Picks to click: Turtles, Nilsson, Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers, Marvelettes. More later.
IanWagner The Rustic Bumfiddler Posts: 47962 Registered: Aug 2007
Posted July 18th, 2011 03:00 PM IPTwo votes immediately for The Beach Boys, in less time than it would take to actually listen to all the nominees? Really?
bungfungus has Beach Boy blood in their veins Posts: 1396 Registered: Aug 2007
Posted July 18th, 2011 03:02 PM IPDude this one is HARD.
Nilsson
Mamas And Papas
Ohio Express
Dionne Warwick
Marvelettes
will be difficult to choose between, and that's before listening to the rest.
My mind can't separate theNilsson song and that cool Midnight Cowboy album cover.
(Edited by bungfungus)Jesus music from the archives
bungfungus has Beach Boy blood in their veins Posts: 1396 Registered: Aug 2007
Quote: IanWagner wrote:
Two votes immediately for The Beach Boys, in less time than it would take to actually listen to all the nominees? Really?
No kidding. I haven't listened yet, and I can tell you off the top of my head that at least 4 of those songs whoop Do It Again's ass. Our Band could be Your Life.
kenny Charles Nelson Reilly's SHORTS! Posts: 920 Registered: Feb 2008
Everybody's Talkin' only bubbled under the Hot 100 this year, then the next year, after it was used in a certain film, it was a much bigger hit. Above all else, this man was just a fucking amazing singer and interpreter. This is a ubiquitous record, but one I never tire of. I think it beats Glen Campbell at his own game. I can't vote for it here because of one other record, but I assume it'll win this set, and I wouldn't blame it for doing so.
Here's the second Idle Race entry for this year, and it is just as good as the first. Points for brevity!
Well, since The Damned's cover of Eloise was on the 1986 poll, I thought I should put Barry Ryan's original on this one. It is absolutely batty pop kitchen-sink craziness, and closer to Scott Walker than anyone may care to admit. I think this is a million times better than MacArthur Park, as pop epics go.
I'll be very surprised if anything else besides Elenore gets my vote here. I really think it is one of the most glorious pop records ever made, and perhaps the definitive vocal performance by favourite pop singer of the decade, Howard Kaylan. Thing is, Kaylan set out, while on tour, to write the corniest, most cliche-filled love-pop toon he could possibly come up with, and Elenore was the result. He even threw in an "etc." into the chorus so no one could miss the joke. The song was recorded as just one of the 11 guises portrayed by the group on their classic Battle Of The Bands LP. The harmony vocals, soaring production and beautiful melody made the joke beside the point. In satiring the "perfect" pop record, the band made the PERFECT pop record. This one has went right through me since I was a kid, and my admiration and love for it has only grown over the years.
Bringing in the world sounds is Joe's request for Caetano Veloso. Perhaps a bit long for this context, but nevertheless a welcome break from the usual stuff heard in the polls. Pretty darn tripped out and evil. Apparently acid hit Brazil hard.
I put Dreams Of The Everyday Housewife in for the Campbell fans here. Great vocal and production, as always for Glen, but this composition is pretty bad, I think. Should have started a series, though. Dreams Of The Everyday Welder. Dreams Of The Everyday Serial Killer.
Dream A Little Dream was initially just Mama Cass's trademark solo spot on the Papas And The Mamas album, given a vaudeville intro by Papa John. When pulled as a single, it ended up killing the band, giving Cass the solo out of the band she had longed for. This is great, a part of the female-vocalist old-timey trend that also included Mary Hopkin, Melanie, Is That All There Is?, etc.
Down At Lulu's is more vintage bubblegum snot from vocalst Joey Levine and crew, and I love it. Dig the Ramones running time as well.
There has been a lotta point/counterpoint debate about Dogs around here, and I gotta say, I still think it was a big mistake overall. It is a nice record, but it should never have been more than a B-side. It is at least very interesting and brave, even as a failure.
Had to include a big personal favourite and one of the more atypical Motown hits of the era, Bobby Taylor and his Vancouvers (who included Tommy Chong among their ranks) with an East Side Soul-styled, Low Riders' delight ballad, Does Your Mama Know About Me. This is one of those great doomed interracial-love tunes from before the era of relative acceptance. Bobby wasn't destined for a long hit career, but this one is enough to enshrine him. The even better follow-up single, Malinda, probably should have been included in the polls.
Do You Know The Way To San Jose needs no further explanation or explication. It is great, of course.
I wavered on including Do Something To Me, as there are a few other Shondells tunes on the polls and this wasn't one of their bigger hits, until Joe mentioned it. He was right, of course. This is a real stomper, and more than deserves inclusion here. Also a memorable cut of the group's masterpiece Crimson And Clover LP, one of the best of the year.
Do It Again is undeniably quite fine, and the best Beach Boys single of the year. Kinda sad that they had to resort to nostalgia to score a Top 40 hit though, a gambit that worked in the short term, but only doomed them further into irrelevance in the long term. The production, with Carl Wilson and engineer Steve Desper desperately (heh) adding stereo frills to an essentially lo-fi Brian effort, bothers me. I much prefer the unadorned, eerie, lost-at-sea original recording as heard on the Endless Harmony soundtrack.
Destination: Anywhere is another big personal favourite from a big personal favourite group, The Marvelettes. A very sexy, very cool record. Love the stroll-along tempo. Check out also their excellent I'm Gonna Hold On As Long As I Can single, which didn't make the polls.
Deseri is a lost classic by a mystery group that, I would guess, recorded their material in the 1950's, which was subsequently found by Verve in the late 60's and released as a way to jump onto the nostalgia bandwagon. I can't find out anything else about this mystery group, besides the fact that one of the members went to El Camino Junior College and still can be sighted in his garage, primer-ing and re-primering his car, in the vain hope that he will score some "grunt" during the upcoming Saturday night cruise. However, the car never leaves the garage, and no one seems to have informed him that the crusing scene evaporated about 20 years earlier. Poor guy.
Yeah, I voted for Elenore.
Becky The Queen Of Soul Posts: 2534 Registered: Aug 2008
Posted July 18th, 2011 06:18 PM IPEverybody's Talkin'...which I always loved, sounds great here, and I only just appreciated its utter greatness in 'Midnight Cowboy'.
Do It Again is the strangest choice for a single. The Marvelettes are wondrous.
Posted July 18th, 2011 06:40 PM IPI dunno what's wrong with me Ian, but I think 'Do Something To Me' is the best single they ever did. Pounds me into submission."Nick is the Mode guy. Jon is the Duran guy."
Posted July 18th, 2011 07:08 PM IPLOVE Dogs too. "Now we're boooooth together, we're never gonna break apart no no! We're a happy couple you and me, with a greyhound on either knee!" I think that ranks alongside 'Is it me... for a moment? The stars are fallin'" and "I have no reason to be overoptimistic, but somehow when you smile i can brave bad weather..." as one of Petes prettiest and affecting melody/lyric combinations.
Quote: I can't find out anything else about this mystery group, besides the fact that one of the members went to El Camino Junior College and still can be sighted in his garage, primer-ing and re-primering his car, in the vain hope that he will score some "grunt" during the upcoming Saturday night cruise. However, the car never leaves the garage, and no one seems to have informed him that the crusing scene evaporated about 20 years earlier. Poor guy.
Devastating! Philip Kaufman writes the screenplay, John Waters directs. 'Cruisin' at Joes Garage', perhaps?
(Edited by Matinee Idyll (129))"Nick is the Mode guy. Jon is the Duran guy."
ts is hooked on Schoolhouse Rock Posts: 1811 Registered: Aug 2007
Posted July 18th, 2011 09:24 PM IPthis one is really a toss up for me, Almost voted for Everyone's Talkin', it always brings back memories of Midnight Cowboy, but then so does Orange Juice On Ice...
Dream Another Dream is another favorite, what a voice!
Does Your Mother Know About Me is a classic, that bass, those strings, those background vocals, Bobby's soulful delivery, that damn build up, then the fade down...love it all!
Do You Know The Way To San Jose is almost a tune that you get sick of from hearing too much...I said almost. Love the production on this 45, the drumming, the bass drum thump, the horns, the cheesy organ, the cheesy strings, it all really works...plus Dionne's voice on this recording just sounds so good!
Do Something To Me is your classic frat rock 45, howls, whistles, claps, grunts, but also has that Tommy James sheen on top that sends it into the stratosphere, I'm very very tempted to vote for this one....can't help myself, there is no turning back, gotta vote for Tommy!
History Is Made At Night
artie has Beach Boy blood in their veins Posts: 1364 Registered: Aug 2007
Posted July 19th, 2011 12:22 AM IPBetween Elenore and Lulu's for me but in the end I have to go with Down At Lulu's. A perfect piece of pop, I love it."This one...is this one"
Posted July 19th, 2011 03:35 AM IPDo Something To Me POUNDS Mony Mony into the ground, KO. What I love is that combines their early primitivism with a splash of their 1968 progressiveness... plus, it just fucking rocks.
(Edited by Matinee Idyll (129))"Nick is the Mode guy. Jon is the Duran guy."
Posted July 19th, 2011 06:43 AM IPThis is crazy! Hearing them switch on the tape delay after Denny has already started playing. Never heard a drummer given this live 'treatment' before. Very odd, quite pitiful sound suddenly becomes gargantuan.
Quote: ts wrote:
Do Something To Me is your classic frat rock 45, howls, whistles, claps, grunts, but also has that Tommy James sheen on top that sends it into the stratosphere, I'm very very tempted to vote for this one....can't help myself, there is no turning back, gotta vote for Tommy!
You've soil'd me!
GOT TO FIND LOVE IN A HURRY!!!"Nick is the Mode guy. Jon is the Duran guy."
Jon The Bubblegum Supremacist Posts: 9213 Registered: Sep 2007
Posted July 19th, 2011 10:10 AM IPTurtles for me. Really my favorite Turtles song. I like "Do It Again," but about five songs on there whip it into submission.I don't know why I ever believed the Chipmunks had the lowdown on punk.
Jason Penick Peanut Butter Conspiracist Posts: 4501 Registered: Aug 2007
Posted July 19th, 2011 01:34 PM IPWent with "Everybody's Talkin'" just over "Dogs" and "Do Something to Me". That song is just so evocative of a certain mood or feeling-- I don't know if it's loneliness, or longing, or wistfulness, or some combination thereof-- no other song hits me in quite the same way.
http://crystalsphere1.blogspot.com/
halleluwah Total Rock Cumshot Posts: 7305 Registered: Aug 2007
Posted July 19th, 2011 04:27 PM IPUnfortunately, I don't have as much time as usual to go in-depth about these at all, but it's a pretty evenly-matched set. Elenore, Everybody's Talkin', Do You Know the Way to San Jose, and Dream a Little Dream of Me are all songs I've always loved. Elenore is indeed a perfect pop record, perfect enough that it's almost easy to forget that it still does also work for its original satiric goal ("Your looks intoxicate me / Even though your folks hate me" is pretty damn funny). I think I must have some childhood memory tied to Dream a Little Dream that only my subconscious is still aware of. For the life of me, I can't recall any particular instance of listening to that as a kid, but every time I hear it, it brings up the same potent, open-screen-doors-on-summer-nights type of vibe in my mind that usually only crops up if there's an early memory attached to it. Nilsson's wordless vocalizing on Everybody's Talkin' is so great. That guy could make childish "mwaaaauuuooh" noises with his mouth that sounded legitimately great, whereas with anybody else, they'd just sound like childish mouth noises. Do It Again is the other song here that I'm more than casually familiar with already, and frankly, it's never been a big favorite. I guess I just don't feel like it's that strong a song for their standards. It's not anywhere near as good a tune as most of the early-60s surfer records it's trying to harken back to, and although I really like the delay sounds on their own, I don't know that they help matters out in this instance. It's not bad or anything; just nowhere near the top of my Beach Boys favorites.
End of the Road reminded me of Ray Davies' more whimsical side, and is pretty good. Speaking of whimsy, I've never figured out just what the Who were even trying to accomplish on Dogs. It's so goofy in so many ways, but some places, it's also kind of gorgeous, even bordering on mysterious. I can't believe that was a single. I generally like it, and it surely has uniqueness on its side, but the purpose of the whole thing continues to elude me.
Then there are the songs where the strangeness is right there on the surface, with no doubt about what they were trying to achieve. I very much heard the Scott Walker connection with Eloise, particularly in the lush, John Barry-esque middle section. That's fucking melodrama right there. I think it's a great song, although maybe a tad lacking in outright hooks to qualify for success when judged as a single. É Proibido Proibir is more overtly fucked-up, but strangely, is also catchier as a tune. But man, the nightmare sonics on that one...the creepiest effect to me for some reason was the way the bass was playing in a just slightly different tempo from the rest of the band when it starts in on that chorus riff, because it legitimately starts making you question your own judgement. Creepy plucked piano strings and echoes, you know exactly what you're hearing. But taking the mundane, placing it into a crazy setting, but only warping it just slightly? That's more headspinning than the actual freaky shit to me.
I have a love/hate thing with Dreams of the Everyday Housewife. In terms of music/melody/arrangement/performance, I think it's beautiful, a heart-melting pop waltz. But those fucking lyrics...they are at least enough to prove the lyrical point, that by agreeing to marry the narrator, the woman was indeed giving up the good life. 'Cause it can't be much fun living with somebody who writes lyrics like that. Down at Lulu's is one of those great "how music makes you feel" songs that probably scares John Ashcroft, and Do Something to Me is a stomping good time as well. The Marvelettes sound incredibly fucking cool here. Love Valleri, of course, but it sounds very odd in this company.
My vote's going to Does Your Mama Know About Me, which is not only gorgeous in that spectral vibraphone-covered soul pop ballad fashion that would do Marvin Gaye or The Stylistics proud, but also carries a potently subtle social sentiment. There's nothing about this song that didn't sound glorious to me, so there ya go. I'MCOMINGI'MCOMINGI'MCOMINGI'MCOMING
Posted July 26th, 2011 12:32 PM IPVoted Everybody's Talkin' over childhood love Do You Know The Way To San Jose. Although I feel like pumping gas right about now, E's Talkin' fits my mood plus it's a beautiful, strange song.
Beach Boys & Bobby Taylor, then the Who and the Turtles (Etc.???) and Mama Cass. Barry Ryan's Eloise, got to please her. Yeah. Marvelettes, incredible. Tommy James, another band I was inexplicably into when I was a teen, right alongside Stone roses. Ohio Express.
Posted July 26th, 2011 01:10 PM IPOK! That's prob my schedule anyways. Thanks a lot!
MoogDroog Michael Bolton's mullet Posts: 8501 Registered: Aug 2007
Posted July 27th, 2011 10:28 AM IPEasy vote for Elenore! I've heard it dozens of times over the years and the "etc.." still cracks me up."The other thing is that the quality of the mp3's I listen to varies especially as some of the music from the likes of Led Zeppelin is old, even with re-mastering still isnt up to the quality of the likes of Def Leppard."
MoogDroog Michael Bolton's mullet Posts: 8501 Registered: Aug 2007
Posted July 27th, 2011 10:38 AM IPI love Dogs! I'm not quite sure what they're going for (Small Faces-esque whimsy?) but it's a really compelling thing. "The other thing is that the quality of the mp3's I listen to varies especially as some of the music from the likes of Led Zeppelin is old, even with re-mastering still isnt up to the quality of the likes of Def Leppard."
