There is something very unique about the last time a band plays a song live. In 1985, New Order essentially stopped playing tracks off Movement, their first album. A personal favorite, "ICB", was played for the last time on December 13, 1985 at the Salle Du Baron in Orleans, France. By 1986, New Order stopped going back to Movement and started concentrating on the singles and their more recent albums we all know and love. But Movement is a key album as it represents the transition from Joy Division to New Order.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
"Line of force from heaven, a tear in a stranger's eye"
There is something very unique about the last time a band plays a song live. In 1985, New Order essentially stopped playing tracks off Movement, their first album. A personal favorite, "ICB", was played for the last time on December 13, 1985 at the Salle Du Baron in Orleans, France. By 1986, New Order stopped going back to Movement and started concentrating on the singles and their more recent albums we all know and love. But Movement is a key album as it represents the transition from Joy Division to New Order.
"They crowded up to Lenin with their noses worn off"
R.E.M. recently completed a five night stand in Dublin, where they publicly worked on new material for their upcoming album and also shared some old classics. While the new material is very good and sounds better than anything on the last two albums, let's focus on the older tracks. One of my top five all-time R.E.M. tracks made an appearance on July 4th and it was cracking. "Harborcoat" captures the timeless appeal of old R.E.M. -- somewhat unintelligble lyrics, jangly roots rock feel, and Stipe's timeless voice.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
"And its true that I stole your lighter"
When Liz Phair hit the scene, she was a sultry girl with a dirty mouth and dirtier mind that played a skillful guitar. Her songs were devastating and cut right to the heart. 1993's Exile on Guyville, a witty play on the Stones' Exile on Main Street, is a brilliant debut album that features several classic indie rock songs, including "Fuck and Run", "Never Said", and my favorite "Divorce Song". Take a listen and bask in a performer at the start of a creative peak that lasted three solid albums.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
"Win the beating heart the prize"
With Bob Mould working away on his next solo release, I find myseld getting progressively more anxious for it to see the light of day. 2005s Body of Song revealed a revitalized Mould deftly incorporating electronic elements with his classic alt-rock sound, or as one friend said "Sugar as if it were mixed by the Pet Shop Boys". The album and subsequent tour found Bob rocking out with a great band and revisiting old classics from Husker Du, Sugar, and his early solo days. Check out "Beating Heart the Prize", a brilliant track from this album and a great example of how Bob is really expanding his sound.
Monday, July 23, 2007
"Don't set fire to the fire escape"
Perhaps the hippest band going today, The Editors are now on their second album and have increasingly improved. The first song of theirs I actually heard and really liked was "Heads in Bags". Off Rarities, which was released in 2005, "Heads in Bags" captures the essence of the Editors at their finest. If you like it, be sure to check out The End has a Start, the new album which is fantastic.
"When it comes crashing down and it hurts inside"
1983 - a revolution takes place and one man ascends to the throne as the hero of boys everywhere, his name, Hulk Hogan -- his theme song, "Real American" by Rck Derringer and featuring Cyndi Lauper. Hogan was the embodiment of everything I loved about wrestling as a kid -- a hero, a face, and a man to believe in. He almost always won, and even if he lost, he won next week. Listen again to the theme song that shook Pontiac Silverdome to its core after he won Wrestlemania III. Today, he is the one man who could save wrestling, post Chris Benoit.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
"There's not much time left today"
Thanks to the Rascal Flatts cover version, one of my favorite early 90s gems got a reprieve in the last year or so, Tom Cochrane's brilliant slice of Canadian rock, "Life is a Highway". Ask anyone old enough to remember the summer of 1992, this song was everywhere. Catchy, upbeat, and sing-along lyrics make it one of my top ten Songs of Summer. Travel back with Tom, seeing as how many of us never travelled past 1992 with him.
Friday, July 20, 2007
"You played yourself to death in me"
Classic 90s band which should have made it, Failure could have made it and in my opinion should have. Ken Andrews wrote brilliant songs and was lucky enough to have the best James Bond intro video since 1984s A View to a Kill. "Stuck on You" is one of my favorite songs from the mid 90s - a mid tempo rocker with heart and soul. Here is a live version from the Whiskey in LA.
"I'm confused that things are gettin' hectic"
This is for J. on the left coast, who recently asked me where all the Razormaid remixes are coming from. In reply, "I cannot reveal my sources, but the move to the middle of the state has been plentiful." In 1991, Dutch duo L.A. Style released the techno classic "James Brown is Dead". Here in its glory is the Razormaid Remix. Enjoy!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
"I've been now sauntering out and down the path sometime"
Perhaps some of the best remixes from the 80s were of songs of Duran Duran's first three albums, specifically the "Night Versions" of several classic tracks. If you listen to any album from the 80s, perhaps the deepest album of them all is Rio, which has 7 songs that could have been singles, and all seven probably could have topped the charts. My favorite remix from this era, the Night Version of "New Religion", which is my favorite DD song off Rio.
"But I change whenever you're around"
Since I moved to Central PA, I've been re-evaluating bands from this region, and I keep coming back to the brilliance that is The Ocean Blue. Tight songs, brilliant rhythms, great vocals, and witty lyrics, plus they like the bands I like -- New Order, the Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen. 1996 saw the band release its last major label album, See The Ocean Blue. The slow burning "Whenever You're Around" was the lead single, and remains one of my favorite tracks from the band.
"I can see right through you, baby, you're a nuclear bomb"
During his mid-90s hiatus from New Order, Bernard Sumner released two Electronic albums with Johnny Marr. Curiously enough though, his best vocal performance may have been for a then struggling band from Manchester known as Sub Sub. Formerly a very dance oriented group, Sub Sub transformed into a great rock band, and eventually changed names to the Doves. "This Time I'm Not Wrong" represents their transition from techno to guitars, and surprisingly sounds very similar to their first hit, "Catch the Sun".
Monday, July 16, 2007
"Hands off she's mine, until the end of time"
The English Beat, as they are known in the US, was a wonderful mix of black and white, rock and ska. Their debut album I Just Can't Stop It featured five brilliant singles, including the classic political statement "Stand Down Margaret" and the twitchy "Mirror in the Bathroom", which is brilliantly used in the 1997 film Grosse Point Blank. Check out the excellent "Hands Off She's Mine", which brilliantly captures the Beat sound in a brisk 3 minutes.
"Caught up in our own barbed wire"
While some of the members of Duran Duran were off making an album with the "Voice" a/k/a Robert Palmer, Simon LeBon, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor spent some time recording an album under the name Arcadia. Their album So Red The Rose featured the Top 10 US and UK single "Election Day". My favorite off the album though is "Goodbye is Forever". LeBon's voice is simply fantastic and Taylor/Rhodes create some timeless music on the album.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
"If you need a friend..."
Only one post tonight, as I am pretty tired. Reintroduced to a younger audience by Napolean Dynamite, When In Rome's "The Promise" is one of the most quintessential 80s songs. It was used superbly in the prom scene, and hearing it today, actually reminds me of my own Junior Prom, since the after-party was at a friend's house, and this single was on her jukebox. Check out this brilliant remix of "The Promise" and go back to 80s.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
"Nothing you can sing that can't be sung"
New Jersey's own synth-pop treasure Anything Box released its debut album Peace in 1990. It featured the classic synth track that any club kid of the early 90s should remember "Living in Oblivion". The band captured a combination of early Depeche Mode, Erasure, and Yaz in a perfectly blended conconction. Following up on the success of Peace, the band went away to record their follow up Worth in 1991. It never saw the light of day until 2001 thanks to the wonderful people at Sony Records. The album is a breathtaking piece of work from a band clicking on all cylinders. Check out "World Without Love" and their cover of the Beatles "All You Need is Love" to see what I mean.
"Let me see you stripped down to the bone"
Black Celebration is perhaps my favorite Depeche Mode album. It has such great songs on it, including my favorite DM song, "But Not Tonight". For some reason, DM songs make for great remixes. Just look at all of their early singles and even the more recent singles, awesome remixes. Going back to Black Celebration, check out the Razormaid Remix for "Stripped", which is probably one of my favorite Razormaid remixes as it really is a deconstruction of the song, rebuilding it around the drum beat.
Monday, July 9, 2007
"This wrinkle in time, I can't give it no credit"
The Pixies. Black Francis. Frank Black. Brilliant. I saw Frank Black for the first time in person at David Bowie's 50th Birthday Party in MSG, and remember thinking, "How awesome is this!!" The first time I heard Frank Black, sometime in the early 90s, and it was definitely "Wave of Mutilation" by the Pixies. A college radio staple, Frank stepped away from the Pixies as we all know to pursue a solo career. The first music video of his solo career that I saw was for "Headache" of the album Teenager of the Year. How can anyone forgot Frank cutting through a massive Tylenol with a chainsaw. Love it!
"Love is so confusing there's no peace of mind"
It seems people really like interesting remixes of 80s songs, and as things go, I have a lot of DJ remixes from my college radio days and through various mixed I collected over the years. Tonight's remix of choice, the Razormaid Remix of Blondie's "Heart of Glass". A classic by any standards, Debbie Harry and the boys pulled out all the stops with this track. Brilliant breathless lyrics, swooning keyboards, and a killer beat. Enjoy these six minutes of bliss.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
"She shadows me in the mirror"
My first Cars CD was the Greatest Hits, and I remember when I got it thinking, "Man, I am really going to get into this band." Regretfully, I never really made it further than the Greatest Hits. The albums that I have listened to have truthfully been defined by the singles for me, with the exception of their debut album. The aptly titled The Cars features the brilliant "All Mixed Up", which is an instant classic of keyboards, drums, and harmonized vocals. For the younger folk, you may know the song thanks to Red House Painters dramatic re-working, which was also featured in a Gap ad campaign. Check the original...
All Mixed Up - The Cars (WMA format)
"She's flying in the face of fashion now"
I was working on a brief this afternoon listening to the iPod on shuffle and came across a track I had kind of forgotten I had -- it can be tough when you over 7,000 songs on your iPod. Julian Cope's 1987 classic "World Shut Your Mouth" is off his third solo album Saint Julian and features a more accessible pop sensibility then previous albums. In recent years, this song has seen continued airplay thanks to VH1 Classic, which often runs the video, and Sirius Radio channel First Wave, which plays the song at least three times a day. If you haven't heard it recently, maybe you should listen again.
Friday, July 6, 2007
"I was delayed, I was way-laid"
This will be short. I heard this on WXPN out of Philadelphia the other day and was absolutely blown away. I did not know what to think. Was it blasphemy or brilliance? I couldn't tell, since we are talking about my favorite Smiths single, "Stop Me If You Think That You Heard This One Before". Check out Mark Ronson's hip-hop cover, which features Daniel Merriweather. Let me know what you think - I still can't make up my mind...
"Heartwrecker, heartwrecker, make me delight"
One of the more overlooked Bowie albums of the 70s is Station to Station. My favorite song, "Stay", appears twice on the 1991 rerelease, including the incredible live version. "Stay" features the brilliant Carlos Alomar on guitar and features one of his best performances. On a whole, this album is often remembered, or not in Bowie's case, as the record made while David was knee deep in cocaine. But truly, the album serves as a forerunner to the Berlin trilogy as it is the first Bowie album to prominently feature synths and electronic rhythms.
"Everything around here makes your pretty head spin"
For those of you that thought they were no more, you are gravely mistaken. Reunited since 1999, the greatest Scandinavian 80s band, a-Ha, has released four albums in the last eight years, including a brilliant live album. Their most recent release Analogue led to their highest charting single in the UK in years. "Cosy Prisons" is a slow burner that grows into a wicked track that features some nifty synth work and great lyrics. Check out a-Ha again, and remember how great they were and still are.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
"I couldn't ever bring myself to hate you as I'd like"
The arrival of Madchester saw the jaw-dropping rise of the unheralded Stone Roses. After toiling for years in various forms unsuccessfully, the band finally clicked with the times - ecstasy, dancing, partying - along with the Happy Mondays, they were an embodiment of the times. My personal favorite, "I am the Resurrection", is an 8 minute epic with an incredible jam closing out the song, almost Greatful Dead meets Pink Floyd.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
"Heart like a wheel, Changing in time beating colder steel"
I've always enjoyed the Human League and their distinct brand of electro-pop. From the catchy synchopated beats of "Don't You Want Me" to the lavish synth melody of "Human". One of the best songs delivered by the League in the late 80s is "Heart Like a Wheel", a rollicking synthpop classic that features a polished, classic vocal performance from Phil. Check out the Razormaid remix of "Heart Like a Wheel" and dance around the room when you put it on.
Monday, July 2, 2007
"A dream of sweet illusion"
Before "Wayne's World", Queen were the soundtrack to the movies of my youth - Flash Gordon, Highlander, and Iron Eagle. Each of them spectacularly cheesy in their own special way. It's funny because today I still hear "Flash Gordon" every time Tom Gordon enters a game for the Phillies (note: not often now as he is on the DL). Of the songs recorded for these various cinematic treats, I think the best utilized song is "One Vision" from Iron Eagle. Revel in the Extended Mix and remember the days when Louis Gossett, Jr. was a bad ass.
"Welcome to the lions den"
One of the albums from the early 80s that I truly enjoy is the U.S. debut from Madness. From the catchy first single "Our House" to the swoony romanticism "It Must be Love". But my favorite track on the ablum is probably the mischievous "House of Fun". Nothing like a song about boys being boys as they come of age. Take a trip back to the lions den...
"Phoney Beatlemania has bitten the dust"
I stumbled across this band and this version of The Clash classic "London Calling". From what I can discern, Captain Tractor are akin to the Barenaked Ladies, who when I was in high school were fun, and play what amounts to folksy drinking songs. So I guess I'll go with a cross between the Pogues and the Barenaked Ladies. Absolutely weird, but unbelievably catchy.
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