June | 2013 | Dave's Strange World

“Sweet Jane” – Lou Reed (from the 2007 concert film “Lou Reed’s Berlin” dir. Julian Schnabel)

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I’m not going to lie to you. This has been a tough week. Between learning a good friend has passed on and the overtime I’ve put in at work, I need something that makes me feel good to be alive. Lou Reed’s “Sweet Jane” is a song that always makes me feel better about the world … especially this kick-ass live version recorded for the 2007 film “Lou Reed’s Berlin” directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julian Schnabel. Lou was in his late 60s when he recorded this. This gives me hope and good feelings for my impending “golden years.”

“Foggy Notion” – The Velvet Underground

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Arguably the most upbeat song about S&M ever written and recorded. From the Velvet Underground’s classic never-released 4th album (which later was released in 1985 as “VU”), “Foggy Notion” has a deceptively mellow vibe … until you hear the lyrics and the sick lead guitar in the background that always threatens to overtake the easy-going groove on top, but never quite does.

“Who Needs the Peace Corps?” – Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention

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From Zappa and the Mothers’ classic 1968 skewering of the Beatles “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and hippie culture, “We’re Only In It For the Money.” Proof positive that you don’t have to be a card-carrying Conservative to consider hippie culture insipid and annoying. Used during a pivotal scene in director Haskell Wexler’s terrific and notorious 1969 countercultural film “Medium Cool.”

Ending Scene, “Being There” (1979) dir. Hal Ashby

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“In the Modern World” – Jesse Malin

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Here’s another gem I discovered today. This one is by Jesse Malin, former lead singer of the acclaimed 1990s glam punk band D Generation. “In the Modern World” is a beautifully energetic and grungy anthem from 2008. As I get older, it’s harder to keep track of all the great music that gets released each year, but with music this great, I don’t mind playing catch up. If there was any justice in this world, this would have been a big hit.

“I Don’t Need You No More” – J. Geils Band

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Most people of my generation only know the J. Geils Band from their EMI Records period of the late 1970s / early 1980s. While they had some great songs during this time, the J. Geils Band started as an American version of the Rolling Stones, delivering loud and nasty R&B without the distinctive synthesizer of their EMI period. This early period, when they recorded for Atlantic Records, is very reminiscent of what the Faces were doing during the same era.

“I Don’t Need You No More” is the opening track from their 1971 album “The Morning After” and it’s a stunner. The bass and drum sound alone will blow your speakers. It’s a shame this song isn’t better known. On the other hand, finding these gems as I get older makes listening to satellite radio a must … especially as “terrestrial radio classic rock” plays the same 20 Rolling Stones / Beatles / Who songs ad nauseum.

“You’re Gonna Get Yours” – Public Enemy

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The lead-off track from Public Enemy’s groundbreaking 1987 debut album “Yo! Bum Rush the Show.” I came to this album late in the game, having been a fan of the epic follow-up “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back” from 1988.

Admittedly, it took me a while to get into it. It had a different sound and feel that “Nation of Millions” … less “in-your-face,” but more cool and subtly menacing. Trust me when I say, it’s no less intense. Over time, I grew to prefer “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” over “Nation of Millions.” You keep expecting “Yo! Bum Rush the Show” to explode, but never quite does. It’s that tension that keeps you on edge the entire time and makes it … at least in my mind … the one I keep coming back to.

“Voodoo Lady” – Ween

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One of the very odd and gloriously demented singles off Ween’s 1994 masterpiece “Chocolate and Cheese.” The best way to describe “Voodoo Lady” is to imagine if Captain Beefheart fronted the Talking Heads. This is disco from hell … stripped down and lo-fi … with some very loud and unholy guitar noise. The video alone is bound to give you nightmares, especially that odd looking child giving flowers to the singers.

“Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” – Bryan Ferry

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Bryan Ferry’s unique and eerie cover of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” I say eerie because there’s a sense of unease throughout this version that’s postively chilling.

Considering that the accompanying video from 1993 features Ferry crooning to Anna Nicole Smith, maybe he knew something that the public wouldn’t find out until years later. All kidding aside, Smith is quite beautiful here and it’s a sad reminder of what she looked like before she became a pop culture joke / tragedy.

“Black Friday” – Steely Dan

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One of Steely Dan’s bleakest and heaviest songs. Contrary to popular belief, the song is not about the Stock Market Crash of 1929. It’s actually about the Fisk/Gould scandal of 1869 where two speculators, Jay Gould and James Fisk, attempted to corner the gold market … with, some have argued, either the approval or deliberate blind eye of then-president Ulysses S. Grant. Fisk and Gould’s efforts to hoard gold caused stocks to plummet.

The song has one of the darkest opening stanzas of any song in the rock era: “When Black Friday comes / I’ll stand down by the door / And catch the grey men when they dive from the fourteenth floor.” Damn.