David Berthy Posts

One way to terrify yourself in time for Halloween is to listen to the song "Disco Stress," by German pop star Udo Jurgens (for the sake of your sanity, you probably don't want to listen more than once). One can presume from the title of the album the track comes from--Udo 80--that this was an effort by the aging Jurgens to reserve one of the last seats on the disco bandwagon. I found "Disco Stress" (or maybe "Disco Stress" found me) at the ever-mysterious Salvation Army on Grand, and I've been unable to rid it from my life ever since. Maybe it's Udo's piercing disco scream around the 2:06 mark of the track. It could be the breakdown where, like some sort of bizarro German James Brown, Jurgens calls out each instrument for an ill-advised solo turn. Or maybe it's the Buck Rogers laser zaps that accompany the chorus. Actually, the sad truth is that I'd hold onto Udo 80 for all my days just to hear Jurgens sigh, "Schtresss...." at the conclusion of "Disco Stress." Download at your own peril.

Disco Stress

Uke Cabaret poster designer and man about town Chris P's band Mean Ohio will become the 60's Garage Rock kings The Sonics at the Halloween show on Friday. The Sonics' tunes make an excellent Halloween Soundtrack- Rough and ready, hard and fast, with fuzzed out guitars and horns. The subject matter is appropriately macabre with songs about drinking strychnine for kicks, witches, psychopaths, and Satan. Todays track, Strychnine is from their 1965 debut album Here are The Sonics .


Strychnine

If you stop to think about it, It takes serious cojones to name your album Let it Be. That, or bravado manufactured from copious amounts of booze. The Replacements had both in spades

I Will Dare

My Fleetwood Mac obsession continues as Hayward prepares for the upcoming Halloween bash at Silvies. In learning the bass parts, I've come to discover just how good a bass player John McVie is, so smooth and fluid you'd hardly notice unless you're, well, trying to learn the parts. Listen for instance to the chorus on this one, from their 1975 self-titled LP, the first with the Buckingham/Nicks in the line-up and a reinvented sound.

Say That You Love Me

When will I shake this device?

Watching the Elephant Six Holiday Surprise Show at The Bottom Lounge earlier this week, I became nostalgic for the mid-nineties gold rush of 60's inspired psychedelic pop nuggets. While the Lily's weren't an Elephant Six band, this track is one of my favorites from the era.


And One(On One)

New music from Oasis. Profound lyrics abound as usual:

"Love is a time machine, up on a silver screen
Love is a litany, a magical mystery"

and still I give them the benefit of the doubt. Now that's a mystery.

The Shock of Lightning

More California Dreaming

David Berthy Posts

Mike’s post reminded me how much I love this song. Like a lot of classic compositions, “California Dreaming” has inspired untold covers. Two of my favorites come from Jose Feliciano and Lee Moses, performers otherwise not often mentioned in the same sentence.



Feliciano’s version, replete with swelling strings and Spanish guitar, comes to us from the easy side of the street. The focus is on the brilliant melodic underpinnings of the original, resulting in a swinging, romantic melancholy that evokes turtlenecks, fireplaces, and empty wine glasses. Undeniably cool, its bongos and scatting make it perfect for an exclusive Aspen nightclub performance circa 1978.


Jose Feliciano Version




Lee Moses, on the other hand, brings a holy terror to his interpretation, turning the longing for California into a matter of life or death. He scraps the propulsive groove in favor of funereal horns and dramatic pauses, almost turning the song into a dirge. The references to church and prayer, which often fade into the background in other versions, are here highlighted when the singer unleashes his gospel shout. California represents salvation, and Lee Moses sings the song like a man who knows he’s going to hell.

Lee Moses Version

DJ Luke Singer played this one during his set last night at The Whistler (*A GREAT bar by the way). As soon as it came on, it appeared that everyone in the place stopped mid-conversation to sing along and bob their heads in unison from side to side, like some hipster muppets number. This song is quite a soundtrack for the transition we're about to make from Fall to Winter.

California Dreaming

Forgive me friends, but this track is killing me, so I feel compelled to post it. A while back I posted a version of Chuck Berry's The Promised Land by Swamp Boogie king Johnny Allen. I've had a mild obsession with the song ever since I heard it years ago on a roots of americana Uncut compilation. We even played it at The Uke Cabaret. Then, the other day, while searching for the Elvis track I posted Friday, I came across his version of the Promised Land, recorded in the heydey of his later Vegas Days, 1975.
I've never really listened to stuff from his late period, and I find it infectious in a way that makes me smile and sing along. I mean, really, this track smokes, from the funky opening organ riff right through three guitar solos and countless Jerry Lee Lewis style piano flourishes to the end.

The Promised Land

At KP and Joe's outrageously fun wedding reception a couple weeks back, Hayward wound up in the basement late in the evening for an impromptu jam session with Eric, who had played a well selected set of covers earlier to entertain the crowd. We stomped through a string of Beatles, Buddy Holly, and Elvis tunes and had a blast playing outside of the Bluegrass canon. Don't Be Cruel was one of the songs we played, and I was reminded just how great a song it is.

Don't Be Cruel

Nikki Sudden was a prolific English singer-songwriter and guitarist who co-founded the post-punk band Swell Maps with his brother Epic Soundtracks. His sound owes a lot to the classic rock pantheon- Neil Young, T Rex, and the Rolling Stones. He recorded under various monikers including the Jacobites and The French Revolution. He died of a heart attack in his sleep after a concert in 2006. Here's his version of Neil Young's Captain Kennedy from The Bridge-A Tribute to Neil Young. The song was originally released on Neil Young's little known 1980 album Hawkes and Doves.

Captain Kennedy

I like the trendy "boogaloo" style jazz that was made popular by Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Herbie Hancock and others in the mid sixties. Lee Morgan's The Sidewinder became a crossover hit, cracking the pop charts in 1964. Its ultra groovy in a striptease music kind of way.
Its success led to record labels rushing their jazz acts to record tracks in this funky/cool style.

The Sidewinder

They Ran

We had the great honor of playing at the marathon again this year, round about mile marker 6 at Fullerton & Stockton. The "Free Hugs" sign worked to great effect, keeping our frontman busy. We broke out this one from Flock of Seagulls, one of my favorites from the new wave era.

Space Age Love Song

While watching the mostly boring movie "The Assassination of Jesse James" this weekend, I was reminded of the terrific band The James Gang, which featured a young Joe Walsh well before he released his string of solo hits and joined the Eagles. My favorite track is Funk #49 from 1970's James Gang Rides Again, which the hipster band 5style would later rip off in the mid-90's for an entire album.

Funk #49

Recessional

"Theres a problem, feathers iron
Bargain buildings, weights and pullies
Feathers hit the ground before the weight can leave the air
Buy the sky and sell the sky and tell the sky and tell the sky

Dont fall on me (what is it up in the air for) (its gonna fall)
Fall on me (if its there for long) (its gonna fall)
Fall on me (its over its over me) (its gonna fall)"

Fall On Me

Soundtrack for Repentence

Yom Kippur puts me in a reflective mood as its designed to do. Each year around this time I find myself putting Leonard Cohen's New Skin for The Old Ceremony on the turntable as I contemplate the past year and the look forward to the next. "Who by Fire" explicitly relates to Cohen's Jewish roots, echoing the words of the Unetanneh Tokef prayer and sung as a duet with Janis Ian (also Jewish; her birth name was Janis Eddy Fink).

Who By Fire

Great Debuts

Here's one from Devo's first album, Q. Are We Not Men A: We Are Devo released in 1978 and produced by Brian Eno.
The name "Devo" comes "from their concept of 'de-evolution' - the idea that instead of evolving, mankind has actually regressed, as evidenced by the dysfunction and herd mentality of American society. Frontman Mark Mothersbaugh went on to work on countless film soundtracks, most notable Wes Anderson films such as Rushmore and The Royal Tennenbaums.

Gut Feeling

Today, Tuesday

Today, Tuesday

Solid Gold

This song came on while I was shopping at Salvation Army this past weekend for the upcoming Halloween extravaganza (more on that soon). Heather had never heard this one before, so I post it for her. Its by Andy Gibb, baby brother of the Bee Gees, and it stayed at #1 for seven consecutive weeks when it came out in 1978. It was co-written by the Bee Gees, who also sing on the track. Not soon after its release, AG's carreer took a downward spiral due to drug addiction and a broken heart when he and Victoria Principal split. He died in 1988 of a heart condition just after his 30th birthday and just weeks before he was to join his brothers as the 4th BeeGee.


Shadow Dancing

Break-up Music

Dramatic break-up anthem from indie-pop stalwarts Sebadoh's 4th album, 1993's Bubble and Scrape.

Soul & Fire

My favorite Van Morrison song and forever the first selection on my early autumn soundtrack

Fair Play

Bay Area experimental music and sound collage band Negativland was a favorite curiosity of mine in School. They released the U2 EP in 1991 and immediately upon its release the band was sued by Island Records, U2's record label, for its misleading artwork and use of unauthorized sampling.
The songs on the record parodied the 1987 hit "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", and today's track features musical backing to a now infamous and profane rant from Casey Kasem. The story goes that he lost his composure during a frustrating rehearsal and the raw feed had gone out to many stations, whose engineers taped and circulated it.

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For