Cocteau Twins - "Cherry-Coloured Funk"

 

Super Bowl LVI begins in a few hours and I still haven't posted about the halftime show for Super Bowl LV.  Life has kept me pretty busy and I've been way behind in my blogging, but now is a good a time as any to catch up.  

Last year's halftime show was a bit unusual -- only one artist, no fans, no special guests, all due to Covid-19.  The artist was The Weeknd, and the show was mostly well-received (e.g., these reviews in Vox and The Guardian).  Unfortunately, I'm mostly unfamiliar with his canon and with no guests or cover songs,  for a long time I wasn't sure what my take would be on the show.  Then later I found out he's a big fan of The Cocteau Twins*, going so far to name one his songs "Heaven or Las Vegas" (after The Cocteau Twin's 1990 LP) and to sample that LP's opening track, "Cherry-Coloured Funk", on his 2011 song "The Knowing".  "The Knowing" wasn't on the setlist of the halftime show, but the 14 minute format limits how much artists can cover.  

"Heaven or Las Vegas" is probably my favorite LP by the Cocteau Twins, and having been in recent heavy rotation as dinner music at the house, I need to properly review it sometime soon.  The LP features three extraordinary songs, and "Cherry-Coloured Funk" is one of them.  

I'll have a lot more to say about tonight's halftime show, but until then enjoy the Cocteau Twin's "Cherry-Coloured Funk" and last year's show.

Links: Super Bowl LV Halftime Show

Cocteau Twins: "Cherry-Coloured Funk"

The Weeknd: "The Knowing"

* "I've always had an admiration for the era before I was born. You can hear it as far back as my first mixtape that the '80s – Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins – play such a huge role in my sound." -- Billboard.  

Bruce Springsteen - "Born In The USA" (the song remains the same)

Super Bowl LIV is in the books and it was a good game, especially since I won $100 off my friend Drew.  Neither of us particularly cared who won, but the group of people we were with decided that a wager would make the game more entertaining.  I chose Kansas City simply because VT alum Kendall Fuller plays there, and there's no way I could bet against a Hokie.

The halftime show, featuring a double bill of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, was well received by most -- or at least those who aren't afraid of sexy, middle-aged Latin women making a number of political points: kids in cages, a reversible Puerto Rican / USA flag, and a snippet of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA".  Yes, that "Born in the USA".  I was going to riff on the segment of "Kashmir" they cleverly snuck in, but I can't pass up the opportunity to address the point that "Born in the USA", while patriotic, is not a jingoistic anthem.  Instead, it is a protest song, a bittersweet acknowledgement that for some the American Dream remains inaccessible.

First, borrowing the Wikipedia page, they managed to squeeze a lot into 14 minutes:

Shakira

1. "She Wolf" (contains elements of "Dare (La La La)")
2. "Empire" / "Ojos Así" (contains elements of "Inevitable" and "Kashmir")
3. "Whenever, Wherever"
4. "I Like It" (with Bad Bunny; contains elements of “En Barranquilla Me Quedo”)
5. "Chantaje" (with Bad Bunny; contains elements of "Callaíta")
6. "Hips Don't Lie"

Jennifer Lopez

7. "Jenny from the Block"
8. "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)"
9. "Get Right"
10. "Waiting for Tonight"
11. "Que Calor" / "Mi Gente" (with J Balvin; contains elements of "Booty", "El Anillo", "Love Don't Cost a Thing" and "Lento")^[52][53][54]
12. "On the Floor"

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez

13. "Let's Get Loud" / "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" (with Emme Muñiz; contains elements of "Born in the U.S.A.")

While the show was entertaining, outside of the hits I'm not really qualified to review most of their songs.  But the inclusion (at 12:14), however brief, of "Born in the USA" was genius.  The best way to understand the song is to remove the chorus and focus on the remaining stanzas:

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just covering up 

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man 

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "son, if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "son, don't you understand?" 

I had a brother at Khe Sanh
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms, now 

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Puerto Rico is part of the United States, to the surprise and/or dismay of some, and referencing Bruce in Shakira's and JLo's celebration was a great way to tap into the powerful history of this song, as well as provide a hat tip to a great 2009 halftime show.

Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the USA" studio version (from the 1984 LP of the same name), 1982 demo version from the "Nebraska" sessions. 

Goodie Mob - "Dirty South" (forgotten song)

Super Bowl LIII concluded yesterday, and while many might say it was a "boring" game because it was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl in history, as a Va Tech fan I've learned to appreciate defensive struggles.  The halftime show, on the other hand, well... that was pretty boring.  Not necessarily bad, but stiff and uninspired. 

It certainly had all the individual pieces: a bland, popular, corporate rock band ("we want someone like Coldplay, but not quite as edgy...") with two guest appearances by rappers with regional ties as well as underground cred, a SpongeBob interlude, a drumline, a choir, a 70s Cadillac convertible, lasers and fireworks, and lots of Adam Levine beefcake.  It's like a machine learning algorithm had processed all the previous halftime shows and then synthesized the best elements into a whole that filled the requisite 14 minutes, but lacked a unifying vision or theme.  In trying to appeal to all and offend none, the result was a sterile simulacrum of a halftime show.

The NFL had trouble lining up performers, given the ongoing situation with Colin Kaepernick.  Maroon 5 was a safe choice, and the choice of Big Boi and Travis Scott for guest spots (neither of which was particularly well-integrated with the Maroon 5 set) was the smallest possible nod to Atlanta's burgeoning music scene.

With that, I choose Goodie Mob's song "Dirty South" as this year's Super Bowl song.  "Dirty South" is from their 1995 debut LP "Soul Food", and is the first known use of the phrase "Dirty South", a sub-genre of hip hop, with Atlanta at its epicenter, that emerged in the early- to mid-90s as separate and distinct from NYC-based and LA-based hip hop.  Big Boi, then a member of Atlanta-based Outkast, guested on both "Dirty South" and last night's appearance, thereby provided the tie in to something more substantive than Maroon 5.  Goodie Mob is still active, with four members also involved in other projects, of whom Cee-Lo is the most recognizable to general audiences. 

Let's be honest: a Goodie Mob / Outkast halftime show, opening with "Dirty South", including radio hits like "Hey Ya!" and "Forget You"), with Maroon 5 as the guest artist, say with a reinterpreted, rap-crossover version of "Harder to Breathe" plus a duet with Cee-Lo on "Crazy" would have been edgy... and great.

Goodie Mob - "Dirty South"

Maroon 5,  Travis Scott, Big Boi - "Full halftime show"

Prince - "I Would Die 4 U" (spotlight)

Super Bowl LII has come and gone and it was quite a good game, especially since I did not care who won.  Justin Timberlake was the halftime show, and reviews appeared to be mixed (e.g., "This is how Justin Timberlake lost the Super Bowl" vs. "Halftime Review: Justin Timberlake Emerges Fumble-Free After Bad Pre-Game PR").  I'm ambivalent about Justin Timberlake: he's funny on SNL, and he brought sexy back and for that I'm grateful, but otherwise I don't care that much; his performance seemed fine to me but I had set the bar pretty low.

For me, the truly interesting part of the halftime show was JT's tribute to Prince (presumably because the Super Bowl was in Minneapolis?) and the controversy leading up to the event.  Apparently the plan was to "recreate" Prince via a hologram (similar to that used for Maria Callas and Roy Orbison), a technique that Prince had previously called "demonic".  The hologram idea was eventually scrapped courtesy of Sheila E.'s advice, and instead we were treated to Prince singing ""I Would Die 4 U" via old Purple Rain* footage projected on what looked like a giant bed sheet.  Apparently that still upset some Prince fans; I can only assume they destroyed their DVDs (VHSes?) of "Purple Rain" on April 21, 2016.

Prince - "I Would Die 4 U" 




* Ok, technically it was footage from both "Purple Rain" and "Prince and the Revolution Live!", but while you've likely seen "Purple Rain" a dozen or more times, have you actually seen the latter concert film?

Woody Guthrie - "This Land Is Your Land" (spotlight)

Super Bowl LI (notice how we're back to Roman numerals?) looked like it would be a blow out, but then featured 25 unanswered points for an OT win, the first in Super Bowl history.  Lady Gaga did a great halftime show, and I'm not even a big fan of hers.  The right was busy congratulating themselves for Lady Gaga "not being political".  Perhaps the right-wing snowflakes were too hurt by, you know, beer commercials and such to notice, but Lady Gaga's performance was filled with left-wing dog whistles.

First, she's Lady Gaga, and she's singing LGBT anthems like "Born This Way", in front of Mike Pence et al.  That's only apolitical if you don't understand the words.  Second, in the opening patriotic, pre-recorded piece it was not an accident that she ended with "...with liberty and justice for all".  Third, she started with a snippet from "God Bless America", but then followed it with Woody Guthrie's response song, "This Land is Your Land".  That also wasn't an accident, and it invokes the history of the song, recorded in various versions, most often with the overtly political verses removed.  Here are the full lyrics of the song as written in 1940:

This land is your land this land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

So yes, while Lady Gaga's show wasn't anti-anything, it was an appeal to our better angels.

"This Land is Your Land": Woody Guthrie (1944?), Bruce Springsteen (1985), Bruce Springsteen & Peter Seeger (2009)

Bonus link: full halftime show.

The Time - "Jungle Love" (forgotten song)

Super Bowl 50 is now in the books.  The game itself was pretty good (if you like defense), but as always there has a been a lot of talk about the halftime show.  Coldplay was ... well, Coldplay.  On paper I "should" like them but wow, I just can't.  I can't even say I dislike them... they're just so boring that I feel nothing at all.

(Full disclosure: I did buy "Parachutes" in 2000, but I honestly can't remember the last time I played it).  Apparently it's cool to hate on Coldplay, so I won't waste any more time with them (although their bit on CBS Sunday Morning did make them seem like pretty decent guys...)

Beyonce caused quite the stir with her contribution (Giuliani inserted himself into the story without even mentioning 9/11!), but I don't have anything to offer there either.

I want to talk about the uninspired inclusion of Bruno Mars (ok, technically "Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars").   One, we just had him two years ago.  Two, "Uptown Funk" is over a year old at this point.  Three, doesn't it bother anyone that "Uptown Funk" sounds exactly like "Jungle Love"?  There are a lot of articles that talk about how it sounds like many different funk songs, but to me it sounds identical to The Time's 1984 single from "Ice Cream Castle" and featured prominently in "Purple Rain".  Side note: I didn't realize in the 80s that The Time basically was Prince.  As Danette's college roommate said: "Prince dresses him" (or her, where appropriate).

So I just wanted to take this opportunity to say that for the last year, every time we heard "Uptown Funk" (which was a lot!), Danette and I always said "Jerome bring me my mirror!"

The Time - "Jungle Love"

Jill Sobule ‎– "I Kissed A Girl" (forgotten song)

Another Super Bowl has come and gone, and with it a pretty good halftime show, featuring Katy Perry, Lenny Kravitz, and Missy Elliott.  Katy Perry was Katy Perry, I'm not sure why Lenny Kravitz was there (having him sing "I Kissed a Girl" isn't really a stretch), and most people celebrated the return of Missy Elliott.  And then there were the sharks, or more specifically "left shark".  If you didn't enjoy the sharks, trees, and beach balls then you're dead inside (see also: Aqua's "Barbie Girl").

I've already (sorta) blogged about Katy Perry once and that seems like enough.  The third song in the Super Bowl setlist was Katy Perry's first single from 2008, "I Kissed A Girl", but instead I want to focus on another song by the same name that you might not have heard.

In 1995 Jill Sobule released "I Kissed A Girl" as a single off her second LP "Jill Sobule" and it received minor airplay.  Although she's been active continuously I don't think she's had a hit since then.  Katy's song is a different song altogether, even though they share a title and theme.  Obviously Katy played the bi-curious theme to much more commercial success than did Jill.  In a 2009 interview Jill said, tongue-in-cheek:

When Katy Perry's song came out I started getting tons of inquiries about what I thought. Some folks (and protective friends) were angry, and wondered why she took my title and made it into this kind of "girls gone wild" thing....

As a musician I have always refrained from criticizing another artist. I was, "Well, good for her." It did bug me a little bit, however, when she said she came up with the idea for the title in a dream. In truth, she wrote it with a team of professional writers and was signed by the very same guy that signed me in 1995. I have not mentioned that in interviews as I don't want to sound bitter or petty...

Okay, maybe, if I really think about it, there were a few jealous and pissed-off moments. So here goes, for the first time in an interview: Fuck you Katy Perry, you fucking stupid, maybe 'not good for the gays,' title-thieving, haven't heard much else, so not quite sure if you're talented, fucking little slut.

God that felt good.

I watched the halftime show, and I liked it...

Jill Sobule - "I Kissed A Girl"
Katy Perry - "I Kissed A Girl"
Full Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show

Stevie Wonder - "Higher Ground" (forgotten song)

The Super Bowl was last weekend, and the half time show was Bruno Mars with The Red Hot Chili Peppers guesting.  Bruno Mars did a fine job, but...  he's not really my thing.  I doubt Bruno is losing any sleep over this since, being old enough to rent a car,  I'm not his target demographic.  I also suppose that's why the Chili Peppers were brought in for a guest spot.

Sadly, they only did one song, "Give It Away", and while that is certainly their most popular song, I was hoping that Stevie Wonder would be a surprise guest...

When I recently said that "Singles -- 45s and Under" was standard issue in college, well the Chili Pepper's 1989 LP "Mother's Milk" might have been #2 on the list.  The first single from that LP, and the song that really made them popular, was a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground", which first appeared on his 1973 LP "Innervisions". 

And even if Stevie couldn't make the Super Bowl (note that he's been at the recent Grammys and the Beatle's Tribute concert), including Stevie Wonder via a cover would have better united Bruno Mars and the Chili Peppers.  In summary, not a bad half time show (although ending on a ballad was anti-climatic) but omitting "Higher Ground" felt like a missed opportunity. 

Stevie Wonder - "Higher Ground", live 1974
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Higher Ground"


P.S.  Flea has admitted that, like the Broncos, they didn't really play.

Beyonce - "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" (the song remains the same)

I seem to have a Super Bowl tradition going, so no reason to stop now...

Super Bowl XLVII had Beyonce for the halftime show, and by all accounts it was very successful.  Although I'm not really a Beyonce fan, it did seem like a high-energy show.  It was surprisingly short on guest appearances, so I'll have to do my first (and probably only) Beyonce post.

She performed several of her big hits including "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", which is probably her biggest hit, crossing over into many other genres.  You've heard it countless times before, but did you know that:

• the iconic dance routine is based on 1969's "Mexican Breakfast"?
• it is the basis of a SNL skit with Justin Timberlake?
• there are not one but two bluegrass versions?  The Cleverlys and The Pigs
• The Daily Show featured a mariachi version?
• it was slowed down by Sara Bareilles?
• just for Danette's benefit*, Liza Minnelli did a version?
• it was used as an example in an NPR piece about how video making has changed?

I find the last bit the most interesting: rather than the theatrical, complex arrangements of 1983's Thriller, which was meant to be viewed on a large screen TV, modern videos are optimized for smaller, mobile devices.  This means lots of flashing lights, centering framing, and facial close-ups.  The contrast with Michael Jackson is interesting, because it was his 1993 halftime show that launched the current practice of A-list performers.  Prior to that, you were more likely to see "Up With People" at halftime (seriously, look it up). 

Now that you've learned about how the viewing devices influence video making, take another look:

Beyonce: "Single Ladies"

Enjoy it because Super Bowl XLVIII might not have a halftime show (however, I'm betting they do).




* Aside from the obvious icon status, Danette completely doesn't get Liza Minnelli. 

The Clash - "Straight to Hell" (forgotten song)

I just realized that while I had a Super Bowl themed post last year, I didn't have one this year. So just a few days late... The Clash?! Admittedly this is one of the last bands you would associate with the Super Bowl.

Here's the tie-in: Madonna did the half-time show this year and although she lip-synced (that's bad), it was still better than last year's oddly bland performance by the Black Eyed Peas (anyone that says the BEPs performance was the worst ever must have forgotten about the 2010 performance by The Who...). One of Madonna's guests was M.I.A., who apparently flipped off somebody -- NBC, NFL, FCC, America, Madonna -- it isn't clear.

Upon reading about that my first reaction was "who?". But then I remembered that M.I.A. did the song "Paper Planes", made famous by being featured in the 2008 movie "Slumdog Millionaire". Of course, what made that song memorable is that it heavily samples from the last (proper) single by The Clash, 1982's "Straight to Hell", from the LP "Combat Rock".

The Clash's last single was fittingly a great song, and although their lyrics deal with examples of immigration issues ca. 1982, it is still a proper summary of the GOP policy on immigration:

There ain't no need for ya
Go straight to hell boys

The Clash: "Straight to Hell" (SNL 1982 live version, stadium live version)
M.I.A. "Paper Planes"

Bonus Links:
Lily Allen & Mick Jones: "Straight to Hell"
The Clash: "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (B-Side to the 1982 single).

Foo Fighters - "Best of You" (the song remains the same)

In honor of tomorrow's quasi-national holiday, Super Bowl XLV...

"Best of You" was the first single of the Foo Fighter's highly successful 2005 LP "In Your Honor". The song is excellent: it has hooks, emotion, power -- everything you want in power pop. Dave Grohl has a great rock/punk voice: raspy, powerful, and with range.

I'm always amazed at the success and longevity of the Foo Fighters: I would not have believed you if you told me in 1994 after Kurt Cobain's death that Grohl, Nirvana's drummer (insert Spinal Tap reference here), would 1) switch to vocals & guitar, and 2) have a 15+ year run of commercial and critical success.

This story really begins with the Foos doing a cover of Prince's "Darling Nikki" on the B-side of their 2003 single "Have it All". In fact, the B-side was originally available on only foreign versions of the single (Australia & UK), but it gained some airplay in the US. The story goes that although Grohl did the cover because he was a Prince fan, Prince was not too happy that the Foos covered his song ("No! I don't like anyone covering my work. Write your own tunes!"), and Grohl later apologized and asked radio stations to stop playing their cover of "Darling Nikki".

Fast forward to 2007 and Super Bowl XLI and Prince is the halftime show. How does one of the most prolific and influential artists of our times fill a 12 minute slot? It begins with the marching band doing "We Will Rock You"; ok that's surely some kind of marching band law, so that doesn't really count. He then does two songs from the Purple Rain LP: "Let's Go Crazy" and "Baby I'm a Star". Then two covers (a medley, really) of "Proud Mary" and "All Along the Watchtower" -- covers, but so well known that they're standards.

We were watching the Super Bowl at Terry's house, and I still remember my total surprise when Prince segued from "two riders were approaching / and the wind began to howl" to "are you gone and onto someone new?" -- was Prince really singing "Best of You"?! That's a rather obscure, recent, and heavy song for a Super Bowl halftime performance. Given all the songs Prince could have chosen, using ~2:15 of a 12 minute slot to cover a Foo Fighters song was a pretty bold decision. From "Best of You", Prince closed the show with the song "Purple Rain".

Some people seemed to think Prince's cover was a dig at the Foos, but that just doesn't make sense: you don't skip over your own songs like "1999", "Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry", "I Would Die 4 U", etc. just to insult another artist. I prefer to think of it as a peace offering from Prince, realizing that he had been a bad sport about the whole "Darling Nikki" affair. For the record the Foo's were flattered, their reaction is covered in this story from mtv.com.

Is it too much to hope the Black Eyed Peas have a similar surprise in store? (edit: turns out it was too much to hope for -- I don't think it was the disaster that some claim, but it wasn't very good).

Foo Fighters: studio version, live version, live on Jools Holland, acoustic version

Prince: audio only version, full halftime show ("Best of You" begins at ~6:00).

"Darling Nikki" Bonus links:

Prince: studio version, "Purple Rain" movie version

Foo Fighters: studio version, live version