Sunday, October 2, 2011

BEST OF DESDINOVA: 15 YEARS AGO RADIO DIED WITH KURT COBAIN

TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF NIRVANA'S NEVERMIND

I don't think there has been a more important day in the history of the United States of America than September 24, 1991. That was the day that Nirvana's Nevermind was released.
I can tell you where I was the first time I heard it. I was in college, working on my electronic media degree and living in a small apartment on Elm Street between two frat houses near M.S.U (then known as S.M.S.U). It was on a rather warm day, shortly before Halloween, that heard this song being blasted from a stereo system in the backyard of the frat house on the left of the apartment building. I remember thinking "Now that is what music is supposed to sound like." I saw one of the frat members and asked him what the song was. He told me the group was called Nirvana and showed me the cassette's cover (Yes, kids it was on cassette in those days). I went that night and bought a copy.
Nirvana's Nevermind came out at a time when heavy metal bands were recording lame love ballads just to get airplay among the New Kids On the Block and Whitney Houston songs dominating the airwaves. Most AOR stations were playing bar bands and older artist like John Hiatt, Don Henley and Bonnie Raitt between the power ballads. With the exception of Guns N Roses and Metalica, AOR was turning into music for men in a midlife crisis.
Nirvana changed all of that! It revitalized rock and roll much the way the Beatles did in 1964 and the Sex Pistols did in 1976.
That is why I'm excited about this 20th anniversary edition of Nevermind. I'm saving up my money to buy a copy. Not a day goes by that I don't listen to "Smells Like Teen Spirit," so I know I will enjoy this one. It is hard to believe it has been around for 20 years, because it seems like only yesterday that I heard it for the first time.
It is also hard for me to believe that a local scumbag blogger and trouble maker named Stormy dared to slam Kurt Cobain on Facebook. He also slammed John Lennon in the same post.
Because of that I'm posting a BEST OF DESDINOVA of the most popular post ever, in which I explain how the radio industry's ingnoring Nirvana caused it to lose younger listeners.

TWO REASONS WHY SMALL FACES/THE FACES WERE NOMINATED TO THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME

Every year when the nominations for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame are announced there is a bunch of people whine and complain that their favorite band or artist wasn't nominated. Old guys always complain because a rapper got nominated or some doofus thinks that there is some sort of leftist bias (These are usually Ted Nugent fans). The point is we're lucky to have a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at all and should realize eventually your favorite will get in.
There was some controversy with some over the choice of Small Faces/Faces. Some complain that they didn't have enough hits (Small Faces had one T-40 hit, while Faces technically had two T-40 hits). The complaint coming from keyboardist Ian McLagen is that each incarnation should go in separately because they are two different bands. Either way, I'm present the evidence as to WHY they were nominated on both sides. First, the original 60s Steve Marriott version with "All Or Nothing" (Also check out footage on You Tube of Small Faces doing "Tin Soldier" with P.P Arnold, who I didn't realize was so attractive). Followed by the 70s Rod Stewart/Ron Wood line up doing their T-40 hit cover version of the Temptations "I Know I'm Losing You."









Tuesday, September 13, 2011

DESDINOVA'S TWENTY FAVORITE LEIBER & STOLLER SONGS

When songwriter Jerry Leiber passed away last month, I mentioned I would have "more to come" on the subject. I wanted to give some sort of tribute other than the link to an article on his death. There are many great sites and biographies on Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, which give plenty of information on their career and work.

I decided instead to give you a list of twenty of my favorite recordings of Leiber & Stoller songs. A few of these are not the original versions, but cover versions that I prefer.

1. "Love Potion #9" - The Clovers.
2. "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" - The Cheers.
3. "Jailhouse Rock" - Elvis Presley.
4. "Poison Ivy" - The Rolling Stones.
5. "Alligator Wine" - Screaming Jay Hawkins.
6. "Little Egypt" - The Coasters.
7. "Hound Dog" - Elvis Presely.
8. "I (Who Have Nothing) - Terry Knight & The Pack.
9. "Is That All There Is" - P. J. Harvey.
10. "Kansas City" - The Beatles.
11. "Charlie Brown" - The Coasters.
12. "Dance With Me" - The Drifters.
13. "Down In Mexico" - The Coasters.
14. "D. W. Washburn" - The Monkees.
15. "Riot in Cell Block #9" - The Robins (Later became the Coasters).
16. "There Goes My Baby" - The Drifters.
17. "I'm a Hog For You Baby" - Screaming Lord Sutch.
18. "Is That All There Is" - Cristina Monet (A punk-new wave version with outrageous, new lyrics by Monet. Leiber and Stoller sued to prevent its release for several years).
19. "Ruby Baby" - Dion
20. "I'm a Woman" - Peggy Lee (Most people of my generation remember this song from the commercials for Enjoli perfume).

Friday, September 9, 2011

I'M OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR A ONE HIT WONDER Part 2

You are probably wondering why there is a picture of Maxwell Smart on this second post about one hit wonders that really weren't one hit wonders. Yesterdays, post covered the acts that are often referred to as one hit wonders but had at least one or more other Top 40 hits. This section included the acts that had hits that didn't make the Top 40, but were in the Hot 100. Many of these got above #75 on the Hot 100 and may have received airplay on the radio or MTV. So, as Maxwell Smart would say these acts "Missed it by that much."

King Harvest - "A Little Bit Like Magic" #91.

Peter Schilling - "Different Story (A World of Lust and Crime)" #61.

Vixen - "How Much Love" #44 and "Love Is a Killer" #71.

The Exciters - "He's Got The Power" #57, "Little Bit of Soap" #58 and "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" #78.

Edison Lighthouse - "It's Up To You Petula" #72.

Devo - "Working In The Coal Mine" #43 and "Theme From Dr. Detroit" #59.

Big Country - "Fields of Fire" #52 and "Wonderland" #86.

Marmalade - "Falling Apart at the Seems" #49 and "Rainbow" 51.

Mountain - "The Animal Trainer and the Toad" #76.

Shocking Blue - "Mighty Joe" #43 and "Long and Lonesome Road" #75 ("Love Buzz" didn't chart but is famous because it was recorded by Nirvana).

Free - "Stealer" - #49 ("Fire and Water" was played quite a bit on AOR stations as well).

Bertie Higgins - "Just Another Day in Paradise" #46.

Faith No More - "Easy" #58.

Curtis Lee - "Under The Moon of Love" #46.

Iron Butterfly - "Easy Rider (Let The Wind Pay The Way)" #66, "Soul Experience" #75 and "In the Time of Our Lives" #96.

Brewer & Shipley - "Tarkio Road" #55.

Joey Scarbury - "When She Dances" #49.

The Bobbetts - "I Shot Mr. Lee" #52 and "Have Mercy Baby" #66 (I should point out that Mr. Lee of their two biggest hits was the principal at their school. Wonder what he thought of the follow up record?).

Sheb Wooley - "That's My Pa" #51 (Nine years after it was a hit, Wooley sang a portion of this song in an episode of the Mod Squad entitled "The Death of Will Bill Hannachek").

Bobby Day - "Over & Over" #41 and "The Bluebird, Buzzard and the Oriole" #54.

Arthur Alexander - "Everyday I Have To Cry" #45, "Anna" #68 and "Where Have You Been All My Life" #50.

The Tornadoes - "Ride The Wind" #63.

The Swinging Blue Jeans - "Good Golly Miss Molly" #43 and "You're No Good" #93.

Shirley Bassey - "Something" #55, "Diamonds Are Forever" #57,  "Never Never Never" #48 and "History Repeating" #10-Dance Chart (with the Propellerheads).

The Gentrys - "Spread It On Think" #50.

The Music Machine - "People In Me" #66.

The Standells - "Sometimes The Good Guys Don't Wear White" #43, "Why Pick On Me" #54 and "Can't Help But Love You" #78.

Bob Kuban & The In-Men - "The Teaser" #70 and "Drive My Car" #93.

Bob Lind - "Remember the Rain" #64 and "Truely Julie's Blues" #65.

The Sunshine Company - "Happy" #50 and "Look Here Comes The Sun" #56.

The Blues Magoos - "Pipe Dream" #60, "One by One" #71 and "There's a Chance We Can" #81.

The Lemon Pipers - "Rice Is Nice" #46 and "Jelly Jungle of Orange Marmalade" #51.

Status Quo - "Ice In the Sun" #70.

Barbara Acklin - "From a Teacher to a Preacher" #57, "Just Ain't No Love" #67 and "Am I the Same Girl" #79.

Blue Cheer - "Just a Little Bit" #92.

Spiral Starecase - "No One For Me To Turn To" #52.

T. Rex - "Ride The White Swan" #76, "Hot Love" #72 and "Telegram Sam" #67.

Stories - "I'm Coming Home" #42, "Mammy Blue" #50 and "If It Feels Good, Do It" #88.

Paper Lace - "Black Eyed Boys" #41 and "Billy Don't Be a Hero" #96 (There version was out first).

Thin Lizzy - "Cowboy Song" #77 (The title track from the LP "Jailbreak" received a lot of airplay but didn't chart).

Paul Nicholas - "On the Strip" #67.

Nick Lowe - "I Knew the Bride (When She Used To Rock & Roll)" #77 ("So It Goes" didn't chart but was featured in the movie Rock & Roll High School).

Thomas Dolby - "Europa and The Pirate Twins" #67, "Hyperactive" #62 and "Airhead" #6-Dance charts.

Honeymoon Suite - "New Girl Now" #57 and "What Does It Take" #52.

Bourgeous Tagg - "Mutual Surrender" #62.

Siouxie & the Banshees - "Peek A Boo" #53 and "Cities In the Dust" #17-Dance chart.

Crash Test Dummies - "The Superman Song" #56 and "Afternoon & Coffee Spoons" #66.

Barry McGuire - "Cloudy Summer Afternoon (Raindrops)" #62 and "Child of Our Times" #72.

The Music Explosion - "Sunshine Games" #63.

I'm sure there are more bu there is a good list of them for right now.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

I'M OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR A ONE HIT WONDER Part 1

As I mentioned in my last post, it is not easy to determine which songs are one hit wonders. You are either surprised that an act had another hit or that the other song wasn't a Top 40 hit. Many musical acts are called one hit wonders, even though they had another hit or two in the Top 40 or Hot 100.

Why? Part of this is memory lapse on the part of people discussing music. This in turn effects polls being conducted by magazines, radio stations or online sights. Another cause of this can be laid at the feet of the radio industry, which frequently limits the number of songs by an artist on their playlist. Many oldies and classic rock stations only play one song by an act. The worst offender is reference books and articles (print and online) written on the subject which are either poorly researched or purposely ignore the facts. Some CD and LP compilations have done this also.

I looked over several listings of one hit wonders and decided to list the ones that were glaring mistakes. This one contains the acts that had other Top 40 hits. I plan to follow this up with groups that had hits that "bubbled under" the Top 40. Also, if the song charted on or was higher on another chart, I designated that chart. Some I listed because they received radio and MTV airplay.

Johnny Preston - "Cradle of Love" #7 and "Feel So Fine" #14 in 1960 after "Running Bear."

Big Bopper - "Big Bopper's Wedding" #38.

C. W. McCall - "Wolf Creek Pass" #40 and "The Old Home Filler Up and Keep On Trucking Cafe" #54. Both had a connecting story line featuring the waitress named Mavis, sidekick Earl and Sloan, the dog of the truck driving narrator, Rubber Duck.

A-Ha - "The Sun Always Shines On TV" #20, "Cry Wolf" #50 and "The Living Daylights" #113.

Great White - "The Angel Song" #30 and "Rock Me" #60.

Tommy Tutone - "Angel Say No" #38.

Strawberry Alarm Clock - "Tomorrow" #23.

Question Mark & the Mysterians - "I Need Somebody" #22 and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" #56.

Falco - "Der Kommisar" #72, "Vienna Calling" #18 and "Sound of Musik" #13.

The Rembrants - "Just The Way It Is, Baby" #14.

The Foundations - "Baby, Now That I've Found You" #11.

Keith - "Ain't Gonna Lie" #37 and "Tell It To My Face" #37.

The Left Banke - "Pretty Ballerina" #15 and "Desiree" #98.

Maxine Nightingale - "Lead Me On" #5.

Taste of Honey - "Sukyaki" #3.

The Fat Boys - "The Twist (Hey Twister!)" #16.

Looking Glass - "Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne" #33.

Steel Breeze - "Dreaming Is Easy" #30.

Maury Head - "Superstar" #14 in 1971. This song is best known as "Jesus Christ Superstar." Head played Judas in the original version in London.

The Romantics - "One In a Million" #37 and "What I Like About You" #47.

Blue Swede -"Never My Love" #7 and "Hush/I'm Alive" #61.

The Soul Survivors - "Explosion (In Your Heart)" #33 and "Impossible Mission" #68.

The Electric Prunes - "Get Me To The World On Time" #27.

Vanilla Fudge - "Take Me For A Little While" #38, "Seasons of the Witch" #65, "Shotgun" #68 and "Where Is My Mind" #73.

Brownsville Station - "Kings of the Party" #31, "Lady (Put the Light On Me)" #46, "I'm the Leader of the Gang" #48, "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" #57 and "Martian Boogie" #59.

Spandau Ballet - "Gold" #29 and "Only When You Leave" #34.

Swing Out Sister - "Twilight World" #31 and "Am I The Same Girl" #45/#1-AC.

The Cardigans - "My Favorite Game" #16-Alternative.

Madness - "Must Be Love" #33.

Semisonic - "Singing In My Sleep" #33-#11 Modern, "Secret Smile" #21 Modern and "Chemistry" #39 Modern.

Lighthouse - "Sunny Days" #34 and "Pretty Lady" #53.

American Breed - "Step Out of Your Mind" #24 and "Green Light" #39.

Alias - "Waiting for Love" #13.     
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...