The Not-Pop Jukebox

I squandered some of my absolute favorite songs on my early posts, without a way for you to listen to them without going somewhere else entirely. Squat That Rabbit was among the first songs that I posted, because I was so excited to let people know about this almost-completely disregarded gem. How on earth did I expect you to realize how fantastic the song is without providing you a way to hear it?! I'm rectifying that bit of foolishness by re-posting the song, complete with the actual song, so that you can do a naughty little boogie yourself.

Edit, because this is the one song that Grooveshark had pulled that was never replaced. I'm including a video that does not include any live footage but which has the version of the song I wanted to share in the first place.

Few songs make me remember the exact circumstances when my musical world expanded, but Camel Walk remains one of the strongest. I remember exactly where I was and what was happening in my life when I first heard this raucous rockabilly tune from Southern Culture on the Skids, and I remember standing in front of my stereo, anxiously awaiting the DJ's announcement of the song's particulars. For the first blogiversary of The NPJ, I'd like to share the it with you.

Camel Walk is not a deep or musically complex song. It's sheer fun and goofiness, infectious to the many friends that I have forced to enjoy it over the years. It bridges The Stray Cats to The Reverend Horton Heat and simply make you want to figure out just how you can walk like a camel, to do the song justice while dancing all over the room. If you've got a song of which the first hearing is indelibly embedded in your memory, please share it with me. Thanks for reading in my first year, and here's hoping that there are many more great songs to come.

If there's one thing I love, it's music that refuses to fit neatly into a genre. Here's a ska-jazz cover song from the legendary Jamaican ska band The Skatalites, which clocks in at nine minutes. As the original James Bond Theme last about a minute and a half, that leaves a lot of room for jazzy improvisation and play, over a strong ska back-beat. The song won't be pigeonholed, and ends up the better for it. Enjoy!

It's been months since I posted anything by the unusual Rusted Root, the hippie-like, jam-band-sounding, world-beat-using band that brought you Send Me on My Way and Drum Trip. If you're a fan of the movie Twister, you likely already know this song by heart, but it enjoyed only a brief popularity before the band sank once again into their indie obscurity, regardless of how major the label that released some of their albums. I enjoy the manic energy the band brings to many of their songs (and interpreting their more obscure lyrics), but Virtual Reality is one of Rusted Root's few "get up and dance" songs, and one that really works for its purposes. I promise not to wait another nine months before posting more from them. If you've got a favorite (or another band that you find comparable), please let me know. I'm not generally a "jam band" fan, but between Rusted Root and WookieFoot, my ears have certainly been opened to the possibilities that I'd previously missed.

You may know by now that I'm a sucker for an unusual cover song. This version of Sharp Dressed Man by 8 1/2 Souvenirs naturally drew me right in with it's swingin' horn section and sultry vocals. Like any child of the 80s, I like the ZZ Top original but this take on it provided me with a fresh appreciation for the song. For what more could you ask from a cover?

In keeping with the ska theme, and replacing the cheesy early posts with ones in which you can actually listen to music, I'm going to not only include Ugly from Fishbone but the other song I mentioned in the post and the one that was added in the comments. Thus, you get a three-for-one 80s ska/New Wave bonanza today. Enjoy, and please let me know if there's a song I've already posted without a track that you'd like me to revisit. (Please excuse the craptacularity of my earliest posts and remember that I'm trying to do better!)

I said to myself this morning, "Do you know what the NPJ needs? It needs some Skankin' Pickle." Obviously, I trust myself enough to know that I was exactly right. Then again, I was working on a lengthy lens on the evolution of ska, so it may be that I inadvertently influenced myself by listening to four decades' worth of back-beat and horns. But I've liked Fakin' Jamaican for a years, so I decided that the time is ripe to remind the world (or at least you, dear readers) of the song. Sure, I could have gone with The Toasters or The Beat, but somehow Skankin' Pickle just fit the bill today. Have a laugh at the expense of the poseurs, folks, and drop me a note naming your favorite ska song, if you've got one. I'll post a link to the lens if I can ever finish the thing.

While Siouxsie & The Banshees had a big hit with Peek A Boo in the late 80s, I always preferred Burn Up off of the "Peepshow" album. (I know that you're shocked that I'd go against the mainstream like that, but try to contain your amazement.) By then, the band had a sort of late-punk, pre-emo, proto-goth sound that could still be up-beat and wild. They played in wholly their own style and influenced many a post-punk group to experiment with sound and style. I enjoy geeking out to Peek A Boo, but I still like Burn Up and Ornaments of Gold better.

As I'm repeatedly distracted by the air show taking place a mile from my home, please enjoy this light, frothy version of Samba de Verao from Marcus Valle and Patricia Marx while I get my fill of aerial acrobatics. Tomorrow, I'll post something more high-brow...maybe.

As I recently mentioned, I'm doing a series of posts taking the pathetic originals from this blog, back when I had no clue how to add a widget so that you could actually hear the darned things, and updating them with actual songs. As my first update, please enjoy Dance on Vaseline, arguably one of David Byrne's best solo efforts and a darned good song all around. Should you enjoy Thievery Corporation, they've got a version of the song as well, but I don't particularly like it. For me, it steals the dance-ability from the original and leaves you with something more like Stand around on Vaseline.

Ah, success! I've been trying to upload this song from the Brian Setzer Orchestra's new album, "Songs from Lonely Avenue", for two days. Thank heavens I can finally share it with you. The lovely folks at Surfdog Records sent me a couple of sample tracks and let me know that the album is due out October 13th of 2009. Trouble Train makes me anxious to hear more, with it's retro sound and absolutely smokin' instrumental sections.

Surfdog's press release describes the album as "film noir-inspired", and you definitely get the sense of Sam Spade and women in Edith Head frocks committing civilized murder and mayhem from the two tracks. Lonely Avenue deploys strings to invoke the heartbreak mood suggested by the title, and is a slow-burner. Trouble Train, on the other hand, rips right into action and hauls you right down the tracks with it. Have a listen and let me know if you're as impressed by Brian Setzer's songwriting as I am. Gone are the days of covers and standards - Setzer wrote all of the tunes on "Songs from Lonely Avenue" himself.

DJ Lobsterdust has done it again, producing Brooklyn Rocks!, this wonderful pile of 80s greatness, combining Joan Jett's I Love Rock and Roll with the Beastie Boys' No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn, with a little splash of We Will Rock You thrown in for zing. You can, as always, download the song for free from his web site, where he's been posting lots of great stuff. I recommend a thorough exploration, if you've got a couple of hours to dedicate.

Bag of Hammers is one of those songs that has really grown on me. The first time I heard it, I like the imagery enough to pick it up but I wasn't so in love with the song. Over the past few months, its become one of my favorites, especially for listening to at volume while driving. It surprised me to discover that I'd not already posted it here, so I thought I'd rectify that oversight. Now that The NPJ is a year old, I'll be re-posting some of the first songs that I added with handy-dandy players, which will mean some Grooveshark uploading and likely will be a slow process. While I'm doing that, I'm as open to your recommendations as always so please feel free to drop me a note. I'll keep finding new things to love, as well, so don't worry that things will stagnate. I just want those songs to be as accessible as the newer posts.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my children love the over-blown bass-and-silliness of The Crazy Frog, and thus regularly force me to listen to the slaughtered version of Hey, Baby on a regular basis (like right now). In defense, I've taken out my headphones and am enjoying these two good versions of the song, the great original from Bruce Channel and an interesting cover by Jose Feliciano. Take that, cultural waste-oids!

I may not get religion, but I've always loved Spirit in the Sky, perhaps because it's so unfailingly cheerful and dying and determinedly non-denominational. For whatever reason, I find it a fun and toe-tapping good time and, of course, have been having a field day listening to different versions of the song, from The Blind Boys of Alabama to Nina Hagen, with The Eagles, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and a bunch of others thrown in for good measure. Personally, the Nina Hagen cover slays me with it's 80s-synth-pop sensibilities, but I think the one from Doctor & The Medics may be the best of this bunch. Don't worry, I included Norman Greenbaum, too.

I thought that, after yesterday's rather ambiguous post, I'd try something about which there was no question today: Joe Satriani wouldn't be caught dead playing disco. Satch Boogie, despite the name, is all guitar rock and the better for it. It turns out that, in this case, "Satch" does not refer to Satchmo at all but to Satriani's "Satchurator" nickname. Pity the man for having such a poorly-spelled nickname but enjoy his rockin' guitar licks all the same.

I have a confession to make: I'm a child of the 70s, darlings, and I love Earth Wind & Fire. "Raise!" lives on my Top 25 Albums of All Time list. The band raises the age-old question (at least, the one as old as I am) of where that fine line between disco and funk lies. Are they a disco band? Do they play funk? Can you do both at the same time?

Earth Wind & Fire refers to itself as a jazz/funk band, and their sound shares much in common with Tower of Power. You'd never accuse those folks of being a disco band, would you? I believe that they qualify as a funk band and that they happened to have some wildly successful hits during the era when disco was so prevalent. That way, I don't have to confess my adoration of the band again. Everybody loves funk, right?

I was listening to The Mamas and the Papas on American Bandstand, today (no, not on TV, on YouTube). I've come to the realization that, if people remembered and still listened to them, the whole Susan Boyle brouhaha would never have happened. Poor Mama Cass--so unhealthy, dead so early, and with such an amazing voice. I've always loved Dream a Little Dream of Me and I think it serves as a terrific illustration of my point.

While I haven't enjoyed a new John Hughes movie for, oh, about two decades, the ones that he wrote in the 80s were a part of the landscape of my life. His movies helped to introduce me to New Wave, including The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen, OMD, INXS, and Simple Minds. The topics addressed so much of teenage life just as I was the same age that it was like pieces of the lives around me appeared on the screen every time another of his movies was released. (At least until Home Alone, at which point he jumped the shark and I quit watching his movies.)

All of that said, Yello's Oh, Yeah was a big part of my musical landscape in the 80s (along with Matthew Broderick and Michael J Fox, both of whom shared screen time with this song). It is a weird and wonderful piece of the 80s, and still holds its ability to make me crank it up and shake my butt. RIP, John Hughes.

For Friday, take a listen to a Keb' Mo' tribute to the female of the species, Gimme What You Got. It's a little mellow, a little bluesy, a little funky, and a lot of fun. Rather than his more common accoustic arrangements, this one comes with electricity and a horn section. Gimme What You Got was a part of his 2000 album, "The Door".

I heard Steve Earle on the World Cafe, today, and enjoyed it so much that I've been listening to a lot of his music since. I've decided that you should all hear Condi, Condi both because it's a great, almost reggae-sounding song from a great album ("The Revolution Starts Now") and because it sounds as though Steve Earle is stalking the former Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice. I wanted to post F the CC but decided that it was a bit too family un-friendly for a weekday post. Should you wish to hear that one or a bunch of others, click over to Grooveshark from the player below. Unfortunately, you won't find his newest album, "Townes", represented there yet but you can listen to lots of his older songs. You can listen to today's live session on NPR, too.

For those of you who don't remember Van Halen with David Lee Roth in the lead, this song will act as a good introduction. That's not why I've chosen Jump for today, though. The Aztec Camera cover of the song came to my attention and I thought the contrast would be interesting for you. It takes the relatively-frenentic tone of the Van Halen version and inserts a more-appropriate melancholy that allows you to appreciate that the lyrics are not about jumping up and down, dancing, but about jumping off of something like a building or a bridge. David Lee Roth sounds like he's having fun, but Roddy Frame manages to give the impression that he's given the lyrics a lot of thought and genuinely washes his hands of the subject. That is what I wanted to share--the way that a cover song can completely change your perception of a song.

I don't really know where this song came from, nor whether it's really Toby Keith and Willie Nelson or not. I do know that I have always had a soft spot for Willie and that it's a funny song. I spent all of my music time working on my Music of the Month recommendation and some other lenses today, so I thought I'd just post something fun and irreverent for you rather than try to write something else interesting today.

In apology for a sparse posting week, please accept this enormous pile of Take Me to the River goodness. You get not only the amazing Talking Heads cover, you get the standard Annie Lennox and The Commitments versions. But that's not all! Act now and you can hear The Memphis Horns, The Grateful Dead, and the shockingly-bad Foghat covers of the song. All of this comes complete with a version starring the original performer, Al Green, getting down with The Dave Matthews Band. Where else are you going to find this sort of fantastic variety and practicality in one place?

Whew! I'm going to have to get out of infomercial mode and just tell you that some of these covers are much, much better than others. I'll leave it to you to decide which are which. Drop me a note if I've missed someone who really deserves to be in the list.