Atumnal

And just like that, Autumn has arrived, which for me means its time to break out the Tom Waits records again. His rumble and growl has always fit the season to my ears. Here's one that I'd never heard before last week, when Marianne brought it in for the Sure Bet Quartet to play at this coming Saturday's Uke Cabaret.

A Little Drop of Poison

Atonement

Great debuts-First Song First Album.....Repent!

Pixies-Caribou

Unlikely Collaborations Pt. 2

Thanks to Jon Singer for this one:

Daryl Hall With Chromeo

Here's a rare soul classic brought in by IMW Guitar teacher Randy, who thought a tune one from Chicago Girl Group Lovelites would make a nice addition to all-girl teen band Fatal Attraction's repertoire. Lovelites were a 1960's high-school trio composed of sisters Patti Hamilton, Rozena Petty and friend, Barbara Peterman.

This track,"How Can I Tell My Mom & Dad" boldly addressed the then taboo subject of teen pregnancy and went on to sell 55,000 copies locally and 400,000 nationally, peaking at number 15 on Billboard's Soul chart and landing the group a deal with MCA-owned, Uni Records.

How Can I Tell My Mom & Dad

Poster's Paradise

The Fingerhut Invitational is looking for music bloggers for weekly or bi-weekly posts!

Take your own day of the week for a spell and share your musical likes, dislikes, quirks, and personal stories with the FI community. All we ask is a blurb, photo, and mp3 for each post. Interested parties should post in the comments and we'll send you admin instructions.

To celebrate a wider posting community for FI, please enjoy "You Can All Join In By Traffic"

You Can All Join In

As I ponder the idea of producing a city-wide youth battle of the bands in 2010, I harken back to The North Side Battle of the Bands in 2007, when one of the teen groups brought the house down with a full blown, uncensored version of Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh". I'm still kicking myself for being in the restroom for their performance,which blew minds by all accounts. The band lost the competition on a content technicality (facism, racism, homophobia), which I'm sure they had taken into account and blown off.

Do any of you fingrehutters who were present remember the band name?

In The Flesh

David Berthy Posts

Seeing the excellent Hayward show at the Hideout the other night
reminded me of how much I love field recordings of traditional music.
I first got into field recordings via an interest in the legendary
Alan Lomax. Included here is a version of "Joe Turner" he recorded by
Ed Young and Hobart Smith I've always loved. It's followed by "Lost
Indian" by Dallas Henderson, and "Tom Watson Tune" by Mabel Hawthorne,
both of which can be found on Art of Field Recording, Volume 1. As a
bonus, I've thrown in "O Day" by Bessie Jones and the Sea Island
Singers, which can be found on the box set Goodbye, Babylon.

Field Recordings

Join Hayward for Country Music Tuesday at The Hideout 9:30 tonight and you're likely to hear this Gem by Del McCoury.


Highway of Pain

Browsing the dollar bins at Rasputin records in Berkley over Labor Day weekend, I couldn't pass up this curiosity by Frank Sinatra. It was the cover that grabbed me, with its monochromatic air of desolation (it brings to mind Neil Young's Greendale)-so utterly unlike anything I've seen before from Old Blue Eyes. It turns out that Watertown is a 1970 easy listening concept album, with Sinatra narrating the story of a middle aged man down and out in Watertown, NY after being left by his wife with two sons to tend to. Its a complete song cycle, detailing the break-up of a marriage and its impact on the narrator. Easily the most interesting thing I've heard from Sinatra, the album is a mix of folk rock, easy listening, and swirling baroque pop coupled with an atmosphere of loneliness.

I've chosen to post the title track, which sets the scene as Sinatra tours the lonely town and finds himself at the train station in the rain, as his wife leaves him behind. The last sound we hear is the train pulling out of the station and heading away.

The album was a commercial flop, not even entering the top 100, but is hailed today by many as a lost gem in Sinatra's canon.

Watertown

David Berthy Posts

I was responsible for the music at a wedding over the holiday weekend,
a task to which I devoted no small amount of obsession. There was the
likes and dislikes of the bride and groom to consider, the diverse
nature of the crowd, and the eternal challenge of navigating the line
between the familiar and the trite without losing momentum. I’ve also
started planning the music for my own wedding sometime in 2011. While
it’s true that you really can’t play enough Michael Jackson at a
wedding, here are four songs that, at various points in the night,
were also perfect. Included is a Kenny Dope remix of the Sharon Jones
song “Keep On Looking,” a disco edit of the Jean Carn song “What’s On
Your Mind,” the Tiedye mic of the DJ Kaos song “Love the Nite Away,”
and the one that no mortal could resist, Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison.”

Michael Jackson Wedding Jams

David Berthy Posts

While watching the Nicolas Roeg film Performance the other night, I
came across the Mick Jagger song "Memo From Turner," which is featured
throughout the film. This is the rare Jagger solo number that stands
up to his work with the Stones. The song, featuring Ry Cooder on slide
guitar, is the perfect compliment to a very strange, but highly
recommended film. Nicolas Roeg also directed The Man Who Fell to
Earth, starring David Bowie.


Memo From Turner

Strange Collaborations

Michael McDonald with Grizzly Bear-released this week ...enough said!

While you Wait for The Others