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Pop Rock Nation

Category: Mini-Reviews

  • 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!

  • Songs from your sickbed

    As January comes to a close, I’m thinking about how fortunate my husband and I have been so far this winter, escaping the horrible flu that has brought so many to their knees or driven them to their sickbeds.  If you’ve spent any time watching the news or hanging out on Facebook, you have no doubt heard from people who have been bitten by some nasty bug that has led to an oppressive sickness. In some unfortunate cases, the flu bug has led to worse illnesses or even death.

    I know many of my friends have been sick this winter. With that in mind, I thought I’d write a post for those who are presently stuck in bed.  Here are a few songs about sickness.  If you’re not sick right now, count your blessings and, for God’s sake, wash your hands!

    “Medical Love Song” by Monty Python

    Perhaps one of the most comprehensive songs about sickness out there is the hilarious “Medical Love Song” performed by the venerable comedy troupe Monty Python.  Be careful about listening to this if you have the flu, because it will make you laugh so hard you’ll erupt into a coughing fit.  On the other hand, if you have a weak stomach, you may end up vomiting because the lyrics are pretty disgusting.  If you’re me and violent coughing makes you throw up, you may do both.


    This particular video comes from a live show by Eric Idle.

    I doubt there are many songs out there that can top “Medical Love Song” in terms of inclusiveness.

    “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” by Johnny Rivers

    The first time I heard this song, I’d swear it was on a 45 and sung by someone like Jerry Reed.  I was at my cousin’s house and his parents are very musical and had a nice collection of old records.  But try as I might, I can’t find that same version I heard at their house.  In 1972, Johnny Rivers made “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” a hit.

    If you’re in bed, shaking, hacking, and sweating, perhaps you can especially relate to this classic.

    “Fever” by many singers

    You can’t garner much sympathy for being sick if you don’t have a fever.  The song “Fever” is a true classic, having been written by Eddie Cooley and Otis Blackwell, who used the pseudonym John Davenport.  It was originally recorded in 1956 by Little Willie John, but it’s been covered by many, many well-respected artists.  Peggy Lee’s version might be the most famous, but you can hear versions by Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, and Bette Midler, just to name a few.  You might say this song went viral!

    Here’s a rendition done by Rita Moreno and Animal, of The Muppet Show.

    “I Want A New Drug” by Huey Lewis and the News

    If you get sick enough, maybe you’ll consult your personal physician, who will prescribe a new drug for you. Hopefully, it’ll make you feel like yourself again, or at least as well as you’d feel with your main squeeze at your side.


    Being a child of the 80s, this song has a special place in my heart.

    “Hospital Beds” by Cold War Kids

    Of course, if your illness progresses too much, you could find yourself laid up in the hospital. In that case, you might relate to this song by Cold War Kids.

    On the other hand, hospitals are probably the last place you’d want to be when you’re sick!

    “The Jack” by AC/DC

    And then there are illnesses that don’t get spread via casual contact…

    AC/DC reminds us why it’s a good idea to be extra careful when it comes to choosing sexual playmates.

    “Heart Attack” by Olivia Newton-John

    A heart attack is the last thing you’d want to have happen when you’re in the throes of a nasty virus.  Better take care of your ticker, lest you end up like Olivia Newton-John. She makes heart attacks sound better than they really are.


    I will admit I was quite the fan of Olivia’s when I was coming of age, but she’s also done quite a few songs that fit my blog themes.

    “Seasons In The Sun” by Terry Jacks

    Sometimes being sick leads to the process of dying, which brings to mind this 1974 hit by Terry Jacks…

    Come on now, you know the words! I’ve heard that the flu this year has made some people wish they might find relief somehow, perhaps even through death.  And I’ve also heard that Terry Jacks’ hit also makes some people wish for death, though tastes definitely differ.

    “Angel” and “I Will Remember You” by Sarah McLachlan

    If you do happen to pass away, you can take comfort in the fact that there are many lovely songs written about death, like these two modern classics by Sarah McLachlan.

    If you’re sick right now, I do hope this little little tongue in cheek look at songs about sickness help you feel a little better. If you’re not sick, please wash your hands!  The flu can and does kill; so please do whatever you can to avoid catching and spreading it. Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands! And when you sneeze, aim for your elbow!

     

    Stay well!

  • Horrible covers of famous songs

    It’s Friday and I’ve had a very annoying week. It started with me struggling to fend off the latest virus and continued with freezing weather, technical difficulties, and lots of griping from the peanut gallery. Since it’s Friday and I’m in need of a good laugh, I figure today’s blog post should be about something relatively amusing. And to me, horrible cover versions of famous songs can be very funny. There have been a lot of them over the years. I don’t know what possesses some singers to take on songs that are inappropriate for their singing style. I would expect that during a karaoke show, but not so much by established musicians trying to make a living.

    “American Pie”

    The first song that immediately comes to mind is “American Pie”, which was written and made famous by Don McLean. It’s a song about the 1959 plane crash that killed Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson). Some people consider this song to be a masterpiece. Apparently, a lot of rock stars admire it, too; for it’s been covered by several. Madonna tried to sing it in 2000 and some people supposedly liked it.

    Madonna’s “American Pie”

    I don’t really care too much for Madge’s take on Don McLean’s classic song. But at least it’s not as bad as the one done by the Brady Bunch Kids.

    The Brady Kids do “American Pie”.

    I think this version pretty much hacks “American Pie” into a lot of little messy pieces. They could have used a little more vocal augmentation or something. It’s dreadful. Maybe I should cut them a little slack, though. The Brady kids were, after all, actors. I’m sure 1970s era recording techniques were primitive compared to what we have today.

    “Day Tripper” and “Eight Days A Week”

    The next song that comes to mind is one originally done by The Beatles. The Beatles are pretty much revered as a band that helped shape rock and roll into what it is today. John, Paul, George, and Ringo will forever be immortalized as rock gods; they wrote and performed some amazing songs. What rock star in their right mind wouldn’t want to emulate them? Even James Taylor, who is one of my FAVORITE performers of all time, took a stab at it with this unfortunate cover of “Day Tripper”.

    James Taylor’s “Day Tripper”

    Okay, so I can give James a little break for the fact that this particular version of “Day Tripper” was released in 1979, near the height of the disco craze. And I will even admit that there was a time when I actually enjoyed this version. Indeed, even today, it’s sort of a guilty pleasure. It’s got a certain little spunk to it and James Taylor could sing the phone book and I would probably enjoy it. But disco and JT… maybe not the best choice for optimal listening. I like it better when James Taylor sings his own songs.

    James Taylor is not the only one to try singing Beatles songs, though. Back in 1989, country singer Lorrie Morgan also gave it the old college try with her version of “Eight Days A Week”.

    Lorrie Morgan’s take on “Eight Days A Week”.

    This particular countrified version of “Eight Days A Week” is bouncy enough, with fiddles and even a lead guitar solo by Vince Gill. But I think it really pales against the original.

    “Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird”

     

    This cover is like a souvenir of all the nightmares I lived in the late 1980s…

    Will To Power sing their mashed up medley of songs by Peter Frampton and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

    In 1988, a band called “Will To Power” covered two monster rock songs, turning them into an insipid, bloodless, ghastly medley unimaginatively called “Baby I Love Your Way/Freebird”. This brings back unwelcome memories of high school. Please, make it stop!
     

    “Ring of Fire”

    Johnny Cash was no stranger to singing cover songs. In 2003, just months before he died, Cash sang Trent Reznor’s “Hurt” and did a fine job with it. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Olivia Newton-John’s rendition of Cash’s famous hit “Ring Of Fire”, which was written by June Carter and Merle Kilgore.

    Olivia Newton-John’s try at “Ring of Fire”

    The only reason I know about this version of “Ring of Fire” is because my dad was a big Olivia Newton-John fan in the 1970s and he had Olivia’s 1977 album Making A Good Thing Better on 8-track. I was five years old at the time and thought Olivia was pretty. Now that I’m a lot older, I can’t quite reconcile the high stepping prancing quality of Olivia’s cover of “Ring of Fire” to Johnny Cash’s big hit.

    “Have You Never Been Mellow”

    Olivia Newton-John got her just desserts for trashing “Ring of Fire” when Party Animals covered her hit song, “Have You Never Been Mellow”.

    “Have You Never Been Mellow” techno style

    Actually, I’ve heard quite a few techno versions of this song, none of which were particularly good.

    “Stairway to Heaven”

    “Stairway to Heaven” could probably be crowned Led Zeppelin’s masterpiece. If it’s not their best known song, it’s definitely one of their best loved rock anthems. And it’s so good, it’s even been covered by… Dolly Parton?

    Dolly Parton’s rendition of “Stairway to Heaven”

    Fair disclosure here. I actually like what Dolly did with this song; she even added some original lyrics and a little bluegrass styled jam at the end. However, as a Led Zeppelin fan, I also recognize that a lot of people probably think this cover is horrible. I don’t think it’s near as horrible as it could have been. At least Dolly didn’t turn it into disco.

    “Jolene”

    Since Dolly Parton is also quite the songwriter, her songs have also been butchered by other singers.  Her song “Jolene” has been redone more times than I can count.  I’ve heard it been turned into everything from bluegrass to techno.  In 1976, Olivia Newton-John gave it her best shot…

    “Jolene” by Olivia Newton-John

    This is a live performance, slightly faster than the recorded version. Olivia has vocal chops, but this version has strings (or synthesized strings on this live version) and Olivia introduces it with a fake southern accent. At the end, she looks like she’s in the throes of an orgasm as she shrieks about that hussy, Jolene. It makes me miss Dolly Parton something fierce.

    “Candle In The Wind”

    I love Kate Bush’s music.  I love her idiosyncratic voice, her expressive piano playing, and her exquisite lyrics.  But I don’t love what she did to Elton John’s epic hit, “Candle In The Wind”.

    Kate Bush sings “Candle In The Wind”… please someone blow it out!

    Granted, there is something kind of haunting about Kate’s vocals on this track, but I still miss Elton John’s appreciative vocals.  I don’t think she quite captured his admiration for Marilyn Monroe’s star power.  Kate Bush sounds very sterile to me, which kind of negates the whole tribute aspect of this song.

    I could probably go on writing about horrible cover songs all day, but it looks like it’s fixing to snow and that would just cap off my week.  So I leave you with one last horrible cover…

    “Paradise City”

    Pat Boone must have got quite the hair up his ass back in 1997, when he released an entire album full of of heavy metal cover songs.  He had brass balls to cover a Guns N’ Roses song, especially “Paradise City”.

    Pat Boone tries “Paradise City”.

    I’m not sure if he meant this to be taken seriously or not. Actually, I think a jazzy version of “Paradise City” doesn’t suck as much as it could. Maybe if Michael Buble had tried this, it would have worked better. I wonder if Axl Rose has heard what Pat Boone did with the song he made famous. If he has, I’m sure there were many spicy sentence enhancers used to describe it.

    Have a nice weekend, y’all!