Theme Song: "Vienna"

May 26, 2009

"Vienna" by Billy Joel is a great song ... and one of my all-time favorites.

Wikipedia sheds some light on what Mr. Joel intended when he wrote the song. The lyrics are an admonishment that I've tried for a long time -- unsuccessfully -- to take to heart, as I tend to "gobble through" life, over-consuming life experiences by volume and not always taking care to enjoy them. This song and "I've Never Been to Me" by Charlene have the potential to thoroughly shame me.

Click the forward icon below to listen to "Vienna" by Billy Joel.

I have to admit that my ability to "hurry through life" is significantly diminished by being unemployed ...

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (13)

Theme Song: "What's on Your Mind"

May 20, 2009

Another favorite that I'm always happy to hear ...

Take some Latin Freestyle percussion, add a lead singer from Minnesota trying to sound like Phil Oakey of The Human League, combine with samples of Spock and McCoy from Star Trek and you get ...

"What's on Your Mind," a Top Ten hit here in the U.S. in 1988.

Click the forward icon below to listen to "What's on Your Mind."

Information Society was, in fact, a pretty good band. They had several later albums that nobody ever listened to in the dance/pop genre, even though they were quite good. The lead singer and songwriter later went on to compose soundtracks to video games.

UPDATE: Crikey ... The embedded audio player above is having some problems. Will debug later today.

UPDATE II: Fixed now.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (5)

Theme Song: "Goodbye Seventies"

May 19, 2009

Joe and I accompanied Dr. Jeff to Fleshbot (NSFW) editor Brian O'Brien's birthday party on Friday at The Hose. Great party! I can't remember if it was there or at the after-party booze fest at Nowhere Bar where heard the DJ playing "Goodbye Seventies," one of my favorite Yaz songs.

Click the forward icon below to listen to "Goodbye Seventies."

"Goodbye Seventies" was track eight on Yaz's glorious Upstairs at Eric's album, the entirety of which was performed by band members Allison Moyet and Vince Clarke when they came to New York last year.

This song still comes to mind whenever I'm on the L train in Manhattan, the cars of which are invariable full of young hipsters with 70s hair departing the city for shag-carpet crash pads, presumably, somewhere out there in Brooklyn.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (4)

Theme Song: "Nice"

May 18, 2009

"Nice" was supposed to be the third-release from Duran Duran's 2004 album Astronaut, but somehow, it never made it to radio here in the States. Odd, because a dance version assembled by Swedish DJ Eric Prydz was a crazy hit in the clubs here. Eventually, it came out as a remixes-only EP on iTunes, featuring three mixes by Prydz and a handful by other artists.

When I'm on the cardio equipment at the gym, I'm probably listening to either "One Night in Bangkok" or this song.

Click the forward icon below to listen to "Nice (Eric Prydz Mix)" by Duran Duran.

"Now it hurts me to think you might never know ..."

I want to get up and dance.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (4)

Theme Song: "Silent House"

May 17, 2009

Not much comment for this song, except it is one of my favorites from the Dixie Chicks album, "Taking the Long Way."

Click on the forward icon to listen to "Silent House."

There is something haunting about this song ... It almost has an old-timey Appalachian music feel to it.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (6)

Theme Song: "Getting Away with It"

May 14, 2009

Great song: "Getting Away with It" by Electronic.

I'm not really sure what to say about this song ... It was basically a "lite" dance track put out as a singleton release in 1989 when Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr were recording the first album for their music project, Electronic. It never made it onto the album proper, but was a huge chart hit nonetheless both here and in the U.K. Background vocals by Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys.

Click on the forward icon to listen to "Getting Away with It" by Electronic.

This is one of those songs where the production seems just about almost perfect. It was recorded with a full section of real live orchestra strings, helpfully conducted by Art of Noise band-member Ann Dudley.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (5)

Theme Song: "1963"

May 13, 2009

1987 was the year that New Order released their massively successful Substance compilation album, which brought together all of their classic tracks to date in their most popular versions -- and some alternates -- including, "Blue Monday" and "Bizarre Love Triangle."

Substance also spawned a popular new single, "True Faith," but it was the B-side of that record that contained my favorite song from that era of New Order releases: "1963."

Listen to the lyrics ...

Click on the forward icon to listen to "1963" by New Order.

Can still make me cry a little bit.

One weird thing about the Substance album is that the most complete version was only ever released on cassette. Because of length limitations, the CD and album versions omit around 45 seconds of "The Perfect Kiss" and leave out some tracks, like "Shame of the Nation," entirely.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (1)

Theme Song: "Happiness Is an Option"

May 9, 2009

In 1999, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe released their seventh studio album under the Pet Shop Boys name, Nightlife.

1999 was the year I moved to New York City and, really, nothing reminds me more of that summer than the tracks "New York City Boy" -- not even all that great a song -- and "Never Been Closer to Heaven."

My favorite song from the record, though, was "Happiness Is an Option," a mid-tempo piece where the band takes a philosophical turn that is fairly in sync with my own views on the world.

(I sometimes annoy people who ask if I am happy by telling them that happiness is an approach to take in dealing with the world, rather than the result of achieving outcomes I want.)

Anyway ...

Click on the forward icon below to listen to "Happiness Is an Option" by Pet Shop Boys.

Great song ... Pet Shop Boys albums can be very uneven, but Nightlife had a lot of winning tracks. "In Denial," a duet with Kylie Minogue, was one of them.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (4)

Theme Song: "This is Acid"

May 8, 2009

Anybody remember this?

"This is Acid" was recorded by Chicago House producer Maurice Joshua -- originally credited as just "Maurice" -- in 1989. That was my senior year in high school. The track was one of a million released that year, assembled from the same set of audio elements -- a Roland drum machine, a detuned chord line, a rapper, sirens, samples instructing you to "jack your body."

Good times.

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "This is Acid" by Maurice.

I haven't been dancing in a long time because the music all sounds like someone is beating a washboard with a spoon. The tracks are too long, there are no vocals and the crowds on the dance floor seem angry. Pity.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (4)

Theme Song: "Also Sprach Zarathustra"

May 7, 2009

In 1973, Brazilian instrumentalist Eumir Deodato released an updated arrangement of Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" that incorporated elements of jazz, blues and Brazilian pop into the piece. ("Also Sprach Zarathustra" had been given new life a few years previously as the theme song from the movie 2001: A Space Oddysey.)

The nine-minute Deodato version weirdly became a Top Ten hit on the singles charts here in the U.S.

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "Also Sprach Zarathustra."

I guess this version is a bit of a period piece now, but it appeals to me somehow. I bet Strauss never anticipated his Nietzschean Overman rising from a primordial ooze of funky guitars and electric pianos.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (7)

Theme Song: "Video Killed the Radio Star"

May 6, 2009

In 2003, British electronic popsters Erasure released an album of covers called Other People's Songs that included this version of "Video Killed the Radio Star." The Erasure cover album was mostly unlistenable nonsense. This song, however, makes a cute finale to the record, appearing as the final track. It's on my playlist for the subway this morning.

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "Video Killed the Radio Star" by Erasure.

Practically everyone remembers the original version of this song, performed by The Buggles, and its celebrated appearance as the first video ever played on MTV. It turned out to be a rather incorrect piece of prophecy, as it wasn't video that killed the radio star. It was the Internet.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (1)

Theme Song: "One Night in Bangkok"

May 5, 2009

The musical Chess, with a score by ABBA bandmasters Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, hit the stage in London in 1986 and featured Murray Head, Elaine Page and Tommy Körberg in lead roles.

But nearly two years before the curtain opened on Chess, it opened as a musical concept album and spawned a couple of chart hits, of which one was "One Night in Bangkok."

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "One Night in Bangkok" by Murray Head.

God, I love this song.

I've never really had an interest in visiting Thailand, but I'm pretty sure that "One Night in Bangkok" is responsible for my love of Thai food. And what is that instrument that plays during the dream sequence at 1:39? Is that just some really expressive flute playing? Anybody know?

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (11)

Theme Song: "Wrong"

May 4, 2009

Probably my favorite Everything But the Girl song to this day: "Wrong."

I just love the mix of Tracey Thorn's smooth vocals over the programmed drum line here. The story is that Ben Watt decided to do an entirely electronic album because his state of health was so poor at the time that he did not have the strength or energy required to produce one on conventional instruments.

It turned out pretty nice.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (7)

Theme Song: "Right Here, Right Now"

May 3, 2009

This song, somehow, will always represent to me the great sense of hope and optimism that characterized the 1990s here in the U.S. "Right Here, Right Now" was, after all, one of the theme songs of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign.

Wikipedia reports that the song was also used in K-Mart commercials on television. Must have been on a channel that I don't watch. On Lifetime, they just have Martha Stewart ads ...

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "Right Here, Right Now" by Jesus Jones.

The drum line is reminiscent of the sampled R&B beats -- mainly from James Brown tracks -- popular in dance music at the time.

Good song ...

There were so many times during the long and horrible years of the Bush "administration" when I wanted those days back.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (1)

Theme Song: "Self-Control"

May 2, 2009

Joe chastized me yesterday for posting a pitched-up version of "Menergy" as the theme song of the day, saying that, "Songs were never that fast back then!" (The original, slower version is available in lo-fi stereo here.)

Reminded me of listening to some older tunes last summer when Joe, Chris C. and I were camping. I thought, "How did we ever dance to this?" Beats per minute are so high these days -- even though the music is less danceable -- everything from before 1987 sounds like it's in slo-mo to me.

An example is this 1984 track by Italian pop act Raf, which was also a huge hit when Laura Branigan covered it later the same year.

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "Self Control" by Raf.

Great track. But ... yes ... It could use a little more speed.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (4)

Theme Song: "Menergy"

May 1, 2009

Today's theme song is "Menergy" by Patrick Cowley, a song introduced to me by this week's broadcast of Penetration, the Andy Reynolds show on East Village Radio. (Recorded stream here). Andy is a popular DJ about town and the promoter who represents such acts as Cazwell and Bob Mould.

I'm a bit too young to remember this song when it first hit the dancefloor, but Joe was able to provide a bunch of info about the record and its producer. This amazing website is full of photos and personal reminiscences about the artist, who was one of the originators of the Hi-NRG style.

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "Menergy" by Patrick Cowley.

I can totally feel the menergy just listening to this!

In the world of gay marriage and adoption of mainstream "family values" by gay men, this track seems to come from a place long passed -- perhaps it does. I'm not sure I remember the last time I felt or saw the mania, sexual drive and dancefloor energy that this song conjures up. I suppose a lot of that mania came out of the sense of sexual outlawry of the day -- something that was physically liberating, if oppressive otherwise.

Patrick Cowley died of AIDS in 1982, when it was still called GRID. One of his most memorable legacies is the song Do You Wanna Funk, a collaboration with the artist Sylvester.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (4)

Theme Song: "The Touchables"

Apr 30, 2009

The Human League's 1980 album Travelogue contains a singable little track called "The Touchables." It was never released as a single, but it might be the best Human League track from that period. (Also on this album is the re-release of an earlier track, "Being Boiled," which had earlier become the band's first U.K number one single.)

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "Another Day" by The Cure.

The Human League was a great 80s pop band, but they were also a great pioneering 70s electronic music band. "The Touchables" always seemed to me like a bridge between two different incarnations of the band.

A funny thing about this song is that, instead of a drum machine, it uses a sequenced synthesizer playing a low resonant thud for the bass drum and a resonating filter passing over white noise for the snare. (There were drum machines out there -- for example, the Roland CR-78 -- but the first real commmercial recording drum machine did not come to market until after this record was made.)

The drum line briefly goes out of sync with the rest of the arrangement after about :57, always making me think, "Wha--?" Hard to believe that would ever happen on any studio release these days.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (4)

Theme Song: "Another Day"

Apr 29, 2009

Three Imaginary Boys was The Cure's 1979 U.K. debut album. (Their U.S premiere was released in 1980 as Boys Don't Cry.) The album's fourth track on Imaginary Boys, a dirge called "Another Day" is one of the best songs on the record. You can hear many of the characteristic sounds of The Cure already in development in this 3:45 piece.

Not sure what it is about the lyrics to this song, but they really do it for me:

The sun rises slowly
On another day
The eastern sky grows cold
Winter in water colours
Shades of grey

Or maybe it's just Robert Smith's delivery.

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "Another Day" by The Cure.

I hate to sound like an old man -- as Joe says, "Hey, you kids -- Get off of my lawn!" -- but it just seems like pop music was more interesting back in the day.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (0)

Theme Song: "Temple of Love"

Apr 28, 2009

In 1992, British gothic rock bank Sisters of Mercy recorded three new tracks for release on their so-called "greatest hits" album, A Slight Case of Overbombing. One of these was a re-recording of an earlier Mercy single, "Temple of Love."

Ofra Haza was brought on board by record company Warner Bros. for what is an unusual vocal pairing on the song. With Ms. Haza singing the title of the track in her lilting Yemeni tremolo, Sisters of Mercy front man Andrew Eldritch grunts and chants lines like, "Life is short and love is always over in the morning."

(This wasn't the only odd Ofra Haza duet from the period. Check out My Love is for Real with Paula Abdul. Great song, until Paula starts singing.)

Funny stuff.

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "Temple of Love (1992)" by Sisters of Mercy.

True story: Sisters of Mercy was joined by Dead or Alive guitarist Wayne Hussey for the debut of the band's first album, First, Last and Always in 1985. Tempestuous rock star drama caused Hussey and bassist Craig Adams to split off and form their own gothic rock act, The Mission, which released a number of successful -- and good -- records in its own right.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (0)

Theme Song: "Left to My Own Devices"

Apr 27, 2009

"Left to My Own Devices" was the second single on the Pet Shop Boys' third album, Introspective. Its Richard Niles orchestra arrangement and pounding disco beat made it one of my favorite songs of the day. ("Devices" was released in 1988.)

It also contains one of my favorite Pet Shop Boys lines, "But in the back of my head I heard distant feet/Che Guevara and Debussy to a disco beat," with Neil Tennant unashamedly mispronouncing the French composer's name.

Click on the forward-arrow icon below to listen to "Left to My Own Devices" by the Pet Shop Boys:

Great song ... It's amazing how it still sounds fairly fresh, even now. 1988 also brought us, for example, Billy Ocean's "Get Out of My Dreams," a song that sounds dated, tired and just horrible in comparison. And "Get Out of My Dreams" was a huge hit!

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (0)

Theme Song: "Corcovado"

Apr 25, 2009

Everything But the Girl covers Antonio Carlos Jobim's Brazilian pop masterpiece "Corcovado" in this 2002 remix. "Corcovado" was the B-side one of the band's Walking Wounded singles and later appeared on the compilation Like Deserts Miss the Rain.

I wish I had a copy of the original version, which I think is actually better than this long-form, 2002-style House rendition, which hasn't exactly aged well. (It will certainly take you back a few years, though.) Unfortunately, my copy of the original version is lost on an old hard drive somewhere and isn't for sale on iTunes. You can preview a snippet of the song -- and Tracey Thorn's fabulous voice -- on LastFM here.

Anyway ...

Here is today's theme song, "Corcovado (Knee Deep Remix/Ben Watt Vocal Re-Edit)," by Everything But the Girl. Might want to turn the volume down, 'cause this thing starts off with some pounding drums.

Everything But the Girl is one of my all-time favorite bands.

Audio player above is a bit clumsy. I'm working on building a custom version using Flowplayer that will let you adjust volume, etc.

Update: Beta version of new player is now in place above.

-- Aaron | Link | Comments (1)