Celebrate: Celebration Day

Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day
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One of the joys of having written for Star Maker Machine since 2011 is that one week I can write about Lene Lovich, a quirky singer with niche recognition, and the next week I can discuss Led Zeppelin, one of the most successful, well-known and mighty rock bands of all time. (In fact, my first ever piece, a holiday post about The Roches’ version of “Deck The Halls,” was published as a guest post by former moderator Darius almost exactly 11 years ago, using my former pseudonym). 

In 2014, I wrote a piece for a Thanksgiving-related “Pilgrims and Immigrants” theme about Led Zep’s “Immigrant Song,” and mentioned how seeing the oft-maligned (including by members of the band) movie, The Song Remains The Same, turned me from a Zeppelin skeptic to a fan, based mostly on the power of the live performances in the movie (which, I know, weren’t their best work. Still.....) And one of the songs that caused this change was the live version of “Celebration Day,” which was from the band’s 1973 shows at Madison Square Garden. It was on the soundtrack album, but not in the movie, but I saw the movie once and played the soundtrack many, many times. Certainly now, it’s all kind of mushed together in my mind. That’s why I’ve linked to the soundtrack album, and not Led Zeppelin III, where the song originally appeared. 

Another thing to celebrate about writing for SMM is how much I’ve learned about music because I (usually) do research on the music and bands that I write about. Not research like I did for my college thesis or for a legal brief, but I do read stuff. And one of the things that I learned about “Celebration Day,” is that Robert Plant’s lyrics were inspired by his first impressions of New York City. Which immediately makes the song better, in my mind. Just a brief aside—I worked in New York City for most of my career, and my last office was near Rockefeller Center, so that at this time of year, I usually walked by the big tree, dodging annoying tourists. And after doing that for years, you can get jaded. But for the last almost 10 years, I’ve been working in Westchester County, only occasionally going into the city for work, and I kind of miss it. The other night, I went to a holiday party for my old firm, in Rockefeller Center, and walked by the big tree again, dodging happy tourists, and it was fun. It is a beautiful tree, and everyone seemed so excited to see it and be near it and take pictures of it. And I did, too. 

OK, back to “Celebration Day.” Not knowing that the song was about New York, the part that jumped out at me is when Plant sings, 

My, my, my, I'm so happy 

I'm gonna join the band 

We gonna dance and sing in celebration 

We are in the promised land 

I took that to mean that the song was about Plant’s joy in being in the band (but not the Band of Joy), and maybe that’s part of it. 

Then there’s the music. The great producer Rick Rubin said that the song “feels like a freight train, even though it’s not one of their heavier songs.” Not surprisingly, Rubin is right. Jimmy Page’s guitar is incredible, John Paul Jones’ bass is amazing, and John Bonham was his usual brilliant on the drums. 

So, most rock lovers know that Led Zeppelin basically disbanded after the Bonham’s death in 1980. Although there were occasional reunions of the survivors after that, the last one was in 2007, at a concert celebrating the late Ahmet Ertegun, who was the head of Atlantic Records, Led Zep’s label (and my ultimate boss for the summer that I worked at Atlantic). That performance, which featured Jason Bonham on drums, was filmed and recorded, and both the movie and soundtrack album were released (but not until 2012) with the title Celebration Day, although our featured song doesn’t actually appear.

Leftovers: Luck: Lucky Number

Lene Lovich: Lucky Number
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When I started thinking about the Leftovers theme, I was reminded of something I heard a few days after Thanksgiving, about throwing away leftovers when they were no longer fresh. So, in that spirit, I decided to write a piece that I had planned for our most recent theme, “Luck,” about Lene Lovich’s quirky new wave hit, “Lucky Number.” But I never got around to writing it. 

Lately, I haven’t really been feeling like writing here. I’m not sure why, but I’ve missed themes, or just written once rather than twice. It might be the fact that for the last month or so, the World Cup has been on, so my TV has been tuned to soccer, distracting me from music blogging. Or maybe it’s been work, which has been intermittently busy. Or maybe it’s just a periodic malaise that sets in when you’ve committed to try to write once a week (as a hobby). That’s why I’ve started taking summers off (sort of), to allow me to recharge my writing batteries. 

I still haven’t broken free of my lack of motivation. So, I thought I’d try a trick. A bunch of my friends have been playing with ChatGPT, an AI tool that responds to prompts, and posting the results on Facebook, Because I still didn’t want to write this myself, I instructed ChatGPT to “Write a blog post about Lene Lovich's song "Lucky Number" Here’s what came out; 

Lene Lovich's 1979 hit song "Lucky Number" is a classic example of the singer's unique blend of punk and new wave influences. The track, which was released as the lead single from Lovich's debut album Stateless, quickly became a fan favorite and remains a popular choice among fans of the genre. The song begins with a catchy guitar riff and Lovich's distinctive vocals, which are full of energy and attitude. The lyrics tell the story of a woman who is looking for love in all the wrong places, trying to find her "lucky number" in the hopes of finding happiness. The chorus is infectious, with Lovich singing "Lucky number, lucky number, where can you be found? / Lucky number, lucky number, where can you be found?" 

One of the standout features of "Lucky Number" is Lovich's use of yodeling, which adds a unique and unexpected element to the song. This unusual vocal technique is used throughout the track, and it helps to create a sense of playfulness and fun. 

In addition to Lovich's vocals, the song also features some impressive instrumentation. The guitar riff is catchy and energetic, and the rest of the band provides a solid foundation for Lovich to build upon. The overall effect is a high-energy track that is both fun and infectious. 

Despite its popularity, "Lucky Number" has not always received the recognition it deserves. It was not a chart-topping hit, and it did not receive much radio play at the time of its release. However, the song has remained a favorite among fans of Lovich and new wave music, and it continues to be played at concerts and events. 

Overall, "Lucky Number" is a classic example of Lene Lovich's unique blend of punk and new wave influences, and it remains a fan favorite to this day. The song's catchy guitar riff, energetic vocals, and playful use of yodeling make it a must-listen for fans of the genre. 

That’s actually pretty good, if not perfect. Stylistically, it’s a bit repetitive, and the writing is flat, but it has the basic facts about the song, and Lovich (born Lili-Marlene Premilovich, in Detroit), right. Most egregiously, the quoted lyrics are not actually in the song (and don’t appear to be in any song). I’d argue that this error means that the bot gets the song’s message wrong—I don’t think it is about someone looking for a lucky number, but rather that the singer was once happy alone, but now prefers being part of a couple. 

But not bad for a robot.

New: New Toy

Lene Lovich: New Toy

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In the fall of 1981 I was a freshman in college who had unfortunately been raised on some pretty lousy radio in Cleveland. I was ready for something other than the Springsteen-Eagles-Zeppelin stuff I had heard to death for years. Luckily I soon fell into a pretty musically savvy crowd and my listening pleasures grew exponentially. One guy, Jim, was a junior and a DJ at the college station. I remember his big passions at the time were Joy Division and Echo and the Bunnymen, the first I had ever heard of those two groups. One day he was all excited and couldn't stop playing this weird (to my naïve ears at the time) song, angular music with funny lyrics sung by a hyper-sounding, possibly whip-wielding woman and a catchy “oh-ay-oh” background chant. “New Toy” by someone named Lene Lovich, I was informed by Jim as he put the needle down on the vinyl for the fifth or sixth consecutive time. When I think back on all the great music I listened to in college over the next four years, I always think of “New Toy” as the initial jolt. It still sounds great. The song was actually written by a pre-fame Thomas Dolby, who played in Lovich's band. So far, 2012 has been filled with new toys for me: a new (used) car, a new (used) computer screen, and a new (old favorite) blog for me to contribute to. Thanks Star Maker Machine.

Guest post by Dan

1979: Bird Song

Lene Lovich: Bird Song

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If you’ve seen my blog, Oliver di Place, you know that I do album reviews. If you check back, you might think that the first review I ever did was of Annabelle Chvostek. But it goes back much further.

I started college in 1979, and in my second semester, I joined the school newspaper as a music reviewer. As I started thinking about this post, I realized something for the first time. As the staffer with the least seniority, I must have been in line for the albums nobody else wanted. Indeed, the image above was waiting for me in the slush pile. And Lene Lovich certainly looks scary. So I don’t know what possessed me, but Flex was the first album I took to review. I opened it up when I got back to my dorm, and found diagrams of calisthenic exercises. What had I gotten myself into? Well, there was nothing for it at that point, so I put the album on. And Bird Song was the first song that greeted me. What was making those weird bird noises? Eventually, I realized that Lovich made those sounds with her voice, unaided by technological trickery, with just a touch of reverb. And I realized that I really liked the album. I still do. Lovich doesn’t sound so strange now, in a world with Bjork in it. And I can trace the lineage of this one back to Yoko Ono’s work in the 60s and 70s. But I loved the fact that Lovich was not afraid to be different. Those are still the kind of artists I look for.

Before I go, let me say a word about those calisthenics, and a final word about that slush pile. Later in the semester, Lene Lovich came to play at our school. She did jumping jacks as she performed, while her pigtails flailed about like weapons. And it didn’t mean anything to me at the time, but her keyboard player was Thomas Dolby. As for the slush pile, I continued to have good luck with it. My next review was of The Tourists; the band included Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox before they left to form the Eurythmics. I discovered ska with reviews of the Specials, Madness, and The English Beat. And finally, I reviewed Tommy Tutone an album before they had their hit with 867-5309 (Jenny).