For Your Listening Pleasure
Radiohead – The Bends
Outside of a song here or there, the only SOLID album by this over-rated band. That being said, I haven’t heard the newest album, Hail to the Thief, in its entirety, which I hear is very Bends-esque, so I’ll hold off judgment.
News to You
Thanks to Rissi for sending me the “Shizzle My Nizzle” news for last week’s column. The kid went to Yale, AND knows his ghetto slang… he should be commended, and I’m honored to be the one doing the commending. Fo’ shizzle.
This week’s news bit comes from thetripwire.com, and is for a worthy cause:
LIFEBeat Benefit Set For Thursday Night In Los Angeles
The Henry Fonda Theater in sunny Los Angeles, California, will play host to a special LIFEBeat benefit show this Thursday night. KCRW and Spaceland are presenting the event, which will feature performances from The Like, Wishire, The Special Goodness (Pat from Weezer/Atom from Rocket From The Crypt), Bleu, Phantom Planet, Calexico, and an acoustic performance from Hanson. All profits will go directly to LIFEBeat, The Music Industry Fighting AIDS, a national non-profit organization dedicated to reaching America’s youth with the message of HIV/AIDS prevention. Tickets are $40 for general admission or $75 for a VIP package that includes balcony seating and a rooftop after-show party. Doors are at 7:00pm so if you’re in the area, venture down to 6126 Hollywood Blvd. It’s for a good cause.
Also, in new albums news, it looks like the artist formerly known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince is ready to release his newest studio album. N.E.W.S. will feature four 14-minute songs: “North”, “South”, “East”, and “West”, and will only be available — for now — to members of Prince’s NPG Music Club Web site. Should be interesting to see how this goes…
One last thing to ponder, for now: a Simon & Garfunkel reunion tour? So let me get this straight. S& G are reuniting, Weiland is planning to join the new group that features all of the (non-Axl) former Guns ‘N’ Roses, and we’ve even had a “new” DOORS project… but Zeppelin says they aren’t going to do it? Mark my words: whether it’s David Grohl, Jason Bonham, or Tracy Bonham on drums, there WILL be a Led Zeppelin tour before I’m 30. With persons over 40 years old making up 35.4% of the record sales market according to the RIAA, there’s no stopping the trend of everything old being new again…
Drive By
“I’m doin a hundred on the highway / So if you do the speed limit, get the FUCK outta my way / I’m D.U.I., hardly ever caught sober / and you about to get ran the FUCK over” — Ludacris, “Move Bitch”
Last weekend, David Hinckley of the Daily News wrote a column on the “greatest songs to drive by” — a topic that I’m actually surprised I haven’t thought of yet.
In the story, Hinckley argues that “…you can program your car’s sound system yourself, with CDs and MP3s. But as we roll into another summer, I would argue that a great song sounds even greater when it comes out of nowhere on a radio station.”
Fair enough. But let’s not forget the pride some of us take in making that all-important Road-Trip Mix Tape. You know the one I’m talking about. The tape (or CD-R) that you spend hours planning, obsessing over the order of the track list, making sure every song flows into the other perfectly, so you can enjoy your drive cross-country, or your trip back to college, without having to worry about those “shit-radio-zones” (SRZs) that you are bound to enter at one point or another throughout the trip. There’s only so much mid-Pennsylvania country music one can take, so you have to be prepared. The Road-Trip Mix Tape is essential. And if done right, it can even be an art.
Before I get to some songs that are essential driving music — finding their way on at least one or more of my mix tapes — let’s take a look at the top driving songs according to Dr. John Aldrich of Berklee College of Music, followed by Hinckley’s own top ten list.
Dr. Aldrich/Berklee College:
“409” – Beach Boys
“No Particular Place to Go” – Chuck Berry
“Born to Be Wild” – Steppenwolf
“Crosstown Traffic” – Jimi Hendrix
“American Pie” – Don McLean
“Born to Run” – Bruce Springsteen
“Paradise by the Dashboard Light” – Meat Loaf
“Highway to Hell” – AC/DC
“On the Road Again” – Willie Nelson
“I Can’t Drive 55” – Sammy Hagar
David Hinckley/Daily News:
“Black Pearl” – Sonny Charles
“Bad Mood Rising” – CCR
“Paper Doll” – Mills Brothers
“Slippin’ and Slidin'” – Little Richard
“In My Life” – Beatles
“Runaway Train” – Roseanne Cash
“Your Way” – Heartbeats
“Positively 4th Street” – Bob Dylan
“When Rita Leaves” – Delbert McClinton
“Oh Girl” – Chi-Lites
Okay, where to begin…
Well, to be fair to Hinckley, he makes sure to point out that his list will likely change in ten minutes. Definitely find his column, if nothing else then for his little history lesson on the first car radios. My big problem is this: from reading both lists above, I feel like they were written by folks that were old enough to drive WHEN the first car radios hit the market. Is there anything on those two lists less than 20 years old?
That’s not to say there aren’t any truly quality songs on those two lists — ones that I could definitely see ending up on one of my mix tapes. “In My Life” is possibly the best pop song ever written. It’s beautiful, it’s just catchy enough to stick in your head after you hear it, and yes, if it came on the radio right now, there isn’t a chance I’d turn the dial. And “Crosstown Traffic” is a great song that jumps into my head often while driving. But while the Berklee list seems to stick with a “car” theme, I’m not sure that’s necessary for a quality Road-Trip Mix Tape.
I asked a few friends what songs they’d make sure were queued up and ready to go on any road trip, and they had some great suggestions for this column, but this one deserves reprinting, straight from AOL Instant Messenger:
Moodspins: okay, give me a good song to drive by
Blondie: bubble toes – jack johnson
Blondie: or drive by – as in shootings?
Blondie: in which case I would probably go for something more nine inch nails-ish
Ha! I guess I should know better than to ask people from Los Angeles such questions. (And if you think that was bad, don’t even ask what her Wisconsin-born husband came up with… Toby Keith falls into the category of music I try to avoid at all costs while driving!)
Okay, time for my top ten list. Obviously a mix tape would have more like 15-20 songs, but for argument’s sake, I will stick with ten, and let you email me about what you agree and disagree with…
“Hey Bulldog” – Beatles
“Drive in, Drive Out” – Dave Matthews Band
“Traffic” – Skyscape
“Rock and Roll Machine” – Triumph
“Red Right Hand” – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
“Scenario” – A Tribe Called Quest
“DWYCK” – Gang Starr and Nice & Smooth
“Pick Up the Pieces” – Average White Band
“American Girl” – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
“Rearview Mirror” – Pearl Jam
Oh, that’s not enough. Let’s make it 15, shall we?
“Hey Bulldog” – Beatles
“Drive in, Drive Out” – Dave Matthews Band
“Traffic” – Skyscape
“Rock and Roll Machine” – Triumph
“Red Right Hand” – Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
“My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama” – Frank Zappa
“Pacifics (New York is Red Hot)” – Digable Planets
“Scenario” – A Tribe Called Quest
“DWYCK” – Gang Starr and Nice & Smooth
“Time 4 Sum Aksion” – Redman
“Lose Yourself”- Eminem
“Pick Up the Pieces” – Average White Band
“American Girl” – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
“Everlong” – Foo Fighters
“Rearview Mirror” – Pearl Jam
Much better. I’ll probably change my mind if I keep thinking about it, so I’ll just quit while I’m ahead.
Until next week…
peace. love. moe.
– Matt
Till My Head Falls Off can be found weekly on 411 Music (old columns are archived in the pull-down menu below). Already hit everything on 411? You can find more from Matthew Michaels at moodspins and 1-42.
