I’m very happy that my friend Brian just played “Buttercup,” the newest song from Lucinda Williams on his great radio program Songs on Toast. (taintradio.org , Noon EST on Sundays.) I really like it. The song, that is. The show, I love. It’s on now. Go. Listen.
In the spirit of playing it forward or whatever that expression is, here you go. That’s the song. Not the show.
There is no song that more aptly describes my day than “Harlem Airshaft,” recorded by Duke Ellington back in 1940. I could explain but I’m just too exhausted.
What I will do instead is tell you a little bit about the song. Or rather, I’ll let Duke do the talking:
“You get the full essence of Harlem in an air shaft. You hear fights, you smell dinner, you hear people making love. You hear intimate gossip floating down. You hear the radio. An air shaft is one great loudspeaker, you hear people praying, fighting and snoring.”
On an unrelated note, my father was the white version of Duke. Not as a musician or anything, but as far as looks. It’s really quite astonishing.
Dad, um I mean Duke, recording "Harlem Airshaft"
Download here.
I came across a song recently called “Radio City of Love” by Japanese singer, Morio Agata. It’s on a hard to find reissue compilation called “Vanity – Finest Selection, 1978-81.” As a life-long Joy Division fan, I find it fascinating that I wouldn’t have heard this song before this week.
It’s ridiculously close to “She’s Lost Control” – or “She’s Lost Control” is ridiculously close to it. I’m not sure which came first. It seems like they both came out in 1979, so it’s anybody’s guess, but the information I can find is very minimal.
Regardless, it’s shocking to not have heard this, or have ever even heard a discussion about the similarity of the two tracks. Listen for yourself here and here.
Weird! Does anyone have any info?
Signed,
Curious in Margauxville
Millie Jackson (or as I like to refer to her, the first Miss-Jackson-If-You’re-Nasty) summed it up pretty well in her 1973 soul nugget, “Hurts So Good.”
Incidentally, it will really hurt my feelings if you don’t download it here. And I don’t mean in a hurts so good kind of way.
Don’t you think it’s interesting that some of the meanest songs are the most catchy?
I present Exhibit A: “Get Out of My Life Woman” by Solomon Burke. Download here.
Okay, your witness.
My latest obsession – and I do mean obsession – is “Weekend” by Smith Westerns. I absolutely cannot get enough of this song. In fact, if I could marry the guitars at the beginning, I would. Smitten, I tell you!
And Smith Westerns are wise beyond their years: they know that weekends are never fun unless you’re around here too.
Wait, is Tuesday too early to post a song about weekends? Well it matters not! I must!
Download here NOW!
I don't really have anything against Mr. Firth. He's just representative.
The more I think about The King’s Speech and especially Tom Hooper winning last night, the more annoyed I am. Haven’t the Oscars awarded to Forrest Gump, Shakespeare in Love and Crash taught us anything?
It’s not like I didn’t think it was a good movie. I did. Just should never have won over The Social Network and David Fincher.
Here’s one of the things I did love about The King’s Speech: the fact that it used one of my favorite pieces of music, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, Allegretto. I was wondering why I’ve had that in my head all day today, and just realized it must have been the darn Awards.
Anyway, download here. It’s beautiful.
As anyone who knows me will tell you, there’s pretty much nothing more important to me than movies. I mean, after water and oxygen and love and stuff. But you know what I mean. And so tonight, Oscar Night, is the most important night of the entire year.
I’ve tried to explain how important this event is to me, but honestly the only way to fully explain it, is with this absolutely lovely tribute from 1970 by Loudon Wainwright III: “Movies Are a Mother to Me.” For those of you keeping track, he also re-recorded it a million years later, in 2008, but the original is so much better and since I only want the best for you, here it is.
Boys: think like a girl. That’s all you need to do and everything will be wonderful and perfect. It’s true.
P.S. I almost forgot…download Diana King’s “Think Like a Girl” here.
“Romantic Me.”
I’m thinking that might be a good epitaph. Just my name, that phrase and the dates. Hopefully I still have a bit more time to decide, but right now, it’s under contention.
For the time being, I guess, it’s only the title of this song by the late-1970s group, Polyrock. It’s the kind of song that, no matter what you think of it upon first listen, will curl up in your brain and you’ll be hitting repeat over and over.
Phillip Glass performed on and produced their first couple of albums. You probably won’t be surprised at that once you hear it.
If I ruled the world, Polyrock would have been the ones that got the recognition that Talking Heads always received. Good thing I rule Margauxville.
Download here, but watch the video, too. It’s so of an era.
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