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Pop Rock Nation

Author: Jenny

  • First song I ever heard in my Toyota RAV 4…

    I hope readers will indulge me today, because I’m very excited about something. In March 2006, my husband and I were living in northern Virginia. We were BROKE, mainly because I was jobless and he was both paying a lot of child support and recovering from some financial disasters that occurred during his first marriage. Nevertheless, in the three years and four months we had been married, we were making steady progress toward a better financial situation. On a crisp morning in March 2006, we were in the market for a new car.

    That Saturday morning, off we went to Koons Toyota, where we had made an appointment with an oily salesman who had advised us to set aside several hours and eat a good breakfast before showing up. I remember that appointment being very hectic and obnoxious. The salesman was good at his job and ended up talking us into a car that was nicer than what we had planned to buy. He did not, however, talk us into buying a pricey extended warranty. When he pitched it to us, I told him that he’d been harping on how reliable Toyotas are for the previous four hours and I was going to take him at his word. I remember my husband had purposely left his checkbook at home so he wouldn’t be pressured into buying before he was ready. In the end, they let us trade in my 1997 Toyota Corolla and agree to bring them a check within a week.

    Anyway, though I was sad to say goodbye to my dark blue Corolla, which had served me so well for eight years and was a relic from my days as a single woman, I was excited about our brand new car. And I remember getting into that virginal Toyota and turning on the radio, which happened to be tuned to a Washington, DC area blues station. They were playing a song by Baltimore area bluesman, Charles “Big Daddy” Stallings…

    4×4 Woman

     

    I remember looking at my husband and grinning from ear to ear as we listened to this hilarious, appreciative song about a man who loves his “4×4 Woman”, a sweet woman who’s heavy, wears glasses, and keeps his refrigerator stocked with good food… Being a bit on the zaftig side myself (although my dimensions aren’t 4×4… yet), I could relate to it. And my husband, who loves my cooking, could too.

    That brand new Toyota RAV4 cost roughly $28,000. We financed most of it and because my husband’s credit was at that time still pretty crummy, we borrowed the money from Toyota Motor Corporation, which was charging 8.5 percent interest. That was almost seven years ago and we’ve come a long way, especially financially, since March 2006. A couple of years after we bought the car, I convinced my husband to let me try to refinance the loan with my credit union. We managed to snag a 2.9 percent interest rate which, though it extended the life of the loan, cut our payments significantly, freeing up more cash for other things. It also saved us some cash, which we’ve been able to use for fun things like foreign travel and my Mini Cooper convertible.

    This morning, our most recent car payments went through, bringing our debt for the RAV 4 down to $657. I threw another $125 at it, bringing us down to $532. Before February is finished, that loan will be history– two months ahead of time, I might add! It’s very exciting to go from owing $28,000 to owing $532, even though it took years to get there. Better yet, the Toyota has less than 100,000 miles on it and still looks and runs great.

    As for “4×4 Woman”, I liked the song so much that I started trying to find the CD it came from. I didn’t remember who sang the song, so I did what I always do when I get a song in my head that won’t go away. I started searching the Internet, using the few lyrics I remembered from the song. After some time using that method, I finally found the CD for sale at CDBaby.com. At the time, it was the only place selling Charles “Big Daddy” Stallings’ CD, One Night Lover. I bought the CD while my husband was deployed to Iraq and made him a mix CD with our “Toyota song” on it. I sent him music and Peets coffee all the time, in an attempt to boost his morale in the desert.

    Being almost done with a big car loan is very exciting. Being able to relate that excitement to a hilarious blues song is practically priceless!

  • Mashups, medleys, and songs that just sound alike…

    Last month, I posted about horrible cover songs here on Pop Rock Nation. That post generated some great comments, especially on Facebook, when a poster introduced me to the truly horrible abomination that is Tom Jones’ cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”. I used to think Olivia Newton-John’s cover was the worst, but I think Tom Jones gives her a run for her money. However, despite the atrocity of the musical stylings of Tom Jones doing a classic Johnny Cash song, I have to admit that cover inspired something in me. You see, as I listened to it…

    Tom Jones “Ring of Fire”

    I suddenly realized that it reminded me of another song…

    Lynyrd Skynyrd “Swamp Music”

    Tom Jones and Lynyrd Skynyrd are pretty different musically speaking, but the similar arrangements of these two songs are pretty uncanny. Okay, so they aren’t totally the same, but especially at the beginning, they mesh pretty well. And then it occurred to me that both songs sort of reminded me of a third song…

    George Thorogood & The Destroyers “You Talk Too Much”


    George Thorogood’s brand of bluesy rock is a far cry from Tom Jones’ sexbomb style or Lynyrd Skynyrd’s southern rock. But he seemed to channel them with his song, “You Talk Too Much”.

    Several days later, I got a sudden urge to listen to an old song by country singer, George Strait.

    “The Fireman” George Strait

    And as I was listening to George Strait singing about puttin’ out fires, I was reminded of a song by Van Morrison…

    Van Morrison “When That Evening Sun Goes Down”


    It’s done in the same key and a similar tempo, and again, could probably mashup pretty well with George Strait’s 80s era number.

    I’m always intrigued when someone takes a couple of songs and strings them together into a medley or, even better, turns them into a delightful mashup blend. Back in 1983, when Michael Jackson’s Thriller was all the rage, some brilliant soul decided to mashup his hit song “Billie Jean” with the Steely Dan hit, “Do It Again”. This is what we got from that blend.

    Club House “Do It Again/Billie Jean”

    A few years later, Depeche Mode did it with their cover of “Route 66” and their own song, “Behind The Wheel”.

    The first time I heard this mix, I was a disc jockey at WLCX radio station at Longwood College. And, much to my shame, I have to admit this was probably my first real taste of Depeche Mode. Sure, I had heard their music, but this was the first song I had ever really listened to by them that made me want to listen to more of their music. It turned out this particular mix was a rare find. At the radio station, we only had it on a 45 record, which someone else grabbed before I could score it during a big inventory purge. Thank God for YouTube.

    I love music by Carole King and James Taylor and they’ve worked together a lot.  Back in 2010, they had their magical “Live At The Troubadour” tour.  In that concert, they seamlessly blended their versions of “Up On The Roof”, a song King wrote with her ex-husband, Gerry Goffin back in the early 60s.

    Carole King and James Taylor “Up On The Roof”

    I like both versions, but actually prefer what James did with it compared to Carole’s rendition. Still, it’s awful cool that they were able to string them together so perfectly. On the other hand, I like Carole King’s version of her song, “You’ve Got A Friend”, better than James’ take. I’m surprised they didn’t try to mash them up, too.

    Lots of people are getting into the act. The Wax Audio Channel on YouTube has quite an interesting mashup of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees and “Another Brick In The Wall” by Pink Floyd, as well as quite a few other blends of excellent songs. Are you ready for a mashup of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana and “The Final Countdown” by Europe? How about “Careless Whisper” by Wham! and “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol?

    WaxAudio “Stayin’ Alive In The Wall”

     

    “The Final Teen Spirit”

    “Careless Rebel”

     

    Now I’m excited. I might have to hang out on YouTube all day and see what other craziness I can dig up.

  • Take this job and SHOVE it! Songs for working stiffs…

    Over the past couple of days, there’s been a news story circulating about Chelsea Welch, a now former Applebee’s waitress who uploaded a photo of a credit card receipt with a rude comment left on it by a patron who’d allegedly “stiffed” one of Chelsea’s co-workers out of a tip. Apparently, Chelsea’s decision to upload that photo of the credit card slip mortified the patron, who then called up Applebee’s and demanded that everyone involved in the incident be fired. Applebee’s didn’t go that far, but they did fire Chelsea Welch for violating the customer’s privacy by sharing the offensive remark scribbled on the credit card slip.

    I don’t want to get too much into that story, since it’s already gone viral and can be found all over the Internet. However, as someone who has waited tables and knows how hard the job is, it made me start thinking about hard work and the people who do it everyday. And then I was reminded of all the songs about people who work hard for the money. So today’s blog post is dedicated to Chelsea Welch, and all other the people out there who have tough jobs, especially those who have to deal with the public while maintaining an unshakeable smile and nerves of steel.

    “Get a Job” by The Silhouettes and James Taylor

    “Get a Job” is a song that was made popular in 1957 by The Silhouettes.  Many years later, James Taylor covered it.  I somehow ran across Taylor’s cover version on Napster back in 2000, and then he included it on his 2009 EP, Other Covers.  It seems fitting to start this post with “Get a Job”, because you generally can’t have work related exasperation if you don’t have a job.  And looking for a job can certainly be very exasperating.  I should know.  I gave up on being a working stiff years ago and just write blog posts now.

    “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton


    “9 to 5” is the title song for the 1980 film by the same name. More than that, it’s a song that really spells out how frustrating it can be to work at a low level, especially when you’re ambitious. Of course, nowadays, a lot of people are just happy to have a job. But back in 1980, Dolly Parton really captured the essence of being a low level employee, just trying to get by. It’s also a great song to listen to in the morning, when you’re trying to get going.

    “She Works Hard For the Money” by Donna Summer

    The late disco diva Donna Summer contributes “She Works Hard For the Money” to any list of songs for working stiffs. Just watch the video and you’ll see exactly why waiting tables or being a housekeeper is tough, especially when you’re a single parent who’s given up on your dreams. This is another great morning song. I remember it being a staple in aerobics classes too, back when I could still be bothered to do aerobics.

    “Working for a Livin’” by Huey Lewis and the News


    Huey Lewis and the News contribute the upbeat “Working for a Livin’”, yet another song that conveys the frustration of having to put up with a lot of crap while on the job and barely making enough money to cover all the bills. The chorus says it all, “I’m takin’ what they’re givin’ cuz I’m workin’ for a livin’”. I hear ya, Huey!

    “Working In A Coal Mine” by Lee Dorsey… or Devo


    Lee Dorsey made this song about working in a coal mine popular in 1966, but being a child of the 80s, I had to include Devo’s geekier version.  I guess Lee Dorsey’s version is more about physical labor, while Devo reminds me more of what office workers have to deal with in a corporate setting… albeit with IBM typewriters and computer cards rather than the Internet equipped machines of today.

    “Allentown” by Billy Joel


    Billy Joel contributes this thoughtful hit about industrial factory work. My husband once worked in factories and described it as mind-numbingly tedious work. It drove him back into the military.

    “Take This Job and Shove It” by Johnny Paycheck

    Okay, so this is a country song, but how many of us have uttered this very line when we are at our wit’s end on the job? I know I have, especially when I waited tables.

    “F*cked Up, F*cked Over, and Hungry” by Weird Wilbur


    I found Weird Wilbur on YouTube a few years ago and he wrote this very cynical but funny ditty about trying to get in the music business. Yeah, it’s life as a struggling musician, and the work is still pretty hard if you don’t know the right people.

    “Forty Hour Week (For a Livin’)” by Alabama


    Country band Alabama had some appreciation for working people when they recorded “Forty Hour Week”, thanking working folks for what they do every day.

    “Complete History of the Soviet Union, Through the Eyes of a Humble Worker” by Pig With the Face of a Boy


    I suppose we can be grateful that at least we’re not living in the old Soviet Union. I used to live in a former Soviet country and this video pretty much captures what some people told me about the old regime… Has there been improvement now that the Soviet Union is no more? That remains to be seen.

    “Livin’ It Up (Friday Night)” by Bell and James

    Since it’s Friday, I figure Bell & James and their hit “Livin’ It Up (Friday Night)” is the perfect way to end my post on songs for working stiffs. If you’re not working this weekend, I hope you have a good time and manage to live it up tonight! You deserve a break today!