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Friday, Aug 30 2019, 6AM
Good morning and happy Friday. Today is the birthday of renowned BBC radio DJ John Peel, born on this date in 1939. He was the longest serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death of a heart attack in 2004.
"Teenage dreams so hard to beat...." John Peel loved this song so much that its lyrics are engraved on his tombstone. See a picture here: www.telegraph.co.uk
The Breeders started as the side project of Kim Deal, who was with the Pixies at the time, but often at odds with their frontman, Frank Black. Written and sung by Deal, "Cannonball" made the US Hot 100 - something the Pixies never did. The loud/soft dynamics in this song is something Kim Deal brought over from the Pixies. The titular cannonball could portend the aggressive part of the track. Most songs with the cannonball metaphor use it to indicate a person who is reckless in love. Deal's lyrics are designed to complement the melody; we wouldn't recommend reading too much into lyrics like "I'll be your whatever you want, the bong in this reggae song."
On this date in 1993, Nirvana released the single, "Heart-Shaped Box" in advance of the album "In Utero." The B-side is "Marigold." Kurt Cobain wrote "Heart-Shaped Box" in early 1992. Cobain forgot about the song for a while, but began working on it again when he and his wife, Courtney Love, moved to a house in the Hollywood Hills. In a 1994 Rolling Stone interview, Love said she overheard him working on the song's riff in a closet. She said she asked him if she could use the riff for one of her songs, to which he replied, "F++k you!" and closed the closet door. "He was trying to be so sneaky", said Love. "I could hear that one from downstairs."
"Blasphemous Rumors" is the first song on Steve Winter's excellent mixtape. Steve writes about this mixtape, made in October, 1988, I was a sophomore in college: full of fervor and passion about a life but also questioning and examining all sorts of beliefs, old and new."
Watch Michael Stipe recite a poem and then see R.E.M. launch into a live version of "I Believe," a song from Steve's mixtape: www.youtube.com
Steve said, "This specific mixtape was an expression of my righteous indignation at the many hypocrisies of organized religion,..." Robert Smith said “The Blood” was written about:
"a Portuguese drink called ‘The Tears Of Christ’. I drank a bottle and this came out."
When he was asked if he was aware that in America, The Cure were being labeled Satanic because the lyrics to “The Blood” were supposedly being sung to the Devil, Smith responded:
"I believe in neither the Devil or God, so it’s bollocks!"
As Prince became a Jehovah's Witness, he began to change the lyrics when performing the song live, reflecting his newer beliefs that Jesus died on "stauros" (a single stake, rather than a two-beamed cross), and the song became known as "The Christ," causing some controversy amongst Prince's online fanbase. www.youtube.com
"Smack in the middle of today...
Got to learn new words...
Merely got to simply say...
I think we all misheard... Here are the lyrics to "Higher Hell": genius.com Steve Winter chose the song for his playlist, entitled "Looking for a Promised Land."
Read a 2007 review of the powerful "The Lion and the Cobra." It begins, "Sinéad O’Connor has been publicly raging against religion for 20 years, beginning with her very first album, 1987’s The Lion and the Cobra.": www.slantmagazine.com
Steve chose this deep cut from "Twitch" as part of his mixtape. Learn more about the bande Ministry here: www.allmusic.com
This song uses two utterances of Jesus to discuss the disconnect between an ostensibly kind God and His downtrodden creations. The first of these utterances is the Beatitudes, a section of the Sermon on the Mount-- eight sentences, each starting with the word "Blessed." The most famous of these, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," is quoted in the first line of the song.
The second utterance is the line, "Oh, Lord! Why have You forsaken me?" said to have been spoken by Jesus while dying on the crucifix. Read a discussion of this fine song from Steve's playlist: paulsimonsongs.blogspot.com
Watch New Order perform "Ceremony" in rare footage from 1981: www.npr.org
Steve said of his playlist, "Perhaps this can be seen as my atheist proclamation of faith--or lack thereof." In an interview, Bono said this song was "an anthem of doubt more than faith." He sometimes introduced "I Still Haven't Found..." as "a kind of gospel song with a restless spirit."
This is literally just the liner notes to a gospel album by The Revelaires that the band’s producer, Don Dixon, found in the attic of the studio. During the recording of the album "Reckoning," lead singer Michael Stipe reportedly sang his part so quietly that it was almost completely inaudible. Frustrated with Stipe’s timid performance, producer Don Dixon halted the sessions and went into the studio attic, where he found an old gospel record by a band called The Revelaires titled The Joy of Knowing Jesus. He noticed the oddly hyperbolic liner notes and thought that Stipe might find them interesting. So Dixon gave Stipe the record and, unexpectedly, Stipe began singing the liner notes on the next take – very loudly, this time. Dixon’s idea somehow worked, Stipe came out of his shell and the results were saved. Here are those lyrics: genius.com
Thank you, Carly, for this playlist entitled "Ode To Us," a celebration of the music that you and your partner shared for ten years. This song by Italian composer Franco Micalizzi was part of the musical score for the spaghetti western "They Call Me Trinity."
Here's the official video for A Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It?": www.youtube.com
Carly shared the Kurt Vonnegut quote, " "No matter how bad things get, the music will still be wonderful." Read an oral history of this great ode to unrequited love: www.spin.com
Yes, that's John Denver! Carly says that her playlist is as unique and multifaceted as Garret was. Denver wrote this song on an early spring day in Minnesota when the rain was gently falling. He found himself looking forward to spending more time outdoors and enjoying the sunshine. He said of the song, "On one level it was about the virtues of love. On another, more deeply felt level, it reached for something the whole world could embrace."
Read a Rock Hall of Fame biography of the great Jackie Wilson:: www.rockhall.com
What a wonderfully eclectic mix, a tribute to the ten years that Carly and Garret shared together. The original production of this song was done on 8 tracks and was a simple 3 minute R&B song. It was transferred to 24 track tape at Blank Tapes, NYC and work began on it by the producer Bunny Sigler and engineer Bob Blank. Among other things, Bunny brought in a woman to say 'say what?' throughout the record. Standing behind her, his directions ("scream") were amplified and used as part of the production.
"I'd Rather Be With You" is a highly sampled song, appearing in at least 40 other hip-hop and R&B songs. William "Bootsy" Collins performed it live in Houston in 1976: www.youtube.com
This great song on Carly's mixtape was written by folksinger Tim Hardin. This cover by Hohnny Cash and June Carter went to number 2 on the country charts in 1970.: www.youtube.com
"Let the world call me a fool...
But if things are right with me and you...
That's all that matters...
And I'll do anything you asked me to..."
Writing about Garret, her fiance and partner, Carly says, "He was a music lover, a curious explorer of this world, a protector of the underprivileged, an amazing son, and an all-around incredible human being. He was my best friend."
"Lyrics like “Everything is not enough/ and nothing’s too much to bear' come across here less as bitter and yearning, and rather like a sympathetic acknowledgment of our collective human predicament. In the end, Towne’s advises 'It don’t pay to think too much o' things you leave behind.'" Read a discussion of the 10 best Townes Van Zandt songs: www.stereogum.com
Ahhh....the Friday song. This is the first song on John's one-song Friday mixtape. It's " the incision
of a song that cut a smile across your face for life."
This is the first song in Rich's "College 1991-1996" playlist. That's Rickie Lee Jones talking about clouds in this song by The Orb: www.theguardian.com
The mix is dedicated to Rich's old friend, Don Welsh, who "made tons of mixtapes for friends under the pseudonym “DJ Double You. Fishegg Productions.”: www.youtube.com
Rich edited a list of 699 songs to choose the selections for this mixtape! "'Beercan' is exactly what the song should be. That is, a fun party of a song, about a fun party.
This is one of the tracks Beck did with Carl Stephenson, who added his trademark layers of sound (lots of percussion, organ, and some awesome acoustic guitar) as well as odd samples about fluffy clouds and lovely rainbows (from a Care Bears album!). There's a lot to the music and it just seems like everyone is having a blast." Read more about this song that encourages you to "let it all get loose": whiskeyclone.net
Read a biography of this San Francisco duo: www.allmusic.com
Rich selected this Beastie Boys track for his "greatest hits collection" of his friend Don's college mixes. The lyrics were written about an annoying engineer named Mario Caldato Jr., who got frustrated with the slow pace of Beasties' recording sessions. The trio felt he was sabotaging their music by trying to push through instrumental tracks they were unhappy with in order to get something completed.
Speaking of the 90's, Whale were a Swedish alternative rock group active from 1992 to 1999. Here they are on "Top of the Pops": www.youtube.com
Rich writes, " These tunes are just as fresh to my ears today as when I heard them in the previous millennium." Writing about "Reverence' (one of the 13 greatest Jesus and Mary Chain songs), this critic says, "Drawing its fair share of outrage, it's a ravaging assault on the senses and a stunning gem in their back catalogue.": www.gigwise.com
You're listening to Rich's mixtape from his college years at Penn State University. Someone wrote, "I don’t think I’m going to get a lot of argument on this post, but “Nothing Natural” by Lush is just a brilliant, brilliant song.": morenoiseplease.com
Here's Catherine Wheel performing "I Want to Touch You": www.youtube.com
Rich hopes this "College 1991-1996" (Wait! That's FIVE years!) mixtape "kicks up fond memories like it does for me." Here's the official video for "Blue": www.youtube.com
Thanks, Rich, for selecting this Daniel Ash tune. Ash became prominent in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the iconic goth rock band Bauhaus, which spawned two related bands led by Ash: Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets. Several guitarists have listed Ash as an influence, including Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction], Kim Thayil of Soundgarden and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Sweet recorded this song in 1990 as he was going through a brutal divorce. Around the same time, he met someone new, giving "Girlfriend" layers of emotional turmoil. The song finds him making an offer to a potential love interest: he's be her good friend if she'll be his girlfriend. At the end of the song, he gets a little possessive: "I'm never gonna set you free."
Want to know a little more about School of Fish, selected by Rich for his mixtape?: www.2ndfirstlook.com
This great birthday song is the first on Jana's "Hot Cheeto Fantasy" playlist. She made this playlist for a friend who was also born in 1981, so Jana "picked songs that were only released or charted that year."
This is a release from the first album by Tom Tom Club, the American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz; both also known for being members of Talking Heads.
ESG (Emerald Sapphire & Gold) is an American band formed in the South Bronx in 1978. Trouser Press called it "one of the most dynamic bands that New York could offer at the top of the '80s." Here's a live version of "Moody": www.youtube.com
Jana said about this mixtape for her friend, The Black Angels drummer Stephanie Bailey, "I tried to pick a musical aesthetic she would enjoy but that I could tolerate listening to over and over as I mixed it."
The song is titled after Lou Reed's Rock and Roll Heart track "I Believe in Love". The lyric, "I believe what the old man said", is also a reference the former Velvet Underground singer. Vocalist Phil Oakey, said, "no one ever asks me who the old man is... it's Lou (Reed)."
This first part of Jana's mixtape, Side "A," is called “Arts” for songs/bands/albums that were more avant garde. "Eisbar" is German for "polar bear." The song features a man singing he wants to be "a polar bear in the cold polar", because by being one he "wouldn't have to cry any longer and everything would be fine."
Read a discussion of how "Ceremony" bridges the gap between Joy Division and New Order: music.avclub.com
This is one of Jana's all-time favorite albums. She came back to it "9000 times," trying to decide which song to choose from it.: www.youtube.com
The title is a reference to the often-mistranslated quotation commonly attributed to Hermann Göring: "When I hear the word 'culture', that's when I reach for my revolver" — the actual quote is "Wenn ich Kultur höre ... entsichere ich meinen Browning!" This translates as: "Whenever I hear [the word] 'culture'... I remove the safety from my Browning!" The line is uttered by the character Thiemann in Act 1, Scene 1 of the play Schlageter, written by Hanns Johst.
"In 'Yo-Yo,' though, we bust right through that scrim of objectivity. Something has touched him close to the nerves this time; the wound is still open. And the edgy rawness of Dave's guitar, the dense tangle of sound that characterizes this whole album, makes perfect sense for this song." Read an essay about this song from Jana's "Hot Cheeto Fantasy" playlist: thesonginmyheadtoday.blogspot.com
In 2012, The Quietus noted that Martin Newell had released 13 albums as Cleaners From Venus. The article commented that "he is also England’s most-published living poet, writing verse for the national papers for 20 years now.": thequietus.com
The video for "Nightboat" was directed by longtime music video director Russell Mulcahy. The video is a mini horror film shot on the Caribbean island side of Antigua. Before the music starts, a brief bit of dialog includes Le Bon's recitation of part of a speech by Mercutio in William Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet.
The band gather in a small beach village as the sun is setting, only to be separated and set upon one by one by zombies, until the ragged night boat arrives to carry Le Bon away. It is possible that the video is a homage to the Italian horror film Zombi 2, with settings and zombies that look very much like the ones in the film.
The video was filmed in May 1982, several months before Michael Jackson began work on the video for his song Thriller, which also featured zombies.: www.youtube.com