Unlikely Number Ones

Who says you need a beat, hooks, and a catchy chorus to have a number one single? In 1975, 10CC released "I'm Not In love", an ethereal ode to denial which includes an extended section between verses that breaks down to nothing but synth washes and whispering. The song went to #1 in the UK and #2 in the US, where it was kept from the top spot by three different songs in consecutive weeks-"The Hustle", "One Of These Nights", and "Jive Talkin".

The production on the song was incredibly innovative for its time, with the group laboriously building up multiple overdubs of their voices singing a single note in unison. The multi-track was then mixed down and dubbed down onto 16-track tape. This process was repeated across all sixteen tracks to create a lush 256-voice "virtual" choir that could "sing" chromatic chords. A number of these prepared multi-tracks were then cut into several endless loops, each of which contained the basic notes of the main chords used in the song. The chorus loops could then be played by using the mixing desk rather like a keyboard -- each chord could be sounded by bringing up the fader for that loop. The instrumental break featured the whispered words: "Be quiet, big boys don't cry...", which was spoken by Kathy Warren, the receptionist of the Strawberry Studios where the band recorded the track.

I'M NOT IN LOVE

In the same way that I hear a little West Side Story latino protagonist in Tom Petty,
I hear an obsession with The Wizard of Oz all over ELO's music. Listen to Mr. Blue Sky and its all there- The swelling munchkinland choral sounds, quickly descending tornado string flourishes, and sacharine orchestral arrangements. Jeff Lynne & Co. acknowledge the influence with the Eldorado album cover shown here. Can't Get it Out of My Head, from that album, features some major Land of Oz backing vocals during the bridge and last verse/chorus.

CAN'T GET IT OUT MY HEAD

Chicago's Own

David Singer Joins us today:

Chamber Strings is the brainchild of one Kevin Junior, whose sartorial splendor and Anglophile musical taste belie the fact that he is, in fact, a Chicagoan. Their music is an impossibly beautiful hybrid of English pub rock and American soul - the same genealogy that gave us the Kinks, The Faces, and, truth be told, the Beatles. They released two albums, 1999's Gospel Morning and 2001's A Month Of Sundays before disappearing into a stylistically appropriate but still depressing haze of drug abuse. Last year, after cleaning up, Kevin got the band back together and they sound as if they haven't missed a beat - and word is that a new record may be in the works. This is my favorite of their songs, and synthesizes everything that makes them tick: beautiful songcraft, chiming guitars, lovely harmonies. As it happens, they're playing tonight at the Bottom Lounge after some band I never heard of.

DOWNLOAD TELEGRAM

Admin Note- Chamber Strings play with David Singer tonight at the Bottom Lounge

David Berthy Posts:

This, to my knowledge, is the nastiest piece of bubblegum pop ever written. Close competition can be found in Bread’s “The Last Time,” but I’m going to go with “Pie in the Sky.” This song was the second single from Skyband’s self-titled 1974 debut. Maybe because of the ill-advised choice to photograph themselves in astro-tribal headgear for the album's cover, or perhaps because their sound was too poppy for rockers and too rock for the teenagers who ensured the members of Bread a lifetime of yachts and redwoods; Skyband never released a second album. After the first record flopped, they tried to rename themselves Zed and change their sound, but disbanded when a deal failed to materialize. It’s a shame, because the world could have used more songs like “Pie in the Sky.” I would like to see Muppets sing it in a yet-to-be-made Muppet movie about 1970’s Malibu, with the object of the song’s derision passed out on the couch next to a blender full of daiquiris and a small mountain of Quaaludes, but maybe that’s just me. If you know any other acerbic pop songs, please post them in the comments section.



PIE IN THE SKY

BONUS TRACK! The Last Time by Bread

Its Uke time again! Join us this Saturday, July 12th at Silvies for Uke Mondo, The Chicago Ukulele Cabaret's musical journey around the world. Grab your uke or just come to watch and listen at the most eclectic open mic in the city, heck, in the world!

To commemorate the occcasion, we offer up the lead and title track from Prince's follow-up to Purple Rain, his own Sgt. Peppers style opus, 1985's Around the World in a Day. Its one of my favorite albums to re-arrange furniture to. Others are Rain Dogs by Tom Waits, Never Mind The Bullocks by The Sex Pistols, and Earthling by David Bowie.



AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY

Acony Bell

Here's a pretty tune that Lozier brought in to Hayward rehearsal last night


Acony Bell

The Dukes of Stratosphere

With the market on psychedelic beatlesque already cornered, XTC took it further in 1985 when they became The Dukes of Stratosphear for two records. The DOS were thanked in the liner notes of XTC's 1986 album Skylarking, for the loaning of their guitars.

Twenty-Five O'Clock

Halfcaste

David Berthy Posts Weekly On Thursdays:



Thin Lizzy, "Halfcaste" This 1975 b-side to the "Rosalie" single deals with Phillip Lynott's mixed-race upbringing in Ireland. For me, the most interesting thing here is how wistful the tone of the song is. The reggae beat works to reinforce this, and the result is a song with a slow-tempo and laid-back defiance. The final result, I think, is that the narrator takes ownership of the epithet that's been hurled at him.

HALFCASTE

TB's comment yesterday about the world's worst album covers got me searching for some.

I found this one :



and this one:



and then I came upon this:



I decided I just had to hear it, and now, unfortunate listener, so will you.

Yes, thats right! In 1979 Ethel went disco on this camp classic which, apparently is highly sought after by vinyl collectors. According to the wiki, all the songs were recorded in just one take each. Gee, ya think?

THERES NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS

As a major Neil Young Fan, its hard to understand how I missed Zuma all these years.
Up at a friend's cabin this past weekend, someone put the record on and I was struck by the raw organic feel of the record, akin to Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, one of my favorite Young albums and the debut of Crazy Horse.

Zuma was released in 1975, just after his so called "Doom Trilogy", a dark and depressing trio of albums put out on the heels of the mass success of Harvest.
Time Fades Away, On the Beach, and Tonight's The Night, embodied Young's reaction to sudden success coupled with the loss of his compadre Danny Whitten to Heroin addiction. To my taste, Young's music is at its best on the dark side, and On The Beach, which Young claims not to have listened to once since its release, is one of the greatest "music to slit your wrists by" albums of all time. I go back to it again and again.

In contrast, Zuma is more upbeat, just a bit though. Here's my favorite track, Barstool Blues, pretty much a treasure map songwriting blue print for Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy to dig up twenty years later.

Barstool Blues

Heres a track from Athens GA's Olivia Tremor Control, one of the three original bands in the psychedelic pop collective Elephant Six, along with Apples in Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel. NYC-25 is from their first album, Music from an Unrealized Script-Dusk at Cubist Castle, released in 1996.

DOWNLOAD NYC-25

Speed Folk

Back in the mid-eighties, Velvet Underground disciples The Feelies and Yo La Tengo rose up out of the same scene at Maxwell's in Hoboken. In 1986, The Feelies releases their second LP, The Good Earth, with REM (another VU influenced band) guitarist Peter Buck producing. After another two albums, they disbanded, but have re-united in 2008 for some shows in New York with Sonic Youth. I had a chance to see them open for Lou Reed on the New York tour and dug'em. Thir version of The Beatles' Everybody's got something except for Me and my Monkey brought the house down. It was the first show of the tour, in Boston, and I remember that Lou couldn't memorize his own lyrics and had them taped down all over the stage.

DOWNLOAD THE HIGH ROAD

DOWNLOAD EVERYBODY"S GOT SOMETHING TO HIDE EXCEPT ME AND MY MONKEY

David Berthy Posts

Alzo & Udine used to play in a band called the Insanities, but when the band split up, they formed a duo (what happened to duos?) and took the name Alzo & Udine. They made one record for Mercury in 1968, opened for The Association, and then called it quits. Alzo was rediscovered in the Ampex Tape mail room in 1970, and went on to record a solo album that also got lost in the record bin when the label folded. Both albums have since been rediscovered by collectors. I just got the Alzo & Udine record at Dusty Groove and it has been my favorite of the summer so far. It reminds me of a cross between seventies soft rock giants like Bread and America with some of the jazzier things happening on records like Love’s “Forever Changes.” But really, the most salient point is that it’s impossible not to get happy when you hear these songs, and that’s what summer records are all about.


C'Mon and Join Us


Hey,Hey,Hey, She's OK

In contemplation of this coming Friday's violence fraught run-off sham elections in Zimbabwe, FI harkens back to Bob Marleys 1979 album Survival-a musical plea for African unity. He performed this song at Zimbabwe's independence celebration on April 17, 1980.

DOWNLOAD ZIMBABWE

West Side Story

With 1979's Damn The Torpedoes, Tom Petty surfed the edge between new wave and classic rock into the mainstream. He also developed a persona and vocal style which I subconsciously associated with a West Side Story type Puerto Rican Protagonist. I swear to this day that he is singing gems like Here Comes My Girl, Refugee, and Don't Do Me Like That with a vaguely hispanic accent. There are those that have assured me that I'm delusional and others who laugh and say they know exactly what I mean. In any case, I hear it every time one of these songs comes on the radio.

DOWNLOAD HERE COMES MY GIRL

Sparks!

Brothers Ron (keyboards) and Russell Mael (vocals) formed Sparks in Los Angeles in 1970. Since that time they've put out 20 studio albums, hopping from genre to genre as they went..glam pop, power pop, electronic dance music and mainstream pop. Though they never made it big here in the states, they were huge in Europe, and have been cited as a major influence by peers such as Depeche Mode, New Order, Pet Shop Boys and They Might Be Giants.

In 1978, after 7 albums of avante-pop, they released this album of electronic dance music, teaming with production team Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey, who had just crafted Donna Summers Disco anthem I Feel Love.

In May and June of this year, they played all of their albums in their entirety during a 21 night stand in London.

DOWNLOAD NO. 1 IN HEAVEN

David Berthy Guest Posts Today

Summer is a great time for French pop music from the sixties. Once, I greatly impressed two tight-suited Frenchmen at a wedding when I knew who Jacques Dutronc was. As it was late, they both started singing “Les Cactus” accompanied by irony-free fist pumping. “Les Cactus” is a great song, but the fantastically titled “Hippie Hippie Hourrah” is still my favorite. I love the dramatic stops and starts, the inexplicable kissy sounds, and the melodrama of the tolling bells at the end. I don’t know French and therefore have no idea what the lyrics are about, but I assume they make as much sense as the average Monkee’s episode, and would be disappointed if a translation proved otherwise. As a bonus, Cactus is included as well


HIPPIE HIPPIE HOURRAH

CACTUS

My #1 One Hit Wonder

Top on my list is this gem from Irish born Singer Gilbert O'Sullivan from 1972. Its one of the few songs that I've become obsessed with repeatedly at different times in life, from 5 years old to present day. I simply never tire of hearing it. Such a sad song, it opens with the narrator explaining his plan for suicide and then recounts the death of his parents. Still, somehow, I find the melody uplifting in a melancholy sort of way.

ALONE AGAIN (NATURALLY)

Cars, Bars, Guitars and the Man from Mars

I won this 45 at the Shaare Emeth Purim carnival in 1981 and listened to it until the grooves were worn through. Combining new wave with rap, it was not only the first crossover hit featuring rap to go to #1, it was the first rap hit of ANY type to top the charts. Earlier Tracks by Grandmaster Flash and Fab Five Freddy (both name checked in this song) as well as Kurtis Blow and The Sugarhill Gang did not make it into the top ten, though The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band made it to #3 two years earlier.

DOWNLOAD RAPTURE

One Hit Wonders

If you're a fan of early 80's new wave pop like Adam and The Ants and Culture Club, then you'll like this one from Haysi Fantayzee's one and only studio album, 1983's battle Hymns for Children Singing. Shiny, Shiny, a dance floor tune about the apocalypse , was a hit in the UK, but never made it to the US Charts

SHINY SHINY

WARNING- Listening to this song even one time may cause neurological melody infestation leading to unpredictable acts including swatting at one's own head. You thought Loveshack was bad? BEWARE

Friday The 13th

From Psychedelic Rock Pioneer Roky Erickson who founded the seminal 13th Floor Elevators in the 60's, embarked on a solo career, and then disappeared from the scene amidst drug abuse and mental illness until playing the 2006 Intonation Music Festival here in Chicago, his first appearance outside of Texas in 25 years.

DON'T SHAKE ME LUCIFER

Great Debuts

First Song, First Album...enough said

PRECIOUS

Behind The Lyrics

"Somewhere in the Quisling clinic theres a showtime typist taking seconds over minutes"
Green Shirt by Elvis Costello

Those of you are die-hard Elvis Costello fans may have always wondered just what the heck a Quisling clinic is. Well, I'm here to tell you, its located in Madison Wisconsin, and I used to drive by it everyday back when I lived there. Madison folks will be the first to tell you that Elvis drove by it too, in his tour bus, and wrote it down in his notebook. The clinic was founded by Sverre Quisling, a member of a prominent Madison medical family who lived to be 102.

There. Aren't you glad you know?

Download Green Shirt

Two bands in One

New Music from Denton, TX Indie Rockers Centro-matic, who have just released a split disc Dual Hawks with South San Gabriel, a band with the same members who play a slightly mellower style.

DOWNLOAD A CRITICAL DISPLAY OF SNAKES

When the Fuller Park Teen Band was asked what song they'd like to work on next, guitarist Breyana replied "The Heart of the Matter". I gave a blank stare and said, "you mean by Don Henley?" She stared back and said "Don who??....its by India Arie". She brought in the remake and its been growing on me ever since.

Heart of the Matter

In 1978, at the peak of their popularity, the four members of Kiss pulled an unprecedented marketing move, each releasing a solo album, all on the same day.
The campaign backfired and a high percentage of the 5 million shipped by Casablanca were returned.

The most successful of the lot was Ace Frehley and his single New York Groove made it into the US Top Twenty.

New York Groove

A Bright Sunshiney Day

I Can See Clearly Now

More music today from Superstar Bollywood Playback singer Kishmore Kumar, who appeared in over 81 films over the span of his career. A playback singer records songs to be used in films, which are then lip synched by the actors. Today's track, from the 1961 film Jhumroo, is wonderful a sort of yodeling polka hybrid.



Download Main Hoon Jhoom Jhoom Jhumroo

Summer is Ready When You Are

To start the week and welcome Summer, heres one of the nuggets the Breeders played at their show Saturday night off of 1993's Last Splash. A great selection of songs and visible joy from the Deal sisters and co. made for a great show.

DOWNLOAD SAINTS

We close out our trio of stolen melodies with the most famous case of them all. Upon its release in 1971, The Chiffons sued George Harrison for similarities between My Sweet Lord and their hit, He's So Fine. A lengthy legal battle ensued and a US Federal Court decision stated that he had "unintentionally Copied" the song. He was ordered to surrender the lion's share of the royalties. The Chiffons later recorded My Sweet Lord to capitalize on the controversy, and George Harrison wrote and recorded a song about the suit called This Song.

MY SWEET LORD

Suzanne Brings Hope

R.E.M did the same thing with Hope from the 1998 album UP, their first without drummer Bill Berry. In contrast to Wayne Coyne, they actually gave Leonard Cohen a writing credit on the song, which borrows heavily from Suzanne. Its almost more audacious to give a writing credit to a living legend who didn't work on the song than it is to just let the influence speak for itself. Maybe they asked Lenny first?

In any case, don't let anyone tell you that this album is REM's experimental eletronica masterpiece ala Kid A.
Bollocks! Its just plain weak, though I do dig this track .

DOWNLOAD HOPE

Son of Father & Son

The song Father and Son by Cat Stevens was a staple at camp, a song we would sing many times every Summer around the campfire. I was surprised and amused many years later when I first heard Fight Test, The first song on the Flaming Lips 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. Lips frontman Wayne Coyne had rolled both the melody and the structure of F&S into an updated, sci-fi take on the song. Having read that the album was about losing his father to cancer, I liked the reference to Father and Son.
I did find it strange, though, that there was no nod of recognition to Stevens in the liner notes. Apparently, Yusef Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)felt the same way, as according to the the wiki, he is receiving royalties after a relatively uncontentious settlement.

DOWNLOAD FATHER & SON

DOWNLOAD FIGHT TEST

He Said captain, I Said Wot!

A bit of playful fluff today from Captain Sensible, a founding member of seminal brit punk rockers The Damned, who went on to redefine himself as an alt pop icon in the early 80's.

DOWNLOAD WOT BY CAPTAIN SENSIBLE

Happy Memorial Day! FI will be on Hiatus until Tuesday, May 27

The King of Singing Drummers

While we're talking about drummers and folks named Levon, we might as well go ahead and crown The Band's Levon Helm the King of Singing Drummers. Who else are you going to pick, Don Henley? Phil Collins? The dude from Night Ranger who sings Sister Christian?



The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Who is Alvin Tostig?

You'd have to ask Bernie Taupin, who writes 100% of Elton John's Lyrics

I asked the interweb though, and consensus is that Alvin Tostig is Levon's father

and who is Levon?

# 1 on my list of songs I love that make no sense. Its from the 1971 album Madman Across the Water. Its been one of my favorite songs since I was a little kid, and though I love to imagine Little Jesus on the porch blowing up balloons and watching them fly I have no idea what this song is about and really don't care. The best I can guess is that its a multi-generational parable about breaking away from the expectations of your parents, with some messianic/end of the world stuff thrown in for good measure. Whatever the meaning,the song works on every level!

LEVON




PS. Nigel Olsson, with Elton since the early seventies, is one of my all time favorite drummers... because he understands the power of space and laying in just behind the beat. Check out his sweet, sweet drum kit in this clip.

David Berthy Guest Posts Today

Howard Tate’s falsetto is one of my favorite sounds in soul music. The best thing about it is, despite its power, Mr. Tate never overuses it. He saves it in reserve, and then, just when you think one of his tracks can’t get any better, he unleashes it with a kind of precisely controlled fury. Before you know what happened, the sound is gone and you’re wondering what you just heard and when you can hear it again. The more you listen, the more his songs are defined by these perfect moments. He’s just a great singer. I picked this song because it has a nice reggae mix. You hear a lot of reggae artists doing soul songs (The studio one soul record is a nice one, especially for summer) but you don’t hear soul artists doing a lot of reggae treatments, so this has a unique sound, I think.

Hold me Tight by Howard Tate

Along with Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and Ian Dury, an artist named Wreckless Eric was on the Stiff Records Roster. I've heard his name before, but never his music. Then I was listening to Bob Dylan's radio show (the theme being around the world)and heard this song, which I proceeded to play over and over. It was WE's debut single and biggest hit, Whole Wide World. Enjoy Bob's intro!

DOWNLOAD WHOLE WIDE WORLD

I heard this late-era Pavement nugget in a bar the other night and was reminded of how much I love this band. From their last studio album, Terror Twilight, its Major Leagues.


DOWNLOAD MAJOR LEAGUES

While Christmas shopping with his songwriting partner Al Cleveland in 1966, Smokey heard his collegue mispronounce the phrase, "I second that motion"as "I second that emotion". The result was this velvet smooth number 1 hit. I can't stop listening to it.

DOWNLOAD I SECOND THAT EMOTION

Want to hear June Carter Cash whooping and hollering like a banshee? I thought so...

In 1973 Johnny and JCC put out Johnny Cash and His Woman, an album of duets. Though this single didn't perform well on the charts (#69), I'm totally charmed by it.

DOWNLOAD ALLEGHENY

The opening track from Psychedelic Rock pioneer Love's seminal 1967 album Forever Changes. I first heard this song when Jen brought in Calexico's version for Hayward to play. I dig the original version with the strings and trumpet solo...it all sounds like something off the Hair Soundtrack... if it had been a spaghetti western.


DOWNLOAD ALONE AGAIN OR

Who raps about republicrats, aids quilts, karma puke, Margaret Sanger, the Euphrates, & eskimos all in the first 58 seconds of a song? Why its snarky whiteboy rapper MC Paul Barman of course!

DOWNLOAD BLEEDING BRAIN GROWS

The kids down at the Fuller Park Music Program have chosen this R&B Jam for their next project

DOWNLOAD UMBRELLA

Producer Willie Mitchell and the Hi-Rythym section were responsible for that velvet smooth 70's Memphis soul sound that Al Green brought to the masses. Hi-Records had other artists too, of course, including Syl Johnson, and St. Louisan Ann Peebles, who recorded the original version of I Can't Stand The Rain in 1974, later covered by everyone from Eruption to Missy Elliot.

DOWNLOAD I CAN"T STAND THE RAIN

Hit me with your Rhythm Stick was a number one hit in the UK for Ian Dury and the Blockheads in 1978. Stricken with polio as a child, Dury came to prominence on the 5 Live Stiffs tour with his Stiff Records mates Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello and others. His Excellent 1977 album New Boots and Panties was released the year before, and is well worth seeking out.

DOWNLOAD HIT ME WITH YOUR RHYTHM STICK

Friday Music

Fans of Thin Lizzy Rejoice! Heres a barn burner to get your weekend started from Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. Dig the way the drums and bass kick in during the fourth verse.


Download Timorous Me

The Lemonheads were the Foo Fighters of the Indie Rock era. They released their Iconic Indie-Light LP Its a Shame About Ray back in 1992. We'll, its been 15 + years and ripe for re-issue, so the goood folks at Rhino Records have got it covered. To celebrate the occasion, The Lemonheads are out on tour, and swinging through Chicago to play the Abbey tonight. (SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION ALERT!) A terrific local singer-songwriter, David Singer, will be opening the show at 9:00 with his band (named for one night only The Mrs. Robinsons).

If you do come, dear listeners, you will have the distinguished pleasure of witnessing yours truly turn into 39 year old pumpkin at midnight!

Here's the album's title track.

DOWNLOAD ITS A SHAME ABOUT RAY