Chic Blue Foghat Legend (July 15th - 19th)

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

There's not a second to spare tonight. I simply must get away and watch SHARKNADO! A movie about a tornado full of sharks - what's not to like?! Let's ride! 

I recently started watching Freaks and Geeks and one mention of Foghat and here we are. More 70s style from Chic and for a more serious 70s sound, there is Patti Smith's brilliant Horses. Also brilliant but world's apart is a Digable Planets favourite. Another favourite is from Dinosaur Jr. I've picked a tribute to Nick Drake that I've been meaning to hear for a while and will probably add Drake's Pink Moon on next week's list. Also a tribute of sorts, a new suite of remixes for Bob Marley's Legend LP. I chose Alopecia from Why? because I haven't played it for a while. The latest from Josh Pyke is here so I can give it a listen and lastly, also new, Jay-Z. 

Check it out:

• Josh Pyke - Beginning and the End of Everything
• Bob Marley - Legend Remixed
• VA - Way To Blue (The Songs of Nick Drake)
• Chic - The Chic Organization (Greatest Hits)
• Digable Planets - Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)
• Patti Smith - Horses
• Foghat - The Best Of Foghat
• Why? - Alopecia
• Jay-Z - Magna Carta Holy Grail
• Dinosaur Jr. - Without A Sound

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Josh Rouse
2. The Lemonheads
3. Son Volt
4. David Bowie
5. Chelsea Light Moving

Song of the Week : The Easybeats - Good Times

Back in, I guess, '87? when this song Good Times was released by INXS featuring Jimmy Barnes, I was a huge fan of both artists. I also had no idea that it was a cover. I later found that out, but had never heard the Easybeats original until this week.

Listening to it now it is obvious why Jimmy Barnes would choose to cover it. That even sounds like him on backing. Did he pinch his scotch soaked scream from The Easybeats all along? Is he even older than he appears and that is him?! Who knows? 

As for the song, that 60s rock n roll sound is immense. The main riff like the standard E A A E (e.g. "Mama took those batteries E A A E She took em away E A A E") blues refrain played after every line in the verse. The percussion all symbol and snare with the rolling bass drum. The little handclaps and Yeahs! It's so 60s and a little bit Aussie. In short, the perfect song for INXS and Jimmy Barnes to cover in the late 80s.   

Adeus 

That's Portuguese for goodbye, or so Babelfish tells me. I'm a fan of the Portuguese people; they gave us Nandos and one of my best friends from primary school. Shout outs to Steve B! 

Boa noite, amigos. Hasala malakim.

Playlist : July 18th - 22nd, 2011

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

Well, Revelation 14 has begun and I've recently attended opening night for a screening of the very entertaining Fire In Babylon. Thanks to the reggae and calypso music which punctuated that film, this week's playlist contains a Bob Marley & The Wailers album, as well as a Peter Tosh greatest hits compilation. The general 60s/70s vibe is rounded out with Pink Floyd's epic classic The Wall and the Velvet Underground's debut. On top of that there's the deluxe release of REMs Life's Rich Pageant, Jamiroquai and the follow up to an album I included a couple of weeks back from Boho Fau & Elevated Soul. Plus, there's the obligatory alt country from A.A. Bondy and Lambchop.

Check it out:

• REM - Life's Rich Pageant (Deluxe)
• The Summer Set - Everything's Fine
• Jamiroquai - A Funk Odyssey
• Boho Fau & Elevated Soul – Coffee House Swinger : Brewing Sessions
• Bob Marley & the Wailers - Exodus
• Peter Tosh - The Best Of
• A.A. Bondy - American Hearts
• Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground
• Pink Floyd - The Wall
• Lambchop - Nixon

Top Five Artists Last Week

1. Rickie Lee Jones
2. Ratcat
3. U2
4. Queen
5. Hole

Song of the Week : Bob Marley & The Wailers - Get Up, Stand Up

Last night I went to opening night at Rev and they played Fire In Babylon. It was a documentary about the 1970s and 80s West Indies cricket team. Some might be just a tiny bit too young to recall, but others will remember that they were total rock stars of cricket. In fact, the movie states that between 1980 and 1993 they never once lost a test series. But the doco showed that they were once the dancing minstrels of the sport – entertaining to watch and always getting badly beaten. Australia’s fast bowlers at the time, Lillee and Thomson were fond of bowling dangerous bouncers at even their tail enders. After an embarrassing thrashing in Australia in ’76, the Windies set about recruiting some fast bowlers of their own.

Where my song comes from is Bob Marley was a fan of the team and often came into the change rooms. Supposedly the creative period of Jamaican music at the time was inspired by the Windies and the team says the music inspired them. Viv Richards tells how this song, Get Up, Stand Up was his pre-match wind up and he had it in his head every time he went out to bat. It’s a call to arms, a revolutionary cry to stand up for your rights. I need more reggae. It makes your head bob. I was still nodding by the time I got home and I listened to some Wailers in bed. In a way I guess reggae it’s just like soul music, except for the Caribbean.

What the doco showed was that there was terrible racism during the apartheid years even here in AUS from the crowd as well as the cricketers. Tony Greig, then captain of England, made some remark about making the Windies grovel and my lord they let him have it. They felt as if he was degrading their race itself. And those bouncers were no joke!

Do Svidánija

Sunday sees me off to Revelation again and I'll be seeing not 1 but 4 films that day. I'll be trying to find the time very soon to review everything I see on MFNM. Until next week, may the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back and may nobody ever spout Celtic prayers at you again.

Ciao bambinos.