Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite concerts. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
Cold weather running tips
What makes a great concert?
Small shows vs. stadiums
Hard to pare down the list
Limited to one show per artist
Good idea for a sequel involving a time machine
Phil leaned toward larger shows
Didn't include: R.E.M., the Cure, Sleater-Kinney, Drive-By Truckers, Tedeschi Trucks Band
Jay: Prefer the intimacy of club shows
We were at the same shows before we knew each other
Phil: First concert was Van Halen in 1986
Setlist.fm is a great resource
MTV's Saturday Night concerts
Jay's first show was a festival show in Kingston, NH with Cheap Trick, Ratt, Twisted Sister and Lita Ford in 1984
Jay: Not a fan of festival shows anymore
Adventures in seeing Rush
Jay: Didn't see R.E.M. when they played my college
Other favorites: PJ Harvey, Hot Snakes, Lollapalooza '92, Afghan Whigs, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Drive-By Truckers, Alice in Chains/Screaming Trees, Peter Gabriel, White Stripes, Hold Steady, Mission of Burma, Gord Downie
To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) (1987)
All good things must come to an end. I'm certainly not talking about 2024, which will go down as one of the more effed up years in history, but this little daily exercise is wrapping up. I started a few days late and I missed a few along the way, but I'm pretty impressed that I was able to stick with it for the entire year. I want to do something similar for 2025, but not daily, because that is difficult at times. Maybe weekly, and obviously something a little different.
As for a final song, R.E.M. upbeat apocalyptic whirlwind of a rocker "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" seems fitting. The last several years, every year has seemed like the end of the world and yet we keep going.
The song is on Document, the band's last album on I.R.S. before signing to Warner Brothers and a demarcation point for some hardcore fans of R.E.M.'s earlier, quieter sound who jumped off the bandwagon when "The One I Love" became a top 10 hit. The band was expanding into a more mainstream act, which turned off some of those earlier. As for me, I stuck with them because they're a great goddamn band.
"It's the End of the World" was the second single off Document after "The One I Love" and was released in November 1987 after the staggering success of the lead single. Frontman Michael Stipe came up with some of the rapid-fire lyrics from a dream he had where he was at legendary rock critic Lester Bangs' birthday party and he was the only one in attendance who didn't have the initials LB. He balanced with the doom-and-gloom news he saw on TV.
"That's great, it starts with an earthquake/Birds and snakes and aeroplanes/And Lenny Bruce is not afraid/Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn/World serves its own needs/Don't mis-serve your own needs/Speed it up a notch, speed, grunt, no strength/The ladder starts to clatter/With a fear of height, down, height/Wire in a fire, represent the seven games/And a government for hire and a combat site/Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry/With the Furies breathing down your neck."
The song is influenced by Bob Dylan's classic "Subterranean Homesick Blues," another song featuring quickly sung stream-of-consciousness lyrics.
"Team by team, reporters baffled, trumped, tethered, cropped/Look at that low plane, fine, then/Uh oh, overflow, population, common group/But it'll do, save yourself, serve yourself/World serves its own needs, listen to your heart bleed/Tell me with the Rapture and the reverent in the right, right/You vitriolic, patriotic, slam fight, bright light/Feeling pretty psyched/It's the end of the world as we know it/It's the end of the world as we know it/It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine."
Musically, the song has its origins in an unreleased track called "PSA," which was later reworked and released in 2003 as "Bad Day."
"Six o'clock, TV hour, don't get caught in foreign tower/Slash and burn, return, listen to yourself burn/Lock him in uniform, book burning, bloodletting/Every motive escalate, automotive incinerate/Light a candle, light a motive, step down, step down/Watch your heel crush, crush, uh oh/This means no fear, cavalier, renegade and steering clear/A tournament, a tournament, a tournament of lies/Offer me alternatives, offer me solutions and I decline."
The song only got to #69 on the Billboard Hot 100 but it got a lot of play on rock radio and MTV. During my junior year at UNH, my roommates and I took a road trip to Montreal for spring break in March 1988. We were in an establishment called the Peel Pub and they had a cover band that played "It's the End of the World," which of course we all loved. We didn't know all the lyrics but we definitely knew this part:
"The other night I drifted continental drift divide/Mountains sit in a line...Leonard Bernstein/Leonid Brezhnev, Lenny Bruce and Lester Bangs/Birthday party, cheesecake, jellybean, boom/You symbiotic, patriotic, slam but neck, right, right/It's the end of the world as we know it (time I had some time alone)/It's the end of the world as we know it (time I had some time alone)/It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine (time I had some time alone)."
The brilliant minds at Clear Channel included the song on a memo of songs considered "lyrically questionable" after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In more recent years, it has become popular around potentially calamitous events like the supposed Mayan apocalypse in December 2012, the COVID-19 pandemic and different religious doomsday predictions.
Document became R.E.M.'s most popular album to date, hitting #10 on the Billboard 200. By the early '90s, R.E.M. was one of the biggest bands in the world, which didn't end as a result. Drummer Bill Berry left the band in 1997, leaving Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills to continue on as a trio; they released five more albums before calling it quits in 2011.
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Watching the Detectives (1977)
Elvis Costello has been one of the most interesting rock artists going since the late 1970s. I've already featured a more obscure song of his from the late '80s, but as this series winds down, I wanted to highlight one of his greatest.
The artist formerly known as Declan McManus first started playing in a folk-rock band called Rusty in 1972 in Liverpool, England. The following year, he moved to London and playing club gigs as Declan Costello; later in 1973, he formed a pub rock act called Flip City that played around town for a few years.
He signed with Stiff Records in 1976 and was teamed with Clover, an American country-rock band, as his backing band (some of the members went to form Huey Lewis and the News). They recorded his first album, My Aim is True, in January 1977, but it wasn't released until July. Costello then left his job as a computer operator and set about picking a touring band; he already had chosen drummer Pete Thomas and then held auditions for a bassist and keyboardist. Steve Goulding and Andrew Bodnar, rhythm section of the Rumour (Graham Parker's band) helped with the auditions to see how those trying out would sound as part of a band.
Costello picked Bruce Thomas on bass (no relation to Pete) and Steve Nason (later to go by Steve Nieve) on keyboards and called the band the Attractions. But while he was hanging out with Goulding and Bodnar, Costello had them help him put together a new song he wrote after listening to the Clash's new debut album. "Watching the Detectives" was also inspired by film composer Bernard Herrmann's moody scores for Hitchcock movies. The combination of a reggae beat, eerie keyboards and cynical lyrics, which were spit out by a sneering Costello about a couple who are arguing while the woman is watching a detective show on TV.
"Nice girls, not one with a defect/Cellophane shrink-wrapped, so correct/Red dogs under illegal legs/She looks so good that he gets down and begs/She is watching the detectives/Ooh, he's so cute/She is watching the detectives/When they shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot/They beat him up until the teardrops start/But he can't be wounded 'cause he's got no heart."
The song was released as a non-album single in October 1977 in the U.K. and it hit #15 on the Singles Chart. It was added to the U.S. release of My Aim is True but only got to #108.
"Long shot at that jumping sign/Invisible shivers running down my spine/Cut to baby taking off her clothes/Close up of the sign that says, 'We never close'/He snatched at you and you match his cigarette/She pulls the eyes out with a face like a magnet/I don't know how much more of this I can take/She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake."
Goulding's pounding drums are in the forefront as Costello and Bodnar provide the jagged reggae sound and James Bond guitar; Nieve overdubbed the appropriately sinister sounding organ and piano. The third verse is filled with the lyrical viciousness that Costello would become known for.
"You think you're alone until you realize you're in it/Now fear is here to stay, love is here for a visit/They call it instant justice when it's past the legal limit/Someone's scratching at the window; I wonder who is it?/The detectives come to check if you belong to the parents/Who are ready to hear the worst/About their daughter's disappearance/Though it nearly took a miracle to get you to stay/It only took my little fingers to blow you away."
My Aim is True hit #14 in the U.K. and #32 in the U.S., getting critical raves. Costello and the Attractions played Saturday Night Live in December 1977, earning a ban from SNL producer Lorne Michaels after they unexpectedly pivoted during the live broadcast and played the unreleased song "Radio Radio."
Costello went on to have a long, successful and interesting career with lots of creative twists and turns along the way. He's still at it, but "Watching the Detectives" remains one of his greatest songs.
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Overkill (1983)
When people think of Men at Work, they think of a pop-rock band from Australia that scored some fun hits in the early '80s. And they wouldn't be wrong, but there was a lot more to the band than just wacky pop trifles.
Men at Work was formed in Melbourne in 1979 by singer-guitarist Colin Hay, bassist Ron Strykert and drummer Jerry Speiser. The group soon added Greg Ham (flute, sax and keyboards) and John Rees on bass, with Strykert moving over to lead guitar. The band started playing pubs and in 1980 released a single, "Keypunch Operator," with "Down Under" as the B-side. Although the single wasn't a hit, the band became a known quantity and by early 1981, they had signed with CBS Records in Australia.
Their first single for CBS was "Who Can It Be Now?", a sax-driven upbeat number that came out in June 1981 and hit #2 on the Australia singles chart, staying on the chart for 24 weeks. A rearranged version of "Down Under" was released in October and went to #1. Men at Work's sound was light and reggae-tinged, and undeniably catchy. Hay's voice was elastic and agile, much like Sting's in some respects.
Men at Work's debut album Business as Usual was released in November 1981 in Australia and went to #1, doing the same in New Zealand soon afterward. Despite this success, the album was rejected twice for U.S. release. But the band's management persisted, and the album finally received a North American release in April 1982. The band's breakthrough in North America actually took place in western Canada with "Who Can It Be Now?" reaching the top 10 on radio stations in Winnipeg in May 1982; the song eventually hit #8 in Canada. By the summer, the song cracked the top 40 in the U.S. and the band began a North American tour supporting Fleetwood Mac. "Who Can It Be Now?," aided by a popular video on MTV, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in October. A month later, Business as Usual hit #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and stayed there for 15 weeks.
"Down Under" was the next single in the U.S. and it also went to #1; in January 1983, Men at Work became the first Australian artist to have the top album and single in the U.S. Being a young metalhead, I was at first resistant to the band, but it was hard to deny the sheer catchiness and fun of those early singles. My younger brother (who was 10 at the time) liked them, so that was probably a turnoff as well, but I was won over by repeated listenings.
Men at Work's second album, Cargo, was released in April 1983, hitting #3 in the U.S. and #8 in the U.K. "Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive" was the first single released in Australia, but "Overkill" was the lead single in the U.S. and it definitely hit different. It was a departure from the band's usual jaunty sound, instead featuring Hay ruminating on the potential pitfalls of success and the impact it was having on his mental state.
"I can't get to sleep/I think about the implications/Of diving in too deep/And possibly the complications/Especially at night/I worry over situations/I know will be alright/Perhaps it's just imagination/Day after day it reappears/Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear/Ghosts appear and fade away."
The song is carried by Ham's smooth sax work and Hay's introspective vocals, which present a different side of the band. Even the video had a different vibe from the band's usual wacky visuals, presenting Hay walking around the Melbourne suburb of St. Kilda at night.
"Alone between the sheets/Only brings exasperation/It's time to walk the streets/Smell the desperation/At least there's pretty lights/And though there's little variation/It nullifies the night/From overkill/Day after day it reappears/Night after night my heartbeat shows the fear/Ghosts appear and fade away/Come back another day."
The song had an immediate impact, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 in Australia and top 10 in Canada, Ireland and Norway. Cargo similarly hit #3 on the Billboard 200 as the band toured heavily around the world in 1983. "Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Jive" reached #28 in the U.S., but "It's a Mistake" got to #6.
This was the last album to feature the band's original lineup. Simmering tensions between Hay and Speiser resulted in a schism in the band, with Rees and Speiser being dismissed. Hay, Ham and Strykert continued on with session musicians to record the next Men at Work album, 1985's Two Hearts. Strykert left during the production process and the album was a critical and commercial failure compared to the band's previous releases, hitting #16 in Australia and #50 in the U.S. Ham left the band during the subsequent tour, which featured additional musicians including drummer Chad Wackerman (who previously played with Frank Zappa). By early 1986, the band was defunct and Hay started working on his first solo album.
After a 10-year break, Hay and Ham reformed Men at Work in 1996 to tour South America, where they had a strong following. They added Stephen Hadley on bass, Simon Horsford on guitar and John Watson on drums and released a live album from the tour in Brazil the following year and worldwide in 1998. Men at Work, with a shifting lineup, continued to tour from 1998-2000 in Australia, South America, Europe and the U.S., also playing "Down Under" at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The band split up again in 2002, but Hay and Ham would occasionally reform the band to play shows.
In February 2010, Larrikin Music Publishing won a copyright lawsuit against Hay and Strykert, their record label and music publishing company, alleging that Men at Work had taken music from the 1932 song "Kookaburra" as the flute line in the song "Down Under." Larrikin demanded between 40% and 60% of the previous six years of earnings from the song, but a judge ruled that although the flute line was based on "Kookaburra," it wasn't the hook nor a major part of "Down Under." In July 2010, a judge ruled that Larrikin should be paid 5% of past (from 2002 on) and future profits. Ham, who had added the flute riff, took the decision hard, leading to depression and anxiety. His body was found in his home in April 2012 after he suffered a fatal heart attack at age 58.
Hay maintained an active solo career after the band's initial split and has released 15 solo albums since 1987; he played with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band on several tours since 2003. His 2003 album Man @ Work featured acoustic covers of Men at Work songs, including "Overkill."
Strykert continued to play music and released a solo album in 2009; he also has expressed resentment towards Hay over royalties and was arrested in 2009 for allegedly making death threats against Hay. Ham, Rees and Speiser all continued to play music after leaving the band.
"Overkill" got some renewed popularity in 1997 when the band Lazlo Bane (fronted by Chad Fischer, who had played drums for School of Fish) covered it; the cover featured Hay's vocals in the second half of the song. Hay also appeared in the video, which was on MTV2's Top 10 of 1997 list and got some play on alternative stations like WFNX. Fischer continued to work with Hay, playing drums in his touring band and collaborating in the studio.
The old adage about not judging a book by its cover definitely applies to Men at Work. "Overkill" showed they were capable of much more than bouncy songs about Australia.
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Ashes to Ashes (1980)
David Bowie's career was all about reinvention. He took on several personas in the 1970s: Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, Major Tom, Aladdin Sane. By 1980, he was coming off a stupendous run of 10 excellent albums throughout the previous decade, including a trilogy of albums with Brian Eno (Low, Heroes and Lodger) but Bowie was looking to start something new.
Working with producer Tony Visconti, Bowie recorded 1980's Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). The lead single revisited his first big hit, 1969's "Space Oddity," which introduced Major Tom to the world. On "Ashes to Ashes," Bowie presents a different picture of the astronaut a decade later, addicted to drugs and stuck in space. Harnessing guitar synths, a complex piano riff, funky bass and vocal layering, the song sounds futuristic and detached.
"Do you remember a guy that's been/In such an early song?/I've heard a rumor from Ground Control/Oh no, don't say it's true/They got a message from the Action Man/'I'm happy, hope you're happy too/I've loved all I needed, love/Sordid details following'/The shrieking of nothing is killing, just/Pictures of Jap girls in synthesis and I/Ain't got no money and I ain't got no hair/But I'm hoping to kick but this planet is glowing/Ashes to ashes, funk to funky/We know Major Tom's a junkie/Struck out in heavens high/Hitting an all-time low."
Bowie and director David Mallet teamed to make the song's video, which at a cost of 250,000 pounds was the most expensive video made to that point. Mallet used a new computer graphics program to alter the color palette, making the sky black and the ocean pink. Bowie appears as a clown, an astronaut and an asylum inmate and the whole thing is gloriously weird.
"Time and again I tell myself/I'll stay clean tonight/But the little green wheels are following me/Oh no, not again/I'm stuck with a valuable friend/'I'm happy, hope you're happy too'/One flash of light but no smoking pistol/I've never done good things/I never did bad things/I never did anything out of the blue/Want an ax to break the ice/Wanna come down right now/Ashes to ashes, funk to funky/We know Major Tom's a junkie/Struck out in heavens high/Hitting an all-time low."
The musicians on the song include George Hammer on guitar synth, Carlos Alomar on rhythm guitar, Andy Clark on synths, Roy Bittan of the E Street band on flanged piano, George Murray on bass, Dennis Davis on drums and Visconti on percussion. While it only reached #101 in the U.S., "Ashes to Ashes" hit #1 in the U.K. and #35 in Canada, where I first heard it. I remember seeing the video and being fascinated by it. I knew Bowie at a young age thanks to songs like "Fame," but this really got me interested in his music.
Major Tom's drug problems mirror Bowie's own experiences with addiction in the '70s. The song ends with a haunting and twisted nursery rhyme that's repeated a few times: "My mother said, to get things done/You'd better not mess with Major Tom."
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) was a critical and commercial success, going to #12 in the U.S. and #1 in the U.K. Bowie chose not to tour to support the album (although he did perform the song on The Tonight Show; see below), instead focusing on acting in the Broadway production of The Elephant Man and appearing as himself in the 1981 movie Christiane F. He teamed up with Queen to record "Under Pressure" and also made the title song for the movie Cat People. Bowie also appeared in the movies The Hunger and Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.
Bowie's next album would be 1983's Let's Dance, which was a massive hit for his new label EMI. The 1980s were a mixed bag for Bowie, but they couldn't have gotten off to a better start.
Well, it was a year. Lots of ups and downs, for damn sure. One thing for certain, it was a great year for new music. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I look back at some of my favorites from the first half of 2024, so buckle up, chef.
This playlist is not a comedy:
Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
J Mascis - Right Behind You/What Do We Do Now
The Smile - Read the Room/Wall of Eyes
Pile - Exits Blocked/Hot Air Balloon
Ducks Ltd. - On Our Way to the Rave/Harm's Way
Superchunk - Everybody Dies/Single
The Umbrellas - Goodbye/Fairweather Friend
Folly Group - Bright Night/Down There!
Lupo Citta - White Bracelet/Lupo Citta
Sleater-Kinney - Needlessly Wild/Little Rope
Ty Segall - I Hear/Three Bells
Sprints - Up and Comer/Letter to Self
Rick Rude - Real TV/Laverne
Boeckner - Lose/Boeckner!
Topographies - Red-Black Sun/Interior Spring
Mary Timony - Dominoes/Untame the Tiger
Hour 2
Les Savy Fav - Legendary Tippers/OUI, LSF
Daniel Romano's Outfit - Where's Paradise?/Too Hot to Sleep
Mdou Moctar - Funeral for Justice/Funeral for Justice
METZ - 99/Up on Gravity Hill
Gustaf - Starting and Staring/Package Pt. 2
Laura Jane Grace - Punk Rock in Basements/Hole in My Head
Bedbug - The Great Bonfire/Pack Your Bags the Sun is Growing
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
The Only One I Know (1990)
By 1990, MTV was still primarily known for playing music videos. The Real World wouldn't debut for two more years, and after that, reality TV began to gradually take over the network. But in '90, you could still watch videos on MTV pretty much around the clock, although like radio, the station was heavily formatted and played a tight rotation of the same songs repeatedly.
I was still watching a lot of MTV in 1990, but I was more interested in the specialty shows that would air late at night. Specifically, I would make sure to tune in to 120 Minutes on Sunday nights to see the latest alternative rock videos; often, you could see videos for songs that weren't being played on the radio yet.
In addition to American bands that I was pretty familiar with, I liked to see what was coming out of the U.K. Bands like Ride, the Stone Roses and the House of Love were doing some interesting stuff, as was a band called the Charlatans. Retro sounds were popular on both sides of the pond; the burgeoning Madchester scene was embracing soul and R&B from the '60s and '70s and when you listen to the Charlatans' breakout single "The Only One I Know," you can definitely hear those influences.
The Charlatans were formed in Birmingham in 1988 by bassist Martin Blunt, who brought in Rob Collins (keyboards), Jon Brookes (drums), Jon Day (guitar) and Baz Ketley (vocals). After Ketley left, he was replaced by Tim Burgess, who had played in a band called the Electric Crayons. Right from the start, the band was heavily influenced by '60s soul and garage music, including the Spencer Davis Group, Stax Records acts and the Doors, as well as more recent bands like the Stranglers and Joy Division.
The band's first single, "Indian Rope," was an indie hit, which led the Charlatans to sign with the Beggars Banquet offshoot Situation Two just before the release of their next single, "The Only One I Know." The song featured a combination of nods to their influences: a few lines taken from the Byrds' song "Everybody's Been Burned," an organ riff from Deep Purple's 1968 cover of "Hush," a guitar part from the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On."
The lyrics themselves were written by Burgess about a teenager wondering why their feelings towards someone else aren't reciprocated.
"The only one I know/Has come to take me away/The only one I know/Is mine when she stitches me/The only one I see/Has found an aching in me/The only one I see/Has turned her tongue into me/Everyone has been burned before/Everybody knows the pain."
The song was released on the band's 1990 debut Some Friendly. It hit #9 on the U.K. Singles Chart and #5 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album went to #1 in the U.K. and #73 in the U.S.
"The only one I know/Never cries, never opens her eyes/The only one I know/Wide awake and then she's away/The only one I see/Is mine when she walks down our street/The only one I see/Has carved her way into me."
The Charlatans had originally planned to release "Polar Bear" as their second single but were talked out of it by their label and others who recommended "The Only One I Know" instead. The song's sweeping groove was led by the organ, which despite the retro vibe, made it sound very different from pretty much everything else coming out at the time.
Much like fellow up-and-comers Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr., the Charlatans were challenged by another band from the 1960s with the same name. Nirvana ended up settling out of court with a British band from the '60s called Nirvana. Dinosaur Jr. started out in 1985 as Dinosaur and released two albums before they faced a legal challenge from a band called Dinosaurs that featured former members of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company; they added the "Jr." to their name, while Dinosaurs split up in the late '80s. And the Charlatans became known as Charlatans UK in the U.S. after a '60s act called the Charlatans laid claim to the name.
Along with the Stone Roses and Happy Mondays, the Charlatans became a key part of the Madchester and baggy (aka trippy dance music) scenes in the U.K. in the early '90s. Baker left in 1991 and was replaced by Mark Collins on guitar. Their next album, 1992's Between 10th and 11th, didn't reach the U.K. top 20, but the lead single "Weirdo" was a hit. Later that year, Collins was charged with armed robbery after a friend robbed a store while he waited in a car outside; he claimed he didn't know about the robbery until after it happened and pleaded to a lesser charge, serving four months in prison as a result.
The next two Charlatans albums were successful in the U.K., hitting #8 and #1, respectively. The band was working on its fifth album in 1996 when Collins was killed in a traffic accident. They decided to keep going and added Primal Scream keyboardist Martin Duffy to fill in. The band has continued on, releasing nine albums since 1997 and touring regularly. Brookes died in 2013 at the age of 44 from a brain tumor; Peter Salisbury has served as the band's touring drummer since 2010.
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Add It Up (1983)
Much of the great music throughout the history of rock was created by frustrated teenagers. There's something to be said for the awkwardness and angst of the teen years, and no band captured the sexual frustration of a teenage boy like the Violent Femmes.
The Milwaukee folk-punk trio were formed in 1981 by bassist Brian Ritchie, drummer Victor DeLorenzo and singer-guitarist Gordon Gano. On August 23, 1981, the band was busking on a street corner in front of the Oriental Theatre, a venue where the Pretenders were playing that night, when Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott saw them and Chrissie Hynde invited them to play a short set after the opener. As the story goes, that chance meeting propelled the Femmes to stardom, but in reality, they were booed by Pretenders fans that night. It took another year before the band opened for Richard Hell in New York City and got a good review in the New York Times; that led to them signing with Slash Records and releasing their self-titled debut in 1983.
Most of the songs on the Violent Femmes debut album and its follow-up were written by Gano when he was in high school. The Femmes came out of nowhere with the radical combination of acoustic instrumentation and Gano's angst-ridden musings on sexual and social frustration. Gano drew a lot of comparisons to Jonathan Richman's early work, although he said he was more inspired by Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate.
"Blister in the Sun" got most of the attention and rightly so; it's an incredible song. But I'm going to focus on "Add It Up," which is powered as much by Gano's horny teen longings as Ritchie's amazing acoustic bass work. Gano begins with a slow solo intro before the rest of the band kicks in.
"Day after day/I will walk and I will play/But the day after today/I will stop and I will start/Why can't I get just one kiss?/Why can't I get just one kiss?/Believe me, there'd be some things that I wouldn't miss/But I look at your pants and I need a kiss/Why can't I get just one screw?/Why can't I get just one screw?/Believe, I'd know what to do/But something won't let me make love to you/Why can't I get just one fuck?/Why can't I get just one fuck?/I guess it's got something to do with luck/But I waited my whole life for just one/Day after day/I get angry and I will say/That the day is in my sight/When I take a bow and say goodnight."
The song has two narrators. The first three verses are sung by someone who would today be called an incel (involuntary celibate) who is upset at his lack of sexual activity and is getting angry about it, possibly to the point of committing suicide. But the second narrator is trying to calm the first one down, even talking to the kid's mother about it after the kid gets a gun.
"Ma-ma-mama mama mo my mum/Have you kept your eye, your eye on your son?/I know you've had problems, you're not the only one/But when your sugar left, he left you on the run/So mo-my-mama, mama-mo-my-mum/Take a look now, look what your boy has done/He's walking around like he's number one/'Cause he went downtown and he got him a gun/So don't shoot, shoot, shoot that thing at me/Don't shoot, shoot, shoot that thing at me/You know you got my sympathy/But don't shoot, shoot, shoot that thing at me."
The third part of the song finds the first narrator dealing with his frustration in a different way, by going to a prostitute.
"Broken down kitchen at the top of the stairs/Can I mix in with your affairs?/Share a smoke, make a joke/Grasp and reach for a leg of hope/Words to memorize, words hypnotize/Words make my mouth exercise/Words all fail the magic prize/Nothing I can say when I'm in your thighs/Buy mo-my-mama, mama-mo-my-mother/I would love to love you lover/The city's restless, it's ready to pounce/Go here in your bedroom, ounce for ounce."
The song builds up to its finale as the narrator watches the sex worker count his money.
"I'm giving you a decision to make/Things to lose, things to take/Just as she's about ready to cut it up/She said, 'Wait a minute, honey, I'm gonna add it up'/I'm gonna add it up, add it up/Add it up, add it up."
Ritchie's insane bass soloing carries the song to its end in a frenzy.
In an interview years later, Gano said he wrote the song out of boredom. "I was in my bedroom--that's where I wrote it--feeling frustrated. I had nowhere to go and nothing to do. It just happened to feel good lyrically...and it still does."
That first Violent Femmes album is still their best and most successful, eventually going platinum despite never getting on the Billboard 200 chart in those years. It finally did hit #171 in 1991.
The Femmes' second album, 1984's Hallowed Ground, explored country sounds and Christian themes; Gano was a devout Baptist. They moved in more of a pop direction with 1986's The Blind Leading the Naked, which was produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and had a minor hit with a cover of T. Rex's "Children of the Revolution." There was a brief hiatus, during which Gano released an album with his side project The Mercy Seat and Ritchie also released solo albums.
The Femmes reunited in late 1988 and released 3, which recalled their earlier sound. Their 1991 album Why Do Birds Sing? had a hit with "American Music." DeLorenzo left the band in 1993 and was replaced by Guy Hoffman; the band released five albums with Hoffman as well as songs for the soundtracks of The Crow and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. DeLorenzo returned in 2002 as the band was readying a 20th anniversary reissue of their debut.
Ritchie filed a lawsuit again Gano in 2007 after the latter licensed "Blister in the Sun" for use in a Wendy's commercial. Ritchie sought half ownership of the band's music and access to royalty accounting; the band eventually split up in 2009.
The Violent Femmes reunited to play Coachella and other festivals in 2013. DeLorenzo was replaced by Brian Viglione of Dresden Dolls for a few years. The band's first album in 16 years, We Can Do Anything, was released in March 2016. John Sparrow, who played percussion in the Femmes' backing band, the Horns of Dilemma, joined the band as its new drummer after Viglione left. The band is still together; its most recent album is 2019's Hotel Last Resort.
"Add It Up" was covered by Ethan Hawk's character in the movie Reality Bites, was featured in Tony Hawk's Underground 2 videogame and was covered by pop singer Shawn Mendes in the CW show The 100.
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto (1968)
When James Brown recorded "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto" in 1968, the country was in a serious state of unrest. The year had already seen the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., which led to riots in cities across the U.S. The night after the assassination, Brown played a concert at the Boston Garden that was famously broadcast across the city to quell potential riots.
This was the year that Brown transformed himself from entertainer to activist. He began to record more politically charged songs, starting with "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud."
By the end of the year, Brown released "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto," in which he encourages the jolly fat man to visit underprivileged neighborhoods.
"Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto/Hitch up your reindeer/And go straight to the ghetto/Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto/Fill every stocking you find/The kids are gonna love you so/Leave a toy for Johnny/Leave a doll for Mary/Leave something pretty for Donnie/And don't forget about Gary/Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto/Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto/Tell 'em James Brown sent you/Go straight to the ghetto/You know that I know what you will see/'Cause that was once me."
Brown followed up the release of the song by dressing up as Santa and passing out 3,000 gift certificates for free Christmas dinner to residents of New York's poorest neighborhoods.
"Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto/Never thought I'd realize/I'd be singing a song with water in my eyes/Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto/Don't leave nothing for me/I've had my chance, you see?/Santa Claus, go straight to the ghetto/Santa Claus, the soul brother need you/Santa Claus, tell 'em James Brown sent you."
Brown released three albums' worth of Christmas music and frankly, it's all terrific. Check it out if you haven't already.
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2024. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
Our top 10 albums of the year
Shout out to Rock P's top 20 out of 10 countdown
JB's #10: Triple album tribute album for Jesse Malin, an underrated songwriter
JK's #10: J Mascis incorporates hot guitar solos into a mostly acoustic album
JB's #9: Hot collection of bangers from Cloud Nothings
JK's #9: Farewell set from Toronto noise rockers METZ
JK's #8: Angry breakup album from Fake Fruit
Coming up on the 5th birthday of Parcheesi Redux radio, SITG hit 11 this fall
JB's #7: Retro '60s sounds from Sharp Pins
JK's #7: Philly indie rockers return with in-your-face collection
JB's #6: More great SF indie bubblegum pop from Lunchbox
JK's #6: Power pop scorchers courtesy of Daniel Romano's Outfit
Reminiscing about ER and One Tree Hill
JB's #5: Peel Dream Magazine delivers peaceful indie pop
JK's #5: Dublin indie rock act Fontaines D.C. with commercial breakthrough
JB's #4: Dog Day with economical set of bangers
JK's #4: Slacker alt-country with hott lead guitar by MJ Lenderman
JB's #3: Another Slumberland slacker indie pop success with Neutrals
JK's #3: Indie supergroup the Hard Quartet with Malkmus and Matt Sweeney
JB's #2: The rare Johnny Foreigner album that isn't #1, but it's still pretty great
JK's #2 and JB's #8: Triumphant return from the Cure after 16 years
JB's #1: Chime School with the peak summer hang soundtrack
JK's #1: A November release from Kim Deal is a terrific reflection on loss
First solo album after 37 years in the music biz
Looking forward to 2025 releases from Hallelujah the Hills, maybe more Johnny Foreigner, Horsegirl, Mogwai
Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Christmas Wrapping (1981)
Let's face it, the run up to Christmas can be pretty exhausting. You're trying to get your work done before the holiday break while also finding time to get your holiday shopping done. Not to mention making plans for family gatherings and if you've got kids, there's a whole lot more going on. If that's your experience, "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses is the Christmas song for you.
When the song came out in 1981, the Waitresses were fairly unknown, but the band had been around since 1978. The group was formed in Akron, Ohio as a side project by guitarist-songwriter Chris Butler, who was a member of the band Tin Huey. After releasing a few songs he recorded by himself, Butler moved to New York City and scored a deal with ZE Records based on the strength of the song "I Know What Boys Like," for which he had recruited his friend Patty Donahue on vocals. The song was released as a single in 1980 but didn't chart.
After getting signed, Butler quickly assembled a band with Donahue and jazz saxophonist Mars Williams, former Television drummer Billy Ficca, keyboardist Dan Klayman, bassist Dave Hofstra and backing singer Ariel Warner. Hofstra and Warner both left while the band was in the studio working on their first album; Hofstra was replaced by Tracy Wormworth. While the band was touring in 1981, ZE Records asked each of its artists to record a Christmas song for an upcoming compilation album. Butler, not a fan of the holiday, wrote the song in August, using old riffs and writing the lyrics in a taxi on the way to the studio.
The song was about a single woman who vowed not to participate in Christmas and Donahue played the part to perfection, while Wormworth's bass and Butler's guitar providing a funky underpinning and Williams contributing festive horns.
"Bah humbug, that's too strong/'Cause it is my favorite holiday/But all this year's been a busy blur/Don't think I have the energy/To add to my already mad rush/Just 'cause 'tis the season/The perfect gift for me would be/Completions and connections left from last year/Ski shop encounter most interesting/Had his number but never the time/Most of '81 passed along those lines/So deck those halls, trim those trees/I just need to catch my breath/Christmas by myself this year."
The song's title was a play on Kurtis Blow's "Christmas Rappin'" from a few years earlier, but Butler has said he didn't think of Donahue's vocals as rapping. If anything, it's closer to Blondie's "Rapture."
"Calendar picture, frozen landscape/Chill this room for 24 days/Evergreens, sparking snow/Get this winter over with!/Flash back to spring time saw him again/Would have been good to go for lunch/Couldn't agree when we were both free/We tried, we said we'd keep in touch/Didn't of course 'til summertime/Out to the beach to his boat, could I join him?/No, this time it was me/Sunburn in the third degree/Now the calendar's just one page/Of course I am excited/Tonight's the night I've set my mind/Not to do too much about it/Merry Christmas, merry Christmas/But I think I'll miss this one this year."
The song's protagonist had more close calls with the guy throughout the year but nothing happened. Until Christmas Eve.
"A&P has provided me/With the world's smallest turkey/Already in the oven, nice and hot/Oh damn, guess what I forgot/So on with the boots back out in the snow/To the only all night grocery/When what to my wondering eyes should appear/In the line is that guy I've been chasing all year/'Spending this one alone,' he said/'Need a break, this year's been crazy'/I said, 'Me too but why are you/You mean you forgot cranberries too?'/Then suddenly we laughed and laughed/Caught on to what was happening/That Christmas magic's brought this tale/To a very happy ending/Merry Christmas, merry Christmas/Couldn't miss this one this year."
The band had no expectations for the song but it gradually became a hit, getting plenty of play in New York and eventually everywhere else. It was released as a single in the U.K. in 1981 on Island Records but didn't chart, but was re-released the following year and reached #45 on the U.K. Singles Chart. Since then, it has become a radio staple and has been covered by everyone from the Spice Girls to the Donnas to the Front Bottoms to Kylie Minogue with Iggy Pop.
The Waitresses followed it up with their debut album Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful? in January 1982 on Polydor and the album hit #41 on the Billboard 200, thanks to the popularity of the re-released "I Know What Boys Like," which became a hit on the then-new MTV. The band also recorded the theme song for the TV show Square Pegs (starring a young Sarah Jessica Parker) and appeared as themselves in the pilot.
The group's second album Bruiseology came out in May 1983, but that summer Donahue left the band and was replaced by Holly Beth Vincent (formerly of Holly and the Italians); Vincent left after two weeks and Donahue returned. The band split up later in 1983.
Butler would go on to become a producer and play with bands and artists including Richard Lloyd and Half Cleveland. Donahue died of lung cancer in 1996 at the age of 40. Williams went on to play sax with the Psychedelic Furs and several other groups; he died of cancer last year at age 68. Wormworth has been the touring bassist for the B-52's since 1992 and Ficca played in Gods and Monsters and returned to Television when that band reunited in 1991.
Little did Butler know when he slapped together a song at the request of his label in 1981 that it would go on to be a beloved Christmas classic. I hear this song multiple times every year and never get sick of it.
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
2000 Miles (1983)
The Pretenders had a meteoric rise in the early '80s, bursting out of the gate with a near-perfect debut album. They followed that up with a strong second album in August 1981, but the problems started soon afterward. Bassist Pete Farndon was fired in June 1982 for excessive drug use, and just two days later, guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died of heart failure because of cocaine intolerance. Less than a year after that, Farndon was found dead in his bathtub after taking cocaine and passing out.
Before Farndon's death, bandleader Chrissie Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers had chosen to move forward with the band and teamed with Big Country bassist Tony Butler and ex-Rockpile guitarist Billy Bremner to release the excellent single "Back on the Chain Gang" and its B-side "My City Was Gone," both of which became popular ("Chain Gang" went all the way to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100). They brought in guitarist Robbie McIntosh and bassist Malcolm Foster as permanent members and recorded their third album, Learning to Crawl, in late '82.
The first single from the album, "Middle of the Road," was released in November 1983, with "2000 Miles" as its B-side; in the U.K., "2000 Miles" was released as a single. Ostensibly about two lovers missing each other at Christmas, "2000 Miles" could also be interpreted as a tribute to Honeyman-Scott.
"He's gone/2000 miles/Is very far/The snow is falling down/Gets colder day by day/I miss you/The children were singing/He'll be back at Christmastime."
McIntosh wrote a lilting guitar riff that gives the song a timeless and dare I say Christmas-y feel.
"In these frozen and silent nights/Sometimes in a dream, you appear/Outside under the purple sky/Diamonds in the snow sparkle/Our hearts were singing/It felt like Christmastime/Two thousand miles is very far in the snow/I'll think of you/Wherever you go."
The song was a bigger hit in the U.K., where it reached #15 on the Singles chart, but it has also become a holiday staple here in the U.S. "2000 Miles" has been included on many Christmas music compilations and periodically returns to the U.K. charts every Christmas.
Learning to Crawl was released in January 1984 and was a hit. Hynde and the Pretenders have released nine more albums in the 40 years since with various lineup configurations. The band's long career is a testament to Hynde's talent and perseverance, and "2000 Miles" is nothing less than a holiday classic.
Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Christmas in Hollis (1987)
In 1987, hip hop was an emerging genre. The Beastie Boys and Run-DMC had success in 1986 with big hits and tours, but hip hop was still considered a passing fad.
Def Jam Records received a call asking if Run-DMC would contribute a song to a new Christmas compilation benefiting the Special Olympics. At first the group rejected the idea because they thought it would be a joke, but they were eventually talked into it.
Going through a stack of Christmas songs, Run-DMC's DJ Jam Master Jay came across Clarence Carter's raunchy 1968 holiday funk jam "Back Door Santa" and found inspiration. Def Jam publicist Bill Adler had the idea for them to write a song about Christmas in their neighborhood of Hollis, Queens and the group got to work.
Run (Joseph Simmons) wrote his verse about Santa coming to their neighborhood park and DMC (Darryl McDaniels) wrote about what the holidays were like in his house growing up.
"It was December 24 on Hollis Ave. in the dark/When I seen a man chilling with his dog in the park/I approached him very slowly with my heart full of fear/Looked at his dog, oh my God an ill reindeer/But then I was illin' because the man had a beard/And a bag full of goodies, 12 o'clock had neared/So I turned my head a second and the man was gone/But he must've dropped his wallet smack dead on the lawn/I picked the wallet up but then I took a pause/Took out the license, it cold said 'Santa Claus.'"
Meanwhile, DMC was focused on some home cooking.
"It's Christmastime in Hollis, Queens/Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens/Rice and stuffing, macaroni and cheese/And Santa's put gifts under Christmas trees/Decorate the house with lights so bright/Snow's on the ground, snow white so bright/In the fireplace is the yule log/Beneath the mistletoe as we drink eggnog/The rhymes you hear are the rhymes of Darryl/But each and every year, we bust Christmas carols."
The song's video was directed by Michael Holman, a former member of the Tubes who in 1984 had produced and hosted the short-lived hip hop TV show Graffiti Rock. The video, which takes place at the North Pole and in Hollis, was a big hit on MTV and eventually was named video of the year by Rolling Stone over Michael Jackson's "Bad," which was directed by Martin Scorsese.
A Very Special Christmas also featured music from Bruce Springsteen, U2, Madonna and Bryan Adams, among others. The album was a huge hit and raised millions for the Special Olympics. There have been several more compilations released.
"Christmas in Hollis" was later added as a bonus track to Run-DMC's album Tougher Than Leather. The song has been featured in countless TV shows and movies and has become a Christmas staple. I was in college when it came out and loved the song right away; 37 years later, I still love it.
