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Post by sirrastus on Sept 9, 2021 3:59:34 GMT
One of my favorite fun videos of a great version of a Cat Stevens song:
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Post by mcamp on Sept 9, 2021 19:06:18 GMT
Deep track for the day....heard this one on WMBR (MIT radio, Cambridge). Such a great song, and lyrics.
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Post by beanguy on Sept 9, 2021 21:22:24 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #198 - 9/7/21 Bee Gees – “With the Sun in my Eyes” from Horizontal The Bee Gees overwhelming Disco era success has been a double-edged sword. Their records sold like hotcakes due to tremendous hits like Stayin' Alive and Jive Talkin' (which along with Blondie's Heart of Glass added some mixed meter to the dance floor). However, it took an extremely long time for younger generations to appreciate their full catalog. They were phenomenal songwriters and had such beautiful and expressive voices. This song is so simple and yet conveys heartache with just an organ and a voice (for the most part) far better than many artists could with a full orchestra. English courses will talk to you about Pathos, Logos, Ethos, and Kairos. Well, the Bee Gees were pure Pathos. They made you FEEL. This song is just one of many perfect examples of that. Great track.Bee Gees were seriously underrated practitioners of deeply emotive stunningly sensitive songs like this one. The title of a Who album(Sell Out) sums up what a lot of us boomers felt about their dip into disco music.
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Post by sirrastus on Sept 9, 2021 22:57:59 GMT
Deep track for the day....heard this one on WMBR (MIT radio, Cambridge). Such a great song, and lyrics. I've always loved this tune.
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Post by sirrastus on Sept 9, 2021 22:59:50 GMT
Great track.Bee Gees were seriously underrated practitioners of deeply emotive stunningly sensitive songs like this one. The title of a Who album(Sell Out) sums up what a lot of us boomers felt about their dip into disco music. Actually I thought the Bee Gees were the kings of great disco music.They were head and shoulders over the rest as opposed to the Rod Stewart dreck.
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Post by sirrastus on Sept 9, 2021 23:07:36 GMT
Another early 60's forgotten hit by an ex member of the classic R&B group The Flamingos:
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Post by sirrastus on Sept 9, 2021 23:13:29 GMT
Done by a few singers this was a great Johnny Nash 60's tune years before he sang the Hercules cartoon theme and before he did Hold Me Tight and I Can See Clearly Now.This song has a total Drifters vibe:
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Post by The Ocean on Sept 10, 2021 0:49:09 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #200 - 9/9/21 Electric Light Orchestra – “Nightrider” from Face the Music
Face the Music is one of a half dozen amazing albums by Electric Light Orchestra. Jeff Lynne and bassist Kelly Groucutt share lead vocal duties for this track. I honestly do not know what to say about Nightrider that would explain why I picked this song over so many others, and that isn't because there's nothing special about it. Quite the opposite. Electric Light Orchestra have so many absolutely amazing songs that it was really just a matter of picking one of the many great ones that isn't as well known as the other great ones. Nightrider has an infectious chorus, love the drumming, love the vocal layerings as usual. It's hard to explain, but this song always makes me happy.
And that is the end of Season 2 of Deep Track of the Day! Next season will come around in December, and I still have plenty of bands and artists to highlight without repeating myself (though you might see a repeat artist anyway). I still have so many choices from ABBA to ZZ Top, so stay tuned!
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Post by sirrastus on Sept 10, 2021 4:18:27 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #200 - 9/9/21 Electric Light Orchestra – “Nightrider” from Face the Music Face the Music is one of a half dozen amazing albums by Electric Light Orchestra. Jeff Lynne and bassist Kelly Groucutt share lead vocal duties for this track. I honestly do not know what to say about Nightrider that would explain why I picked this song over so many others, and that isn't because there's nothing special about it. Quite the opposite. Electric Light Orchestra have so many absolutely amazing songs that it was really just a matter of picking one of the many great ones that isn't as well known as the other great ones. Nightrider has an infectious chorus, love the drumming, love the vocal layerings as usual. It's hard to explain, but this song always makes me happy. And that is the end of Season 2 of Deep Track of the Day! Next season will come around in December, and I still have plenty of bands and artists to highlight without repeating myself (though you might see a repeat artist anyway). I still have so many choices from ABBA to ZZ Top, so stay tuned! Hmmm Benefit Of Mr Kite redux?
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Post by beanguy on Sept 10, 2021 4:32:22 GMT
The title of a Who album(Sell Out) sums up what a lot of us boomers felt about their dip into disco music. Actually I thought the Bee Gees were the kings of great disco music.They were head and shoulders over the rest as opposed to the Rod Stewart dreck. I get that, but am/was not a fan of the genre. The heels on the shoes, in conjunction with alcohol and possibly other substances, made walking an adventure.
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Post by beanguy on Oct 18, 2021 19:21:13 GMT
Did I kill this thread?
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Post by The Ocean on Oct 18, 2021 22:00:33 GMT
Hahaha God no, I just do it for 100 days then take a few months off then start again. I'll start posting these again in December
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Post by The Ocean on Jun 9, 2022 2:10:09 GMT
Hahaha God no, I just do it for 100 days then take a few months off then start again. I'll start posting these again in December I did not start this again in December because I bought a house and moved and it was a long and frustrating process, so I started again two weeks ago. I forgot to cross post here because my brain is broken lately, so here are the first 15: ——— Deep Track of the Day #201 - 5/20/22 Alicia Keys - “Perfect Way to Die” from Alicia I was going to wait until June 1st, especially as I only had 80 songs chosen. But I’ll start early with fewer songs since… I made the rules up anyway, so I can change them. Alicia Keys was on my radar back at the release of Songs in A Minor when I was in high school. She had a brilliant hybrid of genres she worked within throughout the album and it was clear that she had a gift for crossing over these genres throughout single songs. Perhaps this song is too much of one genre to showcase the extent to which Alicia Keys can perform across the spectrum of pop music, but the raw performance and emotive power of her singing and her playing is all that is needed to grasp the immensity of her talent. So, that is the first track of the season. There will be 80 this time instead of 100. Simply because I didn’t feel like choosing another 20. I often joked that I’ll be doing songs as diverse as from ABBA to ZZ Top. Well, this season I finally chose songs from BOTH of them! And as always, Eric Clapton is banned because he sucks. —- Deep Track of the Day #202 - 5/21/22 The La’s – “Looking Glass” from The La’s The La’s are well known for There She Goes, also famously covered by Sixpence None the Richer. What is sad to me is that this was their only album, and they clearly were a talented band who could have produced greatness for decades. They exuded late 60s British Invasion energy during the 90s BritPop era in a way that set them apart from others in that graduating class. Looking Glass feels like it could have been the closing track on a concept album by The Who or The Kinks. I get major Tommy/Arthur energy from this. It’s a great song by a great band who sadly did not last beyond this one great album. —- Deep Track of the Day #203 - 5/22/22 Shinedown — “Lady So Divine” from Us and Them I particularly love songs by modern alternative bands that go out of their way to wear the 70s classic rock influence on their sleeves. Lady So Divine is one such song. The solo section jumping from different styles of playing as if I’m turns feels very retro in the way it is presented. A band like Shinedown which usually has a lot of polish is going out of their way to be unpolished in these moments throughout this song. I absolutely love it. —- Deep Track of the Day #204 - 5/23/22 The Beths – “Little Death” from Future Me Hates Me The first time I heard The Beths I felt like I was listening to what The Pixies would sound like if fronted by Dolores O’Riordan. I fell in love with the song so I listened to the whole album. It’s all perfect and magical. Holy heck did I love this album. I especially loved Little Death which was frenetic and just makes me feel nostalgic for a type of alternative music that just isn’t made anymore. Their drummer is incredible too. —- Deep Track of the Day #205 - 5/24/22 Hot Hot Heat – “Pickin’ It Up” from Elevator Holy Power Pop, Batman! This song is too peppy for me to do anything but bop along. I don’t have too much to say outside of how much I’m really glad this song exists, because I love to listen to it any time it comes up on shuffle.
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Post by The Ocean on Jun 9, 2022 2:16:50 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #206 - 5/25/22 Spin Doctors – “Forty or Fifty” from Pocket Full of Kryptonite
Two Princes still gets a great amount of airplay, but every track on this album is fantastic. My favorite is Forty or Fifty, a somewhat unusual track that feels influenced by Steely Dan. The chord progressions are creative and unique, and the rhythm guitar work is intricate and precisely perfect.
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Deep Track of the Day #207 - 5/26/22 Hunters & Collectors – “Sway” from The Fireman’s Curse
Haunting, hypnotic, trippy, and strange. This track from the band perhaps best known for Throw Your Arms Around Me is unusual but entrancing. It isn’t catchy per se, yet somehow it is memorable to me, in that I always remember I love it, even if I couldn’t sing it by memory.
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Deep Track of the Day #208 - 5/27/22 Wax Fang – “World War II (Pt. 2)” from La La Land
Wax Fang I suppose counts as an alternative band. They certainly have a unique sound thanks in large part to their lead singer, whose voice is unmistakably unique. You could never hear his voice and not know to whom you are listening. Fans of American Dad are likely aware of them thanks to how they featured Wax Fang’s song Majestic in an extended musical sequence. That is surely a great song on an album full of them. My favorite, however, is World War II (Pt. 2). This song may as well have been played through the largest sound system in the universe. The sound is HUGE even in headphones.
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Deep Track of the Day #209 - 6/2/22 Stone Temple Pilots – “The Art of Letting Go” from Stone Temple Pilots (2018)
Dean and Robert DeLeo are the two best songwriters of the alternative era. They are the Walter Becker and Donald Fagen of the 90’s. I don’t know how much the casual listener dissects the musical elements of songs like Plush or Interstate Love Song, but the music is intricate and layered, devoid of cliché and far from run-of-the-mill.
To me, Scott Weiland, while talented, was never the true draw of STP. Their new singer sounds almost exactly like him, but that does not detract in the way Ripper Owens did with Judas Priest. The new singer works in a way I wouldn’t have expected a sound-alike to work.
This song is an absolutely beautiful ballad and the lilting melody of the chorus sticks in my brain long after it stops playing. This whole album is filled with solid songwriting, but this one is the peak for me. I’m so glad the DeLeo brothers continue to make music.
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Deep Track of the Day #210 - 6/3/22 Ultravox – “Private Lives” from Vienna
Ultravox is best known for All Stood Still or Vienna depending on who you ask, and for me every single track on the Vienna album is deserving of notoriety. Private Lives is my choice because I love its opening grand piano, sharp synths over crunchy guitars, driving drums under the verse, and an altogether heavier edge than you get from most synthpop of the era.
I may say this about a lot of bands, but I do mean it when I say that Ultravox are too underrated.
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Post by The Ocean on Jun 9, 2022 2:23:20 GMT
Deep Track of the Day #211 - 6/4/22 Def Leppard – “It Could Be You” from On Through the Night
More thrash than anything in their later discography might suggest they ever dabbled in, this track has elements that reminds me of Queen’s Stone Cold Crazy by way of Led Zeppelin. The riff is basic but it demands attention. It drives the song in the way a great riff should. Even better is the way the song switches gear for the chorus and adds a little bit of bounce to the proceedings. There’s undeniably a lot of talent at work here, putting a lot into a bite-size two-and-a-half minutes of hard rock.
On Through the Night, by the way, is a solid album that is heavily overshadowed by blockbuster albums such as Hysteria and Pyromania. This debut should not be forgotten.
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Deep Track of the Day #212 - 6/5/22 Finger Eleven – “Swallowtail” from Tip
The lead singer of Finger Eleven is a vocal chameleon. He can sound at some points like Maynard James Keenan, like Scott Weiland, like Ed Kowalczyk, etc. Furthermore, their music is quite a bit more interesting than hits such as Paralyzer would suggest. And I don’t say that to knock that particular song, but to say the band contains multitudes.
I love this song in particular because of the beautiful vocal melody that slides over the chorus. It is infections and sticks in my head for days after I hear it.
I think that if you’re one of the people who were overexposed to Paralyzer and were turned off the band by how ubiquitous that song was for a time, you should consider giving the band another chance. They have a lot of range. Some of their music even verges on progressive rock at times. There’s no one way to classify this band, which is generally one of my favorite traits in a musical group.
Working in multiple genres (credibly) is a great way to get to the top of my list. It’s why my favorite bands are Blue Öyster Cult and Golden Earring, bands who have worked in so many different genres (sometimes throughout a single album) and have done it very well. And while Finger Eleven aren’t my favorite, I really like them and think they deserve far more credit.
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Deep Track of the Day #213 - 6/6/22 Counting Crows – “Angel of 14th Street” from Butter Miracle Suite One (EP)
The full Butter Miracle Suite is quite impressive, but narrowing it down to one single song, I’d choose the third of four, Angel of 14th Street. This is unapologetically wearing its inspiration from Bruce Springsteen on its sleeve. Not many bands are putting out such great material 30 years into their career, but I believe Counting Crows are still going strong.
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Deep Track of the Day #214 - 6/7/22 Fountains of Wayne – “Joe Rey” from Fountains of Wayne
Little story: I got COVID in April of 2020, and it was the sickest I’ve ever been in my life. It was scary. Despite my history of asthma, my symptoms were not respiratory. Instead, I was unable to stay awake any more than 6 hours per day for weeks at a time, my entire body ached, I spent most of my waking hours as close as I could to a toilet, and I lost my sense of smell for long periods of time (rather than lose it entirely, mine would disappear and come back repeatedly). I lost almost 20lbs in a month. Furthermore, even after most of my symptoms left, my gastrointestinal symptoms never got better until eight months and five different medications later. My sense of smell still sometimes disappears randomly, two years later.
And my case was not considered “severe,” because when it comes to phrases such as severe and mild, it’s all reactive. Less virulent strains eventually became more common, but I will never forget how sick I was with a “mild” case of COVID.
Adam Schlesinger died right before my symptoms got really bad. His death was the first high profile one I remember. And it was at the forefront of my mind during the first two weeks as I felt like I had zero control over my body. I thought of how much he must have suffered. If this was mild, how bad was severe?! I was lucky and he was not, and that makes me sad and angry and still upsets me.
I think Fountains of Wayne were a great band. Joe Rey is a fun song. And Adam Schlesinger was an extremely talented writer. He didn’t EGOT, however he did when Emmys and a Grammy and got nominations for the others. Many may not be aware that he wrote the music for That Thing You Do.
Adam Schlesinger, John Prine, Meat Loaf, Matt Seligman, Mark Lanegan…
It’s unbelievable how much destruction the last two years have brought.
The music will always be bittersweet to me. But it will always be good… because it always was.
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Deep Track of the Day #215 - 6/8/22 Avril Lavigne – “Not Enough” from Goodbye Lullaby
This song is a well-crafted acoustic pop ballad. I think it’s Lavigne’s best, frankly. And yet it was never released as a single. Hasn’t hurt her given her success, but all the same this song could have done well on the radio.
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