Japandroids are one of my favorite bands of the last few years. Hard driving rock from this 2 man outfit from Canada. This song is a permanent fixture on my running mix.
Song of the Day Josh Ritter – ‘Getting Ready to Get Down’
Off his album of a few years back Sermon on the Rocks. I first saw him do this in concert acoustically a few months before the album was released. Catchy as hell – about being true to yourself despite the best efforts of others to change you.
Today in Music History July 28
1948 So you say its your birthday – Gerald Casale, vocalist, bass guitar/synthesizer player, and a founding member of the Devo. The band blazed the trail of new wave music with their 1980 hit ‘Whip It’.
1969 Moscow police dealt with thousands of calls reporting vandals destroying public phone booths. Apparently a Russian youth magazine had shown how to use phone parts to convert acoustic guitars to electric ones.
1979 Bob Geldolf’s Boomtown Rats reach #2 in the UK with ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’. The song was written about a mass shooting in San Diego, CA, in which the shooter, in explaining their actions, was quoted as saying “I don’t like Mondays, this livens up the day.”
Sources: This Day in Music.com; Wikipedia
Song of the Day 7/27/18 Meg Myers – ‘Tear Me to Pieces’
Heard this song on NPR Music and loved it. Myers does the quiet – loud contrast style beautifully in this song about staying in a relationship even though you fear it will destroy you.
Song of the day 7/27/18 Courtney Barnett “Nobody Really Cares if You Don’t Go to the Party “
Courtney Barnett has a way of capturing mundane everyday occurrences and making them musically interesting.
Today in Music History July 27
1944 Today is the birthday of Bobbie Gentry, US singer and songwriter, whose song ‘Ode to Billie Joe‘ came out of nowhere in 1967 and knocked the Beatles (All You Need is Love) out of the #1 spot on the US singles chart. She was one of the first female country artists to compose and produce her own material. ‘Ode to Billie Joe’s Southern gothic story line left listeners with a mystery – what was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge and who was with Billie Joe. The song was Gentry’s only hit. For more on the song and the artist, check out this Rolling Stone story.
1974 Paul McCartney‘s post-Beatles group Wings started a seven-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Band On The Run. The two singles off the album, ‘Jet’, and ‘Band on the Run’ helped the album become one of the top selling albums of 1974.
1976 Bruce Springsteen sued his manager Mike Appel for fraud and breach of trust in a attempt to get out of his contract with Appel’s Laurel Canyon Ltd. Appel in turn counter sued Springsteen, leading a judge to issue an injunction against Springsteen being able to record. Coming on the heels of the success of Born to Run, this was potentially disastrous for Springsteen’s career. The case dragged on for over 10 months, resulting the year after in an out of court settlement giving Springsteen control of his recordings and career. But Springsteen’s next album, Darkness on the Edge of Town, wasn’t released until 1978, and showcased a much different writing style than Born to Run. Gone were the sweeping musical and lyrical epics, replaced with tighter, sparer, grittier character portraits.
Sources: This Day in Music.com; Wikipedia.
Song of the Day 7/26/18 The West Coast Feed – ‘You Belong to Me’
The West Coast Feed are a Seattle band who describe themselves as swagger rock/soul at the intersection of Memphis, Muscle Shoals, and New Orleans. Guitars, bass, drums, horns, and a violin. This is their debut single. Keep an eye out for them.
(HT to fellow music blogger Music Enthusiast for putting this on my radar)
Song of the Day 7/26/18. (Throwback Thursday) Elvis Costello -“What’s So Funny……”
An old one but pretty apropos for the times we live in.
Today in Music History July 26
1943 So You Say Its Your Birthday!: Mick Jagger, lead singer of The Rolling Stones. The man, the entertainer, the legend, the rock god.
1975 Van McCoy and the Soul City go to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘The Hustle’, one of several massive disco hits during this time period
1986, Peter Gabriel goes to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Sledgehammer’,. off his massively successful album So. Almost as well known is the video for the song, which is the most played music video in the history of MTV.
Song of the day 7/25/18 The Record Company – “Life to Fix”
raw, rootsy straight ahead rock and roll. No artificial flavoring.
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