Christmas in the Heart, de Kerstplaat van onze favoriete neuzelaar roept uiteenlopende reacties op. Niet iedereen is overtuigd van de kwaliteiten van deze cd. Sommigen hebben het ronduit over een draak, terwijl anderen er wel de lol van inzien.

In iedere geval heeft hij zich niet beperkt tot de meest voor de hand liggende kerstliedjes. Een handvol ervan had ik zelfs nog nooit gehoord. Al moet ik wel bij vermelden dat ik niet zo’n grote kenner ben van het genre.

Maar eentje dat zeker niet had mistaan op deze collectie is ‘Fairytale of New York’, het onsterfelijke duet van Kirsty MacColl met opper-Pogue Shane MacGowan. 

Zou het niet prachtig zijn om Dylan dit nummer te horen brengen met… ja, met wie eigenlijk? Emmylou Harris? Te braaf.  
Mary Gauthier misschien?

Of nee: Alicia Keys! De ouwe snoeper zou er beslist van genieten.

En wij ook.

Zo te horen zit ze zelfs op een telefoontje van hem te wachten.

When I set out on my walk this morning the iPod started me off with “Sleeping in the Devil’s Bed,” a Daniel Lanois song that appeared on the soundtrack from Until the End of the World. It seemed a good choice as I headed out into a neighborhood that’s now home to a growing population of demons and devils (as well as ghosts and witches) up for Halloween. There’s one family in particular that goes all out for the holiday. They have a life-size wolf man standing in front of their light post, zombies that burst from the front lawn, a vampire lunging from a coffin, a huge pumpkin-headed creature lurking by a tree, and a life-size Michael Myers wielding a butcher’s cleaver on the side lawn. (Not the Michael Myers from Austin Powers. That would be scary in a totally different way.)

In many ways Halloween is my favorite holiday. It arrives with a lot less pressure than Christmas does, it’s at a beautiful time of the year, and it’s a nighttime event, which makes it unusual (and gives the kids a whole day to look forward to it). It also has an appealingly perverse side to it, a chance to drag out all those dark things that lurk inside our lizard brains and turn them into something fun.

In my township, for reasons I still don’t understand, we don’t trick-or-treat on Halloween. It happens on the Thursday before Halloween. I still don’t know why, but it’s an abysmally stupid policy. I’ve heard the Powers That Be don’t want trick-or-treating to interfere with the secular religion of high school football, should Halloween fall on a Friday night, or that the township changed the date to discourage juvenile pranks. I can’t figure it out.

However, there was one year when the policy did work to our kids’ advantage. They did their trick-or-treating at home on the officially sanctioned night, and then a few days later we drove down to my sister’s place in Mercersburg so they could score more candy on Halloween. That worked out well, because my wife and I were both worried that our kids didn’t have enough candy in their diets. The experience of Halloween on Main Street Mercersburg turned out to be quite a trip. A joyful mob of hundreds of costumed kids clogged the sidewalks and waited in lines at doors to get their candy fixes. It was the way Halloween should be a hyper-reality that seemed more like a TV movie than real life. It was also in marked contrast to the small numbers of trick-or-treaters we get at our house. Sometimes the paucity of kids leaves me with the sad, let-down feeling of a birthday party that hardly anyone attends.

Today was a beautiful morning for a walk, although quite cool. Fall has taken up residence with a vengeance. Summer’s just a memory. Yesterday the wind howled as though Mother Nature herself had decided to tear all the leaves from the trees all at once. She managed to get a few, but I hope she waits until the leaves turn before she gets the rest.

In honor of the upcoming holiday, today I played Kirsty MacColl’s “Halloween,” a song from her great Electric Landlady CD. MacColl would have turned 50 on October 10, but she was killed in December 2000 when a motorboat struck her while she was swimming with her kids in Mexico. A rich grocery store magnate owned the boat (and was aboard at the time), but his boathand ended up taking the rap for the accident. Kirsty’s mother is still seeking justice for the accident. You can find more details at www.justiceforkirsty.com.

Maybe it was the cold, but despite the bright sunshine I couldn’t really get into walking. The only song that really perked me up was XTC’s “Garden of Earthly Delights” from Oranges and Lemons.

SOUNDTRACK: NEKO CASE-Middle Cyclone (2009).

I first learned of Neko Case through The New Pornographers.  Their song “Letter from an Occupant” blew me away.  But when I’d investigated her solo work, I learned she was more of a country singer than anything else.  Reviewers said that Middle Cyclone broke from that mold a little into more rock territory.

I don’t know her early stuff, but I can attest that these songs are mildly rocking. However, it’s hard to take the country out of the singer.  There’s something about Neko’s voice on this disc that screams country (even as her songs get faster and more furious).  But, much like k.d. lang who won me over when she broke away from her country roots, so did Neko Case.

Rather than explicit country, Neko case seems to be filling in the shoes of the sorely missed Kirsty MacColl, another great singer-songwriter who melded genres like so much fondue.

Case never hits the manic intensity of “Letter from an Occupant” (she admitted on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me that her vocals were sped up for that song), but she proves to be a powerhouse singer.  And once I got over the fact that this album didn’t ROCK, I accepted that it was very good.  I don’t know if I have a favorite track, although I do like her cover of Sparks’ “Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth.”

I finally managed to listen to the last track, “Marais la Nuit” all the way through on my lunch the other day.  It is, literally, 30 minutes of frogs and bugs chirping away.  It’s quite relaxing, but not really worth listening to all 30 minutes.

[READ: October 8, 2009] “Summer of the Flesh Eater”

The title is not misleading exactly, but it may make you think zombies are afoot.  But they are not.  (I debated about revealing this, but figured it would win more fans of people who don’t like zombies than lose people who do).

This story is fantastic.  It is written from the point of view of a group of suburban househusbands.  They live on a cul de sac, eat fancy food and discuss the acquisition of art in knowledgeable terms.  Their lives are upended when one of them moves out and the vacant house is bought by a man with hockey hair (and they can’t tell of it’s ironic or not).

When the men introduce themselves, the first thing he introduces to them is his Q.  For it turns out that his barbecue is his most favorite item.

At first the cul de sac inhabitants mock this class-free individual and all of his bad habits: the truck on blocks in his front yard, his evil dog, etc.  But soon, like the poisoning of an ecosystem, the kids and even the wives seem to be intrigued by this outsider.

The snooty tone is very funny and well maintained through the story.  It is also more or less told in first person plural (like The Virgin Suicides) which leads to a lack of culpability as the story gets more and more creepy.  And creepy it does get.  As the men get more and more desperate, their thoughts turn more sinister.  So that even they wind up aping their reviled neighbor.

It’s a rare story that can have you laughing for the first three pages and then cringing for the last two.  Fantastic!

Read it here.

I can’t say that I’m the sporty type. I simply adopted my Dad’s football team as my own, (Go the Tigers!), and I think cricket’s got to be the most boring game on earth. No correspondence on this issue please! It’s probably an indication of how much I like a challenge that I  chose SPORT as our topic for this week. And because I thought it might also be a good idea to get a ‘bloke’s’ perspective on the subject matter, The Captain returned to co-present the show. 

We got the show started with a fantastic song from the late Kirsty MacColl: ENGLAND 2 COLUMBIA 0. She uses the first round of the 1998 World Cup as backdrop and metaphor for romantic deceit. Here she is on ‘Later with Jools Holland’ in 2000. The band is made up of Chucho Merchan, James Knight, Pete Glenister, Dave Ruffy, Michelle Drees Ben Storey and Joey de Jesus. Very nice.

I have to admit to a guilty pleasure: I don’t mind a bit of boxing (yes, best not to cross me!). I can’t justify it. I know that it’s a violent sport but I grew up with a younger brother and we were both addicted to watching both boxing and wrestling on the tele. Boxing being so incredibly visceral and exciting and wrestling being just plain silly. So, here’s two boxing songs for you:  SO YOU WANT TO BE A BOXER from the soundtrack to the film Bugsy Malone and Eminem and Shaggy sampling EYE OF THE TIGER from the film Rocky. 

A couple of baseball songs followed: Billy Bragg and Wilco with an ode to one of America’s heroes: JOE DIMAGGIO DONE IT AGAIN and then John Fogerty begged “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play” in CENTERFIELD. Check out this video clip of John Fogerty performing live in 2007. Worth a look to view the guitar he uses – made from a baseball bat! Cool.

James Taylor has recently done a great covers album and we included one of the tracks this week. Originally by Jnr. Walker, the song is I’M A ROAD RUNNER. Then it was Teddy Pendergrass’s turn with LOVE TKO, a song that simply borrows from sports jargon to express the singer’s heartbreak. 

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s song SPORT (THE ODD BOY) is a memento to school sports days. It even includes a sick note from Mum. Gotta love that.

Then it was two songs set in a pool hall: Johnny Lang with RACK EM UP and JIm Croce’s DON’T MESS AROUND WITH JIM. The lyrics of the latter song concern the fate of a ‘pool-shooting son-of-a-gun’ by the name of ‘Big’ Jim Walker when his ‘mark,’ Slim, from a south Alabama Honkytonk shows up to get a refund from being hustled or get revenge. Check out the video clip:

I would have been in real trouble if I hadn’t played any surfing songs, as the radio station is situated in one of Australia’s premier beach communities. My choice: The Beach Boys with SURFIN’ SAFARI and we followed that with Loudon Wainwright’s SWIMMING SONG. Here’s Loudon with this very catchy tune that even mentions the Australian Crawl.

Mic Conway’s National Junk Band are always good value as they were this week with RACE CALL OF LIFE TO DEATH from their Corporate Chook album. Very clever. Wish I had a video clip of it.

Will Smith went on to play Muhammad Ali in the biopic of the great boxer’s life but he has trouble doing even one round in I THINK I CAN BEAT MIKE TYSON. Here he is with DJ Jazzy. The video includes with cameos from Don King and Mike Tyson. Funny stuff. The year was 2005.

How could we forget to mention the bicycle? Nicely fixed when we played Pink Floyd’s BIKE and  Red Hot Chilli Peppers BICYCLE SONG.

Let’s talk about Bowling. Lawn bowls really took off for a while there with everyone and his dog (literally) playing mufti bowls. And now Tenpin Bowling is experiencing a resurgence of popularity. My, otherwise groovy, 22 year old son and his mates have formed a team and they play in a league every week down in Sydney. It seems to be mandatory that bowling team names require bad puns. Examples: the Lucky Strikes, Rolling Pins, Spare Me, Pin Pals and my favourite: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Gutter.  Personally I’m all in favour of a sport that has two toned shoes (golf being another goodie). 

I didn’t discover any tracks on golf but I did find two great Bowling songs: Stephen Lynch with BOWLING SONG and TAKE THE SKINHEADS BOWLING from Camper Van Beethoven. 

Now any tune that uses the term “silly mid-on” in a song, deserves to be in the list. WHEN AN OLD CRICKETER LEAVES THE CREASE, from Roy Harper, is actually quite a good song despite being about Cricket.  Cream, on the other hand, are more interested in Tennis.  Check out this incredibly droll clip of ANYONE FOR TENNIS?  from around 1968. Could Clapton look any more bored? Hysterical.

We didn’t forget the skaters out there and happy to include HEAVEN IS A HALFPIPE from OPM. But then it was time for more football, um soccer, um football. We call it soccer, the English call it football. But whatever you call it, on a global level this game is HUGE. Even highly credible rock bands can’t stop themselves from penning songs to their heroes. The Fall gave us THEME FROM SPARTA FC and The Lightning Seeds delivered  THREE LIONS. Here you go all you Soccer fans, well the English ones anyway, a clip with lots of footie, um soccer,  in it.

I saw Mental As Anything live last week and they’re still belting out those party tunes.  I decided to close the show with a tune of theirs that pretty much sums up the Australian way of life, being the sports mad nation that we are: SURF & MULL & SEX & FUN. 

Thank you to Spirit Gym for our giveaway today of some personal training sessions. Much appreciated. And thanks to the Captain whose hilarious news items kept us entertained betweeen tracks.

Here’s the complete playlist:

England 2 Columbia 0 - Kirsty MacColl

So You Want To Be A Boxer - Bugsy Malone  soundtrack 

Eye Of The Tiger  - Eminem Ft. Shaggy

Joe Dimaggio Done It Again - Billy Bragg & Wilco

Centerfield - John Fogerty

(I’m A) Road Runner - James Taylor (Jnr Walker & Allstars cover)

Love TKO - Teddty Pendergrass

Sport (The Odd Boy) - Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Rack ‘Em Up - Johnny Lang

You Don’t Mess Around With Jim - Jim Croce

Surfin’ Safari - The Beach Boys

The Swimming Song (Live) - Loudon Wainwright III

Race Call Of Life To Death - Mic Conway’s National Junk Band

I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson  - DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince

Black Superman – Muhammad Ali - Johnny Wakelin

Bike - Pink Floyd

Bicycle Song - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Bowling Song - Stephen Lynch

Take The Skinheads Bowling  - Camper Van Beethoven

When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease - Roy Harper

Anyone for Tennis?  - Cream

Heaven Is a Halfpipe - OPM

Three Lions - The Lightning Seeds

Theme from Sparta FC - The Fall

Surf & Mull & Sex & Fun - Mental As Anything

Hey Micky - Toni Basil

Next week: Songs about FAMOUS PEOPLE.

Listen to Lyn McCarthy at the Theme Park on BayFM, Tuesdays 2-4pm, Sydney time.

Also streaming on http://www.bayfm.org

Tragically also on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/maccalyn

and Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/themeparkradio

Music is such a grounding and transforming force!

To me, the lyrics have always been the most important part of “pop” music (from Sinatra to  the Beatles to Amazing Grace to Lou Reed…. and to whoever I’ve not even heard yet).  ”Days,” written by Ray Davies (the Kinks) has been part of today’s inner soundtrack to me.  

I know the song from the Kirsty MacColl version. No surprise that it was Dennis who turned me on to Kirsty’s music.  What an amazing talent she was!  Here’s a link to the You Tube of her performing “Days”:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOKWqtocXWs&feature=related.

Days

Thank you for the days
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me
I’m thinking of the days
I won’t forget a single day believe me

I bless the light
I bless the light that lights on you believe me
And though you’re gone
You’re with me every single day believe me

Days I’ll remember all my life
Days when you can’t see wrong from right
You took my life
But then I knew that very soon you’d leave me
But it’s alright
Now I’m not frightened of this world believe me

I wish today could be tomorrow
The night is long
It just brings sorrow let it wait

Thank you for the days
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me
I’m thinking of the days
I won’t forget a single day believe me

Days I’ll remember all my life
Days when you can’t see wrong from right
You took my life
But then I knew that very soon you’d leave me
But it’s alright
Now I’m not frightened of this world believe me

Days

Thank you for the days
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me
I’m thinking of the days
I won’t forget a single day believe me

I bless the light
I bless the light that lights on you believe me
And though you’re gone
You’re with me every single day believe me

Days

Listen (to download, ctrl click and ’save target as’)

Just One Look – Doris Troy
Les Deux Guitares – Charles Aznavour
The Magic Number – De La Soul
Green Grow My Nadgers Oh! – Kenneth Williams
5 Years Time – Noah And The Whale
Six Feet Under – Bob Fryfogle
Magnificent Seven – The Clash
Eight Ball – The Hustlers
Naughty Number Nine – Grady Tate
One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Barbie Dolls – Pizzicato Five
11:59 – Blondie
12 Red Roses – Betty Harris
No. 13 Baby – The Pixies
Fourteen Carat Mind – Half And Half
Fifteen Minutes – Kirsty MacColl
Lonely Sixteen – Janie Black
Seventeen ‘05 – Ladytron
Jailbait – Andre Williams
Nineteen in Naples – Jonathan Richman
Top Twenty – The Delicates

(Article publicat a la revista Rock Zone el juny del 2008)

Marvin Gaye & Tammy Terrell

‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
Popular hoy en día por haber aparecido en varios anuncios de televisión, ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ fue una de las canciones más populares salidas de la factoría Motown. El tema se grabó en 1967 y fue incluido en el primer disco, United, de los tres que la pareja Gaye/Terrell grabarían juntos, más tarde llegarían You’re All I Need (1968) y Easy (1969). Cuentan que Tammy Terrell estaba bastante nerviosa cuando entró en el estudio, principalmente por dos motivos. Uno era el de tener que compartir protagonismo con un titán como Marvin Gaye, y segundo porque no se sabía la letra del tema. Por su parte, está no era la primera vez que Marvin Gaye se hacía acompañar de una mujer. En 1964 ya había grabado el disco Together junto a Mary Wells, una de las mayores estrellas de la Motown, y posteriormente, en 1973, repetiría la jugada, ahora junto a la exuberante Diana Ross, en el álbum Diana & Marvin. Seguramente el dúo hubiera grabado más trabajos juntos, a no ser de la inesperada muerte de Terrell en 1969 consecuencia de un tumor cerebral. En 1999 ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ fue introducida en Grammy Hall Of Fame.

Kate Pierson

‘Candy’
Iggy Pop and Kate Pierson
Cuando mezclas a una iguana como Iggy Pop con un loro como la cantante de B-52’s Kate Pierson, obtienes un tema como ‘Candy’, uno de los más populares, que no mejores, del cancionero del Stooge. Este tema está incluido en el álbum de Iggy Pop Brick By Brick editado en junio de 1990. Un disco repleto de colaboradores de lujo, destacando la participación de Slash y Duff McKagan, por aquel entonces miembros de Guns N’Roses, y quienes tocan la guitarra y el bajo respectivamente en la mayoría de los temas; y John Hiatt, que pone su voz en la versión que Iggy Pop hace de su tema Somthing Wild. En lo referente a Pierson, éste no es el único dueto de éxito en el que ha participado la pelirroja, pues ella también comparte protagonismo en el tema de sus vecinos R.E.M. en el tema de los de Athens ‘Shinning Happy People’.

Kirsty MacColl & The Pogues

‘Fairytale Of New York’
Kirsty MacColl & The Pogues
Ni ‘Blanca Navidad’, ni ‘El Tamborilero’, el villancico definitivo es ‘Fairytale Of New York’. Escrito por la banda de rock folk The Pogues e incluida en su álbum If I Should Fall From Grace With God, en ella el desdentado de su cantante Shane MacGowan comparte micro con la desaparecida cantante inglesa Kristy MacColl, quien entonces era la mujer del productor de The Pogues, Steve Lillywhite, aunque originalmente debería haber sido la bajista del grupo, Cat O’Riordan, quien hubiera de haber cantado las partes femeninas de la canción, sin embargo O’Riordan abandonó The Pogues antes de que el grupo grabara el tema, para convertirse en la mujer de Elvis Costello. Desde la aparición de ‘Fairytale Of New York’ no hay año que pase sin que sea designada como el mejor villancico de la historia y se disparen sus ventas cuando llegan tan señaladas fechas. Como curiosidad citar que en el vídeo del tema aparece el actor Matt Dillon, fan acérrimo de The Pogues, haciendo de policía. Otro de los duetos imprescindibles en los que participó Shane MacGowan, fue el que protagonizó junto a Nick Cave en una trasnochada y alcoholizada versión del ‘What A Wonderful World’ de Louis Armstrong.

Serge gainsbourg y Jane Birkin

‘Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus’
Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg
Seguramente más de uno de nosotros fuimos concebido al sinuoso ritmo de ‘Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus’. Originalmente, el tema lo escribió el cantautor francés Serge Gainsbourg para la que era su novia en aquel momento, la actriz también francesa Brigitte Bardot. Pero la pareja cortó con su relación, y Gainsbourg la acabó grabando con su nuevo amor, la británica Jane Birkin. Pero no es por el cambio de intérprete femenina por lo que esta canción ha pasado a la historia, sino por los sollozos orgasmáticos de la Birkin que se pueden oír al final del tema. Unos gemidos de placer sobre los que siempre ha existido la duda de si eran reales o no y que en su época causaron un enorme revuelo. Tal fue la polémica que la canción fue condenada por el Papa y prohibida su emisión en la radio pública británica. Aunque no deja de ser algo totalmente inofensivo si lo comparamos con los espectáculos que se monta la amiga Pink Snow sobre un escenario.

Gram Parsons y Emmylou Harris

‘Love Hurts’
Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris
Dicen que desde el primer momento en el que Gram Parsons escuchó la voz de Emmylou Harris, supo que tarde o temprano acabaría grabando un tema con ella. Y ese tema finalmente fue ‘Love Hurts’, una pieza que con anterioridad ya habían registrado The Everly Brothers en 1960 y Roy Orbison en 1961, sin embargo esta canción escrita por el compositor Boudleax Bryant, alcanzaría todo su esplendor al encontrarse la voces de Parsons y Harris. ‘Love Hurts’ fue incluida en el disco póstumo de Parsons Grievous Angel, grabado dos meses antes de su muerte. Según palabras de Emmylu Harris, aquel dueto fue toda una revelación para ella. “Estuve junto a él muy poco tiempo, pero durante ese periodo todo tomo sentido para mí. Hasta que no le conocí no supe qué clase de música había en mi interior y entonces supe exactamente lo que quería hacer”. ‘Love Hurts’ también fue versioneada posteriormente por gente tan dispar como Nazareth, Cher y Guided By Voices junto a la Breeders Kim Deal.

Bono y Pavarotti

‘Miss Sarajevo’
Bono & Pavarotti
Tenía un amigo en el instituto que creía que el nombre de pila de Pavarotti era Tutto, por el disco Tutto Pavarotti. ¿Tiene esto algo que ver con el dueto con Bono? Nada, pero me hacía gracia explicároslo, ya que seguramente será la única vez que hablemos del tenor en estas páginas. Durante la gira Zoo TV, Bono solía llamar a celebridades desde el escenario. A su paso por Italia, el líder de U2 llamó durante uno de sus shows a Pavarotti, del que era un admirador. El tenor, lejos de cabrearse les pidió que le escribieran una canción, una petición que el italiano se tomó muy en serio. “Recuerdo que Pavarotti llamaba a mi casa una vez por semana”, explicaba en una entrevista Bono, “para preguntar si ya había escrito la canción. “Cuando mi asistente le decía que no estaba, Pavarotti le decía, ‘Dile a Dios que me llame cuando regrese’, y colgaba entre grandes risotadas”. U2 finalmente acabaron escribiendo el tema. Éste se tituló ‘Miss Sarajevo’ y acabó incluido dentro del disco de Passengers, proyecto paralelo formado por U2 junto a su productor Brian Eno, y que trata sobre el acecho a la ciudad bosnia durante la guerra en los Balcanes. En 1995, una vez finalizada la guerra, U2 interpretaron el tema en directo en la ciudad Bosnia, siendo, como ellos mismos han declarado en más de una ocasión, una de las experiencias más inolvidables que hayan vivido jamás.

Johnny Cash

‘Redemption Song’
Joe Strummer & Johnny Cash
‘Redemption Song’ es la última canción del último disco editado en vida por Bob Marley, Uprising. Marley la escribió en 1979 cuando ya sabía que sufría cáncer, enfermedad que acabaría con su vida. Años después ‘Redemption Song’ también sería la última canción que registrarían antes de abandonarnos Joe Strummer y Johnny Cash, tanto por separado como juntos, estremecedora versión esta última que puede encontrarse en el box set de Johnny Cash, Unearthed. Pero no es éste el único dueto de relevancia de Johnny Cash. Muchos años antes, más concretamente en 1969, el hombre de negro grabaría junto a otro mito como Bob Dylan ‘Girl From The North Country’, incluida originalmente en el álbum de Dylan de 1963, The Freewhelin’ Bob Dylan. Cash y Dylan compartían desde hace tiempo una amistad basada en la admiración y el respeto mutuo, y aprovechando que ambos trabajaban para el mismo sello discográfico, el productor Bob Johnston los juntó en un estudio de Nashville de donde surgió tan entrañable colaboración. 

Paul McCartney y Michael Jackson

‘The Girl Is Mine’
Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney
Fue éste el primer single extraído de ese impresionante disco llamado ‘Thriller’. Compuesta por el Michael Jackson, como es fácil de deducir por su título, la canción trata sobre dos hombres compitiendo por el amor de una misma mujer (genialmente cutre cuando Jacko y Macca dejan de cantar y se ponen a hablar a mitad de la canción, con Jackson dejando ir una frase hoy ya mítica: ‘Paul, I Think I told you, I’m A Lover, not a fighter’, lo dicho, deliciosamente casposo). De esta canción se han hecho diversas versiones, desde la realizada por el rapper Will.I.Am a la llevada a cabo por el genial Richard Cheese y sus Lounge Against The Machine. Reseñar que la amistad entre ambos artistas terminaría de forma drástica poco después de que esta canción viera la luz, justamente cuando Michael Jackson a espaldas de Paul McCartney comprara los derechos sobre todo el catálogo de los Beatles. Y es que es sabido por todos que Michael no es un hombre del que te puedas fiar fácilmente.

Queen & David Bowie

‘Under Pressure’
Queen & David Bowie
Lo que acabaría por convertirse en uno de los temas más reconocibles de Queen, empezó siendo una mera jam session en el estudio de grabación. Los miembros del grupo inglés se encontraban en Suiza grabando lo que iba a convertirse en su álbum Hot Space. El productor del disco era David Richards, que a su vez mantenía una gran amistad con David Bowie, siendo él quien ejerció de cicerone entre las dos partes. En un inicio Bowie debería de haber puesto su voz en un tema titulado ‘Cool Cat’ pero ni unos ni otros estaban satisfechos del todo con la susodicha canción. Al mismo tiempo Queen estaban trabajando en otro tema llamado ‘Feel Like’, pero tampoco les acababa de hacer el peso, y fue reestructurándolo que acabó surgiendo la archifamosa línea de bajo sobre la que se sustenta ‘Under Pressure’. Una línea de bajo sobre la que nunca se ha aclarado quién era el autor. En 1982, John Deacon, bajista de Queen, declaró a una revista japonesa, que el autor de tan infeccioso ritmillo, era Bowie, mientras que el batería de Queen, Roger Taylor, y el guitarrista, Brian May, han declarado en numerosas ocasiones que el autor era John Deacon. Bowie, por su parte, tan sólo se ha limitado a decir que cuando él llegó al estudio la parte de bajo ya estaba escrita. ‘Under Pressure’ se colocó en el número 1 de infinidad de listas de éxitos y la cadena de televisión la situó en el lugar 31 de las 100 mejores canciones de los 80. Destacar la versión que de este tema un par de años atrás realizaron los miembros de My Chemical Romance y The Used.

Nick Cave y Kylie Minogue

‘Where The Wild Roses Grow’
Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue
Sólo un genio como Nick Cave puede convertir a Kylie Minogue en una cantante estremecedora. Pero es que donde la gran mayoría sólo veíamos a una simple diva del pop, Cave intuía a una gran artista. “Minogue es lo mejor que le ha pasado nunca a la música australiana”, llegó a declarar Cave. Y la extraña pareja quedó inmortalizada en la espeluznantemente y dulce balada ‘When The Wild Roses Grow’, tema perteneciente al disco de Cave Murder Ballads, un álbum ‘conceptual’ acerca de la muerte, el horror, y otros temas de tono oscuro que tanto atraen al de las Antípodas. Para escribir ‘While The Wild Roses Grow’, Cave se inspiró en una canción tradicional llamada ‘The Willow Garden’, en la que narra la historia de un hombre que tras cortejar durante mucho tiempo a una mujer, cuando por fin consigue un cita con ella, la acaba asesinando. ‘While The Wild Roses Grow’ fue uno de los mayores éxitos a nivel comercial de Nick Cave, consiguiendo colocarse con ella por primera vez en lo más alto de la lista de éxitos de medio planeta. Por su parte, la colaboración con Cave fue crucial para Minogue en su carrera, otorgándole cierta credibilidad como cantante.

John Travolta y Olivia Newton John

‘You’re The One That I Want’
John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
Grease es un puto clásico y el que diga que no miente, así de simple. No sólo mola la película, sino que la banda sonora es simplemente espectacular. A ver que otro film puede igual tal cantidad de clásicos modernos como ‘Summer Nights’, ‘Greased Lightnin’’, o el tema que ahora nos ocupa, ‘You’re The One That I Want’, donde nos encontramos con una pareja formada por John Travolta y Olivia Newton John, sencillamente espectaculares. Escrita por el compositor John Farrar, desde su aparición en 1978, cuando se mantuvo nueve semanas consecutivas en el número uno del la lista de éxitos norteamericana Billboard, de ‘Your The One That I Want’ se han vendido más de dos millones de ejemplares, algunos más de la banda sonora del film al completo. Lastimosamente, poca cosa interesante ha hecho la pareja protagonista desde entonces, exceptuando al personaje de Vincent Vega que Travolta llevó a cabo en el film de Tarantino Pulp Fiction.

“Jag har skurit ett pilspö där ormarna paras”

01. Roxy music – Pyjamarama
02. Pet Shop Boys – Confidental
03. Kevin Ayers – Don’t let it get you down
04. Stiv Bators – Evil boy
05. The Wild swans – Holy holy
06. David Bowie – Some are
07. Lisa Stansfield – This is the right time
08. Howard Devoto – Rainy season (7″ single version)
09. The Merton Parkas – Give it to me now (single version)
10. Kirsty MacColl – What do pretty girls do?
11. Adam & The Ants – Feed me to the lions

Kirsty MacColl

Jeg anbefaler alle som er nysgjerrig på den vakre rødtoppen å ta turen til Josefine Viseklubb, onsdag 20. mai! Da er det nemlig oslopremiere på folkpopkabareten ”Hjertet kan’ke ta så feil” – om Kirsty MacColl, av og med jentegruppa Halvsøstra. Disse veteranmusikerne har blant annet bakgrunn fra 1970-tallsbanda Veslefrikk og Amtmandens Døtre, som jeg har skrevet mye om i boka ”Piker, vin og sang”.

Klicka på bilden så blir den större!

Den här gången går våran Pop Investigator mot en välbehövlig semester, men först behöver han hitta en vikarie. Förutom de vanliga kopplingarna mellan artister hit och dit får vi se avslöjande bilder av hur det såg ut på Pop-redaktionen.

First of all, apologies for Top Of The Pops Thursday appearing on a Friday this week – the Choob’s semi-detached mansion suffered a power cut last night which lasted for 15 hours (thanks ScottishPower).

Anyway, better late than never, as they say (this week’s Classic Clip Friday might have to get pushed back to Saturday as well, though I’ll try to get it posted later tonight, work permitting).

So, without any further ado…

Since it was St Patrick’s Day earlier in the week, this week’s live performance is The Pogues‘ version of Dirty Old Town, featuring the late Kirsty MacColl, recorded during a gig at London’s Town And Country Club on St Patrick’s Day 1988.

The footage is taken from a rare Japanese videodisc of the concert and the clip includes an introduction by The Clash frontman, the late Joe Strummer.

Proper post this time…………..

I have been listening a lot to Fiona’s Playlist on the iPod and Kirsty MacColl’s version of The Kinks classic “Days” came on, I had forgotten how much Fiona liked this song.

Below are both her version and the original

Thank you for the days,
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me.
I’m thinking of the days,
I won’t forget a single day, believe me.

I bless the light,
I bless the light that lights on you believe me.
And though you’re gone,
You’re with me every single day, believe me.

Days I’ll remember all my life,
Days when you can’t see wrong from right.
You took my life,
But then I knew that very soon you’d leave me,
But it’s all right,
Now I’m not frightened of this world, believe me.

I wish today could be tomorrow,
The night is dark,
It just brings sorrow anyway.

Thank you for the days,
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me.
I’m thinking of the days,
I won’t forget a single day, believe me.

Days I’ll remember all my life,
Days when you can’t see wrong from right.
You took my life,
But then I knew that very soon you’d leave me,
But it’s all right,
Now I’m not frightened of this world, believe me.
Days.

Thank you for the days,
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me.
I’m thinking of the days,
I won’t forget a single day, believe me.

I bless the light,
I bless the light that shines on you believe me.
And though you’re gone,
You’re with me every single day, believe me.
Days.

To me, Kirsty MacColl embodies the wonderfully fierce, tenacious potential of us humans.  She sang like an angel, but an angel for real folks who work for a living, not popes and prefects.  She collaborated with a lot of fantastic artists, so you may have to search a bit for all of her music.  But if you dig her “soul” as much as I do, you’ll love discovering her music on your own.

She died shortly after recording this track.  She was killed by a reckless boater while swimming with her family in Mexico.  But in her last act, before being struck, she pushed her son out of harm’s way.

Fierce and tenacious to the end.  RIP Ms MacColl.

Right, Christmas is over, so you blokes pack up your sappy attitudes and get back in line.

For all my Jewish readers (anyone? anyone?), putting Adam Sandler’s Hanukkah Song up should make you groan:

And for those who just hate Christmas, and New York City, here are the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl:

I blame it all on Mad Minerva.

“Fairytale of New York,” the 1988 collaboration between Kirsty MacColl and The Pogues (Shane MacGowan of The Pogues is pictured above), is still one of the best and most moving Christmas songs. Sure, it gets overplayed at this time of year. But that doesn’t diminish the song’s wonder or power.

To watch the video for “Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl, click below:

To watch a live version of “Fairytale of New York” from 1988 featuring The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, click below:

Have a great Christmas and a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. Here’s hoping that the dismal economic picture of the present improves in 2009. Peace.

Kirsty MacColl 1959-2000 R.I.P.

Man kanske kan säga att jag är en blandning mellan Grinchen och onkel Scrooge – efter förvandlingen. Jag gillar festandet med julen, men har svårt för alla konstigheter. Några av dem tänkte jag skriva om här:

* tjuren Ferdinand handlar alltså om tjurfäktning. Tänk på det lite. Verkligen muntert. Men titta gärna en gång till på Ferdinand och försök att bortse från korkekar där det växar korkar, “fast hon var en ko” och andra roliga saker. Jag har bara svårt att se att tjurar skulle titta på en PR-affisch där en stolt matador (‘dödare’) sticker ett antal spjut i ryggen på en artfrände och tänka “Åh, det där vill jag också göra. Till varje pris vill jag också komma dit.”

*

“Vet de över huvud taget om att det är jul?”

“Nej, det vet de inte. Och det har inte med att de är fattiga. För de är inte uppfostrade i en huvudsakligen kristen kultur. ‘Christmas’ – Christ- Kristus – fattar du kopplingen?”

Jag gillar låten, men texten är kanske inte helt genomtänkt.

*

Den här låten har valts till den juligaste låten, i någon brittisk undersökning. Vilken julstämning man får av folk som blir svikna under julhelgen… Min teori är att folk tänker på videon som julig.

* varför campar Musse, Långben och Kalle framför stans soptipp? Det verkar ju ha varit finare bara drygt femton meter därifrån.

*

Trean på samma lista. Men det är inte illa att få in drygt femtio förolämpningar i en jullåt utan att någon reagerar. Eller så kanske det är en motreaktion. Som Just D skaldar: “de grälar om vikten av att hålla sams.” (För texten, se http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev94MQ9KQUs)

* att sedan fundera över hur tomten hinner, är ungefär som att fundera över hur Jesus kunde gå på vattnet.

Å andra sidan:

Varje tillfälle när man får äta kryddost, dricka must, knapra pepparkakor och öppna presenter kan per definition inte vara helt fel.

Merry Christmas 2008, sweetheart.  You are six, you are excited, and I’m feeling a little guilty about lying to you about Santa Claus all these years.  Forgive me?

Remember me telling you about your wee bit of Irish blood?  The Pogues were a terrific Irish-punk band back in the day.  Maybe you’ll find some of their music resonates with you, as I have.

I hope all of your Christmases are full of joy and love and compassion.  But I also understand that most people have had rough holidays.  Some people have had nothing BUT rough holidays, or rough days in general.  I’ve been lucky, but still I remember many Christmas days alone and deployed overseas, or working the night shift to earn some extra money, or just being pretty damned depressed about something in my life.

We all have them.  Don’t let the marketing folks convince you that you aren’t “normal” if your holiday isn’t as fabulous as their advertising images.  If you find yourself in a funk, just get through it, and move into the next year resolved to shake things up, to move your life forward.

If you need a buddy to help you through it, to remind you that most of the world is feeling just as crappy as you?  Well, invite The Pogues and their “Fairytale of New York” into your home for a visit.

“It was Christmas Eve, babe, in the drunk tank…”

Oh yes! It’s time for Christmas songs! I love this song.

Note:  This video is the version with the lyrics unaltered. So, you may hear language that, on occasion, might not be to everybody’s taste. Personally, it doesn’t offend me but I know what the Internet is like so I thought I’d better put this warning up just in case.

Las Navidades me gustan entre poco y nada, pero no puedo evitar recomendar esta canción (hoy) a quienes aún conserven el cariño por estas fiestas y (cualquier otro día) a los que como yo, ya lo hayan perdido.

En escena, The Pogues y Kirsty MacColl.

Fairytale of New York

It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won’t see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I’ve got a feeling
This year’s for me and you
So Happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

They’ve got cars big as bars
They’ve got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It’s no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging,
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing “Galway Bay”
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

You’re a bum
You’re a punk
You’re an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it’s our last

The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing “Galway Bay”
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can’t make it all alone
I’ve built my dreams around you

The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing “Galway Bay”
And the bells are ringing out
For Christmas day.

Cuento de hadas de Nueva York

Era nochebuena, nena
En el calabozo
un viejo me dijo: no veremos otra.
Y entonces cantó una canción
The rare old mountain dew
Giré mi cara
Y soñé contigo

Tuve suerte
Vinieron dieciocho a uno
Tengo la sensación
de que este año es para nosotros
Así que feliz Navidad
Te quiero, nena
Puedo ver tiempos mejores
en los que todos nuestros sueños se harán realidad

Tienen coches grandes como barras
Tienen ríos de oro
Pero el viento te atraviesa
No es sitio para los viejos
Cuando me cogiste la mano por primera vez
En una fría nochebuena
Me prometiste
que Broadway me estaba esperando

Eras guapo
Eras bonita
Reina de Nueva York
Cuando la banda acabó de tocar
Rugieron pidiendo más
Sinatra “swingueaba”
Todos los borrachos cantaban
Nos besamos en una esquina
Luego bailamos a través de la noche

Los chicos del coro de la policía
cantaban Galway Bay
y las campanas repicaban
por Navidad

Eres un tirado
Eres un guarro
Eres una vieja cachonda colocada
Ahí tumbado casi muerto gota a gota en esa cama
Tú, gusano, atontado
Piojoso marica barato
Feliz Navidad, tu culo
Rezo a Dios que sea la última juntos

Los chicos del coro de la policía
aún cantando Galway Bay
y las campanas repicaban
por Navidad

Pude haber sido alguien
Bueno, cualquiera podría
Te llevaste mis sueños
cuando te encontré la primera vez
Los llevo conmigo, nena
Los he puesto con los míos
No puedo hacerlo todo solo
He construido mis sueños en torno a ti

Los chicos del coro de la policía
aún cantando Galway Bay
y las campanas repican
por Navidad.

I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I call “Fairytale of New York” the greatest secular Christmas song of all time and one of the greatest songs ever.

The Pogues were at a creative peak when If I Should Fall From Grace With God was released in 1988, and while the band was much too ragged to release a flawless album, both Grace and their previous record, Rum, Sodomy, & the Lash are dazzling achievements.

“Fairytale of New York,” the fourth track on Grace, opens with the narrator in the drunk tank on Christmas Eve.  From there he flashes back on the life he and his lover have shared, from the joyous optimism of two Irish immigrants in New York City to their later descent into animosity and substance abuse.  The song ends on a hopeful note, with the narrator deciding to turn his life around, glorious, swelling strings hinting that maybe this Christmas will be the day he begins to redeem himself.

The late Kirsty MacColl provides the female vocal, and it’s a tremendous performance–when she declares “You took my dreams from me,” the heartache is palpable.  Pogues’ lead Shane MacGowan is almost as good, his three-packs-a-day rasp contrasting vividly with MacColl’s lilt.  Their chemistry is amazing–like a classic romantic film.  After “You took my dreams from me,” comes the perfect rejoinder: “I kept them with me, babe.”

Whether you’ve never heard this song or if you’ve heard it a thousand times, I encourage you to take four minutes, turn up your speakers, and listen to this masterpiece.  From the songwriting, to the arrangement, to the performance, it’s about as perfect a song as mere humans can create.  I am also not exaggerating when I say that it gives me goosebumps nearly every time I hear it.

]]> http://feministbookworm.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/fairytale/ Tue, 23 Dec 2008 10:48:47 +0000 Kirsty http://feministbookworm.wordpress.com/2008/12/23/fairytale/

What would Christmas be without Kirsty MacColl and The Pogues?

I’ll be away from the interweb for a few days now. See you all after Christmas, and may you all eat, drink, and be merry.

Kirsty x