Monday, August 30, 2010

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 30th August '10 - Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy

Taking their name from a caption under a photo of W.C. Fields - '"W.C. Fields with gin blossoms" - the Gin Blossoms formed in 1987 and had some minor success in the early 90's when they released their second album 'New Miserable Experience'.

It wasn't an easy album for the band to produce. Their main songwriter, guitarist Doug Hopkins, was fired towards the end of recording due to his worsening alcoholism and subsequently committed suicide the following year just as the album garnered some success.

The track 'Hey Jealousy' had actually appeared on their debut album 'Dusted' but was re-recorded during the sessions for 'New Miserable Experience' and ended up on the album. Though it only made number 24 in the UK charts I remember that it was a big song on the radio here in the summer of '93 as it always seemed to be playing.

As I got older and learned more about the bands history I realised it was actually about Hopkins' depression and drink problems but, back in '93, I always thought it sounded so romantic. It seemed like a modern 'Romeo & Juliet' story where they were both in love but weren't allowed to be together - hence the line 'and let the cops chase us around'. I think it's a good example of one of the things I love about songs. Even if you don't get the intended meaning of the song, you can often just invent one of your own by assuming that's what the lyrics mean.

Regardless of the meaning of the song I always loved this song and it is one that gets stuck in my head quite often.

I hope you all like this week's song and I hope it gets in your head too.


Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy

Tell me do you think it'd be alright,
If I could just crash here tonight,
you see I'm in no shape for drivin',
And anyway I've got no place to go.

And you know it might not be that bad,
You were the best I ever had,
If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago,
I might not be alone.

Tomorrow we can drive around this town,
And let the cops chase us around,
The past is gone but something might be,
Found to take it's place,
Hey jealousy,
Hey jealousy,
Hey jealousy,
Hey jealousy.

You can trust me not to think,
And not to sleep around,
And if you don't expect too much from me,
You might not be let down.

'Cause all I really want's to be with you,
And feel like I matter too,
If I hadn't blow the whole thing years ago,
I might be here with you.

Tomorrow we can drive around this town,
And let the cops chase us around,
The past is gone but something might be,
Found to take it's place,
Hey jealousy,

Tomorrow we can drive around this town,
And let the cops chase us around,
The past is gone but something might be,
Found to take it's place,
Hey jealousy,
Hey jealousy,
Hey jealousy,
Hey jealousy.

Tell me do you think it'd be alright,
If I could just crash here tonight,
you see I'm in no shape for drivin',
And anyway I've got no place to go.

And you know it might not be that bad,
You were the best I ever had,
If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago,
I might not be alone.

Tomorrow we can drive around this town,
And let the cops chase us around,
The past is gone but something might be,
Found to take it's place,
Hey jealousy,

Hey jealousy,

She took my heart,
There's only one thing I can start.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 22nd August '10 - Denis Leary - Asshole

I've been trying to write this weeks blog for ages now but I am coming to the conclusion that I have writers block. I can't seem to come up with anything of substance to say.

Maybe it's because the song is so brilliant, or that the artist is so intelligent that it makes everything I try to write sound like a cliché. Maybe it's because I spent all of my brain cells writing about the joys of pre-teen hormones last week. Who knows?

I do know that when this song came out in the UK my friends and I all, aside from finding it funny, also felt a strange sense of empowerment from being able to sing loudly 'I'm an asshole' (well, we were teenagers after all). Us girls also developed crushes on Denis Leary due to his arrogant, intelligent brashness as well as his chiselled good looks.

My friend and I were talking last night about how 'safe' and 'sterile' things seem to be these days. How it feels like we are lacking the 'no bullshit' people like Denis Leary in our lives. I hope there are some coming up that I have yet to discover. People not afraid to tell it like it is are something we need right now.

Well, I wrote a little more than I'd hoped for. I hope you guys all enjoy this weeks song!


Denis Leary - Asshole

(SPOKEN)
Folks, I'd like to sing a song about the American dream.
About me, about you, about the way our American hearts beat way down in the bottom of our chests.
About the special feeling we get in the cockles of our hearts, maybe below the cockles, maybe in the sub-cockle area, maybe in the liver, maybe in the kidneys, maybe even in the colon.
We don't know

(SUNG)
I'm just a regular Joe with a regular job.
I'm your average white suburbanite slob.
I like football and porno and books about war.
I've got an average house with a nice hardwood floor.
My wife and my job, my kids and my car.
My feet on my table and a Cuban cigar.

But sometimes that just ain't enough to keep a man like me interested (oh no)
No way (uh-uh)
No, I've gotta go out and have fun at someone else's expense (oh yeah)
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

I drive really slow in the ultra-fast lane,
While people behind me are going insane.
I'm an asshole (He's an asshole, what an asshole)
I'm an asshole (He's an asshole, such an asshole)

I use public toilets and piss on the seat,
I walk around in the summertime saying "How about this heat?"
I'm an asshole (He's an asshole, what an asshole)
I'm an asshole (He's the world's biggest asshole)

Sometimes I park in handicapped spaces,
While handicapped people make handicapped faces.
I'm an asshole (He's an asshole, what an asshole)
I'm an asshole (He's a real fucking asshole)

Maybe I shouldn't be singing this song
Ranting and raving and carrying on
Maybe they're right when they tell me I'm wrong
NAAAAH!

I'm an asshole (he's an asshole, what an asshole)
I'm an asshole (he's the world's biggest asshole)

(SPOKEN)
You know what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna get myself a 1967 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, hot pink, with whale skin hubcaps and all leather cow interior and big brown baby seal eyes for headlights. Yeah!
And I'm gonna drive around in that baby at 115 miles an hour, getting 1 mile per gallon, sucking down quarter pounder cheeseburgers from McDonald's in the old-fashioned non- biodegradable Styrofoam containers!
And when I'm done suckin' down those grease ball burgers I'm gonna wipe my mouth on the American flag and then toss the Styrofoam containers right out the side, and there ain't a God-damned thing anybody can do about it.
You know why? Because we got the bombs, that's why!
Two words--nuclear fucking weapons, OK?
Russia, Germany, Romania - they can have all the democracy they want.
They can have a democracy cakewalk right through the middle of Tiananmen Square and it won't make a lick of difference, because we've got the bombs, OK?
John Wayne's not dead - he's frozen!
And when we find a cure for cancer, we're gonna thaw out the Duke and he's gonna be pretty pissed off.
You know why?
You ever taken a cold shower?
Well, multiply that by 15 million times.
That's how pissed off the Duke's gonna be.
I'm gonna get the Duke and John Cassavetes and Lee Marvin (Hey) and Sam Peckinpah (Hey) and a case of whisky (Hey) and drive down to Texas (Hey, Hey, Hey)

(Hey you know you really are an asshole)
Why don't you just shut up and sing this song pal.
I'm an asshole (He's an asshole, what an asshole)
I'm an asshole (He's an asshole, what an asshole)
A-S-S-H-O-L-E.
Everybody, A-S-S-H-O-L-E.

Arf Arf Arf Arf Arf Arf Arf
Fung Achng Tum Chng Fum Afung Fung Ooh

(SPOKEN)
I'm an asshole and I'm proud of it!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 15th August '10 - New Kids On The Block - Call It What You Want (The C&C Pump It Mix)

This week, for the third year running, New Kids On The Block sold out their May Bahamas Cruise. 2,600 fans all get to spend four days on a cruise round the Bahamas with the band. This year it sold out in a record 1 hour & 41 minutes! Not bad for a boyband who made a comeback in 2008 having split up 14 years earlier.

It was when I was nine-years-old that New Kids On The Block first broke on the music scene in the UK and I was hooked from the start. With a type of pop music that, at the time, seemed like nothing I had ever heard before and the band members all being pretty young compared to some of the pop stars at the time, they felt like something I could relate to.

At the time my favourite member was Joe. He was only seven years older than me so, for me, I figured I had more chance of him dating me than the others. Admittedly, at nine-years-old, the chances of a 16-year-old dating me were beyond remote and the fact he was an American pop star made it even less likely but a girl could dream!

Over the following few years my room became practically a shrine to the band. I lived, breathed, slept New Kids. Finally, in 1991, I got to see them perform live at Wembley Arena. It didn't matter to me at the time that I was sat right at the very back because I was still in the same room as them. Aside from being my first concert, it was just such an electric experience from start to finish. I sang, I screamed, I cried, I got over excited at Joe McIntyre's 'thrusting' during the song that, this week, has been stuck in my head and I'd certainly say that, for the 11-year-old me, the funny feelings it gave me inside were my first real sexual feelings.

Within a couple of years it was all over. The band had split up and I moved on to Take That and then other bands besides (I'd like to also state that by the time I was screaming for NKOTB at Wembley I was also a HUGE Nirvana fan).

I remember as a kid not understanding why, in the 60's, girls had screamed and cried for The Beatles but after that concert I understood.

Over the last few years bands like Take That and the Spice Girls have gotten back together for reunion shows, albums etc. When I saw those guys I was still wishing I could get to see New Kids On The Block again so when I heard that their site had come back online in early 2008 I had to check it out. After sitting there in stunned silence watching the video clip on their site of old footage of them live and photos I was then seen running round the house all excited and hyper. This was not because of the footage but because of what was playing over it. Music. New sounding music. New sounding music with vocals on with five voices I recognised. I knew there and then that they were back. My younger self suddenly sparked into life.

Since that moment I've gotten their new album, saw them live in HMV in Oxford Street, London, then got to see them live at the sold-out O2 Arena in London on my birthday last year and then the following night at Hammersmith Apollo. I've made some amazing new friends and always enjoy seeing the guys post on Twitter.

I didn't make the cruise this year but hope to make it some other time, though I'm toying with the idea of heading to Miami for the pre-cruise show that'll be put on. I hope I get to see them live again and don't really ever want this to end as the new music's so good. I don't think it's ever good to let go of your inner child and if something like music can bring it out of you then that's all for the better.

There's two videos this week. One is the official video and one is them performing on the much missed Top Of The Pops just cos it reminds me of my childhood even more.

I hope you enjoy this slice of my childhood!


New Kids On The Block - Call It What You Want (The C&C Pump It Mix)

Call it what you want
Call it what you want

Call it what you want, but I'll call it love
Fits like a glove, don't shove
Back and forth, and forth and back, get into the track
Feel the groove or move back
Into position 'cause I'm coming straight for your heart
Feel the vibe and let's start
'Cause I want you and I know that you want me, so let's get busy

Na na na na na na na na na (You sing)
Na na na na na na na na na (You sing)

I can tell you've been watching me
Girl, I've been watching you too
I got the feeling you want my love
I must admit I want your love too

Call it what you want, baby
Girl, I call it love
Call it what you want, darling
I'll still call it love

You know there's something about you girl
What it is, is kinda hard to say
I only wish we could get away
Give me love and I'll lead the way

Call it what you want, baby
Girl, I call it love
Call it what you want, darling
I'll still call it love

Na na na na na na na na na (You sing) Louder!
Na na na na na na na na na

It's so groovy, just to be with you
It's so good babe, just to dance or anything that you want to do

Na na na na na na na na na (You sing) Louder!
Na na na na na na na na na (You sing)

I can feel it, I can feel it
I can feel it, I can feel that love, girl

It's so groovy, just to be with you
It's so good baby, just to dance or anything that you want to do

Call it what you want
I'll still call it love
Call it anything that you want, girl
I'll still call it love

You can call it this, you can call it that
You can call it anything, girl

Call it what you want, baby
Girl, I call it love
Call it what you want, darling
I'll still call it love

Call it what you want, baby
Girl, I call it love
Call it what you want, darling
I'll still call it love

Call it what you want, baby
Girl, I call it love
Call it what you want, darling
I'll still call it love



Saturday, August 7, 2010

Song Stuck In My Head This Week - 07th August '10 - Dido - Grafton Street

After doing backing vocals for her brother Rollo's band Faithless for several years, Dido first burst on the scene when Eminem sampled her song 'Thank You' on his 2000 hit 'Stan'. After that her debut album 'No Angel' shot through the roof and sold in excess of 21 million copies worldwide. Her follow up in 2003, 'Life For Rent' also sold well and she was well established as one of the best selling artists of all time. Then all went quiet.

Although work began on her third album, 'Safe Trip Home', in October 2005 it wasn't released until August 2008. The reason for this was Dido's father was diagnosed with cancer and subsequently died. Much of the album touches on this loss but none moreso than 'Grafton Street'.

No matter how 'middle of the road' people might perceive Dido as being, this one song alone steps well away from that for me. It tells of her visits to her father as his condition worsened before his final loss with sadness but hope that he'd found peace.

This song had already been in my head on and off all week anyway when I found out last night that a friend of mine had passed away so this one's for him. He'll be missed so much.

Rob Carter
12/02/88 - 11/08/10
R.I.P.

Dido - Grafton Street

No more trips to Grafton Street,
No more going' there,
To see you lying still,
While we all come and go.

No more watching sunsets,
It seems like summer's holding on.
And no more standing quietly at your window.

No more driving down your road,
Wondering when you'll be home.
And no more peace when they all leave
And leave us two alone.

And time we always lose is finally found here with you.
My love, I know we're losing but I will stand here by you.

No more calling friends from the car saying "I don't know when,
I'll be there but I'll do my best to come."
No more letting you warm my hands,
No more trying to take it in.
And no more saying "goodbye for the last time again"
And no more saying "goodbye for the last time again"

And time we always lose is finally found here with you.
My love, I know you're leaving but I will stand here by you.

No more trips to Grafton Street,
No more going' there,
No more sitting up all night,
Waiting for any word.

Nothing's left that's safe here now,
Nothing will bring you home
Nothing can bring us the peace
We had in Grafton Street.