Steppenwolf – Earschplittenloudenboomer
I’ve never been able to explain this song’s appeal (to myself or anyone else) but It makes me almost giddy every time I play it. Just for fun then? – fintan
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – The Circus Is Leaving Town
Very familiar to many; I can’t believe that I’m only just discovering these amazing records. Probably because I never liked Screaming Trees or Belle & Sebastian, so a combination of the two was never likely to appeal. More fool me; I now can’t get this magnificent, timeless music out of my head… – abahachi
Raimundo Amador – Plantitas
Love the way this builds. Love the dirty production. Love the guitars. Quite simply, my current earworm from the album I’m happiest about having invested in in late 2010 – makinavaja
The Sonics – Have Love Will Travel
Driving around the countryside with the missus, this song shuffled onto the ipod, and she claimed never to have heard it before! I thought that if she hadn’t then there may be others out there like her – we just can’t have that, now can we? Written by Richard Berry in ’59 and give a super-Sonics kick up the backside in ’65, irresistible! – blimpy
The Darkness – I Believe in a Thing Called Love
This one has been lodged in my ear ever since I remembered that I had the album when I heard their one Christmas hit over the holidays. A cheesy minor classic of an album with just about every rock cliche going. Anyway, I put the album in the car and kept on playing it throughout most of December. I do love a bit of cheese occasionally. – carole
Cyril Davies & His R&B All Stars – Country Line Special Chicago Calling – 1963 45rpm
Amylee’s comment about Rod Stewart being a good blues singer reminded me that Long John Baldry was also good and he sings on the B-side “Chicago Calling”. “Country Line Special” is one of my very favourite instrumentals. Cyril sadly died of leukaemia in 1964 when he was only 32. The All Stars were basically Lord Sutch’s Savages. On drums was Carlo Little (The Stones drummer before Charlie Watts). Bass player Ricky Fenson went on to join The Steam Packet which morphed into The Brian Auger Trinity.. Never sure what happened to the lead guitar, Bernie “Strawberry” Watson, but he was damned good. The electric piano (Fender Rhodes) on the B-side was played by Nicky Hopkins. – rockingmitch
Remember: earworm@tincanland.com
Not knowingly heard anything by Steppenwolf other than, well, you know, that famous one. This was indeed a lorra lorra fun, Fintan.
I do love B&S, aba – and Nancy & Lee and Nick Cave and all that stuff that gets referenced in reviews for Isobel and Mark, but somehow I’ve never got round to buying any of their records. I really should. This is lovely.
Loving Raimundo’s voice, Maki. Think I tend to like my Spanish(ish) sounds with a little more duende (is that the correct term?), but this is definitely enjoyable.
Love it from the yelp onwards, blimpy! And I’m with your missus on never having heard it before, so thanks for the introduction.
Sorry, Carole, I can’t do this one. The Darkness are like Jeremy Clarkson to me: a (once) vastly popular, supposedly entertaining joke I just don’t get. But I can see that it’s catchy! And it follows on well from blimpy’s selection, sequencing-wise.
I feel exhausted just listening to mitch’s choice – imagine trying to dance to that! Brilliant energy. Ooh hang on, it’s turned into something completely different – but equally entertaining. Good stuff.
That was as close to a perfect set of ‘Worms as we have ever had.
Loved them all.
The Steppenwolf reminded me of one of those late 1960s alt.Hollywood films where you get groovers and hipsters around a pool, having a bit of a rug cutting session.
If people don’t like The Sonics then they have no business listening to rock and roll music at all.
I think I have bored people enough with my Campbell/Lanegan love but everyone should own their records.
I could go on and on, but all I will say is that it is a Solid Gold #1 With A Bullet set of Earworms.
A thoroughly exciting and perky set of tunes – very enjoyable (are we all subconsciously trying to cheer up January?)
After last weeks easy going set, this lot are quite lively.
Not hear the Steppenwolf track before, but liked it.
“Circus” was nice. Music to enjoy a spliff by. I thought he sounded like an amalgam of Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash with a touch of Ian Dury for good measure.
Raimundo Amador was also good. I agree about the build up and guitar playing.
The Sonics were fun. Somewhere in my vinyl box I’ve got Richard Berry’s original of this.
Liked The Darkness, too.
Al in all, I liked everything this week. Cheers Maki.
I can’t comment on a comparison with last week’s as I haven’t listened to them, but otherwise I already pretty much agree with everything said above, including the prima facie contradictory opinions about The Darkness. It is perhaps telling that my favourite Darkness song is this one:
Even those who couldn’t stand Justin Hawkins’ voice can’t complain here!
Me too – loved ‘em all. Well done, Maki!
I know a different song called Have Love Will Travel, though – it’s one of the ones I’m learning on the guitar for my gig in San Antonio in March…with a BAND…
the R and B all-stars for me hands down and the sonics will be chucked on my stereo at regular intervals.. thumbs up too…
as for the Darkness…it’s not the voice for me, it’s:
“can’t explain all the feelings you’re making me feel”
to open a song with such a shoddily thought out line is beyond comprehension – at that point it gets switched off… and I throw a thesaurus in the general direction of the speakers… but that’s just me.
enjoyable as ever.. even the blood boiling book throwing cheers me up – life would be boring without extremes.
Liked them all, that was a great collection that went well together!
Mitch – Thanks for posting that song, i wanted to include it up in my other post, and couldn’t find it on youtube.
That Steppenwolf was new to me, and so was Plantitas, and totally enjoyed them both.
I really, really liked Circus, and the big standout for me was the Sonics (yep, Blimpy, that was new to me.)
The only one that wasn’t new to me was the Darkness. I never understood the big hype, and i gave it a listen with fresh ears because it’s been awhile since i last heard it. It sounds better to me than i remembered, but it’s a long way off from love. I did think that they had a pretty decent lead guitarist with potential.
I had an earworm that i decided not to send along, but hearing this group, it’s another instrumental that would have probably fit right in.
Carole; We must part the ways this week, though I’m usually in agreement with you.
First off re. Darkness, ‘After you with that thesaurus Shane’, and secondly, re. this being a ‘best ever’ earworms, not for me, it doesn’t come close.
That said Fintan’s & Maki’s were nice as was Mitch’s, say no more.
Steppenwolf got me to wondering what was it about 60′s instrumental cuts that makes them usually so distinctive, I say usually’ because it made me consider QMS’s Calvary which though it does have some 60′s qualities, overall it’s a unique piece of music, not pigeonholeable at all.
Steppenwolf brought back a lot of memories of Herman Hesse, a lot of weed and a time that was oh so different.
Roll on next Monday.
GF- Really like what you’ve said about 60s instrumentals. I’ve frequently had thought along the same lines. Often pictured a long slog in the recording studion, the band at loggerheads over some lyric or such nonsense & someone starts noodling, around the tapes are running & low and behold – there’s the 12th track – an instrumental. QMS and several – always liked Gold & Silver.
Donds to what Carole said about the Sonics, Jack White has a good quote about them too, something about life getting better once you hear the Sonics, but I can’t quite remember it. “Have Love…” is one of my favourite ever tunes, there are a lot of great versions, I like The Headcoatees one especially:
I listened to “Hawk” (Campbell & Lanegan) again last night, can’t get enough of it and nice choice of track Aba.
I’ll come down on the fence for the Darkness, they are a lot of fun and there ain’t nothing wrong with that.
The Steppenwolf surprised me in a good way, too!
cheers all!
When I read the line up I said to myself this is gonna be unfair. I saw the Sonics in one of those Battle of the Bands thingys that were everywhere in 65 & 66 & they shredded the place. But I gotta say R&B All Stars more than give ‘em a run for the money & Plantitas is my new WTF champion. The whole list is just fun. I can understand some of the ‘plaints ’bout the Darkness but I guess i’m feeling too good ’cause even that one sounds fine in this lineup. Great job guys.
Just to note that the full title of the Campbell & Lanegan track is “The Circus is Leaving Town” rather than just “Circus”.
Thanks for commenting, everyone.
I’m very glad when the lists seem to work well and never expect everyone to react in the same way. There was a conscious effort on our* part to make this week’s selection a little racier and punchier than last week’s. It worked here as well, Mrs Maki was positively dancing up and down the corridor in our flat to the first of Mitch’s cuts – we’ll send you the steps Bish!
It was one of the lists we’ve had most fun with for a while and although, perhaps, not as challenging as others it does have a great pick you up quality to it!
When people send their submissions in it’s a bit like Christmas because a lot of them are new to me. Sometimes, however, they’re already in my collection and it’s great to be invited to listen to stuff again. That happened with The Darkness this week. They’ll never be top of my listening list but I think this one’s fun.
Raimundo’s track is a little short of the flamenco style duende that Bish was expecting / hoping for. I’ll post some more of his stuff at a later date so as you can hear the duende – he’s got it by the bucket-load.
Aba, sorry about the title – it’s been corrected now.
Finally, thanks for sending in your submissions. I have a fair few to choose from. My six month stint at the helm is nearer finishing than I’d thought (end of February). I’d be happy to carry on if people would like that and, more importantly, Mrs Maki is happy for me to do so. (Earworms is normally put together Friday night / Saturday morning and occasionally clashes with the logistics of getting the weekend underway. You know, shopping, tidying the flat or – god forbid – going down the pub).
However, if anyone else would like to take over in March, now is probably a good time to start thinking about it.
* Mrs Maki helps me to put the lists together.
I agree with Tfd and GF. I think you are doing (have done) a great job and I’m sure Tinny wouldn’t mind you extending your stay in the chair.
PS. I’m glad Mrs. Maki (and others) like the R & B All Stars. As I said, this is one of my favourite instrumentals. When I was learning bass, I used to play along with it.
Yep, my view too is if you are continuing to enjoy putting the lists together, we are certainly happy to continue enjoying them from you, maki! Just don’t feel you have to keep doing it if it’s becoming a chore. I’m sure one of us will step in when you’ve had enough!
No reason to change for change’s sake Maki.
More Maki!!!!!
You gotta keep on truckin’ Maki.
You curate the ‘Worms so well. What would we do without you?
I vote you keep doing it, Maki!
Me too.
Finny: Thanks for the 60′s comments, I suspect it’s something we shared live. Another detail, my wife Gina’s a teacher and she’s been playing our last years 1, 2 & 3 lists for her classes, one that get a fair bit of play is the Andrew Bird song, last Friday a girl came up to her after class and said ‘Miss, you know that song you’ve been playing, the twistable man song? I’ve got 2 cd’s by him, would you like me to bring them in for you? Would we ever! they’ll go on the ipod this week.
GF – Glad you enjoyed the Andrew Bird. I first came across that ’cause it was on the Shel Silverstein tribute. I too was taken with it & ended up purchasing the Noble Beast album.
Oh and A full tip of the Fintan hat to Maki & Mrs’ Maki for a fine job on the earworm feature.
Thanks everyone. We’ll keep at it till you get sick of us then!
Oh and although I do have a nice stock building up, please keep the submissions coming.
Thumbs up for the Makis!
Yes please, Mr & Mrs Maki, if you still have the time and patience. You’re doing a wonderful job and it’s greatly appreciated. Many thanks.
I just found this site and wanted to tell you that your examples of earworms were perfect. I appreciate the fact that you put The Darkness in the mix, a good break from the obvious indie artists. Of late, my earworm has been Jonsi’s Go Do. Anyway, great post. I look forward to keeping up with the site.
Welcome! We look forward to hearing from you again in the future.
Hmmm, The Darkness and Sigur Ros’s Jonsi in the same comment. Unless you have a particular fetish for high-pitched vocals, that’s the sort of diverse appreciation we like around here!!
Welcome, shortbrew. Stick around.
Oh, and donds-d’accord for the Makis continuing to compile & curate the Earworms.
You’ll be getting one from me to add to the pile later …
Whoops. Format fail!!!!!! Sorry.
Thanks, DsD. Just added pdfs on the music player and comment formatting to the now up and running manual tab.
Maki I am in the process of uploading 12 Dreams into the RR shared folder. It should be there is a while.
Whoooppeee! Thanks!
Another very good selection. Again, worked well together as a set. I especially liked The Sonics and Cyril Davies.
I can enjoy The Darkness in a Spinal Tap kind of way but I’m never sure if that’s how they wanted to be enjoyed. Still, it’s good fun to hear that song once in a while.
Of the others, I did think that IC and ML gave good gruffness and I was surprised that Steppenwolf was so enjoyable in a “nothinglikeborntobewild” stylie.
I need to listen to Raimundo again. It didn’t really sink in but I think it may grow on me.
Lovely eclectic mix. Just what earworms is all about. Music put together that you would not get anywhere else.
Stand outs were Cyril Davies, Sonics and Stepenwolf.
But I have put them all together in an earworm file as a playlist along with the other earworms and they will be played again for certain.
Maki, another realy good set. Keep going amigo, you’re doing a great job.