Day 113 - Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man
Great jazz funk fusion by Herbie Hancock, expect the other three track on this album to apear on this site before it reaches the 10.000 limit. This track has percusionist Bill Summers blowing in a beer bottle, propably the only time a beer bottle was used as an instrument in a recording studio.
Day 107 - Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive
Day 7 and the last day of the “songs that suck” theme week. It sounds easy, selecting seven “songs that suck”, ’cause there’s far more music that sucks then there is music worth to mention. But selecting music that realy sucks was harder then I thought. Most music that sucks I don’t hear at all. Or occasionally once or twice. These seven tracks realy sucks ’cause I heard them more then once or twice.
I Will Survive is a real classic disco tune. Such a tune everybody cheers about when the dj plays it at a party. Not me. I Will Survive realy sucks. When this tune pops up at a party its time to get another beer at the bar. Or better: loose another beer at the toilet. And let’s hope they don’t have speakers over there.
Day 103 - Simon & Garfunkel - El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
“Songs that suck” theme week, day 3.
Bridge over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel is realy a great album. After almost 40 years this album is still enjoyable. Except for one song. One song that wasn’t enjoyable even when the record came out. The one song that realy sucks. El Condor Pasa (If I Could). It sounds like BZN or those Peruvian street musicians you sometimes see (the so called “panfluit maffia”). Or even worse: BZN and the pan flute maffia collaborating. Thank god for the cd burner. I ripped my Bridge over Troubled Water and burned a new copy with one song less. A great album became even greater.
YouTube: El Condor Pasa (If I Could), original recording with photo’s
Day 89 - Bob Dylan & The Band - You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere
Yesterday, Evergreen was the suport act for the My Morning Jacket show in De Melkweg, Amsterdam. After a few songs Jim James and guitarist Carl Broemel joined Evergreen to play a stunning version of You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere. So that will be the song of the day. Whoo-ee! Ride me high.
YouTube: You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, original recording with (some) LP sleeve
YouTube: You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere, Bob Dylan version
Day 72 - Frank Zappa - Return of the Son of Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar
Not long after listening to Steve Vai’s Flex-Able I discovered that Vai played in the band of Frank Zappa. So I bought a Frank Zappa record. I started with Guitar, an album full of guitar solo’s by Frank Zappa. And what a great guitarist he is! Return of the Son of Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar is a solo from 1979, before Steve Vai would join Frank Zappa. Zappa hired Vai to transcripe a lot of the solo’s on Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar, these transcriptions were published in 1982 in The Frank Zappa Guitar Book. Return of the Son of Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar isn’t part of these transcriptions.
YouTube: Return of the Son of Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar, original recording with LP sleeve
Day 68 - Elton John - Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Part 4 of the Dark Tower mini theme. Book 5: Wolves of the Calla. While Donald Callahan, formerly a priest in Salem’s Lot, kills his first vampire, a nearby radio plays Elton John singing Someone Saved My Life Tonight.
Day 66 - Johnny Cash - Man in Black
“The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.” With this first sentence starts The gunslinger by Stephen King, first book of the epic Dark Tower. The man in black. Could it be Johnny Cash?
Day 52 - Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
I’ve been listening to a 1980 Pink Floyd bootleg from one of the The Wall concerts. Live at Earl’s Court, London, England, August 6, 1980. It’s one complete show, so even better then the official release Is There Anybody Out There? / The Wall Live Pink Floyd 1980-81. There’s a lot of tunes I could choose, but for today Comfortably Numb has to do.
Day 43 - Bruce Springsteen - Thunder Road
Definitely the best Bruce Springsteen song EVER! This song got lyrics you can quote several times:
Well I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk
You ain’t a beauty, but hey you’re alright
Hey I know it’s late, we can make it if we run
It’s a novel. It’s a movie. It’s great.
Day 38 - David Bowie - Life on Mars?
I realy enjoyed the television show Life on Mars? The show was named after the David Bowie song and tells the story of DCI Sam Tyler of the Greater Manchester Police, who, after being hit by a car in 2006, finds himself in the year 1973.
YouTube: Life on Mars?, videoclip
YouTube: Ukulele Orchestra of Geat Britain covering Life on Mars?
YouTube: Life on Mars?, trailer
About this/me
About this:
Inspired by Tuuur, who was inspired by Glenn Case, I will be posting some song of the day posts over here. This blog is written in (poor) English, but since I’m from the Netherlands there will be some Dutch songs and/or lyrics passing by.
About me:
I live in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, a short train ride from Amsterdam. I like open source software, open-minded people and bars open all night.
