Shonen Knife dig Redd Kross, which led me to this bit of fun.
This Carpenters song, which is treacle, turns into this Redd Kross rock mockup of the Carpenters, and both make sense! And both are terrible. Here’s the Carpenters.
But Redd Kross had better values.
What were they thinking?
I’m up in the air about the Shaggs, but I love Shonen Knife. So this:
IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED
Little Joe Cook died this week at the age of 91. Cook had one Top 40 hit with the doo-wop influenced “Peanuts” in 1957. You can read his full obit here:
Little Joe Cook obituary – Boston Globe
So why would I take the time to write an extra SotW for an old guy from the ‘50s that is barely a footnote in rock and roll history? Quite simply, because he was ours.
You see back in the 1980s BC (before children) my friends and I used to frequent the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, MA where Little Joe held a long residency. He could bring together the entire community – old and young, black and white, rich and poor, preppy and punk, townies and tourists – like no other performer.
He would play “Peanuts” several times a night and the crowd loved it.
He would work the crowd to get everyone “cookin” on the dance floor. It could be a zero degree, February night but it would be 100 in the Cantab. We would walk out of the club into the cold so drenched in sweat that you hair would freeze on your head.
Inside the Cantab it sounded like this:
So rest in peace, Little Joe. You touched a million lives.
Enjoy… until next week.
I never saw this before. Daniel is young, has the voice, bangs the guitar, encapsulates the moment, refers to his disease and escapes it in a strum.
IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED
David Ruffin was the lead voice in The Temptations, singing some of their most important hits including “My Girl”, “Ain’t to Proud to Beg” and “I Wish It Would Rain.” He was clearly one of the most important voices in the history of soul music.
His raspy, yet sweet, voice was an inspiration to many other singers including a number of rock artists that covered his material like Rod Stewart as a solo artist (“(I Know) I’m Losing You”) and with the Faces (“I Wish It Would Rain”) and Mick Jagger (“Ain’t to Proud to Beg”).
But Ruffin was also a flawed man, succumbing to substance abuse that affected his ability to keep his professional commitments to the group. This eventually led to him being fired… sort of. He famously showed up at a number of their gigs where he would jump up on stage, grab the mic from his replacement (Dennis Edwards) and sing some of his best known songs. This was all portrayed in a 1998 miniseries on NBC.
Once Ruffin left the Tempts, his career was virtually over even though he continued to record, release and perform material up until his death in 1991 at age 50. But not quite. His first release as a solo artist is a classic and today’s SotW – “My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me).”
This is a very cool song. It opens with a flute piece that’s based on “Frühlingslied” by Felix Mendelssohn. Then the Funk Brothers kick in with another steady groove — a funky bassline, sharp horn charts, and Latin percussion.
Then comes “the voice.” Ruffin’s performance is intense and emotional – as if he has something to prove (to his former group, and he does). You can feel his pain as he describes how he can’t go on without the woman that ditched him. He wants so badly to understand why she left him (and hopes he can convince her to come back).
Oh tell me baby
Where did I go wrong, honey
Whatever changed your mind, baby
I’ve asked myself these questions over a million times
Baby, baby, oh baby
My whole world ended the moment you left me
I can listen to this song a thousand times and never tire of it. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore.
Oops. Last Saturday I told you it was Record Store Day. I was a week ahead of myself. In fact, today is Record Store Day. So please support your favorite independent record store and treat yourself to a vinyl collectible today.
Enjoy… until next week.
The whole idea of art and agency in art is challenged by outsider artists. That is creators who don’t seem to have technical chops but somehow make visuals or sounds that engage anyway.
The Shaggs were a bunch of sisters who formed a band at their father’s direction and made an album in 1969 that went no where, at least partly because it was horribly played.
But, some years later that horrible playing became a virtue, and they were adopted by Frank Zappa and Terry Adams as naifs, making brilliant music without consciousness.
I spent some time tonight with Laura (last name unregistered by my brain), who plays drums in the modern version of the Shaggs, backing up Dot Wiggins, apparently the last remaining sister on tour. Until tonight I didn’t really know the Shaggs’ album, but Laura told a story about Dot’s musical tastes.
“What do you listen to,” Laura asked.
Dot said, “Herman Hermits.” Her tastes were fixed in the 60s.
Lester Bangs said the Shaggs were better than the Beatles, which is one side of the discussion about interesting naivete versus commercial calculation. I didn’t grow up with the Shaggs and didn’t invest myself in their story when Terry Adams and Frank Zappa revived them. For me this is outsider art, if art is what you want to call it.
I’m glad to hear it, I find it hard to give it much credit but enthusiasm.
The better part of a week on the road, without the inet some of the time, and with other things to do than listen to music some of the rest of the time. Not that much of a tourist, but this song says welcome home better than most.
Just got word that our good friend and used-to-be regular Rock Remnants contributor was eaten by a Great White shark off the coast of Brooklyn.
Please send all contributions directly to me.
Sincerely as hell,
Steve
These guys have the right idea.
Of course I am working, and streaming KTKE (still the best radio on earth in the best traditional listening to the radio sense) and The Band’s Chest Fever hit the airwaves.
The studio version is among my favorite songs by the iconic group, but I found this live version from Woodstock that is so good (too bad no real video).
Aside from the killer church organ intro, the group pushes this cranker forward in such a relaxed fashion, that it just flies by.
Really love the drums and Robbie Robertson is as good as they come on the guitar. Vastly under-rated.
