Tag: Happy Rhodes

People occasionally ask me why I m ake lists of my favorite songs by particular artists. It’s not because I think it’s particularly interesting to anyone but me, although I do hope that someone might stumble across something they’ve never heard before, and enjoy a new song or artist. The first list I did was for Canadian singer/songwriter/rock goddess Emm Gryner. I had been listening to Emm’s music for about 20 years after discovering her through a Happy Rhodes e-mail discussion group called Ecto, and she had released quite a few album. Emm is so prolific, and I am such a bad music listener (I rarely take the time to sit and just listen to music so I can learn titles and remember individual songs) I decided to go through Emm’s entire catalog and note my favorite songs. I enjoyed that process so much, listening to songs over and over to get them in just the right order, that I decided to replicate the process with two of my favorite bands, Fleetwood Mac and Heart.

At some point I realized that I was working my way toward the list of my favorite Kate Bush songs, which made me think about Happy Rhodes. Like Emm, Happy was quite prolific and had a major body of work. In addition, I discovered her just as she was releasing her sixth album, so once I fell in love with her music, I went back and bought her first five albums, all while she continued to release new music. Again, because of my poor music listening habits, I knew there were a handful of songs I really loved and could name if someone asked me, the rest of her music kind of blended together for me as music by an artists whose work I really admired. This was the perfect opportunity to really dig into Rhodes’ twelve albums and listen to each song carefully and multiple times to rank all of her music.

It took me weeks. Even now, as I am embarking on finally writing my list to the public, i suspect I may make a tweak or two as I go along. This was by far the most difficult list to rank to date. Happy’s music is so diverse and varied that I kept moving things around. Of the 120 plus songs I have ranked, I’m pretty confident with the first 75, as songs worthy of attention that I was able to rank. The remaining 45 didn’t stand out to me, so they are rather shoddily ranked. I’m going to focus on my Top 40 Happy Rhodes songs, with just a mention of some of the songs that didn’t make that cut.

Another reason why I was excited to write about Happy Rhodes, is that so very few people have heard her, or even heard OF her. Of the half a dozen people who may read my blog, I’m hoping that one or two may discover a new, incredible talent through this list of favorite Happy Rhodes songs, and of the other few, they already love Happy and we can compare our favorites. Since so few people know about Happy Rhodes, I will start with a brief summary of her musical career.

Born Kimberley Rhodes, she was called “Happy” since infancy, and legally changed her name when she was 16. She was born in Poughkeepsie, NY and spent most of her life in upstate New York. She started out creating music after receiving an acoustic guitar as a gift form her mother at age 11. At age 14 she was performing her own songs at school talent shows, and after dropping out of high school at age 16, and getting her GED, she began her dream of performing by appearing at “Open Mic” nights in the Saratoga, NY area. Happy soon met the owner of a recording studio, Cathedral Sound Studios in Rensselaer, and became a studio intern to learn recording techniques. The studio owner was impressed with Rhodes’ voice and songwriting, and volunteered to record all of the songs she had written to that point.

Soon after, Happy met Kevin Bartlett, a musician who had his own recording label, Aural Gratification, and he released all the songs that she had recorded to date on cassette. She had enough songs to release three cassettes at the same time in 1986, Rhodes Vol. I, Rhodes Vol. II, and Rearmament, followed one year later by a fourth cassette release, Ecto. These first four albums all featured Happy on all instruments, with the first two largely just acoustic guitar and voice, and the latter two adding in electronic keyboards. These releases weren’t conceived as albums, but just collections of her previously written songs.

With the release of her fourth album, Warpaint, Happy was writing new songs, and adding in guest musicians. There was a notable maturing of her songwriting skills as she began to stretch her musicianship and her songwriting to the glorious heights I have come to love her for. She released four more albums on Aural Gratification in fairly quick succession, Equipoise, Rhodesongs, Building the Colossus and The Keep, before moving to another label to release her 10th album a few years later in 1998, Many Worlds Are Born Tonight. Her last album to date, Find Me, was recorded in 2001, but not released until 2007. Recently, a compilation of her early works from the first four albums was released on CD and vinyl on an album called Ectotrophia.

In my next entry I will start to count down my Top 40 songs by Happy Rhodes, but there were so many songs I wanted to fit into my Top 40, that as a preview, here are ten more songs that I just couldn’t leave off. I’ve linked them to their audio/video so go take a listen if you are so moved, and know that there are many more amazing songs to come! And a note for those who don’t know Happy… all the voices you hear are Happy’s, believe it or not.

50.) The Chosen One – Find Me (2007) – From Happy’s final studio release, this is a lovely song about someone who feels left behind as others around her are pairing off in marriage… about buying into the fairy tale and just feeling lonely. Not my favorite lyrically, but it’s a lovely song, and in addition to the link of the recording in the title, here’s a lovely live version.

49.) The Wretches Gone Awry – Rhodes I (1986) – A perfect example Happy’s early work; a simple, gently galloping acoustic guitar finger-picking its way through an enchanted world with Happy’s multiple angelic voices weaving and diving, and singing about the glories and the failings of humanity, and choosing to focus on the good.

48.) Suicide Song – Rhodes I (1986) – Also from Happy’s first release, she wrote this when she was very young, and this was the first song she ever recorded, probably on a portable cassette player. It’s a heart-breaking song that is about exactly what the title states. In addition to the original audio linked in the title, here’s a live version from a concert she performed in 2005.

47.) Dying – Building the Colossus (1994) – Jump forward a decade or so and Happy’s considerably expanded her production level. This lush song isn’t really about death, but about isolation, and fear of showing your heart to the world, and worse, being ignored by someone you love. I love who this song has multiple tempos and styles, something you will see a lot in Happy’s songs. Happy said in an interview that Building the Colossus is her least favorite album. Ironically, I think it’s my favorite.

46.) If Love is a Game, I Win – Ecto (1987) – Heavy synths drive this song that nicely showcases both of Happy’s vocal ranges in a looping melody and storyline about being thoroughly happy in love. Incidentally, Ecto was the last of Happy’s albums that I owned. I thought I had them all, and as I was preparing for this series of posts, I realized that I didn’t have this one, so I quickly dowloaded it I knew many of the songs from various compilations, but I was shocked that I didn’t already own it! Now, my collection is complete.

45.) The Flaming Threshold – Rhodes I (1986) – Another in the vein of Wretches, solo acoustic guitar and Happy using her voice like the instrument it is. I like how Happy pushes her voice a bit on the verses, giving it a little bit of an edge. This one’s about desire, risk and the rush of performance — you reach out, sometimes you’re going to get burned. It’s an interesting point of view told from a performer and looking at the desire in their fans’ eyes and choosing to reach out directly to them. Surprisingly, this one, like Suicide Song were bonus tracks added to Rhodes I when it was released on CD.

44.) Charlie – Find Me (2007) – And here’s the first of the dark rockers that I like to think of as a little bit like juggernauts. They have a heavy power the propels them inexorably forward. This one is taken from her last album, and combines her deep register with some electronically distorted shrieks to tell the story of a disturbed, hopeless man who killed himself, and how the singer could have just as easily been in his position, as could all of us. Happy often writes about literary and film characters, so I don’t know if Charlie is one of those, or completely comes from Happy’s imagination.

43.) Wrong Century – Warpaint (1991) – Happy definitely mines science fiction themes i her songs, and again, whether Wrong Century is based on another work or just Happy’s own imagination, she paints the picture of a man trapped in a woman’s body in another time period than their own. What’s notable about this song is the dramatic duet with Mitch Elrod in the chorus. Their songs blend together really well and make for quite the powerful moment.

42.) If So – Ecto (1987) – In this song, the singer has been horribly hurt by someone she loves. She asks what they did was worth it, and to tell her the truth, and if it’s true, then it’s over between them. Happy’s vocals are deceptively gentle, making the tone of the song much more chilling. The live clip below was taken from a 1996 concert at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia.

41.) I Say – Equipoise (1993) – My first experience with Ms. Rhodes came when I purchased Equipoise. I’m very glad my first impressions of her were during this period, when she was experimenting with more lush, expansive production, combining her gentle acoustic work with more electronic sounds. This album closer is a gentle ode to claiming one’s own identity and cautioning others not to rely on the words of others to define them. It’s another complex song where Happy creates multiple sections that all have a different feel, while maintaining the themes and gentle momentum of the song as a whole.

Before closing, I need to thank Vickie Williams, Happy’s greatest evangelist, without whom it is doubtful that I would have ever heard of her. Many of the audio and video clips linked here from YouTube are courtesy of Vickie and her husband. Thanks for bringing some Happy into my life, Vickie!