I finally got to see the Musical "Hair" this past weekend in its Broadway revival.
I've known every word to every song on the soundtrack(8-track!) since well before I was old enough to understand what the lyrics meant. To my young mind, it was all just a rythmic and tuneful laundry list of vaguely forbidden and mysterious apsects of an irrestiabley seductive era-the 60's. Without a production to see in all of these years, I had to make do with the movie, a mediocre effort starring Treat Williams in a vastly plot-changed version. The broadway revival is true to the original, and worth the wait for me. It was extra cool when we were ushered up onto to the stage at the end during "Let The Sunshine In" facing a full house of waving arms and blinding orange light. Pretty light on plot, this show is all about the music, and its songs have been covered by everyone from Liza Minelli to The Lemonheads.

For your listening enjoyment today, I've included a mix of 5 cover versions including "Frank Mills" by both of the aforemnentioned artists.

In addition, here's Sesame Street's version of " Good Morning Starshine" the sappiest of the show's tunes, but perfect when sung by/to a muppet.

Hair Covers

Happy Turkey Day!

The soundtrack for this film is one my favorite Sunday Morning records. The movie itself is a must, with Sam Peckinpah directing James Coburn as Pat Garrett, Kris Kristofferson as Billy The Kid, and Dylan himself as Alias.


Bob Dylan-Turkey Chase

Any Chicagoan with an interest in music owes it to themselves to go check out The Kinsey Report at Rosa's or one of the other blues clubs. The Chicago Blues has never been my thing, but watching Donald Kinsey perform is a revelation for lots of reasons; his charisma, his vocals, and especially his guitar playing- which alternates between butter smooth rhythm and electrifying lead. Besided, the Kinseys play much more soul, funk, even reggae than they do Chicago Blues. The band plays Chicago frequently, and a word of caution that DK's performance can vary wildly from show to show depending on various external and internal factors. This past Saturday's was inspired.

Hailing from Gary, Indiana, young Donald moved to Jamaica in the mid-seventies and became a member of The Wailers, playing on seminal albums for both Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. After their deaths, he returned to Chicago, where he and his brothers Ralph and Ken formed the Kinsey Report to back their father, blues star Big Daddy Kinsey. They've been at it ever since.

The Kinsey Report is best experienced in a live setting as the recorded output just doesn't cut it. So instead of a KP track, I'll go back and post this one from Peter Tosh's Equal Rights Album, on which Donald plays guitar

Stepping Razor

David Berthy Posts

I don’t know how I made it so long without hearing the original
version of the touchstone song “Fever.” Less famous than Peggy Lee’s
1968 version, Little Willie John’s original is, in my opinion, far
superior. I also recently found this obscure Ray Peterson version on
the excellent blog Diddy Wah. Peterson’s version is an excellent B
side here, but John’s original is one no music fan should be without--
a true classic.

Fever

Great band with a terrible name

The debut album from Girls lives up to the hype, with a sound mixing GBV's low fi production, a nasally exuberant vocal reminiscent of Bob Geldoff or a young Tom Petty, T-Rex swagger, and impressive stylistic variance. Smart money says this band shows up on the fork's festival stage this year f'sho.


Girls-Summertime

New Music Monday-El Perro Del Mar +Girls

I stopped by Reckless last week and found these two albums on display side by side. I grabbed both and headed home and soon discovered that both artists were playing shows in town the following night. Sadly, I missed them both, but have been enjoying the records since. Love is Not Pop is a straight up break-up record, and like the tewo albums prior, is much more about creating a mood than song-craft. I happen to revel in that mood of doo wop melancholy, though, so this one's another home run for me. Plus, her sound has evolved and expanded to include some great new elements-some acoustic, some electronic. Though its not the best song on the album, I include for you today, her cover version of Lou Reed's "Heavenly Arms" (The Blue Mask 1980)

Heavenly Arms

David Berthy Posts


Having been reintroduced this last week to the harrowing experience of shuttling back and forth between the west and east sides of Los Angeles, I’ve had plenty of time to listen to music in the car. Santo and Johnny’s music is perfect for such a drive. When I put it on, my borrowed blue Camry becomes a beautiful lounge where banalities take on the qualities of dreams. Brothers Santo and Johnny Farina are best known for their iconic song “Sleep Walk,” but the prolific lounge masters have a considerable output worth checking out. Included here are versions of the Gershwin song “Summertime” and Juan Tizol’s jazz standard “Caravan.” Because “Sleep Walk” is always worth a listen, I threw that in too.

https://download.yousendit.com/ZW9DU2VnaFJ0TWwzZUE9PQ

The Hitmaker sent this one along while we were brainstorming new jams for Que Rico!
I remember some business a while back about the chanted vocal refrain "Mama-ko, mama-sa, ma-ka-ma-ko-ssa" from Michael Jackson's 1982 "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" coming from an African hit and forgot to look it up. Here it is!

"Soul Makossa" is a 1972 single by Cameroonian makossa saxophonist Manu Dibango and It is often cited as one of the first disco records. Wiki reports that In 1972 David Mancuso found a copy in a Brooklyn West Indian record store and often played it at his Loft parties.The response was so positive that the few copies of "Soul Makossa" in New York City were quickly bought up and the song was subsequently played heavily by Frankie Crocker, who DJed at WBLS, then New York's most popular black radio station. Since the original was now unfindable, at least 23 groups quickly released cover versions to capitalize on the demand for the record, and Atlantic eventually licensed the song ands their release of it peaked at #35 on the Billboard chart in 1973. At one point there were nine different versions of the song in the Billboard chart.

Soul Makossa

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!

Having just returned from some errands on a recent Sunday afternoon, I was lamenting that I hadn't made time for a record-shopping stop when I noticed a pile of LP records sitting on top of my neighbor's garbage can. He had just put them there, and I saw him exit the alley into his garage just as I went over to investigate. Here's what I found-all in perfect condition:

CSNY- 4 Way Street
Dire Straits-Making Movies
Rod Stewart-Never a Dull Moment
The Cure- Standing on a Beach
Tears For Fears-Songs from the Big Chair
Gerry Rafferty-City to City (with both "Baker Street" and "Right Down the Line"
Phil Collins- No Jacket required
Howard Jones- Dream into Action (crap! though No One is to Blame is a guilty pleasure)
Peter Townsend-Chinese Eyes
Squeeze- Argy Bargy (1980)

The treasure here is the Squeeze record, which I put on immediately. Though I love this band and know their greatest hits collection "Single 45's and Under" note for note and word for word, I never had a proper album of theirs in my collection. I was interested to hear what their album cuts were like. I've chosen "Wrong Side of the Moon" from side 2, the only track co-penned by Jools Holland and Chris Difford. Holland wopuld leave the band after the album's release.

Wrong Side of the Moon

David Berthy Posts

This Galaxie 500 cover of the Joy Division song "Ceremony," has to be
one of my favorite cover songs of all time. The wistful "can't-go-on-
must-go-on" quality of the song reminded me of this eighties number
from the Scottish indie pop band Close Lobsters, which is available on
the excellent album Foxheads Stalk This Land.

Favorite Cover

H. and I were watching the Double P last week when an ad for Sting's new album "If on a Winter's Night" came on. When we heard the song accompanying the ad, we looked at each other with jaws dropped. I mean, I've been disdainful of Sting since well before "Desert Rose", but "Soul Cake" sounds like a true Poncy Lads original. If he'd hired Sean Connery to sing it ala William Shatner, he'd a been on to something. Turns out he's off the hook for the writng (but doubly on the hook for taste), as its his version of a traditional song from Cheshire, recorded also by Peter Paul & Mary.

Consider the lyrics:

A soul cake, a soul cake,
Please, good missus, a soul cake,
An apple, a pear, a plum or a cherry,
Any good things to make us all merry.

Consider also that this is the song he picked to advertise the album.

Its Akin to "Egg Cream" by Lou Reed in its food themed sing songy ridiculousness.

Sting-Soul Cake

Mr. Shankly's stellar set as XTC on halloween reminded me of just how much I love that band and their perfectly crafted pop confections. Take "Mayor of Simpleton" from Oranges and Lemons, a clever and catchy tune that takes "If I only had a Brain" and makes a love story out of it, with a terrific bass line to boot.

Check out Mr. Shankly's version here:



Mayor of Simpleton