Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without.
Confucius
Hank Ballard & The Midnighters – Broadway
Sometimes you don’t want songs that are ‘meaningful’ or ‘have a strong message’. No, there are times when all you want is a joyful noise and this, I humbly submit, is one hell of a joyful noise.
RockingMitch
Diana Brown & Barrie K Sharpe – Eating Me Alive (Undisputed Mix Part 1)
“Rare groove” was late 60s/early 70s US soul, often sampled by hip-hop, rediscovered by British DJs and clubbers, and emulated in the early 90s by British soul/jazz/funk groups. Why we’ve not heard from Diana Brown in 20 years is a mystery as vast as the one about why she shared billing with a Duffer St George fop whose only contribution seemed to be Peter Crouch-style funky moves for a big man, and the occasional, annoying “Damn right!” Masterplan, discussed in a previous Earworms thread, was her shining moment but she had a couple of great follow-ups. This remix channels the Jackson 5 and ends abruptly because Part 2′s a bit Sharpe-led and boring.
May1366
Amaral – Toda La Noche en la Calle
Life is a self-balancing contradiction. For every good thing there seems always to be something negative. We have to take the rough with the smooth, look forward, never back and hope we’ll reach the coast and sleep soundly at the seashore.
Mrs Maki
Daddy Cool – Come Back Again
I heard this once and it wormed into my ear instantly. I had to listen to the whole radio programme again because I just had to hear it once more…Finally I succumbed and bought it on iTunes. This never happens. (Actually there were two studio versions and I bought the longer – better value for money I thought. Now I’m not sure. Maybe shorter is better.)
tfd
Kelly Rowland – Stole
I’ve had this in my head since we had “Mary’s in India” here the other week – along with Dido’s album, this was one of the songs Sophia the waitress used to play repeatedly in my local internet cafe in Preveza, Greece. At the time, I hadn’t clocked that it was a Destiny’s Child singing about a high-school shooting, but still found the chorus strangely affecting.
barbryn
Evie Sands – Any way that you want me
Because every time I scroll through my iTunes I just have to stop and listen.
blimpy
Please send submissions to earworm@tincanland.com – thanks! I’m on my holidays at the moment, so we’ll be having a short break from earworms next week. Sorry about that! They’ll be back on Monday, 5 September. See you then! x
Bish on hols this week. So,
Hank Ballard – Some noisy, rough kid put this up.
Diana K. Browne & Barrie K. Sharpe. Sorry May, I take Bob Seger’s view about disco music.
Amaral. Loved it! Discovery of the week!
Daddy Cool pushes all the right buttons too. Had a vague Dr. John feel to it, I thought.
Kelly Rowland. Very nice, well sung, but not my cup of Quorn, I’m afraid. Sorry.
Evie Sands. I share Fintan’s enthusiasm for this lady. Criminally underrated and, along with Amaral, my track of the week.
Hank Ballard and the Midnighters – great. Reminds me of The Nervous Brothers in the Golden Lion of a Sunday afternoon, circa 1996.
Diana K Browne – I can tell it’s very good, but not my thing.
Amaral – well sung, great sentiment but not my thing either.
Daddy Cool – I like this, though possibly a bit long. Need to listen again.
Kelly Rowland – I like Destiny’s Child. There, I’ve admitted it. Introduced to them by my son via “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”:
Evie SAnds – again, well sung but not my thing.
Namaste the Spillworld! Just logging in from the ashram to check earworms went up OK. And it seems like they did – hurrah!
Hope they go down well. I am still buzzing from discovering I scored a hat-trick over on the Mothership last week. Teehee. Just as well I didn’t sling in a mention for Kate Bush when I nominated “Rocket Man” – it did cross my mind!
Right, must go chant. ‘See’ you all in ten days or so.
Om shanti shanti shanti.*
*Don’t worry, I haven’t come over all spiritual.
Hank Ballard & The Midnighters. Awesome. Loved the horns and the honky tonking. Spilled guacamole all down my bad self jumping around to it.
Diana K. Browne & Barrie K. Sharpe. Yes it had a touch of the Jackson 5, but I liked it.
Amaral. Fab. Mrs Maki rocks.
Daddy Cool. I’m just crazy about the song. Loved it.
Kelly Rowland. It’s not my bag, particularly, but I did like the sitar.
Evie Sands. My pick of the week. Divine.
My very first Spill post was about Evie Sands so I’m stoked Blimpy has caught the bug. I too need a fix on a regular basis & as Mitch said , a woefully under rated artist who might have been huge with a few breaks. On to the rest.
Broadway – hits all the right buttons for me & there are at least two playlists this is going straight to.
Eating Me Alive – I was gonna say a little too Jackson 5 but SR has beat me to it. Still it fitted quite well in this list.
Amaral – yet another WTF classic from Mrs. Maki meant to intrigue me. Very nice.
Daddy Cool – Every thing ‘cept Evie was new to me this week & this is just a wide, wide cut above. Could listen to this all day. Is there more from Daddy Cool I wonder?
Kelley Rowland – Not my cup of tea really but it had me moving about a bit so it’s got chops. Could need a listen or 2 more.
Hi Fintan – glad you liked the Daddy Cool – another one gleaned by me from TP’s radio programme. What good taste that man has!
I fear however (having listened to bits of some of their other songs on iTunes) that he may have picked the only good one.
Quite apart from anything else, this week’s bunch each has a great intro. Coincidence? Probably.
Hank Ballard – fintan’s right that this can be ushered into a playlist – one designed to get you moving and keep you moving – without need of any vetting procedure.
Diana Brown – I love this – naturally, as it’s one of mine – but I will note that the element of pastiche with the Jackson 5 vibe means it’s probably more imprisoned in its own era than anything by the J5 is in theirs.
Amaral – like the sincerity in the vocals and overall spirit of the track but it’s more one to limit to other people’s radios.
Daddy Cool – major discovery of the week, though tfd’s pinch of salt above is duly noted. Like the hints of Canned Heat or Jerry Garcia with Merl Saunders.
Kelly Rowlands – no shame in loving Destiny’s Child, Ali – several era-defining moments in their catalogue. And Kelly has a fine molasses-coated voice and always came across as quite lovely and normal – obviously, now she’s been zapped by Evil Edna Cowell, we’ll be tooling up like the We Need To Talk About Kevin character in this song at the mere mention of her name come Christmas. Anyway, this song justifies its earworm status from that glorious lyrical portrait of “Mary” with the same size hands as Marilyn Monroe.
Evie Sands – magnificent. Pick of the week – agree she deserved to have been bigger.
I’m afraid I’ve got out f the habit of giving the old earworms a proper two or three listens before commenting. My upstairs neighbours tend to make such a racket that taking on board any music new to me is becoming a bit of a trial.
That said – here be my best effort at a response.
Hank Ballard – ace – love this style of music – great horns – good one.
Diana Brown – well thanks for explaining the whole rare groove concept to me ‘cos it baffled me at the time. Liked this and would do my usual attempt at dancing if I heard it at a party (Spotty Dog from the Woodentops does the twist). Not a very memorable song but it does wot it does good.
Amaral – lovely – muchas gracias innit? I think I would enjoy it more though in the right context – i.e. in the mediterranean sunshine with a glass of sangria in my hand.
Daddy Cool – absolutely loved this – great feel to it – laid back but insistent – it’s a good trick if you can do it.
Kelly Rowlands – I liked this. Reminded me a bit of Lauren Hill or Lutricia McNeal. I have no idea why. None of them sound anything like each other. Just the feel of the thing.
Evie Sands – Good singer – is this that Troggs song? Did Dusty Springfield ever record a version? Because I can hear one in my head.
Severin – Yes that is the Troggs song. Not sure if Dusty ever did a version though. Evie’s voice does have similarities.
Trivia time: Any Way That You Want Me was written by Chip Taylor, who also wrote Angel of the Morning – which Evie Taylor recorded but it was never released. A year later Merilee Rush had a big hit with it.
Just got round to listening and so I’m popping in to claim my bishpoints, having spotted the sixties theme!
Diana K. Browne & Barrie K. Sharpe – Jackson 5
Amaral – Donovan’s Jennifer Juniper
Daddy Cool – early Little Feat(/Canned Heat). (Sorry, May, I can’t hear Jerry in there.)
Evie Sands – The Troggs
OK, the other two don’t quite fit in, except that 12-bar workouts similar to Hank Ballard’s were the foundation of sixties’ rock. The Kelly Rowlands track is unmistakably from more recent times, although I can hear an echo of the guitar part from Buffalo Springfield’s Stop, Hey What’s That Sound in there, and we all know that sitars were invented by the likes of Brian Jones and George Harrison….