Another gem from the immensely awesome side 2 of “Exile on Main Street,” “Torn and Frayed” adds a gospel feel to the f–ked up druggy vibe of “Exile.” One of my favorite recent live musical moments was a random gentleman at a local bookstore during the last year that just started playing this flawlessly on the bookstore’s piano when I was killing time one night.
From side 2 of “Exile on Main Street” (one of the greatest side 2s in rock history) is “Torn and Frayed,” a song that uses the metaphor of a battered coat for the drug-addled and battered psyches of the Stones, circa 1972. Damn, I love that muddy / cruddy mix with the guitar and organ.
A rare Keith Richards vocal … this was written by Richards when he was facing possible jail time in Canada for heroin possession, circa 1978. From the “Some Girls” album, arguably the last truly great Stones album.
Key lyrics: “Watched the taillights fading, there ain’t a dry eye in the house … They’re laughing and singing … Started dancing and drinking as I left town … Gonna find my way to heaven, `cause I did my time in hell … I wasn’t looking too good but I was feeling real well.”
If you came of age in the 1980s, “I Melt With You” likely brings back a lot of special memories: the romantic montage with Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman from “Valley Girl,” that high school or college mixer you attended, maybe even that retro 80s party you went to. I, too, have a special memory of this song. Though, admittedly, it’s a little … different.
Let’s go back to my college days. I’m taking Italian and I develop a mad crush on one of my classmates, flirting with her all semester. And when I say flirting, I mean staring at her until she looks in my direction and I then quickly avert my eyes back to my book. Real sophisticated … I know.
Anyway, one night, some friends and I go to someone’s keg party and lo and behold, I see the cute girl from my class. She doesn’t appear to be with any guy and when she sees me, she smiles like she recognizes me. I’m now perplexed on how to proceed. Should I hang back with my friends and work my way over? Or should I just walk up to her and start talking? At that moment, “I Melt With You” comes on the stereo and suddenly, I get inspired. I don’t know whether it’s this wonderful song that’s igniting the fire in my heart … or maybe it’s just the shot of 151 rum I downed earlier with my friends … but I know exactly what I need to do. That’s right … a beer bong. Now, you’re probably asking why I thought a beer bong would impress a beautiful young woman. And my answer would be: because guys in their early 20s are idiots.
Anyway, I throw my hand up and someone gets the beer bong ready. I put my thumb in the bottom of the tube, the beer goes into the funnel, and I start to down the beer. Except that things don’t go exactly as planned. I’m not quite sure what happened over the next four seconds because frankly I couldn’t see anything. However, I did hear about 20 people alternately gasp and laugh hysterically.
Instead of the beer going into my stomach and staying there, the beer went back up my esophagus, through the back of my mouth, through my nose … and all over the lovely gal from my Italian class. To say this poor girl was drenched in beer, stomach bile, and nasal bile was an understatement. It was a mortifying moment for both of us. However, to her immense credit, she was actually very cool about it and accepted my multiple apologies graciously.
Now, after a story like this, I’m sure you’re expecting a cute punch line like we eventually dated and got married, or even that we made out later that night. Let’s just say that I left the party the same way I came in … single and (not particularly) sexy.
I’m not quite sure whatever happened to the cute … and way cooler than she needed to be … lass from my Italian class. However, if she’s reading this now, please accept my apologies again. My offer for a new sweater still stands.
From “Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip,” RIchard Pryor soberly reflects on how he never wants to use the “N” word again after visiting Africa. Extremely moving.
One of the best concerts I ever saw was Jane’s Addiction in the fall of 1990 on their tour supporting “Ritual de lo Habitual.” The highlight of that concert (for me, at least) was their extended version of “Summertime Rolls” from their album “Nothing’s Shocking,” which seemed to last over 10 minutes. Because I had a free ticket and the typical dick-ish rock critic’s snobbery, I went in with a cynical attitude expecting the worst, but came out converted to the church of Perry Ferrell.
After a decade of odd musical diversions, Neil Young came back like a motherf–ker in 1989 with the positively brutal “Rockin’ in the Free World,” which laid waste to most of the heavy metal of the prior decade, as well as most of the punk. “Free World” sounded like it would have been at home on Husker Du’s “Zen Arcade.” Over 20 years later, it still packs a wallop.
Siouxsie (of Siouxsie and the Banshees) does her solo thing, circa 2007. “About to Happen” sounds like Siouxsie’s homage to 1970s glitter rock. From her album “MantaRay.” Play extremely f–king loud!
The lead-off track to the Jesus and Mary Chain’s classic 1985 debut album “Psychocandy,” “Just Like Honey” was also put to great use in Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film “Lost in Translation.” Never has distortion sounded so majestic.
One of the earliest videos I remember seeing on MTV and arguably, the best song the Pretenders ever recorded, “Back on the Chain Gang” was a lamentation about the drug-induced death of former bandmate James Honeyman-Scott. An incredibly deep song that has not lost its resonance, despite its frequent appearance on classic rock and oldies stations over the years. This was the Pretenders highest-charting song in the US (it made it all the way to #5 on the Billboard charts in 1982).
Dave's Strange World 