Backstage footage of musicians in their natural habitat, away from the groping public, is often quite telling, even inspiring. Sometimes musicians you’d never expect to see sharing a stage are caught yukking it up in the wings. Ah, the glorious bonds of music know no bounds! In the above clip, videotaped backstage in Ocean City, Maryland, Dion and Marty Balin share a moment over a hair that fell into a third man’s beer. I’m not sure this tops the legendary footage of Bob Dylan and Lou Reed backstage in 1985, discussing the art of recording their music as it was meant to sound, but it comes close.
I guess as any big Elvis Costello fan might tell you, it’s easy to go back and forth on his great pre-Punch the Clock albums and get fixated on one and then another. I had that moment as a youngin’ with Trust, which for a long time took my number one spot as the BEST Costello disc.
I couldn’t have know how much that album hinted at Imperial Bedroom at the time…but there are a bunch of songs on that which could have been on Imperial and vice versa. But at the time I thought the absolute standout song was “From a Whisper to a Scream”—with Glenn Tilbrook taking up the alternating vocals. [Mod. – Not to mention Friend of the Hall Martin Belmont on lead guitar.]
Wow, how fun I thought—a new wave super duo of sorts! At the time.
Now I listen to that song and kinda cringe. What was Elvis thinking? Why share the spotlight with another dude?? Was this trying for some sort of crossover appeal? Was Squeeze big at the time? Every time I hear it now I wish Elvis woulda sung the whole thing…but it also feels like he was trying to capture some earlier glory (of his faster, angrier days) and it just falls flat to me now.
So 1) … can a I get an Amen? But 2)—the real reason for the post: name me another great new wave singer duo who successfully (or unsuccessfully) pulled of this feat.
Bowie and Freddy Mercury don’t count. Or Jagger with _________.
This weekend, some friends and I are co-hosting a baby shower for a good friend of mine. My friend is a dancer and avid music listener, and we frequently share music. Recently, she jokingly suggested that I should make her a mix to listen to when she’s in labor, and I was reminded of The Period Mix that Ashton Kutcher makes for Natalie Portman in No Strings Attached. (Because I’m among friends, I’ll admit to watching this with Mr. Royale—it had been a long week, we needed some mindless entertainment, and wanted to see what Ms. Portman had been up to after Black Swan.) While the movie is pretty dumb, it does have some funny moments, and we laughed at this take on the oh-so-earnest, trying-to-woo-the-girl love mixes that appear in movies such as High Fidelity.
I think that you all can help me create a mix for my friend who will soon be giving birth to a baby girl. Could you provide some suggestions, from the most sincere (cut to scene of gazing at cute baby clothes while a single tear rolls down my friend’s face) to completely ludicrous (the mothers in the audience know what’s ahead and all need a really good laugh)? Thanks.
Well, our latest Mystery Date sure did have a deep voice, didn’t he, like he was singing from beneath the sea? The song was “You Don’t Have to Be a Baby to Cry,” performed by Fred Neil, who is thought of by pipe-tamping music lovers as a “Bleeker Street folkie” and who most of us young rock nerds learned after the fact was actually the author of lauded songwriter Harry Nilsson‘s biggest hit record, “Everybody’s Talkin’,” the theme to Midnight Cowboy. This number is from a collection of sides he cut from 1957-1961.
I didn’t learn until today that he was a Brill Building songwriter at this point, having written Roy Orbison‘s “Candy Man” among other songs for Orbison and Buddy Holly. Funny the stuff we learn along the way.
In my mid-20s, after learning a little bit about who Neil was, I would also forever associate him with one of the only Tim Buckley song I’ve been known to identify and enjoy, “Dolphins.” That’s one of those songs I believe a lof of Serious, Young, Genre-Spanning Artists have tackled. Here’s Buckley performing it on English TV, which I can only hope will inspire our recently dormant friend Happiness Stan to chime in with a story relating this song to one of his old girlfriends. I’m also hopeful that the likes of the Hall’s Deep Thinkers and Relative Folk-Bluesologists—dr john, mwall, dbuskirk, and even The Great 48 via his ’60s folk-scene bred wife—step forth with some insights into this artist and suggestions for songs to investigate that are as interesting as the 2 I know.
Neil was serious about these dolphins. Sometime in the early ’70s, the already reclusive Cleveland-born, St. Petersburg, FL-raised songwriter would turn his attention to preserving dolphins. The mind reels at what kind of music they made together?
Let’s review the ground rules here. The Mystery Date song is not necessarily something I believe to be good. So feel free to rip it or praise it. Rather the song is something of interest due to the artist, influences, time period… Your job is to decipher as much as you can about the artist without research. Who do you think it is? Or, Who do you think it sounds like? When do you think it was recorded? Etc…
If you know who it is, don’t spoil it for the rest. Anyone who knows it can play the “mockcarr option.” (And I’ve got a hunch at least one of you know this one.) This option is for those of you who just can’t hold your tongue and must let everyone know just how in-the-know you are by calling it. So if you know who it is and want everyone else to know that you know, email Mr. Moderator at mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com. If correct we will post how brilliant you are in the Comments section.
The real test of strength though is to guess as close as possible without knowing. Ready, steady, go!
[audio:https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Mystery-Date-062612.mp3|titles=Mystery Date 062612]
I was listening to Spiritualized’s epic “Hey Jane” and the lyric where he references “Sweet Jane on the radio.” For whatever reason, “Jane” is the most rock and roll of all girls. She, in her many guises and personae is the quintessential muse. Who the hell is this Jane chick?
Let’s let ‘er rip with any song title or lyric with Jane in it!
