HIDDEN PLACES: DRIVING SOMEWHERE

I think this sort of meets the theme, even if the hidden place is a destination, if, as yet, unknown and, probably, unimportant. Driving somewhere, arriving nowhere. So, fulfilling, if in a roundabout and reverse way, the old adage that is is the journey that matters, not the getting there. Even when the aim is never quite to arrive. Or the outcome, even. Clear?

I guess both the song and maybe the band are also hidden places, outside most peoples knowledge or hearing. Yet they will have heard Stephen Duffy, if not necessarily of him. More famous for a couple of links rather than in his own right, so if I say Duran Duran and Robbie Williams, you'll have heard of them. Not that he sounds anything like either, perhaps a relief to any regular reader, used more to my parade of motley unknowns and minor league cult favourites.

Duffy was an early member of Duran Duran, but jumped ship ahead of their transition to fame and fortune. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike Duran Duran, but I can't see his country pop musings fitting in so well with the glitz and glamour of their new romanticism. Starting off as the singer, he moved then to guitar, then to bass and finally to drums, ousted from each position as later members joined. He actually then had a crack at that market, even a hit single, in the UK at least, under the title Stephen 'Tin Tin' Duffy, but it took three different versions before it made its mark. Hasn't really aged well, has it?

A few further false starts and he started the Lilac Time, with elder brother Nick, the two the mainstays as a procession of players rotated through the ranks. The sound, like the featured track, and exemplified further on its parent album, 2007s Runout Groove, is of dreamy meanders down a melodic and country tinged lane. The pedal steel brings a wistful counterpoint to the slightly languid vocal, pinned down, on this record, by the masterful double bass of Danny Thompson, the ex-Pentangle maestro and John Martyn sidekick, who remains the go to bassist for anywhere where folk might meet jazz for a natter. Runout Groove is, for me, the highlight of Duffy's recording history, so far at least, as he still records and plays. The astonishing thing about it is that it came out four years after its predecessor, his career having taken an unexpected side swerve along the way.

Robbie Williams, the effervescent ex-boy bander, the cheeky chappie who exited Take That after mingling more with Oasis and their lifestyle choices than possibly appropriate for a teen heartthrob. He then became much bigger than his old band, but needed assistance with songwriting. This had first been provided by Guy Chambers, who had previously been in World Party. After he parted company, Williams' team asked Duffy, perhaps less for his Lilac Time material, maybe more on account of songs he had written for Canadian band Barenaked Ladies. And an undoubted success it was, Duffy also touring with Williams during some of his stadium sell-out tours, delivering further hits for his new boss. Radio became thus Duffy's first number one.

Then, as if nothing untoward had happened, he dropped straight back into Lilac Time mode, picking right up from where he dropped off. I think that is quite classy. Further albums have followed, sticking to the same formula, the last being released just last year. All well worth looking out for. Here's another track from Runout Groove, Once more it fits the feel of the theme, the lyric showing him back on a figurative road, again with, literally, no direction. But, if the first song was looking for a somewhere never found, this is a happy acceptance of the journey. Spot the namecheck to his erstwhile employer. A parting personal link to the theme is that I more than likely heard the album first in the car, that being where I do most of my listening. Sometimes with no other purpose in particular, just driving somewhere, arriving nowhere. Purely for the sake of the song.

P.S. Those, who have set to wondering how he could have affected the Durannies, might like this, a revision of old tapes, made in those old days, rebuffed and polished up, hand in hand with onetime bandmate and continuing DD keyboardist, Nick Rhodes. Put out in in 2002, they called themselves the Devils, the album called Dark Circles.

Here's the map to somewhere.

Large Numbers: Millions- Humor Edition

Tom Paxton: One Million Lawyers

[purchase]

Dire Straits: Millionaire Blues

[purchase]

Bare Naked Ladies: If I Had a Million Dollars

[purchase]

As our theme indicates, one million is a very large number. Thinking about it is enough to make your head hurt. There is simply no way for most people to imagine how much one million actually is. So we humans sometimes cope with the concept by resorting to humor. Here are three fine examples.

It may be tempting to think of folk music as serious business. There are all those murder ballads, for starters. And many protest songs are solemn affairs. But Tom Paxton has always made his points using humor. One Million Lawyers doesn’t protest anything. It simply a gentle poke at all of us. I offer it here, knowing that at least one of our writers at Star Maker is a lawyer himself. All in fun, I assure you.

Millionaire Blues is a slyer form of humor. Here, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits is poking fun at himself. Remember, this is the same man who wrote Money For Nothing, so he knows what it is like to have far less money. He reminds himself that, no matter how hard things may get for him, he has it better than many others. The blues is the perfect musical genre to make this point. “Low as the heals of my alligator shoes” indeed!

Finally, If I Had a Million Dollars is a song I was sure would have been posted by now. Barenaked Ladies make the point here that it most of us can not even imagine what we would spend it on if we did have a million dollars. In fact, buying all of the items listed probably would spend it down in record time, but that is not the point. This is a promise of love based on a fantasy of money the singer never really expects to have.

Hello: Hello City

Barenaked Ladies: Hello City

[purchase]

Can you believe it's been over a year since we posted a song from the biggest nerd-rockers to come out of Canada since Leonard Cohen went electric? This cut opens Barenaked Ladies' debut album Gordon, making it the very first song of theirs to tickle the ears of a huge number of early adopters; whimsical, bouncy, and well-supported by the harmonies and fluid bass that epitomizes the very best products of their early line-up, it's long been a favorite, and I'm thrilled as treacle to be able to offer it up here.

As a personal aside, I am shocked to note that Gordon is now twenty years old - meaning that after my Sunday post on Guster's early evolution, my own personal sub-theme this week has accidentally become "college rock I listened to when I was in college", a.k.a. "bands that are really old but I remember as young". The jaded lyrics on this tune, especially, are a bit dated and immature, but nostalgia never hurt anyone, I suppose. Also, check out Ed's haircut on the original cover above. Hello, indeed.

O Canada / If: Transitional Songs

There's always more on the list of possibilities than we have time to post. And I generally avoid the end-of-theme omnibus approach if I can. But since there's a few songs on my playlist which fit both incoming and outgoing themes, it seemed generally beneficial to tout who I could while I had the chance.

Jann Arden: If It Be Your Will
[purchase]

First, one Canadian singer-songwriter covering another - convenient, as Susan posted the Webb Sisters' version of this just last month, and you've surely heard the Leonard Cohen original. "Pop vocalist" Jann Arden can get syrupy, but I think the slow ballad americana she adopts on otherwise mediocre popstar Cohen tribute Tower of Song makes for a surprisingly effective twist of sentiment in comparison to the other versions we've heard.

The Spinney Brothers: If I Were Your Brother
[purchase]

Second, a bluegrass band I saw just last weekend, whose titular core members are still going strong after being together since infancy. Yes, they have bluegrass in Canada. And the Spinney Brothers are among the best the north has to offer.

Bruce Cockburn: If I Had A Rocket Launcher
[unpurchaseable; original here]

Third, a solo acoustic version of Bruce Cockburn's pro-Contra anthem, recorded in 1990 for an in-studio radio thing. I wrote about the song way back in May 2008, as part of our 1984 theme, so I won't bother going over the lyrical anger again, but the song bears repeating, and not just because the links on the original post are long gone.

Barenaked Ladies: If I Had $1,000,000
[purchase]

And finally, the silliest Barenaked Ladies anthem around - the debut album original version, because I'm a purist, though the live version on Rock Spectacle is worth owning, too. Complete with Canadian references to something called Kraft Dinner, which us States-ians know as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Name-Droppers: Barenaked Ladies Edition

Barenaked Ladies: Brian Wilson

[purchase]

From 1992's Gordon, Canadian musical group Barenaked Ladies tells the story of a man whose life parallels that of Beach Boys member Brian Wilson, referencing his diagnosis of mental illness via the mention of psychologist Dr. Eugene Landy, as well as Wilson's weight gain during that time - I never fail to be touched by the wry use of the "fun, fun, fun" lyric...

An interesting factoid I learned from Wikipedia: "Brian Wilson rearranged and sang this song a cappella with his new band at live concerts, one of which was recorded for a live album he recorded in 2000. One of the stories the band often tells is about the time he came to their studio while they were recording Maroon (having an association with producer Don Was) to play the track for the band. They played him a bunch of their new songs, and then he played them his version of "Brian Wilson". At the end, he turned to them and asked, "is it cool?" Upon his departure, his advice to the band was "don't eat too much." The band described the entire experience as surreal. In honor of his covering their song, in recent performances the band has started singing the first chorus a cappella, eliminating all instrumentation (the rest of the song continues as normal)."

Barenaked Ladies: One Week

[purchase]

This song, from BNL's 1998 One Week, is an hysterical and historical rapping tour-de-force of a couple enmeshed mid-argument, wherein the narrator name-drops not only three musicians (LeAnn Rimes, Sting and Bert Kaempfert) but also movies, food and numerous Japanese references - it became one of the band's signature songs and is their best-performing single on the charts in both the United States and UK. What's not to love about the rapid-fire delivery and pop-culture lyrics? - "how can I help it if I think you're funny when you're mad, trying hard not to smile though I feel bad, I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral..."

Barenaked Ladies: Be My Yoko Ono

[purchase]

In this song, the narrator is clearly willing to emulate the relationship between Yoko Ono and John Lennon, willing to give up everything to be with the person he loves - BNL imitates Yoko's trademark warble quite effectively ("don't blame it on Yokey"... :-)

Another Wikipedia gem: "In 1993, a professional video, directed by Larry Jordan, was made. It features the band playing in a dark room and imitating many of Yoko Ono's avant-garde performance art pieces, including "Cut Piece" in which audience members used scissors to cut off her clothing until she was completely naked. The video is also interspersed with various film clips of Yoko and John, which she sent to the band herself after her son, Sean Lennon, (after seeing the band perform) brought her a tape of the song.

In 1992, MuchMusic produced a TV special about Barenaked Ladies to celebrate the release of Gordon. In the special, MuchMusic managed to interview Yoko Ono to get her reaction to the song. Ono said she enjoyed it, but that she liked "If I Had $1000000" more."


As a six-degrees-of-separation bonus, here's Dar Williams' viewpoint, a reverential name-drop of Yoko, and poking-fun-at-herself-in-college live intro - this narrator asserts that, like Ono, she values her own artistic contributions, and wants to make sure that the object of her affection is worthy of her time and love...

Dar Williams: I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono (intro only - live)

[purchase]

Dar Williams: I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono (studio recording)

[purchase]

Postage Paid: Postcard Collection

Postcards are a way of sending a short message, just enough to check in. Their shortness would seem to make them perfect for songs. Here is what three artists do with them.

Wendy Wall: Postcard to the Stars

[purchase]

I have previously told my Wendy Wall story here, and reviewed her latest album here. So suffice it to say, she is a favorite of mine.

Wall’s postcard is not bound for Hollywood. She sends it off into space, to whoever might be listening. The song is a humble account by one example of what it feels like to be human and on earth.

Mark Knopfler: Postcards From Paraguay

[purchase]

Mark Knopfler presents a white collar criminal, on the run and in a hurry. He must leave the scene of the crime now, and has not even the time to send a postcard.

Bare Naked Ladies: Another Postcard

[purchase]

Finally, Bare Naked Ladies find themselves on the receiving end of some very unusual fan mail.

Gender Benders: I'll Be That Girl

Barenaked Ladies: I'll Be That Girl

[purchase]

The Barenaked Ladies' evoke a bit of a gender bending spirit simply due to the fact that these "Ladies" are actually five Canadian goofballs who are most certainly not females.

In this track from their mega-hit album, 1998's Stunt, the guys bend things a little further. At first listen, it all seems like just another batch of nonsense from the band that boasts many other comical and colorful songs in their catalogue. There is a darker side to this song, however, with talk of sadness, madness, and using a gun to ensure there is no tomorrow.

It's unclear in the song just who exactly singer Stephen Page is willing to change for, but it is clear that person has no interest in the narrator as he is. The song stands as a slightly creepy study of obsession.

Shorties: Tiny Little Song

Barenaked Ladies: Little Tiny Song

[purchase]

The last year has been a strange one for Canada's lovable pop group The Barenaked Ladies.

First it was the drug arrest of singer Steven Page... then the plane crash of singer Ed Robertson. Now there is the news this week that Page is leaving the band to "pursue solo projects."

As someone who used to love BNL for their sheer goofiness and knack for producing a well turned phrase, I have been very saddened by some of these recent developments.

Here's a song from happier times and 1994's Maybe You Should Drive. Bassist Jim Creeggan takes a rare turn at vocals.

One: Am I The Only One?

Barenaked Ladies: Am I The Only One?

[purchase]

Long before the ironic suburban white-boy hipster's hip-hop of top chart hit One Week, and certainly WAY before BNL were big enough to merit their own cruise, but still hot on the heels of their Canadian award-winning debut Gordon, Barenaked Ladies released this tiny, tender song in the midst of an otherwise critically ignored sophomore slump album called Maybe You Should Drive, which topped out at an incredibly lame #175 on the US sales charts.

Folks who know the indie geekrockers from their poppy post-millennial radioplay will find this to be an entirely different group, focused on sparse harmony and string section production, but to be fair, this isn't really representative of anything but the vast spectrum of poential the boys had in their early years. The album overall is decent, if wildly diverse and peppered with a few totally cheesy duds, showing an indiepop band searching for a way to take it to the next level, and not really finding a definitive sound; I don't listen to it all the way through these days, but fifteen years later, I still turn to this song when I need a good soul-searching.

Leftovers (School Days): Grade 9

Barenaked Ladies: Grade 9

[purchase]

A game of thematic spin the bottle -- to play, just close your eyes and click randomly on the archives to the left -- calls up our end-of-summer School Days theme; perusing the excellent selections, I remember running out of time to share this lesser-known Barenaked Ladies popnumber, one of my many favorite tracks on their 1992 debut Gordon. Better late than never being the name of the game this week, I'm happy to present the most startlingly accurate portrayal of my younger self I have yet encountered in popular song.

To be fair, the song would have slid just as easily into our more recent set of Silly Songs. And being just a few years younger than these canadian masters of quickwit and geekiness, this song actually speaks to my middle school years. But I was a precocious child: it all resonates, from the pop culture references (that Rush guitar quote!) to the generally "freaks and geeks" portrayal of freshman despair and desperation. I've never been so happy to cringe as here, in celebration of a time when we were all so dorky, yet afraid to be uncool. My, how times have changed.

Civics Lessons: Fight the Power

Public Enemy: Fight the Power

[purchase]

There are times when being a good citizen means rallying behind our leaders and our government to accomplish goals that benefit us all as a nation.

Other times... well... that's where Public Enemy comes in. "Fight the Power" was voted the "Best Single" of 1989 by the Pazz and Jop Critics Poll and the number one hip-hop song of all time by VH1. Outside of that, there isn't much I could say about this song that wasn't said in this Salon.com article from 2002.

And just for fun... here's a cover of "Fight the Power" from The Barenaked Ladies.

Barenaked Ladies: Fight the Power

[purchase]