Sunday Singles! #3

Each Sunday we have a 45 r.p.m. record hop here at Rich’s House of Vinyl. Here is this week’s installment:

Before I begin, I should acknowledge Mr. Joel Whitburn, compiler of the various Billboard chart books, including The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits that is a veritable treasure chest of trivia, like how to spell Basia’s last name, for example.

O.K., let’s get it started.

“It Takes Two”/”It Takes Two (instrumental)-Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock (1988/peaked at #36).
“Joy and Pain”/”Times Are Gettin’ Ill”-Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock (1989/did not make Top 40).
“Get On The Dance Floor”/”Keep It Going Now”-Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock (1989/did not make Top 40). Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock had a great run in 1988 and ’89, thanks to the A-sides of these three singles, which still sound pretty good today (my favorite is the very electronic-sounding “Get On The Dance Floor”). Checking my Billboard Top 40 Hits book though, I’m surprised to discover that only “It Takes Two” cracked the Top 40, and it only peaked at #36. However, I don’t think chart performance in this case is a total measure of success, as all three of these songs have received extensive play on dance floors ever since their release. Plus, Earl’s brother Randy on My Name Is Earl was a big Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock fan.

“Time and Tide”/”Run for Cover”-Basia (1988/peaked at #26). Don’t tell anyone, but I’m actually a big fan of “Time and Tide,” though I do not think I can articulate exactly why, since it would fit nicely on anybody’s “Smoooove Jazz” playlist and anyone who knows me well ought to know that I prefer my jazz classic and somewhat unsmooth. This thing even has a snippet of late ’80s saxomaphone solo on it, which ought to be enough for me to relegate to one of the deepest circles of musical hell and, yet, still I like it and, yes, maybe that was me driving to work through King of Prussia today with this song blaring from my stereo, smooth sax solo and all.

Incidentally Basia’s last name is Trzetrzelewska and she was born in Poland. And her only other foray into the Top 40 was a 1990 song called “Cruising for Bruising,” which I’ve never heard but I’m intrigued that the songwriter(s) did not include the letter “a” between “for” and “Bruising” in the title. I wonder who Basia felt was cruising for bruising?

“Shoppin’ From A to Z”-Toni Basil (1983/did not make Top 40). Basil is most well-known for “Mickey,”  the huge hit single from her <i>Word of Mouth</i> album, but her resume beyond that bit of Top 40 fame is wide-ranging and generally pretty awesome. The T.A.M.I. Show, Easy Rider, the Talking Heads’ “Once In a Lifetime” video and way more–Basil was involved in all of them. Plus, she hung out with Devo.

“Shoppin’ From A to Z” was the second follow-up attempt to “Mickey” from Word of Mouth, but it sadly stalled at #77 on the Hot 100. 

“I Only Want To Be With You”/”Write a Letter”-Bay City Rollers (1976/peaked at #12). This is an OK cover of the Dusty Springfield hit by the Scottish lads who briefly ignited “Rollermania” in the mid-1970s. Still though, I think the greatest achievement of the Bay City Rollers is providing the inspiration for Nick Lowe’s “Rollers Show.”

“Trust”/”Save Me”-The Bears (1987/did not chart). The Bears was apparently guitarist Adrian Belew’s vehicle for creating catchy pop songs with weird guitar parts. As such, these are a nice pair of catchy pop songs with weird guitar parts.

“Shadrach”/”And What You Get Is What You Give”-Beastie Boys (1989/did not make Top 40). “Shadrach” was a non-charting single from the Beastie’s seriously brilliant Paul’s Boutique album. I was pretty excited a few years back when I first heard the Sly and the Family Stone song that provides the main sample for the song. Both “Shadrach” and its b-side, “And What You Get Is What You Give,” are a huge stews of samples from all over the place, just like the rest of Paul’s Boutique. If you’re interested in all the various samples that are used on the Paul’s Boutique album, check out http://www.paulsboutique.info.

“I Want To Hold Your Hand”/”I Saw Her Standing There-The Beatles (1964/a-side peaked at #1, b-side peaked at #14). While this single has the signature swirly orange and yellow Capitol Records label, as well as a picture sleeve, the fine print at the bottom of the sleeve indicates that is not an original copy of the single, but a reissue from 1984, presumably released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Beatle’s hits to chart in the United States. Of course now the reissue itself is 26 years old. Original issue or not, the songs sound great coming out of a vinyl record.

“Penny Lane”/”Strawberry Fields Forever”-the Beatles (1967/a-side peaked at #1, b-side peaked at #8). In his liner notes to the R.E.M. b-sides compilation, Dead Letter Office, R.E.M. guitarist and record collector Peter Buck, explains his love for 45 r.p.m. singles:

I’ve always liked singles much more than albums. A single has to be short, concise and catchy, all values that seem to go out the window as far as albums are concerned. But the thing that I like best about singles is their ultimate shoddiness. No matter how lavish that packaging, no matter what attention to detail, a 45 is still essentially a piece of crap usually purchased by teenagers. This is why musicians feel free to put just about anything on the b-side; nobody will listen to it anyway, so why not have some fun. You can clear the closet of failed experiments, baldy written songs, drunken jokes, and occasionally, a worthwhile song that doesn’t fit the feel of an album.

While I appreciate Buck’s assessment of what a 45 is often all about, I think the greatest argument that can be made for a 45 being art (as opposed to “crap”) would be the Beatles’ “Penny Lane”/”Strawberry Fields Forever” single. It’s not merely that both sides of this particular single are absolutely brilliant songs. It’s how the songs interact with each other.

Both songs are based on memories that McCartney and Lennon had of growing up in Liverpool but McCartney’s a-side is like a short story, with a whole set of interesting characters and McCartney’s presence mostly being that of an observer to the street scene around him. Lennon’s b-side is far more introspective and “weird,” and the only “character” to be found is Lennon himself.

This single is the original way that both “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” were introduced to the world (which was almost literally clamoring for new Beatles’ music at the moment of the single’s release). Despite the eventual inclusion of both songs on the Magical Mystery Tour album and on other compilations (“Penny Lane,” at least, can be found other places), I think that listening to these songs back-to-back on an original copy of the single is still the optimum way to experience the songs and the interconnections between them (and, by extension, the interconnections between Lennon and McCartney).

There are many classic albums (including a few by the Beatles themselves) that don’t provide the complete aesthetic experience that the “Penny Lane”/”Strawberry Fields Forever” single does. Not bad for a “piece of crap.”

So where does a listener of 45s go after experiencing what is quite likely the greatest single ever released? He moves on to the next Beatles single that he owns, but not in this particular entry. That would just be anticlimactic.

Sunday Singles! #1

Thanks to everyone who has tuned into this website to check out what I have to say about the Daily Record, a randomly chosen LP or CD chosen each day from my music collection. My analytics team tells me this blog has just had its best week yet!

In the ever-evolving way that this blog is emerging, I had decided that I’d take the weekends off from choosing a Daily Record. I’m sticking by that but I think what I’m going to do instead is to post an entry each weekend called “Sunday Singles!” These entries will be a continuation of a series of entries posted in my Dichotomy of the Dog blog last summer, in which I listen to a selection of 45s from my collection and comment on them, in alphabetical order by artist. This project was originally called 45s on 45 but since I’m clearly not going to be done listening by my 46th birthday, I’m going to change the name.

Anyway, here’s my first Sunday Singles entry, with the introduction from my original blog entry last June included:

Sunday Singles! #1 (Formerly 45s@45)

The day I turned 45 last week, I listened to Elvis Costello’s song “45” several times. It is a very clever and rockin’ song that plays on various meanings of the number 45: the year World War II ended, the number of revolutions per minute that a seven-inch vinyl single makes around a turntable, the songwriter’s 45th birthday, etc.

Listening to this song got me to thinking that I ought to listen to some 45s during this, my 45th year. Then my friend Steve and my nephew Mike both left 45-rpm single-related birthday messages on my Facebook page and I knew what I had to do.

So, basically, I’m going to try to listen to a 45 (a- and b-sides) everyday while I’m 45. Once a week, I’ll tell you about them. Here are my first seven:

1. “The Look of Love (Part One)”/”Theme from Mantrap”-ABC (1982, peaked at #18/Top 40).
2. “Poison Arrow”/”Tears Are Not Enough”-ABC (1983, peaked at #25/Top 40).
3. “Be Near Me”/”A to Z”-ABC (1985, peaked at #9/Top 40).
These singles represent the first three out of five Top 40 hits that British “new romantic” band ABC had in the United States. The first, “The Look of Love (Part One)” features a delightfully self-pitying spoken word bit toward the end. The b-side of that single has the intriguing title, “Theme from Mantrap.” It doesn’t sound promising at first until the lyrics kick in and you realize that “Theme from Mantrap” is actually a noirish, piano ballad version of the second hit, “Poison Arrow.” I guess having a poison arrow helps you to trap a man, or something like that.

“Be Near Me” is my favorite of these three ABC hits, though I like their biggest hit, 1987’s “When Smokey Sings” (which I don’t have on a single but it hit #5 on the Top 40) quite a bit as well.

4. “Opposites Attact”/”One or the Other”-Paula Abdul (1990, peaked at #1/Top 40). “Opposites Attract,” the huge hit here is actually a duet with the Wild Pair, although in the video I believe it was a duet with MC Skat Cat or something like that.

The week I graduated college in 1988, I had this idea that I was going to start collecting all the singles that made the Top 40. Nifty idea, aside from the fact that:
a) the era of the late 1980s-early 1990s is arguably the worst time for Top 40 hits ever; and
b) the recording industry began to phase out seven-inch vinyl singles around 1990 in favor of the dreaded “cassingle.”

So, essentially I amassed a bunch of junk by the likes of New Kids on the Block, Milli Vanilli, Sweet Sensation and others before my project ground to a halt.

This means, of course, that once upon a time I owned all the smash hits from Paula Abdul’s debut album on single. The only one I still have is “Opposites Attract,” which I think I kept because I like the overly busy production of the b-side, “One or the Other.”

5. “Action News Theme [“As Heard on WFIL TV, Phila. Pa”]. this is a one-sided single that contains a 1960s or ’70s variation on the same theme song that you can still hear on Action News. Without the inane lyrics about moving closer to your world my friend so you’ll see all the gory wretchedness of human splayed out before you in convenient 30-second bits. That’s not exactly how the lyrics go.

6. “This Time”/”Fits Ya Good”-Bryan Adams (1983, peaked at #24/Top 40). I am not a fan of Bryan Adams and neither is Donna but, back in the day, she liked “This Time’, so she bought the single. Oddly enough, if I had to pick a favorite Bryan Adams song, I’d pick “This Time.” Donna and I are simpatico like that.

7. “General Hospi-Tale”/”General Hospi-Tale (instrumental)”-The Afternoon Delights (1981, peaked at #33/Top 40). This song ruled the lower reaches of the Top 40 for five weeks in the early autumn of 1981. I certainly remember it, whether I want to or not, but it occurs to me that maybe “General Hospi-tale” has fallen through the early ’80s nostalgia cracks to the point where some of you young’uns may not have heard it.

8. “Take On Me”/”Love Is Reason”-a-ha (1985, peaked at #1/Top 40). While it would be easy to attribute the overwhelming success of “Take On Me” to the innovative video that accompanied it, the fact is that “Take On Me” is one of the best, most sparkly pop songs of the ’80s. “Love Is Reason” isn’t nearly as good.

9. “Rain in the Summertime”/”Rose Beyond the Wall”-The Alarm (1987, did not chart). I never paid any attention to The Alarm, other than “Rain in the Summertime,” which I absolutely love. If I remember this correctly, I think some serious Alarm fans might have screamed “Sellout!” when this single was released, but I liked the song then and I like it now. Sadly, “Rain in the Summertime” did not crack the Top 40. The B-side, “Rose Beyond the Wall,” is sincere and earnest and kind of boring.

10. “Feelings”/”This World Today Is a Mess”-Morris Albert (1975, #6). This song was pretty damn ubiquitous in 1975, which is why it is surprising to me that it peaked at #6. I would have thought it had gone higher. In any event, I’m going to do something odd here: I’m going to defend “Feelings.” For what it is, I think “Feelings” is a decent tune and I like it better than the more uptempo B-side.

Here are two bits of trivia about “Feelings”: A) Morris Albert is from Brazil; and B) One of the lyrics in the Was (Not Was) song, “The Party Broke Up” (from their utterly brilliant Born to Laugh at Tornadoes album) is: “The singer just kept singing ‘Feelings’.” Marshall Crenshaw sings the word “Feelings” in that line. It’s the only word he sings in the entire song.

11. “Our House Is Not a Home (If It’s Never Been Loved In)”/”Wave Bye Bye to the Man”-Lynn Anderson (1969, peaked at #18 on the Billboard Top 40 Country Chart). A pre-“Rose Garden” single by Anderson, this was on the Chart Records label. Both the a- and b-sides are great country tunes. I don’t know where I picked this record up, but it was probably because of the unique label, which I will scan and include here when I get the chance. As much as I like the songs, both sides are essentially unplayable, scratched up almost beyond recognition. I like to think this is because this record got lots of action in some honky tonk jukebox, but who knows?

45s@45: Vol 6–Bon Jovi to Bow Wow Wow

Here’s the back story: when I turned 45 in June of this year, I vowed that over the course of this year I’d listen to every 45 r.p.m. single (a- and b-sides)  in my collection. In the process, I planned on digitizing them.

I got a little distracted from that project, but I’m ready to present Vol 6 in my 45s@45 series. If you’re interested, you can read about the previous five volumes in my Dichotomy of the Dog Livejournal (http://marimbadog.livejournal.com). In fact, I’d say I need to post this entry–I’ve contractually obligated myself to keep the entire contents of the following playlist on my MP3 player until I post this and I need to get “You Light Up My Life” off the player immediately.

1. “Runaway”(live)-Bon Jovi (1989, b-side of “Lay Your Hands On Me”).

2. “Livin’ In Sin”/”Love Is War”-Bon Jovi  (1989, reached #9 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart). I like a handful of Bon Jovi’s singles, but I think my appreciation of Jon and the boys is tempered by the fact that I was deeply into my college-era fandom of bands like R.E.M., the Replacements, Talking Heads, Hoodoo Gurus and others at the time of Bon Jovi’s rise to hair metal glory. I was just never going to take them all that seriously, as evidenced in the karaoke version of “Livin’ on a Prayer” that Greg and I did one day in a recording booth on campus.  I have to admit that the guys have occasionally had their way with a rockin’ pop tune, and that their best songs have aged rather well, but “Livin’ In Sin” is just the kind of Bon Jovi ballad that I’ve never cared much about then or now.

3. “You Light Up My Life”/”He’s a Rebel”–Debbie Boone (1977, #1). Here you have it, folks. The biggest song of the 1970s, at least in terms of chart performance. Mom and Dad had seen You Light Up My Life and I got the  idea in my head that Mom would enjoy receiving the original movie soundtrack album for Christmas, which doesn’t even have Debbie’s version of the song on it. Anyway, the legend goes that not even Debbie Boone liked this song, though she tried to ease the pain of recording it by thinking of her relationship with God as she sang the lyrics. I say, if God helped Debbie Boone get through the recording of “You Light Up My Life,” then more power to her.

4. “Harlem Nocturne”/”I Hear a Rhapsody-Earl Bostic (circa 1956). This, on the other hand, is one of my favorite singles in my collection.  Earl Bostic was a jazz/R&B sax player that you just don’t hear much about today. “Harlem Nocturne” has a film noirish feel to it, while “I Hear a Rhapsody” is a more upbeat tune. Both are excellent.

5. “Nadia’s Theme (The Young and the Restless”)/”Perry Botkin B-side”-Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin Jr. (1976, #8).  Boy, this song has a history. It was originally used in the movie Bless the Beasts and the Children  and then became the theme to The Young and the Restless. It reached the height of its fame as the music used by Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci in the 1976 summer Olympics.  Since playing this single, I’ve had an imaginary punk rock instrumental version of “Nadia’s Theme” rolling through my head. In my version, a cool surf guitar replaces the string section.

And the B-side is not actually named “Perry Botkin B-Side.”

6. “Ting-a-Ling Double Play”/”Ting-a-Ling Double Play”-Larry Bowa & Dave Cash (1975). This is a goofy novelty song recorded by Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa and 2nd baseman Dave Cash, who were known for their double plays. I have a copy of this single, signed by both Bowa and Cash that a student in a writing class I once taught gave me. She never came back to class after giving me the single. And sadly, “Ting-a-Ling Double Play,” never charted, not even in Philadelphia, but it’s a worthy edition to the Sports Stars Who Sing Hall of Fame.

7. “Dancing In The Street”/”Dancing In The Street” (instrumental)-David Bowie & Mick Jagger (1985, #7).  Here’s a classic piece of ’80s camp courtesy of Bowie & Jagger, who cooked this up especially for the Live Aid concert. Apparently there were thoughts of a transoceanic duet, with Jagger in Philadelphia singing with Bowie in London, but cooler heads with an eye for logistics prevailed and this record/video was made instead. I’m pretty certain I’m not the only person who has watched the “Dancing In The Street” carefully, looking for clues as to what was going on with Jagger and Bowie that day. They seem kind of annoyed with each other.

8. “Absolute Beginners”/”Absolute Beginners” (instrumental)-David Bowie (1986, did not chart). The theme from a movie I’ve yet to see, this is a passable mid-’80s Bowie tune. However, this was the beginning of one of Bowie’s lesser periods.

9. “Day-In Day-Out”/”Julie”-David Bowie (1987, #21). Bowie’s Never Let Me Down album was a bit of a letdown actually. Even the hugely theatrical Glass Spider tour that Bowie mounted couldn’t save the album from widely being considered being one of Bowie’s least inspired. And while the tour itself could be due for some revisionist history, the album seems destined for obscurity. Having said that, “Day-In Day-Out” is a catchy little tune and “Julie” is a wonderful non-LP B-side.

10. “”Never Let Me Down”/”’87 and Cry”-David Bowie (1987, #27). I’d have to compare this to the album, but I think this single version of the title track to Bowie’s Never Let Me Down is a completely different mix, not as good as the album version.  I seem to remember “Never Let Me Down” having more of a John Lennon vibe on the LP. The late-’80s sax that winds its way through this version kills the song for me though.

11. “I Want Candy”/”Elimination Dancing”-Bow Wow Wow (1982, did not chart!). I find it hard to believe that Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy” did not hit the Top 40 but Joel Whitburn, leading expert on charts, doesn’t lie.