My intros suck…I’m still looking for guests for this column. Don’t be shy! I want to know what’s in your music collections! Anyhow, let’s continue moving through mine.
1) Not for You by Pearl Jam: The Vitalogy album kinda marked the beginning of the “OK, Eddie Vedder, you’re trying a little too hard to be aloof and counter-culture” period. I remember seeing him on the Grammys one year after he won the award and he said something like (I’m paraphrasing, forgive me) “We don’t understand the meaning of shows like this” or some crap like that, and I was like “then WHY are you here accepting an award?”. Sheesh. Anyway, great song, pretty good album. I love Vedder when he screams. He’s actually got a very soulful voice. I miss my copy of Vitalogy on vinyl.
I say Eddie, Dave Grohl and Chris Cornell challenge one another to a scream-off.
2) Definition by Black Star: Talk about the whole being greater than the sum of its’ parts. Mos Def and Talib Kweli belong together like Mariah Carey. Not to say they haven’t made great music on their own, but as Black Star, they have a very special chemistry that can’t be outdone. A second Black Star album has been threatened for quite some time. I wish they’d make good on it.
3) Spend the Night by The Isley Brothers: From the post-funk legends period and pre-Mr. Biggs period, this is the Isleys at their smooth groove/quiet storm-iest. The song itself is pretty good, but the hollow drum machine instantly dates it as being from the Eighties. Quick FYI: the former Mrs. Isley, Angela Winbush, sings the chorus on this song.
4) Don’t Go Breakin’ My Heart by Elton John & Kiki Dee: Full disclosure: I don’t know what’s so special about Elton John. Forty years and the songs of his I like could fit on maybe two CDs. This song was a staple of my childhood thanks to multiple repetitions of this song on Lite FM back in the day. I suppose this is the point where I mention that he not only did a version of this on the Muppet Show with Miss Piggy, but he also recorded a remake with RuPaul back in ’93. Now that’s one hell of a threesome.
Here’s a vid of the original version, although Yahoo! confuse Kiki Dee with RuPaul. I wonder how Ru and Kiki feel about that. Well, you know what they say. All Elton John duet partners look alike.
5) Beverly Hills by Weezer: For some reason, iTunes is only playing hit singles this go-round. I think every one of these first five songs was a single. At any rate, Weezer is kind of a one-trick pony, but they’re a cool one-trick pony, and they make better videos than any other band I can think of. Plus, this song has a very cool Peter Frampton talkbox solo. Question: what is the woman squealing in the song’s chorus?
6) Heavenly (Good Feeling) by Seal: Finally, a song that wasn’t a single. This song is atmospheric in the way all Seal songs seem to be. It reminds me of a slower version of Crazy. Hey, did you know that Seal has a new album coming out this Tuesday? That’s the good news. The bad news? It’s a covers album, which sort of makes me quake in my boots. Well, it would if I was wearing boots. The first single is a remake of A Change is Gonna Come. I saw the last 30 seconds or so of the video on VH-1 Soul, but not enough to get a good idea of what it sounds like. It could be really good or it could be a disaster.
7) When I’m Sixty-Four by The Beatles: OK, I’ll admit. I don’t hate this song as much as people who otherwise revere Sgt. Pepper’s do. I mean, it’s overtly cutesy, but it’s a friggin’ Paul song, fercryinoutloud. I’m sure Paul didn’t figure that when he was sixty-four, he’d be getting the trousers sued off of him by an opportunistic shrew. Guess that’s the way the ball bounces, Mac. Holy crap. I just realized that I’m halfway to 64. Now I’m going to go to bed and cry.
