Saturday, August 29, 2009

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 29th August '09 - Cilla Black - I've Been Wrong Before

Now, for most people of my generation (in the UK at least) and some from even before that, Cilla Black isn't exactly the 'coolest' of people to like. Most of my generation associate her with nice, but fairly unexciting, Saturday night tv from our childhoods. Now while I will also acknowledge that her vocal style will not be to everyone's taste I was quite pleasantly surprised, when I first heard some of her stuff, at how much I liked her work.

Admittedly, the people who were around her at the time may have had a little to do with how amazing she was. Managed by Brian Epstein (yes, the one who managed The Beatles) having been introduced to him by John Lennon (yes, the Beatle) and produced by George Martin (do I really need to keep explaining now?? ;-P), Cilla was having songs written for her by Lennon & McCartney as well as recording songs written by people such as Randy Newman (who wrote this week's song), Phil Spector, Tim Hardin & Burt Bacharach. At one point she was doing so well even Elvis Presley was known to have one of her records on his personal jukebox in Graceland!!

Though, eventually, she turned away from solely recording music and entered the world of film (briefly) and then tv, her music still pops up from time to time, like the Ferrero Rocher advert that ran a year or so ago in the UK. She also appeared in pantomime last Christmas in Liverpool where she performed some of her songs as part of the production.

So here's a little Cilla for you, performing on Shindig in 1965! Hope you all have a lovely weekend!!

Cilla Black - I've Been Wrong Before

The night we met
The night that I won't forget
You seemed what I'd been waiting for
But baby, I've been wrong before

You held me tight
And everything seemed just right
I couldn't ask for me
But baby, I've been wrong before

He used to smile at me
And a-hold my hand like you do
Then he left me
And a-broke my heart in two

I see your face
And feel your warm embrace
You're all that I adore
But baby, I've been wrong before

Oh baby, I've been wrong before

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 22nd August '09 - Blitzen Trapper - Furr

This song is one that has kept popping into my head on and off for many months now but, this week, finally lodged itself in my brain and wouldn't let go.

Hailing from Portland, Oregon and signed to the legendary Sub Pop label, Blitzen Trapper have released 3 albums and one EP to date with their third album 'Furr' being listed at number 13 in Rolling Stone Magazine's top 100 albums of 2008 with the title track being number 4 on their top 100 singles of the same year.

I found Blitzen Trapper by chance on the wonderful download that is the Indie/Rock Playlist torrent. Out to download once a month through any good torrent engine I've found it's such a great way to discover new music that would otherwise slip under the radar. Two of my upcoming gigs - the aforementioned Blitzen Trapper as well as the 'Song Stuck In My Head...' act from 6th June, Das Pop - are both bands I have discovered through this torrent and would never have heard of otherwise. It is something well worth tracking down and downloading every month and I would highly reccommend it.

As I mentioned, I'm off to see these guys on the 14th in London, so no doubt this song'll get stuck in my head on and off until then and beyond. Check here http://blitzentrapper.net/tour.html, to see if they're anywhere near you soon and, if they are, go check them out!!

See you all next week!!

Blitzen Trapper - Furr

Yeah, when I was only seventeen
I could hear the angels whispering
So I drove into the woods
And wandered aimlessly about
Until I heard my mother shouting through the fog
It turned out to be the howling of a dog
Or a wolf, to be exact
The sound sent shivers down my back
But I was drawn into the pack and before long
They allowed me to join in and sing their song
So from the cliffs and highest hills
Yeah, we would gladly get our fill
Howling endlessly and shrilly at the dawn
And I lost the taste for judging right from wrong
For my flesh had turned to fur
Yeah, and my thoughts they surely were
Turned to instinct and obedience to God

You can wear your fur
Like a river on fire
But you'd better be sure
If you're making God a liar
I'm a rattlesnake, babe,
I'm like fuel on fire
So if you're gonna get made
Don't be afraid of what you've learned

On the day that I turned 23
I was curled up underneath a dogwood tree
When suddenly a girl
Her skin the color of a pearl
She wandered aimlessly, but she didn't seem to see
She was listening for the angels just like me
So I stood and looked about
I brushed the leaves off of my snout
And then I heard my mother shouting through the trees
You should have seen that girl go shaky at the knees
So I took her by the arm
We settled down upon a farm
And raised our children up as gently as you please

And now my fur has turned to skin
And I've been quickly ushered in
To a world that, I confess, I do not know
But I still dream of running careless through the snow
Through the howling winds that blow
Across the ancient distant flow
To fill our bodies up like water till we know

You can wear your fur
Like a river on fire
But you'd better be sure
If you're making God a liar
I'm a rattlesnake, babe,
I'm like fuel on fire
So if you're gonna get made
Don't be afraid of what you've learned


Saturday, August 15, 2009

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 15th August '09 - Tom Petty - Free Fallin'

Hello world! I'd like to start this week's blog entry by wishing a very Happy Birthday to Simon whose blog, http://www.outroversion.blogspot.com/, was the inspiration for me to resurrect something I used to do years ago and turn it into a blog!

Growing up, Tom Petty was someone whose music I was aware of but who I tended to ignore (as with many other artists) because it was someone my parents liked. Now, as I get older, I'm starting to appreciate the music that I 'avoided' for so long.

Coming from the 'Full Moon Fever' album, 'Free Fallin'' is a really catchy song that I know a lot of people will sing along to (even if it's just the chorus) everytime it's played. This week there was a sing-a-long when it was playing in the office on one of my random cd's. Then a few days later another sing-a-long broke out when it popped up on the radio. I had it come up on the shuffle on my mp3 player and then last night it got played on the random music they play in the pub...where another sing-a-long broke out. Aside from showing how it got stuck in my head, it also shows the longevity of a song which is now 20-years-old if people still love it enough to want to sing along to it en masse.

It's a song which also opened the door for me to check out more of his work and there's some really good stuff to be heard...I hope posting this opens that door for others too!

Enjoy!

Tom Petty - Free Fallin'

Shes a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
Shes a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too

Its a long day living in Reseda
Theres a freeway runnin through the yard
And Im a bad boy cause I dont even miss her
Im a bad boy for breakin her heart

And Im free, free fallin
Yeah Im free, free fallin

All the vampires walkin through the valley
Move west down Ventura Boulevard
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
A ll the good girls are home with broken hearts

And Im free, free fallin
Yeah Im free, free fallin
Free fallin, now Im free fallin, now im
Free fallin, now Im free fallin, now im

I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
Gonna free fall out into nothin
Gonna leave this world for a while

And Im free, free fallin
Yeah Im free, free fallin

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 08th August '09 - Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now

Back in the UK and 'reality' and back to blogging at, roughly, my usual time of day.

This week's song is a song that was in my head from early in the week after it popped up on my mp3 player while walking around in New York, and which stayed there after I purchased a book covering the life of it's singer, Joni Mitchell (as well as Carole King & Carly Simon...it's a fascinating book called 'Girls Like Us' by Sheila Weller and is well worth a read imo) to use as means of killing time at the airport. I didn't buy it just because I had her in my mind, but simply cos it was the biggest book I could find that looked interesting to me!

Joni was born in Canada in 1943 (not the American I'd assumed her to be as a child) and released her first album in 1968. It's only in recent years that I have started to appreciate her work. Growing up, my parents often had her music on and because they liked it, it made it hard for me too do the same - the struggle to be 'different' from them and have my own identity being at the root of that - but now I really like a lot of what she did.

This song was on her second album 'Clouds' - released in 1969 - is all about the rise and fall of a great love affair and possibly based on her own relationship with first husband Chuck Mitchell which had ended a few years earlier (Joni had a habit of 'holding on to' songs for several years at times).

It is just a beautiful song and her work is well worth checking out.

Enjoy!

Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now

Rows and floes of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons evrywhere
Ive looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on evryone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way
Ive looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
Its cloud illusions I recall
I really dont know clouds at all

Moons and junes and ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As evry fairy tale comes real
Ive looked at love that way

But now its just another show
You leave em laughing when you go
And if you care, dont let them know
Dont give yourself away

Ive looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
Its loves illusions I recall
I really dont know love at all

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say I love you right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
Ive looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say Ive changed
Well somethings lost, but somethings gained
In living evry day

Ive looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
Its lifes illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all
Ive looked at life from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
Its lifes illusions I recall
I really dont know life at all

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 01st August '09 - The Beatles - Eight Days A Week

Currently, and unexpectedly, sat in a hotel in Washington. Got stuck overnight after pesky storms in New York meant my flight was cancelled. So taking advantage of the hotel's internet to get the blog done.

The song this week is quite simply my tribute to the 5-year-old son of my friends in Canada who had me sing this with him at least once every day when I was there....with compulsory hand claps. It really was a song I couldn't escape all week so no surprises it's stuck in my head.

The Beatles were, undoubtedly, an important part of the history of music as we know it and many bands and artists still cite their influence. Though others appearing in their wake may have 'done it better' (as many I know will argue), without The Beatles they would have had nothing to make them wan't to 'do better' in the first place.

Off to hang around the airport all day hoping for a good standby flight...wish me luck!! (oh and the video this week is just a slideshow thing as I have no speakers here and didn't want to gamble too much on something I couldn't hear....sorry)

The Beatles - Eight Days A Week

Ooh I need your love babe,
Guess you know it's true.
Hope you need my love babe,
Just like I need you.
Hold me, love me, hold me, love me.
I ain't got nothin' but love babe,
Eight days a week.

Love you ev'ry day girl,
Always on my mind.
One thing I can say girl,
Love you all the time.
Hold me, love me, hold me, love me.
I ain't got nothin' but love girl,
Eight days a week.

Eight days a week
I love you.
Eight days a week
Is not enough to show I care.

Ooh I need your love babe,
Guess you know it's true.
Hope you need my love babe,
Just like I need you.
Hold me, love me, hold me, love me.
I ain't got nothin' but love babe,
Eight days a week.

Eight days a week
I love you.
Eight days a week
Is not enough to show I care.

Love you ev'ry day girl,
Always on my mind.
One thing I can say girl,
Love you all the time.
Hold me, love me, hold me, love me.
I ain't got nothin' but love girl,
Eight days a week,
Eight days a week,
Eight days a week.