Category: Nonsense

While Kate Bush is my favorite artist, I’ve got a couple of bands who vie at any given time for the crown. Heart and Martha & the Muffins always hover around the top of my favorite bands list, but for sheer longevity, and diversity of music, Fleetwood Mac remains on top. While I jumped on the Fleetwood Mac bandwagon like many others during their heyday in the mid-70s, I went back and explored their catalog and their roots as a British blues band starting out in the late 60s. It wasn’t until the addition of Christine McVie that things really came together for me, and obviously, the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks made magic happen for me, like the rest of the world. Since Ms. McVie’s departure from the band over ten years ago, I have to say I haven’t been as interested.

Of course, with all the terrific songs Fleetwood Mac has performed, I had trouble deciding which one to post here. I decided it had to be a Christine McVie track as she is my favorite member. I thought I’d go back to the pre-Buckingham/Nicks days, and I knew I had to choose Heroes Are Hard to Find with its sassy lyrics and funky brass licks. It’s a bit of a departure for Chris, while still recognizably her. If you haven’t heard this track, do yourself a favor and take a listen.

There are a lot of songs I can dance to. I love dancing. I’m not a great dancer, but I can do okay. I like dancing to different kinds of music, from 80s new wave to disco. I wanted to post some obscure song that you probably never heard of here, but the simple fact of the matter is, the first song that sprang to mind for this category, and the song I probably most readily will get up and dance to is Madonna’s Express Yourself.

I’m not really sure what it is about that particular song that makes me want to start grooving so badly. I’m not a big Madonna fan. I like a lot of her stuff, while other leaves me cold. I did see her live once and she put on a great show. Express Yourself has a fun video, a great beat and just makes me want to boogie!

In the world of contemporary pop music there are music people and there are lyrics people. I’ve never really been into lyrics. The words to a song can certainly augment my enjoyment of a song, but they are rarely the reason I like a song. Contrarily, a phrase of melody can bring me to tears. Despite that, like most people, there are lots of songs I know the words to. I do notice that songs I know extremely well I often just make up words to when I sing along. But still, there are many songs, by sheer repeated plays, whose words I’ve come to know. For today’s song challenge, I thought I would pick a song whose lyrics I think are clever, well crafted, and memorable. That song is Barracuda by Heart.

I think songs that are written about something very specific often have the best lyrics. Barracuda is a scathing warning to young up and coming rock stars about the dangers and sleaziness of record company executives, something Ann and Nancy Wilson learned about first hand when they were just starting out back in the mid-70s. Mushroom records took a promotional photo taken of Ann and Nancy for the Dreamboat Annie album, and published it with an article with the quote, “It was only our first time…” implying that the two were lesbian lovers. Please… they’re sisters. After the success of the first album, Heart changed record labels and a legal battle ensued. Ann’s lyrics, and the metaphor of the record company executive as the cold, vicious barracuda are creative and spot on. Enjoy this terrific television clip of the original line-up performing this classic song.

And the lyrics:

Barracuda
Heart
(A.Wilson/N.Wilson/R.Fisher)

So this ain’t the end – I saw you again today
Had to turn my heart away
You smiled like the Sun – kisses for everyone
and tales – it never fails!

You lying so low in the weeds
Bet you gonna ambush me
You’d have me down on my knees
Wouldn’t you, Barracuda?

Back over Time when we were all trying for free
Met up with porpoise and me
No right no wrong you’re selling a Song – a name
whisper game

If the real thing don’t do the trick
You better make up something quick
You gonna burn it out to the wick
aren’t you, Barracuda?

“Sell me sell you” the porpoise said
Dive down deep to save my head
You… I think you got the blues too.

All that night and all the next
Swam without looking back
Made for the western pools -silly fools!

I had a lot of trouble thinking of a song that makes me think of a certain event. The more I thought about it, the more my mind kept going back to concerts. Concerts are probably not events in the meaning of what this particular category is referring to, but all the big events in my life that I could think of don’t really have songs linked to them other than concerts. Still, this song is locked into my memory as linked to this particular concert.

I saw Martha & the Muffins (who I think were calling themselves Martha & the Muffins a/k/a M+M at the time) at the Channel in the mid-80’s. I was excited to see this Canadian band that I loved so much, and I couldn’t really imagine what they would sound like live. When they took the stage and performed their opening song, it just blew me away. They sounded incredible. They looked incredible. I can vividly remember how excited I was and thinking they were just the epitome of all things Canadian (which to me was a great thing.) They’re opening number remains one of my favorite all-time songs. So hear it is, the video of the Martha & the Muffins song, Danseparc (Every Day It’s Tomorrow), which is one of the coollest songs and videos ever.

What? Did I miss yesterday? Sheesh? I was completely prepared too. The day just kind of slipped by. Oh well, back on track now.

Most of the songs that remind me of a particular place have to do with concerts. I hear Over My Head by Fleetwood Mac and I’m immediately back in the Boston Garden seeing them live for the first time on the Tusk Tour. ‘Til Tuesday’s Maybe Monday puts me at the UNH show nursing my not-so-secret crush on keyboard player Joey Pesce.

When I think of the band Spider, and this song in particular, I think of a time, a place, and specific people. Spider’s 1980 debut album, featuring the minor Top 40 hit, New Romance (It’s a Mystery) was a defining collection of songs for me. I loved Spider, featuring Amanda Blue on lead vocals, future hit-making songwriter Holly Knight on keyboard, Keith Lentin on guitar, Jimmy Lowell on bass, and future David Letterman session player Anton Fig on drums. I turned my friends on to Spider. Sue, Becki, Anne… they all loved Spider nearly as much as I did. We each had our favorites on that first album.

When, a little over a year later, their second album, Between the Lines, was released, we were momentarily taken aback. There were some real dance grooves there… almost disco! It took us a couple of listens to accept songs like Going By, although Change, later covered by John Waite, was an instant hit with us. I have such a distinct memory of having my three friends pile into my 1974 Pontiac Ventura and driving down to Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, parking by the banks, and instead of making out (what, I was gay, and there were three of them!) we listened to the new Spider album over and over again. One song in particular resonated. It’s a song you all know as performed by a different artist, but Spider performed it first, and Amanda Blue’s commanding vocals were certainly the template for the much more popular artist who eventually turned it into a hit. I still ahve a very vivid image of Sue sarcastically spitting out the lines, “But did you think I’d just accept you, in blind faith? Oh, sure baby! anything to please you, but you better be good to me!”

This is not the complete kickass song. Much of the amazing instrumental break is edited out unfortunately. Even the CD version doesn’t include the full-length song, which is why I still own the vinyl.