MA-126 - 45s & Favorites, Disc 19

            For our last post of 2017, and our final compilation in this month of sharing and reminiscence, here’s another bunch of my mostest favoritest songs ever.

01 - Do You Remember - Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers - 1977   (4:34)

02 - You're So Strange - The Zippers - 1977   (2:46)

03 - The Loneliest Man in the World - The Tourists - 1979   (4:06)

04 - Assassin - Intimate Obsessions - 1985   (4:24)

05 - Chinese Graffiti - Blue Peter - 1982   (3:32)

06 - Bus Full of Nuns - Dan Barr - 1983   (3:37)

07 - Change Partners - Stephen Stills - 1971   (3:12)

08 - 5-7-0-5 - City Boy - 1978   (3:11)

09 - I'm Weird - The M 80's - 1979   (3:12)

10 - It Was the Whiskey Talkin' (Not Me) - Jerry Lee Lewis - 1990   (3:40)

11 - Mushmind - Jet - 1979   (2:55)

12 - I Wanna Be with You - The Raspberries - 1972   (3:00)

13 - Nostalgia - Penetration - 1978   (3:44)

14 - My Brain Hurts - Fine Art - 1978   (3:33)

15 - Wot a Wally - Sharon - 1983   (2:50)

16 - Where's Captain Kirk - Spizzenergi - 1979   (2:17)

17 - I Love Playin' with Fire - The Runaways - 1977   (3:18)

18 - Connection - Elastica - 1994   (2:19)

19 - One Track Mind - The Knickerbockers - 1964   (2:20)

20 - Weight of the World - Ringo Starr - 1992   (3:52)

21 - Little Miss Proper - Susan Rhee and the Orientals - 1983   (4:05)

22 - Only Death Is Fatal - Garbo's Celluloid Heroes - 1978   (2:37)

23 - Tell That Girl to Shut Up - Holly and the Italians - 1979   (3:01)

24 - Rock and Roll Birthday - The Beatles - VM - 2009   (2:50)

            Our first track is frankly nostalgic, a fun and cheesy hark-back to some of the biggest music legends (regardless of musical quality).

            Track 8 is one in a long line of phone-call songs.

            Track 9, of course, could be the theme song of many.

            Track 10 was recorded for an album tied into the 1990 Dick Tracy film.  Not only fun, it sounds awfully close to the bone when you consider the artist.

            Track 17 could be a teen anthem for half the western world.

            And the final track is another stupendously fall-down-great cut from VM of the Beatles Remixers group.  Ka-WHAM!  Talk about going out with a bang!  Happy New Year!

MA-126 - 45s & Favorites, Disc 19 -- 2021 LINK

... Happy New Year! We're taking the month of January off.  See you back here on Monday, February 5th, 2018!

D-Day Is Here! MA-118 – ’80s Armageddon

            As everybody knows, a few years ago there was another one of those dumb flurriesof worry that the world would end -- this time is was supposed to be on December 21, 2012.

            Now, something momentous DID happen on that date -- a grandson was born to us.

      

            Chicken Little-like cluckings and hysteria about impending doom have always been with us, even in fiction ... vide the Monster Shouter in Stephen King's The Stand, or Rorschach's secret identity in Watchmen.

            This week our compilation is not only from the 1980s, but songs from the 1980s of a certain pessimistic slant.  These performers had a lot of nuclear angst. 

             What do creative people write and sing about when they’re afraid the End Is Near? They perform songs about the fear that humanity is just about ready to “Bite the Wax Tadpole.”  WAIT, that didn’t mean doomsday, just a bottle of Coke.

Anyway, here are the songs.

01 - Political Games - Day After   1984  (3:03)

02 - 1985 - Out of Data   1985  (3:13)

03 - Drop the Bomb - 24 Hours   1981  (1:39)

04 - Instant Annihilation - Stereo-Types   1986  (3:43)

05 - Wardance - Art Interface   1984  (4:27)

06 - Atomic War - Leo Keling   1980  (3:04)

07 - Ask - The Smiths   1986  (3:07)

08 - This Mourning - Chalk Circle   1987  (3:32)

09 - Atomic Age - Elli & Jacno   1981  (4:02)

10 - This Is Not a Test - Christmas   1989  (3:07)

11 - Chernobyl Baby - Baby Amphetamine   1987  (2:49)

12 - We Got the Bomb - The Conservatives   1983  (2:55)

13 - Beat the Bomb - Alex Space   1981  (3:10)

14 - Love Missile F-11 (single version) - Sigue Sigue Sputnik   1986  (3:45)

15 - Humatomic Energy - Slickaphonics   1985  (4:01)

16 - Gonna Put My Face on a Nuclear Bomb - Mojo Nixon and Kid Roper   1986  (2:36)

17 - Hydrogenic - Bohemia   1981  (3:10)

18 - Images of Fire - Fatal Charm   1986  (4:11)

19 - Watch the Skies Go Red - Forever 19   1985  (3:59)

20 - She's a Nuclear Bomb - The Dull   1986  (4:30)

21 - Atomic City - Plastic Money   1984  (3:19)

22 - Z-Bomb - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission   1980  (3:35)

23 - Isotope Tan - Transport   1982  (3:14)

            Despite the mostly pessimistic viewpoint, these are some *ahem* KILLER songs (get it?).  Hope you can dig ’em!

MA-118 - '80s Armageddon -- 2022 LINK

            See you back here next Thursday, friends, with perhaps a more cheerful outlook ...

  

LIFE Treasury of Christmas Music

This is a staid little collection of Christmas songs from all over.  It's labeled "a supplement," and that is good because in my opinion it's pretty thin gruel by itself.  But decide your own self.

The Glory of Christmas       

01 - Prelude: Joy to the World  0:32

02 - Jerusalem Gaude        1:21     

03 - The Angel Gabriel        1:11     

04 - Rocking Carol     1:57       

05 - Angels We Have Heard on High       2:31     

06 - The Carol of the Bagpipers 2:20     

07 - The Golden Carol of the Three Wise Men 1:50

08 - Joy To The World 1:46

The Pageantry of Christmas

09 - Prelude: Adeste Fidelis 0:51

10 - Hodie Christus Natus Est 0:49

11 - The Boar's Head Carol 1:35

12 - Coventry Carol 2:31

13 - Huron Indian Carol 1:41

14 - Masters in the Hall 1:57

15 - God Rest You Merry 1:09

The Merriment of Christmas

16 - Deck the Halls 1:12

17 - Here We Come A-Wassailing 1:28

18 - Patapan 1:01

19 - Postlude: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 0:46

LIFE Treasury of Christmas Music

See you on Thursday for a new compilation.

 

MA-106 – Uppin’ Atom!

Welcome back to the month of comp-sharing.  This week we’ve got another amalgamation of atomic angst, from all camps of popular music.  The tracklist , in chronological order, extends from the beginning of the 1950s to the Double-Oughts.

01 - Got My Call Card - LB Lawson and James Scott Jr   1951  (3:27)

02 - Uranium Miner’s Boogie - Riley Walker and His Rockin-R-Rangers   1954   (2:53)

03 - Atomic Bounce - Johnny Latorre and the Rhythm Rockets   1955  (2:31)

04 - The Merry Minuet - Bud & Travis   1960  (1:53)

05 - Overseas Blues - Memphis Willie Borum   1961  (3:10)

06 - It's Good News Week - Hedgehoppers Anonymous   1965  (2:04)

07 - Thirteen Women - The Renegades   1966  (3:28)

08 - The World Beyond - Bobby Goldsboro   1968  (2:17)

09 - Fireside Favourite - Fad Gadget   1980  (4:22)

10 - Man at C&A - The Specials   1980  (3:35)

11 - Yes to the Neutron Bomb - The Moderates   1980  (4:15)

12 - Final Day - Young Marble Giants   1980  (1:40)

13 - Last Rockers - Vice Squad   1981  (4:16)

14 - Our Condition - FK9   1981  (2:38)

15 - Back in 1984 - Cerebral Hemorrhage   1984  (4:58)

16 - Pictures - Atoms for Peace   1985  (3:44)

17 - Atom Drum Bop - The Three Johns   1986  (4:10)

18 - Yellow, Black and Rectangular - Negativland   1987  (2:14)

19 - Discussing Missile Size - Dada   1988  (2:51)

20 - Symbols of Our Fear - Rage   1988  (3:31)

21 - We're So Small - The Epoxies   2002  (2:41)

22 - Nuclear War (On the Dance Floor) - Electric Six   2003  (1:16)

23 - Safe - M83   2004   (4:12)

24 - Miss Atomic Bomb - The Killers   2012  (4:49)

2021 LINK -- MA-106 - Uppin' Atom!

            Have a fine week, see you back here next Thursday for another comp!

  

Happy Birthday Hector Berlioz!

Yup, the composer of our favorite emotional, overwrought masterpiece, the Symphonie Fantastique, was born on December 11th, 1803.

In celebration, let's share a wonderful piano transcription of that amazing, creepy work.

Symphonie Fantastique -- Piano Transcription


See you on Thursday for a new compilation!
 

MA-89 - It Extruded from the 1980s

            Here’s another compilation of some of my favorite songs from that wacky-n-wonderful musical time, the 1980s, when MTV and my children were conceived.  Here’s the tracklist:

01. I Need That Record - The Tweeds (3:20)  1980

02. Chinese I's (Here Come the Minutemen) - Venetians (3:49)  1983

03. Vaguely Human - Flesh for Lulu (3:25)  1985

04. Forever Young - Alphaville (3:47)  1984

05. Equal/Equality - The Parachute Club (5:02)  1984

06. Cathode Mamma - Krisma (3:15)  1980

07. Flatland - November Group (2:49)  1982

08. Room That Echoes - Peking Man (3:51)  1986

09. Person to Person - The Signals (2:44)  1984

10. 1,000 Gene Autrys - Scattered Order (4:36)  1985

11. Study Up! - Mechanical Servants (3:42)  1980

12. Kids In America - Kim Wilde (3:29)  1981

13. There Was a Time - One to One (3:19)  1986

14. I Don't Wanna Die - The 4-Skins (3:13)  1982

15. Pac-Man Fever - Buckner and Garcia (3:55)  1981

16. Time to Get Up - Los Microwaves (3:04)  1981

17. You Pull Me Down - The Stabilizers (4:04)  1986

18. Cry Boy Cry - Blue Zoo (4:23)  1982

19. Did You Ever - The Cichlids (2:18)  1980

20. Don't Call Me Baby - Voice of the Beehive (3:07)  1988

21. All the Time in the World - The Crooks (3:03)  1980

22. C·30 C·60 C·90 Go! - Bow Wow Wow (3:03)  1980

So many wonderful songs ...

Track 3 ... Don’t wake up that thing in the room, it’s only ... vaguely .. human ...

Track 5 ... Another anthem for the world which should be.  I wanna live equal and equally!

Track 13 ... Something in the progression, or singer’s voice, something is so moving, to this nostalgic cat.

Track 15 ... of course, this was notorious and inescapable ... but so catchy and sort-of witty, like the best cash-ins.

Track 16 ... My favorite part is in the fadeout ... “If you wanted me to get up, why did you let me go to sleep?”

Track 22 ... The debut single from Bow Wow Wow.  Its subject: the scandal of home taping.  It was released in July, 1980, as the world’s first cassette single.  According to one blog post, “The B-Side of the single was blank, presumably so the fan who bought it could tape any other song they wanted onto it. Their label EMI weren’t too pleased about the song’s subject matter.”  It’s kind of surprising that, given the controversy it stirred at the time, this song has only been sampled once, according to Who Sampled Who, in 2009 by White Rabbits.  Another reminiscence about this song may be found here.

2021 LINK -- MA-89 - It Extruded from the 1980s 

            Well, that’s it for this week, kiddies.  See you back here next Thursday, for another instalment in this Yuletide season of compilation-sharing!