More Randomness
Before I start, I just want to let you know I am doing something I have never done before, writing from my IPhone. So, it might be a little short but no less random.
I get these pops of inspiration regarding what to write for the Friday music column. Sometimes it’s simple. Just list something. I like lists. Sorry. I am a cliche, what can I tell you. Sometimes I just have random songs show up on my playlists and I think that maybe, just maybe, this song will stir someone’s memory from back in the day.
This is one of those columns.
As per usual, some are repeats, some are from different era, but all of them are pretty good.
The mix is eclectic as usual.
Random order and none of it will make sense.
First song up is “Liar” by Three Dog Night. TDN had multiple hits in the late 60’s early 70’s, this was one of them. It’s a little darker than “Mommy Told Me Not to Come” but musically, it’s better than anything they did before or after. The band never really got the props it deserved but let me tell you, there was a period for about two years, you couldn’t turn on AM radio without hearing one of their songs in an hour. Not this one. FM only. Argent’s version is as good and you should check them out, side by side. You decide.
Moving along.
The next three are from the most disparaged era in Rock. The late 80’s through the 90’s new wave, alternative, punk and Ska period.
Speaking of Ska, I know I have put this song out there numerous times but UB40’s “ Rat in me Kitchen” is just a really fun song. It’s UB40’s version of some Jamaican ditty. It’s 7 and half minutes of Rastaman music that you will invariably start dancing to. The Rasta break in the middle does no harM and leads into an awesome trumpet solo for the last three minutes of the record.
Another song that got little airplay in the US was “Swear” by Tim Scott. Scott was the lead guitarist for multiple bands that went nowhere and he had a couple of alternative hits in the mid80’s, “Swear” being one of them. Another of my undiscovered gems I think.
I am going to put the next two together. Kind of similar chord structure and there is some underlying edge to both. “Rooster” by Alice In Chains and “ Voodoo” by Godsmack. Both bands were from a segment I honestly never spent five minutes listening to. Godsmack was sort of a Pist Grunge band and Alice In Chains was grunge/ garage haven’t showered in four days band. In any event. You wanna get into a deep dark space? Play these two back to back.
“Drown” by The Smashing Pumpkins is one of those songs that I have some weird connection. I don’t remember ever seeing the movie from whence it came, Singles, but I do remember how the lyrics stuck to me and the fact that as the song goes on it just gets all jumbled up until it’s just some screeching pile of burning guitar riffs. I met Billy Corgan on the trading floor and he really was just the nicest guy you could ever meet. I asked him about the song and he said he wrote it based on his own life and he thought a lot of people could relate to the breakdown at the end.
To bring this back to sanity, my next song is by Hall and Oats. Yes, Hall and Oats. Blue eyed soul, what have you. Say what you want, these guys were excellent singer songwriters and had a true respect for the music they loved. No shredding, no underwhelming lyrics. Like all soul singers, blue eyed or not, they sang about what they knew. “ Lady Rain” is a perfect example of what they could do. Great harmonies, lyrically strong and the instrumental parts don’t overshadow their pitch perfect voices
My last one is by an artist I love, David Bromberg. Guitars, Banjo picker, hustler and humorist. “The New Lee Highway Blues” is a song about a roadtrip that Bromberg took with some bandmates. It was living hell but he lived to tell.