ladyislingering

I'll start this entry with a song that was in my head this morning when I woke up. (I hear the Boomtown Rats are back in action, by the way.)

Boomtown Rats - "Up All Night"



This week I was doing a temporary assignment in a warehouse (some Christmas freight that needed retail bar codes attached, nothing out of the ordinary or difficult) and was allowed to listen to the radio all day.

Here's a few gems worth noting.

Edgar Winter Group - "Frankenstein"



I never knew Stevie Nicks was in this song. No wonder I've always liked it so much. Loved this track in high school, despite the utterly stupid lyrics. What a beaut.

Walter Egan - "Magnet and Steel"



But wait, what's this I've spotted? Another song with stupid lyrics that I loved in my youth? Yep, that'd be it.

Alan O'Day - "Undercover Angel"



Around the same time I was really into this super-cheesy softrock shit called Bread.

This song has so many memories attached to it. This is the first time in about 5 years that I've heard it. I've worked so hard to tuck away all the things it made me feel and think about. Now it's just another song to me. It's beautiful. In fact, I'll dedicate this one to Ki.

Bread - "If"

When my love for life is running dry, you come and pour yourself on me.



Are you Bread-y for more? (That was almost cheesier than the supreme nachos that will ultimately follow...)

"Baby I'ma Want You"



I get what some of you (particularly those that know me pretty well) are thinking at this point: this is almost country, I thought you hated country?

Well, I do, but I've got a few exceptions from my past.

For instance, around the same time I had a thing for Bread, I spent a ton of cash on some Patsy Cline albums. I was 16 and innocent ...

Patsy Cline - "She's Got You"



"Sweet Dreams (Of You)"



"Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray"



Let us not forget that I have a few Linda Ronstadt records in my collection.

Linda Ronstadt - "Blue Bayou"



"You're No Good"



Remember when Linda was in Stone Poneys?

Stone Poneys - "Different Drum"



That song (the sound itself) will always remind me of this gorgeous melody. I am so filled with love every time I hear this song. I want to go frolicking around in some flowers.

Cowsills - "The Rain, the Park and Other Things"



This group was also responsible for one of my most favorite songs of all time. As a lady who sits on her hair on occasion, who struggles with the hairbrush, who fusses with long flaxen locks of luscious beauty, this is my song. This is my goddamn song, son.

"Hair"



That's all for me for now.

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ladyislingering

So it's been a while, MB. Hope all is well with my favorite people.

Just a few brief updates:

I've got two jobs now.

I quit my old job.

Everything's shaping up pretty well for the two of us (Ki & I).

Anyway, let's have some music.

This song forever reminds me of the mornings I spent walking a mile to the bus stop to get to work on time. It was cold. Apart from that, I just love this track and this entire album.

Steely Dan - "With a Gun"



Here's "Pretzel Logic" in full for anyone who has half an hour to spend listening to it.

Steely Dan - "Pretzel Logic" (FULL ALBUM)



Since I won't be able to make a memorial post for Marc on the 16th, here's our beloved Mr. Bolan looking coked up and lip-synching (badly, as he's coked up) to "Dreamy Lady" -

Marc Bolan - "Dreamy Lady"



Here's our lovely Two-Penny Prince in finer days.

T. Rex - "Baby Strange" (Live)



Off and on for the past few weeks, this song has been rolling through my head. It will always remind me of my dad's love for metal when I was just a little lady. Plus it's almost Halloween, why not roll out the spooky stuff?

Metallica - "Enter Sandman"



Sometime last week I had the pleasure of listening to Fleetwood Mac's luscious album "Penguin".

Here it is in full, for whoever is unaware of how magical Fleetwood Mac has always been.

Fleetwood Mac - "Penguin" (full album)



On a few tracks you'll notice Bob Welch. There's something I really love about his voice. I still remember when I heard about his tragic passing (I think he'd either shot himself or hung himself - can't recall). It was surreal, since I'd bought a few of his records at the shop just days before.

I think everyone knows this song. Christine McVie on backing vocals.

Bob Welch - "Sentimental Lady"



For now I've got nothing else to share. Things pass through my head and I've got so little time to post these days.

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ladyislingering

So, Ki and I finally got internet in our apartment and now I can make the occasional update. Tonight I'm just kind of listening to whatever I missed the past few months (whatever I couldn't listen to in my collection or with what little time I had elsewhere) but I do have to share this, as it's been in my head since this weekend.

It came to me in the shower (don't ask me why, I don't understand myself and you shouldn't try either).

Ric Ocasek - "True to You"



I'm gonna have to go on a Ric binge sometime soon; I've missed his voice so much. Here's a little more, just because.

Ric Ocasek - "Prove"



This song has been playing at work for whatever reason, but I've been feeling ripped off because it's not the album cut, so I've been longing to hear this for a while. I'm grooving so hard right now (though I could have just put on the LP and gotten it out of my system sooner). This is proper bedroom music.

Iron Butterfly - "In a Gadda da Vida"



And this super awesome track has also been on the radio at work a number of times, and I can't understand why, but I won't question it. It just makes my day hearing Iron Butterfly in a store full of people who have no idea who they are.

Iron Butterfly - "Soul Experience"



That'll be all for me for now. I'm thinking of doing a Roxy Music feature because I feel they don't get enough attention (especially from Americans). Too many people (including Ki) are missing out on their wonder.

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ladyislingering

Among my recent enjoyment:

The Rolling Stones - "Play With Fire"



The Rolling Stones - "Mother's Little Helper"



I was completely obsessed with this ridiculously dumb song a few years ago.

1910 Fruitgum Co. - "1-2-3 Red Light"



Ki and I watched "Zoolander" earlier and I could not help but delight in this song's presence. I always like to unearth this video around Halloween anyway.

Herbie Hancock - "Rockit"

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ladyislingering

I think it's time to do a special feature on Roxy Music. I won't bore anyone with history or specifics, because it's really all about the music. However, I will mention that the noticeable shift in Roxy Music's general sound after "For Your Pleasure" is due to Brian Eno's exit from the group. With or without him, I love this band. Here's some of my favorite songs from each album.

Selections from Roxy Music (1972)

"Ladytron" (Old Grey Whistle Test)

Bryan Ferry's looking superfine here. And this song is just incredible. People must have heard it back then and wondered what the hell was going on. It's so bizarre, though it does give a nod to the psychedelic rock of the late 60s (in the UK and the US) with Eno's "treatments".



"If There is Something"

I love this song because the first time I heard it, I was so taken off-guard. I wasn't really sure what I was hearing, what to make of it, how to feel about it, but it just touched my glam-loving soul. I love Bryan's vocal strain, and the bizarre Ladytron-esque melodies about mid-way through and toward the end. This is just a great song. Simple as that.



"Bitter's End"

This one's incredibly Sparks-like, but came about before Sparks did, if that makes any sense. It's like a crooning 50's love song with a little bit of spook and a little bit of weirdness. It's just really something. Just listen.



Selections from "For Your Pleasure" (1973)

"Strictly Confidential"

Gloomy, hypnotic, melodic, and lovely.



"The Bogus Man"

This is just a great song to get really messed up to. Or to listen to when you're stoned or drunk or any other sort of chemical modification. Mainly because you can groove on this **** for like 10 minutes. It's groovy, strange, and a little creepy. It's even a little proggy, if not for all the art-rock stuff being thrown at you at a weirdly comfortable pace. I could listen to this song a thousand times and still it never bores me.



"For Your Pleasure"

With its luscious lyrics and psychedelic melody, this is almost 7 minutes of perfection. It's a soothing, beautiful end to this weird album. The "tara, tara" at the end always gives me a spook. I don't know why.



Selections from "Stranded" (1973)

"Just Like You"

Bryan Ferry's vocals just make me swoon. For some reason this song is a lot like something Squeeze might record a decade later.



"Mother of Pearl"

I hope none of you are stoned upon listening to this, because it'll freak you out for quite a while and you'll never get to the exceptionally beautiful part.



"Serenade"

This is just a really great track. It's more of what Roxy Music was slowly shaping into. It's some good rock. That's really all I can say.



Selections from "Country Life" (1974)

"Bitter Sweet"

This is just a rollicking track, full of surprises, lush with instruments, with some terrifying German lyrics thrown in. It's one of my most favorite Roxy Music songs. I can't exactly explain what I love so much about it; it's just an unusual song.

***I could only find a video with this song and the next, with "Casanova"***

"Triptych" begins at 4:50/"Casanova" at 8:00. "Casanova" is pretty groovy, too.

"Triptych"

I just love the intro of this song, it really drew me in because it was so odd. The rest of it is awesome, too, but ... that weird intro.



"A Really Good Time"

There's really nothing particularly special about the sound of this song. I remember just being so taken with the lyrics the first time I heard it, and it instantly became a favorite of mine.




Selections from "Siren" (1975)

"Both Ends Burning"

This song will always sound fresh to me. There's just something totally timeless about it. It's an electronic masterpiece. This is classic Roxy Music style.



"Love is the Drug"

This is possibly the first Roxy Music song I ever heard. I was about 15 at the time. I was completely sold. It's not really my favorite anymore, but it deserves some recognition because it's still a pretty good track.



"She Sells"

This is so much like the groovy stuff that was going on in the states at the time. I'm not sure what to say about this; I feel like it would have climbed the charts in the US, had they been more popular across the pond. This is just so groovy. Almost disco-groovy at some point.



Selections from "Manifesto" (1979)

"Angel Eyes"

This is just a great pop song, while still being, of course, Roxy Music and classy as hell.



"Dance Away"

Another great pop song. Delightful, and remixed about a thousand times in its lifetime. Lush. Have at it.



I have to confess that I'm not super-familiar with "Manifesto" in its entirety just yet, but I'm working on that as I write this. I actually have the LP, I've just never played it. I'm a bad person.

Selections from "Flesh + Blood" (1980)

"In the Midnight Hour"

Just a great cover of Wilson Pickett's original. Enjoy it.



"Same Old Scene"

This one sounds like it should have been on "Manifesto" or (as we'll find out later) "Avalon". Just a pleasant, smooth listen.



Here's a weird cover of the Byrds' "Eight Miles High" ...



"Avalon" (1982)

I just really love "Avalon" as an album. I'm sure I've mentioned it before but it's one of my most favorite albums of all time, so it's hard to choose which songs are my favorites.

If you have about half an hour to spare, just listen to this. If you need to calm down, chill out, feel totally awesome, whatever. Whatever you need, you need to listen to this album.



Personal highlights:

More Than This
The Space Between
While My Heart is Still Beating
True to Life

I seriously have chills just listening to the first track.

I hope I've turned someone on to the magical world of Roxy Music. That's all for me tonight.

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ladyislingering

Recently enjoyed:

David Bowie - "Drive-in Saturday"



Smith - "Baby, it's You"



The Yardbirds - "For Your Love"



The Moody Blues - "Nights in White Satin"



Also, around '09-'10, I was pretty obsessed with this weird bunch of space cadets ...

Sigue Sigue Sputnik - "21st Century Boy"



Sigue Sigue Sputnik - "Love Missile F-11"

You'll remember this from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.



Sigue Sigue Sputnik - "Mickey Mouse is Going to Hell"



That's all I've got for now.

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ladyislingering

So I've been grooving on Strawberry Alarm Clock these past few days. They were a favorite of mine in high school, back when I was probably groovier than I'll ever be, but only now do I really appreciate how far-out these guys really were.

Everyone should know this song. Everyone.

In one of my high school notebooks (probably my composition book, which was handed in at the end of every class) I'd sketched down "who cares what games we choose/little to win, but nothing to lose".

"Incense and Peppermints"



This next song reminds me of many mornings/afternoons spent traipsing around town taking pointless pictures and enjoying my own company as a young girl.

I've always loved the line "old folks try to catch their breath as children catch their jacks". This song is just packed with interesting passages.

"Barefoot in Baltimore"



This one reminds me of someone I knew at the time. I used to play it to taunt him, because he had a tiny dick.

"Small Package"



I always thought this was some kind of really deep stuff, but here's a ton of nonsense lyrics written by a bunch of dudes who were obviously tripping their asses off.

"Black Butter [Past/Present/Future]"



And this is just 8 and a half minutes of pure psychedelic grooviness.

"The World's On Fire"



Another long, groovy one for you:

"Curse of the Witches"



But what I've really been grooving on is this.

"Pretty Song (from Psych Out)"



I was going to write an entire feature on these guys, but it seems sort of fruitless. Nobody really knows who they are, so I may as well just post my favorites and be on my merry way.

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ladyislingering

A few favorites from each beautiful, lushly harmonic (and sometimes pretty cheesy) album -

Selections from Ticket to Ride (1969) -

A pretty cover of the Youngbloods, here with "Get Together"



I love this cover. It gets a lot of hate, but as a lifelong Beatles fan (and a lifelong lover of the Carpenters) I think it's great.

"Ticket to Ride"



"Don't Be Afraid"



Selections from "Close to You" (1970)

(This will be really difficult to choose my favorites - this album is easily my favorite; I had it on vinyl, cassette, CD ... such a huge part of my life.)

Here's a Bobby Darin cover.

"Reason to Believe"



And another Beatles cover.

"Help"



And a Shirelles cover.

I love this ****in' song just as it is. But the way Karen sings it melts my heart.

"Baby, It's You"



I've always loved this song because it's spooky, haunting, and beautiful.

"Crescent Noon"



Here's Karen kicking ass on drums.

Love these snarky lyrics.

"Mr. Guder" (Live at the Budokan, 1974)



Selections from "Carpenters" (1971)

I actually really hate the harmonica as an instrument. Here's one exception, though.

"Rainy Days and Mondays"



Practically the story of my life right here in this next song. I am this girl.

"Let Me Be the One"



Oh, and this one, too!

"Druscilla Penny"

Your family's probably given up on you since you began to follow groups of long-haired rock n' rollers!



Karen on drums here, again. If you know your music, you'll be able to identify all of these songs in this medley! (I'm sitting here absolutely shivering, no joke.)

"Bacharach/David medley"



Selections from "A Song For You" (1972)

This song rips my heart out. If anyone's reading who will remember me when I'm gone, please, please please please. Please play this at my funeral.

"A Song For You"



This is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of Karen's vocal talent.

"Hurting Each Other"



I can't actually listen to this right now without crying, honestly. Lasted 55 seconds and the tears started flowing. I'm not even sad.

"I Won't Last a Day Without You"



I really need a palate cleanser, though I know there's more ahead, so here's Richard on lead vocals with a cute melody.

"Piano Picker"



Selections from "Now and Then" (1973)

This is a very special Carpenters album, comprised mostly of cover songs. Beautiful ones, at that.

Remember hearing this on Sesame Street? When I heard this cover, I actually cried. Don't worry, they were tears of joy/nostalgia. (I only got 1:23 into it this time before crying.)

"Sing"



Countless nights as a young lady, sobbing away to this song. My eyes are still pretty dry, though! Almost 2 minutes strong. I can do this.

Wait, nope.

Nope.

"I Can't Make Music"



I can't choose which tunes I like best from this medley so here's the whole damn thing. Again, you best know your shit or you probably won't appreciate this!

"Medley"



Selections from "Horizon" (1975)

I love this next song because it's so happy. It reminds me of how fortunate I really am, to have my heart taken care of by such a wonderful person.

"Only Yesterday"



I was going to include "Desperado", but I couldn't find it. They did, in fact, cover it, and it was beautiful. At least I have the LP. I'm ok.

But this cover has a delightful video to go along with it! Karen loved Disney and collected Disneyana. This video just makes me smile every time.

"Please Mr. Postman"



Here's a Neil Sedaka (who I also really love) cover.

"Solitaire"




Selections from "A Kind of Hush" (1976)

Honestly, this record sort of makes me want to tear my insides out, one by one, because it hurts so much to listen to. I'll be very brief here.

It opens with a super cheesy Herman's Hermits cover.

"A Kind of Hush"



I actually love this song so much. I might not make it more than a minute, but it's so pretty and sweet. I've probably sung this to myself a million times in my life. (Just fyi, I lasted 1:38 before I almost cried.)

"Can't Smile Without You"



This next one was said to be Karen's favorite Carpenters song. It's also been said that it was written for her.

I know I ask perfection of a quite imperfect world, and fool enough to think that's what I'll find.

"I Need to Be In Love"



Selections from "Passage" (1977)

I'd like this played at our wedding. It's the absolute truth. Every bit of it. (1:02 elapsed before the tears came.)

"I Just Fall in Love Again"



This is such a cool cover of Klaatu's "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft", complete with a super-weird intro.



Selections from "Made in America" (1981)

I actually have a copy of this on vinyl. It's still sealed. It will remain sealed. This album is actually really painful for me to listen to, because it lacks so much passion. Karen was very ill during this time, and there's something so absent from her voice, it just makes me sad.

So here's my favorite track from the album. It's a cover (no surprise there) of the Marvelettes.

This video makes me happy and sad.

"Beechwood 4-5789"




A couple of tracks that weren't on any of their LPs, but continue to make me cry like a little bitch:

"Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again"



"Little Girl Blue"



Just so we're clear, I'm not crying 'cause I'm sad. I'm crying 'cause I love Karen, and her voice moves me. I haven't heard many of these songs in quite a while, but all of them have deep, personal memories attached to them. In time I hope to get some sort of tattoo to honor Karen (though Marc Bolan is first in the running right now) but for now I'll just let the tears fall and smile, knowing she lived in this world and made so many people so happy with the precious gifts she had to share with us.

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ladyislingering

So I found this journal entry from my last.fm profile, from 2009. That was probably the most medicated year of my life. I have almost zero recollection of anything that happened, apart from the memories attached to the songs in this list.

To my vague recollection it was a decent year - drugs, sex, and rock n' roll. Not bad.

So I'm going to do 10 songs a day from this list for the next 10 entries because wow, what a find.

This first track is something I still find pretty groovy. I was just getting into all this great British pop of the 70s at the time (this is about the time I started getting into glam rock). This group is strange, but great.

[100]
Sailor - "Girls, Girls, Girls"



I think I got into Cab Calloway after seeing his likeness (in ghost form) in an old Betty Boop cartoon. (I love depression era/WWII cartoons - they're so weird!) But really, how cool was this motherfucker?

[99]
Cab Calloway - "Minnie the Moocher"



I absolutely love these girls with all my heart. My most loved girl group of the 60s, the delightful Shangri-Las.

[98]
The Shangri Las - "Footsteps on the Roof"



My obsession for this duo was sparked the year before, but this song quickly grew on me. The lyrics are hilarious, and my parents were particularly disturbed that I was so into these weird guys from Los Angeles.

Middle ages sucked, spent all day in prayer
Judgment Day was every day
and witches burning everywhere

[97]
Sparks - "This is the Renaissance"



I don't know why I was so obsessed with this next song. It's very charming and might have been relevant to me at the time but it's sort of nauseating.

[96]
Shelley Fabares - "Johnny Angel"



I absolutely love ye-ye. I don't know if it's due to my loose understanding of the French language coupled with my love of delightful chicks of the 60s, but ye-ye is seriously uplifting, and I still love this adorable song. At some point I had all the lyrics memorized - I used to sing it to my cat.

[95]
Françoise Hardy - "Tous les Garçons et les Filles"



I absolutely had to have this song on 12" vinyl back in those days. Well, I failed, but I did succeed in getting a copy of this next group's debut album. I can appreciate the weirdness of these Talking Heads remnants, but this escapes me. Maybe it's the pedantic.

[94]
Tom Tom Club - "Wordy Rappinghood"



This next song came to be really important to me, more in the preceding year after a tragic life event that left me completely devastated. It's really the simplicity and the attitude that got me through. You know it's going to be a good day when you're feelin' groovy.

[93]
Simon & Garfunkel - "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"



Keeping in with the glammy stuff I was getting into back in '09, I found this next group and fell immediately. Ace Frehley did a version of this, to my knowledge.

[92]
Hello - "New York Groove"



When I found out that Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks helped out on much of the lyrics from Telex's 1980 album "Sex", I had to check it out. I really loved this song in particular because it summed up a lot of my feelings for my job and the people around me.

[91]
Telex - "Drama, Drama"



And this is a weird entry, but I loved this song in '09. Someone I was very close to actually used a frequency blocking device to broadcast this to an entire electronics department, successfully offending many people. Plus these guys are funny as hell.

AWWW SHIT, GET YOUR TOWELS READY, IT'S ABOUT TO GO DOWN!

[90]
The Lonely Island ft. T. Pain - "I'm On a Boat"



That's all for now. Man, I'm tripping out right now.

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ladyislingering

Here's the 2nd installment from the "Top 100 of 2009" list.

This track came to me for the first time via last.fm. All I really remember is freezing to death in my dad's basement in the fall of 2008, eating banana chips and popping pills to get by. In January of 2009 I tracked down a vinyl copy of "The Turtles Present: Battle of the Bands".

Love these funky white boys.

[89]
The Turtles - "I'm Chief Kamanawanalea (We're the Royal Macadamia Nuts)"



Previously in my music journal I mentioned my brief obsession with Sigue Sigue Sputnik. No surprise that this next song made this list.

[88]
Sigue Sigue Sputnik - "Orgasm"



I love this next group. I always have. I love this video. I was so into The Knack during 2009. I still have one of their buttons pinned to one of my jackets. Berton Averre on keyboards in this video.

[87]
The Knack - "Mr. Handleman"




This song reminds me of my life before I left for Cincinnati, so a lot of its nostalgia hung on to me throughout the year I spent after having returned to one of the most desolate, depressing places on earth.

[86]
Tommy James & The Shondells - "Sugar on Sunday"



This next one, oddly, got me through a really difficult time. I spent 3 years with one of the most immature morons I'd ever met in my life, but I was devastated when he decided he was bored with me. Both Sparks and Weird Al helped me cope as I sobbed in the darkness of my room for months on end. I still hate that idiot, and wherever you are, KJW, you're an idiot and it's no wonder you still live with your parents, you pathetic little man-child.

[85]
Weird Al Yankovic - "One More Minute"



This song actually makes me cry a lot, and I'm sorry to be repetitive (because I just did my Carpenters feature a few days ago) but yeah.

[84]
Carpenters - "Sing"



This is one of the most supremely flawless disco songs ever recorded. I'm not just saying that because I love ABBA; this is sincerely beautiful and I'm still sort of obsessed with it. I remember driving my dad's car around town grooving this on full blast.

[83]
ABBA - "Lovers (Live a Little Longer)"



I went through a decent phase where I was also pretty obsessed with Squeeze, and with good reason. Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford are genius songwriters. I always loved the weird organ/synth in this song, and the distortion. It appealed to my over-medicated head.

[82]
Squeeze - "I Think I'm Go-Go"



This song was the only reason I decided to buy DEVO's "Freedom of Choice" album on vinyl. Not surprisingly, I also enjoy the rest of the LP, but this really sealed the deal for me. I don't know why. I'm not sure how to explain it. I just really love this song. Newcomers need to forget everything they know about DEVO and just listen.

[81]
DEVO - "That's Pep!"



Ending this entry with another kitschy tune. This will always be absolutely hilarious to me (not because I want to trivialize the Holocaust - just thinking of all that suffering boils my blood) simply because I love this comedy troupe.

[80]
Whitest Kids U' Know - "Hitler Rap"

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