The New Pornographers: Jackie, Dressed in Cobras
[purchase]
I wasn't sure if I wanted to do this song for this week, since it's kind of a square peg for this week's theme. But then I found this image. And since the selections today seem to be more image-driven than anything else... why not. Also, it's a great song by one of my favorite bands.
Caviar: Tangerine Speedo
[purchase]
I had no intention of posting this song this week since it is not one of my favorites, but I feel I must do something to off set the glut of female body parts that have made their way into the blog this week by posting some male flesh as well. So ladies...this is for you.
Caviar is a Chicago-based rock band and this song got some airplay shortly after it was released. It also appeared in movies like the first Charlie's Angels, among others. At the very least, it's a really fun and catchy novelty-type song about a cute cabana boy that wears a tangerine-colored Speedo.
Nelly - Air Force Ones
[purchase, if you really must]
I figured I'd close this week out with a sample of everything that's wrong with hip-pop. Blatant consumerism and sellouts the likes of Nelly.
Yes it's a shitty song. Yes Nelly and his ilk are butt-fucking a proud genre of music while real hip-hop artist struggle but I felt no "clothes" week would be complete without at least one vapid radio friendly "go out to the mall and buy this" pop song.
My apologies and I'll try and make it up to you next week.
Fred Astaire: Top Hat, White Tie and Tails
[purchase]
This classic comes from the 1935 Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers movie Top Hat, which was their most successful collaboration and also Astaire's second-most successful film of his career (second only to Easter Parade). All the songs in the film, including this one and the even-more-famous "Cheek to Cheek," were written by Irving Berlin.
The Hollies: Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress)
[purchase]
In an ironic twist, The Hollies' biggest hit was released after singer Allan Clarke, the last original member, left the band - it charted at #1 in both the US and Canada. What made it even a bit more odd: the group had just left their original record company, EMI/Parlophone, to sign with Polydor. In the meantime, EMI took a two year old track, Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress), and released it as a rival to The Hollies first Polydor single. Rock out to the tale of the 5'9", beautiful, tall beauty and FBI agent - sounds a bit like Twin Peaks!
The Mothers Of Invention: Take Your Clothes Off When You Dance
[purchase]
If clothes are good, I posit that the removal of clothes is even better.
For soundtrack to my opinion, I submit this go-go number from the under-rated 1968 version of The Mother Of Invention.
There will come a time when every evil
That we know will be an evil...
That we can rise above (rise above)
Esquivel: Mini Skirt
[purchase]
Not our usual fare, I'll admit. And there's always a risk that the "space age bachelor pad music" which arranger, composer, and bandleader Juan Garcia Esquivel defined in the fifties and sixties will come across as something not far from elevator music in the modern ear. But there's a surprisingly complex texture in the better works of the artist generally known simply as Esquivel. And what better tune for a midweek stretch than this lighthearted loungepop shorty, complete with wolf whistles, bouncy piano plunking, and the ubiquitous homophonic chorus?
ZZ Top - Blues Jeans Blues
[purchase]
Man. There is so much more to ZZ Top than their early '80's catalog. If I was making a list of the top 10 underrated bands out there I'm guessing ZZ Top would make my list. They recently made news by announcing that they're teaming up with Rick Rubin to record their next album.
"Blue Jeans Blues" comes from ZZ Top's 1975 release, Fandango!. It's the kind of blues song that needs to be listened to in a hot bar on a summer workday afternoon to fully appreciate.
Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins: Rabbit Fur Coat
[purchase]
The title track from Jenny Lewis' first solo album (the second is due out next week) is about a girl and her mother and their story of pride, revenge and redemption and how their fate was sealed all because of her mother's rabbit fur coat.
The song spans over a generation, from mother to daughter, and how their lives changed through the years, and how ultimately her mother's love for that coat led to her downfall.
Ana Egge: Wedding Dress
[purchase]
Songwriting challenge: tell a story without using any verbs. In Wedding Dress, Ana Egge sketches three characters, one in each verse. The chorus describes a wedding dress, which is used as a metaphor. Put it together and the listener knows exactly what happened. Amazing!
Spoon: The Fitted Shirt
[purchase]
This is one of my favorite Spoon songs. What I love about it—other than the way the rhythm throws you at the beginning—is that it's not a song about style. I mean, Spoon is a stylish band, so you'd be forgiven for thinking that. Britt Daniel's delivery oozes swagger, and the band never seems in a rush to rock you. They just do, as coolly as possible. But this song isn't about that. It's about fathers. It's about childhood and the mystery fathers can be to their kids. Dressing up each day and going away until dinner time, then mysteriously putting on a new set of clothes for the evening. It's about nostalgia. It's about growing up and solving the mystery. It's about preserving someone's modest legacy ("I'm gonna find buttons for my dad's old used shirt"). It's about love.
Randy Newman: You Can Leave Your Hat On
[purchase]
Apparently, there's a rich subset of headgear to be mined in this week's theme. But Randy Newman's classic isn't just about hats. Quite the opposite, in fact: it's about everything one could wear coming off sultry and slow, followed by a series of puppetmaster striptease chessmoves from a narrator obsessed with an unidentified, objectified stripper of some sort. I don't usually go for full-bore lyrics, but these read so perfectly like the mind of a dirty old man they just have to be shared:
Baby, take off your coat...(real slow)
Baby, take off your shoes...(here, I'll take your shoes)
Baby, take off your dress
Yes, yes, yes
You can leave your hat on...
Go on over there and turn on the light...no, all the lights
Now come back here and stand on this chair...that's right
Raise your arms up in to the air...shake 'em
You give me a reason to live
You give me a reason to live...
Suspicious minds are talking
Trying to tear us apart
They say that my love is wrong
They don't know what love is...
I know what love is
The Kinks: She Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina
[purchase]
Mel McDaniel - Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On
[purchase]
Your girlfriend or wife probably has a pair. I know my wife does...That one pair of jeans that make you think about sexy time every time you see her in them.
Oklahoma native, Mel McDaniel wrote a song about it.
Rosie Thomas: Pretty Dress
[purchase]
I’m happy that Rosie Thomas has made a bit of a splash on the music blogosphere in recent years. She has a voice that falls somewhere between a young Joni Mitchell and Jane Siberry. (If you’ve never heard of Jane Siberry, stick around. I’ll be posting something by her as soon as an appropriate theme comes along. If you have heard of her, leave a comment.)
Getting back to Rosie Thomas, Pretty Dress is her take on the tale of The Ugly Duckling. Thomas tells the tale eloquently by keeping the lyrics simple; with repeated listenings, you come to realize just how well Thomas has told her tale, with not a word wasted
Bob Dylan: Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat
[purchase]
My favorite hat song.
You must tell me how your head feels under something like that, under your leopard skin pillbox hat...
Peter Siegel: Polka Dot Bathing Suit
[purchase]
Western Massachusetts local hero Peter Siegel made it as far as nationally syndicated roots radio show etown a few years ago after winning first place in our local radio station's singer-songwriter contest, but he's still firmly under the radar as far as name recognition goes. Happily, in this part of the world, a versatile stringman with a good sense of humor and a radical bent towards the same seventies ideals that still linger in the post-Hippie environs of the Pioneer Valley can make a pretty good living hopping from contra dance to small old-timey coffehouse set, with bandmates and as a solo multi-instrumentalist, as long as he keeps his day job teaching music at an elementary school.
Peter's an old, dear friend, and our kids are great playmates, but despite my bias, I genuinely believe this is one of his best songs, a poppy, summery stand-out on his 2004 release The Show -- a solid album with newgrass, folk, psychedelic, and old-timey influences which he bills as a "political Vaudeville experience". For more samples, including a great old ragtime number and a few choice cuts from his newest album, head over to Peter's MySpace.
Leonard Cohen - Famous Blue Raincoat
[purchase]
In my opinion, Leonard Cohen is the very definition of cool. Any one else in this world who may be considered as cool is merely benefiting from the excess of cool falling from Mr. Cohen's coat tails.
Although Famous Blue Raincoat is one of Cohen's best-known songs, it is also one with which he remained dissatisfied. In an interview with Details magazine in 1993 he said:
"I never felt I really sealed that song; I never felt the carpentry was finished. That song and 'Bird on the Wire' were two songs I never successfully finished, but they were good enough to be used. Also, with the poverty of songs I have for each record, I can't afford to discard one as good as that. It's one of the better tunes I've written, but lyrically it's too mysterious, too unclear."Like many of Cohen's songs it is based on a true story.
Marvin Gaye: Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)
[purchase]
In Marvin Gaye's second solo album, he left behind his Jazz inclinations of his first record and brought some hard R&B with That Stubborn Kinda Fellow. The background vocals on Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home) come courtesy of Martha And The Vandellas. Enjoy some swingin' Marvin!
Prince: Raspberry Beret - 12"
[purchase]
Quite simply put - Raspberry Beret is one of my all-time favorite Pop songs. While the Paisley Underground was exploding in Los Angeles, Prince pulled yet another abrupt style change and delved into Psychedelia with more romance than his typical carnality. It's truly a lovely tune.
