Mike the Knife
Songs You Should Be Listening To
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Welcome to MOGtober. It would be the scariest month of the year, even without the tanking economy, an out-of-bounds war, and the dirty tricks (no treats) being undertaken by certain political candidates and interest groups. Compared to the current state of our world, Devil’s Night, Halloween, and the Day of the Dead will be like your sainted grandmother singing Barry Manilow songs to a basket of fluffy kitties.
So there’s all this sketchy stuff going on, but I wouldn’t call myself desperate for a laugh - especially since I’m always up for one. In my ongoing pursuit of ha-ha, I clicked over to hulu.com, where you can access official streaming versions of full-length TV programs previously broadcast on the NBC and FOX networks, as well as select feature films. And I started to watch this past Sunday’s episode of the borderline vulgar, gleefully un-p.c., and frequently funny animated cartoon series "Family Guy."
Good call on my part. At the core of the plot was yet another obsession on the part of Peter - the porcine, cluelessly self-absorbed Griffin family father. Only this particular obsession was with the raucous proto-surf-punk 1963 novelty hit "Surfin’ Bird" by the Minnesota garage-rock band the Trashmen. Peter hears the song at a ‘50s-themed diner and goes nuts for it - procuring the 45 rpm single of the track, playing it at home and singing it ad nauseum to everyone in his family and all of his friends, while wildly dancing and gesticulating to the beat.
Two or three times, I almost choked on my chortles. Plus, the rest of the episode detailed Peter’s encounter and subsequent relationship with Jesus Christ who had returned to Earth for the first time in eons and taken a job as a clerk in a used record store to observe his flock at close hand.
It was as if the makers of "Family Guy" had put together a show just for me. And, at first, it was great to again hear "Surfin’ Bird," which has been covered in high style by punk-rock trailblazers the Ramones and (Halloween alert!) their shockabilly cousins the Cramps. Then, I couldn’t get the damn thing out of my head.
Now, it’s your turn.
The MOG player above has the original by the Trashmen. The YouTube video below features the Ramones cover. Find the Cramps version yourself. And may I recommend that you surf over to hulu.com and watch the "Family Guy" episode ("I Dream of Jesus") while it’s still available? Warning: Not responsible if liquid shoots out your nose from excessive laughter while drinking.
The bird really is the word.
Was that a shift of the tectonic plates? I hope not. But I’m back in San Francisco from L.A., and the frenetic nature of the weekend’s activities was so unrelenting that I should be forgiven if I thought the earth shook a bit.
On Saturday alone, there was LoveFest 2008, the West Coast edition of Berlin’s Love Parade: Glitter-bedecked revelers lined downtown streets and danced along as floats with DJs and massive sound systems traveled past. They were on their way to the city’s Civic Center where they pulled the wagons into a circle, and the whole shebang coalescing into an all-afternoon mega-rave. For me, that was followed by the second night of the super-sexy Tease-o-Rama burlesque fest at Bimbo's 365 Club (Oh, mama!); and, even later in the evening, a jam-packed indoor Love-In that went until dawn at a renowned multi-chambered South-of-Market location. Sunday featured the wrap-up of the free and far-ranging Hardly Strictly Bluegrass music festival in Golden Gate Park; I went late and (except for Gogol Bordello - Woo-hoo!) remained on its periphery rather than brave the crowds. There’s just so much a guy can handle.
Do I feel trashed? A little. So empathy brought me to an appropriate mash-up for the situation. French mixer/producer ElectroSound was true to his name, and connected the 2006 download hit "Relax, Take It Easy" by ethereal-voiced Lebanese-American/London-based pop singer-songwriter-keyboardist Mika to the even more recent, dark-and-dirty signature track "Trash" by British dance-punk/electro-rockers The Whip.
After the past few days, I’m happy to still have a pulse, if only to feel the pulse of "Relax, I Wanna Be Trash." Just don’t let me anywhere near the compactor.
Comments
i like this.
i've always been secretly hoping someone would mash-up the whip's 'trash' with suede's 'trash'.
& i'm glad you still have a pulse.
how was gogol?
^ That would be a RILLIANT mix! Let's get someone on that STAT!
I mean, this is good, but Brett Anderson surrounded by The Whip ... swoon. :)
lucy: Gogol - and what I could absorb of Eugene's madness - was, as expected, berserk and bracing and a little bedeviling (owing to the crunch of the congregation). I felt like it was the first time a lot of these freebie festival-goers had ever heard of G.B., let alone seen them - and I do believe that many, many fans were made.
Dale: I'll get the word out a.s.a.p. (Calling all mashers! Calling all mashers! Emergency!)
Our favorite scholar/libertine Joxley went on a heated jag earlier in the week (http://mog.com/Joxley/blog/204635) – specifically ruminating over and listing songs about FIRE! And it immediately got me to thinking about the insistently catchy and hilariously demented hit single "Fire" by one of the looniest acts in the history of rock and roll: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
During the ‘60s, when all things seemed possible, when many things were bright and beautiful, and when alternative culture was in full flower, England’s pop music scene spawned a bizarrely arty psychedelic-rock act led by a seemingly certifiable singer-songwriter/nut-job from Yorkshire named Arthur Brown. As stated above, his band was known as The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, and the members of the group definitely tried to live up to their name, performing in flamboyant make-up and arcane costumes and indulging in risky pyrotechnic displays on stage.
Their debut album The Crazy World of Arthur Brown was released in 1968. Produced by The Who’s manager Kit Lambert and co-produced by none other than Pete Townshend of The Who, the LP included a creeptastic cover of Screamin’ Jaw Hawkins’ blood-curdling novelty tune "I Put a Spell on You," and reached #7 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart. The track "Fire," culled from the album, went to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. and all the way to the exalted #1 position in the U.K.
Brown never attained similar heights again. But he and his minions had a definite influence on heavily theatrical rockers such as Kiss, Alice Cooper, and The Tubes; his subsequent unit Kingdom Come put out a few albums and toured with some success, and he’s still recording and performing live in various line-ups to this day.
Getting back to "Fire," take a peep at this vintage clip from the legendary BBC program "Top of the Pops." Marvel at the flaming donut on Arthur’s head. Freak out at the hysterical arrangement and maniacal laughter. Dig the demented hippie dance that wouldn’t be out of place on the Burning Man playa. Burning man? Apparently.
Comments
Wow. That's great. I have too look back through my Nuggets box, because I definitely recognise that onw. Nice little write up though.
Glad I could prompt another excellent post from you Mr Cutlery, slthough I can't hear that song without thinking of this risque cartoon cover...
\"The invariable, constant fidelity to something is not fruitful. Such fidelity is the result of laziness or extinction...\" Maybe, this idea of Igor Stravinsky is the miraculous key opening a door into the kingdom of images of his specific heir -- contemporary Belarusian composer Alexander Litvinovsky.
The creativity of Litvinovsky, as well as his great predecessor is the result of resistance to that laziness and extinction peculiar only to one already too settled and contented. He is in constant search for new metaphors, therefore he oversteps the bounds of the XX century style panorama.
Listening to his music, as if with the wave of a magic wand, you have an opportunity to set off on a surprising journey in time to the depth of centuries, feeling thus the dynamics of contemporaneity. Back to the future? It is quite possible.
Is he really post modernist? Certainly! His element are the original game of styles, the reconstruc<a href = "http://do
Comments
yeah dog! (on all counts)
I knew it from your headline! It's a personal view, but this might just be the best rock and roll song ever! I'll be keping this page open all day just to wallow in its beauty.
I have loved this song since I was a kid. I think this will be my pocketed song today. :)