Foursome? I Hardly Know 'Em!

I don't know why, I don't know why, I don't know WHY I haven't shared this news on here yet, but here it is: I'm going to be a dad again. Or still, but to a whole 'nother person. Though H is oblivious to his mom and dad's excitement, he will soon be a big brother. And by "soon," I mean sometime between this July and October, the whole Sticking Point family will be heading back to Korea for to bring home our newest addition.

We don't know "boy or girl?" yet, and we pretty much don't care one way or the other. I just hope the baby is at least half as charming and sweet as H, and sleeps twice as much as he did as an infant.

Does anyone have any tips on handling 15+ hours of travel time, most of it spent sitting in coach with a spirited young boy of about 26 months old?

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Here's this week's Friday 10.

01 Joey - Concrete Blonde: This is a song a lot of people like, apparently. Every time it came on in my old office, people would walk by and give me an emphatic "Grrreeeat song!" I love Concrete Blonde. Great voice on Johnette Napolitano, and she wrote a lot of songs that -- wisely -- allowed her to air out her pipes. They never really got the critical acclaim or the huge sales they deserved, but there were a hell of a lot of good songs on those first three albums. I lost sight of their ship after that, but I know Napolitano is still making music with or without the band. They seem like the kind of band that will forever turn up on compilations; I wonder if there's a good official release of their outtakes, alternates, and demos -- it might be worth a listen.
My Memory's Not Gone Yet Dept.: I always remember she had a short sharp quote once; when asked about recording her duet with Paul Westerberg on "My Little Problem," she just said, "He had bad breath."
Fazed had a really good interview with Johnette N here.

02 Lady Godiva's Operation - Velvet Underground: From the White Light White Heat album. They were OK, I guess. No Yellowcard, but OK. I got a lot of Velvet Underground on me between 1987 and 1993. I had a TDK SA-100 cassette of VU stuff that I had with me in all towns at all times. I remember once I was in Arlington, Virginia and got invited to some girl's house for a party. I put my cassette in the stereo and some fingers went in some ears. People asked me "Who is this?!" Can you believe it? I told them it was demo recordings of the new direction the Sugarcubes were going in. Boy, were they bummed. Tears fell into their red plastic beer cups.

03 The Move - Beastie Boys: The other night, StereoMic was playing a Beastie Boys bootleg from a Manchester show in 2004, and I was like yo I just gotta have that. Good show, great sound. Hopefully I can get my hands on a CDR of it soon. This version of "The Move" is the one from the Hello Nasty album, the one you've heard plenty of times, with the cool harpsichord part and that fun sample from Los Ångeles Negros. (Most of whose stuff isn't hard to find. I have had 20 Exitos Originales de los Ångeles Negros for about 15 years and dig it. Weird coincidence: I was listening to it yesterday in the office. I just looked at Amazon, and they don't have that one, but there are plenty of comps of the Negros other exitos out there.)

04 Parades Go By - Magnetic Fields: Last week, TSP friend and reader Nick got the Magnetic Fields' "Asleep and Dreaming" on his Friday 10 and wrote that Stephin Merritt is the "best lyricist today." For quality, consistency, and quantity -- it is hard to argue with that. I have a lot of Merritt's work -- the 6ths stuff, the Pieces of April soundtrack, some stray mp3s, and the complete 69 Love Songs set that pal Jake turned me onto a few years ago. This is all fine music, so complex it sounds simple. Merritt makes songs that make you run, not walk, to the CD burner to put on mixes for your friends. "Parades" and "Asleep" are both on 69 Love Songs.
Not Just That, But... Dept.: Nick doesn't just enjoy great music, he also writes great stuff for the YanksFan vs. SoxFan site. And this was a key week to be reading that. Here's a typically sharp entry he wrote recently.

05 Sunrise Sunset - Miriam Makeba: This is from the Magic of Makeba CD. I have written plenty on TSP over the years about my love for Makeba, but this is not one of my preferred tracks. I'm not a big fan of her recording of more contemporary Western stuff. It just seems like a waste of genius to me. "Sunrise Sunset" is a good enough song, for what it is, but when Makeba puts her voice on it, it's like getting Aretha Franklin, Diamanda Galas, and the Three Tenors in for a McDonald's "I'm Lovin' It" recording session. I read somewhere that the Magic of Makeba record included pop songs (and songs she sings in Yiddish) in part as an effect of the Beatles' changing the face of music. By that time, she -- with her dynamic voice, who sang predominantly African Xhosa tribal songs in the native language -- was getting pushed to the fringes of the recording industry. So, I guess it's the 1960s equivalent of when the Kinks tried disco with "Wish I Could Fly Like Superman," or that entire Matrix-formulated self-titled Liz Phair album: more a sign of current trends than a step forward for the artist. On this record, she sort of sidestepped the South African material and slummed it with lesser songs. Regardless, Magic of Makeba still has one of my all-time faves of hers, "Oxgam."

06 Mother Mary - Eels: I don't know much about the Eels. OK, nothing. I know this song was put on a very thoughtful mixed CD made for me and Mrs. Sticking Point by Brian Last Stop called "The Year 1 Mix." If I remember properly, it was given to us to kick off our first year as parents and all of the songs are suited to that thematic purpose. I've got to say... I don't dig this Eels track. It's a little blah for my tastes, but hey, can't look a gift horse in the mouth, and that's why the track is still in my iTunes. I don't like many of the same artists and bands as Brian does, but I admire that he's got such confidence in his musical taste. If he wants to listen to ten consecutive songs by Def Leppard, Beach Boys, Pat Benatar, David Bowie, Guns N Roses, Public Enemy, Toad The Wet Sprocket, Ramones, Naked Eyes, and Bjork, and you don't like it? -- Fuck you, it's your problem, not his. Right on. (But when he asked me this year to put the first two Stooges records on CDR for him, I thought, alright -- now we're getting somewhere.) Look at that -- I wrote an Eels entry on a Friday 10!

07 Naked Dutch Painter - Stew: It starts, "The naked Dutch painter in the kitchen does not want to fuck you / She's got 17 boyfriends and an 8 o'clock class to get to" and just gets better from there. Years ago, I read a small write-up about Stew in a magazine, and it sounded like my kind of thing so I went right out to Amazon website and bought the Naked Dutch Painter disk. (And yet, somehow I got a promo copy -- weird.) It's a gem and I treasure it. Highly recommended. Stew is what you'd hear if Randy Newman were jazzy and Captain Beefheart were lounge-y. He's pop music like Burt Bacharach is pop music. Stew is the leader of a group you've probably heard of called The Negro Problem (or "TNP" in some far too sensitive magazines and newspapers). Some of the Naked Dutch Painter album was recorded live at the AlterKnit Lounge in Hollywood and the rest was done down in Panorama City. The players are of blue ribbon heritage: bass player Heidi Rodewald was in Wednesday Week and The Novaks; pianist Morley Bartnoff of Burning Sensations, Cosmo Topper, and Dramarama plays on a few songs on the album, as do the great drummers Nelson Bragg (Cosmo Topper, Brian Wilson's band) and Blondie-man Clem Burke. (See, now? In all the time you wasted reading that, you could have already bought the Naked Dutch Painter disk!) Go to negroproblem.com to get "lifted," as they say.

08 Me Heart is Livin' in the Sixties Still - Saw Doctors: From the All The Way From Tuam disk, their best album IMO. You've probably noticed that I get a lot of Saw Doctors house calls on my Friday 10s. I have about four dozen Saw Docs songs on the iTunes. I dig them. I can't vouch for much of the last couple years-worth of their music as it's missed me, but the first four albums and the Sing A Powerful Song comp that Shamtown released to introduce the band in the U.S., are well worth your time. And, as I've mentioned before, if you've ever got 20 bucks in your pocket and a couple hours free, go find a Saw Doctors concert. Amazing.
Minor Lifelong Dream Dept.: One day, I've got to see them play in Ireland.

09 Wild Thing - X: The version I heard was the 7" single edit. I also have a 12" that has a longer fade-in and sustain on the opening note, a repeated verse and chorus, and an extended solo break. That one's a "wasty" one; this is the better version if you ask me. Short and to the point like a Karate chop to the windpipe. I remember when "Wild Thing" came out (it was first on the soundtrack of a Charlie Sheen baseball movie), I thought I could finally get more of my friends listening to the almighty X. They make this song really hard to dislike. A cover of the Troggs' song (but you knew that when you woke up this morning), I'd say "Wild Thing" has made its way around pop culture. How about the fact that the year it was written (1966, by Chip Taylor -- a Yonkers, NY boy) it appeared on five (5!) different albums by five different acts? (Do you think that'd happen today? Do you think Rihanna or Yellowcard are gonna be that gregarious? Fuck no, they're not.) It's been in countless movies as a kind of a signifier song; you know, when the director uses the music as shorthand for describing a character or the mood of a scene. (See also: "Bone, Bad to the.") You've heard it in the Sheen movie, and because of that movie a handful of self-important MLB relief pitchers have adopted the X version as their entrance themes; and it was the song Jimi was playing when he set his guitar on fire at the Monterey Pop in 1967. If you told me "Wild Thing" was playing when Bobby Kennedy got shot, I'd believe it; that song is the Forrest Gump of rock and roll.

10 Don't Lay It On Me - Paybacks: Do I get the Paybacks every week? That's alright by me. Great band, great rock and roll voice on Wendy Case, as I have written so many times already. Before the Paybacks, she was in a band called Ten High that released one record called Party Store. There's a song on it that Case co-wrote with Kim Fowley ("Sins of the Family"), which reminds me that when I saw the Paybacks live at a festival on Randall's Island a couple years ago, Fowley introduced them. I just got Party Store used off Amazon for $2.56. Can't wait to hear it; when it gets here, I'll let you know how it is. By the way, it's phenomenal that the Paybacks show up on these Friday 10s with such regularity. I have only six of their songs on the iPod. Out of 5,554 songs, that's 1%.

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Now... you! Put your mp3 player or digital jukebox on "shuffle all songs," and tell us the first ten songs you hear. (Idiot fanboy annotations are optional.)

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Comments

[Nick]

congratulations!

(I'll have my 10 up a bit later...if I get the chance)

[Brian]

And a fine Eels entry it is!

Sorry no F10 from me again... just got started loading my new ipod with music, but it's not road-ready yet.

Also sorry you don't like "Mother Mary." I was gonna go with "Things the Grandchildren Should Know," but it's 2 minutes longer and I didn't think I could waste the space.

[walein]

"Blues After Hours"--Pee Wee Crayton (Devil in A Blue Dress Soundtrack):
The Blue Dress soundtrack is my favorite and appears on my shuffle so frequently that I must constantly check to make sure I haven't erased the other songs off my ipod--and I mean so frequently that I obssesively, compulsively, have to check to make sure...three times while walking down two blocks...

"I was made to Love her"--Stevie Wonder:
I didn't have too much Stevie Wonder growing up, in my personal collection. My girlfriend makes sure to put one Stevie song on any mix that she plays for me or hands my way. This song is tremendous.

"(Just Like) Starting Over"--John Lennon Anthology:
This is the "take 3" according to john on the beginning and was most likely recorded on a 4 track in the Dakota. Fueled by a coke hangover and more than likely alot of weed, what makes this a nice little version is the hokey bossabova, late 70s/early 80 casio keyboard synth background. Even though the music is like something out of a bad Horatio Sands skit you can hear in his voice and phrasing how fucking good he is at making a tune.

"I Can't Go On Without You"--Bull Moose Jackson (Devil in a Blue Dress soundtrack). One of those songs that just makes you wish you could go get drunk at a speakeasy and listen to a crooner and smoke a cigarette indoors infront of people.

"When It's Sleepy Time Down South"--Louis Armstrong:
Don't know it too well...but I just loaded up alot more Armstrong and this song is a new favorite.

"Mean To Me"--Billie Holiday:
One of the things I find so great about Holiday songs is that they are 2-2:30 long and the first 1-1:30 is intrumental introduction. She then comes in and like a punk music group, sings a few lines that end with the title of the song. She also could kick Rotten's ass.

"These Arms of Mine"--Otis Reddding (live somewhere in the world):
I got this off a bit torrent music site that Tommy himself pulled my coat to.

"Assassinat (take 2) Julien Dans l'Ascenseur"--Miles Davis (soundtrack to "Ascenseur pour l'échafaud" or "Elevator to the Gallows" (1958)--Dir. Louis Malle):
That's right...getting all new wave on your ass! [old skool style new wave]. This is a very short track and since I haven't seen the movie I can only imagine that these 2 minutes of music take place during the period of the film between the second and first floor, on the way down to the gallows.

"Chained"--Pixies (Live 6/12/89...somewhere):
Another from the TH bit torrent site. It's been years since I've really cared about where live performances come from unless I know of a story. With the Pixies, I came late to the game and never knew any stories. Kim says "Thanks alot" at the end of this song, during the clapping and the hooting...and she sounds like someone I would have fallen in love with if I were at that show in 1989.

"Goodbye"--Johnny Hartman
People don't sing this way anymore. It's been sunny out here in SF and Hartman is one of those btter to listen to in less light crooners...but for some reason this song hit just right today.

[NickYF]

late but here it is:

1. Reoccuring Dreams-Husker Du
2. Wanted Man-Nick Cave
3. Neverevereverdid- Architecture In Helskinki
4. There's a Ghost in My house- The Fall
5. Oh The Guilt- Nirvana
6. A Summer wasting- Belle and Sebastian
7. So Much Beauty in Dirt- Modest Mouse
8. Dear Justice Letter- Fugazi
9. From Point A to Point B- Modest Mouse
10. A.S.A. To Accuracy To KaitO