Man, I had totally forgotten about this song and it somehow came up in my coversation with Vanessa the other day. We were talking about Scrabble and I was telling her I didn't want to go up against her because she'd totally own my ass. Then she said that she didn't think so, that I was pretty wordy...which leads to the title of this track, Wordy Rappinghood, by the Tom Tom Club. Along with Blondie's Rapture, this was one of the first rap songs I ever heard (oddly, both are done by white girls!). The Tom Tom Club's debut album was a 1981 side project of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads. Give it a spin, it's really catchy and fun, and still sounds good to me after all these years.
Ooh, and check out this embedded media player from divshare, it's pretty sweet.
This aptly titled track reminds me of driving down the Pacific Coast Highway (aka Highway 1). To me, it perfectly captures the feeling, especially right after the horn break around 3:10, when everything kicks in. Bliss. Although, I wish the weather were as nice right now as it is in this pic. I'm so over the rain.
Today, I put on Siouxsie and The Banshees' "Cities In Dust", which was one of the first songs I ever heard of theirs. Man, that totally transports me back. Way back when, I used to like this girl called Laura. She was into Siouxsie, so I was naturally interested in hearing them. "Cities In Dust" was one of Laura's favorite songs and it quickly became one of mine as well. I wonder whatever happened to her. In any case, I love the drums and the way the song flows in general. Superb. Listen: Siouxsie and The Banshees > Cities In Dust
I was listening to some PJ Harvey today at work, which reminded me of this bittersweet tale.
So in the fall of 2001, PJ Harvey was scheduled to play the Warfield theater out here in San Francisco. I had gotten a late start on the tickets and the show was sold out. I ended up paying extortion prices for a pair of tickets from eBay, I wanted to see her that badly. I arranged to meet up with the seller at a bar across from the venue before the show. It was some place, I forget the name, on 6th Street, between Market and Mission. I'd never been there before and my friend and I walked past it twice before we realized it. It's in one of the seediest areas of town and the bar was a complete dive...and not in a good way. We got there about an hour before the show and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
We finally left and walked around, trying to find anyone selling tickets, but practically everyone was looking to buy. We eventually gave up and just went to a semi decent bar for drinks. The next day, the seller emails me with his apology. It turns out he lived in the East Bay area and rarely ever came to San Francisco. The bar that he suggested as a meeting place was recommended to him by one of his friends...so he wasn't able to find it either.
Finally, he offered me to send me a check for $10 to compensate me for my time. Ten dollars. I responded and politely told him to keep his money. I left him some nasty feedback on his eBay profile, tho. I think he earned it.
Here's the lemon juice in the paper cut. The reviews for the gig were absolutely fantastic. Fuck, man...I couldn't believe I had missed out because of that jackass. UGH!
Fast forward to a couple years ago, summer of 2004. Uh Huh Her was set to come out and PJ was doing a quick promotional tour and there were some west coast dates. I forget exactly what happened, but there was some scheduling fuck-up for the San Francisco date. It was supposed to be at the Civic, I believe, but it turned out there was already an event scheduled. Something like that, you get the picture.
So she ends up skipping SF but vows to return. A month or so later, it's announced that PJ is gonna play the Great American Music Hall, which is a much smaller venue than the Civic, in a week's time. My buddy, Ben, booked the tickets and we were set.
Showtime finally came along and she fucking destroyed the place. The band were on fire, they tore it all up. Easily one of the best gigs I've ever seen. Was it worth the three year wait? I dunno, it's hard to quantify something like that. I mean, that 2001 gig I missed was, by all accounts, pretty spectacular. This one was pretty fucking good, as well. I'm glad I got to go.
Fiona Apple with her version of Elvis Costello's "I Want You". This is from the Decades Rock Live! show, which pairs up "classic" and contemporary artists. Fiona completely owns this song, she burns and smolders, singing it like some fucking psycho stalker ex girlfriend. Reminds me of some girls I used to know. In any case, I think it's an excellent rendition. You can also check out a video here, if you're so inclined. Listen: Fiona Apple > I Want You
All this talk of the Police reuniting and playing the Grammy show inspired me to dig out one of the cooler side project albums, "I Advance Masked" by Andy Summers and Robert Fripp. This was a favorite way back when. Both are very accomplished musicians, but the playing is understated and subtle. No wanky guitar solos or histrionics. Not to say I don't enjoy a screaming solo, but I think it just wouldn't work with these two guys.
This was the first of two albums Fripp and Summers did together, coming in 1982. The second album is 1984's "Bewitched". It's a solid album as well, but it's more song oriented and not as atmospheric as "I Advance Masked".
"Girl on a Swing" is my favorite track on the album. The title is perfect, the music really does conjure up a vision of a girl on a swing. It's so pretty and gently stirring, like a sunset on a gorgeous summer day. It could easily soundtrack a childhood flashback scene in a movie where some character is dwelling upon his or her lost youth. Like that new Hannibal Lecter-as-a-teenager movie that's coming this month. Riiiight.
Man, I had totally forgotten about this song and it somehow came up in my coversation with Vanessa the other day. We were talking about Scrabble and I was telling her I didn't want to go up against her because she'd totally own my ass. Then she said that she didn't think so, that I was pretty wordy...which leads to the title of this track, Wordy Rappinghood, by the Tom Tom Club. Along with Blondie's Rapture, this was one of the first rap songs I ever heard (oddly, both are done by white girls!). The Tom Tom Club's debut album was a 1981 side project of Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads. Give it a spin, it's really catchy and fun, and still sounds good to me after all these years.
