Author: Joe Parker

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 85 – “Too Hot To Stop”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 85: A song you like by a singer who’s dead.

“Too Hot To Stop” – Benjamin Orr

Too Hot To StopAh. The solo album. There is nothing so likely to break up a band as individual members doing their own album. Especially if that person happens to be the primary writer in the group. While that wasn’t immediately the case for The Cars, I’m sure it didn’t help.

After the phenomenal success of Heartbeat City and the long tour that resulted from it, it seems as though the members of the band needed a break from each other. After that album, three out of the five members released solo albums before returning to do group work: Ric Ocasek’s This Side Of Paradise, Elliot Easton’s Change No Change and Benjamin Orr’s The Lace. (I would recommend all three, actually, although they may not be the easiest things to find these days.) That short span was a good time to be a fan of The Cars.

(The Cars got back together for one more album, 1987’s Door To Door, after this hiatus. I thought the album was good, but everyone else seemed to hate it. Rumors are tensions were very high within the band by then. They broke up for 23 years after that. Damn solo albums!)

Not familiar with a song I’ve mentioned?
Click the > button above to hear samples
and purchase songs.

Now, more people are familiar with Benjamin Orr’s first single “Stay The Night” (not to be confused with the Chicago song of the same name and roughly the same era) than they are with today’s song, which is not surprising. “Stay The Night” was a Top 40 hit (peaking at #24) while “Too Hot To Stop” did not chart. That’s a shame, because it’s a catchy song, and one more deserving of attention and promotion than it got. (I suspect the record company released “Stay The Night” as the lead single because it’s a ballad, and The Cars’ ballad “Drive,” with Orr on lead vocals, would have been familiar to people at the time. If so, it seemed to work.)

The songs on The Lace are, overall,  similar in genre to The Cars’ music, but since Orr co-wrote all the songs with long-time girlfriend Diane Grey Page, these songs had a somewhat different feel from the band’s output (which was virtually all written by Ric Ocasek). “Too Hot To Stop” starts the album, and I’ve always thought it set the mood quite well. Fun, upbeat, easy to sing along to. In short, a good example of the New Wave-ish music popular at the time. Given that, I’m not sure why it didn’t do better.

I remember finding this album. There was no Internet, and I didn’t read Rolling Stone or the like, so I tended to stumble upon releases. There was always some weird sense of satisfaction when you discovered a new release. Even now I get a bit of euphoria when I discover one of my favorite bands is releasing something new. It’s either that or gas. I’m not sure which.) I remember checking The Cars’ bin at the local Record Town (because that’s what you did in those days; the only search engine at Record Town was you), and—shocker!—stumbled upon it. I remember being surprised to see it. I also remember grabbing it immediately.

I’ve loved this album since the first time I listened to it. I think every song is great, but I’m admittedly biased. I also suspect that if I was listening with more objective ears, some of the arrangements would sound dated. (I find that the better I know—and like—an album, the harder it is for me to tell if it sounds old.) But even to my jaded ears, the keyboards on “That’s The Way,” a song I love, sound a little cheesy. So listen to the samples. You tell me.

The Lace would be the only solo album Benjamin Orr released. He died of pancreatic cancer in October of 2000. The Cars 2010 reunion album, Move Like This, while very good, was missing a little something without him. And the music world is a little worse off without him.

Rest in Peace, Ben.

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 84 – “Private Eyes”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 84: The first song you ever bought.

“Private Eyes” – Daryl Hall & John Oates

Private EyesThere may be some controversy about this post. First off, I’ve been trying to remember the first 7″ single I ever bought, and whether or not that predates this purchase. But I honestly don’t remember. And it’s bugging me, because I usually remember that stuff.

But, I know the first “real” album I bought was Private Eyes by Hall & Oates. (I’ve never been able to determine if their official name was “Hall & Oates” or “Daryl Hall & John Oates.” I’m pretty sure it wasn’t “Daryl, Get Out Of The John and Sow Your Wild Oates In The Hall.” But I could be wrong. Like I said, I’ve never been sure.)

This was back in the day of “Record Clubs.” At that time, there were two major ones in the US: RCA and Columbia.

Not familiar with a song I’ve mentioned?
Click the > button above to hear samples
and purchase songs.

They both pretty much worked the same way: You got 11 records or tapes (cassette or 8-Track!) for 1 cent. (You could even tape your penny right there on the return card!). And then you only had to buy <some_number> more at regular club prices to fulfill your commitment. (Plus shipping and handling, of course.) Oh, and to make it a much better deal you could buy your first album at a low introductory rate (something like $5.99) and then get another album for free. (Plus shipping and handling, of course.) It was like getting 62 albums for free!

What they didn’t tell you was that “regular club prices” were something like $12.99 each (a hefty sum for an album or tape at the time) and shipping & handling was roughly the GDP of Liechtenstein.

The Columbia Music Club was the better of the two from the standpoint of selection. They had the exclusive lock on albums released on the Columbia label (or affiliated labels, of which there were many) while also offering just about everything else. But, they made you buy way more albums to fulfill your commitment. RCA, on the other hand, with no Columbia albums, took what they could get, but let you out of the “contract” with fewer purchases.

Anyway, at the time (early-80s), my mother belonged to the RCA club. It was her source of the various and sundry Country & Western 8-Track tapes she liked. And, at some point, she was trying to get out of the deal and “fulfill her commitment.” And thus, after making her selections, she needed another. So she asked me if I wanted anything. I picked Private Eyes, more on the strength of that song alone that any knowledge of the rest of the songs on the album. Which is why I believe this qualifies as the first song I bought (and if it doesn’t, tough, because I’m using it anyway).

I distinctly remember that the order forms had blocks where you entered the numbers and digits of the “catalog number” of the album you wanted. And then there were tiny little check boxes next to those big blocks where you identified whether you wanted to receive an LP, Cassette, or 8-Track (this was at the time when 8-Tracks were in their final death throes but stubborn people like my mother just refused to give up on what was essentially a dead medium).

Now, sometimes my mother had very binary ways of thinking about things. I remember her saying to me, as I checked off the box for cassette (or “CS” as the code was), “I belong to the 8-Track club. I always get 8-Tracks. They won’t let you get something else.” I assured her that they wouldn’t provide you with the check boxes if you didn’t have a choice, to which she replied, in her very best, motherly, you’re-too-young-to-know-what-you’re-talking-about-and-I’m-right-about-this voice, “Okay, we’ll see.”

They sent her 8-Tracks.

I got a cassette.

She was shocked.

Long story longer, Private Eyes was really the first full album (as opposed to some form of mix tape) that I listened to over and over. And, despite not knowing anything but the title track when I ordered it, I quickly discovered that I really liked “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do),” “Did It In A Minute” and “Head Above Water” as well.

Incidentally, over time, the RCA club became the BMG Record Club. And I must say, I owe a good chunk of my CD collection to them. You see, when in college, we did the math (being engineering types, this was something we did for fun). Even at the extortionate prices of the regular purchase and shipping & handling, it still worked out to a pretty reasonable price per album, provided you quit as soon as you fulfilled your commitment. At which time, you could promptly join again, getting another 12 free, and so on. (We also learned that even if you didn’t quit, they would give pretty decent “special offers” to get you to buy more.)

Over my time in college, I must have joined and quit the BMG club 20 times. And, since they also did the thing where you had to return your card or they would automatically send you the selection of the month, I probably wrote “Return to Sender” on about 20 CD boxes (since I never remembered to return the card) to send back. I was never quite sure if they loved me or hated me.

Either way, I ended up with a boatload of cheap CDs, so I don’t much care. I may very well be the reason those clubs are no longer around. (It certainly couldn’t have anything to do with the advent of digital music.)

Ironically, Private Eyes was not included in the boatload. I didn’t actually get it on CD until a couple of years ago. (Because I refuse to give up on what is essentially a dead medium.)

Love you, ma.

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 83 – “Blister In The Sun”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 83: A song you like that no one would expect.

“Blister In The Sun” – Violent Femmes

Blister In The SunI’m not really a punk guy. I have nothing against it, per se. Except that most “real” punk is noise designed to piss people off. (Pissing people off was known as “success” in punk parlance.) I’m not kidding, that was the point back in the day. Well, that and railing against society.

And then some punk bands figured out that you could get more people to listen (and make more money) if you actually had songs. (This was called “selling out” in punk parlance.)

If you’re a regular reader of this blog (and, once again, if you’re not, why not?) then it’ll probably come as no surprise that I am one of the people who gets pissed off by “real” punk. I’m not a fan of noise for noise sake (says the guy who likes “The Waiting Room” by Genesis). So the songs I like by punk bands are few and far between. Oh sure, there’s a bunch of stuff by The Clash and Green Day that I like, but it’s all the stuff after they “sold out.”

Not familiar with a song I’ve mentioned?
Click the > button above to hear samples
and purchase songs.

So it would probably surprise people to know that I like “Blister In The Sun.” (I also like “Punk Rock Girl” by the Dead Milkmen. I know this surprised Laura back when we were just getting to know each other.) As punk goes, this is pretty tame stuff, I’ll admit, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

“Blister In The Sun” came into my repertoire through my friend Scott, who would also probably be in the list of people you wouldn’t expect to like the song. (I believe he’s responsible for “Punk Rock Girl,” too.) We were living together back when we first got out of school, and one day he says “You have to listen to this.” So I did. And I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. I don’t think it was until the advent of Napster that I actually went out and found the song and started listening to it with any regularity.

Interesting fact about “Blister In The Sun” (Thanks go to Laura for this one): John Cusack wanted the song to be in the movie Grosse Point Blank. When it came time to do the soundtrack, the Violent Femmes could not locate the master tapes of the song, so they had to re-record it (as “Blister 2000” apparently).

Oh! Wait! While we’re at it (talking about punk songs I like, that is), I have to mention the Bruce Lee Band’s cover of They Might Be Giants’ “She’s An Angel.” The TMBG version may be my favorite song of theirs. (Frankly, it’s a tough decision.) And normally, I’m not a fan of covers when the original is a song I adore. (I wasn’t even a big fan of TMBG’s own treatment of it on Severe Tire Damage.) But there’s something about the cover that I really enjoy; it seems to lend itself to the whole punk treatment. You should check it out.

I dunno. Maybe there’s a repressed punk rocker in me who wants to get a red, spiky mohawk, pierce my nose, and run around in a black “Anarchy” T-Shirt with no sleeves, pogoing and slam dancing in the streets until finally someone screams out in pain because one of my hair spikes poked them in the eye.

But I doubt it.

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 82 – “Drømmer Jeg?”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 82: A song that you like that’s in a language you don’t know.

“Drømmer Jeg?” – Johnny Deluxe (Featuring Anna Nordell)

Johnny DeluxeBack when I was in Australia for my student exchange, I became very good friends with a guy from Denmark. We were virtually inseparable. But, this was the late 80s, and nothing like Facebook or Skype existed. Even email was barely known. Since we weren’t great letter writers, we lost touch. For about 15 years.

Back on the mid-00s, I decided to try to find him on Google, and, you know what, there he was. We made contact and rekindled our friendship. During the rekindling, we came around to talk about music, and we would share songs back and forth via Skype. I remember him lamenting many years earlier that Denmark didn’t have any well-known bands. Norway and Sweden seemed to have the strangle hold on that. But, during one of our song sharing sessions, he was excited because he finally had a Danish band that he could share with me.

The song he shared was “Drømmer Jeg?” which in English is basically translated as “Am I Dreaming?” (For pronunciation, about the closest I can come phonetically is “droemmer yi”—with a long “i”.)

It’s a good song even if you don’t know the languages. Yes, plural. You see, the lyrics are basically about a couple who are geographically separated, with the guy in Denmark, and the girl in Sweden. So his parts are in Danish and hers are in Swedish. Here’s a sample (sorry, I couldn’t get the whole song to convert):

The singers both long to be with the other, and lament the fact that there’s a large body of water between them. (Check a map. There is.) Now, I have to say that Anna Nordell (who supplies the Swedish, female vocals) is a hottie, so on a completely shallow and superficial level, I can understand his desperation. (You can see her in the video, which, incidentally, also includes the full song.)

Him, I can’t judge. I can never tell what make a guy really attractive versus just good-looking. I will regularly ask Laura what category certain actors fall into. (My follow-up question is typically, “Why?”) I mean, I can sort of get the idea. For example, it’s easy to know that George Clooney is good-looking and Paul Giamatti really isn’t, but in between, it’s all gray to me. The point being, I don’t know if the male lead is worthy—on looks alone—of such misery that they’re separated by the Øresund. I suspect, no, however.

That said, if they’re both awful people, looks aren’t enough anyway.

One final thought. Having been to Sweden (and working for a company that has a significant Swedish presence), I feel it’s my duty to dispel a myth: not all Swedish women are gorgeous.

Just most of them.

Am I dreaming?

365 Day Song Challenge: Day 81 – “Move To Memphis”

Posted on by Joe Parker

Day 81: A song by your favorite band beginning with the letter A.

“Move To Memphis” – a-ha

Move To MemphisMost people know one song from a-ha—”Take On Me.” Most people (at least of my generation) know who Morten Harket is, maybe not by name, but because he starred in the video for “Take On Me” and that video is hard to forget. In fact, it’s iconic.

Despite the hit song and the iconic video, a-ha never got the attention they deserved, at least not in this country, and that’s a shame, because they were a very good band.

Okay, I’m done plagiarizing from yesterday’s post now.

I remember shortly after “Take On Me” was released, I went out and bought the album, Hunting High And Low. I really liked it. Excited about the quality of the music beyond “Take On Me” I told my friend Mark, “I bought the a-ha album.” His response: “Why?”

Not familiar with a song I’ve mentioned?
Click the > button above to hear samples
and purchase songs.

Well, at least somebody out there seemed to agree with me. For a while. The album sold almost two million copies in the US, but I’m not sure how many people listened past the opening track, which happened to be “Take On Me.” Short of a minor hit with “The Sun Always Shines On TV,” a-ha dropped completely off the radar in the U.S., despite releasing a string of good albums (I seem to be the only one in the country who bought them), and writing and recording the theme song for the James Bond film The Living Daylights.

The rest of the world, however, seemed to like the band, and they were pretty successful internationally. (I really ought to live in some other country where people’s taste is better. Read: they agree with me.)

So it was that I happened to be in a record shop in Wollongong, NSW, Australia (the same one where I had greedily sucked up the single for “I Can’t Dance” with “On The Shoreline” as its b-side) when I came upon a-ha’s first greatest hits album, Headlines And Deadlines: The Hits Of a-ha. I bought it. Which was a good thing, because although I didn’t know it at the time, this album was not (and never would be) released in the U.S. (But you can get the MP3 version from Amazon.Figure that one out.)

Since I had all the albums up to that point, I had most of the songs (although the band did put a lot of remixes and edit versions on there, so at least it wasn’t total duplication). But of course there was the bastard child. As I mentioned in the “Hung Up” post, the Bastard Child Song is the song that was written specifically for the greatest hits album. In this case, it was “Move To Memphis.” The good news: it’s one of the cases where the new song is worthy of being part of the greatest hits collection.

I love the song’s bass line, the arrangement, and the mood. “Move To Memphis” immediately jumped into my favorites list. (It’s a large and amorphous list, where songs bounce in and out like fists in a cartoon brawl.) It even ended up on the Stratus Summer Mix along with “And She Was.”

Later, I got their next studio album, Memorial Beach and discovered that they re-recorded “Move To Memphis” for the album. I was frankly disappointed. They didn’t make it better, they just made it less raw and more slick. It simply doesn’t have the punch of the original. (And, after checking it out, the MP3 version of Headlines And Deadlines seems to have the Memorial Beach version. Luckily, I found the one I like for the samples.)

So, this may be one of those songs that I’m introducing you to for the first time. I hope you like it as much as I do. And if not, at least I tried.

And Mark, if you’re out there, this is why.