MAD's ROUND 2!! # 1's have been posted!! (2 Viewers)

[JMLs secret identity]

Röyksopp
29 - Bounty Hunters (Instrumental featuring Star Wars Samples)

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

m.youtube.com

Year - 2016
Appears on - Star Wars Headspace
Vocalist - Various Star Wars characters but Instrumental really
Key Lyric -
Greedo:
Oonta goota, Solo?
Jabba wanin cheeco-wa rush anye katanye wanaruska
Enjaya kul a intekun kuthuow
Cheskopokuta klees ka tlanko ... ya oska

Han Solo:
Yes, I’ll bet you have

Notes
1- Röyksopp were in semi retirement or just taking a break when approached to do a track for Rick Rubins Star Wars Headspace compilation.

2- Rubin was given a strict instruction by Lucasfilm not to include any samples from John Williams, but any sound effects and samples were fine.

3- The Röyksopp track is by far the longest on the LP which made it to number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart.

4- This is probably the heaviest dance number on the list, apparently dark synthwave lol. How many sub categories there are in music is phenomenal really.

5- The blonde girl in the video dancing crazily is a vocalist on a track that missed the cut from the Profound Mysteries series. Forgot her name off the top of my head

Running Vocal Count
Röyksopp - 1
Robyn - 1
Instrumental - 1

Where to find
Melody A.M - 0
The Understanding - 0
Röyksopp’s Night Out - 1
Back to Mine Series - 0
Junior - 0
Senior - 0
Late Night Tales Series - 0
Do It Again EP - 1
The Inevitable End - 0
Profound Mysteries I - 0
Profound Mysteries II - 0
Profound Mysteries III - 0
Other/Non Album Songs - 1

Year
1999 - 0
2001 - 0
2002 - 0
2005 - 0
2006 - 1
2007 - 0
2008 - 0
2009 - 0
2010 - 0
2013 - 0
2014 - 1
2016 - 1
2022 - 0
Next up, we highlight the bands work as producers

 

[AAABatteries]

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

AAABatteries

Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain Nathaniel Rateliff · Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain · Song · 2023 open.spotify.com - YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. youtu.be

"Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" is a song written by songwriter Fred Rose. First recorded by Elton Britt in 1946 and made famous by Willie. Rateliffe doing a Willie classic - what's not to love?

I'm not the religious man I once was but my god I hope the strolling hand in hand again is true.

This is the first of 3 covers I picked. I was going to jam them all in the last 5-10 but decided I’d grade them with the rest.

 

[plinko]

Happy Saturday Caturday I am kitten sitting this three day weekend, my life has come to this

A few words on what we've heard so far from Tanya Donelly

31. Star (Feed the Tree/"full band"/demo version)

- YouTube

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youtu.be

This outstanding track was spayed neutered, slowed down and cut in half for the album, for some reason. This isn't the only non-album track that makes me scratch my head as to why it wasn't included, in this case as it was. On the album it serves as a 90-second bridge between a song we'll hear soon and a song we won't hear at all. A little bite of a nothing burger.

- YouTube

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youtu.be

Life goes on. I want to tip my hat here to original Belly (and also Throwing Muses) bassist Fred Abong, who brought a great sound to those first proceedings before walking away because he "didn't want to be in a commercial band." Still friends, he showed back up for a session in the Swan Song series and maybe I'll share that later, I don't want to overdo this post, let's just go back to the first video "Gepetto" where we hear some great bass slapping and conspicuously see no bass player in the video.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Fred Abong, I wish I still had a bong for some of these mixes, and we salute you.

30. Different Drum (TD and the Parkington Sisters)
The most recent material we have to pull from, this was laid down and mixed RIGHT as the COVID lockdowns started to hit. My daughter and son in law got married on Feb 29, went to Disney World for their honeymoon and barely made it under the wire, getting home right when Disney World closed down. That's when the tracking for this album was wrapping up.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Tanya and these ladies went into the studio with nine selected cuts to cover, and knocked them out. The musicianship and backing vocals on this record are remarkable. We've got one more to hear, weeks from now, and at that point we'll wrap up the discussion on this project.

29. Whiskey Tango
From Tanya's third official - and FINAL - solo studio LP* in 2004, wherein we find her depressed about George Bush and things, this slow-sad little ditty serves as - I'm sure - a fine fill between Prince and the Talking Heads.

- YouTube

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youtu.be

We don't have too many of these. It's nice though. The cat likes it.

(oops, I forgot we still have another, slightly heftier song to go from WTG)

*She would release a live LP called This Hungry Life a couple of years later, with new solo material and a cover of Long Long Long. Not on Spotify. Delete Spotify!

 

[Dr. Octopus]

29

• Song: Plastic Flowers On The Highway
• Album: Southern Rock Opera
• Released: 2001
• Lead Vocals: Patterson Hood

First Hood song on my list and one where his vocals are a bit more subdued. I love the line “For the next few minutes, I drove a little slower” following our narrator’s observation of the scene of a highway tragedy – to me it represents the general way we all address a tragedy that doesn’t really directly affect us. We stop and think for a bit; maybe make ourselves some promise about taking care of ourselves better or what we want to accomplish before our own deaths – but the shortly after speed back up and life goes on.



He was ready for the big trip, he was moving to the city;
He had packed his prize possessions and gave away the rest.
He was almost doing ninety, the sky was blue, sun was shining.
All the ****, he left behind for the big world waiting there.
He was almost out of Leighton, when that phone truck didn't see him.
Hit the brake and slided sideways, he never had a chance.

Plastic flowers on the highway. Bits of glass for the machine to sweep away.
Had to pass it on my way to where I'z going. For the next few minutes, I drove a little slower.

 

[Mt. Man]

#29 Never Thought (here off Real to Reel, 2000)

(Youtube/Honky Tonk Union version) Never Thought

So will I suffer
Or will I be alright
I look up into the stars
And then look down to count my scars
And I know mercy

Real to Reel is basically the live version of Honky Tonk Union, RCPM’s first album in 1999. Though it also includes three “covers” of songs recorded by The Refreshments and an original song. This is the only song off Reel to Reel, but stuff from Honky Tonk Union will show up… sometime later.

Why I Chose It:
On this version, there’s a bit of a build up as a slow, rhythmic drum beat carrying us until the song truly starts. Along with that comes a longer runtime, up 32 seconds from the studio version. I figure I can afford given that the playlist run 2 hours 18 minutes even with the two bonus songs in the preview. Plus, if you like it, that's a bit more of a good thing, right?

That aside, this song has the bases covered with a driving, upbeat tone in both music and lyrics. Mostly there’s the sense of struggling with a relationship, of more downs than ups along with it. I found some suggestion that the song involves depression (which I can believe), and also that it involved mental struggles that Roger Clyne is/was going through. I couldn’t find a direct quote from Clyne, and he’s probably the type not to really talk about it. So I won’t (/can’t) speculate, and feel free to take that with some skepticism.

 

[Don Quixote]

29. Nina Simone, To Love Somebody, from To Love Somebody (1969)
YouTube Spotify

I started off with a couple of Nina Simone’s Bach-inspired tunes, but she could do some pop too. This one is a cover of the Bee Gees’ original. Not a lot to say about this one, just love the arrangement in it — her backing band shines a bit more in this one relative to the first two. It was originally written for Otis Redding, but he died in the plane crash before he could record it.

For any who like concert performances, here is a video of her Antibes performance of the song.

This is the title track — the album consisted of covers of popular songs. I posted her cover of Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne in my preview post. I’ll have one more track from that album in my list coming up.

This is starting a mini-stretch of songs that may be recognizable even to those who are not familiar with Nina Simone’s work. Next ones up include an old blues tune also covered by Led Zeppelin, and one that was famously sampled by Kanye West.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

29 -- Chelsea Rodgers -- from Planet Earth (2007)

Chelsea Rodgers is the latest release on my list. It is, IMO, the one standout on Planet Earth, a pretty mediocre to poor Prince album, breaking the streak of two pretty good late-stage Prince albums in Musicology and 3121. But I don't have anything from those two albums on this list. What can I say, I'm a sucker for making a song that sounds like a Chic B-side that would be played at Studio 54 in 2007.

Now, Prince has many talents, but I normally wouldn't put his skills as a lyricist among them. Unless he's just saying something super horny. This song doesn't have any real howlers, per se, but I feel we need to question some of what His Purple Badness is telling us about the eponymous model of the title. Chelsea is presumably a high fashion runway model who "don't eat no meat" yet still somehow has "*** like a leather seat." Not exactly the body type I associate with the runways of Milan. Chelsea is also presented as an intellectual who "reads more books than a few." But are they the right books? I'm not so sure. She posits that "Moses was a pharaoh in the 18th dynasty." The timeline lines up there, but it still seems a rather dubious claim. More problematically, she asserts that "Rome was chilling in Carthage in 33 BCE." But Rome burned Carthage to the ground more than a century earlier than that. Shoutout to Scipio Africanus the Younger.

In any case, whatever we can say about the Chelsea described in the song, the song itself is a bop. Black Sweat on 3121 might have been a better choice of a representative great later Prince song, but I just find this more fun. Sorry/not sorry.

 

[Raging weasel]

The 30's
Known liked songs
Someday
Brown Eyed Girl
Long Time Gone
China Girl
Are You In?
The Last DJ
Fav new to me
Different Drum
Distractions
Stabitha Christie
Love Me or Leave Me
We Came Along This Road
I Need a Man
Luck a Message
Loves No Friend

Another strong round, only 2-3 I didn't like

 

[scorchy]

Against Me! #29 - Androgynous (with Joan Jett and Miley Cyrus)

Album: Bad Reputation motion picture soundtrack
Year: 2018

What better way to revisit Paul Westerberg's decades-old gender non-conforming love story than to have rock-n-roll legend Joan Jett team up with trans-punk icon Laura Jane Grace as part of Miley Cyrus's Happy Hippie project.

The video of the performance from Miley's backyard absolutely radiates joy.

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

Some favorite lesser/un-knowns from the 30s:

Stabitha Christie
The Defence
Primer Coat
Clay Pigeons
Fred Jones, Pt. 2

Knowns

I Feel Better---like NV, I will almost certainly like/love every song on this list as I almost went with this artist for this round too.
Challengers

 

[kupcho1]

Talking Heads
#29 Seen and Not Seen

Seen and Not Seen is the first of 6 from Remain in Light! You'll find my list is heavily weighted toward their early material. Remain in Light was Talking Heads' 4th album and scored a perfect 10 on Pitchfork (for what that's worth), said reviewing being a retrospective look done in 2018. I think the album was respected and had one massive hit, but didn't get the love it gets today.

The review really has much more to say about music in 1980 (at least to start) than the actual album:

By 1980, the conflict in music between what was thought and what was felt was in full cry. As disco continued to monopolize music you could dance to, rock reached a point of maximum theoretical sincerity. Pink Floyd’s The Wall, possibly the least ironic recording of all time, was the No. 1 album in America for 15 weeks. It was finally unseated by Bob Seger’s Against the Wind, which was knocked out of the top spot by Billy Joel’s Glass Houses. Ostensibly, these were works of deep sentiment. To a generation of punks, though, they were rock at its most bloodless and calculating.

I can't argue with any of that; it's spot on at least to me cuz I was one of those punks.

In short, he [David Byrne] acted fake. But his fakery was so consistent, its logic so continuously evident, that it became a convincing public identity. In performance and on record, there was no part of Byrne that was not himself. As a result, his artifice seemed more honest than Seger’s verge-of-tears yarling or Pink Floyd’s proggy self-pity. The central insight of Talking Heads—what made them not just weird but exciting and relevant—was that their art-house affectation felt more sincere than a lot of American culture.

Oh Pitchfork, you had me at "verge-of-tears yarling"

Regarding Seen and Not Seen:

There is something motivational about Remain in Light, not just as dance music but as expression. On “Seen and Not Seen,” Byrne speculates that a man might change his appearance “by keeping an ideal facial structure fixed in the back of his mind.” It’s an absurd commentary on the nature of vanity, but it also declares a touching faith in artistic willpower—a faith Remain in Light rewards.

Although some people might have made mistakes
They might have arrived to an appearance that bears no relationship to them
They might have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish whim
Or a momentary impulse
Some may have gotten half way there
And then changed their minds
He wonders if he too might have made a similar mistake

 

[kupcho1]

I'm loving these Prince songs I've never heard before. And Belly, and Sia, and and and ...
Great job gang!

 

[Ilov80s]

Chicago is probably Sufjan's signature song. I consider it a masterwork and a pretty much perfect pop song on par with a Brian Wilson. Sufjan is credited with vocals, wurlitzer, bass guitar, vibraphone, piano, sleigh bells, tambourine, shaker, arrangement, and production for the song.

 

[Tau837]

Mike Shinoda

Just Win Baby

Open Door - YouTube Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. www.youtube.com

This is the first song from Shinoda's 2020 solo album, Dropped Frames, Vol. 1. Some critic comments about the album:

Kelsey Chapman of Alternative Press describes Dropped Frames, Vol. 1 as "an abnormally relaxed and joyful record to come out during a time marred by shared social tension and fear".

Brenton Blanchet of Spin characterized Dropped Frames, Vol. 1 as "a mesh of 'Mariachi,' 'Bollywood hip-hop' and '90's boy band pop' suggestions, featuring flute loops, Nintendo Game Boy-driven chords and vocal chants made up of hundreds of fan submissions".

Through the #SingOpenDoor contest, Mike picked seven fans to be featured on the track alongside his vocals, including fans from Sweden, Russia, and Ukraine:

• Ai Mori
• Debbie Darroch
• Jessy Boray
• Joar Westerlund
• Pershard Owens
• Sage Douglas
• Slava

Here is a video chat Mike had with these fans after the song was finished. I think this is an impressive engagement with his fans, and it contributed to making the song better.

Mike said this about the song:

"Open Door was really like, I was already writing it before quarantine and all of that. It was like looking for opportunity, and for me, looking for things that really grab my interest and keep me excited and feel like the place to spend energy. It could be a lot of things to different people. I was writing from the perspective of wanting something that was worth investing myself in, in terms of energy and time and passion and all of that. But still with some attitude in the verse, but with an encouraging kind of verse."

"Damn, they can sing. That song is called Open Door. When quarantine started, when the whole pandemic hit and we started staying at home, I started posting... I was originally on Instagram Live and I did a few lives just on my phone, I set my phone down and made some beats and stuff. And this track was made from two different beats I was messing with. I asked the community on Instagram which beat I should work on. And it was pretty close, the vote on which one I should pursue or whatever. So I mashed them up. And then I listened to it and I was like, "I really need another singer or something. It's probably a female vocal that I want on the track." So we did the #SingOpenDoor contest so I ended up choosing seven people. The things they sent in... they're all so talented. I just love what they do individually and I loved just stacking all of those vocals. This is maybe the first song I've put together and mixed that had, I think it had one hundred vocal tracks. It was a LOT. So that was fun."

Here are the opening lyrics, which I like a lot:

Yeah, they tell you that you should quit trying
You are too small, that you are too young
They tell you the chance is too slim
The world is too big, but you say, "How come?"
I'm ready to light a new fire
Raise a new flag, to cross a new sea and
If I'm ever the one in your way
Then put your head down and run right through me

So why keep settling for so much less?
Don't take what's given, just demand what's next

We're looking for an open door
Something we didn't see before
Some way to get out of here
A plot twist that we didn't see coming
We're looking for an open door
Something we didn't see before
And when we get out of here, we'll
No, no, we'll never stop running

 

[Ilov80s]

Oh for Fourth of July, I forgot to mention that it's full of references to winged creature: hawk, dove, loon. That is a big preoccupation of his. Flying creatures of all sorts appear over and over in his work.

 

[KarmaPolice]

BLOOD AND THUNDER

For me, this was love at first listen. This is the opening track to the album Leviathan. I've been thinking about this more and looking at dates, and what I came up with is that I was introduced to Mastodon and Opeth around the same time - 2005 to 2006. This was when I had the local video store with the couple metal head employees I had at the store. They got me talking about the genre and looking into newer stuff to listen to, so I started pouring over "best of" lists. A lot of stuff not clicking. I say late 2005, because I remember Ghost Reveries was my Opeth entry point, so that would have been released, and funny enough they were a struggle because of the vocals. The music kept pulling me back though. Another album I kept seeing over and over was Leviathan, so I gave that a spin. Like I said, love at first listen - but it was all about the drums. It sounded like nothing I had been listening to up until then. A lot of metal stuff over using double kick drums and prog stuff I liked playing 100 drums. In an intro post, I talked about how I picked up on an old-school, John Bonham thunderous bass and groove out of Brann's drumming. Even on these heavier albums, IMO that is front and center on a song like this if you can focus on that. I loved that sound + the sound of the snare and was hooked. I'm pretty sure I listened to that track about 10x before moving on. The part like 1:45 - 2:10 is just that unique Brann sound. I looked, and this is also their most downloaded song by far. I'd guess this song or my number #27 are the 2 songs they are most associate with.

As far as the album Leviathan goes - I've said before that they have 4 perfect albums and this is one of them. Here they follow up their "fire" themed debut and sticking with the elements and here is their "water" album. In true epic metal fashion, it's also a concept album based on Moby ****. As I said, I have a soft spot for concept albums and love that metal album art, so we check those boxes. There were a ton of hard cuts here, as I know I started with at least 5 from the album on my playlist. I made myself narrow it down to 2, as I thought songs from Blood Mountain fit the playlist more and I like that album a little more in general because they take the concept album idea into 1 of the 2 more important directions. As I talked with Emperor of Sand, that isn't based entirely on an existing story, and it's also a personal album. Leviathan has neither element, and Blood Mountain has more originality as we will talk about in a couple days. The reason I don't go back to Remission much is the vocals here are a little less harsh, there is more tech/prog in the songs, and concept albums! Also, since I was late to the game on Leviathan in 2005, Blood Mountain was bought on day 1 in 2006 around my birthday and I went right to switching between these two albums + Opeth obsession in full force.

Only 1 more song on Leviathan left on the playlist and it's not until the 3rd to last song on the playlist. We need to build up our metal endurance before tackling that one. Long story short, anybody who really liked this song, I recommend checking out the album in full. One of the best metal albums in the last 20 years IMO (but also IMO only Mastodon's 3rd or 4th best depending on my mood).

 

[Raging weasel]

Leviathan is the only Mastodon album I own and I like it a lot. Blood and Thunder is awesome and features back ground vocals by Neil Fallon of Clutch.

 

[zamboni]

CSNY

jwb

Rock and Roll Woman Rock & Roll Woman Buffalo Springfield · Buffalo Springfield Again · Song · 1967 open.spotify.com

Classic Buffalo Springfield - love it.

 

[zamboni]

Thin Lizzy

zamboni

Little Girl In Bloom Little Girl In Bloom Thin Lizzy · Vagabonds Of The Western World · Song · 1973 open.spotify.com

I owe a debt of gratitude to @rockaction for reminding me of this early 1973 gem from another thread (and thanks to @Zegras11 for letting me substitute). A tenderish ballad about a girl coming of age inspired by Phil Lynott’s mother’s own experience of having had him at a very young age. Can hear the anguish in his voice here and the song is punctuated by (another) killer guitar solo - this time by original guitarist Eric Bell. And some killer bass work by Phil himself underneath the solo.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Thin Lizzy

zamboni

Little Girl In Bloom Little Girl In Bloom Thin Lizzy · Vagabonds Of The Western World · Song · 1973 open.spotify.com

I owe a debt of gratitude to @rockaction for reminding me of this early 1973 gem from another thread (and thanks to @Zegras11 for letting me substitute). A tenderish ballad about a girl coming of age inspired by Phil Lynott’s mother’s own experience of having had him at a very young age. Can hear the anguish in his voice here and the song is punctuated by (another) killer guitar solo - this time by original guitarist Eric Bell. And some killer bass work by Phil himself underneath the solo.

I know this song because it was covered by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, but I've never heard the original.

 

[rockaction]

I know this song because it was covered by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, but I've never heard the original.

The original is also stellar, in my opinion.

 

[rockaction]

I owe a debt of gratitude to @rockaction for reminding me of this early 1973 gem

Thanks, man. Thanks for telling me who did the guitar solo. This is a gem of an artist pick and will be a gem of a playlist.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

29. Pretty Green
Album: Sound Affects (1980)
Released as a single? No

Pretty Green is the opening track of Sound Affects, The Jam's fifth and best album, and is a good marker of how far their sound had come in less than 4 years since their debut. Polydor, the band's label, wanted to release it as a single, but Paul Weller, at the urging of some of his friends, lobbied successfully for Start! instead, which ended up being the correct decision commercially. But Pretty Green is strong enough that it probably would have done well on the charts too. It opens with insistent bass and shuffling drums, a harder-edged take on the rhythm tracks of The Steve Miller Band's "Swingtown" (hence why I said in the teaser that this is one of their most American-sounding songs). Weller's singsong melody gets you bopping along to the point that you may not realize you're tapping your feet to an anti-capitalism rant.

This is the pretty green
This is society
You can't do nothing
Unless it's in the pocket, oh, no

The bridge of this song is the first evidence that the sonics of Sound Affects are going to be different from what the band did before -- a sitar shows up, and then disappears as the song reverts to its main melody, this time with blissful harmonies layered on top. Weller's vocal grows more Bowie-like as the song progresses, a sign of the more prominent Bowie influence than usual that appears at various times across the album. The song ends with some thudding notes from the bass and drums, as matter of factly as the lyrics' message.

I think Sound Affects is The Jam's best album, and Paul Weller agrees with me. It's a remarkable accomplishment given that Weller was 22 when it was released and it was the fifth album his band had put out in just over 3 years. That's some Beatles-level precociousness and productivity. The sped-up R&B and early Who overtones of their previous albums is joined by homages to The Beatles, Bowie, The Kinks, The Small Faces, psychedelia and the group's post-punk contemporaries. Weller characterized it as a reflection of his obsession with two records at the time: Revolver (more on that later) and Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. But none of that means anything if the songs aren't strong, and here they most definitely are. It has the most songs of any Jam album in my top 31 (6), and several others just missed the cut. If you want to explore Weller beyond the 31 tracks I've selected for this exercise, the Sound Affects album is the best place to ... Start!

Demo version, with the sitar more prominent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-7R4MoKgNU
Fire and Skill is a 6-disc live album, with one concert from each year of the band's recording career.
1980 version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTa9MQUW-48
1981 version (with horns-and-guitar coda that doesn't exist elsewhere): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAbEZToUcyI
Weller sitting in with Noel Gallagher in 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa-4cPTvS7A

At #28, a song that shocked me into including it when I was doing my research.

 

[rockaction]

^You've got the demo version in the 1981 slot, I think.

The 1980 reads "Fire and Skill" on the YouTube.

I think your links may be mixed up, though maybe I'm just misunderstanding your intros. Might want to double check and see if that's what you mean.

Never mind. The demo was a demo as stated.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

^You've got the demo version in the 1981 slot, I think.

The 1980 reads "Fire and Skill" on the YouTube.

I think your links may be mixed up, though maybe I'm just misunderstanding your intros. Might want to double check and see if that's what you mean.

Nope, I double checked and it's all correct for me.

The 1980 and 1981 are both from Fire and Skill (different discs).

 

[titusbramble]

I'm 99% certain that a band in a live venue I've just walked past on the way to the train station was doing a cover of a track I've included in my list that I wouldn't have known if I hadn't done this list. Which is cool, I guess

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Tears for Fears
#29 - Change

Tears For Fears - Change

'Songs For A Nervous Planet' – out now: https://found.ee/SongsForANervousPlanetListen to more from Tears For Fears: https://TearsForFears.lnk.to/EssentialsVo...

m.youtube.com

Appears - The Hurting LP
Year - 1983
UK Highest Chart Position - #4
US Highest Chart Position - #73
Key Lyric - You walked in to the room
I just had to laugh
The face you wore was cool
You were a photograph

Notes
1- This is a song that Roland wrote and didn’t like at all. So he gave it to Curt to sing, who was also underwhelmed.

2- Roland says “It's not really about much. It's just one of those cheap pop lyrics.”

3- It was chosen to follow Mad World which became their breakout song and a global hit except in the US

4-Change however was their initial entry point into the US market reaching #73

5- Most of their other “big” hits I have rated considerably higher. Not this one. Its the definition of average and hasnt dated well. May be one of my least favorite tracks on their debut album, The Hurting.

Where to find
The Hurting - 1
Songs from the Big Chair - 0
The Seeds of Love - 0
Elemental - 0
Raoul and the Kings of Spain - 0
Everybody Loves a Happy Ending - 0
Ready Boys and Girls - 0
The Tipping Point - 0
Greatest Hits only - 0
B- Sides - Other/Non Album Songs - 2

Year
1981 - 0
1982 - 0
1983 - 1
1984 - 0
1985 - 0
1986 - 1
1989 - 0
1993 - 0
1995 - 1
2004 - 0
2014 - 0
2017 - 0
2021 - 0
2022 - 0

Next up we go all Beatles…for the first, but not last time

 

[rockaction]

Nope, I double checked and it's all correct for me.

Great song, though. I got to hear a couple of versions of it! I liked the version YouTube went to that was a Top Of The Pops looking thing.

Now it'll be in my head today.

I've got a pocket full of pretty green
I'm gonna put it in the fruit machine
I'm gonna put it in the jukebox
It's gonna play all the records in the hit parade

Just one question for Weller: If everything is in the pound or the fist, couldn't that fist belong to communism as well? Just ask a Russian farmer. . .

Okay, okay. I had to.

That little political interlude was more like Soylent Green, amirite?

 

[zamboni]

Tears for Fears
#29 - Change

- YouTube

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Appears - The Hurting LP
Year - 1983
UK Highest Chart Position - #4
US Highest Chart Position - #73
Key Lyric - You walked in to the room
I just had to laugh
The face you wore was cool
You were a photograph

Notes
1- This is a song that Roland wrote and didn’t like at all. So he gave it to Curt to sing, who was also underwhelmed.

2- Roland says “It's not really about much. It's just one of those cheap pop lyrics.”

3- It was chosen to follow Mad World which became their breakout song and a global hit except in the US

4-Change however was their initial entry point into the US market reaching #73

5- Most of their other “big” hits I have rated considerably higher. Not this one. Its the definition of average and hasnt dated well. May be one of my least favorite tracks on their debut album, The Hurting.

Where to find
The Hurting - 1
Songs from the Big Chair - 0
The Seeds of Love - 0
Elemental - 0
Raoul and the Kings of Spain - 0
Everybody Loves a Happy Ending - 0
Ready Boys and Girls - 0
The Tipping Point - 0
Greatest Hits only - 0
B- Sides - Other/Non Album Songs - 2

Year
1981 - 0
1982 - 0
1983 - 1
1984 - 0
1985 - 0
1986 - 1
1989 - 0
1993 - 0
1995 - 1
2004 - 0
2014 - 0
2017 - 0
2021 - 0
2022 - 0

Next up we go all Beatles…for the first, but not last time

I like this a bit more than you do, but I could do without that plain generic strumming part towards the end.

 

[titusbramble]

I'm 99% certain that a band in a live venue I've just walked past on the way to the train station was doing a cover of a track I've included in my list that I wouldn't have known if I hadn't done this list. Which is cool, I guess

And I hit the 1%, on account of it being a track I considered, but didn't make the final cut. Point still stands though!

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Nope, I double checked and it's all correct for me.

Just one question for Weller: If everything is in the pound or the fist, couldn't that fist belong to communism as well? Just ask a Russian farmer. . .

The history of Weller's politics is ... complicated, and not something I'm going to get into much in this thread, for obvious reasons, though when stuff comes up in his lyrics that's worth mentioning, I will. But being 20 years old when Thatcher came to power seems to have affected him greatly.

 

[The Dreaded Marco]

29s

Some unfamiliar favorites:

Chelsea Rodgers
Whiskey Tango
Pretty Green

Some known:

That Teenage Feeling
Let's Dance
Chicago - a top 5 from Sufjan
Change - a top 10 from TfF
Floating in the Forth - a very difficult listen for me.

 

[rockaction]

The history of Weller's politics is ... complicated, and not something I'm going to get into much in this thread, for obvious reasons, though when stuff comes up in his lyrics that's worth mentioning, I will. But being 20 years old when Thatcher came to power seems to have affected him greatly.

Naw, I know. Not everyone is put neatly into a box. I was just being a bit of a contrarian, which was probably gauche for this thread. I know you dislike message board politics but that you sort of had to mention Weller's intent and discuss the song. Thanks for the measured response. I was really just kidding. No biggie either way, I think.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

The history of Weller's politics is ... complicated, and not something I'm going to get into much in this thread, for obvious reasons, though when stuff comes up in his lyrics that's worth mentioning, I will. But being 20 years old when Thatcher came to power seems to have affected him greatly.

I know you dislike message board politics

Needless to say, my vote in the "Is FBG better since the closing of the Politics Forum" poll was a resounding "yes".

 

[Zegras11]

CSNY

jwb

Rock and Roll Woman Rock & Roll Woman Buffalo Springfield · Buffalo Springfield Again · Song · 1967 open.spotify.com

Really enjoying these picks

 

[jwb]

Rock and Roll Woman

Rock & Roll Woman

Buffalo Springfield · Buffalo Springfield Again · Song · 1967

open.spotify.com

For today's CSNY, we go to Buffalo Springfield - Rock and Roll Woman. It's a Stills song, and there's talk that Crosby was involved somewhat, even though he was solidly in the Byrds at the time. To me, it's one of those songs that should have been bigger than it was - the riff is pretty darn catchy. But a lot of Springfield songs are like that - the ultimate shoulda/woulda/coulda band.

 

[jwb]

CSNY

jwb

Rock and Roll Woman Rock & Roll Woman Buffalo Springfield · Buffalo Springfield Again · Song · 1967 open.spotify.com

Really enjoying these picks

heh we posted almost simultaniously.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Rock and Roll Woman

Rock & Roll Woman

Buffalo Springfield · Buffalo Springfield Again · Song · 1967

open.spotify.com

For today's CSNY, we go to Buffalo Springfield - Rock and Roll Woman. It's a Stills song, and there's talk that Crosby was involved somewhat, even though he was solidly in the Byrds at the time. To me, it's one of those songs that should have been bigger than it was - the riff is pretty darn catchy. But a lot of Springfield songs are like that - the ultimate shoulda/woulda/coulda band.

Their label didn't really know what to do with them, and the turmoil between Stills and Young (which led to Young leaving the band several times during its brief history) didn't help either. I suspect Ahmet Ertegun suggested that Stills draft Young into CSN because he realized he had "blown it" with Springfield.

 

[rockaction]

Chicago is probably Sufjan's signature song. I consider it a masterwork and a pretty much perfect pop song on par with a Brian Wilson. Sufjan is credited with vocals, wurlitzer, bass guitar, vibraphone, piano, sleigh bells, tambourine, shaker, arrangement, and production for the song.

Another almost perfect song from Sufjan that I find very moving. I don't even need to hit play I know it so well.

If I was crying
In the van, with my friend
It was for freedom
From myself and from the land

 

[rockaction]

Although some people might have made mistakes
They might have arrived to an appearance that bears no relationship to them
They might have picked an ideal appearance based on some childish whim
Or a momentary impulse
Some may have gotten half way there
And then changed their minds
He wonders if he too might have made a similar mistake

I don't know the Talking Heads very well. Whether this is a planned blind spot or whether they're just a group that doesn't rock enough or dance hard enough is up for me to debate with myself. All I know is that Byrne's lyrics, whenever reprinted, tend to be among the best rock lyrics I've read.

You, kupcho1, being a lover of books and eager reader, have picked two bands so far like that. The Decemberists and Talking Heads. I've enjoyed them and their lyrical stylings, and usually I could give a whit about what any pop band has to say in their lyrics. I think this round of MAD has musicians with quite a lot to say (not that last round didn't, but critical acclaim follows some of the acts here more in that respect) and I'll be interested in a bunch of them.

 

[Juxtatarot]

Floating in the Forth - a very difficult listen for me.

The “I think I’ll save suicide for another day/year” lines seem like a triumph in the song — just persevering. That’s what gets me now.

 

[Zegras11]

Tears for Fears

John Maddens Lunchbox

Change (Vocals Curt) Tears For Fears - Change 'Songs For A Nervous Planet' – out now: https://found.ee/SongsForANervousPlanetListen to more from Tears For Fears: https://TearsForFears.lnk.to/EssentialsVo... m.youtube.com

This could be a Top 5 TFF for me. Glad to see it...

 

[Ilov80s]

Chicago is probably Sufjan's signature song. I consider it a masterwork and a pretty much perfect pop song on par with a Brian Wilson. Sufjan is credited with vocals, wurlitzer, bass guitar, vibraphone, piano, sleigh bells, tambourine, shaker, arrangement, and production for the song.

Another almost perfect song from Sufjan that I find very moving. I don't even need to hit play I know it so well.

If I was crying
In the van, with my friend
It was for freedom
From myself and from the land

He’s such a beautiful craftsman in both music and words. There might not be another songwriter ever who makes me feel quite as emotional. I could probably cry at any of his songs.

The evil it spread like a fever ahead
It was night when you died, my firefly
What could I have said to raise you from the dead?
Oh could I be the sky on the Fourth of July?

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

Tears for Fears

John Maddens Lunchbox

Change (Vocals Curt) Tears For Fears - Change 'Songs For A Nervous Planet' – out now: https://found.ee/SongsForANervousPlanetListen to more from Tears For Fears: https://TearsForFears.lnk.to/EssentialsVo... m.youtube.com

This could be a Top 5 TFF for me. Glad to see it...

I get that. It was their entry into the US charts.
It may be a small but reasonable percentage of peoples entry into TFF. Thats always important and may be threadworthy lol (peoples first exposure to an artist they grow to love being sentimentally higher than it should be)

I was expecting less than a handful of 90s onward stuff to make my list, but it turned into 13 songs
We will start a small run of them soon and see what people think. Already seen Creep.

Change is commercial, I know that, but I share the bands opinion of it.
Still unlike some singles from the 80s and 90s, it does make my list.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

Pointer Sisters - I know I joked about taking them, but @Mrs. Rannous is killing it with her selections so far. This was great.

Thanks! It was a pleasure to listen to them. Believe it or not, they get even better. They were from Oakland, but raised on gospel music. Where the funk came from, I have no idea.

 

[Mrs. Rannous]

EXTRA SURPRISE BONUS TRACK!!!

In case we've already forgotten, one of the bands that had a hand in creating The Seldom Scene included Roy Clark. His talent, as we saw already, was too big to be contained to a regional bluegrass band, so at some point he struck out on his own and found his way into the national spotlight. This link is to one of his early appearances, on the Jimmy Dean Show. I only stumbled on this clip after submitting my list, but felt it deserved some love here. I get a vibe from him similar to what Chris Pratt was going for when he was on Parks and Rec. Any musicians out there should appreciate the difficulty of what he was doing here. Hope y'all enjoy...

Roy sure was a god. He was also a major goober. He always ranks in my top ten guitarists. I really miss him.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Pointer Sisters - I know I joked about taking them, but @Mrs. Rannous is killing it with her selections so far. This was great.

Thanks! It was a pleasure to listen to them. Believe it or not, they get even better. They were from Oakland, but raised on gospel music. Where the funk came from, I have no idea.

Me neither, but they recorded an Allen Toussaint song on their first album, so it was there by then.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

EXTRA SURPRISE BONUS TRACK!!!

In case we've already forgotten, one of the bands that had a hand in creating The Seldom Scene included Roy Clark. His talent, as we saw already, was too big to be contained to a regional bluegrass band, so at some point he struck out on his own and found his way into the national spotlight. This link is to one of his early appearances, on the Jimmy Dean Show. I only stumbled on this clip after submitting my list, but felt it deserved some love here. I get a vibe from him similar to what Chris Pratt was going for when he was on Parks and Rec. Any musicians out there should appreciate the difficulty of what he was doing here. Hope y'all enjoy...

Roy sure was a god. He was also a major goober. He always ranks in my top ten guitarists. I really miss him.

To me, his talent sort of had the same kind of 'mania' that Robin Williams had, like his mind was maybe moving too fast for the moment and he worked himself harder to try and hold their attention while setting up the next laugh, when in fact the audience was trying to figure out what they just saw yet also trying to keep up with the next thing. Maybe that was how he compensated for being a goober.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

#30. I knew very little from this round.

Known-to-me favorites:

Long Time Gone -- strong contender for Crosby's best song
China Girl
The Last DJ -- I think this is the one bad album Petty made in his career, but the title track is fantastic
Challengers

New-to-me favorites:

The Everlasting Now
Distractions -- jazzy Sia is 2 for 2
Someday
Soulful Shade of Blue
Primer Coat
Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed -- fantastic guitar and vocal work on this one
I Need a Man -- POWERFULLY funky. Feeling the need to binge the '70s Pointer Sisters albums
Are You In?
Fourth of July (live) -- a stunner. I realize we're getting a lot of Sufjan's very best early because ilov80s Binky'd his list
Creep (live) -- I like this version better than the original.
Clay Pigeons
No More Doggin'
Love's No Friend -- I listened to most Rainbow albums once when I was kicking around ideas for the worldwide countdown, but I'm counting everything I didn't know before that as "new to me." The guitar solo and female harmonies in the middle are a bit reminiscent of Pink Floyd (the rest of the song is not).

And yes, KP, March of the Fire Ants would have been a new favorite if not for the vocals.

 

[Pip's Invitation]

Nope, I double checked and it's all correct for me.

Great song, though. I got to hear a couple of versions of it! I liked the version YouTube went to that was a Top Of The Pops looking thing.

Now it'll be in my head today.

I've got a pocket full of pretty green
I'm gonna put it in the fruit machine
I'm gonna put it in the jukebox
It's gonna play all the records in the hit parade

Just one question for Weller: If everything is in the pound or the fist, couldn't that fist belong to communism as well? Just ask a Russian farmer. . .

Okay, okay. I had to.

That little political interlude was more like Soylent Green, amirite?

We forgot to cover one important aspect of this discussion: What the heck is a fruit machine?