Very briefly: Following is a small collection of songs that are united by one simple theme — noteworthy spoken word introductions. Your job is to determine which of the introductions is the most noteworthy of all. Is it:
a) Stan Ivory (and his Omnificent Orchestra)’s smoove mooves in “Give Me the Real Thang”?
b) Millie Jackson threatening her lover’s wife with “a good A-kickin'” in “Leftovers”?
c) Jerry Washington extolling the virtues of pure, selfless love in “I Come A Long Ways”?
d.) Bobby Dixon making it crystal clear just… how… low… a… man… can… get… in “Woman, You Made Me”?
While you’re ranking these for spoken word excellence, set your mind thinking about other rock oratorical masterworks that strike your fancy. In the meantime, as always,
Ever make that trip back home and decide to root around the dark corners of Mother’s Basement, pulling out old boxes of knick-knacks from your childhood: Cub Scout badges, old guitar picks, an arrowhead, a foreign coin that still seems as exotic as it did when an uncle gave it to you in 1972? Sometimes we root through Mother’s Basement and uncover a forgotten mix tape! That’s just what I did earlier this week. Check out Part 1 of what was on this tape.
Hope you had as much fun with these tracks as I did. Truth be told, Mad Props to The Boys in the Basement for many of these contributions that I’ve chosen to share with you! Stay tuned for Part 2…
Berlyant kindly sent me a copy of Prince’s Dirty Mind album, an album I thought I’d heard and liked a bit in college years ago when, in fact, it was Controversy I’d remembered hearing and liking as much as any Prince album I would hear in ensuing years. I surely did not forget the cover shot of Prince in his state of semi-undressed Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Pole Dancer Look. Thanks, Berlyant! Thanks, too, for the other goodies in my care package!
Dirty Mind is interesting. I’m getting a sense of why Prince is such a darling with so many music nerds. This album, with its stripped down, minimalistic sound and insular world view, has all the earmarks of a great bedroom power pop album made by a guy who’s in love with both Earth, Wind & Fire and The Rolling Stones. Dirty Mind may be the Black Vinyl Shoes of post-funk. Do you know that weird, little gem of the Shoes first album, recorded on a 4-track in the brothers’ parents’ living room, or something to that effect? I’m not saying that Prince’s Dirty Mind sounds anything like Shoes, but he shares a similar, almost unhealthy dedication to some special world in which The Artist is both king and his court. Creepy, yet familiar to the Mother’s Basement side in so many of us.
You’ll just have to imagine what the B-side looks like
Okay, I know I’ve been slow to deliver on the oft-promised Thrifty Music material. This has happened for a numer of reasons: I’ve actually been busy; the amount of high-quality stuff I’ve found has been somewhat overwhelming, making the compilation process difficult, and — most significantly — putting together those giant, themed omnibus editions of Thrifty Music is just plain hard work!
Consequently, I have decided to make things easier on yours truly by re-sizing the Thrifty Music concept a bit. Henceforth, you can expect to see more frequent, smaller selections of stuff to listen to and ponder. Each will still have a theme, and some associated, probing line of questioning, which ought to get us all thinking. But the days of eight- or nine-track comps are gone!
To start the process off, I want to offer the B-side to a single that my vinyl guru, E. Pluribus Gergley, tells me is worth $300 or so (It cost me a buck!). I know nothing at all about the artist in question (one Carl Spencer), but what stopped me in my tracks upon listening to this great tune, “Progress”, was just how much Carl sounded like our very own andyr — better known in some circles as The Velvet Foghorn, or simply “Velv.” I also think the song would be *perfect* cover material for Velv’s band, the redoubtable Nixon’s Head.
This got me thinking about songs we really wish would be covered — by specific artists, I mean. For example, I’d love to hear Supagroup covering “Wang Dang, Sweet Poontang” — though that’s just the first one that popped into my head. I’m sure buried in my cranium somewhere is a longing for a better specific cover that I’m just not remembering right now. But perhaps you can do better. And Velv/Mod/Chickenfrank/Sethro — is “Progress” a song you’d consider covering? I mean, does it pass your sniff test — and if not, why not?
In surfing for some new sneaks I ran across these. “Official” Ramones edition Chuck’s Hi Tops. Pre-“Distressed” and everything. $61.99. You don’t even have to sniff glue or feed your smack habit by giving hummers to white collar businessmen to wear these babies.
Do ya think Chuck Taylor woulda been a Ramones fan?
My first thought on seeing these was “cool!”. My second thought after thinking about it too much was “way uncool!”. My third thought was “I’m over thinking it. These are cool. Aren’t they?” By the time you read this I’ve probably had my fourth and fifth thought.
Caution: Entrants inside my mind might experience some of the effects illustrated in the above video.
While listening to some early tracks by a favorite band on the ride into work this morning, a number of rhetorical – for me – questions popped into my head. Rather than use this experience as an opportunity for me to get on my soapbox and rant and rave over these thoughts, I thought I’d share the questions – perhaps not so rhetorical, in this case – with you and allow you the chance to get inside my head. I look forward to your answers.
What three types of music that I love (two bands and one entire genre) suck on CD?
Who is the worst lead guitarist, technically speaking, that’s ever been featured in a successful, major-label band? Continue reading »
