“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.”
Aaron Copland
Jo Stafford – You Belong To Me
This was Stafford’s greatest hit, topping the charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom (the first song by a female singer to top the UK chart). It was an amazingly popular hit; it was on the radio constantly for weeks.
goneforeign
Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra – Pompton Turnpike
Time for an old, oldie earworm. I’ve always loved this since I saw my Uncle (great dancer) doing the most remarkable slow motion jitter bug to it when I was a kid. The signature phrase just won’t leave your ear either. This one is from 1940.
Fintan
Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks – Who Do You Love?
1964 remake of Bo’s track. The line-up of Hawks were the ones who became The Band. Robbie Robertson playing lead was about 16 when they cut this. (Doncha hate precociously talented kids???)
RockingMitch
Niña Pastori – Cartita De Amor
A song that always reminds me of holidays in Andalusia. The singer asks for help to choose something to wear for a night out with her lover. Memories of sitting on a sunny balcony of an evening waiting for wife and daughter to get ready to go out. Smiley, sunny music.
maki
Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers
The latest Lykke Li album is another treat from her. None more earwormy than “I Follow Rivers”.
glasshalfempty
Catatonia – Strange Glue
I suspect Cerys Matthews’ voice may be a Marmite issue for many of you but I love her pissed-little-girl-who-smokes-50-a-day tone, especially when singing lines like ‘When faced with my demons/I clothe them and feed them’. The almost oompah-pah-pah music makes this one of the most stirring paeans to self-loathing I know.
Chris
Please send submissions to earworm@tincanland.com. And remember: please try and keep your blurb succint. Apologies to those whose text I’ve cut. No offence intended of course – just trying to keep things snappy! Enjoy the choons… (I know I did.)
Another fine set.
Jo Stafford. The song is a bit of a favourite of mine. I have versions by Gene Vincent (natch) and The Duprees and I love them all. Jo’s “Shrimp Boats” was a bit of a soundtrack to my early years on this planet.
Charlie Barnet. Great stuff. I really go for the music of that era.
Nina Pastori. I loved this. It reminded me, too, of holidays in the Sun (the heavenly body, not the “newspaper”)
Lykke Li. I found this strangely hypnotic. Liked it and shall listen again.
Catatonia. I always liked what they served up. On his radio show, Bob Dylan once described Tom Waits as sounding like “he’s swallowed razor blades, washed down with gasoline after smoking a pack of cigarettes”. I think Cerys could be described as the female equivalent.
Not had a chance to listen yet, but amazingly, “Who Do You Love” was a fleeting ‘worm for me at the end of last week.
A week of good, old-fashioned tunes. The first two are a little too old-fashioned for me (see previous confessions of a fifties’ childhood) but there’s enough solid musicality to see them through.
The Ronnie Hawkins’ WDYL? is a great version. That’s Robbie Robertson? At 16? S’not fair!!
The Niña Pastori is my stand-out favourite. The slinky melody and rhythm is just gorgeous and the singing-style (I’m sorry, Maki, I’ve dropped out of Flamenco class so don’t know which variety it is) just the right side of over-the-top.
Lykke Li has a good vibe going but didn’t really go far enough for me. I became aware that it’s basically another song consisting of two chords and an oft-repeated chorus.
DsD: want to hurl some unwarranted abuse at Cerys? I probably deserve it.
It’s a Tanguillo, Chris. A style that is typical of Cadiz. It’s like a little brother to the more full blown Tangos Flamencos – not to be confused with the more familiar Argentinean style of the same name – that were featured in last Friday’s post. Niña Pastori is unashamedly at the pop end of the spectrum as the looping electric bass sound confirms. None the worse for that, though.
Oh, hi Chris. Nah, don’t worry about it. You’ve just made me think harder about what I end up posting in the Guitar Solos Round III. And I own a dusty copy of International Velvet, so can’t really claim to hate Strange Glue.
Haven’t had a chance to listen to these yet, but have raided the ‘Box, so I will get there eventually.
It’s funny (sort of): since taking over curation, I have felt duty-bound not to express an opinion on the contributions. As if I’m meant to be an independent arbiter or something. But actually, another thing I’ve noticed is that, as I’ve become familiar with each of them each week, I’ve found something in them that I can appreciate – even if they wouldn’t automatically be from a genre I would choose to listen to. Which just goes to show… something.
Anyway, hang it all – here are my thoughts on this week’s selection: I love all six! Find the lyrics of Jo Stafford a bit stalkerish but the tune is so beguiling and the delivery so effortless… Lovely. Pompton Turnpike puts a big old grin on my face. Hawkins and friends get my toes a-tapping. And how can you not love that lyric?! I’m a sucker for a well-performed handclap, so maki’s choice was always gonna be a winner for me. Love it. Lykke Li is right up my street – and great to hear something current. And while Cerys’s Welshisms on, eg, Road Rage had me wincing, I love her voice when they’re toned down, as here. Saw her live a couple of years ago at the Union Chapel – she was charming, charismatic, humble, lovely of voice… I’m a fan.
Good work, chaps. Keep ‘em coming…
Funny you should say that Bish. I’ve got so out of the habit of commenting on earworms song by song; same inhibitions you seem to have decided to put to one side -and good on you for that! I’m going to have a good few listens this week and try to think of something a little more revealing than “Nice Set” which is my first impression.
Looks like another winner list but I haven’t listened yet, I’m having my fill of Dylan [with the Hawks etc] this week but I hadn’t heard this one. Another favorite is one side of Quicksilver’s Happy Trails album has about five variations on this tune, here’s one of ‘em.
Nice way to walk us through the years Bish. & I too think it more than appropriate for the curator to weigh in when inspired. After all you’re a fan first & foremost or you wouldn’t be here. The Jo Stafford is also a fav of mine & one of those songs from my youth when the venue would darken the room & elegantly dressed adults would partner up & ’cause my pre-adolescent mind to ponder new thoughts. Who Do You Love is always on my like list no matter who does it it seems. (even a feckin’ 16 year old show off) . Nina Pastori – what can I say – yet another WTF Earworm from Maki designed to tempt be down yet another musical path [emits slightly overwhelmed sigh with smile}. Lykke Li are totally new to me & I kinda drifted off in the middle but found it repeating in my head so I’ll be back for another listen. Catatonia -Hmmmm Really I probably won’t be putting this on repeat – still Chris made laugh out loud with this -The almost oompah-pah-pah music makes this one of the most stirring paeans to self-loathing I know. – so I had a great perspective to add to my listen.
Thanks, fintan. But there’s actually one ‘pah’ too many…
Lovely! (Leaving the descriptive stuff to Sakura.)
Jo Stafford is one of my favourite vocalists, so this really works for me.
I liked Charlie Barnett and his Orchestra. Not totally unlike Tommy Dorsey in tone and the tune was lovely. I haven’t seen a slow jitterbug and would love to see the old family home movie of that.
Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. I thought it a great example of perfectly executed rock and roll. Amazing.
The Nina Pastori Cantita di Amor was truly delightful. I am gradually acclimating to the rhythm of the various flamenco styles, thanks to Maki.
Lykke Li I had to listen to it a couple of times to really get into the song, but it really grew on me and I ended up liking it.
Catatonia. I was expecting a Rod Stewart soundalike. I was pleasantly surprised.
SR- Sadly Home movies are non-existant. No one in our family ever seemed to catch the camera bug. My Uncle was an amazing dancer & taught me quite a few steps which held me in good companionship during those years in which my voice failed in the presence of girls. I queried his name once in a newspaper archive & came up with 3 instances of him winning a dance contest (with 3 different partners) in western Pennsylvania where he was born. Funny you should mention Tommy Dorsey ’cause one my Uncle’s claim to fame was booking the Dorsey Brothers into Kennywood Park when he was only 19 years old. WWII put an end to his promoter & baseball careers. I think I remember it so well ’cause I copied (a facsimile) of some of the steps adapted to the bop. Basically it was taking the fast steps used in a regular jitterbug, slowing them to the rhythm & incorporating double steps & double pauses to create the full effect if that makes sense. He was such a strong dancer he could do the roll over the back, through the legs lift etc at a much slower pace without breaking stride.
Jo Stafford – brings back memories of the wonderful romantic cinema of that time. Not really my cuppa but a fine song and a great vocal performance.
Charlie Barnett – great swing to this. Would have loved to see Fintan’s uncle’s dance. Must have been brilliant to stick in the mind for so long. This is going straight into my i-tunes.
Ronnie Hawkins – I hate precocious kids but this is brilliant. I can’t dance (you all know that) but I would try to this!
Lykke Li – my stand out of the week. Loved the hypnotic build and the chorus. Another keeper.
Catatonia – almost enjoyed your write up as much as the song, Chris. And I enjoyed the song, which I already knew, a lot.
Well done all and well put together, Bish. Great sequencing: builds up well, the rock ‘n’ roll number takes us to a peak and then we find our way to the end in the company of three very distinctive female vocalists. It plays very well.
Bish!! You ar eso good!!
I am listening to them again to really get into them and understand them, I will write tomorrow once I have really listened and understood.
I love earworms and look forward so much to it!!! You put so much thought into it!!!
Thanks for a great play list!!!
I love Jo Stafford. I love “You Belong To Me”. I’m only surprised nobody’s chosen it before. Stalkerish? Personally, I wouldn’t have minded her stalking me.
Pompom Turnpike was great. Loved it. I only wish I was a good dancer.
I’m not sure how I’ve avoided hearing The Hawks version of WDYL before. Good one. Did Dylan ever do a version? Not even live?
Nina Pastori, I enjoyed, but I bet it sounds better in the right location with a glass of sangria to hand.
Lykke Li – I think I’m going to like this more as I listen again – which I will. Very hypnotic.
Catatonia – I’ve never taken to Cerys Matthews’ voice. Not her fault. Just one of those things. I did like the song and the arrangement though. For some reason it put me in mind of The Pretenders.
I like You Belong To Me a lot…do y’all know the Kate Rusby version?
Loved the Charlie Barnet and I can easily picture your uncle, Fintan! Such a varied collection this time, bishbosh. I hadn’t heard the Cerys Matthews but I really enjoyed it. I really liked the flamenco too, and I liked Lykke Li to start with but it started to get on my nerves after a bit. (So a true earworm, ghe!)
Standout though was of course the Hawks. Whatever they’re called, I love ‘em. And Ronnie too, naturally.
I was slightly unsure about posting Jo Stafford, kept think nobody will like this one even though I do, so I’m delighted that she’s so popular. I lived through that era in the UK in the 50′s and it was amazing how popular it was, it was on the radio all the time.
I would never have imagined Kate Rushby but I like it, of course it so different.
Charlie Barnett, only cut of his that comes to mind was a ’40′s hit, Skyliner, I can hear it now. When he was at his peak so were Ellington and Basie and somehow the grabbed all my attention but I loved the sound of Pompton.
The Hawks, listened to ‘em a lot this week, never heard that cut though, love the original Bo version and the great Bo groove that they generate.
Nina Pastori is my hit of the week, new to me and a wonderful singer with a wonderful backing. Listening to Makli’s flamenco each week I’m constantly aware of how unique Spanish music is, there’s nothing similar anywhere else!
Rivers: I liked this cut but it deserves more listenings,
Catatonia – Strange Glue, this one really intrigues me, never heard of them, I like the singer and the song, it ties with Maki’s as a favorite of the week. More listening also.
Hi Bish!!!
This is a really great play list; it is like the sound track to a movie that starts in black and white and ends in Technicolor!
Jo Stafford – You Belong To Me, is just great! It is sophisticated and romantic and you can imagine dancing in a fancy night club to it while she sings.
Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra – Pompton Turnpike, this is an interesting track! It has the swing feel to it but it there is so much going on in it. Right at the beginning after the big band chorus entrance there are a few moments of piano which is very much booigie style and then later there is the dialogue going on with the clarinet and the trumpet, which is great! It is one of the tracks where every time you listen to it you discover more in it!!
Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks – Who Do You Love? is a refreshing change after the sophistication of the first two tracks. You really feel this is for a younger and poorer audience, totally direct and fun! I really enjoyed it!!! Also he is the only guy singing in this playlist. There are interesting contrasts in this also I think so, the rockabilly beat and the voice is very country at the beginning but towards the end the voice and the guitar become almost like The Doors, maybe this is rockabilly looking forward to the Doors, the Stones and the dark side of the hippy revolution which was about to happen? Very interesting and thought provoking track.
Niña Pastori – Cartita De Amor I loved this track. I am really enjoying Maki’s series on flamenco, and I am learning so much about it but I am ashamed to say I can not identify the style! I need to study more Maki –sorry! I have never been to Spain, but somehow this song makes me feel like I have been there then come home and now I am remembering it! Can you be nostalgic for something that never happened???
Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers is another contrast, but somehow it flows from the flamenco. I love the sense of space you get in this track, I think for me this was the impression this track gave me, it was like suddenly the lens had switched to wide angle and we were looking at a landscape. The rythms and percussion are great in this track! I really loved it, it is the first track of her that I have heard and will definitely look for more!
I like this track, I think the voice of Cerys Matthews is full of emotion but also controlled which makes it more powerful some how. I found the song very ambiguous and I did not really understand it but it touched me emotionally and I suddenly remembered the sophisticated Jo Stafford from the start and realised I we have had another journey through time and emotion to arrive here!!!
A really great selection!!! You are so good at this Bish!!!!
Sakura, you are the queen of the Earworms comments! So wonderfully put and perfectly described.
Your comment made me listen to them differently and definitely enriched the whole listening experience.
I can’t add much i’m afraid, but nice selection, all thoroughly enjoyed, cheers Bish and all, especially Sakura-chan!
Don’t let Mitch hear you using the term ‘r*ck*b*lly’, Sakura chan! Lovely commentary – you’re making me want to revisit them all now!
bb
PantherSan and Bish
Thank you for the kind words.
I look forward to Earworms so much and can hardly wait to see what Bish will produce for the list. There are always such interesting tracks!!!
“Don’t let Mitch hear you using the term ‘r*ck*b*lly’, Sakura”
Oh! Sorry, maybe I did not use the word correctly…I just mean that country feeling the song had at the start….
Sakura, please don’t worry. Its just that in the UK, rockabilly as a term wasn’t used much until about 1970. Lazy journalists started calling everything from 55-62 with a rock beat “rockabilly”.
The phrase was meant as a bit of an insult at first, stigmatising the early rock and rollers as “stupid hillbillies”.
I get particularly annoyed when it is applied to black rockers like Little Richard and Fats Domino.
I know what you mean about the “country” feel at the start of the record and I’m glad you liked it.
I was just teasing, Sakura chan! I knew Mitch wouldn’t really mind. x
Charlie Barney has a gentle way and was a discovery for me. Love the call and response bits.
Nice to see some love for Lykke this week (Shane will be pleased).
Highlight is this version of Who Do You Love, which I’ve seen Hawkins do live with several incarnations of his Hawks. He’d adopted it as his signature tune long before the Band/Hawks came along but his approach is more carnival trick than good music. Notorious taskmaster that he was, his Hawks had to play it his way and what I love about this version is you can hear the coming parting of the ways for Ronnie and the Band. Don’t get me wrong – I admire Ronnie Hawkins but he was always a bit of an opportunist and more of a showman than a creator. But the guys in the Band were budding artists, and you can so hear them bursting at the seams and winking to each other here.
Fantasy earworms of the week:
1. Cerys Matthews singing “You Belong to Me” backed by Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra.
2. Lykke Li goes flamenco, with Robbie Robertson on guitar.
Sakura: I am so impressed with your knowledge and your ability to get right to the core of whatever you listen to and then to write a lucid and articulate paragraph about it, I am more impressed since I assume that English is not your first language. Every week I find myself asking ‘Who is this new person Sakura and what’s her background, and she seems so young?’ So would it be impolite of me to ask you if you would tell us something about yourself?
Hi Goneforeign
Of course I do not mind to tell you about myself. But I do not think it will not be very interesting. I am a very normal girl (except the obsession with music!)
I am 24 years old and I was born on the Ryukyuan Island Miyakojima. I lived there with my mum and dad and grandmother and sister, until I was 15 when I went to boarding school in Naha Okinawa.
My dad worked as engineer on US ships and was away a lot so I was brought up my grandmother (my dads mum) and my mum. My mum is ethnic Chinese so I grew up speaking Japanese to my Grandmother and Mandarin with my mum.
My dad was a music freak like me, I think that is where I inherited my love of music, and he bought lots of records on his journeys to USA, mostly soul and Motown, but also rock and jazz.
He can speak perfect English of course after 25 years working on USA ships and he would teach me the words to songs in English which helped me a lot when I started junior high school and studied English for the first time seriously. My sister and I could sing Midnight Train to Georgia and do all the dance steps for it at the same time before I went to elementary school!!!
I also speak Miyako the language of our Island, as even though we do not speak it at home, I wanted to learn as it is part of my identity (maybe….) and also I speak Italian but not as good as English.
After high school at 18 years old I went to University in Tokyo and studied Performing Arts (dance) and English I went to study on a scholarship for one year in UCLA in Los Angles USA as part of this course. Of course these studies is a sure way to be unemployed for your life unless you want to teach, which I do not, or work in some international bank or something, which I would hate!
I have a boyfriend who I love very much, but since the tsunami we have not seen each other so often as he lives in Shiogama close to Sendai. He is wholesale fishmonger. He has been working very hard to restore the business, and volunteering in the restoration of the town, but now we will see each other again regularly so I am very happy about that!! I admit I was very selfish and missed him a lot and wanted him here when I know really his duty was really there helping his town and business.
Now I am living in Tokyo for six years and doing a stupid job as product promotion girl, but I am lucky to have a job really, and give me independence which is important to me and quite some free time actually, and I do have fun with the other girls and quite often I travel to other places in Japan to make promotions, and once I went to Shanghai also which was really great!! Actually next week I will be in Hiroshima which will be nice as I have never been there before. I think so that I am a cheerful and optimistic girl and I do not need a lot to be happy!!!
I love RR and The Spill as I learn so much from you all and you have introduced me to so much wonderful music and artists!! I love earworms and I listen several times to the play list before I try to put my impressions into words.
Now you know everything about me. I hope you are not disappointed……
Absolutely not disappointed, very impressed, I also went to UCLA for a Masters degree back in the 70′s. Thank you.
That was very impressive indeed. Is that a total of five languages you speak?
I’m always really ashamed that the British are so bad at learning other languages.
I just had a quick look at the entry for Miyakojima on Wikepedia. It seems to be a very beautiful place.