The Dark Knight Cometh

Jeez, it's been ages already since I posted anything! Sorry, but I've been kinda dried up.

Anyway, I got to see The Dark Knight just recently and it totally blew me away. It was dark, it was sinister, and it wasn't cartoon-y at all. The late Heath Ledger was incredible as The Joker! It's a shame he passed away. He would've made the next Batman installment one to look out for.

Speaking of The Dark Knight, how come they never used The Jam's version of the Batman Theme from the 60's TV series, huh? I mean, I know the original 60's theme song was way too campy for any Batman movie but, hey, they could've snuck it in somewhere and it wouldn't have made any adverse effect on The Dark Knight movie.

Anyway, speaking of The Jam, here's a vid I found of The Jam doing their version of the 60's Batman Theme (it's mixed with some footages of the cartoon intro of the 60's TV show). Enjoy.

Wake Me Up When September Ends

It's the second time I've used this title for a blog post. Why? Because it's that time of the year again.

Today's my late father's birthday. He would've been 74 today. It's been three years but I still miss him terribly! (sigh!)

Anyway, whenever anything that has even the remotest connection to my dad's passing comes to my attention, Green Day's "Wake Me Up When Septmeber Ends" starts playing in my head. It was the song I'd always hear on the radio during trips between home and the hospital, and even up to the time of my dad's funeral.

Happy Birthday, Dad. Wherever you are, I know you know that we all still miss you a lot.

So, in honor of my dad's birthday, here's Green Day with "that song".

Back For A Smash

Geez, it's been around a month since my last post. If anybody's been following this site, I'm really really sorry. I've been having a hard time finding time to sit down and kill time! A frickin' day job can really harsh your mellow!

Anyways, I'm still really tied down here. But I really wanna share this video from a little-known-but-totally-awesome act from the 80's: Smash Palace's drumroll-flavored "Living On The Borderline" taken from the band's 1985 eponymous album. Listen and enjoy!

I Heart Mom

I know it's a bit late, but I just wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to all moms out there. Dads, how about doing the dishes a bit more often, huh? She married you so she can be your wife - not your maid! Kid, c'mon give her a break! I mean, she's your mom, for crying out loud. She deserves a whole lot more than that filthy mouth of yours and and that stinky attitude you keep giving her.

So, to all you moms out there, sit back and rock out (and maybe, enjoy a good laugh) on this video by Queen, "I Want To Break Free":

So This Is When Life's Supposed To Begin?

That's it. It's official. I will inevitably be a year older on May 5. Jeez, it's strange; I don't feel any older - probably because arthritis hasn't kicked in yet (and I do hope it doesn't ever!). How many candles am I putting on the cake, you ask? Well that's for me to know and for everyone else to gossip about! But just to give you guys an idea: if you visit my earlier posts, you could see that I'm an 80's kid. So just do the math and we'll all be able to sleep better tonight.

So, am I supposed to be smarter and wiser now? I dunno. I do hope I have grown smarter and wiser after all these years of pretending I was. Hah, I guess I'll never know till I commit my next big goof up, right?

Anyway, since it's gonna be my birthday, I'm gonna cut my self some slack and be extra nice to me for a change - even if it's just for one day! So, while I'm feasting on roasted peanuts and ice-cold water (how grand! want some?), let's take a look at a video from old 80's band Altered Image called "Happy Birthday".



That one's for you. This one's for me, though. The Sex Pistols live take on "Seventeen" which, incidentally, was the age at which I officially declared my self Punk For Life!

Primal Therapy, Anyone?

I was rummaging (again!) through my old cassette tape collection and found my copy of Tears For Fears' debut album, The Hurting.

Geez, was it that long ago when I first got hooked on the primal therapy pop/rock of these boys from Bath? I mean, I was still in high school when The Hurting first came out. Back then (and I guess, even now) the songs from the album exuded a freshness and quirkiness that no other act before or since has quite been able to emulate. By laying down lyrics that might have come from your Arthur Janov-educated shrink over layer after layer of synthesizers, percussions, and ambient sound effects, Tears For Fears presented music that would be like what rock n roll would be if it finished high school, joined the Ivy League, and graduated with top honors. I mean, its rock n roll with brains, man. A nice change of pace after getting used to rock lyrics that deal with sex and violence and drugs and parties and politics.

I followed the band throughout their first three albums (The Hurting, Songs From The Big Chair, and Seeds Of Love), which means I still have copies of those things on cassette. While I consider all the songs from the above albums as superb works, certain songs do stand out for me: from The Hurting, it's gotta be "Watch Me Bleed" (which I consider as one of the more underappreciated songs in the collection); from Songs From The Big Chair, it's "The Working Hour" (everything just gels so perfectly together; gotta love those sax passages); and from Seeds Of Love, I'd go for the title track "Sowing The Seeds Of Love" (which convinced me that Seeds Of Love is Tears For Fears' "Sgt. Pepper").

Of the three aforementioned songs, however, I really can't shake off "Watch Me Bleed". So here's a video of TFF's live take on the song. Better call your shrink. He might want to see this.

Bikini Girls With Machine Guns

If I would be asked to dig up the history of rock n roll for the most shock-inducing acts ever to hit the stage or the nastiest bands ever to grab your balls through a twelve inch vinyl disc, The Cramps would definitely be in the top ten.

With perpetual members Lux Interior (Erick Purkhiser, vocals) and Poison Ivy (Kristy Wallace, guitar) as its focal point, The Cramps dished out a bizaare but addictive stew of rockabilly, punk, and performance art mixed with twisted references to 50's americana. Their sound has been widely labeled as psychobilly. Rightly so. Listening to The Cramps is like listeneing to a 21-year old Elvis Presley get possessed by the spirit of ol' Sid Vicious. They don't sound like anybody, and it's quite likely that there will never EVER be a band like them again - EVER!

First song I ever heard from The Cramps was "Bikini Girls With Machine Guns". I was totally blown away by that song. I thought they couldn't possibly top that. Man, was I wrong! A couple of months ago, I chanced upon a video of a Cramps live gig and they were doing "Tear It Up"! Holy shit! With Lux screaming into a half-swallowed mic through most of the song, and Poison Ivy - with her gum-chewing Elvis Presley sneer -twanging away nonchalantly, The Cramps definitely remind me of the reasons why I love music that would get me branded as a prime candidate for the loony bin. I mean, a lot of my friends probably wouldn't touch this band with a ten-foot pole. But who cares? The Cramps were, still are, and will always be one of the best examples of the purest strain rock n roll. None of that pretentious emo stuff. Just pure rock n roll - loud, proud, and everything our parents hated about the kind of music we love!

So folks, as I end this post, here's The Cramps - LIVE! - with "Tear It Up"!

Who Is Daisy Hawkins?

On this day in 1966, vocal tracks for one of the songs to appear on the legendary Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" were recorded. This song was originally titled "Daisy Hawkins", but its author, Beatle Paul McCartney, decided to change it to its now more familiar title. Which turned out to be a good decision. I mean, if Paul hadn't changed the song's original title, it would sound terribly awkward. Consider this lyric: "Daisy Hawkins, picks up the rice in a church where a wedding has been..." Doesn't really roll off the tongue as smoothly as "Eleonor Rigby, picks up the rice in a church where a wedding has been", right?

Yeah, I know, I just had a recent post on Eleonor Rigby. Well, I just guessed this piece of trivia might be interesting to some people, so there. Anyway, if you're wondering how the hell Paul came up with the title "Eleonor Rigby", Beatle lore has it that he saw the name Rigby on a clothes shop in Bristol. Similarly, I've read somewhere long ago that another classic Beatle song we now know as "Yesterday" was originally titled "Scrambled Egg". Weird, huh?

Guess I'll be doing some digging up on Beatle song titles now, huh?

Catting It Up In The Alleys

While I'm all for getting into new music, I always make sure that I always reserve a special place for the seminal genres that gave birth to the myriad musical styles we hear on the radio. One of the early musical styles that I still cherish to this day is Doo Wop. Yep, that genre where a bunch of cool cats (usually between three to five guys) with really cool voices cat it up. They do it in the alleys, in front of the barber shop, inside the malt shop, on stage, on TV. Hell, wherever they do it - and whatever decade they do it - dudes who do Doo Wop are alright by me.

Obviously, I wasn't even a twinkle in the eyes of my parents when Doo Wop first came out. But that just goes to show you how enduring REALLY good music can be. I'm barely familiar with the legendary Doo Wop groups (The Five Satins, The Coasters, The Four Aces) or the classic Doo Wop songs ("In The Still Of The Night", "Blue Moon") that left an indelible imprint on popular music as we now know it. But I have definitely felt their mark on the music I grew up with and the stuff I listen to today. I mean, back in the 80's, even ex-Van Halen lead howler David Lee Roth gave Doo Wop a tip of the hat with his scat refrain in his remake of "I'm Just A Gigolo".

Two of the latter-day Doo Wop songs that I really really love are Billy Joel's "For The Longest Time" (from the album "Innocent Man") and Stray Cats' "I Won't Stand In Your Way" (from the album "Rant N Rave With The Stray Cats"). [The latter, I know how to play on guitar!] While they're not exactly from the era that spawned Doo Wop, these guys definitely could give the originators a good run for their money. Watch, listen, and enjoy!

For The Longest Time - Billy Joel




I Won't Stand In Your Way - Stray Cats

Bye, Mr. DJ

I just got a very sad news today. One of the people I've known and worked with for quite a long time passed away.

It's surprising how people surprise you. I first met Mr. DJ (that's we all called him) around 1994. I guess he was in his early forties then. He was quiet, mild mannered, and seemed to be typical of most guys his age. That meant that I thought he'd probably be into "grampa" stuff. You know what I mean: getting up early, going to work, going straight home after work, and going to bed before nine. Well, at least for a couple of years that's the kind of guy I thought he was. No problem. That's pretty normal for anybody his age.

But then, the company we worked in participated in some kind of religious parade. I can't recall what the occasion was, but I do remember the company had a float constructed and some of us were to board the thing in keeping with the theme of the parade. I was cast as one of the no-good alcoholics who would waste their life drinking. Mr. DJ was cast as the big JC himself, complete with a flowing white robe and a long-haired wig.

It was at this precise instance when I got to see a surprisingly different (and totally unexpected) facet of Mr. DJ's life. While he was putting on his wig, getting ready to play JC, he said something like "Wow, I look like one of the members of Wolfgang!" Wolfgang was one of the hardest-rocking local alt-metal bands at the time. So I thought, "WTF? How'd this guy know about a band as loud and cool as Wolfgang?" He must've heard it from a teenage nephew or something, I thought. But he didn't stop with Wolfgang. He went on to rattle out names of a lot of the heaviest and coolest rock acts at the time. So I went like, "Whoa, this is one very cool old man!"

Later on, after getting to know Mr. DJ better, I learned that he's the real deal - not some trying-hard poser who's just over-eager to impress the younger set with a fake knowledge of what's hip and cool in local rock music. He really was a fan, just like me! He'd go to a lot of rock events, awards nights, gigs - everything! And we wouldn't know about it until much later when he'd hand out various memorabilia from all his rock n roll adventures. I still have with me a couple of NU107 stickers that he gave me, which he got from one of the gigs he went to. I'll be taking real good care of 'em now.

We'll all miss you, sir. I guess I can consider you one lucky guy - you will now get to jam with all the heavies up there in rock n roll heaven. Goodbye, Mr. DJ.

You And Me Always And Forever

I just love 90's band The Wannadies' "You And Me Song". It has a nice 60's feel to it during the verses, but sounds absolutely 90's in the chorus. I'll have to look up more stuff about this band. In the meantime, here's their infectious "You And Me Song".

Add It Up

The 80's produced a lot of interesting out-of-the-way, left-of-center bands. That's why I'll always say that that decade produced a great deal of the best music played (and, thankfully, shunned) by radio.

One of the most curious musical incarnations of the 80's was the three-piece band from Milwaukee, Violent Femmes. Made up of vocalist/guitaris Gordon Gano, bassist Brian Ritchie, and percussionist Victor DeLorenzo, Violent Femmes presented a unique sound that blended folk music with a strong dose of punk. While busking in front of the Oriental Theater in Milwaukee, they were discovered by James Honeyman-Scott of The Pretenders who were due to play the Oriental later that evening.

Despite freely careening around in any direction they fancied, Violent Femmes stayed clear of the mainstream while consistently pulling in new fans along the way. They have a bazillion hit songs under their belt and I love every one of 'em. But for the purpose of this post, let's take a look at one of their biggest hits - a quirky little song called "Add It Up".

Rockabilly Rules!

Just thought I'd post one of my old rockabilly favorites. Here's Sexy + 17 from the Stray Cats hugely successful album "Rant 'N' Rave". Love those slicked up hairdos!

All The Lonely People...

I woke up this morning with a nagging Beatles bender. So I took out my DVD of the Beatle cartoon movie Yellow Submarine and saw it for the nth time. Well, it didn't matter how many times I saw it before, I'd probably be seeing it again and again in the future.

Yellow Submarine's soundtrack in itself can easily pass for a Beatles Greatest Hits compilation when it's actually not. Anyway, one of my fave songs to be featured in the movie is "Eleonor Rigby", a song about,well, "all the lonely people". People who live in an existence devoid of warmth, company, friendship, and love. People who go through their lives invisible and leave this earth unnoticed and unappreciated. Truly a classic!

Anyways, I saw American Idol contestant David Cook cover "Eleonor Rigby" during AI's Beatles Night. I must admit, I got hooked on Cook's rendition of the song. It's gritty and rockin' but still retained the original version's melancholy. Nice work, man.

Here are clips of the song as it appeared on Yellow Submarine and of David's performance of "Rigby" on AI. Enjoy.

David Cook's Version of Eleonor Rigby


Eleonor Rigby As It Appeared On Yellow Submarine

Stillwater Runs Deep

I felt an itch to see "Almost Famous". Maybe it was because of Kate Hudson's photo on the video sleeve. Or, maybe because - as I've mentioned a bazillion times before - I'm such a huge sucker for movies about bands (fictional or otherwise).

Anyway, Cameron Crowe's opus about a rock band called Stillwater had a similar feel as Tom Hanks' "That Thing You Do". Both movies were about fictional bands: Crowe's was Stillwater, Hanks' was The Wonders. Both fictional bands were representative of the predominant sound of their period: The Wonders with their dance-party-combo sound, Stillwater with their sludge/hard rock that was later to be labelled "Classic Rock". Both movies focused on a member of the band who was not the lead singer: "That Thing You Do" consistently showed deference to the importance of its drummer, Guy Patterson (played by Tom Everet Scott); "Almost Famous" put most of its focus on Stillwater's guitar player, Russel (played by Billy Crudup).

Anyway, back to Crowe's movie. I loved the scenes when the band would be onstage in front of an adoring crowd. I also enjoyed the scenes inside Doris, Stillwater's tour bus and - according to lead singer Jeff Bebe (played by Jason Lee) - the band's heart and soul. Of course, I also majorly crushed on Kate Hudson throughout the whole film.

I found a small clip from the movie featuring Stillwater doing their thing onstage. Sorry I don't know what the song's called. But who the fuck cares? It's only rock n roll.

First Ladies Of Grunge?

I was just rummaging through my old cassette collection when I happened upon my copy of Hole's "Live Through This". Since it's been quite a while since I listened to this album, I decided to give it a spin.

"Live Through This" is bracing blast of pure riot grrrl that obviously tips its hat to neo-feminism and 90's punk. After bombarding my senses with this album, I am reminded why I bought it and have been fiercely protective of it. I never lent it to anybody - mostly because a lot of people who tried were just trend-surfing posers who weren't really into this kind of music. If I let them get their filthy poser hands on this, they'd have probably lost it and wouldn't have felt any kind of remorse or sense of loss. (Don't laugh, but these days it's pretty hard to get a copy of this album in these parts.)

Anyways, I'd like to share my favorite song from "Live Through This". It's a sweet little number called "Violet". Listen, watch, and enjoy!

Record Store Stars

I mentioned somewhere in an earlier post that I'm a complete sucker for movies about musicians, both fictional and actual. That's because I'm a sucker for movies with bitchin' sountracks. But after seeing (for the nth time!) the 90's movie "Empire Records", I remembered that I'm also a big fan of movies whose lead characters work in record stores! Why? Because they also tend to have kick-ass soundtracks!

I don't think I've seen that many films where the star (or stars) work in good old-fashioned vinyl record stores. But I do recall three of 'em.

1. Empire Records

Like I mentioned earlier, this 90's classic (well, as far as I'm concerned, it's already one) looks at a day in the life of eight kids who work in a record store called --- you guessed it --- Empire Records, which is under the management of Joe, an ex-musician who still keeps his drum kit in his office. On this particular day, Rex Manning Day (as dubbed by the kids themselves because it's the day when faded TV and recording star Rex Manning was coming to Empire Records to promote his new album and sign autographs for his dwindling fans), the gang of Lucas, A.J., Mark, Eddie, Birko, Debbie, Gina, and Corey go through all the thrills, heartaches, fun, and disappointments that are part of being young in a pace that makes you wonder halfway in the movie if everything that was happening really did happen all in just one day. Man, all the stress that everybody went through on Rex Manning Day could kill an ordinary mortal. But, hey, we're talkin' about the employees of Empire Records here. They're hip, they're cool, they're young, they're resilient, and they still manage to look good even with all the heavy drama that periodically interrupts the movie!

Like I said, this movie features music from a lot of great acts that came out in the 90's to kick up its coolness quotient: Gin Blossoms, The Cranberries, The Buggles. I strongly recommend you get a copy of Empire Records for your collection. (Hey, shouldn't the producers be paying me for promoting their movie on my blog?)

2. High Fidelity

Where Empire Records dealt with the life of teenage record store employees, High Fidelity (starring John Cusack) looks at the life of record store employees who're already done worrying about zits and puppy love. In this movie, Cusack plays a guy who owns and runs a vinyl record store, Champion Records. He has two odd employees whom he says just kept showing up for work after he hired them. One of them is the fiercely opinionated rock snob Barry (played to the hilt by Jack Black), and the other is Dick (sorry, can't remember the actor's name).

This movie is absolutely fun to watch as it features three grown (albeit immature) men bickering incessantly about even the most miniscule piece of rock trivia and Top Whatever Lists. Who was it who had the car accident, Jan or Dean? Green Day is obviously most influenced by which two bands? Name your Top Five songs about death. Stuff like that. And, they (especially Black's Barry) would mercilessly pound on somebody who just happens to make the mistake of not having enough knowledge of rock trivia and folklore and displaying such ignorance. Fuck, I love those guys!

The movie's soundtrack is more eclectic as it features music from different genres: punk, new wave, 60's sould, rap-rock, and pop. For the guy who likes his rock snobs over 21, this one's for you.

3. Pretty In Pink

Now how'd this get in here? Well, actually, while this movie does have a great soundtrack, its protagonist --- 80's everygirl Molly Ringwald playing Andie Walsh --- also works in a record store. Although that part of Ringwald's Andie is not given any significant attention at all, I guess it still qualifies Pretty In Pink for this short list.

You know, I wish all record store employees are as knowledgeable about the records they sell as the characters from these movies. It just kills me when I ask a record store clerk about a record and they'll just say "It's on aisle number 8"! Well, I guess only the fictional record stores get the best workers.

Early Morning, April 4...

Everytime this day comes around, I get a little restless, a little nostalgic, a little misty. Hell, everytime April 4 comes around, I feel like smashing a guitar to bloody smithereens in front of a throbbing slampit of punks!

So what's so special about today anyway? It's April 4, so what?

Well, I'll tell you.

When I was around 19 and still in college, a bunch of my friends from school invited me to join their band. Yep, a band. As in, an honest-to-goodness-true-blue-kick-ass rock n roll band.

Actually, those guys were already in a band when they invited me to join. I guess they were in the middle of a line-up revamp or something. Or maybe they wanted to go to a different musical direction. Whatever.

Anyway, one Saturday afternoon I auditioned for them, not really knowing what they were expecting, what I could actually do, what I could bring to the band, or if they would even want what I had to bring in the first place. We ran through a lot of songs that I kept losing track of what we were actually doing: were we still holding the audition or were we just already dicking around in the tiny hot-as-hell studio? Luckily, after howling through several sets (which included U2's laryngitis-inducing "Bad"), the guys let me in the band. Great.

So what's this got to do with April 4?

Well, we needed a name. So during one rehearsal session, we were asking each other: what do we call ourselves? This was during the time when U2 totally broke into the American market and the world was beginning to feel the initial reverbations of one of the biggest band in rock n roll history. We were into their songs, totally. And one song that stuck out for us was "Pride", which included the line "Early morning, April 4, a shot rings out in the Memphis sky..." So April 4 it was.

April 4 was a college band made up of five school friends who loved different kinds of rock n roll music. Bass player Kenneth (to protect their privacy, I will not be giving you their last names; you'll have to pay us some kind of royalty for that! Hah!)grew up on a diet of hard rock with a little bit of pop-rock thrown in. Semi-anti-guitar hero Bobby was raised on heavy metal. Drummer Pong's (who also did back-up vocals and some songwriting) taste spanned hard rock, pop-rock, a little bit of punk, and underground music (it wasn't called "alternative" then - thank God). Keyboard player Toy (also the youngest in the band) leaned towards The Beatles and the whole gamut of British acts polluting the airwaves then. As for me, well I was (and still am) partial to punk, hardcore, Brit rock, and left-of-center acts. And I was sort of the unofficial rock trivia prince, a kind of rock snob: I'd tell the other guys that, before Generation X, Billy Idol was part of a gang called The Bromley Contingent. Stuff like that. I guess they didn't give a hoot where the hell Billy Idol buys his underwear either.

Those different musical influences helped make April 4 a very interesting combo. We could play punk or hard rock or any kind of earsplitting cacophony if we felt like it; but a lot of times we played a lot of U2, some Cactus World News, Translator, and a whole lot of bands that the frickin' mainstream were (and still are) blissfully ignorant of. We learned a lot from each other (I learned a lot of chords from Bobby)and taught each other a lot, too. We also learned how to --- using this fucking word is so shitty --- "multi-task". It was during my time with the band that I actually got to touch and play a real electric six string (Bobby used to have this awesome Aria Pro guitar), to sit in on Pong's drums when we were just dicking around, learn a couple of keyboard riffs from Toy (I learned the intro to The Colourfield's "Confessions" from him), or pinch hit on bass while Kenneth took five.

We got into a fair number of gigs, too. Some of them were good (we played well, had a good time, got warm reception from the crowd). Others, not too good - fuck, they were even downright depressing (example: the police had to stop the gig using fucking machine guns because the crowd was getting unruly)! But some of them have been so frickin' great that they're burned to permanency on my brain (people went crazy and took to calling our names out in the streets a couple of weeks after the gig)!

We met a lot of great people from other upcoming bands. We would be regularly bumping into bands like In The Dark, Stampinground, Major Minor, Child Flesh, and Temper of The Times while gigging around town. We became friends with a DJ from a popular radio station - he liked us so much that he would refer to us as "his band".
We had something that resembled a sort of a fan base (which included Mom, Dad, the neighbor's dog).

Yeah, those were the days, man. When did all that happen? What, between 1987 to 1989? It was that long ago, huh? Guess nothing that good can last forever.

Anyway, to the guys who were a big part of some of the best days of my life --- Pong, Kenneth, Toy, and Bobby --- Happy Band Day, guys! Rock n Roll!

I'll end this post with a video of the song from whence April 4 took its name: U2's "Pride". Enjoy

Best Friends And Their Girlfriends

Yesterday I was looking for some old songs to download. Not just any old "old songs", but songs that got covered by later acts and still sounded as good as if not better than the originals. I got hold of Bratmobile's version of The Runaways classic "Cherry Bomb". I also got Love Spit Love's take on The Smiths' wicca anthem "How Soon Is Now" (yeah, the one that they used for the soundtrack of the 90's TV series "Charmed"). There was also L7's cover of Blondie's "Hanging On The Telephone". Yeah, I got a couple of goods ones.

But suddenly, out of nowhere, I remembered that Rick Springfield song in the 80's about whatsisname's girlfriend.

"Jessie's Girl" was included in Rick's 1981 album "Working Class Dog" and was a huge hit, reaching the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and winning Springfield a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. "Rock Vocal Performance"? Wasn't this dude a teenybop sensation?

Anyway, story goes that the song - which is obviously about unrequited love - was written based on Rick's actual life experience. Seems he had a friend named Gary (he changed the name to Jessie for the song after he saw a girl in a softball jersey with the name "Jessie" on it) who had a girlfriend he majorly crushed on. Jeez, that sounds so frickin familiar.

Oh, and speaking of "frickin", a band called Frickin A covered Jessie's Girl and did a good job.

So I ended up downloading two versions of Jessie's Girl: Rick Springfield's and Frickin A. Yeah, I know, Everclear also did a live cover of the song but, hey, I like Frickin A's better. Got a problem with that?

Check out these videos and decide which one you like better.

Frickin A - Jessie's Girl



Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl

A Sort Of Homecoming

U2's live album "Wide Awake In America" was a thoroughly rivetting piece of work from the period in the band's life when mainstream America finally caught on with U2-mania. The album, despite containing around only four songs (2 songs per side of the ol' vinyl 12-inch), boasts of some of the most impassioned performances ever delivered by Ireland's favorite sons. One of the songs on the album, "A Sort Of Homecoming" (originally from the album "The Unforgettable Fire"), has been one of my most favorite performances by Bono and company because, for me, it managed to come out far better than the original album version. Check out the video.

The Valentine Post

Yeah, well it's that time of the year again when entire industries make extra loads of cash on people's commercialized sense of sentimentality. Flower shops, greeting card companies, fine dining restaurants, jewelry shops, movie houses, motels and hotels - they all just love it when Valentine's Day comes around! Why wouldn't they? I mean, people these days are so damn busy that they've become more than willing to unload wads of cash just to remind their "significant others" that, even with the 18-hour 7-day work week, they still have that burning romantic yearning inside of them. That's all good - especially if you put in the right kind of music to enhance the Valentine mood.

Now I'm no expert on the affairs of the heart. (Hell, I'm not even an expert on the affairs of any other body part!) But, if I may be so bold to suggest, the following songs may just be the ones to really "complete" your Valentine moments (doesn't it seem sininster that I put quotation marks on the word complete?):

1. My Funny Valentine

This old chestnut has been covered by a host of many legendary artists. It's a somewhat melancholic piece that has its origins from the 1937 Rogers and Hart musical "Babes In Arms". I honestly don't know what that musical is all about, but judging from what I can seem to remember from the song's lyrics, "My Funny Valentine" strikes me as a song for a circus clown or a washed-up stand-up comic. Ladies, if you're going on a Valentine's date with any of the two types of previously mentioned people, this is the song that should be playing while he is performing the Heimlich Maneuver on you because you choked on a huge chunk of beef while you were laughing so hard at one of his racially-charged jokes.

2. Be My Number Two by Joe Jackson

Obviously, a song for a guy who has to take more than one lady out on a date on Valentine's night. If the guy is married, then he better make sure that he's properly insured. Otherwise, if the missus finds out, he's gonna need to borrow someone else's dick for the rest of his life.

3. Love Stinks by The J. Geils Band

Ah, just the song to have in the background when, after just being dumped by your no-good partner, you walk into a nice little restaurant full of nice people out to have a nice Valentine dinner. Then, just like Adam Sandler in "The Wedding Singer", you randomly jump on tables, stomp on the steak, knock over the champagne glasses, and sing (or scream - it's your choice) along to this angst-ridden anthem. Utterly romantic!

4. Every Breath You Take by The Police

I'd recommend this song to those sickos who'd like to get into the business of stalking someone. I mean, listen to the lyrics, man: "Every move you make, every step you take, I'll be watching you". Sounds like the perfect Valentine dinner song for your average CIA guy and his lady.

5. Skyline Pigeon by Elton John

Just the perfect tune to have in the background for married people who'd like to broach the idea of getting divorced over a nice Valentine dinner. Guys, be sure to wear a bulletproof vest. Ladies, make sure you already hired a huge bodyguard to beat the shit out of your no-good husband if he tries anything funny.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Can't think of anything else at this point. I'm too busy worrying about my friends who're sweating bullets right now thinking of what "magical" thing to do for their partners on Valentine's Day. Me? Let's just say I got it all covered. Hah!

Waiting For The Train To Come Back

Like I mentioned in earlier posts, I grew up in the 80's. I mean, that was the time when I started getting zits; when hair started growing in weird places all over my skinny body; and, when I officially decided on what kind of music to like, love, revere, dislike, despise, and loathe. I thought that the 80's have permanently left the building. Well, I was wrong. Like Freddy Kreuger, the 80's are starting to once again invade everybody's consciousness (and, subconsciousness).

You see it first through fashion trends.

Tight pants (now called "skinny jeans" - hee-hee-hee) have made a comeback of sorts. I see a lot of kids wearing Vans checkerboard-pattern sneakers (just like Sean Penn in Fast Times At Ridgemont High). T-shirts with huge slogans emblazoned on them are again very visible on the streets. (Remeber the gigantic "Relax" T-shirts that came into vogue after the chart success of Frankie Goes To Hollywood?) Mohawks, fauxhawks, and 80's-style haircuts are again adorning the dandruff-covered scalps of the young, the hip, and the wannabes; but, unlike in the 80's when your folks would send you to rehab if you ever went out of the house wearing a "non-regulation" haircut, these do's are now widely accepted, tolerated, and - fuck - sometimes even encouraged.

Yep, 80's fashion is coming back. That's all well and good. But what I'm really waiting for now is for 80's music to stage an encore.

Now even though I'm a product of that era (yes, I think we've long established that, thank you), I'm NOT for the comeback of ALL music from the 80's. I mean, a lot of it was good, even great. But a lot of it would also be better left to rot in the garbage bin where they belong.

But why focus on the bad side of the music of a period that's making a return flight? Let's take a look at one of the better acts to come out of the era that spawned a million mindless T&A movies, factory-manufactured muscle-bound action films, and surfer dude talk.

One of the bands from the 80's that I really liked (and still do)is Wire Train, that San Francisco band with the tricky drum assault, the snaky bassline, the echo-ey guitar twang, and the somewhat nerdy lead vocals. I especially like (no, I literally worship) their album Between Two Words (1985)which include the tracks "Last Perfect Thing", "God On Our Side", "Love Love", and "Skill Of Summer". The lyrics of those songs, while dealing with the oft-covered topic of love, approach their subject matter from a refreshingly unique angle (except maybe, "God On Our Side", which is more of a song on self-affirmation and faith - I guess).

I miss a lot of the good 80's band, partially, for this reason - their gift in using words to tell an old worn-out story and make it sound fresh and new. The line-up that made up Wire Train on the Between Two Words album are: Kevin Hunter (vocals, guitar), Kurt Herr (guitar), Anders Rundblad (bass), and Brian MacLeod (drums). Check out the video of a beloved Wire Train song, "Last Perfect Thing".

Queens of Noise

I don't know what it was, but all of a sudden pioneering all-girl rock group The Runaways just popped into my head. With its most famous alum, Joan Jett, being credited as a major inspiration for a slew of 90's riot grrl groups, The Runaways were initially regarded as nothing more than a badly-told joke. However, with the rise of the riot grrl movement in the 90's, their importance has been, rightfully, given due recognition.

Check out this video of a live performance of their biggest hit song "Cherry Bomb":