This sums up all of X. Old. New. Melody. Rhythm. Tight. Improv. Fantastic.
Night Music: X, “Breathless”
The one cover song on X’s fourth album, New Fun In The New World, is their version of Otis Blackwell’s tune Breathless.
Breathless was a giant hit for Jerry Lee Lewis. One of my favorite songs of his.
But Breathless was also the name of Jean Luc Godard’s first feature.
And was also the name of a sort of remake by the once underground filmmaker Jim McBride, who turned a film about an American girl in Paris loving a French gangster into a film about a French girl in LA loving an American gangster.
X did the cover for the money and promotion, but as you can see in the clip, they perform it brilliantly. And differently. And this one of the great rock songs, no matter whose version you hear.
But we’ve opened up a can of it here. Godard meets McBride. Blackwell meets Jerry Lee Lewis meets X.
There is more to be said.
Night Music: X, “The Hungry Wolf”
I could write about the way John Doe and Exene Cervenka fuse metaphor with rhythm in changing ways. And the way X’s songs always seem to approach pop rhythms or melodies, but then back off, chopping off the part that’s easily likeable and giving their energy to the part that’s different. But I don’t have to. Listen.
From Under the Big Black Sun, which they were playing in Soho tonight.
Lunch Break: X, “When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch”
From the great Wild Gift.
Song of the Week – Lonely Summer Nights, Stray Cats
IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED
In 1982 the Stray Cats released their US neo-rockabilly debut, Built for Speed. The album may be too commercial for many of you – it had two big hits with “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut” – but I still think it holds up pretty well.
Back in the days of vinyl, some albums were one sided and others were two. You baby boomers know what I mean. Sometimes you would become so enamored with one side of an album that you might never get around to listening to the other side. Built for Speed had that potential with both hits and at least one other very good song (“Rumble in Brighton”) on Side 1.
But buried on Side 2 was the terrific ballad “Lonely Summer Nights”, today’s SotW.
The tenor sax intro sets the stage for a retro sounding, romantic number that you might have listened to with your summer camp boyfriend/girlfriend. (Think “See You In September” or “Sealed With A Kiss.”) It has everything it needs – sad, romantic lyrics, tasty guitar licks, a smooth, jazzy sax solo and a big ending.
So as the summer of 2014 is winding down, this song appeals to me as a fitting conclusion.
Enjoy… until next week.
Night Music: X, “Johnny Hit and Run Pauline”
No other band ever sounded like X.
They’re doing that thing this weekend, where a band plays multiple nights of shows at a venue, each night playing one of their albums in its entirety. Johnny Hit and Run Pauline is from their first elpee, Los Angeles.
Breakfast Blend: The Rascals
This is a Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction clip.
You are entitled to your issues about the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, we all are, (the idea is basically bogus, I think), but I think it’s pretty sweet to recognize these guys, which this event did.
And a shout out to Eddie Cavalieri for shouting out to Freedom Suite and Time/Peace, when the Rascals tried to make a difference.
The clip is long, but the intro clips are nice. And by then you should have enough to go on. Little Stevie isn’t wrong.
Night Music: Jake Bugg, “Trouble Town”
THere’s a new English police series on Netflix which got some rave reviews this week. Called Happy Valley, it’s the story of an older woman who is the sergeant in a provincial police station in a town in Yorkshire. The title is ironic, but the drama mixes the ups and downs of family life and the dark side of the town in a pretty compelling way. Nothing radically new, but very nicely acted, written and done.
And the theme song is Jake Bugg from a few years ago. Timeless as folk.
Afternoon Snack: New Acura TLX Ad
Turn it up!
Lunch Break: 16 More Tons
Maybe the measure of a song is how many people see fit to shape it to their own musical styles, kind of like mining.
Stevie Wonder imagined the song as a Motowny bit of danceable social protest in the 60s:
An English socialist rock band with the appalling name The Redskins recorded a jazzy rockabilly version.
And you can’t overlook the Swedish death metal band Momento Mori’s swinging version from 1993.
And there are thrash metal, hip hop, folk, a cappella and other versions, that maybe we’ll get to another day when we’re deeper in debt.