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MAD - Artist - Round 4 - #1's have been posted (9 Viewers)

9's PLAYLIST

The WalkmenScoresmanJuveniles
The Clashkupcho1Rock the Casbah
Ryan StarYambagBullet
YesYo MamaHeart of the Sunrise
Built To SpillThe Dreaded MarcoGoin’ Against Your Mind
Johnny MarrEephus
The Smiths--This Charming Man
The Pretty Reckless Raging Weasel Death By Rock and Roll
Jeff TweedyDr. OctopusI’m Not Willing
JourneyKarmaPoliceDaydream
Lindsey Stirling-oz-Carol of the bells
TriumphPip's InvitationFollow Your Heart
Our Lady PeaceMACOne Man Army
Mötley CrüeJWBWild Side
The Airborne Toxic EventZegras11Hollywood Park
Annie LennoxMrs. RannousI Remember You
Whitney HoustonCharlie SteinerWhy Does it Hurt So Bad?
My Morning Jacketlandrys hatRun Thru

RobynJohn Maddens LunchboxIndestructible
Tim MaiaDon QuixoteLet’s Have a Ball Tonight
Parliament FunkadelicUruk-HaiStanding On The Verge Of Getting It On
Funkadelic - Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On - 05 - Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On (youtube.com)
Lord HuronKarmaPoliceWait By the River
R.E.M.TuffnuttNightswimming

RadioheadTitusbrambleKarma Police
CandleboxMt.ManThe Answer
Eddie VedderTau837Release
The Bee GeeszamboniMassachusetts
Fred EaglesmithMister CIASome Roads
Ringo Starrkrista4Goodnight Vienna
Big Room/Deep Big RoomzazaleDizzee
 
MADs adjacent longform article from Poker News about Steve Albini's long-running home game. @Zegras11 @krista4


So...we had a lot of discussion on this one, because OH was not named here despite being much more a part of the Tuesday poker game than some others, and despite being IN THE MIDDLE of several of the pictures. In fact, our good buddy EZ (aka "the bot") was rarely at the games, and Brandon, one of the people whom they interviewed for this, came to the game years after OH was there. The other interviewee, Andy, is someone I despise...but there you have it.

OH is part of a small group chat that includes Andy and Brandon (and used to include Steve), and yet he refuses to confront them about this. I would.

The Tuesday game is scheduled to start again next year, btw. We might be hosting it sometimes on our roofdeck.
Presumably OH didn't talk to the guy who wrote this. In which case he wouldn't be mentioned unless the people the writer did talk to mentioned him. The writer isn't at the game and isn't gonna know on their own who was there how often, so they have to go by what the sources tell them. Which begs the question, why didn't Andy, Brandon, etc. mention him?
 

#9 - Indestructible - Robyn​


Raunchy vid alert

Producer - Klas Åhlund
Writer - Klas Åhlund and Robyn
Chart Positions - #4 Sweden, #13 Denmark
Album - Body Talk Pt 3
Year - 2010
Collaborator History - Klas again. Nothing else to say.

Key Lyric - And I never was smart with love
I let the bad ones in and the good ones go, but
I'm gonna love you like I've never been hurt before
I'm gonna love you like I'm indestructible

Notes - The song was previously heard, in an acoustic form, as the final track on Body Talk Pt. 2, released in September 2010. The song was one of the first to be recorded for the Body Talk series, but Robyn saved it for later to give it a chance of becoming a single.

Here are the positive reviews
The song was met with critical acclaim. Nick Levine of Digital Spy gave the song a positive review, awarding it five out of five stars. Levine praised the synths and strings present on the track, as well as Åhlund's production. He commented that the lyrics made the song "not just touching, but utterly, utterly life-affirming". Fraser McAlpine of BBC Music and compared it to "heartbreak songs" by ABBA, but noted its modern synthpop as opposed to 1970s disco. McAlpine noted that the song about dancing and being "terrified/upset" at the same time, and wrote that Robyn has created a "devastating happysad feeling". McAlpine awarded the song five out five stars, and gave it "special points" for its "faux-classical synth solo" in the middle. Emma Gaedeke of Billboard highlighted the songwriting and praised it for being emotionally honest, without "generic pop cheesiness". Molly Lambert of Pitchforkwrote a positive review of the song, saying that the drum machines on the track contrast well with the qualities of her voice. Lambert wrote, "“Indestructible” encapsulates the kind of freedom Robyn sings about; freedom from reductionist categories, unfair expectations, and life's daily indignities."

Paul Davey of Drowned in Sound wrote that the song "sits comfortably alongside" previous singles "Hang with Me" and "Dancing on My Own". Davey referred "Indestructible" to as "an example of a pop-innovator at the top of her game". Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine praised the song's production and named it one of Robyn's best singles. Keefe also named it the standout among the new songs on Body Talk. Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone gave it three and a half out of five stars, and wrote that "[Robyn] sings an uncommonly elegant Europop melody". Evan Sawdey of PopMatters compared the song negatively to the acoustic version, believing it was a bad choice to "swap out strings for synths". He wrote, "Robyn's voice gets lost amidst the laser lights, and its impact just isn't as strong". Sawdey, however, considered it "great [for] the dance floor".

Next up - Another collaboration which featured a different vocalist originally. Robyn comes in and makes the song her own.
 
ddie VedderTau837Release

"Release" is the closing track on Pearl Jam’s debut album, "Ten" (1991). As the closing track, the song serves as the emotional cornerstone of "Ten." Its introspective and cathartic nature contrasts with the more aggressive tracks earlier in the album, providing a sense of resolution and emotional depth.

Written collaboratively by the band, with Eddie penning the deeply personal lyrics, the song is believed to be inspired by Eddie's feelings about his estranged father, who passed away before they could reconcile. Eddie found out as a teenager that the man he thought was his father was actually his stepfather, and his real father died before they could connect. Eddie realized that the song had a similar meaning for his bandmates, who were still dealing with the death of Andrew Wood, who was the lead singer in Gossard and Jeff Ament's band before they formed Pearl Jam.

"Release" was one of the first songs Eddie wrote with the band, and it's one that helped them find common ground. "We were strangers, but we were coming from a similar place," said Vedder.

The song is characterized by its haunting, atmospheric sound and gradual buildup, creating a meditative and emotionally charged experience. The song begins with an ambient introduction, blending feedback and subtle instrumentation to set a reflective tone. The interplay between Stone Gossard and Mike McCready’s guitars provides a rich, textured backdrop for Eddie's vocals.

In summary, "Release" is a haunting, introspective masterpiece that closes Ten with an emotional weight that lingers long after the final note. Its raw vulnerability, coupled with its meditative musical arrangement, makes it a timeless piece that continues to resonate with audiences around the world.

Here are a few live versions:
  1. Utrecht, Netherlands (March 4, 1992, live performance #21)
  2. Wrigley Field (Aug 2016, live performance #154) - The audience sings the song with Eddie
  3. Seattle (May 28, 2024, live performance #169) - Filmed from the audience, so a different perspective on the fans singing along
 
9. Follow Your Heart
Album: Thunder Seven (1984)
Writers: Rik Emmett, Mike Levine and Gil Moore
Lead vocals: Gil Moore with Rik Emmett
Chart History: US Hot 100 #88, US Mainstream Rock #13, UK #88
Video?: Yes
Lyrical category: Inspirational/hockey coach

As you can see from the above, "Follow Your Heart," the first single from Triumph's Thunder Seven, had a video and registered on both the Hot 100 and Mainstream Rock charts (it was also their second and last song to chart in the UK), but I never heard it until I saw it performed live in the fall of 1986, despite having heard three other songs from the album my FM stations in Philly and having seen the video for "Spellbound" (#12 on this countdown). More evidence that the degree of your exposure to Triumph during their heyday depended greatly on what market you were in.

The song starts out as a typical mid-80s rocker, but the sustain on Rik Emmett's guitar at the end of the first verse suggests something special is coming. And indeed we get one of the band's most impressive Big Choruses, which features vocals from both Emmett and Gil Moore (who handles all the verses) and a melody that sticks in your head and won't leave. Emmett's guitar solo is one of his more Van Halen-esque, but it really serves as the prelude to a great bridge which is one of the few times Moore's voice ever gets as high as Emmett was often able to reach. The song plays out with more elements from the bridge and chorus surfacing until the fade comes in.

This is one of the most inspirational/hockey coach sets of lyrics the band ever wrote, and for a change these types of lines are sung predominantly by Moore instead of Emmett. The song deals with the band's common theme of being true to yourself and staying positive no matter what life throws at you.

People say
Don't ever look behind
Happiness is just a state of mind
Rock and roll lives and breathes in the hearts of the young
So carry on
You're runnin' on borrowed time
Tryin' hard to survive
Keep on runnin'
Your time in comin'
Keep your dreams alive
Follow your heart (you got to follow your heart)
Living for today, forget about tomorrow
Follow your heart (you got to follow your heart)
Any other way will only lead to sorrow
Don't wait any longer
Follow your heart

"Follow Your Heart" was played on every tour between Thunder Seven and Edge of Excess and is included on the Stages live album, but did not appear at the reunion shows (nothing after Never Surrender did). Many live versions include an extra drum break and guitar solo toward the end. Its performance-based video was a bonus track on the DVD of the band's 1983 US Festival performance, but the song was not performed at that show and may not have existed yet. The album of the US Festival performance has the audio from the "Follow Your Heart" video, which is the studio version with crowd noise overdubbed. Seems like that might be confusing to the uninitiated.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeknS5efTJI
Live version from Stages: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1I5SM4fa_w
Live version from Montreal in 1985, followed by Gil Moore front-of-stage banter and an instrumental jam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBL2BcoDphs
Live version from Detroit in 1986, broadcast on FM radio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMbOj4rzW5c
Live version from Halifax in 1987, included on the A Night of Triumph DVD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8y3oOOxZuM
Live version from South Padre Island, Texas in 1988 -- the only show from the Surveillance tour I've ever been able to find on YouTube: https://youtu.be/T8_4gnFRwCc?t=1438
Live version from Milwaukee in 1993 -- the only show from the Edge of Excess tour I've ever been able to find on YouTube (Rick Santers sings Emmett's part): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0EhJfzdmrk

We have closed out Thunder Seven and still have the highest-ranked songs from Rock & Roll Machine, Progressions of Power and Never Surrender to go. The remainder of the top 8 are all from Just a Game or Allied Forces. At #8, the most metal song from Triumph's most metal album.
 
Thoughts on the #9s of artists I know well:

Yes -- There is SO MUCH going on in "Heart of the Sunrise," but it never feels overstuffed. It is both aggressive and majestic and features yet another monstrous performance on bass from Chris Squire.

Tweedy/Wilco -- I picked Wilco's version of Moby Grape's "I Am Not Willing" in the covers countdown, ranking it #26. What I said there:

I first listened to Moby Grape when a compilation album called Vintage was released in the early '90s. Due to the complete clusterf*ck that was the business/finance/management side of their career, all their albums were out of print and this was the only way to acquire their songs. I had read much praise for their debut album, which was included on the compilation in its entirety, and so I decided to pick up the release. The songs from the debut are indeed excellent, but the one that really struck me, from two albums and two years later, was I Am Not Willing, which I will put up against anything from the singer-songwriter movement of the late '60s and early '70s. And I felt this way BEFORE I underwent some of what the song describes at the end of my first marriage. Afterwards, well, it turns me into a pile of jelly every time I hear it.

The compilation didn't do much to raise the profile of Moby Grape (and in fact became part of the complete clusterf*ck that was their business/finance/management side, which is why it too fell out of print) and I never thought I would hear the song again unless I broke out my copy and played it (I had not conceived of the concept of streaming). Then, in the early '00s, when I was trading CD-Rs of live shows and unreleased material with strangers and acquaintances from the internet, I traded for a Wilco disc labeled "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot outtakes". Much to my surprise, there was a cover of I Am Not Willing, performed with Syd Straw. From the time I acquired a promo copy of the final Uncle Tupelo album in my first year as a newspaper reporter and went to see UT on their final tour, Jeff Tweedy seemed to me like a guy who had a similar attitude toward music as I did, and the decision to cover this certainly confirmed it. Turns out it was actually recorded around the time of the first Wilco album, A.M.; another collaboration with Straw, a cover of Ernest Tubb's "The T.B. is Whipping Me," was recorded at the same time and appeared on the compilation Red Hot & Country. The I Am Not Willing cover finally got an official release in 2014 on the 4-disc box set of Wilco rarities Alpha Mike Foxtrot.

The Wilco/Straw version sticks pretty close to the Moby Grape version except for being a bit twangier. I saw one writeup that said it sounds like something Gram Parsons would have done, and that is as high a praise as anything I could say about it. As good as the performance is, this is the only song on my list that is not here for that reason. It is here because I remain amazed that anyone thought to cover this lost masterpiece at all.

My Morning Jacket -- Now we're getting into Serious Business. "Run Thru" is MMJ's "Cortez the Killer." And you all know how I feel about that song. It is an absolute powerhouse on record and even greater when performed live.

P-Funk -- Standing on the Verge of Getting It On doesn't seem to get enough credit for being the top-tier album that it is (we have seen three songs from it on Uruk's list already) and the title track goes a long way to making the record great. It's hard-hitting and infectious, with one of the most memorable guitar lines Eddie Hazel ever came up with.

Bee Gees -- "Massachusetts" is another achingly beautiful pre-disco song from the brothers.
 
#9 Funkadelic - "Standing On The Verge Of Getting It On"

The title track of, IMO, their best rock album and maybe their best overall. There's another that's a little dearer to my heart, but I'd be just fine with this LP if we were only allowed to have one. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I could easily have included every song from this album.

My undying love for Grand Funk should be well-known to all and sundry here by now. That said, how their mid-70s LPs were considered more "rock" for AOR play than this Funkadelic record blows my mind.

As for the song........once you get past the "you can be my dog" silliness at the beginning, it turns into a great rocker with a really cool, in-unison vocal by the band. Funkadelic isn't kidding around here. This is a bunch of great musicians hammering it.

Up next, the first of two wild card selections in a row.
 
#9: JOURNEY - DAYDREAM


The Evolution album is what sealed the deal for me as to Journey being my MAD31. If you haven't picked up on my not so subtle clues, the only song of the '75-'81 stretch I still don't like much (admittedly my hatred has turned to "prefer not to listen to") is Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin', so more accurately Side 2. Again, just a newbie fan, but it also is a perfect example of an album to hear the push and pull of the band and where they are heading. It was only after my 31 was finished and I was reading more and listening even more that is stood out that what was happening is that my love for the songs had a lot to do with who was writing them - hence my Rolie love. My 2 least favorite songs on the album are Perry solo writing credits (Sweet and Simple is the other solo Perry credit on the album). If Schon's name is there I am much more likely to love it, and if Rolie is involved, it's almost a lock to be on the countdown or it's waiting is the next 31 and was one of the harder cuts from the album. As I posted previously, there are 3 in the top 10 from this album. As I listened more and more after the submission all 3 would probably be in my true top 5 if not 1-3. To my ears they are the perfect blend of the talents involved, and it's Journey at it's peak power. Love this tune from it's daydreamy, meandering beginning to what might be my favorite of the Schon solos (but that is very hard to narrow down as well).

Next: for further proof of the above, one of the only 2 songs on Departure that Rolie shows up with a writing credit on.
 
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9's PLAYLIST

Ryan StarYambagBullet
Another that was not on my original list as I try to avoid including long songs. However after researching, I felt it needed to be added:

Ryan: “'Bullet' is so close to my heart. It is me being me and nothing more. Singing truth to the one I love. It is simple. Even the recording was simple. I wrote the lyrics in the studio --walked out and talked my band through the meaning of it all. We all believed in it so much -- we hit record and in one take, eight minutes later, we had it. It was never even really mixed, just recorded beautifully. But what mattered more were the intentions of it as we laid it down. One of my favorite musical memories of my life is in that song. Put some headphones on and take a listen. You can hear it all. Even the crackling of my broken acoustic guitar.”

This song was also featured on Vampire Diaries
 
The Clashkupcho1Rock the Casbah
All hail Topper Headon! From americansongwriter
It was Clash drummer Topper Headon who initially wrote the lyrics and music for “Rock the Casbah.” “The real genius of ‘Rock The Casbah’ is Topper,” said Strummer. “He banged down the drum track. Then ran over to the piano and then the bass.”
At least 'til drugs :crying:
Unfortunately, Headon left the band because of a drug problem before the song was released at the beginning of the band’s Combat Rock tour, and was replaced by Terry Chimes, who appears in the “Rock the Casbah” video.
Even though it ended up as a Desert Storm anthem, it didn't start out that way. The song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. “Rock the Casbah” turned into an anthem centered around the persecution of the Iranian people for enjoying music, particularly for owning a disco album at the time.
“I got back to the hotel that night and wrote on a typewriter, The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop,” said Strummer. “I looked at it and for some reason, I started to think about what someone had told me earlier, that you get lashed for owning a disco album in Iran.”

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out the electric camel drum
The local guitar picker got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the sharif had cleared the square
They began to wail


I want an electric camel drum for Christmas.
⚡ 🐫 🥁
 
9.

Song: I’m Not Willing
Artist: Wilco (with Syd Straw)
Album: Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014
Year: 2014


She said she loves me
she won’t forget me
and then she’s gone


When I did my initial write up introducing Wilco this was the song that appeared on the new music complication CD that my roommate brought home from some music conference and was my first exposure to the band. I did not know at the time it was a Moby Grape cover but became obsessed with the song. When that CD disappeared, I spent many hours searching YouTube trying unsuccessfully to find the song. As @Pip's Invitation said in his write up, streaming finally saw this song find the light of day again, and I’m thankful for that.

Read pip's write up - it would be better than what I would write anyway.
 
The Bee GeeszamboniMassachusetts
Another hit from the very early days, sung by Robin, with a gorgeous string arrangement. The song has become a personal favorite of mine, with my son currently a senior at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst (go Minutemen).

The tune was written in 1967, at the Regis Hotel in New York City, while the band was touring the U.S. It was meant as an antithesis to the Flower Power movement going on as many youngsters were migrating to San Francisco. In fact, one of the song’s lyrics mentions the lights having gone out in Massachusetts, indicating many had left for S.F. Interestingly, the band had never been to Massachusetts before writing it, but thought the alliterative “S”’s worked well within the lyrical structure.

The song was originally written for the fellow Australian folk band The Seekers, who would have some later worldwide success, including in the U.S., with big hits such as “I’ll Never Find Another You” and “Georgy Girl”. A reformed version of the band as The New Seekers would smash later on with “I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing”, which would become a historic advertising jingle for Don Draper and Coca-Cola.
 
The Clashkupcho1Rock the Casbah
All hail Topper Headon! From americansongwriter
It was Clash drummer Topper Headon who initially wrote the lyrics and music for “Rock the Casbah.” “The real genius of ‘Rock The Casbah’ is Topper,” said Strummer. “He banged down the drum track. Then ran over to the piano and then the bass.”
At least 'til drugs :crying:
Unfortunately, Headon left the band because of a drug problem before the song was released at the beginning of the band’s Combat Rock tour, and was replaced by Terry Chimes, who appears in the “Rock the Casbah” video.
Even though it ended up as a Desert Storm anthem, it didn't start out that way. The song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. “Rock the Casbah” turned into an anthem centered around the persecution of the Iranian people for enjoying music, particularly for owning a disco album at the time.
“I got back to the hotel that night and wrote on a typewriter, The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop,” said Strummer. “I looked at it and for some reason, I started to think about what someone had told me earlier, that you get lashed for owning a disco album in Iran.”

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out the electric camel drum
The local guitar picker got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the sharif had cleared the square
They began to wail


I want an electric camel drum for Christmas.
⚡ 🐫 🥁
I was in sixth grade when this came out. As is typical with sixth grade boys, we liked to sing this as “F**k the Casbah.”
 
The Clashkupcho1Rock the Casbah
All hail Topper Headon! From americansongwriter
It was Clash drummer Topper Headon who initially wrote the lyrics and music for “Rock the Casbah.” “The real genius of ‘Rock The Casbah’ is Topper,” said Strummer. “He banged down the drum track. Then ran over to the piano and then the bass.”
At least 'til drugs :crying:
Unfortunately, Headon left the band because of a drug problem before the song was released at the beginning of the band’s Combat Rock tour, and was replaced by Terry Chimes, who appears in the “Rock the Casbah” video.
Even though it ended up as a Desert Storm anthem, it didn't start out that way. The song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. “Rock the Casbah” turned into an anthem centered around the persecution of the Iranian people for enjoying music, particularly for owning a disco album at the time.
“I got back to the hotel that night and wrote on a typewriter, The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop,” said Strummer. “I looked at it and for some reason, I started to think about what someone had told me earlier, that you get lashed for owning a disco album in Iran.”

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out the electric camel drum
The local guitar picker got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the sharif had cleared the square
They began to wail


I want an electric camel drum for Christmas.
⚡ 🐫 🥁
I was in sixth grade when this came out. As is typical with sixth grade boys, we liked to sing this as “F**k the Casbah.”
I was an "adult" when it came out and, first time I heard it, I thought they were singing "rock the cash bar". Shows you where my mind was.
 
The Clashkupcho1Rock the Casbah
All hail Topper Headon! From americansongwriter
It was Clash drummer Topper Headon who initially wrote the lyrics and music for “Rock the Casbah.” “The real genius of ‘Rock The Casbah’ is Topper,” said Strummer. “He banged down the drum track. Then ran over to the piano and then the bass.”
At least 'til drugs :crying:
Unfortunately, Headon left the band because of a drug problem before the song was released at the beginning of the band’s Combat Rock tour, and was replaced by Terry Chimes, who appears in the “Rock the Casbah” video.
Even though it ended up as a Desert Storm anthem, it didn't start out that way. The song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. “Rock the Casbah” turned into an anthem centered around the persecution of the Iranian people for enjoying music, particularly for owning a disco album at the time.
“I got back to the hotel that night and wrote on a typewriter, The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop,” said Strummer. “I looked at it and for some reason, I started to think about what someone had told me earlier, that you get lashed for owning a disco album in Iran.”

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out the electric camel drum
The local guitar picker got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the sharif had cleared the square
They began to wail


I want an electric camel drum for Christmas.
⚡ 🐫 🥁
I was in sixth grade when this came out. As is typical with sixth grade boys, we liked to sing this as “F**k the Casbah.”
I was an "adult" when it came out and, first time I heard it, I thought they were singing "rock the cash bar". Shows you where my mind was.
Sort of an antithesis to Journey’s “Open Bars”.
 
The Clashkupcho1Rock the Casbah
All hail Topper Headon! From americansongwriter
It was Clash drummer Topper Headon who initially wrote the lyrics and music for “Rock the Casbah.” “The real genius of ‘Rock The Casbah’ is Topper,” said Strummer. “He banged down the drum track. Then ran over to the piano and then the bass.”
At least 'til drugs :crying:
Unfortunately, Headon left the band because of a drug problem before the song was released at the beginning of the band’s Combat Rock tour, and was replaced by Terry Chimes, who appears in the “Rock the Casbah” video.
Even though it ended up as a Desert Storm anthem, it didn't start out that way. The song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. “Rock the Casbah” turned into an anthem centered around the persecution of the Iranian people for enjoying music, particularly for owning a disco album at the time.
“I got back to the hotel that night and wrote on a typewriter, The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop,” said Strummer. “I looked at it and for some reason, I started to think about what someone had told me earlier, that you get lashed for owning a disco album in Iran.”

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out the electric camel drum
The local guitar picker got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the sharif had cleared the square
They began to wail


I want an electric camel drum for Christmas.
⚡ 🐫 🥁
I was in sixth grade when this came out. As is typical with sixth grade boys, we liked to sing this as “F**k the Casbah.”
I was an "adult" when it came out and, first time I heard it, I thought they were singing "rock the cash bar". Shows you where my mind was.
Strummer's enunciation was so weird that I thought "they began to wail" was "the jet pilot waves."
 
I also remember seeing this report on MTV just before the release of Combat Rock. Very strange. From Wiki:

Before the album Combat Rock was released in 1982, Strummer went into hiding and the band's management said that he had "disappeared". Bernie Rhodes, the band's manager, pressured Strummer to do so because tickets were selling slowly for the Scottish leg of an upcoming tour. It was planned for Strummer to travel, in secret, to Texas and stay with his friend, musician Joe Ely. Uneasy with his decision, Strummer instead decided to genuinely disappear and "dicked around" in France. During this time, Strummer ran the Paris Marathon in April 1982. He claimed his training regimen consisted of 10 pints of beer the night before the race. For this period of time, Strummer's whereabouts were a mystery not only to the public, but to the band's management as well. Strummer said later that this was a huge mistake and that you "have to have some regrets".
 
MADs adjacent longform article from Poker News about Steve Albini's long-running home game. @Zegras11 @krista4


So...we had a lot of discussion on this one, because OH was not named here despite being much more a part of the Tuesday poker game than some others, and despite being IN THE MIDDLE of several of the pictures. In fact, our good buddy EZ (aka "the bot") was rarely at the games, and Brandon, one of the people whom they interviewed for this, came to the game years after OH was there. The other interviewee, Andy, is someone I despise...but there you have it.

OH is part of a small group chat that includes Andy and Brandon (and used to include Steve), and yet he refuses to confront them about this. I would.

The Tuesday game is scheduled to start again next year, btw. We might be hosting it sometimes on our roofdeck.
Presumably OH didn't talk to the guy who wrote this. In which case he wouldn't be mentioned unless the people the writer did talk to mentioned him. The writer isn't at the game and isn't gonna know on their own who was there how often, so they have to go by what the sources tell them. Which begs the question, why didn't Andy, Brandon, etc. mention him?

Yes, that was my point. FFS, OH was living with Andy when I met him. They’re close, as are he and Brandon.

OH and I have 1/8 of Steve’s second WSOP bracelet, which he had a jeweler take apart and make into pins, which he then sent to eight of the Tuesday game people.
 
The Clashkupcho1Rock the Casbah
All hail Topper Headon! From americansongwriter
It was Clash drummer Topper Headon who initially wrote the lyrics and music for “Rock the Casbah.” “The real genius of ‘Rock The Casbah’ is Topper,” said Strummer. “He banged down the drum track. Then ran over to the piano and then the bass.”
At least 'til drugs :crying:
Unfortunately, Headon left the band because of a drug problem before the song was released at the beginning of the band’s Combat Rock tour, and was replaced by Terry Chimes, who appears in the “Rock the Casbah” video.
Even though it ended up as a Desert Storm anthem, it didn't start out that way. The song was inspired by the banning of rock music in Iran under Ayatollah Khomeini. “Rock the Casbah” turned into an anthem centered around the persecution of the Iranian people for enjoying music, particularly for owning a disco album at the time.
“I got back to the hotel that night and wrote on a typewriter, The King told the boogie men You gotta get that raga drop,” said Strummer. “I looked at it and for some reason, I started to think about what someone had told me earlier, that you get lashed for owning a disco album in Iran.”

By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy Casbah sound
But the Bedouin they brought out the electric camel drum
The local guitar picker got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the sharif had cleared the square
They began to wail


I want an electric camel drum for Christmas.
⚡ 🐫 🥁
I was in sixth grade when this came out. As is typical with sixth grade boys, we liked to sing this as “F**k the Casbah.”
I was an "adult" when it came out and, first time I heard it, I thought they were singing "rock the cash bar". Shows you where my mind was.
Strummer's enunciation was so weird that I thought "they began to wail" was "the jet pilot waves."
Up until right now I still thought that.
 
MADs adjacent longform article from Poker News about Steve Albini's long-running home game. @Zegras11 @krista4


So...we had a lot of discussion on this one, because OH was not named here despite being much more a part of the Tuesday poker game than some others, and despite being IN THE MIDDLE of several of the pictures. In fact, our good buddy EZ (aka "the bot") was rarely at the games, and Brandon, one of the people whom they interviewed for this, came to the game years after OH was there. The other interviewee, Andy, is someone I despise...but there you have it.

OH is part of a small group chat that includes Andy and Brandon (and used to include Steve), and yet he refuses to confront them about this. I would.

The Tuesday game is scheduled to start again next year, btw. We might be hosting it sometimes on our roofdeck.
Presumably OH didn't talk to the guy who wrote this. In which case he wouldn't be mentioned unless the people the writer did talk to mentioned him. The writer isn't at the game and isn't gonna know on their own who was there how often, so they have to go by what the sources tell them. Which begs the question, why didn't Andy, Brandon, etc. mention him?

Yes, that was my point. FFS, OH was living with Andy when I met him. They’re close, as are he and Brandon.

OH and I have 1/8 of Steve’s second WSOP bracelet, which he had a jeweler take apart and make into pins, which he then sent to eight of the Tuesday game people.
Yeah. As a journalist myself, I just didn't want anyone to infer that the writer was at fault here. When I'm interviewing a doctor and they say "please also mention the contributions of X, Y and Z," then I do.
 
#9: LORD HURON - WAIT BY THE RIVER


Love this beautiful sounding song in the middle of the Vide Noir album. It is sandwiched right between "bouncier" tracks that we have heard already - Ancient Names and @Pip's Invitation favorite Secret of Life. It forms a great little trio of songs for the album. Not much new as far as lyrics and themes, but I love how that stays similar even as the music changes from song to song a bit. I love it all, but in particular this stretch:

If I can't change the weather
Maybe I can change your mind
If we can't be together
What's the point of life

Baby, I didn't mean the things I said
I don't honestly wish you were dead
I'm a fool, I'm just a man

If I only could hold you again

Next: we will keep it slow with a "spooky" track from Lonesome Dreams.
 
9. (It's All Down To) Goodnight Vienna from Goodnight Vienna (1974)

Previously ranked #6 - prior write-up below

I wrote a lot about this album earlier, so have not much left to say about the song that forms the title track, other than some of the lyrics are brutal. But wait, we can't blame Ringo for that, since John Lennon wrote this song! The background/essence of the lyrics is dealing with his insecurities (shocking, I know) and how he was getting tired of his "Lost Weekend" and wanted to get out of the situation, with the phrase "goodnight Vienna" being English slang meaning approximately "it's all over." I want to hate this song for those lyrics, but I can't because it's so...wait for it...fun, and the band sounds amazing. Of course it also gets bonus points for having John on the intro. John also contributes the piano and vocals, while Billy Preston played a cool clavinet part. The backing vocals are sparkling, the horns fit perfectly, and there's even an accordion! You can't hate a song with an accordion, can you? Wait, I most definitely can. But not this one, which is a rollicking good time.

How about those lyrics?

I took my baby to a party last night
Uh Huh Hah
She was so beautiful she made me uptight
Uh Huh Hah
Up come a butcher with her ju jus alright
Uh Huh Hah
It's all da da down to Goodnight Vienna!

Felt like a bohunk but I kept up my cool
Uh Huh Hah
Green as a frog, man I was back into school
Uh Huh Hah
Zipped up my mouth coz I was starting to droll
Uh Huh Hah

Get it up (Keep it up), get it up (keep it up)
Get it up (Keep it up), get it up (keep it up)
It's all da da down to Goodnight Vienna!

She said she loved me but I knew she was lying
Uh Huh Hah
Felt like an Arab who was dancing through Zion
Uh Huh Hah
Don't call no doctor when ya just feel like crying
Uh Huh Hah
It's all da da down to Goodnight Vienna!

Get it up (Keep it up), get it up (keep it up)
Get it up (Keep it up), get it up (keep it up)
It's all da da down to Goodnight Vienna!
It's all da da down to Goodnight Vienna!


&
 
Trying to retire is exhausting. I gave my notice mid-November that I was out by 12/31. My company said "let's make it 12/27 since that's the end of our pay year". I said "sure". Then, last week, they told me "12/20 works better". I was already scrambling to get my ducks in a row - and, really, I probably wouldn't have gotten anything done that last week anyway since no one works - but 5 work days left to get all of this **** done is wearing me out. The biggest problem is that I'm not always driving the action and have to wait on others.

It's on me, though. This has been both a long time coming and an impulse decision. If any of you are thinking about hanging it up, contact me and I'll tell you what not to do :lol:
 
Tim MaiaDon QuixoteLet’s Have a Ball Tonight
A playlist title! I mentioned after picking Tim Maia that it felt like I needed to mix it up from Nina Simone and Curtis Mayfield and all of their civil rights anthems and message songs the past couple of rounds to get back to something lighter. This is one of the rare songs where Tim Maia ventures into politics, but, even here, his message is basically that politicians should stop thinking about war, and just focus on loving/partying/having a ball.
 
Trying to retire is exhausting. I gave my notice mid-November that I was out by 12/31. My company said "let's make it 12/27 since that's the end of our pay year". I said "sure". Then, last week, they told me "12/20 works better". I was already scrambling to get my ducks in a row - and, really, I probably wouldn't have gotten anything done that last week anyway since no one works - but 5 work days left to get all of this **** done is wearing me out. The biggest problem is that I'm not always driving the action and have to wait on others.

It's on me, though. This has been both a long time coming and an impulse decision. If any of you are thinking about hanging it up, contact me and I'll tell you what not to do :lol:

Congrats GB. I look forward to that day for me.
 
Yes #9 - Heart of the Sunrise
Album - Fragile (1971)

There’s no slow buildup to this song, we jump right into a massive jam before later shifting into a softer tone.

To me, this is the Yessiest Yes song that Yes ever Yessed. It’s got changes in time signature, tempo changes from the bombastic to the ethereal, various repetitive musical sequences, and use of recapitulation (I looked it up) where previous segments are revisited. It has moments of jazz flair, classical composition, emotional storytelling, and raging rock jams.

This song blew me away when I first heard it.
 
Yes #9 - Heart of the Sunrise
Album - Fragile (1971)

There’s no slow buildup to this song, we jump right into a massive jam before later shifting into a softer tone.

To me, this is the Yessiest Yes song that Yes ever Yessed. It’s got changes in time signature, tempo changes from the bombastic to the ethereal, various repetitive musical sequences, and use of recapitulation (I looked it up) where previous segments are revisited. It has moments of jazz flair, classical composition, emotional storytelling, and raging rock jams.

This song blew me away when I first heard it.
Me too (which was this morning)
 
Yes, that was my point. FFS, OH was living with Andy when I met him. They’re close, as are he and Brandon.

OH and I have 1/8 of Steve’s second WSOP bracelet, which he had a jeweler take apart and make into pins, which he then sent to eight of the Tuesday game people.

Because I know everyone cares...mystery sorta solved. Someone else was complaining about not being mentioned in the article, and another person pointed out that OH wasn't mentioned and was more "deserving" than the complainant. Andy said that he just talked to the writer and told stories, mentioning names in the stories, but didn't give a list of names or anything. So it was just the writer deciding which names to list, which doesn't bother me. Whew.
 
9. Why Does it Hurt So Bad (Waiting to Exhale Soundtrack, 1995)

Following the success of her movie debut in The Bodyguard and the subsequent fanfare, Whitney toured the world again, capping it with a three-night stand in South Africa in tribute to newly freed Nelson Mandela. After the tour, she went back to Hollywood for her second movie, Waiting to Exhale, for which she received her second NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, eventually losing out to castmate Angela Bassett.

Why Does it Hurt So Bad, like the other songs on the movie's soundtrack, were written and produced by Babyface, with Houston also receiving co-producer credits, along with Clive Davis. Babyface's initial plan was to have Whitney sing all the songs for the album, but she declined, wanting instead for multiple women's voices to be featured. Commercially, the song reached as high as #5 on the Billboard Adult R&B chart and #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

Whitney at first did not want to record this song when Babyface presented it to her four years earlier, but after two years of marriage to Bobby Brown, she found her motivation.
 
JourneyKarmaPoliceBe Good To Yourself
Still catching up. Thought I was listening to my #5 artist for a minute. Shouldn't have been surprised by that, though...
:confused:
If it helps, I meant to say 'Round 5', not that they're my 5th favorite artist.
I assumed that. More I was trying to remember if you said in a previous post who that was, or it was merely a hint of goodness to come.
 
As a FYI for any non-Spotify subscribers, they have some promotions going on. It looks like three months free if never subscribed before, and 3 months for $11.99 if prior subscriber. I did the latter to re-subscribe for a few months to help catch up on the playlists. (Even listening on iPad/desktop on Spotify as non-subscriber has become unbearable; I’m not sure why they keep insisting on the “enjoy 30 minutes of ad-free listening” ad; it does not go more than 2 songs without a 2-3 minute ad break now).

But, anyway, thought I’d pass that along for anyone else who is non-subscriber, but might be interested. Helped me make some progress in almost getting caught up on things.
 
Marr #9 / Smiths #3 - The Smiths - "This Charming Man" (1983)

The band's second single and their first to chart on the main UK charts. It was also the song they played the first time they appeared on Top of the Pops.

I've used Johnny's 2016 autobiography Set the Boy Free as the primary source for my write-ups. He rarely goes in-depth about his songs but "This Charming Man" was so significant in the band's career that he went into the song in detail (for him):

"‘This Charming Man’ starts with the guitar riff, double-tracked by a Telecaster and the Rickenbacker, which creates the chiming sound that was most people’s introduction to The Smiths. When the vocal comes in with the first line, there’s an abrupt stop to introduce the singer and the story, which is a device used on a lot of the old fifties rock ’n’ roll records. The song then takes off for a second time as all the band kick in and the story unfolds and quotes the song’s title after the third line. Underpinning it all is the hyperactive bass line and a punchy drumbeat, with crashing chords played on two electric and two acoustics guitars that add excitement but are set back enough not to draw attention to themselves. As the first chorus hits, everyone ramps up the intensity as the bass plays double time and the drums become even more animated. We then overdubbed a counter melody on a twelve-string Rickenbacker, which we recorded backwards to give it a ghostly effect, and put some high ringing guitar harmonics at the end of each chorus. When we’d done all that, I put the guitar in a drone tuning and dropped a metal knife on to the strings through a loud amplifier with tremolo on to make a percussive, bell-like sound effect."

He doesn't mention the bassline sounds like a cross between Motown and Iggy's "Lust for Life" which is also Motown I guess.

 

Candlebox #9
Song: The Answer
Album: Into the Sun (2008)

(Youtube version) Candlebox - The Answer

Speak your words right or wrong
Don't be afraid to scream them like a song
Open your wounds and let them bleed
Don't be afraid to tell them of your need

Lay down your worries, your sadness, your hate
Swim inside the currents of your fate
Lay your mind at ease, set your body free
Kill the pain and feel, feel the peace
--
(chorus)
You will find the answers, see the skies fade
You have found the reason to live another day
Hey, don't be afraid
Hey, come join the parade
Ooooh...
--
You say your pain's a fire deep Inside
And when it burns it Makes you feel alive
Take your moment please, open up your eyes
You can turn the fire into lies... into lies

(chorusx2)



Kevin Martin sounds a little different on this one, doesn’t he? No, but seriously, that’s Peter Klett taking over on lead vocals for this song. “The Answer” is a slow paced, rather progressive song. Perhaps nothing in the realm of Yes or others, but certainly with that feel.

There’s a definite downside to discussing this song. It didn’t appear on the main album, showing up as an Amazon & itunes Store Bonus Track. Though obviously it shows up on Spotify, so hopefully that’s the version KarmaPolice checked out. Added to that, there’s not only an absence of live performances, it’s hard to find a source of lyrics (the above is my best interpretation of the entire song), and Discogs doesn’t list the song as part of any of the versions of the album.

Put it all together, and there’s a feeling like one day I’m going to wake up and find that this song was something I imagined as part of a fever dream. Though, honestly, that thought only makes “The Answer” more special to me.

Next on the countdown, the first of two one-word titles that are pronouns. This is the better known one, so it’s less 2nd place and more 2nd person.
 
Trying to retire is exhausting. I gave my notice mid-November that I was out by 12/31. My company said "let's make it 12/27 since that's the end of our pay year". I said "sure". Then, last week, they told me "12/20 works better". I was already scrambling to get my ducks in a row - and, really, I probably wouldn't have gotten anything done that last week anyway since no one works - but 5 work days left to get all of this **** done is wearing me out. The biggest problem is that I'm not always driving the action and have to wait on others.

It's on me, though. This has been both a long time coming and an impulse decision. If any of you are thinking about hanging it up, contact me and I'll tell you what not to do :lol:
Happy retirement, GB!
 

Candlebox #9
Song: The Answer
Album: Into the Sun (2008)

(Youtube version) Candlebox - The Answer

Speak your words right or wrong
Don't be afraid to scream them like a song
Open your wounds and let them bleed
Don't be afraid to tell them of your need

Lay down your worries, your sadness, your hate
Swim inside the currents of your fate
Lay your mind at ease, set your body free
Kill the pain and feel, feel the peace
--
(chorus)
You will find the answers, see the skies fade
You have found the reason to live another day
Hey, don't be afraid
Hey, come join the parade
Ooooh...
--
You say your pain's a fire deep Inside
And when it burns it Makes you feel alive
Take your moment please, open up your eyes
You can turn the fire into lies... into lies

(chorusx2)



Kevin Martin sounds a little different on this one, doesn’t he? No, but seriously, that’s Peter Klett taking over on lead vocals for this song. “The Answer” is a slow paced, rather progressive song. Perhaps nothing in the realm of Yes or others, but certainly with that feel.

There’s a definite downside to discussing this song. It didn’t appear on the main album, showing up as an Amazon & itunes Store Bonus Track. Though obviously it shows up on Spotify, so hopefully that’s the version KarmaPolice checked out. Added to that, there’s not only an absence of live performances, it’s hard to find a source of lyrics (the above is my best interpretation of the entire song), and Discogs doesn’t list the song as part of any of the versions of the album.

Put it all together, and there’s a feeling like one day I’m going to wake up and find that this song was something I imagined as part of a fever dream. Though, honestly, that thought only makes “The Answer” more special to me.

Next on the countdown, the first of two one-word titles that are pronouns. This is the better known one, so it’s less 2nd place and more 2nd person.
I was getting a little Floyd/Gilmour vibe from the song and guitar sound.
 
I doubt Morrissey has ever sung the word "boogie"
I was surprised

I was looking for a job, and then I found a job
And heaven knows I'm miserable now
In my life
Why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I boogie or die?

Joking
If a double decker bus
Killed the both of us
To die by your side
Well, the boogie and the privilege is mine
 

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