“Her Love Falls Like Rain” – Willie Nile

Posted on September 8, 2012 by Dave's Strange World

http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=77934241&ac=now

From the 2009 album “House of a Thousand Guitars,” is a lovely ballad by Willie Nile. Nile is an immensely talented singer-songwriter who always seemed on the verge of breaking big, but never did due to various circumstances. He recorded some albums in the early 1980s for Arista with members of the Patti Smith Group as backup musicians. Pete Townsend was such a fan, he hired Nile to open some dates for the Who back in the 1980s. Among his fans and backing musicians over the years: Bruce Springsteen, Richard Thompson, Loudon Wainwright III, Roger McGuinn, and many others. A vastly terrific and underrated talent.

“O Lucky Man!” – Alan Price

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Alan Price’s splendid opening song to Lindsay Anderson’s equally splendid 1973 film “O Lucky Man!” While the film is more than a little cynical, the song is one of the best, genuinely optimistic songs of all time. One hell of a lot more meaningful than “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

“Push It / No Fun” – 2 Many DJs (and Salt n’ Pepa and The Stooges)

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The splendid and infamous mash-up of “Push It” by Salt n’ Pepa with “No Fun” by The Stooges, put together by 2 Many DJs. This was one of Nick Hornby’s favorites in his collection of essays about desert island songs, “Songbook.” If you like what you hear, be sure to check out the 2 Many DJs album “As Heard on Radio Vol. 2″ , which is nothing but multiple mashups of everything from the Velvet Underground to Dolly Parton to Peaches to Emerson Lake & Palmer. Trust me, it’s WAAAAY better than it sounds.

“What Goes On” – Bryan Ferry

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Two Velvets covers for the price of one. From one of Ferry’s better solo albums (1978’s “The Bride Stripped Bare”). Ferry ingeniously mixes “Beginning to See the Light” with “What Goes On.” The late-70s production and guitar work by Waddy Wachtel (Warren Zevon’s right-hand man) lends the perfect touch.

“Def Fresh Crew” – Roxanne Shante & Biz Markie

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Terrific old-school hip-hop from Roxanne Shante on vocals and Biz Markie on human beat box and cat sounds. The part about 2:34 in where Biz Markie does the Meow Mix theme always makes me fall out of my chair in hysterics.

“Cruisin'” – Michael Nesmith

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Michael Nesmith is a true Renaissance man who has never completely gotten his due. In addition to being one of the original Monkees, Nesmith is a superlative singer-songwriter (he wrote Linda Ronstadt’s hit “Different Drum”), music video pioneer, film producer (he financed “Repo Man”), and media mogul.

“Cruisin’” was one of the first (if not THE first) music video I remember seeing, around 1981 or so. I saw this on HBO of all places (yes, HBO used to play music videos, usually between movies, but also on a 30-minute show called “Video Jukebox”). Very funny and weird song/video.

“Would You Lay With Me (In a Field of Stone)?” – Johnny Cash

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This song was composed by David Allan Coe, but made famous by a teenage country singer named Tanya Tucker back in the early 1970s. At the time, it was considered salacious to have a teenager sing this due to certain lyrics, but sadly, the controversy diminishes the real beauty of this song. Coe was in and out of prison for most of his early life and if you listen to the lyrics, they are written from the perspective of a man who has seen and done of lot of things that would scare most people away. The person singing the song wants to make sure that whoever is going to share their life with him understand what it will entail, and to make sure that they’re strong enough. Through Cash’s world-weary voice, the song is heartbreaking.

“Waves of Fear” – Lou Reed

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Lou Reed’s semi-comeback, at least with critics, circa 1982. Sober for approximately 2 years, Reed takes the opportunity to look at his years as an alcoholic and drug addict with graphic intensity. “Waves of Fear” makes the Velvet’s “Heroin” look like a romantic ballad (which in many ways, it kind of always was). The supremely sick dissonant, metallic guitar solos by Robert Quine are almost as disturbing as the lyrics.

“Duncan (Live)” – Paul Simon

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I really love early Paul Simon and remember playing his 1977 “Greatest Hits, Etc.” album a lot when I was growing up. However, the live version of “Duncan” included on that album was always a song that I came back to. I think it’s those eerily beautiful Andean flute solos that mesmerized me … and still do to this day.

“Magical Misery Tour” – National Lampoon

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One of the best pop cultural satires of all time, from the 1972 album “Radio Dinner.” When National Lampoon decided to record an audio album in the early 1970s, John Lennon was the ultimate sacred cow and they wondered how could they ultimately savage something that most people believed was above comedy. The answer was simple. Take statements he had made in various interviews over the last few years (remember, this was during Lennon’s “primal scream” days) and lay his exact words over a driving “Imagine”-style piano solo. The result is totally brilliant and hilarious. By the way, Lennon is played by Tony Hendra, the best-selling author of “Father Joe,” who eventually found himself in more than a spot of trouble over some allegations by his daughter that painted him in a less than flattering light. Again, not safe for work, because of a lot of profanity.