“The Lost Thing” is an animated adaption of a picture book illustrated and written by Shaun Tan in 2000.
The Undisputed Truth‘s version of “Smiling Faces” [via].
I never realized it, but “The Theme To Get Smart” is perfect for a ska rendition. Here’s the The Melbourne Ska Orchestra who did just that.
Have a great weekend, folks, and for those of us who are self-employed, it’s time to cough up some b*ks to the IRS f*ks.
Fritz The Dog finally gets it.
This vid is entitled “Rockabilly Speed Drawing.” It’s cool and fast and rockabilly. Not sure what the connection is besides the sound track, but it’s still cool and fast and rockabilly.
Billy Woodward & The Senders. Awesome retro sound.
The Howlin’ Brothers crank out some home-grown basics.
Imelda May is killer with “The Right Amount of Wrong.”
Have a great weekend, folks, and be back here tomorrow.
Rémy Métailler takes a leisurely bike ride downhill through Taxco, Mexico, January 2013 [via].
28 minutes and one second of the Late Pecker Dunne.
Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East, 1970. Jam city.
That should keep your mojo going for a while.
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here tomorrow.
“Hand Full of Keys,” performed here by Stephanie Trick, is a Fats Waller composition, circa 1938. Awesome stride piano style. Although I’m somewhat ambidextrous and have a basic understanding of music theory and chords, there’s no way I could cut those chops.
Tuba Skinny is my favorite band these days.
I had a conversation with some of my co-workers recently, and the topic of Yellow Snow came up. I tried to explain Nanook of the North and failed, so we’re forced into Zappa mode.
You can find Zappa’s “Nanook Rubs It” on the Utoobage on your own, but “Deathless Horsie” is amazing.
Have a great SuperBowl Weekend folks. Seattle sucks big green donkeys because Seattle sucks big green donkeys. Everyone outside of Seattle knows Seattle sucks big green donkeys and so does Seattle. Seattle sucks big green donkeys.
There’s a bizarre history to that familiar song credited to The McCoys, and it traces to Dorothy Sloop of Steubenville Ohio who became a New Orleans singer and piano player with the stage name “Sloopy.” The song was originally recorded by The Vibrations in 1963, predating the McCoys’ version:
So how did a 60s soul group from LA decide to sing about a girl who moved to New Orleans?
“Sloopy” was Dorothy Sloop, a Bourbon Street piano player. Born Sept. 26, 1913, in Steubenville, she performed at a New Orleans nightspot under the stage name Sloopy.
‘Hang on Sloopy’ was written by Bert Russell Berns and Wes Farrell, two New York City songwriters. Berns also wrote The Isley Brothers and Beatles hit Twist and Shout. Farrell went on to become the musical brains behind the Partridge Family.
The song was originally recorded as My Girl Sloopy by the Los Angeles R&B vocal group the Vibrations. It debuted in April 1964 in the Top 40 of the Billboard pop chart, where it spent five weeks and reached No. 26.
A rock version, ‘Hang on Sloopy,’ was recorded by the McCoys, a Dayton garage band led by Celina native Rick Zehringer. Locally, the band was known as Rick and the Raiders, but it changed its name to avoid confusion with chart-toppers Paul Revere and the Raiders. Hang On Sloopy debuted in September 1965 in the Top 40 of the Billboard pop chart, where it spent 11 weeks and reached No. 1.
Rick Zehringer later changed his name to Rick Derringer and became one of the top rock guitarists and producers of the 1970s. He recorded with the Edgar Winter Group and scored a 1974 solo hit with Rock and Roll, Hootchie Koo. [More at this source]
“Dixie” Fasnacht operated a bar called Dixie’s Bar of Music on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It was there that Dorothy’s acquaintance and co-writer of “Hang On Sloopy” Bert Berns-Russell found the inspiration for the song. During problems with the sound equipment and a crowd getting rowdy, he heard a regular call out to her “Hang on, Sloopy!” [Source]
I couldn’t find a recording of either Dottie Sloop or Yvonne “Dixie” Fasnacht, but there has to be a copy of the album in someone’s basement somewhere. One more piece of trivia: Ohio is the only State to have an Official State Rock Song.
The Best Damn Band In The Land adopted “Hang On Sloopy” as a signature song for the times when OSU was down a few points, and their a capella version is classic.
Have a great holiday weekend, folks.
Here’s Dave Brubeck‘s partially discordant cool jazz classic “Take Five” in 5/4 time (also known as quintuple time, i.e, five beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat: 1-2-3-1-2, 1-2-3-1-2, etc.). Here’s an interesting take:
Sachal Studios, Lahore, Pakistan, with sitar and that boingy drum thingy.
Another famous song in 5/4 is Lalo Schifrin‘s “The Theme To Mission Impossible.” Here’s a bizarre version that wavers between 5/4 and 4/4, by Kua Etnika.
Sting‘s “Seven Days” is in 5/4, too, as if you cared, and Zappa’s former drummer Vinnie Colaiuta explains it here.
Ginger Baker’s Air Force also cranked 5/4 in 1970 with “Do What You Like,” and it included a self-indulgent in-your-face mandatory drum solo (dissected by Marky Ramone).
That should hold you for a tad. Have a great weekend folks, and we’ll be back in a jiffy.
Tav Falco is a punkabilly oddity who’s been around for a while.
Rory Block cooks up a big batch o’ Robert Johnson and serves it hot.
If I’m not mistaken, The Tailgators were a spinoff band featuring bassist Keith Ferguson from The Fabulous Thunderbirds back in the 80s, as if it matters. Don Leady rocks.
Have a great Hamas-Free weekend folks. See you back here tomorrow.
Another punk bit the big one.
Erdélyi Tamás, aka Tom Erdelyi, aka Tommy Ramone, assembled and helped create one of the most influential bands ever. The Ramones never had a hit single, despite hiring the legendary (and mentally disturbed) Phil Spector.
Tommy Ramone was not new to the recording industry when he and other Brooklyn friends decided to form a band to provide an alternative to the pre-packaged marketing-department formulaic garbage that infested the airwaves in the mid to late 1970s. The Ramones went back to rock and roll garage-band basics, with a twist – they played louder and faster.
That The Ramones rose to popularity by playing 3-chord rock in an obscure venue in the New York City Bowery district says a lot. Punk was born at CBGB’s, and although The Ramones’ garage-band style never garnered them a hit, their influence was huge.
Their message was, “Screw Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes, Kansas, Foreigner and ELO! Screw CSN&Y and Boston! Listen to C, F & G!”
And The Ramones were spot on. R.I.P. Erdélyi Tamás, and thanks.
I was talking to a younger co-worker today, and out of the blue he asked what my favorite band was. Good question with an easy answer.
My response was Frank Zappa, any lineup post-Mothers, beginning with “Apostrophe.” Jazz, rock, & pop, Zappa had all genres covered, and he did them all well (especially R&B DooWop). “Peaches En Regalia” is one of my favorite songs [00:54:00].
Zappa was one of the few popular musicians/composers that I would have liked to have met face-to-face, but since I’m not in the industry, and that Frank Zappa passed away years ago, it’s not going to happen.
Dweezil & Co. plays Frank. Jump to 0:2:45 for the start of awesome (and yes, according to FZ, Dweezil was named after his mother’s little toe).
Have a great weekend, folks, and be back here tomorrow.
“Five Pounds Of Possum” may be the greatest roadkill song ever.
Trombone Shorty (age 13?) kicks it at 01:20.
Serious Swamp Rock crankage from Blue Mother Tupelo.
Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow, and remember that all you have to do is cook out the bacteria.
Tacky Raccoons 