Eric Clapton - "It's In The Way That You Use It" (forgotten song)

 

So it turns out that Eric Clapton is collaborating with Van Morrison for another anti-lock down song.  This is apparently separate from the Van Morrison songs we learned of last month.  This is disappointing, dangerous, and completely tone deaf: how many people should be put at risk so this septuagenarian can do live shows again?

I'm not the biggest Eric Clapton fan, but owing to the time and place of my birth, I can't help but a fan to a certain degree.   He's objectively a guitar god, "Badge", "Layla", and "Wonderful Tonight" are all great song, and they have formed the soundtrack for various moments in my life.  So with sadness, I have to admit that the news about Clapton's does have a measure of personal disappointment.  

I will mark this occasion with a song that I like, even if not one of his greatest.  "It's in the Way That You Use It" was first featured on the soundtrack of "The Color of Money", a film that I really enjoyed when it came out.  It was later released on his LP "August", but it will always be a soundtrack song for me.  I'm not here to convince you that it's one of his classics, and it definitely has cheesy 80s production.  In preparing this post I learned that it was co-written by Robbie Robertson, which is pretty cool.  But I'm not going to deny that I like this song, even if the latest news does diminish my enjoyment just a bit.

"I've seen dark skies, never like this"

Eric Clapton - "It's in the Way That You Use It"

The Outfield - "Your Love" (forgotten song)

"Josie's on a vacation far away

Come around and talk it over

So many things that I want to say

You know I like my girls a little bit older"

Every child of the 80s will immediately recognize the opening lyrics of The Outfield's 1986 hit, "Your Love".  Lead singer and bassist Tony Lewis died this week, and this caused a discussion on the on-going text chat with my friends.  No one claimed this was their favorite song, but all praised it being a "genius pop song" and the lyrical content applicable to the moral dilemmas of teenagers / young adults (in other words, being "down with O.P.P.").  It was a radio and MTV staple back in the 80s, and an inescapable part of our HS soundtrack.

In our discussion, an interesting question arose: is the side chick younger or older than Josie?  younger or older than the male?  I, along with all the guys on the chat, had always assumed that the side chick was youngest of this love triangle.  That's a safe cultural (and gendered) assumption.  But re-reading it today I was less certain: "I like my girls a little bit older" -- wait, is she the oldest one?  Is she Stacy's mom?  All of the sudden I wasn't sure.  

I asked Danette and she said she always assumed the side chick was the oldest of the three.  Hillary said she assumed the side chick was older than Josie, but still younger than the male.  

 

I only have a few data points, but maybe there's something to the idea of a gendered interpretation of this silly but fun song.

The Outfield - "Your Love" (official video, with extended intro), (radio & LP version)

Public Image Ltd - "Rise" (forgotten song)

Et tu, Johnny?

Turns out Johnny Rotten is a Trump supporter (ht Drew for sharing the disappointing news).  I guess the guy who once sang "I am an anti-Christ / I am an anarchist" decided the most punk thing he could do would be to go MAGA. 

"I could be wrong I could be right".

 Johnny, you're wrong -- they must have put a hot wire to your head.

 PiL - "Rise"

Queen - "One Vision" (forgotten song)

We saw the Queen / Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" about two weeks ago.  I enjoyed it, even though Danette is a much bigger fan of Queen than I am.  I don't dislike them, and I certainly recognize their proficiency and importance, but they were never important to me.  Regardless, the movie was enjoyable and it motivates today's choice for a "forgotten song".

Even though the movie ends with Live Aid (1985) and thus did not cover the 1986 LP "A Kind of Magic" from which the single "One Vision" was released (it was also on the Iron Eagle soundtrack, if anyone still remembers that movie...).  "One Vision" received radio and MTV airplay at the time, but it's certainly not one of their better songs and has mostly faded from our collective musical radar...

So why choose this song?  Because I want to introduce you to Laibach, a band which was (is?) important to me (albeit for other portions of their canon).  What can I say about Laibach?  They're exactly what you'd think an Eastern European, martial, art-by-committee, collective would sound like.  It was never really clear if they were fascist or communist, or perhaps simultaneously both in defiant self-negation, but it was clear they were authoritarian.  I've never been sure if they're serious, or if they are just the Slovenian version of Devo and the Church of the SubGenius and it's just a long running inside joke that I lack the cultural context to process (in the same way the Chinese Government struggled to understand The Onion).

Regardless, I'm using their "cover" of "One Vision" as an opportunity to introduce them here.  Laibach occasionally did loose covers of popular Western songs, although whether they did them out of respect or disdain is not entirely clear either.  Their "cover" is appropriately renamed "Geburt einer Nation" ("birth of a nation"), and is from the 1987 "Opus Dei" LP.

Are they for real?  Or a performance art, musical version of the Colbert character?  Either way, they convey more middle-class shock than Queen ever did...

Queen - "One Vision"
Laibach - "Geburt einer Nation"


P.S. Both Freddie Mercury and "Eber" (a pseudonym; lead vocals for Laibach) are both sporting the same 70s pornstache...

Celtic Frost - "Tragic Serenades" (LP Review)

"Lend me your steel-bearing hand
So I may reign the Jewel Throne
My soul feels the gods' demand
As the lost kings uphold my side

Blood and sand
Mark their way
The usurper's tears
Guide my sword"

As I've discussed before, I'm surprised at how well Celtic Frost early material has held up some 30+ years later.  The music was always ferocious (even if, or perhaps because, the production is so raw), the Tolkienesque lyrics (e.g., the opening stanzas from "The Usurper" above) are still engaging, and the result is that CF is one of the few metals bands that I now appreciate even more than I did back in the day.  Furthermore, I recently discovered CF's 2006 reunion LP, "Monotheist", as well as the material from the post-CF band Triptykon, and I find they exhibit a peerless progression of complexity, depth, and execution of their vision, which first surfaced in 1984's "Apocalyptic Raids". 

So I was sad to discover a month ago that bassist Martin Eric Ain died.  Ain was a long-time collaborator with Thomas Gabriel Fischer (aka Tom G. Warrior), participating in the last half of Hellhammer and most of Celtic Frost, and in the process they substantially influenced many sub-genres within metal.  Their up-and-down relationship mirrors that of Bob Mould and Grant Hart: compare Bob's note about Grant and Thomas's note about Martin.

To mark Martin's passing, I'm choosing Celtic Frost's 1986 EP "Tragic Serenades" for several reasons.  First, it's the only CF release I have on vinyl (the rest of their early material I taped from Scott Kinkade).  Second, the existence of this EP is due to Martin leaving Celtic Frost prior to 1985's "To Mega Therion", then returning in 1986.  This EP re-records two songs from TMT, "The Usurper" and "Jewel Throne", but with Martin on bass.  It closes with a "party mix" (?!) of  "Return to the Eve", first seen on "Morbid Tales".

So it's a three song EP, all of which are re-recordings of existing songs -- certainly this is only necessary for completists and its release didn't really advance their musical journey past the source material.  On the other hand, this EP exists because of Martin and his difficult relationship with Thomas, and as such is a fitting tribute to his passing.

Standout songs: "The Usurper" and "Jewel Throne"  (full EP).

Final score: 7/10  Ultimately, this is just an interesting footnote in the CF canon. 


Bonus link: Martin sings lead on 2006's "A Dying God Coming Into Human Flesh".

The Smiths - "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" (the song remains the same)

Several years ago Julianne, Danette's sister, asked me what I thought was "the best cover song ever?"  I had lots of answers (including "Run On", "Stop Your Sobbing", "Blue Flower", and some others I will eventually cover here), but I'd like to retroactively put at the top of the list "There is a Light That Never Goes Out" by The Smiths.  Originally appearing on their 1986 LP "The Queen is Dead", it was released as a single in 1992 after The Smiths had broken up.  Like pretty much everything by The Smiths, the song is a poignant recount of teenage confusion/pathos/spirituality/sexuality.

My first experience with the song was its appearance as the closing song on the 2003 mix LP "Back to Mine" by The Orb.  This version was retitled "The Light 3000" and is by Schneider TM vs. KPT.Mich.Gan (originally on their joint 2000 EP "Binokular").  The transformation of the song is striking, from the 80s college radio sound of the original to what it would sound like if your computer had teenage angst.  But somehow -- and this is the part that makes it a truly brilliant and inspired cover -- the sterile robotic/synth treatment actually accentuates the universality and the humanity of the original version. 

The Smiths - "There is a Light That Never Goes Out"
Schneider TM vs. KPT.Mich.Gan - "The Light 3000"

And in the darkened underpass
I thought "oh God, my chance has come at last"
But then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask

Body Count - "Raining Blood" (the song remains the same)

You may be cool, but are you Ice-T, fronting Body Count, covering Slayer's "Raining Blood" cool?

Unless your name is Tori Amos, probably not.  

Body Count: rehearsal version, studio version.

Tori Amos: studio version.

Slayer: studio version, and as seen on South Park.

The Smiths - "Panic" (spotlight)

Special Brexit edition...

"Panic", a non-LP single released in 1986 by The Smiths is an appropriate choice as the markets and the world in general react to this unforced error.

On the surface it's about music, but like Brexit it's really about culture, identity, and a side of xenophobia.

Panic on the streets of London
Panic on the streets of Birmingham
I wonder to myself
Could life ever be sane again?
The Leeds side-streets that you slip down
I wonder to myself...

Hopes may rise on the Grasmere
But honey pie, you're not safe here
So you run down
To the safety of the town
But there's panic on the streets of Carlisle
Dublin, Dundee, Humberside
I wonder to myself...

Burn down the disco
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music that they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music they constantly play

On the Leeds side-streets that you slip down
Provincial towns you jog 'round
Hang the DJ

"Panic" - official video, live 1986

And because it's been a while since I've blogged about The Cribs, here's a 2008 cover of "Panic" with Johnny Marr.

The Beastie Boys - "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" (spotlight)

Ok, so I always knew that the title of "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" was probably a nod to Motorhead's 1981 live LP "No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith".  Slayer's Kerry King providing the guitar solo that cements the metal/rap crossover.  But last night I noticed something in NSTB that has eluded me since 1986: stuck in between the 2nd and 3rd stanzas (at 1:33 in the video) is a one-off lyrical break not used elsewhere in the song:

Another plane - another train
Another bottle in the brain
Another girl - another fight
Another drive all night

How did I miss this?  One of my favorite Motorhead songs is their 1980 song "(We Are) The Road Crew" (from the classic "Ace of Spades" LP), where the lyrics are primarily a long list of "Another this, another that":

Another town, another place,
Another girl, another face,
Another truck, another race,
I'm eating junk, feeling bad,
Another night, I'm going mad,
My woman's leaving, I feel sad,
But I just love the life I lead,
Another beer is what I need,
Another gig my ears bleed,
We Are The Road Crew

I always knew the Beasties were clever, but this is excellent.  Why did it take me some 27 years to catch this?

The Beastie Boys: "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" (full lyrics)
Motorhead: "(We Are) The Road Crew" (studio version, full lyrics), 2005 live instrumental version

The Green Pajamas - "Kim The Waitress" (forgotten song)

"Kim The Waitress" was originally released as a non-LP single in 1986 by the prolific, Seattle-based cult band The Green Pajamas.  Never heard of them?  Me neither, but you might remember "Kim The Waitress" from the more popular 1994 version from Material Issue, off their 1994 LP "Freak City Soundtrack".  Their version received a fair amount of airplay at the time, but that was really their only hit and Material Issue split up shortly after that.  Bonus points if you knew that there was also a 1994 version released by Seattle-based Sister Psychic, off their LP "Surrender You Freak".

What does this have to do with Danette's birthday?  I remember ca. 1997 (before we were together) discussing this song with her.  Although the Material Issue version was released in 1994, but I think it was still a current song on the radio.  I had liked the song immediately, but Danette was somewhat puzzled by the theme.  Exactly what is it about the waitress and men's fascination with them?  Well, it's not really about her as a waitress, although the job description does require that they be nice to you.  Combine that with alluring and possibly mysterious feminine presence, and you get the kind of male obsession that the song aptly captures:

Pressed lips and slender hips
Turning, in my head
Writing poems in a corner booth
That I'd die, if she read
Seeing her in but a silver cross
Lying on her bed 
...
Sometimes she comes with coffee
Reaching over, pouring
I'd like to gently pull her to me
Kiss her, with no warning
Seeing her on some sunny summer Sunday morning
...
She doesn't come around anymore
And that bothers me (I'm unhappy)
It bothers me (I'm unhappy)
It bothers me (I'm unhappy)

Though I don't stand a ghost of a chance with her
She's pretty (and it bothers me)
So pretty (and it bothers me)
So pretty (and it bothers me)
And it bothers me (I'm unhappy)

Sure, that's not yet quite stalking but you can probably see it from there.  Although Danette has never been a waitress, she's been the object of this sort of attention many times before (and often discovering this well after the fact).  And there I was explaining this point of view to her, all the while already my feelings for Danette becoming not entirely unlike the song's protagonist.  It wasn't entirely clear how to say "...and guess what? I feel this way about you."  So while not a typical love song, that's how I've come to link this song to Danette.

Material Issue made one slight change in the lyrics that made the song darker than was written by The Green Pajamas.  The chorus was originally:

No one can save us
But Kim The Waitress

Material Issue changed it to:

No one can save us
From Kim The Waitress

Thereby transforming Kim from the unintentional hero to the unintentional villain.  Turns out there was a real waitress named Kim, and when she learned of this song much later in life she apparently took it in good humor.  However, unlike the song writer I ended up together with the object of my fascination.

The Green Pajamas: "Kim The Waitress", 2009 live version

Material Issue: "Kim The Waitress"

Sister Psychic: "Kim The Waitress"

The trailer for a short film based on the song, by Scott Eriksson.  The full film is also available, but it explores the darker avenue of this song (e.g., "and it bothers me").

Prior Danette Birthday postings, the beginnings of a loving but irreverent mix tape: 

2012: The Cure - "High"
2011: Blink 182 - "Josie"
2010:  Dead Milkmen - "Punk Rock Girl"

Husker Du - "Candy Apple Grey" (LP Review)

"Candy Apple Grey" is Husker Du's 1986 major label debut after four critically acclaimed LPs (and one EP) on Reflex Records and SST Records.  This means there are two general reactions to the LP: many long-time fans accused them of selling out, and major magazines (e.g., Rolling Stone) fawned over the LP in an effort to make up for ignoring their 1982-1985 output.

In retrospect, most reviewers feel the truth is somewhere in between (e.g., Punknews, Culture Fusion).  This is a good LP that should be in your collection, but it lacks the intensity and consistency of LPs like "New Day Rising" and "Flip Your Wig".  It is tempting to put the blame on the big, bad major label but apparently the real villain is the increasing rivalry between Grant Hart and Bob Mould.  Perhaps the Warner Brothers deal kept the band together longer than they would have if they had remained on SST. 

Parts of "Candy Apple Grey" would be at home on any of their previous releases: "Don't Want to Know If You're Lonely", "Sorry Somehow", "Crystal".  Some represent a more poppy, college radio sound that hints at their later solo releases, like "Too Far Down", "Hardly Getting Over It", "No Promise Have I Made".  Those songs are fine, but the weakest moment on the LP are songs like "Dead Set On Destruction" and "Eiffel Tower High".  Those two songs, while not terrible, have a kind of awkward self-awareness; I can imagine Bob and Grant saying to themselves "hey, in the next 30 minutes I need to write a song that rocks harder than {Bob's|Grant's}!".

Standout songs: "Don't Want to Know If You're Lonely", "Sorry Somehow", "Too Far Down", "Hardly Getting Over It"

Skip 'em songs: "Dead Set On Destruction", "Eiffel Tower High"

Final score: 7/10.  WB Husker Du pales in comparison to SST Husker Du, but it is still better than most bands.

Bonus link: MTV review of "Candy Apple Grey" (featuring Martha Quinn), complete with May 1986 tour dates in case you invent a time machine and want to catch them live (after killing baby Hitler, of course). 

The Beach Boys - "Good Vibrations" (the song remains the same)

I just finished reading "The Nearest Far Away Place", the 1996 biography of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys.  I believe it was a thrift-store find from Terry many years ago and I've just now gotten around to reading it.  I moderately enjoyed the book, but there were several features that limited my enjoyment: 1) it was written before the 1998 death of Carl Wilson, 2) there was way too much biography about the Wilson's grandparents and great-grandparents, 3) many of the stories reported in the book now have contradicting stories, and 4) Timothy Whites's "rock-n-roll" writing style was excruciating.  Having recently read Marc Spitz's "Bowie" I can only assume things have reached epidemic status and  Hunter S. Thompson was patient zero. 

Regardless, it was fun to revisit The Beach Boys; I've been busy ripping my old CDs and I've just now gotten around to ordering (and enjoying) the apocryphal "SMiLE".  I'm not quite ambitious enough to rehash the cultural importance of Brian Wilson, "Pet Sounds", "SMiLE"/"Smiley Smile", etc.  -- and really, what could I say that hasn't been said before?

But I will briefly mention the 1966 single "Good Vibrations".  Originally developed during the "Pet Sounds" sessions, it was left off that LP and released as an advance single for "SMiLE".  Nearly a year later "SMiLE" devolved into "Smiley Smile", and that was pretty much it for Brian Wilson.  But the fact that this song was ever a hit is nothing short of amazing.  Sure, the standard song structure is in place, but how many other hit songs that you know of feature an electro-theremin?!  If you could pretend that you haven't heard this song 1000 times before, you realize it is amazing that you ever heard it in the first place.  Before The Beach Boys became a Ronald Reagan-approved nostalgia act, there was the drug-induced breakdown, the TM, and of course Charles Manson (no, really).

And now I would like to draw your attention to Psychic TV's excellent cover of "Good Vibrations", which I believe first appeared on their 1986 EP "Magickal Mystery D Tour".  I'm not going to even try to explain Psychic TV / Genesis P-Orridge... other than credit Terry for my first Psychic TV experience too.  Psychic TV plays the cover pretty close to the original, with only the spoken word part during the break (~2:40), but that little touch makes the cover stand out. 

The Beach Boys: stereo version, mono version, 1976 live version

Psychic TV: 7" version, long version

R.E.M. - "Superman" (the song remains the same)

Less than a week ago, R.E.M. decided to hang it up after 31 years. Drummer Bill Berry had already retired 14 years ago (!), so I suppose they did the right thing in calling it quits before attrition whittled down the three remaining original members.

Here's where I have to confess that although I like R.E.M. well enough, I never loved R.E.M. Sure, I have a handful of their LPs, I enjoy most of their stuff, and I recognize their centrality in defining the 80s college rock sound. And thanks to the late Carol Taylor (FM99), everyone in Hampton Roads heard them before most did (she was playing "Radio Free Europe" in 83/84). I remember Earl Lindford's band (I don't recall their name) playing "Can't Get There From Here" at the 86 or 87 Denbigh Jam (see also: Tone Deaf). In short, unless you're from Athens, GA I probably heard about them before you.

But it was much later in life (mid-90s?) that I was surprised to discover that my favorite song by R.E.M. was actually a cover. "Superman", the second and last single from 1986's LP "Lifes Rich Pageant" (arguably their last truly alternative LP), was actually originally released in 1969 by The Clique, as the b-side to their single "Sugar on Sunday". Furthermore, the lead vocals on the R.E.M. version are from bassist Mike Mills instead of lead singer Michael Stipe. That's right, my favorite R.E.M. song is not written by R.E.M. and has Michael Stipe on just background vocals.

So while I was never the biggest R.E.M. fan, their retirement is too important to ignore. I might eventually review some of their LPs, but for the near-term this will have to do.

R.E.M.: "Superman"; (a YouTube version with bad sound quality, but you have to love the I.R.S. 45rpm single)

The Clique: "Superman"

Bonus Links:
R.E.M.: "White Tornado" (b-side to the 7" single).

The Clique: "Sugar on Sunday" (a-side to their 7" single).

Kate Bush - "Hounds of Love" (the song remains the same)

Let's do one more Kate Bush cover song...

"Hounds of Love" is the third single released from Kate's 1985 LP "Hounds of Love" (the single came out in 1986). An ode to the fear of commitment, it is a great song but it took me a while to discover this in part because of the mid-1980s production techniques that worked well enough on "Running Up That Hill" don't really make the song "Hounds of Love" stand out.

It wasn't until a few years ago when Johan turned me onto The Futureheads and their 2004 self-titled LP where they do an excellent cover of "Hounds of Love" that I really appreciated the original. The Futureheads transform it from an art/prog rock song and strip it down to just a simple, new wave rock song. While busy channeling The Knack, The Futureheads speed up the tempo, replace the keyboards with guitars, and completely embrace the background vocals that otherwise sound a little awkward on Kate's version. And if that's not a solid formula for how to improve a rock song, then I don't know what is...

Kate Bush: studio version, TOTP version

The Futureheads: studio version, official video, live version, unplugged/live version