NO NO NO IT AIN’T MEME BABE

So I’ve just been tagged with my first meme, by my friend Kat. Keep two things in mind: 1) I am probably the most computer-challenged person you know, and 2) I could count back in mere weeks to the first time I first ever heard of a “meme” and sort of thought I knew what it was, and now…I’ve been TAGGED! So, have patience, this kind of stuff does not come easily to me. I’m not whining, really I’m not. I just don’t want you to bring too high an expectation to this. Okay, let’s go.

The rules:
1. Post the link to the person who tagged you and post the
rules on your blog.
2. Share 5 songs you are embarrassed to admit to others that
you like and tell why.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post.


Right off the bat I have to make a kind of disclaimer. I am not truly embarrassed to admit to liking these songs. I’m more what you’d call defiant about them. I don’t think they are bad, but each in their own way has taken some flak over the years., and perhaps not entirely undeserved here and there. Anyway, here they are – from me, head held high, to you:

1) Muskrat Love – The Captain & Tennille. I don’t own this one (or any of their songs). I don’t listen to any radio stations that ever play it. In fact, I had to Google them to see if there was one or two “n’s in Tennille. I would probably be hard pressed to even hum a few bars. But I like this song. I like muskrats. It’s that simple.

2) We Built This City – Starship. Sometimes it seems to me like everybody in the world hates this song but me. Yes, it’s not up to their usual, and yes, the video is completely horrid, but… I still like it.

3) My Sharona – The Knack. There’s no accounting for taste, you say? Well, what’s wrong with this? It’s loud, percussive, a little raunchy. Come on, what’s not to like? Some people are so picky!

4) Anything by Cher. I’m not even going to dignify this one with a defense. It’s Cher. You’ll miss her when she’s not around.

5) MacArthur Park – I went through a phase, I think it was in the 80s, or maybe the 90s, when I didn’t like this song, but then it passed. Now I see it for what it is, a total time capsule of a whole generation. So show some respect. Today’s hot fads fashions are going to look real dumb in 40 years, too.

Well, there you are. Now, I’m supposed to tag 7 people. Hmmm, that may take a while. For now, I’ll tag Christine at Quiet Paths and see if she wants to come out to play. I’ll have to get back to you with the rest.

And if anyone else out there wants to participate, don’t worry if you don’t have your own blog, or haven’t been tagged. Just leave your song/s in a comment. How can you pass up the chance to embarrass yourself in front of friends and strangers alike?






Photo from Shutterstock

FEATURE SONG: I KNEW I’D WANT YOU by THE BYRDS

If you had a 45 of “Mr. Tambourine Man” back in the day, then you probably flipped it over and heard our feature song. Or maybe like me you had the LP. Either way, this has got to be one of the sweetest, not to mention most under-appreciated, love songs of the era, written by Byrds member, Gene Clark. I decided that a song as affectionate as this just had to have been inspired by a real person, and I was going to try and find out who she was. I was sure that there would be scads for info and/or gossip and/or speculation out there on the W³. Imagine my surprise when I didn’t find any! At least not readily. So I decided to ramp it up and take my research to The Next Level (which consisted of making more coffee, relaxing, and then emailing an old friend in Toronto who is my go-to person about The Byrds). Here’s what I learned from his reply.

This song, like so many of the good vintage ones, is backed by the famous session musicians known as “Wrecking Crew, ” in this case Leon Russell on keyboards (see my June 28/08 post) and Hal Blaine on drums (who is also responsible for the percussion on the Beach Boys hit, “Don’t Worry Baby” and is therefore a total Drum God as far as I’m concerned). Well, okay, I’m glad to know that bit of info, but what about the girl? I read on. It turns out that back in the 60s, Gene Clark was a regular songwriting machine. He could turn out a couple dozen songs a week when he was on a roll. Of course, they weren’t all as good as this one or “8 Miles High.” The word among those in the know is that he would write about one good one per girlfriend. That could still be a lot of good ones, given the attraction young ladies have to musicians. Anyway, just as I felt we were getting somewhere, the trail went stone cold. Sorry I wasn’t able to come up with any names for you. Maybe we’ll hear from somebody out there in the Blogiverse who has the answer. Or a good guess. Or a wild guess. I’m up for anything.

Meanwhile, in looking for a YouTube vid for this song, I made the happy discovery of what has to be the YT resident expert on Byrds footage. Be sure to check out the rest of his channel. And now, without further ado, here’s our feature song:

“I Knew I’d Want You” – video, and lyrics




Byrds box set cover from Wikipedia
And special thanks to Doug in Toronto for the info.

HOW CAN YOU RESIST?

Like you, I’ve been seeing the trailers for Mamma Mia all over TV, and I have to admit I quite eager to see it. While the very thought of it might make some people wince, I am a confirmed fan of Meryl Streep, ABBA, and movie musicals as a genre. So I’m expecting to like it. I’ll watch just about anything with Meryl Streep. She’s one the most acclaimed and versatile actors of the day. She’s played just about every kind of role there is, and is known for her meticulous dedication to her performances. I read somewhere that for Sophie’s Choice she not only learned German and Polish, but even her German has the hint of a Polish accent. Now that’s what I call getting into character!

One of my favorite performances of hers is the Carrie Fisher character in Postcards From the Edge. It wasn’t the first time Streep sang in a movie. She previously sang in Ironweed, 1987, but I didn’t see that one, so you can imagine how my jaw dropped when I heard how good she was. I’ll bet there are a lot of singers out there who are glad she didn’t go for a dual career! In Postcards she delivers a touching and irony-tinged version of “You Don’t Know Me” and then gets to belt out a rockin’ country number (backed by Canada’s Blue Rodeo, woo-hoo!) at the end. I’d say she’s more than prepared to take on Mamma Mia.

So here we are, the group that started it all, plus the teaser for Mamma Mia, the movie. Now come on, tell the truth, aren’t you just a little curious to see it? And don’t let me hear disparaging remarks from the guys about chick flicks and musicals – hey if hunky Pierce Brosnan can be in it, you certainly can go watch it!








Photo from Wikimedia Commons

MORE ON TIME (does that sound dumb?)

You already know this (especially if you read my recent, July 11th post), but I have a thing about time. I mean, for something so arbitrary, so totally relative, my every day revolves around it. For one thing, I’m one of those annoying people who are beyond punctual. If I’m merely on time for something, I feel like I’m late. I always bring along a book. Furthermore, I always have a watch either on my arm or in a purse or a pocket when I go out. And there’s a clock (small and unobtrusive) in every room in my house. Every one of them has a slightly different time. It might be three oh-one in the kitchen but only two twenty-nine in the bathroom, and a whopping three-fifteen on the porch. I get a big kick out of that, I really do. It’s my own private little Einsteinian joke. I have friends in various times zones, and I love to say, “…is that “my time’ and “your time?” What a riot! Don’t go feeling superior, it’s not like you don’t have some weird likes and dislikes – but hey, I’m not asking.

When it comes to vintage music, there are a ton of songs about time. That’s because so many songs were about love – getting it in the future, losing it in the present, missing it in the past. Am I not right? But for all the songs that were written about love in one tense or another, there weren’t very many that actually had real clocks or clock-like sounds in them. Those are the really special ones! My earliest introduction to such a song was listening to a very old, brittle 78-rpm recording of “My Grandfather’s Clock” that got handed down from my grandparents. I loved singing along with that old-time song as a kid, especially the “tick, tock” part. The song was written by a fellow named Henry Clay Work back in 1876, as a parlor song I suppose, but it’s been a staple of popular music and country bluegrass ever since. Johnny Cash recorded it, and so did Boyz II Men, in 2004. I was really surprised to learn that, and pleased, too. Guess it’ll be sticking around for a while yet.

I don’t know that anyone has ever made a comprehensive list of tick-tock songs, but here are three favorites of mine from the vintage rock and roll years, plus a neat version of “My Grandfather’s Clock” just for good measure, all in chronological (what else?) order:

“My Grandfather’s Clock” Performers and date unknown. This is likely as close as we can come to the way it was originally intended to be performed when it was new. Kind of an interesting juxtaposition of a song from not long after the Civil War with some modern Flash animation. Plus I noticed they say "tick tick" and "tick tock."

“Image of a Girl” The Safaris 1960. A great oldie about love- induced insomnia.

“Got a Feeling” The Mamas and Papas, 1965. I’m a big fan of the M&Ps. They also did a beautiful one about a broken clock, “Twelve-thirty.”

“Time Has Come Today” The Chambers Brothers, 1968. The length of songs, and the time it took to listen got kind of stretchy in the late 60s. That was because people under the influence of pot could listen to stuff for hours, man. YouTube has both the short and long versions. Choose your pick, all depends on your frame of mind and/or how much, ah, time you have.

JULY 19th – A VERY SPECIAL DAY

You probably won’t find this holiday printed in any of your store-bought daytimers, but today is International Woodie Wagon Day. There was a time back in the 1960s, when surfing was the rage from coast to coast, when the phrase “woodie wagon” would have been redundant. Every surfer or surfer wannabe who could swing it drove to the beach with their boards and gear in a wood-paneled station wagon known only as a "woodie." But as I pointed out in yesterday’s post, new words are added to the language all the time, and that also includes new meaning for old words. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

When I think about famous vintage songs that mention woodies, I think of The Big Three: The Beach Boys “Surfer Girl” and “Surfin’ Safari,” and one from that other famous blond surfer duo, Jan and Dean – “Surf City.” Then more recently, when I was researching for my Papa Do Run book, I discovered that The Angels also recorded a song that includes mention of that popular vehicle, titled (You Can’t Take) My Boyfriend’s Woody.” I meant what I said; I am not going there!

I’m certain there are other songs from the vintage era that I should be mentioning. More than likely there are some by the Beach Boys, but I confess, even though I have quite a few of their CDs, I don’t know every song on every one of them like I should. So, if there’s anybody out there who is a Beach Boys expert, or can think of any other songs we should include here, by all means, let’s hear from you. Meanwhile, here’s a musical tribute to one of the coolest rides in history.

“Surfer Girl” – A real sweet ballad from the Boys.

“Surf City” – Here’s Jan and Dean doing two things they did best, sing and goof around.

And finally, here’s My Boyfriend’s Woody. No comment.



Woodie photo borrowed from Serious Wheels

COMING SOON TO YOUR CITY: TRYOUTS for “NEW WORD IDOL”

I mentioned in a recent post (on my other, newer blog) that I usually upgrade my dictionary about every 10 years. But this morning when I received my Merriman–Webster Word-of-the-Day word in my inbox, it made me consider getting a new one right away. The word in question is “bogart.” Here’s what they had to say:

The legendary film actor Humphrey Bogart was known for playing a range of tough characters in a series of films throughout the 1940s and 1950s, including The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and The African Queen. The men he portrayed often possessed a cool, hardened exterior that occasionally let forth a suggestion of romantic or idealistic sentimentality. Bogart also had a unique method of smoking cigarettes in these pictures — letting the butt dangle from his mouth without removing it until it was almost entirely consumed. It is believed that this habit inspired the current meaning of "bogart," which was once limited to the phrase "Don’t bogart that joint [marijuana cigarette]," as popularized by a song on the soundtrack to the film Easy Rider, among other things. Today “bogart” can be applied to hogging almost anything.

So, I went to my own Webster’s and found only an entry for Humphrey, and nothing about cigarettes, joints or otherwise. But my dictionary is a 2001 edition, so maybe “bogart, bogarting” etc. has been out there officially for a while and I just don't know it. After all, the Baby Boomers have been old enough to be Presidents, CEOs, Grand Pooh-Bahs in all walks of life for quite some time, so it’s natural to assume that some Boomers found their way onto panels of judges who give thumbs up or down on new words that come before them, hoping, panting, dying to get into the dictionary and make a name for themselves. I can see it now, tryouts in every major city, new words performing, trying their best to impress Simon, flirt with Paula, appeal to the home viewers… Well, however it’s done, “bogart” has made the leap to the big time. And I need to head over to Chapters for a new edition.

Meanwhile, let’s hear from the song that started it all, “Don’t Bogart Me” by the Fraternity of Man.

REMEMBERING STAYING UP LATE: MIDNIGHT MOVIES

The first Midnight Movie I recall seeing was not exactly at a theater. It was 1960, I was 14 years old, and had a fairly lucrative baby-sitting biz going with a family that lived a few doors down and across the street. I say lucrative because in those days, a girl that age didn’t need much money. We didn’t drive, wear makeup or jewelry; there were no designer clothes, no cell phones, Blackberries, iPods. A brand new 45-rpm record would pretty much put me over the top. That New Years Eve I had my first all night sleepover at my clients' house. Anyway, on New Year’s Eve I had my first (and only) babysitting all-nighter. At fifty cents an hour, boy, was I going to rake in the cash! So, what do you do when you have the whole evening in front of you like that, and no parental supervision of your own? You stay up and watch as much TV as you please. And that New Year’s Eve the late night feature was the original (and at that time the only) movie, Invasion of the Body-Snatchers. Even though Kevin McCarthy’s character is one of the good guys, after seeing this movie I always found him seriously spooky.

By the time the 1970s came around, Midnight Movies had became a genre, and an official date night activity for those of us who were now old enough to stay up late on our own recognizance. There’s a terrific doc about the subject called Midnight Movies: From Margin to Mainstream, that looks at the phenomenon, focusing on six main films that started it all: El Topo (1970), Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Harder They Come (1972), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and Eraserhead (1977). Of course there were many others in the whole cult, creepy, B-movie, exploitation catalogue. One particular favorite among the late might set (and not just the stoner crowd) was Reefer Madness. This 1936 film was originally targeted at parents as a warning about the dangers of marijuana (those would be manslaughter, hit and run, suicide, rape, and wild dancing), but a 1970s re-cut and changing times turned it into a hilarious cult classic.

I don’t know how many of these movies are still in general midnight circulation these days. How shocking is El Topo after Reservoir Dogs anyway? I think the only true survivor is Rocky Horror. Well, they are still part of our collective experience, and you never know when or where they will turn up. Take this YouTube video, for instance.

Buddy Holly “Rave On” - This is one of my favorite songs by Buddy. It’s really an upbeat little love song. I never would have thought of putting it with footage from Reefer Madness. But, ya know, it actually works, in a weird twisted kind of way. Well, that’s the Midnight spirit all right. And I think I used to have a sweater just like that chick dancing.