The Not-Pop Jukebox

This disingenuous query really seeks to draw your attention to Zoot Suit from Greg Preston & the Great Machine (who temptation lures me to associate with Florence & the Apparently-Regular Machine, great as they are). The song (that’d be Zoot Suit, in case I confused you with that last parenthetical comment) includes a short section about coming up from the water to stand on his own two feet like modern man.

Naturally, I assume this to be a tribute to The Toadies and their I Come from the Water. Listen to both songs and let me know what you think. Is the relation obvious to you as well or is the similar symbolism just a Darwinian coincidence?

Sometimes you get a thought and you can't resist following it to its natural conclusion. In this case, given the popularity of people comparing themselves to Darth Vader in song, I wondered if there were any songs about Han Solo. Clearly, the answer was yes...sort of.

This piece of electro-funk was probably the closest I could come to a song that I thought Han Solo might actually enjoy and which wasn't about being frozen in carbonite. So tonight enjoy a little European jam dedicated to the coolest smuggler in the Outer Rim, whether he's hanging in Jabba's palace or being betrayed by Billy Dee Williams.

I greatly admire Prince, under certain circumstances. Generally those involve him holding a guitar. Housequake is not one of those circumstances.

With that said, the awful lyrics and cheesy loops of this song come together to make me laugh every time. Part of it is the squeezed, lemme-in-the-bathroom way he says "shut up" right at the beginning, part if the reference to green eggs and ham, and part is just how very, very dumb this song is.

It's like a perfect little portrait of Prince: outsized attitude with enough good stuff to keep you listening. Every time you're ready to toss it out the window another quip or flip of arrogance makes you pull your hand back for one more chance. Or does it not work that way for you?

In truth I wanted to post the Maryann Price cover of Texas Kinda Attitude with its quirky rhythms and jazzy chops but Grooveshark and YouTube both failed me. Heck, even the woman's own site wouldn't play the clip it promised.

And so I'm giving you the original Dan Hicks version, Hot Licks and all. I'm not sure what else to say about Texas Kinda Attitude except that the image of the very first line caught me and I had to listen to the rest. It's not my usual thing but I thing it's well worth a listen (or two).