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

I Want to Ride My Bicycle

Happy Birthday Tony B!


DOWNLOAD BICYCLE RACE BY QUEEN

Into the Sunshine

New music today from Swedish chanteuse Sarah Assbring, who performs under the moniker El Perro Del Mar. The new album, from the Valley to the Stars, has a stronger spiritual essence and fuller arrangements than the debut, and makes for great Sunday morning music.

DOWNLOAD INTO THE SUNSHINE BY EL PERRO DEL MAR

Great Debuts-The Modern Lovers

Stumbling across Theres Something about Mary on cable this past weekend, I was reminded of how much I like Jonathan Richman, who plays the re-appearing acoustic troubador in the film. Today's track is from the 1976 debut album by Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers. The band, heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground, featured future Talking Heads member Jerry Harrison, and was fronted by Richman's Snot nosed adolescent voice, which would later be appropriated by Spoon's Brit Daniel and LCD Sound System's James Murphy.

The album's songs address dating awkwardness, growing up in Massachusetts, the love of life, and on today's track, Pablo Picasso.


DOWNLOAD PABLO PICASSO

Feel The Love

Heres a new one from Aussie Indie-dance outfit Cut/Copy, from the recently released LP
In Ghost Colors. I like the way it switches back and forth between shimmering jingle jangle and vocoder laden techno pop.

refreshingly upbeat and and highly recommended!

DOWNLOAD FEEL THE LOVE

Doctors

Lets give a big FI MAZEL TOV to my bandmate and friend Dr. Dan Abrams, who successfully defended his dissertation up at the NU last week, and sadly will soon be leaving us for the sunnier climbs of California, where he's locked down a job at Stanford. Our loss will be Cali Neuropsych's gain.

But don't cry yet, dear readers, for tonight you have a chance to see the man in action for Hayward's second to last gig with Dan before the move (and before the move back Chicago to rejoin the band, of course). So come on up to the Green Room Session at the Edgewater Uncommon Ground, 1401 W. Devon. Our pal Nick Markos will open the show at 9 with Hayward to Follow.

To commemorate the occasion, we have a guest post today sent in by Dan himself. Its from another Doctor, of New Orleans music, that is. The track is "Those Lonely Lonely Nights" from Dr. John's 1972 album Dr John's Gumbo, a tribute to the music of his native city (Dr. John, not Dr. Dan). "Its my all-time favorite New Orleans album", writes Dan, "after spending many years as the Night Tripper, bringing snakes onstage and playing strange voodoo music, Dr. John got serious here playing crescent city classics with an all-star band". "


DOWNLOAD THOSE LONELY LONELY NIGHTS

Sequel Songs-Ashes to Ashes

Having lost contact with Major Tom at the end of 1969's Space Oddity, there are new rumours afoot at Ground Control by 1980. Word is that a message has been received from Major Tom from deep space "I'm happy... I hope you're happy too", but most suspect that he is now a junkie "strung out in heavens high, hitting an all-time low".

A Space Oddity's parable of the journey of no return into rock stardom at the onset of the Seventies is brought full circle by Ashes to Ashes, which speaks of the isolation and slandered notoriety in the aftermath of living through total excess.

Bowie himself has said that with this song he was "wrapping up the seventies really for myself, and that seemed a good enough epitaph for it".

Its one of my favorite Bowie songs ever.

DOWNLOAD ASHES TO ASHES

Blue Days, Black Nights

Apologies for the late post today, but my phone and cable were out until the nice man came to tweak it all. So, to tie it all in, we'll go with Telephone Line from ELO today. It was released as a single in 1976 and I loved it as a 7 year old, as I do today. The computer bleep beginning, telephone voice effect, phone rings, overblown strings, were all intriguing to my young ears.

we used to giggle at the way he say "teleephone".

On top of all that though, its a pretty harrowing portrait of heartbreak and obsession



Download Telephone Line

Music today from The Breeders, off their long-awaited new album Mountain Battles.While I'm underwhelmed by the album overall (its no Last Splash), this track's been growing on me.

DOWNLOAD WALK IT OFF

Theme Time Radio Hour

I'm incredibly excited, Fingerhutters, because someone has gone and made seasons one and two of Bob Dylan's terrific old-timey Theme Time Radio Show available for download in its entirety...all the shows, all the songs, all the priceless Bob banter, all free. Zipped, archived, MP3 files, hundreds of them!

It makes me want to get in my car and drive across the country, sleeping days in roadside motels, just so I can listen to these shows on the road in the middle of the night.

You can get them here

I've always love Pop Staples sweet voice and velvet guitar sound and so does Bob!
Todays download is from his "weather"show (each show revolves around a theme).

DOWNLOAD UNCLOUDY DAY BY STAPLE SINGERS

The next Ukulele Cabaret will be upon us in just over three weeks time, dear Fingerhutters, so if you you haven't bought your uke yet, quit stalling, cough up the 30 bucks, and head over to the Old Town School to pick one up. The theme this time around is water, in all its forms, so dive in and give us a ditty or two. Learning to play couldn't be easier, everything you need to know is here:

http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/uke/tabs.html

and here too:

http://www.ukulele.nl/

of course, if you're chicken, you can just come to watch and enjoy the music!

A very special prize will go to whomever can play and sing today's song in its entirety at the uke cabaret!


DOWNLOAD EPIC NAUTICAL ADVENTURE ROCK NUGGET (NOT COME SAIL AWAY EITHER)

VDEO BONUS!!! Bon Iver

Thanks to Tony B. for sending this in. Its from the from the late show at The Lakeshore Theatre here in Chicago last week. I was at the early show and it was fantastic.

Rare Soul Grab Bag

David Berthy Guest Posts Today

I don’t know much about the Guerillas, and couldn’t find much out, but this track is a beautiful thing. It’s one of those really versatile songs that manages to be propulsive and restrained at the same time. I’m pretty sure I remember reading that the Guerillas were from the French Congo when I tried to buy this 45 on ebay, and that makes sense, but I’m not entirely sure. Anyway, this was one of my favorites from last summer, and I pick it here as a kind of prayer to seal the end of winter.

DOWNLOAD LAWDY ROLLER

Tax Day

Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) By Marvin Gaye

I Fought The War but The War Won

Emily Haines' debut album Knives Don't Have Your Back was one of my favorite rainy day albums of last year. As I'm also a fan of her other band Broken Social Scene Fan, I thought I'd check out her other other band, Metric, and came across this terrific track.

Monster Hospital is the first single from Metric's 2005 album Live it Out. In contrast to the piano based melancholia of Haines solo work, this one is a straight out rocker, with the kind of sound, energy, and angular guitar lines I'd hoped to hear from the Breeders on their latest
(No Dice There).

The refrain "I fought the War but the War Won, Stop for the Love of God!" is one of the great chorus hooks in recent memory.


DOWNLOAD MONSTER HOSPITAL

While we're mixing musicians with muppets, here's one I remember seeing when I was very young-Stevie Wonder playing Superstition on Sesame Street. Its astoundingly good.

Izzy Dilleski, Worlds Greatest Violinist

ooh-pa-pa dah!

I love Dizzy Gillespie...for his inventiveness, dexterity, utter hipness, warmth, incredible sense of humor, and iconic bent horn. My earliest memory of him was when he and his incredible bullfrog cheeks appeared on the Muppet Show. And my last was the priviledge I had of seeing him play once in a tiny new York Jazz club a year or so before he died. The feeling of love in the room was palpable.

In addition to being co-inventor of bebob and one of modern jazz'top trumpeters, he could scat like nobody's business, as on today's track.

DOWNLOAD OOH PA PA DAH

Quiero La Noche

H. and I recently held a Woody Allen movie marathon and she was really struck by the opening credit music to Bananas, his 1971 slapstick comedy about Fielding Mellish, a blue collar intellectual played by Allen, who unwittingly finds himself taking over a Latin American country in a Coup.

We searched far and wide for a copy of the song, but could only find it on Youtube. It was written by Marvin Hamlisch, one of only two people in history (the other being Richard Rodgers) to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, a Tony and the Pulitzer Prize.



PS. Fielding Mellish is one of the greatest character names ever. If you're starting a bluegrass/oldtimey or Indie Rock band, it would be a great name

Open My Eyes

Here's an obscure nugget from the classic rock pantheon.
Its Nazz, featuring a young Todd Rundgren, from their self-titled 1968 debut LP. Rundgren would later go on to become a successful solo artist and producer. The song Hello its me, the unsuccessful first single from this album, would become a hit later
as re-recorded by Rundgren.

DOWNLOAD OPEN MY EYES

Typewriter Tip Tip

I recently picked up the soundtrack to Wes Anderson's latest film The Darjeeling Express. Always terrific, WA soundtracks mine and compile the more obscure nuggets from the classic rock pantheon,along with original compositions from former Devo frontmant Mark Mothersbaugh (abesnt here for the first time) .

While I love the Kinks as much as the next guy, its the music composed by Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray and other artists from Indian cinema that make this a must-have collection.

Download Typewritwr, Tip Tip Tip

Freaky Friday

I played this song at my desk at work at least 15 times back to back this past Wednesday. Put it on in your car on your way home from work this evening and do some righteous headbanging at the wheel...start your weekend right. Its an early Indie rock Nugget from Dinasour Jr, Freak Scene, from their 1988 album Bug.

DOWNLOAD FREAK SCENE BY DINASOUR JR

Great music today from Psychedelic Popsters The Apples in Stereo. I've listened to three tracks from this album, Electronic Projects for Musicians, and it sounds like their best effort since the year 2000, which figures, since it a compilation of B-0sides and oddities from years past. AIS frontman Robert Schneider was the leader of the Elephant Six Collective, A pyschedelic pop movement in the mid-90's that also included Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control among others.

I'll never forget seeing these guys live at the Empty Bottle in the late nineties. Drummer Hilary was about 7 months pregnant and the audience watched her eat an entire Hoagie in about 15 seconds between two songs.

Interested parties should pick up 1997's Tone Soul Evolution, a shimmering, hook laden
masterpiece from start to finish.

You Can buy it here

DOWNLOAD GOLDEN FLOWER

Like A River

New music by Neil Young disciple Sun Kil Moon, from the album April, released, oddly enough, yesterday, on April 1. SKM is Sunday Morning/Woodshop music at its finest, and on this one we get Will Oldham on backing vocals to boot. Upon first listen, its a return to form after the radical misfire of Ghosts of the Highway, an album of Modest Mouse covers released a couple years back.

DOWNLOAD LIKE A RIVER

Me Want Berries From Bushes

Does this gray post-winter have you feeling down? Maybe this track will put a smile on your face...but beware, it may instead drive you further into the cave. Yes, its the Louisville joke rockers King Kong, The B-52's of Indie Rock, with the lead track from their 1995 rock opera Me Hungry. Its the story of a caveman who falls in love with a yak. Enjoy!

Download Animal