The Not-Pop Jukebox

As it's New Year's Eve (or Day, depending on your location) I was going to post a song about the holiday but I couldn't find one I liked. Then I thought I'd write about a blizzard song, as we're enjoying one right now. What could be more wild and slightly scary than masses of snow and howling wind creating a situation where you can barely leave your house and half of the businesses in town close? Apparently just about anything. Almost all of the songs I found about blizzards were emo-fests that dragged on for minutes of whine, whine, whine.

But while meandering about the search results Queen's Bring Back that Leroy Brown popped up and I was reminded that a lot people don't know that the "Greatest Hits" album doesn't necessarily contain the band's best songs. Sure, I love Bicycle Race as much as the next Queen fan but, as with any good and prolific band, the singles didn't tell the whole story. Part of Queen's appeal was their willingness to do wacky things like Bring Back that Leroy Brown, a song that serves as a sort of eulogy for the recently-deceased Jim Croce. From what I can tell the song never charted (although the album, "Sheer Heart Attack", most definitely did). Regardless, it's one of my favorites.

And so for the new year here's a reminder that an artist's biggest hits may not be a good way to judge his/her/their best work. Delve, my dears, and you can find nuggets like this one that give you a different taste of the same flavor. Happy 2011!

Okay, people, I'm hungry. But instead of making my way to the nearest eating establishment for my lunch break I'm here, writing to you. For that, I'm going to punish you with songs about food. Unfortunately, you might enjoy the punishment. I've taken a bunch of fun stuff and combined it into a musical meal that will hold me until I can go grab a granola bar. The things I don't do for your wonderful people!

Kidding aside, you'll find here a very brief scream from Five Iron Frenzy, an angry consideration of the Soup of the Day from The Vandals, a catchy little note about Hot Soup from Da Vinci's Notebook, some jazzy Home Fries from Joshua Redman, and a batch of French Fries with Pepper from Morphine. If that's not enough variety to spice your life then try David Lee Roth's Hot Dog and a Shake. Well, that sounded dirtier than I'd intended but it is David Lee Roth so he probably meant it that way anyway. Happy Wednesday!

It came to my attention recently that not only have I been neglecting to introduce my children to classical music but that I may have awfully high standards for "she can sing" judgments. And so I listened to some of my classical favorites with the family this week explaining to my boys why I loved each of them. All I could say about the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's fabulous opera, "The Magic Flute", however, was, "I would love to be able to do that just once in my life."

For those of you unfamiliar with opera, I recommend you have a peek at The Magic Flute. The songs are delightful and the story less tragic than the videos for Aria della Regina della Notte would lead you to believe. See some of the interpretations of Papageno if you don't believe me! But regardless of how you feel about opera in general, watch this video and tell you me you aren't awed at what the human voice can do, and has been doing for hundreds of years without the help of computers. [sigh] I love this song.

Merry Christmas for you celebrators out there. I thought I'd give us all a little cheer today. For your enjoyment please accept this great ska version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen from The Taj Motel Trio. That is all.

I gave you Santa yesterday. I'll give you some other holiday thing tomorrow. But for today let's ignore this commercialized crap and take a look at something more fun. I've got here, in my hot little hands (okay, ears), a band called Chopteeth who covered another band called Marijata who did a song called No Condition Is Permanent. Now, it happens that I have a weak spot for the sort of afrobeat funk that both bands perform.

Because it's a holiday, I'm more than happy to give you, my darling readers, both versions of the song in all its horn-filled, 70s-protest, funky backbeat glory. If you're curious, that means you get over thirteen minutes of music, on a Friday where you'd normally be lucky to see three. It's all for you my dears. And because I like the contrast between the two and the flavor of Tower of Power they leave on your tongue. But mostly for you.

It's nearly Christmas for those who celebrate it. How about a little tune about cheating to get you all in the holiday mood? I know, you can hardly imagine anything more festive. But this one has the added bonus of being a They Might Be Giants song, which means that they're a lot less angsty about losing a girl to Santa.

In case you're concerned or in some way offended on the magical man's behalf, it isn't the real Santa stealing girlfriends. Of course it isn't, or they wouldn't be able to sing, "I saw my baby wearing Santa's Beard," now would they? If you need something for which to be thankful this holiday season, it can be that I'm not making you listen to some awful version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and that the jolly fat guy isn't spreading his beard around your neighborhood.

It's not often you happen upon a mashup of 20 Finger's Lick It, particularly one combined with AC/DC and Tone Loc. That, of course, is exactly what happened to me today, however. DJ Schmolli had done it again, combining Lick It Up, Wild Thing, and Lick It into a pile of wacky fun that's more than the sum of its parts. For those of you unfamiliar with the 20 Fingers song, this one is NSFW, but only for a little while. As ever, you can visit the artist at home and download this mashup for free. If you're curious, there's a video as well.

So, I'm driving home from the grocery store and I hear this great song playing behind an interview. I crank up the radio, crossing my fingers and waiting. Thankfully, for once, the people explained what song it was after they finished talking. It was Mexican Institute of Sound's Carnaval, from their newest album "Suave Patria". Naturally, it's not been uploaded to Grooveshark just yet so I don't have it to share. You'll have to settle for proof that I'm not a sports fan in any world, real or video game, and enjoy Alocatel, which I discovered--after I selected it--was on the FIFA 2010 soundtrack. I do believe that's soccer game of some sort. This one is good but I still think Carnaval is better. I'll post it some day when I can.

I posted Bounce more than two years ago but it was before I had discovered the joys of Grooveshark and, yet again, the imeem widget has died. So why am I posting it today? Because I'm in a mood and everything I listened to this morning seemed boring, trite, or just annoying. Then System of a Down popped up in my play list and I bounced along. I actually smiled. That was enough to make it the song of the day but then I realized that the original post was pointless and stupid, just like the rest of my morning. That seemed to make Bounce perfect. Now if only I had a pogo stick...

I'm willing to bet every one of you has La Bamba in your heads right now after reading the title for this post. But Los Lobos was more about honky-tonkin' and bluesy rock than that one song. Sure, they could get their Latin groove on as they amply demonstrated on the soundtrack for Desperado but most of the albums fall somewhere between a rockabilly sound and some honest, hard rock. It's that side of Los Lobos I want to share today. And so, for a Friday night, enjoy a gritty, driving little tune from a band most known for singing a Richie Valens bit of nonsense that happens to be a great song in its own right. If you like Everybody Loves a Train, take a trip on the Los Lobos express at Grooveshark. Send them my compliments for fixing their widgets, while you're at it.

Normally, I would have posted at least more versions of a song as old and well-covered as I Don't Know, but apparently I'm the only one who has more than two versions. I was able to find the Willie Mabon version on Youtube but only of the sort uploaded by people with fantastic old records. Nowhere could I find the fantastic version of the song that I have with Ruth Brown and Johnny Adams that seems to have inspired the sort of banter that The Blues Brothers included in their own cover.

Now, some folks say the song was written by Mr. Mabon, but one of the versions I've heard has him introducing the song by noting that he had been introduced to it by Cripple Clarence Lofton. Whether he meant the inspiration came from Lofton or the whole song I can't seem to discover. I can find a lot of songs with the same name and clear histories but not I Don't Know.

And so I give you the version that most blues fans already know, a great song in its own right, certainly, but seemingly more overlooked than most of the songs I post here. Let me know if you know where there's a copy on-line of other versions so that I can link them, would you? And if George Thorogood ever did I do believe my head might explode from teh awesome. Tell me anyway.

Some days you hear something new in a song you have listened to a hundred times. For me, that happened this morning with James Hunter. I was listening to People Gonna Talk and suddenly I realized that it was Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear from Me re-imagined. Now, we all know there’s nothing new under the sun but that doesn’t mean that one take on a subject doesn’t capture your imagination better than another.

For some reason, Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear from Me always struck me as a conceited concept. It sounded like a cad saying, “Sit home and twiddle your thumbs until I get around to dangling you on this string again.” That's because of the verse that admits he's been "seen with someone new" and "other arms may hold a thrill". Who want that sort of garbage? I’d dump such a jerk so fast his head would spin. But when I listen to it with People Gonna Talk in mind, I understand that both songs address the same subject—gossip of the malicious sort.

And so I put it to you, darling readers. Which song would you rather hear from your erstwhile lover, from whom you are separated for a time and about whom your “friends” tell sordid tales? Would you rather be reassured that “you never will” hear from him or her that you’ve been dumped or asked to “please let the decision be your own”? [As a bonus for you ME2 fans out there, I consider People Gonna Talk to be Commander Shepard’s song. If you don't know what that means, ask Bioware. /geeknote]

Every holiday season I look for non-traditional versions of carols that make me smile or at least laugh at their bizarrity. Today I've taken my two favorite Christmas carols and done just that for you, dears. The swooping strains of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing was always the relief one needed from dirge-like renditions of Silent Night and psychotically happy tripe like Jingle Bells. And Angels We Have Heard on High makes me think fondly of my crazy Latin teacher in high school. The soaring pair of songs fly over the usual holiday fare and sound like they were actually written for people who M=can sing.

That's why the Bob Dylan versions of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing landed at first on the list today. I dare you not to laugh at his mush-mouth attempts, I double-dog dare you! As for the rest, well, they're mostly just for fun. I imagine singing the carols this way in a church setting which just amps up the entertainment value. The Reliant K version of Angels We Have Heard on High I included not because it's funny (which was what I expected from them) but because it's actually quite good...and fun. If you've a favorite rocked-out Christmas carol, please do share it with me. I'm always looking for more ways to torture my co-workers over the holiday season.

Today’s song comes with a movie recommendation, free of charge. That’s because the first time I remember hearing the wonderful Swinging on a Star it was as performed a capella by Bruce Willis and Danny Aiello while robbing a museum in that goofy, over-the-top film Hudson Hawk. I should immediately have known it was a Bing Crosby hit.

In part, I enjoy Hudson Hawk because they out-geek even me when it comes to musical standards. They time their robberies not by stop watches but by singing the hits of yesteryear because they know the exact length of each version. I may know a lot about different covers of various swing standards but I couldn’t tell you how long each track lasts without pulling up my media player.

So if you’ve missed what I think is one of the funniest Bruce Willis movies made (and just about the only one in which Sandra Berhardt gets to really show her true colors) hunt it down and watch it. To get you in the mood, here’s Swinging on a Star. “Bunny, ball ball!”

While everyone and their brother and sister knows Spandau Ballet for their cover of True that was not the song that brought them to my attention so many years ago. It was, in fact, Chant No. 1 that got me listening to the band. With a thoroughly unhelpful name like that you may not know that you’ve heard the song but it was a big hit back in the day.

For me, Chant No. 1 is a quintessential New Wave song, one that anyone interested in the genre ought to know. It’s got fantastic horns, synths, and some great electro-hand claps to help you keep the beat. It is, at heart, a song about love going wrong and the chorus leaps into my head whenever someone insists on making unreasonable demands on me. I don't need this pressure on, indeed.

Speaking of which, the next post will the the 600th on The Not-Pop Jukebox. I haven't the faintest idea what to post for that but it does seem like a bit of a landmark. If you've got suggestions about what I can do please do share them!

I’ve read that The Incredible Bongo Band version of the standard. Apache is the most-sampled song in hip hop history. You may find it strange that I would choose such a popular song to post, if that’s the case, but the truth is that few people actually know the song itself. They may recognize the tidbits tucked into song after song but I’m guessing most folks who identify it repeatedly don’t realize that it really was a song unto itself.

In the interests of increasing your appreciation of obscurity, I offer you not merely the Incredible Bongo Band version of Apache but the Grandmaster Flash remix of said standard, which gives the song so much “street cred” that you could buy a car with it. If you don’t know who Grandmaster Flash is then you probably don’t understand that last sentence so it’s a good thing you’ve come to me. I can help.

Now, Apache is a surf rock standard so you know there are more versions out there. And can I let you all go without sharing one or two? Don’t be silly, my darlings. The Ventures really make the song title make sense. I've also thrown in the Fatboy Slim and Sugarhill Gang versions of the song, for your edification. That last is a bit non-PC but it's very old-school.

Yet again I discovered recently that a song that I love is, in fact, a cover song. In this case, I first heard Stranded in the Jungle as performed by Voodoo Glow Skulls. The contrasting styles and story telling made this such a catchy and fun song. Then I saw a comment that this was a cover of a New York Dolls song. While it may well be, it turned out that the Dolls had, in fact, been covering The Cadets who had covered The Jay Hawks and recorded under the name of Jacks as well. The recorded and released their version before The Jay Hawks had a chance to do a good studio version and snatched the hit for themselves. Confused yet? It doesn't matter. All that does matter is that Stranded in the Jungle is a great song no matter who performs it. Here's three versions to enjoy, the Voodoo Glow Skulls version of which made my list of ten songs for being stranded on a deserted island as a reminder that being stranded could always be worse.

I seem to be stuck in video mode this week, but I couldn't just post the audio for Mash Together because the House of Pain fans jumping to Joan Jett made me laugh. And so I give you the video for a mashup that sounds like it could never work: The Beatles on vocals, Joan Jett, House of Pain, Cypress Hill, and Rage Against the Machine on back-up. No, really, Faroff kills this one, unlikely as it sounds. And, as ever with the mashups I post, you can download it for free from his Official.FM site.

Of all the songs I could have pictured Lightspeed Champion covering, Xanadu wouldn't have made my list. And yet, there he was, recalling the massive cheese-fest of what was one of my favorite movies as a kid.

In case you're unfamiliar with Lightspeed Champion, his real name is Devonté Hynes and he wasn't even alive when Xanadu was in theaters. He also could be called a real Renaissance man, with a book of short stories, a symphony, a nigh-abandoned blog about the 100 worst movies, and a side project as Blood Orange, too. But he covered Xanadu anyway.

That's right, it's NSFW, people. I'm completely breaking the rules today because this song came to my attention in a quite not-pop way, despite its apparent popularity and the fact that the performer did the cheesy cover of Kung Fu Fighting at the end of Kung Fu Panda. You may or may not be familiar with the fact that I am easily amused by grown men pretending to cry in song. And so I came to this song as a modern example of the classic Albert Collins tradition.

So not only do we have a song with a swear word in the title but it's a pop song, as well. I don't care: it's been stuck in my head for four days. I can't take it any more. I also realized that the widget I had stuck in for ...But I Was Cool has gone to meet its maker. You get a two-for-one, fake crying extravaganza today, people. You're welcome.