Marlene Dietrich, nor was it pretty, a la Connie Francis (sorry, I had a mad crush on Connie as an eight-year old).

There was nothing that seemed remotely real about Sinatra the daughter (or son, who did redeem himself with a guest shot on Family Guy). And, for extra fun, remember that Frank Jr. was kidnapped out of Harrah’s in 1963, and that Dean Torrance–the Dean of Jan and Dean–was involved in that caper.

Nancy just seemed the epitome of plastic to me: worse, she was a moderate talent at best who was able to cash in on her father’s name and fame, for had she been Jane Doe from Everytown, Iowa, Nancy would never have had a hit record.

There is this quasi Django Rheinhardt gypsy-ish guitar in the background of Nancy’s version, but basically it just blows. I was happy for I Was Made to Love Her to kick on after Bang Bang was shot.

As a means of comparison, I did go out an find the Cher version, which is far more orchestrated than I remember. I do like Cher’s voice: at least I did back then and to a degree for Cher was like Neil Diamond in that I liked her early stuff, but as she got bigger and mainstream, her songs seemed cornier, and I was disinterested.

The thing I like about the Cher version is the clear Phil Spector/Sonny Bono influence. Also, at the time, I knew she was a shitload hotter than Nancy could ever hope to be. I mean, Nancy could only hope to attract the likes of Gene Simmons, Gregg Allman, or Richie Sambora.