A piece of genuine post-punk power pop from the Knack.
An irresistible record, despite having to carry the weight of a whole boatload of wrong decisions.
First, it is far too long. If ever a song cried out to be two minutes fifty, it “My Sharona.” It has silly, racy lyrics that are nonetheless not as dirty as they’re trying to be. The rambling, unnecessary guitar break destroys the momentum (and sounds like it fell in from a different record anyway). And what lunatic figured it would be a good idea NOT to repeat the refrain at the end?
But that huge, bass-driven hook was undefeatable, and this was a massive hit in 1979. I have no doubt it would’ve been a massive hit in 1969, 1989, 1999, 2009, and, if you could’ve gotten it played on the radio, probably in 1959.
But it does kind of have “one-hit wonder” written all over it, doesn’t it?
One of the staples of Rock n’ Roll is the love song. We all know this. From “Heartbreak Hotel” to whatever Lady Gaga is pining over these days heartbreak is always a good way to start out on your next number one hit.
A favorite of mine is Marty Balin’s “Hearts.”
This is one tough song to get through. Marty’s vocals are right on the edge. A lesser singer than Balin would just sound kind of foolish with all the vocal slides and runs. With him it’s completely convincing. Whatever was going on in his life at the time having recently parted ways with Jefferson Starship, getting divorced, stubbing his toe, I have no idea. But, I do know that this song is sung with the real feelings of heartbreak and loss. A classic by any standard.
This is just about as sad a song as I can think of. But then I spend most of my time thinking of such things so I have one that I think is even more heartbreaking.
In 1975 Ambrosia released their eponymous first album, Ambrosia, produced by Freddie Piro. A true masterpiece of music and heartbreak was created.
A passionate lead vocal with simple but meaningful words bringing the story out into the open. You can really feel what is going on in the singers mind as the words slip out into the air.
“I keep thinking that I’m lonely but it’s only missing you inside.”
Engineered by the always wonderful Alan Parsons, the mix is full of tension and emotion. Bass and piano start out together soon joined by a solo guitar lead that sets the tone for what’s to come. From the first note you know it’s sad. The harmonies are intense and full following the lead vocal through the opening chorus and then disappearing for the verse leaving the full sensation of loneliness. When the verse comes in, it grabs your attention and holds you. The bridge starts with a sweet guitar solo that gets harder and more complex as a violin flies over in the background to join with a vocal “ohh and ahh” harmony that fills up the picture perfectly. Magically.
“Lord I don’t know when I’ll see you, I can’t reach you anymore.”
The addition of the violin is the small part that makes everything complete. It complements the vocals and the feel, the emotion and truly, the heartbreak of the song. I think it’s about as close to perfect as it can be.
This is a wonderful little goof from the Alan Parsons Project.
For the kids out there, this is a riff on “pyramid power,” one of the many fads of the fad-ridden ’70s. The lyrics run through the claims for pyramid-shaped objects — fresher food, eternally sharp razors, even improved mental powers (through a pyramid-shaped hat, of course), and so forth.
The earnest pyramid believer in this song is also trying his girlfriend’s patience with his pyramid mania (and, it appears, in other ways). It’s very much of its time, very typical Parsons, and a completely charming little tune.
I picked a live version of this 1965 classic because Keith Relf — age about 19 in this clip — sounds a little lower-pitched and more authoritative than on the record:
This take also has a quicker, nervy tempo that makes the song a little edgier, to good effect. (Diggin’ the beatnik sunglasses too.)
The Yardbirds are not my taste, ordinarily, but this one doesn’t beat the bluesiness into the ground and is an irony-free, garage-band-friendly song of rock ‘n’ roll devotion. Good way to begin the week.
With winter comes the long nights exploring my collection of albums, Cd’s, cassette tapes and the more recent addition of mp3s. It’s been a really long time since I broke out the old turntable much less the cassette player. I still have two turntables and at least four or five cassette players gathering dust here and there.
In the garage, naturally, I found an old box of cassettes from about 1990 or so, the last time I had a car with a player in it. One of the really cool ones that would actually fast forward to the next track and stop. Cutting edge stuff at the time. (It didn’t matter that it would damage the tape by streching it a half step out of tune either. You would just turn it up louder and well, it didn’t make that much difference).
In that old box I found Iron Maiden’s “The Number Of The Beast.” Fun but hardly Christmas appropriate. Phantom, Rocker and Slick. How about those guys? Does anyone other than me remember them? Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker formerly of the Stray Cats. They released their “solo” album in 1985 after Brian Setzer left the band. It did have one fun song on it. “Men Without Shame.”
It has nothing whatsoever to do with Christmas. I just thought I would throw it in here because it’s been so long since I heard it.
Other gems in that old box were Brian Setzer’s first solo album, the “Knife Feels Like Justice.” Again not very Christmas like. I’ll get back to that one. A cassette single of the Waitresses “Christmas Wrapping.” Now we’re getting somewhere. This could possibly be the last cassette single in existence on the planet as I think I may have been the only person to buy something so foolish, but I do still love the song…
Lindsey Buckingham’s first solo album, “Law and Order” and some Pat Benatar, “Crimes Of Passion” and “Precious Time,” the first GoGo’s album, some Alice Cooper and of all things, Dan Fogelberg.
Here’s where it gets into the Christmas spirit.
Strange video, an apparently unofficial one but, the song is there.
Same Auld Lang Syne. A nice lift from Scottish poet Bob Burns. I can’t blame Dan for this however. It’s a sweet song and if if didn’t really happen to him, it should have. I can only guess it’s happened to a lot of us. Remember the Harry Chapin song “Taxi?” Dan had a much better night than Harry. Both bittersweet, Harry more bitter.
There is a quite sweet emotion in “Same Auld Lang Syne.” It’s sad but accepting. Not a bad thought for Christmas.
In the early days of MTV some really strange things made it on the air. Brought to you in the then new concept of a music video only channel. We have seen how that worked out. It seems about every three years or so Viacom/MTV comes up with a brilliant new idea. A channel that only plays music videos. At last count they are going on about 432 channels and yet somehow each and every one sneaks more and more “content” into the schedule until it becomes MTV, MTV2, VH1, VH1 Classic, MTV water-sports channel, (with Daisy Fuentes or the current bikini clad bimbo just because?), VH1 personal crisis channel for artists that dropped off the radar years ago, MTV reality channel, that doesn’t really have anything to do with music, but we used to, and now we are just using the MTV title to draw you into the recent travails of a group of young people being rude to each other, but they do listen to music occasionally. Off camera.
I digress.
Some of the early videos were and are classics. Golden Earring’s “Twilight Zone” stood out. Still does, though I never quite got the dancing vixen bit.
A truly impressive video. It starts with a great song, that’s always a good thing. It played the cold war spy angle quite well, dancing vixens aside. And it holds up. I still enjoy watching this one.
Some others were impressive at the time and quietly faded into mediocrity such as Van Halen’s Panama. It was a big deal at the time and was said to be innovative as it only cost as much as a few cheeseburgers to shoot in today’s dollars.
NSFW!!! (Unless your boss is a VH fan. It is David Lee Roth after all.)
I don’t know. I still like the song, but the video? “Hey guys, I got this neat wire harness that they can fly me around with. Pretty cool huh?” The band members jumping, not quite together is perhaps earnest. Does Van Halen need earnestness in it’s videos?
Around the same time a new band entered the MTV world. As Bridey reminded me they were a one hit wonder. I was going to put them in the Dark Matter song catagory but as we were all fortunate enough to only be plagued by them once they didn’t really qualify for the Dark Matter universe.
I, reluctantly give you…
Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
My first response after hearing this bit of audio crime was simply, “Come On!”
Where does one start with how truly terrible this song and video is? The stupid outfits? The fact that the drummer goes missing half way through it? Or simply the fact that this is one piece of auditory horror. It’s well played. OK. I give it that. But what is with the warbling singer? And the oh so powerful “breakdown” chorus with all the impact of a tissue hitting the floor. Did someone at the record company think, “Hey, a period costume jug band is just what we need right now to compete with Duran Duran.” I do have to wonder what they were thinking at the old record company when the Dexy’s came in and played this song for them. I know it was the early eighties but there is only so much that can be explained by drug abuse.
And we kick off part two of the stalker pop roundup with a classic that hit the top 10 on both the pop and R&B charts in 1964:
Just your basic romantic disappointment, right? But listen to the words: He’s been checking up on her, friends are urging him to leave her alone, he knows she has someone else but is still begging her to “stay, and let me make it up to you.” Then we have: “I’ll do anything you want me to/You loved me before, please love me again/I can’t let you go back to him.” Restraining order, anyone?
Then we have the Beatles in ’65, with a protagonist who has moved past the restraining-order stage and on to felony charges. I am a big Beatles fan, but this one outpaces several other strong contenders as the most despicable song they ever recorded.
Not gonna quote the lyrics — I’d have to quote the whole thing — but this is Lennon at his crude, too-clever-by-half worst, and it is a measure of the Beatles’ clout that they could get away with such a repellent, misogynistic sick joke of a song. Ghastly.
Stepping back to something (relatively) harmless, let us take the Association, or the 1960s’ leading producers of tunes that could be safely played, without alteration, in any elevator in America. The sound is not great on this version, alas. I almost posted a live clip, but there is just something too mind-blowingly weird about the idea that anyone ever went to see the Association in concert. From 1966:
“I wish that I could mold you into someone/Who could cherish me as much as I cherish you.” Or “I’m beginning to think that man has never found/The words that could make you want me.” He also assures the poor woman that any other guys who say they love her are lying. More obsessive than threatening, but, considering the band we’re talking about, intense stuff.
Moving back to straight-up stalking — magic stalking — we have the Who, and “I Can See for Miles.”
Some have said this is a drug song of some sort, but the lyrics don’t support it, and Pete Townshend has said himself that it is intended to be taken literally. And the theme of a guy who just has really, really good eyesight fits in with the oddball topics and novelty tunes that were such a big part of the Who’s early work.
Our hero says, “I know you’ve deceived me/But here’s a surprise/I know that you have/’Cause there’s magic in my eyes.” Surprising news indeed. He reports that he can see the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal “on clearer days” so weather is evidently a factor here (though it seems the curvature of the earth is not).
With nearly unlimited powers of vision, one might use one’s time more productively than in checking up on one’s girlfriend, but obsession is what stalker pop is all about.
Still, though this is definitely a stalker song — I mean, he’s watching her all the time — it’s not an especially sinister example. Though the protagonist says, “You gotta stand trial,” and his suspicions are apparently justified, evidently he is not considering any action more serious than dropping his cheating girl. A bit of a relief, considering.
I swiped the term in the post title from a long-ago review of Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill album, in which the reviewer (alas, I don’t remember who) said in reference to “You Oughta Know” that Alanis had invented a new genre: “stalker pop.”
I admire the term, but, of course, stalker pop — songs about keeping an eye on one’s beloved/object of obsession, and often featuring veiled or even open threats — is a much older art form than that.
You can go all the way back to 1963 for Bobby Vee’s “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes”: “‘Cause the night has a thousand eyes/And a thousand eyes can’t help but see/If you are true to me.” He also warns the alleged “runaround lover” that if someone is with her when she calls him, he’ll know.
The lyric does take an odd little turn at the end, as Bobby declares that he fully intends to cheat too, and notes that the gossips with those “thousand eyes” won’t let him get away with it either. Considering it’s Bobby Vee, this tune actually kind of rocks.
And there were even stalker songs before rock ‘n’ roll: Here’s “I’m Walking Behind You,” a hit for Eddie Fisher in 1953. With overwrought vocal and at a glacial pace, Eddie tells his beloved, who is wisely marrying someone else, that he plans to continue to obsess over her pretty much from now on.
The song wraps up on this moderately chilling note: “If things should go wrong, dear/And fate is unkind/Look over your shoulder/I’m walking behind.”
“If things should go wrong,” huh? Perhaps the new husband is the one who should be looking over his shoulder.
Next up: ’60s stalker pop from the Beatles, the Who, and more.
The Bangles were a bit of an oddity, actually. They had a lot of buzz before they got signed, and a lot of music geeks thought they should have gotten all the attention that went to to the Go-Gos instead. Right up until the Bangles had a couple of hits. And then it was, “Oh. Guess they weren’t that interesting after all.”
And they weren’t, not really. But this novelty record is a lot of fun for a Monday just the same, and Susanna Hoffs was pretty darn cute.
Here’s another one that’s closer to what one might call power pop, and that I actually like better than “Egyptian.” Sorry about the stupid intro — the music starts about 20 seconds in.
