A song R.E.M. composed for Milos Forman’s Andy Kaufman-biopic “Man on the Moon” in 1999. A beautiful song about death and dying. 14 years later, it still packs quite the emotional punch without being sappy or melodramatic.
As you know, I’m still catching up on great music made since the time my kids were born and I went into new music hibernation. This immensely cool song is a raw, nasty, lo-fi rocker by Primal Scream. From the 2006 album, “Riot City Blues.”
To say that these are my two favorite Doors songs seems obvious given the name of this here blog/website. But these short, sweet, and infinitely weird / complex Doors songs sum up what’s best about Jim Morrison’s legendary band without the girth that makes many mortals fall asleep.
Both are from the Doors’ 2nd album “Strange Days” released in 1967. “Strange Days” was also the title of my favorite Kathryn Bigelow film, which I discussed earlier on Dave’s Strange World.
People Are Strange:
Strange Days:
This is one of my favorite Jonathan Richman songs, dedicated to my favorite civil servant … my lovely and hard-working wife.
The rise of punk in the 1970s caught a lot of the traditional hard rock Gods of the day off guard. However, some of these bands took it in stride and did their own take on the raw assault that was punk. Led Zeppelin did their version of punk with the song “Wearing and Tearing” which is OK, but ultimately kind of “meh.” Queen wins the prize with “Sheer Heart Attack” from 1977’s “News of the World.” Yes, it’s a mite overproduced for an authentically punk song. But the song’s relentlessly loud, frenetic approach ultimately wins out. Coupled with Queen’s earlier “Stone Cold Crazy,” you are witnessing the birth of speed metal.
Forget “Bohemian Rhapsody.” “It’s Late” should be THE Queen song that’s played ad nauseum on classic rock radio. This is pure, balls-to-the-wall, non-campy hard rock that will peel the paint off the walls. That relentless multi-layered lead guitar sound by Brian May feels like a wool sweater in hell. And let’s not forget that cataclysmic drum sound by Roger Taylor that will shake your molars. Totally epic in every sense of the word. Allegedly this was a favorite of Kurt Cobain’s (given its presence in the Kurt Cobain documentary “About a Son”). It was also put to great use in Jody Hill’s brilliantly demented comedy “Observe and Report.” From the 1977 album “News of the World.”
A bitchin’ hard rock cover of the Stones’ apocalyptic classic, this time done by Mitch Ryder’s 1971 band Detroit. The only cover that comes close to matching the intensity of the original. Ryder’s guttural vocals from hell are mucho intense.
Rod Stewart pissed away all of the good will he established in the early 1970s (“Every Picture Tells a Story” is still one of the greatest albums of all time) with increasingly tacky and tasteless (and sadly, more commercially successful) material. “Hot Legs” from 1977 is arguably Rod at his most tacky and tasteless … but this is still a damn good raunchy hard rock song. With the exception of “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” if there was ever song tailor-made for strip clubs, I don’t know what is.
I really love the primitive, early music-video aesthetics at play here in the video, by the way.
This is Lou at his nastiest… this time, hurling his bile at a woman who thought it would be a kick to “slum” and hang with him, but is now running screaming back to her more comfortable life. Rock and rollers have been doing variations on this theme for years. Hell, it was the subject matter of almost EVERY non-cover the Rolling Stones did between 1964 and 1966. But Lou adds some bad language and the kind of venom only a junkie can provide. A nice, malevolent groove. From the 1976 album, “Rock and Roll Heart.”
From Big Star’s album “Third/Sisters Lovers” album, which was recorded in 1975 but not released until 1978, “Holocaust” is one of those songs you really don’t want to listen to if you’re in a particularly dark mood, especially after a breakup with someone. The song is notorious for being one of the most depressing songs from one of the most depressing albums ever recorded and a departure from the power pop of Big Star’s first two albums. It was later covered by This Mortal Coil on their classic album “It’ll End in Tears.”
Dave's Strange World 