The District Attorneys – “Cherry Glow”
Heard this tune by Athens, GA group The District Attorneys on my road trip back from Colorado (istening to The Loft on SiriusXM). Instant like.Chorus sounds a tad like Blondie’s “Heart of Glass,” no?
Nap Time with Nils
I’m lucky enough to work from home. Usually when my “lunch hour” rolls around, I’ll throw on the running shoes and jog a few miles around the ‘hood. This arrangement has been surprisingly good for my health. Breaking up the day with a run clears my mind, puts everything into perspective, gets my blood pumping, and allows me the opportunity to be alone with Music. Love the arrangement.
Well, on Monday, it was overcast, scattered showers, and downright gloomy. I chose to utilize my free hour in the form of a n-a-p. How sweet it was. 50 minutes of midday relaxation. I dialed up E Street Radio on my iPhone SiriusXM app, and stumbled across Nils Lofgren‘s hour as guest DJ.
Listening to the show, I was in that euphoric, meditative state where you’re not fully conscious but you’re not fully asleep either. I was sort of floating through the ether – able to relax my mind, and at the same time soak in the music that Nils was playing.
He played his live version of the Star Spangled Banner, which was amazing. He played his Bruce favorites, like “Nothing Man”, “Man’s Job”, and “My City of Ruin”; he played an in-studio acoustic intro to “Countin’ on a Miracle”…
But what really hit me from Nils was when he played his version of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”. Yeah, the song made popular by Robert Flack almost 40 years ago (the tune was actually written by folk singer Ewan MacColl in 1957).
And man, it hit me in just the right spot. Hair stood up on my arms, the tear ducts activated a bit (only a bit, dammit I’m a macho man. No I’m not).
Lofgren’s high, tender voice soars in this version. Just beautiful. I think I’ll take more naps.
Nils Lofgren Band – The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (mp3)
[audio:nils.mp3]Ick’s Radio Daze: SiriusXM’s The Loft
Station: The Loft (Sirius Ch. 29)
Format: Contemporary Eclectic
Type: Satellite (SiriusXM)
Slogan: Singers, Songwriters, and Beyond
Date / Time: Feb. 9th, 2010 / 8:30-9:30pm MST
Commercials: 0
Hot Chick on Home Page of Web Site? Nope. ‘Tis all about the music. When the closest thing to a hot chick is Rosanne Cash, you know it’s all about the music.
DJ: Franny Thomas
Favorite Song: “You Took My Breath Away” – Traveling WilburysLeast Favorite Song: Ain’t pickin’ one – warn’t a bad song in the bunch.
Song List:
The Swell Season – “Two Tongues”
Radiohead – “Fake Plastic Trees” (acoustic)
King Crimson – “Cadence and Cascade”
Tom Waits – “Way Down In The Hole” (live)
The Duhks – “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding”
Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard – “California Zephyr”
Led Zeppelin – “Going to California” (live)
David Vandervelde – “California Breezes”
Traveling Wilburys – “You Took My Breath Away”
John Hiatt – “Feels Like Rain”
Lyle Lovett – “Natural Forces”
Allison Moorer – “The Broken Girl”
Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – “Fix It”
The Devlins – “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart”
The Waterboys – “I Will Not Follow”Comments: We’re a few weeks into this column, and it’s high time I treated myself. So this week, I chose my very favorite radio station at the moment: Sirius-XM’s The Loft. It’s channel 29 on my Sirius dial, and it constantly and consistently delivers amazing music to these ears.
It’s one place I can rely on hearing some of my favorite artists and tunes, while introducing me to fresh, new music. And “new” can mean a tune that’s been out for years and years.
Case in point this hour: King Crimson’s “Cadence and Cascade”, a great song that’s as old as I am (1970), from King Crimson’s second album, In The Wake Of Poseidon – and a song that I don’t recall ever hearing. I’ll quote “roflcopter100ify”, the most recent commenter on the YouTube page: “It’s beautiful. I have no idea what it means.” It may sound like an early Spinal Tap outtake (along with “Listen to the Flower People”), but hey, it relaxes me. The flute reminds me of 70’s Bruce Cockburn too, another thing I find relaxing.
The hour had a handful of other tunes I’d never heard: most notably “Two Tongues” by the Swell Season, and “California Breezes” by David Vandervelde. I’ll be tracking these down.
And what a playlist this hour… The Wilburys’ “You Took My Breath Away”, one of my favorite Tom Petty-sung tunes ever; Hiatt’s version of “Feels Like Rain” (bliss); killer live versions of “Going to California” and “Way Down In The Hole”; an acoustic “Fake Plastic Trees”; brand new ones from Allison Moorer and Lyle Lovett, Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard. And to wrap up the hour? The friggin’ Waterboys!!
There wasn’t a single moment in the hour that I ever felt let down or even slightly disappointed in the music selection. Clearly they’ve tapped into their demographic with me. I mean, this is a radio station that makes me excited about music, past & present. Is there a single terrestrial radio station in the land that can geek me out as much as The Loft? Nope.
Adding to the appeal is the benefit of satellite radio: no commercials on their music stations. Hearing an hour of music interrupted only a couple of times by a pleasant DJ (Franny Thomas) who’s as relaxed and into the music as I am – dang it, it’s just a treat.
I feel good. Refreshed. Thanks Loft.
— See all Radio Daze posts here. —
Peter Piper / Take Me To The Mardi Gras
Show of hands: who knows the genesis of the bell & percussion groove of Run-DMC’s “Peter Piper”?
I stumbled on it tonight. I was listening to Afrika Bambaata’s radio show on Sirius Backspin on the way home from work today. He was playing short clips of some of his favorites from back in the day. He played a minute or so of “Nautilus” by Bob James. Nice funky, jazzy little groove. I went on to Blip.fm to track it down. Didn’t find it, but I did see “Take Me To The Mardis Gras”.
I clicked it, and – lo & behold – the source of “Peter Piper”! The song itself was written by Paul Simon, released a year earlier (1973) on Simon’s ‘There Goes Rhymin’ Simon‘. Bob James added that memorable percussion and his own flair to the song on 1974’s Two.
Bob James has to be flattered, but I also think he’d be pissed to know that people go their lifetimes not knowing that his creation is the backbone of one of the classics of early hip-hop.
Bob James / “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” (Blip.fm) from 1974’s Two
The Boss Was Made for Lovin’ You?
The Boss lifting from Ace, Gene, Paul and Peter? A new controversy brewing on the interwebs is the similarity between Bruce’s new album opener “Outlaw Pete”, and Kiss’ 1979 foray into disco, “I Was Made For Lovin’ You”. Similar? Sure, but not to the extent of Coldplay’s rip of Satriani. I rule in favor of – guess who? – The Boss!
What do you guys & gals think? Did Bruce dip back into his repository of shitty disco-rock?
“Outlaw Pete” vs. “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”:
Howard interviews Paul McCartney
Say what you will about Howard Stern, but you gotta admit, the man is one of the best interviewers around. He has a way of putting his subjects at ease, and he delves into territories you won’t find on the morning or late night talk shows. He asks the questions a regular person would want to ask, and goes beyond the prepackaged “tell me about your latest project” crap best exemplified by Mr. Jay Leno.
On Wednesday of this week, Paul McCartney dropped by Howard’s show on Sirius-XM. Now this is how you interview a Beatle…
Howard Stern interviews Paul McCartney (1-14-2009):
Paul discusses, among many other things, his latest album as “The Fireman”…
My E Street Radio Segment
For those who want to listen in on my Sirius radio debut…first, random notes about my segment….
- Sirius removed my web site plug! I didn’t see the harm in a mention of Ickmusic, but apparently they did. I was well on my way to getting a million people to donate a dollar. Sort of a bummer, but oh well.
- In my last segment, while introducing “Drive All Night”, I didn’t realize I uttered the nonsensical string of words: “…the relationships came and go“. Wonderful usage of both past and present. Meant to say “came and went”, but ’twas not to be. What a clod.
- They didn’t play the CD quality version of “Riding in My Car” that I requested. Instead we got a lower quality bootleg version. And then they went straight into the introduction to “Deportee”. Sort of awkward.
- I talk pretty fast as it is. But the way the recording software works (cutting out the pauses) makes me sound like I’ve snorted a Tony Montana-size pile of booger sugar and slammed 5 Red Bulls. I don’t talk that fast.
But overall, I really enjoyed myself. If you’re a Boss fanatic, you should do it too. Call Sirius at 877-33-SIRIUS and put your name in. You can get your 30 minutes of Boss Geek Zen too.
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