Hot Rox Avec Lying Sweet Talk

Waking up in February make-up

2012-02-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

This blog had its fifth anniversary last month, so I was going to celebrate by turning out the lights and quietly sliding out the back door. Not that anyone would notice. Anyway, I'm still here and have decided to showcase songs from 1987 this month. These songs are now 25 years old!

Follow The Leader

2012-01-17T21:43:00.000-08:00

Any year with a new Sloan album is a good year by default.

Dismal City

2012-01-12T21:44:00.000-08:00

Robyn

Chinatown

2012-01-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

Paranoia big Destroyer

Boom

2012-01-08T21:48:00.000-08:00

Behind The Parade

2012-01-05T08:10:00.001-08:00

The title track from the latest Tommy Keene album that needs more love.

Anna Lee (Sweetheart Of The Sun)

2012-01-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

The first track on my 2011 compilation, by the Bangles.

Eleven

2012-01-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

Bon Any Nou! It's time again for my 2011 year end mix, which didn't have a title so I'm calling it "Eleven". The songs are in alphabetical order because that's the way they fall.

2011:ELEVEN
Anna Lee (Sweetheart of the Sun) - The Bangles
Behind The Parade - Tommy Keene
Broken Baby Doll House - Phil Angotti
Chinatown - Destroyer
Dismal City - Robyn Hitchcock
Follow The Leader - Sloan
Give It All Back - Noah and the Whale
Heart in Your Heartbreak - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Illumination - Lindsey Buckingham
Just Tell Me - Cirrone
Kiss The World - The Bye Bye Blackbirds
Love Is Onion - Three Minute Tease
Misery - Big Troubles
Nobody Knows - The Feelies
Ode to Janice Melt - Army Navy
Please Ask For Help - Telekinesis
Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People
Radio Bar - Fountains of Wayne
Sandreen - The Red Button
That Someone Is You - R.E.M.
Underneath The Sycamore - Death Cab for Cutie
Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls
What a Pleasure - Beach Fossils
When She Came To Town - The Midwest Beat
Wonder Years - Real Estate
You Can't Keep Me - Amy LaVere

(click Nigel to download)

There's also this version on Spotify:

Capricorn & Jones

2011-12-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

Mike Nesmith and Davy Jones have the same birthday (December 30th = today!)

Christmas Sun

2011-12-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

If Badfinger had recorded a Christmas song in 1971, it would've sounded like this..

Christmas Bring Us Peace On Earth

2011-12-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

The Grip Weeds rule.

Christmas In The Air

2011-12-21T18:45:00.001-08:00

A Holiday Carole

Six White Boomers

2011-12-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

I've managed to mine the Fleshtones Xmas album for about four years straight. This song is like Rolf Harris collaborating with AC/DC. What the heck is a boomer anyway, Dave?

Christmas Day (I Wish I Was Surfing)

2011-12-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

Fast forward to track five, by Tim & Emmy.

Cha Cha All The Way

2011-12-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

In my tradition of discovering fads that faded out long ago, I've been enjoying the Capitol Ultra-Lounge:Christmas Cocktails CD series from the short-lived mid-90s "cocktail" revival. This is one of my favorite songs from the first volume, second up on this year's holiday mix.

This is one of two available songs by Capitol Studio Orchestra along with another version of "Jingle Bells" with hep-cat lyrics by Johnny Mercer. There must be an entire CSO Christmas album out there somewhere.

My favorite Christmas "cocktail" is Alton Brown's Wassail. Ale and apples mix well together.

The Bell That Couldn't Jingle

2011-12-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

The first song on my Xmas comp is something I've been wanting to include for awhile.

Last year I was listening to "Holiday Jangle" by the Found Sound Orchestra, and thought the sample sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. It was from this song, which I have on that LP displayed above (A&M's Something Festive -- possibly the only song on this year's mix that I own on physical media) but hadn't heard in ages. I added the FSO intro to my version, which is why the levels are so weird.

"Bell That Couldn't Jingle" was a mini-standard during that period in the mid-60s when every album was mandated by law to have at least one Bacharach/David (this is actually a Bacharach/Kusik song). The version on my Spotify playlist is by Herb Alpert, because they don't have Burt's version, probably because it isn't even on CD.

Eleven Pipers Piping

2011-12-01T12:55:00.000-08:00

Happy December! Here is my 2001 Xmas playlist for everyone's enjoyment

(click image to download)

ELEVEN PIPERS PIPING: XMAS 2011
01. The Bell That Couldn't Jingle - Burt Bacharach
02. Cha-Cha All the Way - The Capitol Orchestra
03. Come All Ye Faithful Surfer Girls - The Chevelles
04. We Four King - The Blue Hawaiians
05. Christmas Day (I Wish I Was Surfing) - Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler
06. Six White Boomers - Fleshtones
07. Seven Nation Santa - Smash-Up Derby
08. Meet Me Under the Mistletoe - Harry & the Potters
09. Santa Don't Go - Farrah
10. Merry Christmas All - The Grip Weeds
11. Christmas On My Mind - Hep Stars
12. Candy Cane - The Jigsaw Seen
13. Beautiful Xmas Lights - James Kochalka Superstar
14. Christmas with the Devil - Judith Owen
15. Christmas in the Air - Carole King
16. Last Christmas Twist - Fettdog
17. The Little Wiped-out Drummer Boy - The Spongetones
18. Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree - The Magnetic Fields
19. All I Want is Truth (for Christmas) - The Mynabirds
20. Cherry Cherry Christmas - Neil Diamond
21. Christmas All Over This Town - The Plimptons
22. Christmas Day - She & Him
23. Blue on Christmas - Erica Smith
24. Put The Lights On The Tree - Sufjan Stevens
25. Child's Christmas In Wales - Superchunk
26. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day - Wilson Phillips
27. First Of May / Thank You For Christmas - The Bee Gees

The collection is also on Spotify, minus a few unavailable songs, which are replaced with holiday songs by Justin Bieber and Coldplay, so it's all good.

Love You Live

2011-11-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

The bonus version of Some Girls made me think of this album.

Pulse

2011-11-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

76 minutes of Pink Floyd here.

And 70 more minutes here.

It's unfortunate that the only official Floyd live albums are from the latter Gilmour-Mason-Wright era, and that Pulse is the only Floyd album on spotify.

Live 1967

2011-11-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

Next live album: Hey Hey, it's the Monkees

The Live 1967 album came out during the mid-80s Monkees revival, and showed that they really could sing and play, and really were in the young generation, and really did have something to say.

Really. Just like a real band. And hopefully, someday, they'll be inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, over Jann Wenner's dead body.

How The West Was Won

2011-11-21T21:05:00.000-08:00

I borrowed this album from the library a few years ago, and disc one still slays me.

One For The Road

2011-11-18T13:10:00.001-08:00

Today's live album is One For The Road, which was my gateway to the Kinks.

OFTR was my first Kinks album, so I learned most of these classics from the live versions. I knew them from the songs played on the radio like "Lola" and "Superman", but discovered many new favorites that turned out to be old favorites because they were all from the mid-60s. A few months later, I picked up Spotlight On The Kinks with the original studio versions of these songs and never looked back. Rock bands will come, rock bands will go, but rock and roll will go on forever!

One Night In November

2011-11-16T21:52:00.000-08:00

Next live album: Gotta Let This Hen Out

This was my second exposure to RH (after Fegmania!) and the first time I heard most of the Soft Boys songs. I still don't know the studio version of "Listening To the Higsons" as well as this live version.

Dead Reckoning

2011-11-14T22:28:00.000-08:00

My next live album. One of my all-time favs, even after thirty years.

That Striped Sunlight Sound

2011-11-12T00:30:00.000-08:00

My next live album is this one from the Go-Betweens. I've always liked the Dylan quote during the chorus.

At Town Hall

2011-11-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

Today's live album is Eels with Strings: Live At Town Hall.

I borrowed the DVD from the library after it came out, but never picked up the album, even though it had my favorite versions of E's best known songs ("The Only Thing I Care About" and "Novacaine For The Soul") and a few choice covers. The one song I grabbed from emusic was the cover of "Pretty Ballerina".

At The Matrix

2011-11-06T20:05:00.001-08:00

This weekend's lost live album is the Doors at the Matrix in SF in March 1967.

I tried to find Absolutely Live on spotify, but couldn't find it. Instead they had a bunch of live shows from the 1970 tour as part of the Bright Midnight series, and one show from the Matrix in SF in 1967, just after the release of their debut album and before they broke nationally.

The Matrix is a tiny little club in the upper Fillmore with a capacity of under 200 that's featured some of the best live performances ever, by the Jefferson Airplane, the Flamin Groovies, and others. It was the first place the Doors ever played outside LA, before anyone knew who they were, and it sounds like there's almost no one at the club. They played almost everything from their first two albums, without any teenybopper screaming or poetry breaks, sounding like a band on the way to bigger and better things. Which they were.

At Budakan

2011-11-04T16:07:00.000-07:00

My second live album for November is Cheap Trick's At Budakan.

This record was the soundtrack to my first year of high school, but I never bothered to upgrade my original cassette copy with any of the CD reissues (Budakan II or Budakan: The Complete Concert). I created a spotify playlist from the latter album that just had the ten tracks from the original album (starting with "Hello There" and ending with "Clock Strikes Ten") with "Southern Girls" in the place of "Need Your Love". I'm not sure why my favorite CT song wasn't on the original At Budakan, but it definitely should be there.

In Concert

2011-11-02T22:14:00.000-07:00

For the month of November, I'm going to reconnect with some live albums that I haven't heard in awhile, courtesy of spotify. First up is the Beach Boys In Concert. This double live album came out in 1973, when the Beach Boys were a major live concert draw but their albums weren't selling that well, so the solution was a double live album.

It was recorded on the 1972/73 Holland tour, before they became an oldies revue, so it features songs from the late 60s and early 70s that only diehards know, plus a handful of songs from Pet Sounds (which had just been reissued). Brian wasn't touring with the band at this point, but they had Carl, Dennis, Al, and Mike with Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar as prominent members. Chaplin's "Leaving This Town" (from the Holland album) was one of the highlights of the set, as well as being one of the only tracks on youtube.

I have this album on vinyl, but hadn't played it in a long time and never picked up the CD reissue. It's hardly essential, but definitely a fun listen.

Valerie

2011-10-31T22:26:00.000-07:00

Loves Me.. Farewell to 1991.

Go the F**k to Sleep

2011-10-28T22:30:00.001-07:00

MBV

Underneath the bridge, the tarp has sprung a leak

2011-10-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

And the animals are trapped, and have all become my pets.

The letter U and the numeral 2

2011-10-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

This song also came out in 1991.

These guys are from England and who gives a shit?

Skins and Candy

2011-10-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

A cover of "For What It's Worth" melded onto "Sympathy For the Devil".

I like this.

Mock Turtle Soup

2011-10-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

More 1991. Can You Dig It?

Beautiful Love

2011-10-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Today is Julian Cope's 54th birthday, so here's the best song from Peggy Suicide.

There's No Other Way

2011-10-19T19:00:00.001-07:00

A four-letter word. They are Blur

The Size Of A Cow

2011-10-18T20:52:00.001-07:00

Suddenly remembered the Wonder Stuff. This song was from 1991 as well.

Girlfriend

2011-10-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

I remember a couple of years ago when I was wandering through Fry's Electronics and kept hearing this familiar riff echoing through the store.

It was people playing "Guitar Hero" in "Girlfriend" mode or some such thing. I saw Matthew shortly after this album came out (opening for Robyn Hitchcock) and was blown away by the guitar playing more than anything else. Nice to see that he's finally being appreciated for that.

Geometry

2011-10-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

Chris Stamey & Peter Holsapple made a great album in 1991.

Fretless

2011-10-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

I rediscovered this song recently, which is like reconnecting with an old friend that you haven't seen in awhile. Still missing R.E.M.

Electric Landlady

2011-10-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Kirsty MacColl's birthday. Here is one of my faves by her.
(co-written with Marshall Crenshaw).

Bandwagonesque

2011-10-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

My favorite music list ever..

Spin Albums Of The Year 1991

1. Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque
2. R.E.M. - Out Of Time
3. Nirvana - Nevermind
4. Pixies - Trompe le Monde
5. Pet Shop Boys - Discography
6. Robyn Hitchcock - Perspex Island
7. Public Enemy - Apocalypse '91: The Enemy Strikes Black
8. Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger
9. Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
10. P.M. Dawn - Of The Heart, Of The Soul And Of The Cross: The Utopian Experience
11. Metallica - Metallica
12. Massive Attack - Blue Lines
13. Fugazi - Steady Diet Of Nothing
14. Urge Overkill - The Supersonic Storybook
15. Pearl Jam - Ten
16. Seal - Seal
17. De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
18. Mudhoney - Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
19. Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I And II
20. Hole - Pretty On The Inside

Birds in Perspex

2011-10-04T19:48:00.000-07:00

Another song from 1991.

Achtung

2011-10-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

Struggling for an October theme, so welcome to 1991

Alligator lizards in the air

2011-09-30T22:35:00.000-07:00

Time In A Bottle

2011-09-29T21:32:00.000-07:00

Jim Croce died one day after Gram Parsons

Blowing through the jasmine in my mind

2011-09-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Reminiscing

2011-09-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

On and on the songs roll on

2011-09-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

And soon you are caught up

Stephen Bishop is also responsible for the theme from "Animal House",
and one of the funniest scenes in the movie (IMO).

Midnight Blue

2011-09-21T22:13:00.000-07:00

For R.E.M. and Troy Davis.

I may be climbing on rainbows

2011-09-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

but baby here goes..

Because of the name of the band, I used to think this song was about making bread.
"Bread - Make It With You" = I want to make bread with you.
It makes perfect sense when you're eight!

My head needs relating, not solitude

2011-09-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

Written by Neil Young. But you knew that.

Just like Andy and McCoo

2011-09-17T09:19:00.001-07:00

"This is his first Solid Gold hit, and we're sure he'll have many more.."

Or maybe not. Bertie fickin Higgins, that's who

Electric word life

2011-09-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

It means forever and that's a mighty long time.

Angel in the shape of something wild

2011-09-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

Probably too hard for soft rock.

Get It Right Next Time

2011-09-11T19:49:00.001-07:00

Sweet dreams and flying machines

2011-09-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

James Taylor is on fire.

Like a worn-out recording of a favorite song

2011-09-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

Come with me and escape.

Dan Seals was never a member of Seals & Crofts

2011-09-08T12:28:00.001-07:00

It was his brother Jim and Dash Crofts.

How did they create such a crunchy groove with an acoustic guitar & a mandolin?

It happens all the time this crazy love of mine

2011-09-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

Country rock or soft rock. You make the call..

The Biggest Part Of Me

2011-09-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

Wash away the past so we may start anew.

Iimmpeccable arrangements by soft rock renegades

2011-09-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

"In the early '70s, rock music mellowed out. Singer-songwriters, acoustic guitars, and sun-soaked melodies took over the airwaves and the sound of soft rock was born."

What I'm trying to achieve is the first volume of this series ("Summer Breeze") without the bad 80s songs, and fewer songs by white people.

You will be soft rocked by me

2011-09-03T10:44:00.001-07:00

Trying to come up with a theme for September blogging, I've gone back to assembling my "Ultimate Collection of 70s Soft Rock (as seen on TV)".

I have a handful of songs picked, and here's what I'm aiming for.

You will be soft rocked by me
I use the passive voice to show how gentle I'll be
When I soft rock you
You will know it's true
That you've never been soft rocked 'til you've been soft rocked by me

Turning Off Blue

2011-08-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

I didn't know about this video for one of my favorite TK songs until just now.

And on this last day of August, here endeth the year 1996

She's been talking to my friends

2011-08-29T22:18:00.001-07:00

Another acoustic performance from 1996

It's a radiation vibe I'm groovin' on

2011-08-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

From Ken & Jon to Adam & Chris

If you watch this whole video, it breaks into chaos (or "turns to shit" as Chris says) a few minutes in and turns into a 70s AOR medley. Robbie Fulks was right, these guys are walking jukeboxes!

Life what precious moments

2011-08-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

Back to 1996. People who dismiss Amazing Disgrace have probably never played track #6.

Just to find out where they hide her

2011-08-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Nine years ago today(*), I sang this song onstage with Amy Rigby,
and ~~three~~ four years ago I blogged about it.

(*) Guessing on the date, but I think it was the Monday before Labor Day, which would have been August 26th. I remember messing up the "eyes filling up with lonely tears" line, but it was one of the highlights of my recent life.

Open The Door

2011-08-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

I had this song following the Eels on my 1996 compilation,
which probably caused them to start covering it a couple of years later.

Amy Rigby story tomorrow (which I think was its anniversary).

Before I sputter out

2011-08-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

Miss Understanding

2011-08-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

Right in the middle of the "crank it up" section of my 1996 mix.

The Lines You Amend

2011-08-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

Sloan rules. That is all.

Keep It To Yourself

2011-08-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

Youtube doesn't have Amy's "Knapsack", so here's my K fallback

Have I told my Amy Rigby story on my blog yet? I have a history with her.

Jumping Fences

2011-08-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Remember the Elephant 6? Good stuff.

Maybe not as big a deal as Jeff Magnum's comeback, but OTC is touring again.

We are all the same inside

2011-08-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

Revisiting 1996 to remind myself that this is a good song.

Global Village Idiot

2011-08-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

Most of my 1996 songs aren't on youtube, but this one is

The sun electric out of sight

2011-08-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

I miss Bill Berry

I cross the room like a dancing architect

2011-08-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

Human history can be split into two parts: before and after this video was released

Reverie

2011-08-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

The first (and last) Stereolab song I ever "liked".

ETK is the only Stereolab album I still own, mainly because of this song, but also because it's a white-label promo that I couldn't sell back if I wanted to.

Born Slippy

2011-08-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

From the movie Transpotting.

The first (and last) "electronica" song I ever "liked".

Nej nej nej, okej yeah

2011-08-03T15:28:00.000-07:00

Struggling for a blog theme for August, he comes up with 1996.

Not sure how many versions of this song exist.
I have four, three of them came out in 1996.

You're My Best Friend

2011-07-31T10:49:00.000-07:00

My final song from 1976

8tracks mix here.

Welcome Back

2011-07-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

Did you know the theme from "Welcome Back Kotter" was written and sung by the guy from the Lovin' Spoonful? That blew my mind when I was 12!

And the guy who wrote the "Mary Tyler Moore" theme also wrote "I Fought The Law".

Our first stop is in Bogota

2011-07-29T21:56:00.000-07:00

I think this song is about DRUGS..No way DUDE!

Bust out at full speed

2011-07-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

It's difficult to name your "favorite song ever", but here's mine

Roadrunner Once

2011-07-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

Better than the original? I like it more!

Tattoo fingers shy away from me

2011-07-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

Radio Ethiopia is an underrated album dragged down by an overlong title track.

From the phone booth across the hall

2011-07-21T19:39:00.001-07:00

Forgot to post this song last week.

Any 1976 rundown is incomplete without it.

The sun is shining in the sky

2011-07-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

Because it's a living thing

Just trying to tell a vision

2011-07-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

I saw Television on their early 90s reunion tour and was mindblown by their performance of this song, which I only recognized because Siouxsie & The Banshees covered it.

It was their debut two-sided single (first part on the topside and second part on the flipside, just like "American Pie"), but the original studio version wasn't commercially available until the second Cd reissue of Marquee Moon.

Memories, good days, bad days.

2011-07-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

They'll be with me always

Tonight there's gonna be trouble

2011-07-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

Interesting to see the UK charts from 35 years ago this month, but Phil Lynott & Co. still look like the coolest dudes in the room.

Girls Girls Girls

2011-07-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

Nothing to do with Mötley Crüe

Fool To Cry

2011-07-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

More '76. Black and Blue is uneven and unnecessary as Rolling Stones albums go, but I've always liked this song.

Everyone's in love with you

2011-07-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

What can I say about a Beach Boys album where Mike Love wrote the best song?

Not much. Still singing that same song.

Mas cencerro por favor

2011-07-07T21:21:00.000-07:00

I saw this band last week at the fair.

Forming in a straight line

2011-07-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

Who expected this song to be a stadium anthem 35 years after its release?

Let's be American

2011-07-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite patriotic songs from the year of the Bicentennial

Like waves crashing on the beach

2011-07-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

My first song from 1976 is the last song from Tom Petty's debut,
which has been in the news recently.

This sounds like a Byrds song because TP wrote it for Roger McGuinn, who recorded it around the same time on his solo album Thunderbyrd..